137 Petalburg Gym
After their encounter with Team Magma (only Ashlyn knew), Ashlyn and May finally arrived in Petalburg City.
"Petalburg City." Ashlyn said.
"Rai." Tesla said.
"So you're going to challenge the gym leader here?" May asked.
Ashlyn nodded, "Yeah, that's what my Pokémon and I have been doing for three days." She replied.
"How about I take you to the Petalburg Gym? I know where it is and I know the gym leader very well." May suggested.
"Really? Thanks, May." Ashlyn thanked her, "But let's stop at the Pokémon Center first and get some supplies."
"Okay." May agreed.
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After getting their Pokémon checked up and getting some supplies, Ashlyn and May soon arrived at the Petalburg Gym. It was built as a Japanese house.
"Stay right here, I'll go get the gym leader." May said before she took off.
"Raichu rairai. (I think May is hiding something.)" Tesla said.
"I think I already figured it out." Ashlyn agreed.
"Hey who are you?" A young male voice called out.
Ashlyn turned to the voice and saw a boy about seven years old, with blue-green hair and he was wearing glasses. Ashlyn knew that he's Max, May's younger brother.
"Wait a minute, I know you! You're Ashlyn Ketchum the winner of both Kanto and Johto Conference!" Max beamed with excitement.
Ashlyn chuckled at his excitement, "That's me."
"Unbelievable! I'm seeing the youngest Conference winner in front of me." Max said with stars in his eyes.
"So who are you?" Ashlyn asked.
"My name is Max and I'm the gym leader of this gym." Max declared proudly with his hands on his hips.
"You're lying." Ashlyn stated.
Max flinched.
"I believe the gym leader's name is Norman," Ashlyn corrected, "Besides, you're too young to be a gym leader."
It was at that moment that May turned up.
"Quit bothering Ashlyn, Max." she said.
"I was only talking to her, sis." Max retorted.
"Sis?" Ashlyn asked.
"Yes, Max is my little brother." May replied.
Then, two adults came to the window, with smiles on their faces. Ashlyn recognized them as Norman and his wife, Caroline.
"Well now, what do we have here?" Norman chuckled.
"Why, hello there!" Caroline giggled.
"Um, who are you guys?" Ashlyn asked, pretending not to know them.
Max nervously laughed as Ashlyn came into the Gym, gesturing her at one corner at the Gym.
"Ashlyn, I'd like you two to meet my mother and my father!" May explained.
"Our dad here is the real Gym Leader of this Gym!" Max explained.
It didn't really shock Ashlyn at all that May and Max were the children of the Petalburg Gym Leader.
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And so, May and her family invited Ashlyn to have lunch with them and Ashlyn accepted the offer.
"So you've travelled through the Kanto, Orange Islands, and Johto Regions for three years, correct Ashlyn?" Caroline asked.
"Yes, I started my journey when I was ten and I had two friends with me at the time." Ashlyn replied.
"Must be so cool to travel." Max whined.
Ashlyn and May chuckled at that.
Norman turned to his daughter, "By the way, what kind of Pokémon did you end up getting from Prof. Birch, May?" He asked.
Max then grew excited at that, "Oh yeah! Show us, May!" Max pleaded.
"Uh... You'll see! Torchic, come on out!" May called, summoning her Torchic.
"Torchic!" Torchic chirped.
Max was distraught by that. "What!? How did you get a Torchic!? And why would you pick that!? If it were me, I'd definitely picked Treecko!" He complained.
At the statement, Torchic grew insulted as he began pecking May's little brother all over the place.
"Torchic! Stop that right now!" May scolded.
"I think that Torchic is a fine Pokémon to pick out from, May." Norman complimented.
"And May, it's cute as a button!" Caroline chuckled.
"Y-Yeah!" May agreed.
But Max was more into a Treecko than Torchic. "Man... I just wish that I could have my own Pokémon... I'd just love to have a Treecko..." He started.
This resulted him in being pecked once again!
Ashlyn and Tesla sweat-dropped and sighed at that.
"So Ashlyn, would you like to challenge me?" Norman asked.
"Sure, that's why I'm here in the first place." Ashlyn replied, smiling.
"Raichu!" Tesla agreed.
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Norman showed Ashlyn the battle area in the gym. Both were on different sides of the field while May and Max were seating on the benches, wanting to watch the match. Caroline offered to be the referee for the match.
"This is an official Petalburg City Gym Match, the Challenger is battling for a Balance Badge." Caroline announced, "The Gym Leader and the Challenger will use three Pokémon each and the match ends when all three Pokémon of either opponents are unable to continue battling. The Challenger will attack first, the Challenger will be permitted to make substitutions during the match, the Gym Leader will not."
"Ready Ashlyn?" Norman asked.
"Born ready." Ashlyn replied.
"Let the match begin!" Caroline declared.
"Slakoth, let's go!" Norman released his first Pokémon.
"Slak." Slakoth appeared on the field.
Slakoth is a brown, quadrupedal Pokémon with sloth-like qualities. It has coarse, shaggy fur with two dark brown stripes on its back. There's a scruff of fur on top of its head, and it has a large, pig-like pink nose, pink eyelids, and dark rings around its eyes. It has long, lanky arms, but shorter legs. Each paw has two sharp claws, and there are pink paw pads on the back feet. Its underbelly and rear are also pink.
Ashlyn took out her Rotom phone and scanned the Pokémon:
[Slakoth, the Slacker Pokémon. Slakoth is generally found sleeping and very few ever witness it in motion.]
"Interesting. Come on out, Ringo!" Ashlyn let out her Ringo the Rillaboom.
"Rilla!" Ringo appeared on the field, drummed his fists against his chest.
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"Whoa, what kind of Pokémon is that?" Max asked, curious.
May checked on her Pokédex:
[No Data]
"No Data? What does that mean?" May asked, confused.
"It means that this Pokémon isn't from this region." Max replied.
"Really? I wonder where it's from." May pondered.
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"Ringo, Bulk Up!" Ringo's body becomes surrounded in a crimson aura and he flexes his body, causing his muscles to thicken for a few moments.
"Slakoth, use Shadow Ball!" Slakoth fired a ball of dark energy towards Ringo.
"Swift!" Ringo summoned a bunch of stars and threw them towards the Shadow Ball which caused a small explosion. Ashlyn took advantage of that.
"Leech Seed!" Ringo fired a few seeds from his mouth and one seed latched onto Slakoth slowly draining its energy.
"Slakoth!" Norman called out.
Slakoth looked like it was slowly losing its energy.
"Don't give in! Try and use Hidden Power!" Slakoth's body becomes surrounded in a white aura, and it puts its hands together. A ring of white circles appeared in its hands and Slakoth shoots the ring at the opponent. The ring of circles surrounded and shot it towards Ringo.
"Protect!" Ringo projected a green barrier in front of him, causing Slakoth's attack to bounce off the barrier.
"Hammer Arm and then Drain Punch!" Ringo's forearms glowed white, and he slammed them onto Slakoth who cried out in pain.
Then Ringo's right fist was enveloped in swirling green energy glowed and he punched Slakoth in the face which sent it tumbling across the field and stopped, creating a dust cloud. When the dust clear, it showed Slakoth with swirling eyes which meant that it fainted.
"Slakoth is unable to battle! The victory goes to Ringo!" Caroline announced.
"Great job, Ringo." Ashlyn complimented.
"Rilla." Ringo smiled at his trainer.
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"No way. She beat Dad's Slakoth." May said, impressed.
"Beginner's luck. She won't be able to beat Dad's Vigoroth." Max stated, defending his dad.
"Ashlyn has three years of experience, Max." May reminded him.
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Norman returned his Slakoth, "Impressive, Ashlyn. I didn't expect you would be able to beat my Slakoth."
"Thanks, Norman." Ashlyn thanked him as she returned Ringo.
"Now, let's see how you do against my Vigoroth!" Norman let out his second Pokémon.
"Vigoroth!" Vigoroth appeared on the field.
Vigoroth is a white, sloth-like, bipedal Pokémon with a teardrop-shaped tuft of red fur on its forehead. It has stubby ears, two small, triangular teeth in each jaw, a brown lower jaw, and large eyes encircled by brown rings. There are two stripes on its back, which are also brown. Its arms are long, and its hands and feet have two sharp black claws. The undersides of its hands and feet have circular red pads, and its rear also has a baboon-like patch of red. The fur on its chest, tail, and sides of its maw are shaggy.
Ashlyn took out her Rotom phone and scanned the Pokémon:
[Vigoroth, the Wild Monkey Pokémon. Vigoroth is only comfortable going berserk, will destroy anything in its path by spinning both arms, and goes more berserk when done.]
"I see." Ashlyn let out her second Pokémon, "Come on, Iroh!"
"Kooooo!" Iroh the Kommo-o roared when he appeared on the field.
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"What's that Pokémon?" May took out her Pokédex again.
[No Data]
"Another Pokémon from another region I guess." Max guessed.
"Yeah." May nodded.
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"Iroh, Bulk Up!" Iroh's body becomes surrounded in a crimson aura and he flexes his body, causing his muscles to thicken for a few moments.
"Vigoroth, use Quick Attack!" Vigoroth charged towards Iroh.
"Dodge and Drain Combat!" Iroh dodged Vigoroth attack. Iroh's right first was enveloped in green energy. Then he began punching Vigoroth as Vigoroth tried to block most of Iroh's attacks. After the last punch, the two skid back.
Vigoroth is breathing heavily from the damage of the attacks.
"Vigoroth, use Blizzard!" Vigoroth opened its mouth and the inside of its mouth glows white. It then fires a blizzard from its mouth at Iroh.
"Flamethrower!" Iroh blew out a stream of flames from his mouth which burst through the blizzard and slammed into Vigoroth who cried out in pain. When the blizzard went down, it showed Vigoroth with swirling eyes which meant that it fainted.
"Vigoroth is unable to battle! The victory goes to Iroh!" Caroline announced.
"That was a great fight, Iroh." Ashlyn complimented the Scaly Pokémon.
Iroh nodded while smiling happily.
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"She beat Dad's Vigoroth as well." May commented.
"Yeah. But Dad's last Pokémon will make a comeback for sure!" Max said with determination.
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Norman returned his Vigoroth, "I never thought you would be able to beat my Vigoroth easily, Ashlyn. He's never an easy one to beat." He said.
"Well, Iroh likes a great opponent." Ashlyn stated, smiling as she returned Iroh.
"Let's how you handle my last Pokémon. Slaking, time to battle!" Norman let out his last Pokémon.
"Slaking!" Slaking roared as he pounded his chest when he appeared on the field.
Slaking is a large, bulky, ape-like bipedal Pokémon. Most of its shaggy fur is brown, along with the semi-circle patterning under its eyes. Its face, chest, hands, and feet are lighter in color. Its brows are thick and jutting, and it has a large, pink, pig-like nose. Around its neck is a white collar of fur that extends over the top of its head before ending in a small tuft. It has large, five-fingered hands and two-toed feet.
Ashlyn took out her Rotom phone and scanned the Pokémon:
[Slaking, the Lazy Pokémon. Slaking lives most of its life asleep, eating only grasses that grow within its reach.]
"Slaking huh? Talos, let's go!" Ashlyn let out her last Pokémon.
"ROAR! (Let's do this!)" Talos the Synthetic Pokémon roared when he appeared on the field.
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"Well that's an interesting Pokémon." Max commented.
May took out her Pokédex and scanned the Pokémon:
[No Data]
"Another other region Pokémon? How did Ashlyn come across them?" May questioned.
Max shrugged, "Who knows?"
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Ashlyn took out an orange-colored disk from her blue side pouch on her left thigh, which held all of Talos's disks.
"Talos, fight Slaking with your Fighting Type Memory!" Ashlyn threw the Fighting Type Disk towards Talos's head, which a mechanical slot opened out, and the disk inserted itself which caused his normal colored eyes, feather-like scales and back fin-like tail to change to an orange color.
This surprised Norman and his family.
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"HUH?! What just happened?!" Max exclaimed, shocked.
"I-I don't know. What did that disk do?" May questioned.
"Me neither. But I'm gonna find out." Max declared.
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"Talos, use Multi-Attack!" Talos fired his attack at Slaking.
"Slaking, dodge!" Slaking got out of the way, missing Talos's attack, "Now, use Body Slam!"
Slaking charged right towards Talos and when it got closer, Ashlyn ordered another attack.
"Ice Fang!" Ice blue energy appeared on Talos's fangs, and he bit down on Slaking's arm, causing Slaking to turn into a Slaking popsicle.
"Slaking!" Norman and Max exclaimed.
"Focus Energy and then Aura Sphere!" Talos's body is outlined in white, blue aura and then he opened his mouth and formed a clear, light blue orb of energy in front of him. He fired the orb at the frozen Slaking, which hit it and broke Slaking out of the ice and tumble across the field.
"Slaking, are you okay?" Norman asked.
"Sla-Slaking. (I'm-I'm fine.)" Slaking assured its trainer as it managed to stand up.
"Okay then, use Focus Punch!" Slaking's fist was enveloped in green energy, and it charged again at Talos.
"Flash Cannon!" Talos opened his mouth and formed a silver ball in front of his mouth. He then fired the ball as a silver beam which hit Slaking right in the face and sent it flying back. Slaking landed on the ground with a thud, creating a dust cloud.
Slaking slowly started to get up onto its feet. But then it fell forward with swirling eyes which meant that it fainted.
"Slaking is unable to battle! The victory goes to Talos!" Caroline announced, "and the winner of this gym battle is Ashlyn Ketchum!"
"You were awesome, Talos." Ashlyn smiled as Talos came over to her, "I'm proud of you."
Talos nuzzled his cheek against hers as she placed her hand on his other cheek.
Suddenly the Gym shook, as grey dust and smoke began to fill the room. A hole in the wall showed the silhouette of three familiar people.
"Prepare for trouble from a hole in the wall," Jessie said.
"Make it double, you're in for a brawl," James continued.
"To protect the world from-" Jessie began to say.
"Talos, use Air Slash!" Ashlyn interrupted
Talos formed a light-blue ball of energy in front of his head. It then fired multiple light-blue blades of energy from the ball, which cleared away the smoke, revealing the Team Rocket trio.
"Team Rocket!" Ashlyn and May exclaimed.
"Stop interrupting our motto, twerps!" Jessie snapped angrily.
"Tesla, Thunder Shock! Talos, Hyper Beam!" Ashlyn ordered.
Both attacks hit Team Rocket, painfully, and were sent flying into the sky.
"I hate that twerp for interrupting us!" Jessie growled.
"For some strange reason, I think she always will." James added.
"Yeah, you're probably right." Meowth agreed.
"TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAIN!!!" The trio shouted as they disappeared into the sky.
"Is this going to be a regular thing, Ashlyn?" May asked.
"I hope not." Ashlyn replied.
"Ashlyn, do you know those three?" Caroline questioned.
"Unfortunately, I do. They're Team Rocket." Ashlyn answered.
"Team Rocket?" Norman asked.
"They're a criminal organization who steal Pokémon and use them for their own evil deeds." Ashlyn replied.
Caroline gasped, "How awful!"
"Agreed." Ashlyn agreed.
"But why were they here?" Max asked.
"Probably to steal my Pokémon along with Norman's too." Ashlyn replied.
"Then I guess it was a good thing you were here." Caroline said.
Ashlyn nodded, "Yeah."
"Ashlyn." Norman said and Ashlyn turned to him, "I was pretty amazed by our battle today. You have some pretty strong Pokémon on your team, and I can tell that they care about you very much."
"Thanks, Norman." Ashlyn smiled.
"As gym leader of the Petalburg gym, I present you the Balance Badge." Norman held out a badge to Ashlyn. It's shaped like two circles, counterbalancing each other or a barbell.
Ashlyn bowed slightly in thanks, "Thank you, Norman." She gently takes the badge.
"Alright! We got the Balance badge!" Ashlyn posed with Pokémon.
"Raichu! (Badge number one!)" Tesla cheered.
Talos grunted happily.
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Ashlyn and May decided to stay at May's house for the night. Norman and Ashlyn made a stop at the Pokémon Center to heal their Pokémon. While waiting, Norman had given her a badge case. When their Pokémon were healed, they headed back to the gym.
At the moment, Max asked Ashlyn and May if he could see their other Pokémon as they brought out dinner.
"No way! Latias and Latios!" Max beamed with excitement when he saw the Eon Pokémon duo.
The two turned invisible at Max's voice.
"Hey! Where did they go?" Max looked around.
"Latias and Latios are able to turn invisible when they want to." Ashlyn explained, "I think you might have scared them a little."
"I'm sorry, Latias, Latios. It's just not every day you get to see legendary Pokémon." Max apologized gently.
Latias and Latios became visible once again, but they stayed near Ashlyn as she handed a bowl of Pokémon food to them, Tesla, Mystique, Ringo, Iroh, Comet, Romulus, Lela, Finn, Hestia, and Talos. Then she sat down with her Pokémon egg in her lap.
"You even have a Pokémon egg too." Caroline smiled.
"Yup. I'm excited to see what Pokémon will hatch from it." Ashlyn smiled back as she gently rubs the egg.
"So what are your other Pokémon?" Max asked, sitting next to Ashlyn and Tesla.
Ashlyn took out her Rotom phone and scanned Mystique:
[Inteleon, the Secret Agent Pokémon. Inteleon has many capabilities hidden all over its body. It can shoot water from its fingers and glide using a membrane on its back.]
"A secret agent, huh?" Max blinked.
Ashlyn scanned Ringo:
[Rillaboom, the Drummer Pokémon. By drumming, it taps into the power of its special tree stump. The roots of the stump follow its direction in battle.]
"Interesting." Norman commented.
Ashlyn scanned Iroh and Romulus:
[Kommo-o, the Scaly Pokémon. When it spots enemies, it threatens them by jingling the scales on its tail. Weak opponents will crack and flee in panic.]
[Lycanroc, the Wolf Pokémon. Dusk Form. This form of Lycanroc is normally calm and quiet. Once a battle begins, however, this Pokémon displays a ferocious fighting spirit.]
"Mystique and Ringo are Galar Region Pokémon while Romulus and Iroh are from the Alola Region." Ashlyn explained.
"Wow." Max said, awed.
"Where did you get that Azurill, May?" Caroline asked.
"Oh, well, Ashlyn helped me catch Azurill." May replied, sheepishly.
Max sighed in disappointment, "I should have known."
An irk mark appeared on May's forehead, "Why you!" She growled as she clenched her fist in front of her.
"Ashlyn, I've been wondering, what kind of Pokémon is Talos? From what I've read, there isn't any Pokémon that's similar to Talos." Max inquired, looking at Talos, who was eating his Pokémon food.
Ashlyn smiled sadly at Talos, "Talos was biologically created."
"Biologically created?" Max asked, curious and shocked.
Ashlyn explained the reason why Talos was created in the first place, and how he ended up in her care.
"Poor thing. I can't imagine what he has gone through." Caroline said, sadly.
"By the way, what do those disks do?" May asked.
"Oh, this is the RKS. These disks can change Talos's Pokémon type." Ashlyn replied.
"For real?!" Max exclaimed in shock.
Ashlyn nodded, "Yes. This is part of Talos's power."
"That's so cool!" Max squealed with excitement.
Ashlyn, Norman, and Caroline chuckled at Max's expression.
Soon enough, it was time for bed and all the residents went to their beds.
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It was the next day, Ashlyn and May were heading out to the next gym. Just when they were about to leave, Max announced that he was going with them as well. Norman agreed to it because it would help Max gain experience if he wanted to become the future gym leader. Norman had also given Max a PokéNav to use for their journey.
"Oh Max, I believe that Ashlyn has something for you." Norman said.
"Really? What?" Max questioned excitedly.
Ashlyn held out a Pokéball to Max who gently took it.
"A Pokémon for me?" Max asked with shock.
Ashlyn nodded, "Yes, I talked with your parents last night and I believe it would be alright for you to have a Pokémon friend with you on our journey and one who will protect you as well." She explained.
"What kind of Pokémon?" Max asked, curious.
"Why don't you let it out and see?" Ashlyn suggested.
Max released the Pokémon from the Pokéball which revealed to be a male Eevee.
"Wow! An Eevee!" Max smiled.
Eevee jumped into Max's arms and nuzzled against his cheek.
"I already like him." Max said as he held Eevee. Then he noticed Eevee's collar had a grey stone attached, "Is this an Everstone?"
"An Everstone?" May asked.
"It's a type of stone that prevents Pokémon from evolving." Ashlyn replied, "Will you still accept him if he doesn't want to evolve?"
"Of course I will! He's now my new friend!" Max smiled.
"Eevui!" Eevee trilled.
Ashlyn, May, Norman, and Caroline smiled.
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Ashlyn, May, and Max are now heading out to Rustboro City where Ashlyn's next gym battle awaits.
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Pokémon Caught: Pokémon Egg, Poochyena (Lela)(F), Mudkip (Finn)(M), Shiny Torchic (Hestia)(F)
