Hi! Shadow here! Do you like the fic? I hope you do! It’s a revised version, so I hope its better than the original!

Episode 6: In which tempers clash and battles are fought

Ash was already there when Gary arrived, dressed in dark clothes but still wearing that scruffy old League cap of his. Honestly! The guy had no fashion sense. However, he looked deadly calm, compared to Gary’s nervous excitement.

“Well? Are you ready?” Gary asked, seeing Ash looked disinterested.

Ash raised a single eyebrow. “You did challenge me, right? So let’s get started!” He beamed at Gary brightly as he pulled a blue-and-white great ball out of his pocket.

“All right! Go, Pidgeot!” Gary said, sending out his standard starter pokemon. It was one of the best on his team, and he could usually take out his opponent easily. However, Ash didn’t look surprised at all.

“Trainers usually have at least one flying type for travel reasons. I think this will do. Storm, I choose you!” Ash said. Outside of magic training and pokemon training, he acted like a kid, but he slipped into a serious mode whenever he trained.

Gary stared as an elegant Dragonair materialized in front of him. However, he wasn’t daunted for long. “Pidgeot, use Wing Attack!”

“Dragonair, Thunderbolt!” Ash shouted. Dragonair nodded her head and charged up, golden sparks shooting from her horn and surrounding Pidgeot, which cawed weakly before falling to the ground, stunned.

Gary scowled. Pidgeot by itself was usually good enough to take on all the others! “Very well then, since you went for type advantage, I’ll do the same. Jynx, I choose you!”

“Fire Blast.” Ash said simply, before a stream of flames surrounded the Jynx, knocking it out instantly. However, Dragonair was starting to look nervous. He soothingly wrapped a cocoon of magic energy around her to calm her down. She visibly relaxed, waiting and ready for the next opponent.

Gary began to think that he had seriously underestimated Ash. He managed to form a coherent question, though. “Where did you get a dragonair?”

Ash walked over and put his arms around Storm’s neck. “My mom brought her home from the pokemon center eight months ago. She was still a Dratini, then, but she was so weak that she needed care 24-7. I helped my mom take care of her, and after two months, when she was all better, the nurse joys let us keep her!”

“Oh. Lucky duck.” Gary said. He knew that his grandfather counted on him to complete the pokédex, and he also knew that he would probably never get a dragon pokemon, they were that rare.

“Well?” Ash tapped his foot, impatient.

Gary considered, before deciding on his choice. “Got it. Gyrados, go! Hyper Beam!” The powerful bolt of energy charged and blasted Dragonair full on before Ash had time to call out a defensive move.

“Ouch.” Ash said sympathetically as he recalled Dragonair to her great ball. He would have to pay more attention. However, now he would have to use his cards unless Pika-chan wished to fight.

Ash looked at Pika-chan, who shook her head. Ash nodded. Pika-chan didn’t have her full powers yet, so he should be more careful.

Ash closed his eyes and summoned forth his wand without any incantations. It was a measure of how anxious he was. He immediately selected a pokemon card that could probably take Gyrados down, considering it still had to recharge after that hyper beam.

“Raichu, go! Use Thunderbolt!” Ash called, releasing the electric squirrel. Raichu nodded its head in affirmation before letting loose a thunderbolt with a determined ‘chu!’ The light from the bolt illuminated the sky for a moment before it died down. Gary looked nervous, someone might have noticed, but when nobody came, he relaxed.

Just in time to see his Gyrados crash into the creaky wooden floor, sending dust and wood splinters flying everywhere.

Ash winced as he threw a weak psychic barrier over himself, Pika-chan, and Raichu. The debris impacted against the dome, but it held up.

Gary wasn’t so lucky. He ended up coughing and choking, but that was all the damage he had suffered. He recalled Gyrados in a beam of ruby light before turning to Ash with a determined expression.

Ash noted Gary’s nervousness and smirked inwardly. This wouldn’t be that much of a challenge after all.

“Exeggutor, go!” Gary said, sending out the plump walking tree. The three heads all bobbed up and down as the pokemon regarded Raichu with a look of contempt. Apparently Gary’s attitude had rubbed off on his pokemon.

Ash thought fast. It was a psychic/grass combination type, which would have a dual advantage against Raichu. He turned to look at her, and was not surprised to see Raichu glaring at the plant. Well, if Raichu still wanted to fight, he wouldn’t stop her.

“Exeggutor, Psychic!” Gary called to his pokemon. But before the rings could impact, Raichu had already dodged them and launched Mega Punch at Exeggutor. Startled, the pokemon broke off its psychic assault and stared at the little… rat that had just attacked it. It got angry and began to use Barrage.

Raichu began a series of fantastically acrobatic flips and twists, avoiding the falling coconuts. When she finally sensed an opening, she cracked her paws and unleashed ten thousand volts of thunder. Exeggutor was mostly immune to electric attacks, but it still staggered and toppled over.

“Exeggutor, Recover!” Gary called. He couldn’t let that Raichu win!

Raichu launched herself towards Exeggutor in one fluid motion, before sinking her teeth into the bark of the pokemon. Exeggutor howled in pain, both from the attack and the fact that dark was good against psychic, though the scientists hadn’t bothered to investigate yet.

Satisfied, Raichu took a few more nips just to make sure her opponent was down, before trotting over to Ash’s side. He favored her with a few pats on the head, before she was recalled.

Ash grinned recklessly. “So, Gary, are you still going to fight- OW!” Something had knocked him straight into the ground. Ash had been so focused on the battle that he had not noticed the lurking presence of one of the pokemon cards. The brown blur stopped moving and solidified into a sleek, deadly Sandslash.

Ash propped himself up, rubbing his head. “Itai! Why do they always attack at the worst times?” He rolled his eyes, but twirled his staff, preparing to knock it out. “Go, Ivy-AAUGH!”

Pika-chan flew down from her perch on one of the rafters just in time to see Gary’s Arcanine knock her Chosen to the floor. What the heck was he doing?! Pika-chan growled and her cheeks sparked as she pounced onto the Arcanine, zapping and scratching at the same time.

Meanwhile, Gary was using his Alakazam to try and defeat the Sandslash. It was working quite well. Gary grinned triumphantly. “All right, then. This one’s definitely mine.”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Ash shouted angrily, as soon as he was released from the Arcanine. He whipped his wand around and focused a bolt of pure electric power on Gary, who fell over, paralyzed. Then, he turned to the Sandslash. “Return to your true form, pokemon card!”

The Sandslash shimmered back into card form quickly, but this time, it didn’t fly over to Gary. Ash breathed a sigh of relief as he quickly wrote his name on it. “What is Gary trying to do?”

Pika-chan shrugged. “Perhaps he does not want you to succeed in your quest?”

Ash growled. “Why that –!” He stopped himself before he finished the rest of his sentence. “Well, Gary, sorry, but Pika-chan chose me. Not you. I wanted to be friends, but since you want it this way, so be it!” With that, Ash turned and left, Pika-chan hopping onto his shoulder.

Gary struggled to move, but he was stuck. He stayed there for two hours before the paralysis finally wore off. When he returned, his grandfather was displeased that he had snuck out to train, but was happy he had returned alive. Still, Gary got grounded for a week.

His parents were very unhappy when they found out, so they punished him by selling off several of his captured pokemon, including his Nidoking.

This hit Gary very hard. However, instead of thinking it through calmly and rationally, he perceived it all as Ash’s fault, so from that day on, he watched Ash, waiting for a chance to get revenge. He smiled sinisterly, Ash’s pokemon journey was coming up, and if he got his way, Ash would not even leave Pallet Town alive.

End Episode 6

Yes, I know it’s dramatic! I like dramatics! Anyways, leave a review or else I won’t post the rest! Nyah!