章節 13: Hoenn - Rustboro City

Ash, "So, where to start? Any ideas?"

Ruby, "Start from the top to bottom? I believe there is an elevator for tourists and guests."

Ash, "Hmm... Yeah, I do not expect it to be on top. Too easy. So maybe it's a maze."

Ruby shrugged, "I mean there is no rule against it."

Ash, "True, okay let's take the elevator then."

Lucario, -Meema, wait.-

Ash, "Do you sense something Lucario?"

Lucario tilted his head, -Use your Aura Meema, you will sense them. Their Aura is very strong.-

Diance, "Annnn ~"

Pikachu, "Pika Pika pikapi."

Ruby, "Go on! I will make sure no one sees you."

Ash nodded and closed his eyes sending his Aura out, "Oh! There are multiple levels underground. I was not expecting that."

Ruby, "Hmm... Let's go then. I think my pass should work."

Ash, "Pass? When did you get that?"

Ruby, "A few years ago. Let's see if this still works though. It is possible they upgraded since then."

Ash, "Makes sense. Let's go check it out."

The two started to head downstairs using the stairs to lower the levels which was not in the building plans. From the looks of it, the place was guarded by security and cameras who asked for their IDs and reasoning for being there. When they learned Ash was there for a battle the guards simply nodded and wished them luck in getting to the battle area. That confused Ash a bit but soon learned why, the steps and path was in the shape of a maze and if they took the wrong turn they would face a dead end. It took two hours of moving around the maze and running into at least four dead end before finally coming across a battlefield.

Ash heard clapping, "Who's there?"

Anthony, "You finally found my Gym, good job."

Ruby, "So this is where you moved then? I must say it's not bad."

Anthony, "Thank you, so who wants to go first?"

Ruby, "Go on!"

Ash, "Thank you Ruby. I will challenge you first."

Anthony grinned, "Wonderful! Choose your first Pokemon then. No substitutions allowed. The winner is decided by the last one left standing."

Ash, "Let's go Feraligatr."

Anthony, "Come Poliwrath."

Referee, "The conditions have been set and accepted by both sides. Begin!"

Ash, "Water gun."

Anthony, "Water pulse."

The two water types started to battle and Ash could feel the power coming from both attacks when they collided. That Poliwrath was obviously well trained and very strong, strong enough to rival Roxanne and challenge her position if the rumours about shadow gyms were true. Ash called for aqua tail followed by ice fang, while Poliwrath answered with dynamic punch and ice punch. Ruby was watching the fight with an observant eye from the sidelines, it was very obvious Feraligatr could match Poliwrath with power. The real question however was if the dance loving Pokemon could keep battling for a long time.

Lucario, -It has been ten minutes.-

Diance, "Di."

Ruby, "Ash trained you to last longer in battle than most trainers, didn't he?"

Lucario, -Yes, but I think we fell short this time. Poliwrath does not look tired at all while Feraligatr has started to look drained.-

Ruby, "That's is the Hoenn region's Shadow Gym for you. They were specifically created to last longer during times of war. The old practice has not changed in the last century."

Lucario nodded, -I can respect that actually, I think Meema does too. He loves pushing himself and us to be better and better. There is no such thing as perfection.-

Referee, "Feraligatr is unable to battle. Choose the next Pokemon."

Ash, "Feraligatr, you alright? That was a really strong punch."

Feraligatr nuzzled Ash in an exhausted manner, "Tarrrrrr."

Ash, "Get some sleep sweetheart. You did a great job lastin so long in battle."

Feraligatr cooed as he returned to the pokeball and Ash picked another one which was Meganium this time. Anthony gave an impressed whistle on seeing the grass type with one of the largest petal collars he had seen so far, considering her origin. When Ash had ended up with the trio starters from both regions, it had caused a lot of worry and questions to rise. Either way the fight started again with Meganium using vibe whip and Poliwrath answering with his own mud shot. Despite the type disadvantage Poliwrath stood his ground against Meganium as they battled.

Diance was fascinating, "An ci dia."

Lucario, -Yes, they are really strong, are they not? One day you will be just as strong.-

Ruby, "Have you started training her?"

Lucario, -No, she is still too young but we have been teaching her to use charm, sweet kiss, etc. Plus, Meema insisted she should learn how to read and write first.-

Ruby, "Is that possible?"

Lucario, -Lord Mew has shown an aptitude to being able to read human language. So, yes, it is highly possible.-

Ruby, "I think I will ask Orion if he is interested. That will be some conversation."

Lucario, -Indeed. Diance, no, you must never interrupt a battle.-

Diance nodded looking serious, "An."

Meganium grunted as Poliwrath pushed her back but she was not going down that easily and started to gather all of her strength into one attack. Seeing this Poliwrath also started to gather his attack as well for a really powerful hydro pump which collided with Meganium's solar beam. The resulting blast ended up with both Pokemon being outcold and fainting on the battlefield. The referee called for a change in Pokemon after that and Anthony looked quiet impressed.

Anthony, "Not bad."

Ash, "My Pokemon trained hard. But I guess we still have a long way to go."

Anthony held up a pokeball, "Shall we continue?"

Ash, "Yes, Typholsion you are next."

Anthony, "Go, Torkoal."

Ash's eyes sparkled on seeing the large Torkoal, "Woah! A Torkoal."

Anthony chuckled, "Planning on getting one? I mean, I have always liked Torkoal the best among the fire types in Hoenn so I hope I get one."

Anthony, "Understandable! My buddy has been with me through some really rough times. Now, Torkoal flamethrower."

Ash grinned, "Flame charge Ty."

Typholsion roared as he used flame charge and attack Torkoal who did not back down and was obviously going to be another strong opponent to battle. Typholsion was grinning as he started to fight, and Lucario could not help but snort in amusement on seeing the familiar look on the fire type Pokemon's face. The battle continued with both Pokemon not holding back and throwing fire type attack at each other and facing the attacks head on. The last part made Ash twitch, he had trained Typholsion to dodge attacks but his Pokemon was very stubborn about some things.

Ash, "Typholsion gyro ball."

Anthony, "Torkoal iron defense."

Typholsion attacked as he turned into a ball and Torkoal activated his iron defense against the attack. Ash guided Typholsion through the battle though from time to time the fire type became careless with his defense. Ash sighed, Charizard was not going to be happy once he finds out and he would find out, Lucario did not look too impressed either. Typholsion however was a bit too invested in the thrawl of the battle to notice the look Lucario was sending him but later on he would. The battle soon ended with Typholsion fainting from battling for more than an hour not to forget Ash was starting to sweat because of the heat too.

Referee, "Typholsion is out of the battle. The battle will continue after the intermission."

Anthony, "Let's take a break first."

Ash, "Probably the best idea."

Ruby, "Water?"

Ash, "Thank you."

Anthony took a gulp, "I have to say. I am quite impressed."

Ash, "Hmm? Impressed over what?"

Anthony, "I have heard about the trio and what you are doing to help them."

Ash sighed, "They should not have gone through that in the first place."

Anthony, "Life can be cruel."

Ruby ruffled Ash's hair, "Hey, chin up. The three of them are better now."

Ash, "Ruby! I am already sweaty you know?"

Ruby smirked, "Still like I said chin up. You know they are happy with you. They are able to follow their own dreams and desires."

Ash, "It is the least I can do for them."

Anthony, "Oh? Do tell!"

Ash smiled, "Meganium wants to become one of the best healers in the Jhoto - Kanto region and join Venasaur. Charizard had been aiming to become the Alpha of the Charizard temple. Feraligatr is kind following on his footsteps and want to become the Alpha water Pokemon of Jhoto. Typholsion just like Blastoise want to create his own team of specialized types."

Anthony, "Ah! I have heard of the Blastoise squad from Kanto. They are a pretty impressive group of fire fighters."

Ash, "Yeah, Blastoise really took his job as a disaster manager seriously. I can no longer count how many times he had helped people and Pokemon out of disasters."

Anthony, "You must be proud."

Ash, "More than proud. I am happy and relieved they are able to move on and live a fulfilling life."

Ruby, "You are a real softie, you know that?"

Ash, "I rather be a softie then an arrogant fool."

Anthony laughed, "Ready to get back to battling?"

Ash smirked placing his empty water bottle down, "You bet."

Ruby, "Anthony, I want to battle you too after this."

Anthony nodded grinning as he motioned Ash to join him on the opposite side of the battle field and the fight started again. This time Chimchar appeared ready to fight Torkoal who looked at the active fire monkey in curiosity. Chimchar had an Everstone on his waist like a belt to keep him from evolving which meant he was stronger than he looked. That excited Torkoal a lot and started to get fired up as the battle started with Chimchar using flame wheel while Torkoal used lava plume. The heat was going up again and making the watchers sweat though Lucario used his Aura to keep himself and Diance cool.

Anthony, "Torkoal corner that hyper monkey."

Ash, "Chimchar use acrobatics to avoid getting cornered."

Ruby, "Chimchar is really enjoying this fight."

Lucario, -That is to be expected. Chimchar had been focusing on his agile training and movements. It does not matter how powerful an attack is especially if it can't hit you.-

Ruby, "Smart, I am surprised Typholsion is the opposite."

Lucario, -Meema and Charizard will curb that behavior soon enough.-

Ruby laughed at the disgruntled answer and focused back on the battle where Chimchar took out Torkoal after a gruelling twenty minute battling. The fire monkey was breathing hard after defeating his opponent but he looked very satisfied by his victory none the less. Next Anthony chose his very calm and collected Medicham, it was the battlers that titled the psychic fighter that way after dealing with her. Medicham looked at Chimchar and then took her battle stance ready to fight but the fight did not last long as the fire monkey was already exhausted from dealing with Torkoal.

Ash, "Return thank you buddy. You were awesome. Phantump you are up next."

Phantump, "Phaaaaan."

Anthony, "Oh, he truly is an adorable one."

Ash, "Thank you."

Referee, "Begin!"

Ash, "Wood hammer."

Anthony, "Force palm."

The force palm stopped the wood hammer and honestly their position was pretty impressive to look at. Ash marvelled the position that reminded him of the Tekken games he used to play in his previous life and had a startling realization. He had not thought about his previous life in a while and he was not sure what or how to feel about that fact. Normally something would happen that would trigger his memories but ever since he started writing the story books the triggers lessened. Speaking of books, he wondered how the reception for his new book was going to go, it was horror based in real life.

Ruby, "Phantump sure has gotten bigger than before. He reaches Ash's waist now."

Lucario chuckled, -Meema spoils him.-

Ruby, "Medicham has quite the strong opponent."