CHAPTER 34 – VS ERIKA (PART ONE) (Fixed)

In the previous chapter we see how Ash and the girls get the poison from Shiinotic and deliver it directly to Erika, who gives it to her mother as soon as she arrives, curing her completely, Erika, grateful tells them that tomorrow she would have the gym battle they deserved, although our heroes said they would give them a few days for their mother to recover, Erika refused saying that her mother could do with clearing, so in the end, our heroes could compete for the 4th badge.

With Ash.

The night before our gym battle Professor Cerise called the Rotom Dex, I was not very amused, I was sleepy and wanted to go to sleep, but it is rude not to answer so I did, obviously the girls were next door.

"Good evening" - said Professor Cerise.

"Good evening, I hope it's important, tomorrow we will have our gym battle and we are quite tired" – I said yawning.

"Yes, yes, I understand, I wouldn't call if it wasn't important" - he nodded.

"Dad, couldn't I wait until tomorrow?" - asked Koharu sleepily.

"Oh, hello Koharu, I couldn't wait to break the news to you" - said the Professor.

"What news?" – I asked curiously.

"You see, we have almost located the Latios and Latias that I told you some time ago" - he explained.

"Really, where are they? - Nancy asked curiously.

"We have located them in a city called Alto Mare City, a city located north of Johto, specifically to the north" - he replied.

"Do you want us to go there after the gym?" – I asked curiously.

"No, not yet, we are waiting for the right moment, we have reasons to believe that Team Rocket is following the same track as us, but for some unknown reason they have not yet made their move" - he denied.

"But I don't understand, why don't we go?" – Verity said confused.

"Easy, let's wait for Team Rocket to make their move, if they do, you can scare them away, we don't know their plans after all" - replied the professor.

"And he couldn't have informed us of this tomorrow? I mean, it's not like they've made the move yet" - I said, raising an eyebrow.

"Hahaha, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I know you're tired, but I found this out just an hour ago, I also wanted to wait, but I couldn't stand my desire to tell you now, come on, I let you sleep peacefully and good luck for tomorrow" – he said and then hung up.

"Your father..." – I said looking at Koharu.

"It's silly, I know, next time you see it you'll see" – Koharu nodded.

And, after this, we went to sleep.

…

The next morning.

As it was routine, we got up, showered and had breakfast, then went straight to the gym, where Luciana was waiting at the door.

"Come by, Erika already told me everything that happened and I also thank them" – he smiled.

"It was nothing" - I said.

After that we went to the battlefield where Erika, Wendy and their mother, in a wheelchair were waiting for us.

"Good morning, how did you sleep?" - asked Erika with a smile.

"Perfectly" - Nancy said.

The rest of us agreed with her, although we would have slept longer if the teacher had not interrupted us, but oh well.

"Good morning!" - said Wendy almost shouting.

"Good morning to you too" - I said.

"I don't want to interrupt your conversation, but I have a question, have you already fought Surge?" - asked Erika.

"Yes, why do you say so?" – Verity nodded.

"Because I understand that it does not allow you to see other opponents see their fight, as for me, that does not matter to me, observing your opponent can make you learn from their mistakes and even your own, so, if you want to stay, for my part it is fine" – explained Erika.

"If so I would like to stay, last time it was very boring" – Nancy nodded.

"Exactly, that thing of having to wait outside, I don't like that gym" – agreed Verity.

"Haha, although it may not seem like it, most of the challengers who come to challenge me after challenging Surge say exactly the same or something very similar since many of them travel with their companions" – laughed Erika slightly.

After asking Erika's mother her condition, we proceeded to place ourselves in our posts, in the end, they decided that in all the gyms I would be the first to fight, so I will not mention this again.

"Well, according to the new regulations of the Indigo League, the battles will be made of 3 vs 3, in this gym the minimum number of Pokémon to be able to fight is 5, since the challenger meets the conditions, the rules are as follows, as I said before, it will be a 3 vs 3, the first to weaken the opponent's Pokémon, win, you can start!" – said Luciana.

"Tangela, it's your turn!" – said Erika taking out her Pokémon.

And a Tangela came out of his Pokéball, ugghh, the truth is that I do not like this Pokémon too much, but, anyway, let's start.

"Sprigatito, I choose you!"

Sprigatito stepped out of his Pokéball and looked at Tangela with a defiant look.

"With what a battle between Plant type? I like your idea, Energy Ball!"

A green ball shot out towards Sprigatito.

"Contrast it with Leafage!"

As planned, when both attacks collided, they destroyed each other.

"Acid Spray!"

"Skip it and use Acrobatics!"

Exactly, the attack we were practicing was Acrobatics, although I did not remember much about the attacks that this Pokémon could learn, if I remembered this one in particular.

Sprigatito dodged Tanmala's attack and a bluish glow enveloped his body and hit Tangela, who took a lot of damage from the blow.

"I underestimated you, but it won't happen again, use Energy Ball!"

"Leafage!"

But this time the Energibola hit the ground causing a smoke screen.

"That one I didn't expect!"

"Acid Spray!"

As I could not come from where I came, I did not react in time and the Acid Spray hit Sprigatito making it back and receiving quite considerable damage, we are talking about the 4th gym, although it is a Tangela and not its evolution, my Sprigatito is still its first evolutionary phase.

"Are you okay?" – I asked.

Sprigatito nodded.

"Then let's show them what we're worth, Acrobatics!"

"Acid Spray!"

Both attacks collided causing the one that came out most damaged was Sprigatito who had been thrown backwards.

"You are strong, but it will take more than that to beat us" - said Erika.

"So!" – nodded Tangela.

"Hehe, we'll see, Acrobatics!"

"It won't work for you, Acid Spray!"

Again both attacks were going to collide, but that was not my goal.

"Jump, now!"

"What?"

That's right, I used the momentum caused by Acrobatics to dodge the Acid Spray and take advantage of Sprigatito arriving in front of Tangela, which is exactly what happened.

"Acrobatics!"

"¡Energy Ball!"

Tangela wanted to charge her attack, but this time Sprigatito was faster and hit the Acrobatics directly on Tangela, sending him flying and weakening him.

"Tangela can't continue, Sprigatito wins!" – Luciana said.

Erika returned her Pokémon to the Pokéball and thanked him, but just then, a light enveloped Sprigatito, a light he had been dreaming about for weeks, that's right, finally, after all our training, it was time for evolution to...

"Floragato, what envy, I really like that Pokémon!" – exclaimed Erika enviously.

"Floragato data has been recorded in the Pokédex!" – and that was the Rotom Dex.

Everyone in the stands was also surprised by the sudden evolution, some may think that it evolved early, but the reality is that it took us weeks of training, obviously nothing forced, we only trained for a while, but that time was intense and all that effort in the end had its reward, it should be said that the competitive spirit of Floragato also had something to do with it.

"Well done Floragato!" – I said with a smile.

"Flora!" - said Floragato with a smile.

"Although it has evolved does not mean that you have the victories, let's raise the level a little, let's go Victreebel!"

A huge Victreebel came out of his Pokéball and looked menacingly at Floragato who was also looking seriously at him.

"Let's not waste time, Acrobatics!"

Floragato shot towards Victreebel at enormous speed and hit the Acrobat directly at him.

"Grab it!"

Victreebel listened to Erika and wrapped her huge leaves around Floragato.

"Try to escape!"

But it was useless, no matter how much he squirmed, Victreebel wouldn't let go.

"Finish it, Sludge Bomb!"

"No, skip it!"

But it was useless, Victreebel had it so gripped that he could not dodge the blow and was knocked to the ground by his attack and that together with the fact that he had already suffered damage before against Tangela, made him fall weakened.

"Floragato can't keep fighting, Victreebel wins!" – Luciana announced.

Then I simply took out my Pokéball and returned it to her.

"You have done excellent, our training paid off without a doubt, you deserve a break" – I said with a smile.

Then I took my other Pokéball out of the belt and smiled.

"As you said, let's raise the level a little, Phione, beautiful, it's your turn, let's show who are the strongest!" – I said throwing the Phione Pokéball.

Phione came out of it and smiled at me as she raised her small hand.

"What a cute, I want one too!, What if you later tell me where you got it?" – said Erika with stars in her eyes.

"Secret" - I said.

"I'll find out, but for now... let's get started, Victreebel uses Sludge Bomb!"

But I just smiled.

"¡Dodge it!"

When the Sludge Bomb was about to hit Phione, she dodged it with a graceful turn, not even seeming to flinch.

"How did he do it?" – Erika asked bewildered.

"Because it's strong, use Water Pulse!"

"Disintegrate the attack with Energy Ball!"

Both attacks collided and nullified each other, but it was precisely what he expected as Phione had already gotten close enough to Victreebel to launch an attack.

"That won't work for you, grab it!"

"Use your float!"

Phione nodded and slightly inflated her float levitating a little, but it was enough that Victreebel couldn't grab it.

"Could I do that?" – exclaimed Erika in surprise.

"That and much more, come on Phione, use Ice Beam!"

Phione charged an Ice Beam that Victreebel could not dodge being sent to fly, he did not fall weakened, but almost, he was very scratched.

"Can you continue Victreebel?" asked Erika.

But Victreebel did not answer, not because he did not want to, but because at that moment, he fell weakened to the ground.

"Victreebel can't keep fighting, Phione wins!" – said Luciana.

"Ha, you are really strong" – sighed Erika as she returned Victreebel to her Pokéball and thanked him.

"Phione, you come back too," I said.

"Phi" – asintió Phione.

And after thanking and congratulating her, I sent her to her Pokéball.

"Aren't you going to stick with her?" – asked Erika confused.

"No, I want to leave my best friend's turn, we have to improve after all, right?" – I said looking at Pikachu on the ground.

"Pika pi" – Pikachu nodded.

"I see, but I won't make it easy, Vileplume, I'll choose you!" – said Erika taking out her last Pokémon.

"Pikachu, let's show who are the strongest, I choose you!" – I said looking at Pikachu with a smile.

"Pika pi!" – Pikachu nodded as he stepped out onto the battlefield.

"Let's get started, use Sludge Bomb!"

"Counter it with Iron Tail, and then use Quick Attack!"

Pikachu nodded and used Iron Tail against the Sludge Bomb, completely disintegrating it, then used Quick Attack.

"Nothing of that, turn on yourself and use Poison Powder!"

"Pikachu, stop!"

But it was too late, although the Rapid Attack impacted, Pikachu was poisoned by the Poison Dust falling poisoned.

"Pika Pi" – Pikachu said staggering.

Shit, I didn't take into account the Poison Powder, it's my fault.

"Are you okay Pikachu, do you need to rest?" – I asked worriedly.

But Pikachu shook his head and looked at me confidently.

"Okay, I understand, but don't force yourself," I said.

"Pika pi" – Pikachu nodded.

"Then let's go again, Quick Attack!"

"Not bad, now that he is poisoned he won't be able to do it again, but it doesn't mean that we don't have more countermeasures, use Petal Dance!"

Some flowers began to surround Vileplume who also wrapped himself with a green aura and threw himself towards Pikachu.

Both attacks hit, but the Petal Dance appeared to be stronger and sent Pikachu flying.