Chapter 4 – The Cascade Badge

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Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.

'Please'-Pokédex voice

"Read"-Dialogues

'Review'-Thoughts/Telepathy

"Support"-Announcement

*- Small explanations provided in the author's note.

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Chapter 4 – The Cascade Badge

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Next Day,

Ash woke up early in the morning and made his way to the Pokémon Battle Club, which was situated right behind the Pokémon center. He entered the building and made a beeline to the receptionist and greeted him, "Good morning"

He continued, "My name is Ash and I would like to reserve one of your training rooms for a week"

"There are different types of training rooms available, which one do you want?" the receptionist inquired.

"Can you please show me the available rooms please?" Ash requested.

"Sure" he agreed and took him to the room to the right of the reception desk. He opened the door, revealing that the room had an open ceiling and a wind tunnel and said, "This room is for training Flying-type Pokémon, the wind tunnel can help them improve their stamina and the open ceiling is for gaining experience in aerial battles"

Ash was then led out of the room to the next one, which had a huge swimming pool, and said, "This is the water battlefield that also serves as a training room for Water-type Pokémon, the water is taken from the sea, just like in the Cerulean gym and you can even change the condition of the water, from temperature to the imparting velocity to the water or even induce Whirlpools."

They exited the second room and made their way to the room right next to it and said, "This is the Icy field room, for getting used to battles in the Icy field"

He then finished the tour by pointing to a room at the end of the corridor and said, "That is the elite training area, where all types of Pokémon can be trained simultaneously, other than this, we also have other rooms with specialized battlefields like the Forest field, Dirt field, etc. Which one do you want to reserve?" the receptionist asked Ash, who was speechless seeing the facilities in Battle Club.

"Do you have rooms like this in every city?" Ash asked curiously.

"Only in the cities where the eight main gyms are located" He replied.

"I would like to reserve the water battle arena for the week" Ash replied.

"It would be 500 PokéDollar for the week" the receptionist replied as they walked towards the reception area.

"If you're okay with it, please hand over your Pokédex" the receptionist requested as they reached the front desk.

Ash handed over his Pokédex to the attendant. After scanning the Pokédex and deducting the necessary amount, he reserved the room for Ash and handed the Pokédex back to Ash. He was then led to the training room he requested. The room consisted of a huge rectangular pool that could easily be used by an adult Gyarados, it also consisted of numerous floating platforms, exactly like the battlefield used in league battles.

He then released Tiamat and Ramiel and said, "I'm going to release Abra, he might be disoriented and try to attack us, so be ready"

Both of them nodded and Ash took out the Pokéball containing Abra and released it outside the pool. The Abra stared at him for a while but didn't attack, so, Ash stepped forward and said, "My name is Ash and I caught you yesterday"

'I know you caught me yesterday, otherwise, I wouldn't be here' Ash heard in his head.

"Wow! You must be really strong to have already developed Telepathy" Ash exclaimed in wonder.

'It's a matter of skill rather than strength and my name is Ulick' Ulick replied.

"Ulick, meet Tiamat and Ramiel your teammates," Ash said, introducing his Elekid and Seadra to the Abra, who just nodded.

He continued, "Alright, we are going to prepare for the gym battle against the Cerulean gym which has the same battlefield. Tiamat, we are going to work on your Hydrokinesis; Ramiel, I want you to teach Double Team to Ulick, and once he picks that up, teach him how to generate electricity so that he can learn Charge Beam"

Ramiel and Ulick moved to the side to carry out the orders given by their trainer while Ash and Tiamat made their way to the pool to work on her Hydrokinesis.

"Tiamat, you have good control over water generated by your attacks, the next step is to control water in the pool. If you can master this before the gym battle it will give us a huge advantage." Ash said to Tiamat, who had entered the pool.

He continued, "Try to form a whirlpool using pure water manipulation"

Tiamat nodded and started trying her best to form a whirlpool by spinning the water in the pool. After a few hours of effort, she was finally able to form a small whirlpool.

"Very good" Ash congratulated her and continued, "That is a good start, we will work on it more after lunch after you mastered this exercise, we will try to shape the water to various shapes that you can use in battles"

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Time Skip-1 Week Later

10:00AM

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Ash was extremely happy with his Pokémon, they had worked very hard over the whole week and Ulick had proven himself to be quite talented, managing to learn Double Team, Charge Beam, and even Ice Punch from Ramiel. Moreover, he also helped Ramiel refine Teleport by developing his nascent psychic ability.

Ramiel also managed to develop the combo called Chasing Shock, which he worked out to deal with battles in Water battlefields and the final product was far better than what he had envisioned while coming up with it.

Tiamat also had a very effective week; she had managed to form Whirlpools in the arena in mere seconds and had gotten very skilled in shape manipulation. Most importantly, they also had mock battles in the field to get used to battling in the water battlefield.

After having breakfast, Ash exited the Pokémon center and turned to his right and walked for a few minutes, and found the Cerulean city gym. He quickly entered the gym and made his way to the reception and verified his slot for the gym battle at 10:15 and was directed to the battlefield, where he was supposed to wait for the gym leaders. The room had a huge pool, bigger than the one he used for training in the Battle Club, and had multiple floating platforms. He took one side of the field as instructed by the receptionist.

Cerulean City had one of the most unique gyms in the Kanto region, if not the entire world*. It was the only gym with four official gym leaders and the challenger could choose the battle format and the reward, if he or she wins, depends upon the format of the battle. If a trainer were to choose a straight-up one-one challenge with one of the gym leaders, they would get a gym badge and a TR for Water Pulse. However, if one were to choose the gauntlet challenge and win, they would walk away with the gym badge and a TM of Water Pulse, and a TR of Hydro Pump.

Many trainers avoided the gauntlet challenge because of its special requirement, you need to have at least one water-type Pokémon in your team, as the second battle in the gauntlet is a battle that is to take place only in the water.

After a few minutes of waiting, the door on the other end of the battlefield opened, revealing the four leaders of the gym- Daisy, Violet, Lily, and Misty. The gym leader with blonde hair stepped forward and said, "My name is Daisy and I will be your first opponent"

The other three sat down on the bench behind her and the receptionist, who had taken the spot of the referee and announced, "This is the gauntlet challenge for the Cascade Badge between Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town and the gym leaders of Cerulean City. Each leader will use a single Pokémon and the challenger has to beat all four leaders to obtain the badge. The challenger is allowed to substitute Pokémon at any time during the battle. Let the battle begin"

"Seel, I choose you," Daisy said as she released her Pokémon.

"Let's go, Ramiel," Ash said as he released his Elekid.

"You have got to be kidding me! Another Electric-type!" Daisy shouted in annoyance. She continued, "I know how to deal with you, Seel, Aqua Jet into Drill Run"

The Seel glowed a deep blue and rushed at Ramiel with its whole body spinning clockwise, only for it to be dodged by Elekid with a quick Teleport.

"Don't let it escape you go right after it" Daisy shouted.

"Dodge it and then fire a Charge Beam at it" Ash commanded.

Ramiel dodged it again and then blindsided it from behind with a Charge Beam that knocked it out for good, as it was still surrounded by a veil of water from the Aqua Jet, which made the Seel even weaker to Electric-type attacks.

"Seel is unable to battle, the victory goes to Ash Ketchum" the referee announced.

"Congrats," Daisy said to Ash as she moved towards the bench on their corner. Then, the redhead took the spot opposite Ash and said, "You used type advantage effectively in the battle with my sister, let's see what you can do against me" She continued, "My name is Lily and I will be your next opponent"

The gauntlet challenge was considered difficult for a specific reason- the second battle of the gauntlet, where you had to use a Water-type Pokémon against the gym leader and win. It was because of this reason that most people didn't choose the gauntlet challenge.

"Goldeen, I choose you," Lily said as she released her Pokémon.

"Return Ramiel, Go Tiamat" Ash intoned as he released his next Pokémon.

"You have raised that Seadra very well" She noted and continued, "But let's see if you can hang with me in my wheelhouse. Goldeen Agility into Horn Attack"

"Tiamat, capture it with horizontal Whirlpool" Ash commanded.

The Goldeen rushed at Tiamat, ready to strike the Seadra with its Horn Attack, with its speed boosted by Agility, only to be swallowed by a horizontal Whirlpool which was then raised above the pool.

"Finish it with Dragon Breath, hold it till it faints" Ash commanded with a grin.

The front of the spinning whirlpool opened, revealing a Goldeen swirling around in the enclosed field, the water suddenly stopped spinning and held the Goldeen tightly as it was hit with the purple-colored gust of air exhaled by the Seadra.

Tiamat held the attack for a few seconds and stopped, revealing a knocked-out Goldeen being held by a glob of water.

"Goldeen is unable to battle, the victory goes to Ash Ketchum" the referee announced.

"Well done," Lily said as she moved towards the bench in their corner. By this time, the bluenette took the spot opposite Ash and said, "Most people don't get past the second round and even fewer get past the third, let's see if you can get past me" She continued, "My name is Violet and I will be your next opponent"

"Tentacool, I choose you," Violet said as she released her Pokémon.

"Well done, Tiamat, Return," Ash said as he returned his Pokémon to the Pokéball. He then took out another Pokéball and said, "Let's go, Ulick"

The Abra floated above a platform, ready for his first battle.

"Sticking to the type advantage, eh?" Violet said as she observed the newly released Pokémon.

She then commanded "Tentacool, use Surf and hit it with Poison Jab"

The water slowly rose, lifting the Tentacool up and rushed towards the levitating Abra, intent on taking it out.

"Ulick, levitate higher and use Teleport to get out of the way when the wave is near you"

Ulick rose up and Teleported once the wave got near and managed to avoid the Poison Jab from Tentacool.

"Ulick, Use Charge Beam on the pool" Ash commanded.

Ulick glowed yellow and let loose a condensed beam of electricity into the pool.

"Tentacool, use Protect Bubble" Violet commanded.

The Tentacool was surrounded by a green-colored bubble that shielded it from the electricity, keeping its chances afloat in the battle.

"Now, batter it with Confusion till it's out" Ash commanded, slightly annoyed that the Tentacool escaped the attack.

"Dodge it" Violet commanded.

The Abra let loose a pink wave of psychic energy at Tentacool, who dodged each attack, but soon it was cornered at the right edge of the pool at its trainer's side and was bombarded with Psychic energy that knocked it out.

"Tentacool is unable to battle, the victory goes to Ash Ketchum" the referee announced.

"Well done, you used the structure of the battlefield to win the battle. There is only one thing I want to say before your battle with Misty, keep an eye on how much you strain your Pokémon, that Abra is absolutely exhausted from the stunt you just pulled" Violet said once the battle was over.

And sure enough, Ulick was panting deeply as he sat on one of the platforms.

She continued, "All the best for your next battle, you're gonna need it" and made her way to the bench at their corner as her sister took her spot.

"My name is Misty and I will be your final opponent and I have to say none of us expected anyone to go for the gauntlet challenge this early in the season and actually make it to the last battle. Let's see if you got what it takes to beat me"

"Starmie, I choose you," Misty said as she released her Pokémon.

"Return Ulick, go Tiamat," Ash said as he released his strongest Pokémon.

"Starmie, use Thunderbolt" Misty commanded confidently. The Starmie glowed bright yellow and let loose a powerful bolt of electricity at the Seadra.

As the Starmie glowed yellow, Ash commanded, "Tiamat, disperse it with Twister and catch that Starmie"

A purple-tinted twister composed of Draconic energy, let loose by Tiamat dispersed the electric attack and pushed Starmie back, leaving it with light scratches all over its body, and then, thin tendrils of water rose from the pool and bound its edges.

"Break out and hit it with Rapid Spin" Misty commanded.

The Starmie glowed a light pink color, breaking free from its constraints, and rushed towards the Seadra, spinning at high speed, only for Tiamat to lower her head, causing the Starmie to be pierced by one of Tiamat's dorsal fins.

"Starmie use Thunderbolt" Misty commanded, gritting her teeth at the unexpected turn of events.

"Tiamat use Twister to launch it up and follow it with Signal Beam" Ash quickly interjected.

The Starmie let loose a Thunderbolt attack that made the Seadra spasm in pain, make her unable to follow the command of her trainer.

"Keep it up till it's out cold" Misty commanded coldly.

Ash watched on in anger, unable to act, as his Pokémon was being electrocuted by the Thunderbolt attack.

"Seadra is unable to battle, the victory goes to Misty" the referee announced as Tiamat fainted from the sustained Thunderbolt attack.

"You were amazing Tiamat, Return," Ash said as he returned his knocked-out Pokémon into her Pokéball.

"Let's finish this, Ramiel" Ash said as he released his final Pokémon.

"Starmie, use Power Gem" Misty commanded.

Starmie let loose a sparkling ray of light that shone as if it were made of gemstones at Ramiel, only for it to be dodged by a quick Teleport.

"Ramiel, use Chasing Shock" Ash commanded.

Ramiel let loose a veritable storm of white-colored stars towards the floating Starmie and followed it with a multipronged Thunder Shock that bounced from one star to the next as they rushed towards the Starmie, with each star imparted with an electric charge.

"Use Teleport to dodge" Misty commanded.

The Starmie blinked out of existence as the stars drew nearer, only to see the next storm of stars rushing towards it, which too was dodged by using Teleport.

The game of cat and mouse continued until the Starmie fainted after a Teleport.

"Starmie is unable to battle, the victory goes to Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town" the referee announced with confusion evident in her tone.

"What? How?" Misty shouted in disbelief.

"Tiamat has the ability Poison Point and her dorsal fins exude venom, your Starmie impaled itself on her fins when it hit that Rapid Spin attack. We just kept you out of balance to prevent you from noticing the venom slowly taking effect" Ash said to her as he returned Ramiel to his Pokéball.

"Unbelievable, how did I miss that" Misty muttered to herself in shock as she pocketed the Pokéball in her hand.

Her sister Daisy stepped forward and said, "Congrats on your victory, Ash. Here's the Cascade Badge" as she handed over the badge to Ash, who quickly put it away into the badge case inside his bag.

Lily then stepped forward and said, "Here you go, the TM for Water Pulse for overcoming the gauntlet challenge" as she handed over a disk to Ash. She then explained, "It's a very useful move that sometimes can confuse your opponent if it makes contact, you won't believe how many times its secondary effect has changed the course of a battle, especially in the league tournament. Especially as people value power over basic status effects in competitive battles"

Once she said her piece, Violet stepped forward and said, "Your final reward for beating the gym, the TR for Hydro Pump, one of the strongest Water-type attacks" and she handed over the disk to Ash, who put away both disks into the TM case in his bag.

Finally, Misty stepped forward and said, "I think I will never forget this battle, especially with the stunts you pulled during the entire challenge and I'm really impressed with your Seadra."

She continued, "Your winnings will be transferred to your account within an hour and If you need any advice on training your Seadra or any other Water-type, please don't hesitate to contact the gym."

"Thank you, I will" Ash replied as he accepted the business card from Misty.

He was then led to the reception area by the referee and exited the gym, intent on reaching the Pokémon center for healing his Pokémon.

After leaving his Pokémon with Nurse Joy, Ash made his way to the PokéMart, intent on buying supplies for the next week, as he planned to leave for Rock Tunnel early in the morning.

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Ash's Pokemon

1.Tiamat (Seadra)

2.Ramiel (Elekid)

3.Abra (Ulick)

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Author's Note

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*-I think it's the only gym with 4 leaders, let me know if I'm wrong.

This is my fifth attempt at this chapter, let me know if it's good.

What did you think of the gym battle? Should I make each battle unique (If possible) or should I stick to normal battles?

What did you think about the combo?

If you need some clarification about something, leave a comment and I'll get back to you in the next chapter.

I hope all of you enjoyed the chapter, let me know what you thought of this chapter in your comments.

You can support me on https://www.patreon.com/sandboxcreations

Ace and Gym Leader tiers can access Chapter 5 on Patreon.

Thank you.

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