Hi, guy, finals is coming up, so I used most of my free time to study.  Hope you enjoy.

Double Trouble

So after some hugging and fire blasts, Ash finally got the idea it is best to let Charizard to stay in his Poke-Ball for a while.  Meanwhile, Ritchie comes back with Sparky.

"Ash, so are you ready to get that Rising Badge?" Ritchie said with determination.

"Yeah!"

They slowly follow the map which Ritchie holds, and they arrive at tall tower.  There are a total of five floors. There are also two huge Dragonite statues, one on the left of the tower, and the other on the right.  A long Dragonair uses its long body to wrap around the tower from the fifth floor to the first floor.

"Wow!  This tower is huge!" Ash exclaim.

"Lets go in."  Ritchie said.

They walk through the wooden doors, and there is an arena.  At the other side of the arena, two teens stands there with their arms crossed, asks with interests, "Are you challengers?"

"Yes, we are.  I am Ash from Pallet Town and this is my friend Ritchie, we are challenging you two so we can advance onto the next floor."

The other teen said in a deep voice, "Then get in front of the arena, but don’t get in."

Ash walks in front of the arena as he looks at Misty, she is looking at him.  After both Ash and Ritchie are in front of the arena, the judge press a button on the remote control, an electrical barrier surrounds the arena.

"Wha!" Ash yell as he loss control and fall onto the barrier, to his surprise, he didn’t get zapped.

"What is the barrier for?"  Ritchie asks the judge with suspicion.

"The battle held on this tower can be very dangerous when Pokemon uses powerful attacks, we don’t want the trainers to get hurt as well.  This is a two-on-two battle, no trainer may switch Pokemon during the battle, when both of the Pokemon are knock out from one side, the other side wins.  There is no time limit, let the battle begin!"

"Dratini, go!"     

"You too, Dragonair!" The guy with a deep voice said.

"Tini!"

"Nair!"

"Happy you’re up!" Ritchie sends up his Butterfree.

"Bayleaf, I choose you!"

"Butterfree!"

"Bay, Bay!"

The four Pokemon takes their fighting stance, waiting for their trainers’ commands.

"Bayleaf, Vine Whip!" Ash decides he will make the first move.

"Happy, use Stun Spore."

"Dratini, get in front of Dragonair and use Flame Thrower on the Stun Spore and use Light Screen!"

"Dragonair, Hyper Beam!"  The guy with the deep voice commands.

The orange powder zoom across the arena but its burned to nothing by the Flame Thrower, while the Vine Whip and blocked by a light barrier and had no effect at all.  While this is happening, the Dragonair had already charged up a Hyper Beam.

"Fire Hyper Beam, now!"

"Dodge it!" Ash and Ritchie yells at the same time.

Bayleaf jumps to the side and Butterfree flies above the beam.  The beam went pass the Pokemon, and straight toward Ash and Ritchie.  Ritchie acts fast and dives toward to side.  Misty watches in horror as the Hyper Beam heading straight toward Ash.  "NO!" Misty screams.  "Wa!" Ash puts his hands on his head to protect himself, and he thought this is the end.  To everybody’s surprise, the Hyper Beam is stopped an inch away from Ash by the electrical barrier.  So it is like the Light Screen blocks the Vine Whip; it had no effects what so ever.

Misty runs up to Ash, even though Ash is not hurt, Misty is still worried about him. "You okay, Ash?" Misty asks with a shaky voice.

"I am good, thanks for asking.  I can’t believe I forgot all about that electrical barrier." He then turns to Ritchie, "If we just keep attacking like this, we are going to lose, I think we can only win by fighting as a team."

"Good idea." Ritchie said as he exams the situation of the battle.

"Vine Whip the Dratini."

"Light Screen, fast!"

The Dratini uses its horn to casts out a barrier before it once again, Happy responses with a full speed Take Down.  Happy passes right through the Light Screen with ease and knocks Dratini hard.  The Light Screen had no effect on Happy’s Take Down so Happy was able to go through the defending barrier. The tiny dragon can’t take anymore and falls down.  Ash signals a ‘thanks’ with a thumb up.

"Watch out!  It’s another Hyper Beam!" Ritchie warns Ash.

Ash turns and faces the Hyper Beam.  I am ready for this one. "Bayleaf, jump above the Hyper Beam and use Body Slam on Dragonair!"

"Bay!" (Okay!)

The Hyper Beam is speeding toward Bayleaf when he sends out his vines and slam on the floor, and using that force, Bayleaf jumps high above the beam.  Then Bayleaf starts to falls down with incredible fore and collides with Dragonair.  Dragonair got knock out after that strong attack by Bayleaf.

"Both Dragonair and Dratini is unable to battle.  This match goes to Ash and Ritchie.  You may advance to the next floor."

Ash, Misty, and Ritchie goes up the stair and steps on the next floor.  No surprise, there is another arena, but this arena on a pool, so it should be a Water battle.

"Looks like you two lucked pass our boyfriends on the first floor. This is Mandy and I am Annie, we will be your next opponent." A girl said with arrogance, the other girl had her arms crossed.

"This is a two-on-two battle, no trainer may switch Pokemon during the battle, when both of the Pokemon are knock out from one side, the other side wins.  There is no time limit, let the battle begin!"

"Looks like it will be an easy battle with my Pikachu." Ash said determinedly.

"And I will heat the battle up with my Sparky."

"Pika pika chu pika." (Let’s fried some fish)

"Chu pika." (You’re on)

Both Pikachu jumps into the cool water.

"Gyarados, I choose you!" Annie throws a Lure Ball toward the pool.

"Lanturn, go!" Mandy also throws a Lure Ball into the pool.

"Lanturn, huh?  I don’t know it was a Dragon Pokemon." Ash asks Misty.

"It isn’t, but is a strong Water and Electric type."

The judge pushes the remote control button and an electrical barrier forms around the arena.

"This is going to easy, Thunder Bolt."

"You too, Sparky."

Both Pikachu sends out sparks of electricity form their cheeks, and since water conduct electricity, the Pikachu don’t have to aim at all. 

"Lanturn, absorb all the electricity!" Mandy commands.

"Gyarados, jump out of the water just in case, and use Bubble Beam while you are in the air."

Lanturn instantly absorbs the electricity, and Gyarados leaps form the pool and sends out a thick layer of bubbles, straight toward the two Pikachu.

"Grr. Dive under water." Ritchie growls.

"Ah, you too, Pikachu." 

The two Pikachu took a deep breath and swarm down, after a while, they resurfaces, and fine themselves in front of Gyarados’ scary eyes.

"Hydro Pump, full power!" Annie yells.

The Gyarados shoots out a high presser water from its scaly mouth, the Hydro Pump carries both of the Pikachu straight toward the barriers and smash them against it.

"Pikachu, are you alright?"

"Sparky, can you still battle?"

"Pikachu chu pika pika pikachu." (Tell us what to do and we will fried the stupid Gyarados)

"What can we do, man?  I am sure Pikachu can’t use Quick Attack on water.  We are toasted." Ritchie asks Ash for help.

"Alright, I will tell Pikachu to use Thunder, and you tell your Sparky to zap the Gyarados when it is up of the water."

"Thunder, now!"

"Gyarados, leap out of the water and use Hydro Pump!"

Gyarados leaps out of the water while Lanturn is draining the electricity in the water.  Gyarados fires a more powerful Hydro Pump than the last due to Pikachu’s comment about Gyarados being stupid.

"Dodge the Hydro Pump and send a Thunder Bolt to Gyarados."

The Hydro Pump misses when Sparky swims to the left and then he sends out a Thunder Bolt, strong enough to knock out the Gyarados.

"One down, one more to go." Ash said, laughing with confidence.

"Its all up to you, Mandy." Annie sighs.

"Full force Take Down that Pikachu!" Mandy yells, pointing at Sparky.

"Hey! Don’t let him have all the fun. Pikachu, Thunder!"

Pikachu charges its electricity from his cheeks and lets out a huge Thunder.  Even though Lanturn is an Electric type, it still gets knock out after a super charged Thunder.

"Both Annie and Mandy’s Pokemon is knocked out, this match goes to Ash and Ritchie.  You may advance up to the next floor." The judge said, removing the electrical barrier.

"Lets go up to the next floor." Ritchie said.

They walk slowly up the stair, once they are on the third floor; they look at the arena with great interest.  The arena is part land, part water.  It is a flat ground with a huge, huge hole in it; inside the hole, there was water.

At the end of the other side of the arena, a boy and a girl stood there, waiting for their next challenger. The boy throws a Poke-Ball on the land part of the arena, and a Dragonair came out.  The girl throws a Lure Ball into the pool, and a Seadra came out.

"Sparky, can you fight another match?" Ritchie asks Sparky.

"How ‘bout you, Pikachu?" Ash asks Pikachu.

Sparky looks at Pikachu, and they both smile. "Pika pi chu!" (Bring it on!)  Both Pikachu enter the arena; the judge then turns on the electrical barrier.

"This is a two-on-two battle, no trainer may switch Pokemon during the battle, when both of the Pokemon are knock out from one side, the other side wins.  There is no time limit, let the battle begin!"

"Thunder Bolt on the Seadra!"

"Sparky, use Thunder Bolt on the Dragonair!"

"Use Light Screen to protect you and Seadra." The boy said calmly.

The electrical attack bounces off the Light Screen and had no effect on any of the Pokemon.

"Retaliate with Slam." The boy said.

"Dodge with Agility!" Ash and Ritchie said the same time.

Dragonair uses its long tail and lashes it down hopping to hit the Pikachu, but the Pikachu zooms out of the way with supersonic speed.

"I was waiting for that move, stop them with a Bubble Beam!" The girl said.

A thick foam of bubbles headed toward the two Pikachu’s way, there is just too much to dodge, the Pikachu get hit big time by the bubbles.  Although the bubbles didn’t do that much of damages, there were lots of them.  After the bubble attack ends, the two Pikachu stands there, waiting for their trainers’ instructions. 

"Pikachu, use Thunder Wave on the Dragonair."

Pikachu stands there and starts to charge electrical energy on his cheeks, and then he lets out a shock of energy.  The energy travels across the arena at hypersonic speed, hitting the Dragonair before it knows it.  The electricity paralyzes the Dragonair; Dragonair tries to fight the force of being paralyzed, but it can’t move a bit.  The Dragonair falls down.

"Sparky, use Thunder!"

"Wait!" The girl shouts, "I rather not see my Seadra gets hurt, I am throwing in the towel!"

"The victory goes to Ash and Ritchie, you may advance to the next floor."   The judge announces.

"That was another easy match, you two were great." Ritchie said to the Pikachu.

The climb the stairs again, they walk to the next floor.  Like the first floor, this arena is just all flat ground, no water at all.  But unlike the first floor, there is only one trainer at the other end of the arena.  The trainer is woman, she looks like she is at her mid-thirties, she had grayish-white hair, and she looks very confidence. 

"Are you two the challenger of this gym?" The woman questions.

"Yes we are, and we will beat you so we can challenge the gym leader on the next floor." Ritchie said.

"Well, if you want to challenge the gym leader, I suggest you just move up to the next floor because I am the gym leader." The woman said.

"You are the gym leader?  What about the trainers on this floor?" Ash asks.

"Well, I think I haven’t introduce myself, I am the gym leader of Blackthorn City gym and my name is Clair.  I only have six apprentices, if you are good enough to beat them; you are worthy enough to challenge me.  Lets go to the next floor."

They are climb the last sets of the stairs, are arriving at the rooftop of the building.  Ash and Misty peers down to the ground from the top and sees a crowd of people looking up, some are pointing at them as they stick their heads out.

"What are the people doing down there?"  Misty asks the gym leader.

"Well, you are the only few trainer that manager to pass all my apprentices, and the people down there are watching battle.  They are the citizens of Blackthorn City, and they have always enjoyed watching challenger battling me.  Come on, lets get the party started."

Ash, Ritchie, and Misty can hear the cheering citizens of Blackthorn City, and that gave the trainer the confidence and the determination they need.

The trainer takes their stance, the gym leader then speaks again.  "The rules of this match is a little bit different for me.  I could send out two Pokemon instead of one because I don’t have a partner."

"That’s fine." Ritchie said.

"Poke-Ball go!" Ash and Ritchie throws their Poke-Ball the same time.  The white flash of light forms, and an orange dragon with wide wings came out of each Poke-Ball.

"Whoa. Two Charizard, this is going to be hard. Kingdra, Dragonite go!"  Clair throws a Lure ball, and a Friend Ball.  The Kingdra came out of the Lure Ball, and Dragonite emerges from the Friend Ball.

"I thought your Charizard doesn’t obey you." Ritchie whispers to Ash, remembering the Charizard back in the Kanto Pokemon League. Ritchie had defeated Ash on the fifth round because his Charizard didn’t listen to Ash.

"Now he does." Ash said proudly, smiling at Misty.  Misty smiles warmly back, remembering how Ash melted the ice on Charizard back in the Orange Islands and gaining Charizard’s respect.

"This is a two-on-two battle, no trainer may switch Pokemon during the battle, when both of the Pokemon are knock out from one side, the other side wins.  Two Rising Badge is at stake.  There is no time limit, let the battle begin!"

"Take flight, my friend." The Dragonite flaps its strong wings very fast, creating a wind strong enough to make the small Pikachu flying. It flaps faster and faster and slowly it rises to the sky.

"Kingdra, Hydro Pump. Dragonite, support with Water Gun." Clair commands calmly.

Kingdra shoots out a spiral of what, Dragonite sends down a jet of water from its mouth.  The two Charizard stand firmly, waiting for their commands.

"Charizard, fly up and dodge it." Ash cries.

"Zippo, use Flame Wheel and charge straight through the water." Ritchie said.

Ash’s Charizard dodges the water easily, while Zippo surrounds itself with red, hot flames and charges straight for Kingdra.  The Hydro Pump and the Flame Wheel canceled out, and Zippo is flying toward Kingdra in an incredible speed.

"Help Kingdra out, fire Hyper Beam toward that Charizard." Clair points at Zippo.

"Oh no you don’t, Charizard, counter with your Hyper Beam!" Ash shouts. Charizard flows at mid-air, looking up at the Dragonite.  The two dragon Pokemon narrows their eyes and growls at each other.  They both open their mouth and start to absorb power.  An orange beam forms and they both fires it at the same time.  The beams collides at mid-air and creates huge explosion.  The explosion threw Charizard down to the ground, hitting it hard.  The black smoke covers the whole arena, and the citizens gasped when the beam collided.  Everybody is waiting for the thick smoke to clear, they wait…

Zippo shot out of the black smoke like a rocket and flies straight toward the blinding sun, in its hand, a struggling Kingdra is held firmly.

"Good work Zippo! Now Seismic Toss!" Ritchie yells to his Zippo with all his might.

"Grr. Dragonite, use Whirl Wind to blow away the smoke."  Clair commands.  The Dragonite flaps its wings hard and fast, blowing the smoke away.  Ash can see his Charizard is okay, at least Charizard is standing up.  Charizard may have taken some damage, but not enough to knock him out.

Everybody’s attentions turned toward Zippo as it flies in circular motion high in the sky, causing Kingdra dizziness, then Zippo throws Kingdra down with all its might.  Kingdra regained conscience when its falling down. "Catch Kingdra!" Clair shouts.

"I don’t think so. Slash!" Ash yells.

"Fend him off, Dragonite!  Kingdra, full power Water Gun toward the ground." Clair said.

The citizens gasped at the daring task to stop gravity with a Water Gun.  The Kingdra points its mouth toward the floor, inhales a great deal of oxygen, and then lets out a gigantic blast of water from its mouth.  The water reaches down to ground, Kingdra begin to fall slower and slower. 

"Hyper Beam on Kingdra, Zippo!" Ritchie yells toward the sky.  Seconds later, an orange beam strikes dead on with Kingdra. "One down."

"Charizard, Fire Spin!"

"Twister!"

The tornado of fire meets the tornado of wind, both cancels each other out.  Both Pokemon are exhausted from their attacks, there is only one way to finish this…

"Dragonite, Thunder Punch!"

"Zippo, Fire Punch!"

"Charizard, Fire Spin!"

Dragonite pulls back its left arm, and its fist starts to spark with electricity.  Zippo pulls back its right arm, and its fist has an orange glow.  They both flies toward each other, releasing their punches.  Electricity runs through Zippo as it gets hit, Dragonite’s arm was a little bit longer.  Zippo roars in pain and loses its balance and falls down.  The crowd cheers as Zippo is knock out.

"It’s all up to you now." Ritchie said to Ash. Ash nods.

Ash’s Charizard already fired its Fire Spin, and the boiling hot flame is surrounding Dragonite, Dragonite screams in pain.

"Seismic Toss!" Ash yells.

Charizard flaps his strong wings and flies toward Dragonite; he grabs its arm, and pulls Dragonite toward to sky.  High up in the air, Charizard throws Dragonite down.  Clair watches in horror as the Dragonite came crashing down, and Dragonite stayed down.

"Both Clair’s Dragonite and Kingdra is knocked out, the challengers are the winner." The judge said, pointing at Ash and Ritchie.

Clair walks over to Ash and Ritchie, "I can see you two worked hard to raise your Pokemon, you deserve this badge.  Now you two are qualified to enter the Jotho League." She hands them each a Rising Badge.

Ash and Ritchie beams at each other and exchange high fives.

The two Pikachu and Togepi congratulate Ash and Ritchie.

"Congratulations, Ash." Misty runs up to him, hugs Ash for about a second, and then lets go.  She is blushing like hell.

"Thanks." Ash said, also blushing like to tomorrow.

They both wish they had hugged a little bit longer, like about half hour longer.

"Okay, I know you two are having a moment here, but can we go back to the Pokemon Center now?" Ritchie said sarcastically.

 Ash and Misty gets redder by the second and tells Ritchie to shut up.

"Let’s go." Ritchie said.

They all walk down the staircases and make it down to first floor.  They walk out of the gym and saw the citizens of Blackthorn City clapping for them.  They cheer and whistle.

This lit the smiles on their faces.  They are thanked the citizens and strides proudly back to the Pokemon Center with high spirits. After they heal their Pokemon, Ritchie told them that he had some business to take care of, and he’ll meet Ash and Misty at the Jotho League.

"Come on, lets eat." Misty said, putting down plates of dishes down on the table.  Pokemon Center gives out free food, as long as you are registered Pokemon trainer.

"Now you’re speaking my language." Ash said, helping himself with a hamburger.  Misty laughs and starts to eat her salad. Pikachu and Togepi are back in the room sleeping peacefully, there is a pile of poker around them.

To Be Continoued

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Thanks for reading.