After reaching the Pokemon Center, Ash quickly looked over his team before returning them.

Gary was waiting for him at the battlefield just outside. The boy's arrogant attitude (or at least the smug form that it normally took) was gone from his face as he watched Ash make his way to his own side of the field. Instead it was replaced by a glare, an offended one.

Ash could spot Misty sitting in one of the chairs, staring at a booklet in an absentminded manner. She perked up when she saw him pass by, and Ash noticed her setting the booklet down and focusing her attention on the battlefield. She was the only audience member.

"Took you long enough." Gary grumbled. "This'll be four on four, understood?"

Ash nodded, a Poke Ball already in hand.

This was his first time seeing Gary since that… humiliating excuse for a battle.

But things were much different now. He had a badge on his record. Apart from the newly caught Eevee, he was in perfect sync with everybody on his team this time. He wasn't the same person from a few weeks ago, and neither was Pikachu.

As if to emphasize this point, Ash sent Pikachu out first. The mouse perked up and immediately began crackling his cheeks as he locked his eyes on Gary.

"This is it, Pikachu." Ash said somewhat quietly. "This is our chance to make up for last time. He won't make a fool out of either of us today."

That just increased Pikachu's morale even further, the young mouse tensing himself up, pushing his legs against the pavement as if to spring forward at any minute.

Gary allowed a callous grin to occupy his face. "Heh. This brings back memories to Opening Day. I wonder what kind of tantrums you two are going to throw this time."

Ash did his best to ignore that statement,

'Stay focused.' he thought to himself.

Ash blinked at the Pokemon that appeared on Gary's side of the field. It was humanoid, and it was mostly blue, but with a white, onion shaped head. Its cheeks had pink ovals on them.

Gary snorted. "Never seen a Meditite before? Guess she has a lot to teach you."

Meditite… a fighting/psychic type Pokemon native to the Ever Grande territory, to Ash's knowledge. Ash didn't know much about the species regarding its reputation or capabilities, but if it was anything to go off of based on its Typing, it would be tricky to deal with by nature, and would likely have martial arts abilities.

At the same time, that also depended on the Pokemon's experience. Fighting types were naturally gifted at martial arts, but how many moves did Gary's Meditite currently know that could help the Pokemon capitalize on that?

Ash noticed that the Pokemon was sitting cross-legged in some sort of meditative position, and was levitating slightly off the ground. So the Pokemon could float, too...

With a raise of a hand, Gary snapped his fingers and pointed forward. "Let's get this show on the road, already. Brick Break!"

Leaving her meditative position, Meditite rushed forward, raising a glowing, orange fist towards her rodent opponent. Pikachu sprung into action immediately, sidestepping out of the way as her fist stuck out, then flipping over to bring an Iron Tail down upon her head.

But Pikachu's efforts were met with a glass barrier in the shape of a cube. Much like Valiant himself, this Meditite also knew Reflect.

A large crack was left in the barrier as Pikachu returned to the ground on his hind legs, before descending down onto all fours. Meditite dropped her barrier as she turned to face Pikachu, bracing herself as he rushed forward with a Quick Attack.

Meditite's eyes glowed a deep, bright purple as she stretched her hands outwards. Pikachu began enveloped in an outline of the same purple color as he suddenly slowed down and then came to a halt. Frantically wriggling his limbs in the air, he was left suspended a few inches off the ground as panic appeared on his face.

Gary smirked. "Confusion. Now give him a toss!"

The glow in her eyes flashed even deeper and brighter as Meditite let out a quick battle cry, sending a yelping Pikachu flying through the air and slamming back first into the barriers to the side of the battlefield where Misty was currently watching from the sidelines in silence. The attack had sent Pikachu quite a bit far. And at a surprisingly high speed at that. Ash winced a bit at the painful impact, but thankfully, Pikachu caught himself with Iron Tail as he fell down to the ground, able to right himself and regain his composure jus tin time in order to successfully pull off the Move.

Meditite's Confusion was pretty well developed, but could she use it consecutively? They didn't really have any effective way of dealing with it, but that was assuming that she wouldn't just tire herself out by just using it over and over again.

Either way, they needed to proceed with caution.

"Thunder Shock, now!"

Pikachu's bolt of lightning, fired from a long distance, was blocked by a golden barrier in the shape of a cube. Ash grunted. Light Screen. Between that, Reflect, and Confusion, Meditite and Gary both now had three different answers to any offensive Moves that they used.

"Double Team!" commanded Gary.

Ash blinked as Meditite split into four copies. Pikachu's cheeks crackled with intensity as the young mouse growled in frustration.

"Force Palm!"

To Ash's note, only two of the Meditite moved forward. So she could still move her copies even when split into four, but only one copy could move along with her…

He didn't have time to contemplate that, however, as he needed to respond.

"Double Team! Quick Attack!" Two could play at this game, and as Pikachu split into two, both the real one and the copy bolting around the advancing Meditite and her clone, neither of the combatants were able to tell who the real one was.

Stalemates weren't nearly as satisfying as outright triumphs, but a the very least, Ash and Pikachu had forced an even playing field.

If Ash had spared her a glance, he would have noticed the look of intrigue on Misty's face as the battle unfolded.

Deciding to take a leap of faith, Ash called out. "Brick Break!"

Both Pikachu rushed forward, each one targeting one of the two Meditite that had previously been moving. One of them was the real one…

The real Pikachu chose wrong, and the clone of Meditite immediately fizzled out and dissolved upon contact from the young mouse's orange, glowing fist. However, the real Meditite had also taken the time to erect a glass barrier with Reflect, which proved to be a waste of energy as the clone of Pikachu targeted it, fizzling out uselessly upon impact with the glass cube.

Ash and Gary both winced.

It hadn't gone well for either of them, and the stalemate hadn't been resolved. With her cover blown, Meditite allowed the remaining Double Team clones to disappear as she and Pikachu both turned to face each other.

Dropping the Reflect barrier, Meditite eyed her opponent with what could only be described as analytical scrutiny. She was quite stoic, in stark contrast to her Trainer, much like Gary's Starter, in fact, as Ash had recalled.

Pikachu displayed a lot more emotion, however, a low growl of frustration rumbling from his throat as his cheeks continued to spark, the mouse looking on at his opponent with gritted teeth.

This was not an easy opponent for sure. Unsafe to attack her up close, seemingly ineffective to attack her from a distance, and she knew Double Team just like Pikachu did, and was more skilled with the Move to boot.

Nevertheless, there still had to be a weakness. If not that, then at least a way to reliablyu get past her. He could just try to exhaust her barriers. Much like Valiant, there was no way that she could keep using them forever.

Pikachu's Thunderbolt could help out with that, but even then, using that move in rapid succession would tire Pikachu out just as much…

But Ash wasn't willing to risk going in close just yet, and it was their strongest long ranged attack. Electro Ball would also work, so maybe just use Thunderbolt if they needed a decisive hit…

"Hidden Power!"

Ash blinked as aqua colored, blue glowing orbs materialized in the air around Meditite, the Pokemon floating in the air once again as she prepared her latest attack against the growling electric mouse. They very clearly were made of water, signifying this move as the water type variant of the Hidden Power technique. Ash wasn't entirely sure what determined the Typing of the Move. But that was hardly his concern right now.

"Thunder Shock, now!"

Pikachu's lightning bolt was fired defensively as Meditite, having raised her hands in front of her to levitate the Hidden Power orbs surrounding her, pushing her arms outward, firing the Move at her rodent opponent at surprisingly quick speeds. The lightning clashed with the glowing, aquatic orbs and quickly destroyed them, but Meditite was already rushing forward with an orange, glowing fist.

Brick Break.

The boy's Starter reacted with a quick Iron Tail. Ducking under Mediitite's punch, Pikachu drove his metallic tail painfully into her gut. A loud, high pitched cry escaped her lips as she felt the wind being knocked out of her, the attack propelling her backwards and sending the humanoid Pokemon painfully bouncing across the ground for a brief moment before she regained her composure, landing upright on her feet but still holding her stomach in pain with one hand, glaring at Pikachu and lightly gritting her teeth.

A brief moment of victory, but Ash knew that now wasn't the time to get cocky. So he followed up as quickly as he could.

"Electro Ball!"

Because she was still reeling from the previous blow, the Light Screen that Meditite had surrounded herself with a the last minute was a lot more feeble to the previous one, the side of the cube that was struck by the orb of electricity almost completely shattering (and being very cracked) upon impact.

Seeing his chance, Ash called out. "Double Team and Iron Tail!"

With Pikachu split into two copies, Meditite wouldn't know who to focus on, even if she regained her composure in time to use Confusion…

But Gary had a different plan. "Use Bide!"

Ash's eyes widened. Bide was a power stockpiling move that absorbed the damage dealt from enemy attacks to build up energy for a powerful counterattack. Although the user would still sustain damage upon getting hit, charging up the move also heightened their durability, making them more difficult to faze even if the attacks dealt them great pain and damage to their bodies.

Striking Meditite with Iron Tail would be doing a lot more harm than good now, but before he could call off the attack, Ash's mouse partner was already upon their opponent, his clone fizzling out as it struck Meditite, while the real Pikachu bright down a powerful, metallic tail against her.

Meditite, now once again floating in the air, had curled up into a ball-like form, her body glowing in a bright, white. As Pikachu's powerful, metallic tail struck, she was sent back a few feet, but remained composed, ignoring the large bruise that now occupied her body as Gary called out to her.

"FIRE!"

Spreading her arms and legs out wide, the still floating Meditite let out a cathartic cry as she released all of the built up tension from the energy that she had stored from Pikachu's attack. A large blast of pure, blinding white light catapulted at the mouse faster than he could react, and a small explosion kicked up dirt and dust as the young mouse was sent catapulting through the air and into the barriers in front of his trainer, crying out painfully upon both impacts.

The young mouse had not been expecting the blast, evident from the shout of shock that had escaped his throat just before being struck.

As the dust cleared, Pikachu's body was filthy and bruised, the mouse staggering to his feet as he stood on his hind legs, gritting his teeth defiantly.

Ash was quite proud of his Starter's resilience, but the blast had clearly taken a lot out of him. Looking on over to Meditite, however, he saw that the same was true for her, too. The damage that she had sustained from that Iron Tail was still quite significant, and if her panting was anything to go by, that Bide attack was still quite taxing for her, even with it only absorbing just one blow.

It was a gamble… but she might not be able to reliably use Confusion right now. If they could just get in close...

Pikachu was a bit tired himself, but wasn't panting nearly as much. He had clearly sustained quite a bit of damage from the blast, coupled with the previous damage from before, but his reserves were still (for the most part, anyway) good to go.

"Pikachu…" said Ash, giving his starter a thumbs up as the young mouse looked back towards him with a curious expression. "Great job. Now, let's end this."

A confident grin made its way to the electric rodents face as he pumped his arm out and returned his attention to Gary and Meditite.

Compared to their first battle with Gary's Squirtle, the difference was night and day.

Gary's fist was clenched tightly and outstretched as the young mouse returned to all fours.

"That… that was supposed to finish him off!" he snarled aggressively. Meditite herself also looked quite frustrated, but was keeping it together much better than her Trainer, who was practically trembling with fury at the new development.

It was rare to see this kind of frustration being exhibited by Gary. Ash tried not to take too much catharsis in it. He didn't allow himself to smirk.

He wanted to criticise him for his tactic. For using up too much of Meditite's power on the assumption that it would finish Pikachu off. But he bit back his tongue. Now was not the time for banter.

"Aim for the back of Meditite's head! Zap Tail!"

"Shadow Ball!" Gary quickly countered.

As Pikachu ran forward, Meditite charged up a ball of distorted energy between her palms. Despite her fatigue, she fired it off quickly, powering through her newfound exhaustion.

The ball wasn't that tlag, but nevertheless, Pikachu avoided it by pressing an Iron Tail against the ground and catapulting himself upwards. Somersaulting over the Shadow Ball and over his opponent, Pikachu channeled electricity into his Iron Tail as he brought it downwards, colliding with the back of Meditite's head.

CRACK!

A sickening sound made itself known as Pikachu's attack collided with its target, Meditite immediately catapulting face first into the pavement. No sounds were made from her, and she did not get up.

Pikachu had won.

Not noticing the small grin that made its way to Misty's face as the orange haired girl continued to watch the battle from the sidelines, Ash grinned widely at his starter as Pikachu quickly made his way back to him, a wide grin on the young mouse's face to match his trainer's own as the electric critter chirped in delight.

"Way to go, Pikachu!" Ash complimented excitedly. The adrenaline rush was beginning to kick in.

This was it. They actually stood a chance. Gary still had three Pokemon left, but win or lose, this fight would not be like last time!

Pikachu's grin only grew wider as he shared in his trainer's enthusiasm. Turning back to the battlefield, his triumphant expression remained, but his eyes were still filled with just as much determination as Ash's.

Ash could tell that the mouse was tired, but not on his last legs. That Bide attack had taken a lot out of him, but he was still raring to go. Ready for whatever Gary sent their way next. And so was Ash.

Gary's face was murderous as he returned Meditite to her Poke Ball. Glowering at Ash and Pikachu with bright red fury in his eyes, he snarled menacingly at them.

"Hmph. So you actually DID pull something off for once. You've heard the idiom about the broken clock, right?"

Ash couldn't prevent the light scowl from arriving on his face at that, but did not respond. Nor did he clench his fists.

They would just keep battling. To prove their point to Gary one way or another.

As Gary returned Meditite's Poke Ball to his belt, he was fuming.

Truth be told, the battle had actually given him some indication on where Medititie still had to grow… but he would never say it out loud. Just the mere thought of that pissed him off to no end at all.

Gary took out his next Poke Ball and held it out in front of him.

"Don't get cocky, Ashy boy. This is still just the beginning for you. You and your pathetic rat."

Pikachu snarled at that, but had no time to retort as his next opponent appeared in front of him.

Ash blinked in surprise, and so did Pikachu.

It was another Eevee.

This one stared at Pikachu blankly, its eyes wide but unmoving. After a few seconds, the Evolution Pokemon suddenly perked up, as if finally registering the fact that Pikachu was there.

Pikachu's head tilted to the side as his face displayed genuine confusion.

"You're not the only one who's managed to get their hands on an Eevee, Ashy boy." Gary grunted. Crossing his arms yet again, he allowed a small smirk to creep up on his lips. "And I'm pretty sure that mine is better. He'll just have to prove it to you."

Ash eyed the Eevee with caution as he assessed the situation.

Pikachu still had energy left, but with his injuries he was running on finite juice. Using Thunderbolt would be too risky because of this, coupled with the yet to be mastered Move's longer charge time…

Gary made the first order. "Shadow Ball!"

In response, Ash immediately countered. "Iron Tail!"

Pikachu bolted forward as Eevee charged up his attack. To Ash's surprise, Gary's Eevee fired much quicker than his own Eevee did, although the Shadow Ball was also a lot smaller, potentially as a result.

Pikachu leapt over the ball and continued his advance, allowing the attack to strike the ground where he once was and kick up some dust in its wake. However, Eevee was already charging forward himself, shockingly at a speed that was quite comparable to Pikachu's own, and the Evolution Pokemon's tail was also metallic.

Thankfully, Pikachu had built up more momentum, likely due to Eevee having not started running until afterwards. As the two metallic tails clashed, Pikachu quickly pushed his opponent back, sending the Evolution Pokemon skidding a few feet across the battlefield, albeit perfectly unharmed.

"Brick Break!"

Hoping to strike before Eevee could regain his bearings, Pikachu bolted forward again, his fist glowing orange as he reeled his arm back and socked Eevee in the jaw.

As Eevee tumbled painfully across the battlefield, Pikachu immediately followed up with a bolt of lightning. However, the Thunder Shock was sidestepped by the Evolution Pokemon, who, just in time, used all of the willpower that he had to ignore the pain from the previous attack and land on his feet, bolting out of the way with Quick Attack.

"Shadow Ball!"

At Gary's command, Eevee circled around Pikachu and fired the ghostly orb into the mouse's back. Pikachu, having just finished firing off his Thunder Shock, was caught unawares as the ball painfully exploded against him, sending him tumbling head over heels with a loud cry.

Now Eevee rushed forward to Pikachu with an Iron Tail. Much like Eevee himself, Pikachu ignored the pain in his back, regaining his bearings and turning around in time to raise his own Iron Tail to block. However, Eevee's momentum carried him, and Pikachu quickly found himself grunting as he was knocked onto his back, his Iron Tail shielding him from the damage but not from the impact itself.

"Great work, Eevee! Body Slam!"

Pikachu rolled out of the way as quickly as possible as Eevee came down towards him, but the first thing that the Evolution Pokemon did upon landing was fire off a Shadow Ball in the fleeing mouse's direction.

That could have been yet another hit to Ash's Starter Pokemon, but luckily, Ash found himself breathing a sigh of relief as Pikachu raised a hasty Iron Tail to absorb the damage from the blow. Pikachu was pushed back ever so slightly, but by barely even a few inches at most.

This Eevee was almost as fast as Pikachu was, and he seemed to hit decently hard, too. His Shadow Balls weren't as powerful as the one used by Ash's own Eevee, but they also came out a lot more quickly. A weaker, yet more efficient form of the technique.

What's more, Pikachu's efforts to combat the pain of his injuries in favor of going all out were sure to be taking their toll on him. He wouldn't be able to keep this up for much longer, which meant that they needed to make this count.

"Double Team and Zap Tail!"

Pikachu split into two, and Eevee likely wouldn't know which one to defend against. Only the real Pikachu could actually pull off the technique itself, but with both the clone and the real Pikachu rushing forward at once, Eevee's chances at being able to notice were slim due to the franticness of the situation.

Instinctively, Eevee raised an Iron Tail to block, but ended up blocking the wrong target, the clone of Pikachu that had been created by Double Team phasing out of existence as the real Pikachu raised a metallic tail, now coated with electricity, and rammed it right into Eevee's broadside. A loud cry escaped the Evolution Pokemon's mouth as he was sent rocketing across the field, rolling painfully across the pavement before balancing himself.

Pikachu was breathing heavily now, and wasn't able to go on without catching his breath. Ash and Gary could both see some deep breaths from Eevee, too, the latest attack doing quite a number on him.

Pikachu was running out of energy. They needed to finish this quickly.

"Thunder Shock!"

"Headbutt!"

Pikachu's bolt of lightning took too long to charge up due to the mouse's exhaustion. To Ash's frustration, Eevee was already circling around, the Thunder Shock missing its mark as Eevee swiftly advanced, charging forward with Quick Attack with his head downward as he took aim at Pikachu.

SLAM!

Eevee slammed head first into Pikachu's side. A loud, high pitched cry escaped the mouse's lips as he was sent flying into the barriers in front of Ash, his other side slamming directly into them.

Ash winced at the sound of the impact, and sadly wasn't surprised when Pikachu did not get up.

With a bit of a solemn expression, Ash took out Pikachu's Poke Ball and called back his starter.

"You did great, Pikachu." he said soothingly. "Take a rest for now."

Clipping the Poke Ball back onto his belt, he returned his focus to Gary and Eevee.

The Evolution Pokemon certainly wasn't in perfect shape anymore. He was confident that any of his team could defeat him now, but he knew he couldn't let that go to his head.

Gary seemed visibly frustrated despite the victory. Pikachu had single handedly beaten one of his Pokemon and injured another. Ash allowed himself to feel a small glint of satisfaction at that, but the battle wasn't over yet.

Ash removed a Poke Ball from his belt.

This Eevee knew Iron Tail and Shadow Ball, which could put Valiant at a disadvantage. However, Reflect and Light Screen could help make up for that. Not to mention Teleport and Shadow Sneak could help trip Eevee up.

The young Ralts appeared in front of him, crossing his arms and analyzing Eevee as he took note of his opponent.

"Pikachu's been knocked out." Valiant tensed up at that, but nodded. "You ready, buddy?" another nod.

However, Gary returned Eevee and took out another Poke Ball.

"You're really pissing me off, Ashy boy." he grunted with annoyance. Suddenly, a sadistic smirk formed on his lips. "Maybe an old friend of yours can knock you down a peg."

In a bright flash of light, a large, blue, bipedal turtle appeared.

Ash's face stiffened. A Wartortle.

Gary's Squirtle had evolved. In and of itself, that wasn't too surprising…

So… just how much stronger was Wartortle now?

His mind flashed back to Pichu's battle with Squirtle, but he immediately shook his head.

No. That was then. This is now. Win or lose, they certainly wouldn't be going out like that.

The water type was as stoic as ever, perhaps even more so. Valiant's analytical gaze was met with one of pure stoicism, the large turtle looking at the young Feeling Pokemon not as though he were strong, or weak, or interesting, or boring… just… looking at him.

The glare on Wartortle's face contained little emotion. Just a piercing gaze that notably put Valiant quite a bit on edge, the young Ralts continuing to tense up under the intensity of the gaze from his significantly physically larger opponent.

"Valiant…" said Ash, the young Ralts quickly looking back at him. "Don't be afraid. That Pokemon beat Pikachu before, and he's much stronger now, so don't underestimate him. Just remember, we can't be intimidated." a nod from the young Feeling Pokemon, as Valiant returned his gaze back to Wartortle, looking a little bit more determined now.

Gary scoffed. "Pep talking from one pipsqueak to another, I see. Whatever floats your boat, Ashy boy."

Just an empty insult. Nothing more. Ash had proven his worth before against Brock, and Valiant had even moreso.

As the two combatants sunk into their stances, Ash adjusted his cap and, as if by accident, glanced over to Misty for the briefest of seconds. Maybe it was out of curiosity, he wasn't sure. However, he had quickly looked away again out of fear of being noticed, so he hadn't caught sight of her facial expression.

Returning his focus to Gary and Wartortle, Ash began to think…

No doubt that Wartortle had a lot of raw power going for him now. And his defenses were probably far exceeding that of when they had previously fought back in Pallet Town. Could Valiant even hurt this thing?

They'd have to be tricky. Valiant had been practicing his Telepathy ability a bit, making him a bit more skilled at reading his opponent's, which was something that he was already naturally good at, and he had some versatile techniques at his disposal, but he wasn't sure how effective that Hypnosis or Confuse Ray would be, given his lack of mastery towards them, particularly the latter.

Shadow Sneak and Teleport would certainly be the key. They could catch Wartortle by surprise.

But it looked like Gary was finished with his planning, so he would have to spring into action.

"Valiant, that Wartortle's defenses aren't going to be easy to deal, so be careful. Magical Leaf!"

Valiant responded right away, holding his hands up and allowing the brightly glowing leaves to fire towards his opponent.

But Wartortle was ready, quickly retreating into his shell, which began spinning rapidly.

He was using Rapid Spin.

As the leaves uselessly bounced off the seemingly impenetrable shell, Wartortle advanced toward Valiant, aiming to smash into the young Ralts with the full force of his rock hard, spinning shell.

Valiant ceased Magical Leaf and erected a glass cube to surround him. He winced and strained himself as Wartortle's rapidly rotating shell grinded against the Reflect, the cracks slowly beginning to form on his barrier.

Ash gulped. No doubt weaponizing that hard shell was one of the first things that Gary tried to do while training Wartortle. As good for offense as it was for defense…

Gary switched orders. "Ice Punch!'

Exiting his shell, Wartortle reared a fist back. Although the barrier was cracked, it was stable enough for Valiant to not feel the temperature around the two combatants drop as as the frozen aura formed around the tortoise's fist.

SMASH!

The already damaged barrier didn't stand a chance as Wartortle's frozen fist was sent flying straight for the cracked part of the glass cube, Valiant flinching from the wind force as the Reflect shattered and left him exposed.

Valiant could feel the cold air radiating off of the frozen fist as Wartortle reared back and shot a jet of water from his mouth.

The Water Gun would have cleanly struck Valiant's forehead if the Feeling Pokemon hadn't teleported away, appearing several feet behind the tortoise in an effort to catch his breath.

But Wartortle was already turning around, and Gary was already giving his next order.

"Aqua Jet!"

So Wartortle had learned to use one of his Egg Moves…

Water appeared beneath the blue tortoise's feet, and quickly rose upwards to engulf him. Although it didn't surround him completely, as Ash briefly took note of, the Wartortle was still quite skilled with the technique, almost capable of using it in full.

Aqua Jet was a fairly useful technique that would surely add to Wartortle's speed despite the Pokemon's notable bulk. It would likely give him a lot of aerial potential as well.

Engulfed in water, the blue tortoise launched himself head first towards Valiant, flying slightly above the ground towards his target.

The Feeling Pokemon yelped in surprise just before his bulky opponent smashed into him, and Ash (and Misty) winced painfully as Valiant was sent tumbling several feet away as Wartortle dissipated the water vortex surrounding him and landed firmly on his feet.

Gary pointed a finger towards Valiant as the green headed Pokemon began making his way back up to his feet, his hands resting against the ground to keep himself propped up.

"Wartortle's never lost a fight before, Ashy boy. Your little Ralts will be the perfect addition to his winning streak."

Ash held back a grimace as he called out his orders to the now standing Ralts. "Shadow Sneak and Magical Leaf!"

Valiant was in aching pain from just one blow, his body quite frail compared to the bulky monstrosity that was Wartortle.

Nevertheless, he did what he could to power through the pain. This opponent was clearly far stronger than him, much like that Grotle from before. But Valiant was resilient. He wouldn't let one big blow stop him.

Wartortle looked somewhat bewildered as Valiant sank into the ground, absorbing himself into his shadow to travel behind the large, blue tortoise, resurfacing to fire the leaves at his target.

Valiant knew that this Wartortle was durable. Not just the shell, but the entire body He was behind Wartortle right now, so firing at his back would just result in the leaves uselessly clanging of of the shell again.

Regardless of whether he was attacking from the back or the front, however, it was clear to him that the head was probably the best place to aim. His opponent would be tough to put down regardless, but it would be more effective to aim there than the rest of the tortoise's bulky body.

Wartortle let out a pained cry as the leaves hammered against the back of his head. Stumbling forward, and nearly losing his footing, he turned to glare at Valiant as the young Ralts prepared to fire off a second round.

"Icy Wind!"

Just as Valiant fired off his second barrage, Wartortle, ignoring the momentary pain in his head, opened his mouth. Out fired a strong gust of cold, snowy wind. It was a concentrated blast of air, similar to Wind Blast. But some of the blunt force was traded for a frozen iciness.

Valiant yelped as the wind froze over the leaves and continued onwards towards him. Although parts of the gust painfully slammed into him, and left him shivering as a result, he managed to power through the pain and gets his Light Screen up before he could suffer the full brunt of the assault.

As the snowy wind pushed against the golden cube barrier, Valiant grunted from the strain of the assault, the Light Screen successfully holding up but clearly being challenged. Just as the tiniest of cracks began to form, Gary switched his orders.

"Aqua Jet!"

The sound of the cube shattering was loud and clear as Wartortle rocketed head first into the small, forming cracks. The bulk of his body, and his overall brute strength, combined with the speed of the Aqua Jet easily managed to overwhelm the slightly damaged barrier.

Wartortle reared his fist back for an Ice Punch, but Valiant's Telepathy ability allowed him to get a better reading on the large, blue tortoise's body language. With his battle senses heightened by the Ability, Valiant found his Water Type foe's actions to be quite telegraphed, and easily ducked under the powerful blow that would have surely put him down if it had struck him in the head.

Valiant grimaced uncomfortably from the freezing cold air radiating off of the turtle's fist, but persevered as he sidestepped around to Wartortle's side, quickly firing a bright pink beam of light into the side of his opponent's head before the water type Pokemon could have time to react accordingly.

The Dazzling Gleam sent the unsuspecting tortoise staggering backwards, but the turtle righted himself quickly as Gary called for another Aqua Jet.

As Wartortle dashed forward yet again, Ash was in awe. Valiant was attacking his opponent by aiming right for the head, probably the most viable strategy for dealing with Wartortle, and yet the blue tortoise was still able to shrug it all off. Just how much stronger was he than Valiant?!

Valiant wasn't able to completely form a Reflect barrier in time, and staggered back from the painful shockwaves as Wartortle easily smashed through the incomplete glass cube.

As Wartortle exited his Aqua Jet, Gary cried out. "Water Pulse!"

Extending his hands outward, Wartortle concentrated as an orb of glowing, bright blue water materialized in between his palms. As the orb grew in size, he raised his hands upwards, before fiercely throwing the orb downwards, slamming it point blank into Valiant.

Ash cried out as Valiant was blasted backwards, the Ralts shouting in pain as he tumbled across the ground.

Gary smirked victoriously, but his eyes widened as Valiant began staggering to his feet once again.

Ash blinked. Valiant was definitely the least durable member of the team. He needed Reflect and Light Screen to make up for his lack of natural defenses, and Teleport and Shadow Sneak to make up for his lack of agility.

Yet despite the powerful blow that he had taken, Valiant refused to give up. Covered in bruises and dirt, and completely drenched in water, the young Ralts rose to his feet, glaring defiantly as he clenched his teeth.

Gary's eyes lit up in frustration. "Just go down already, pipsqueak!"

Instead of complying, Valiant gathered Psychic energy in his hands as fast as he could, and fired off a Psybeam in Wartortle's direction.

After the attack proved futile, easily deflected by Wartortle's Rapid Spin, Gary aggressively let out an order as Wartortle exited his shell.

"Bubblebeam! Now!"

Wartortle opened his mouth, allowing a barrage of bright, glowing, blue bubbles to escape from his mouth and rocket towards their target. Valiant, in response, did his best to erect a Light Screen, but in his wounded state, wasn't able to manage a full barrier. The feeble cube was easily shattered by the incoming bubbles, the shockwaves from the projectiles knocking the Feeling Pokemon over as Gary, unwilling to allow Ash and Valiant any breathing room, barked out another order.

"Ice Punch! Increase your speed with Aqua Jet!"

"Confusion!" Ash quickly countered.

As his now clenched fist was once again surrounded with snowy energy, Wartortle engulfed the bottom half of his body in water. He did not keep it that way permanently, however, simply utilizing the Aqua Jet to propel himself forward, rather than fully committing to it.

Aqua Jet was a great way to make up for Wartortle's bulkiness, being capable of launching his otherwise bulky body forward at high speeds that many might not expect a Pokemon of his build to be capable of moving at. Although Ash figured that he could probably run at a decent pace regardless, the usage of Aqua Jet ensured that he would never be easily outpaced.

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As Wartortle sailed through the air, advancing upon Valiant and rearing his fist back for the final blow, the young Ralts quickly shot his hands outwards as he rose back up to his feet, eyes glowing a fierce, deep purple as Wartortle's body was suddenly engulfed in a purple outline.

Ash grimaced as Wartortle struggled against the Psychic hold, his icy fist trembling in the air as it moved forward ever so slowly, trying to break free and deal the final blow to Valiant.

Both trainers were shouting words of encouragement to their Pokemon as Misty looked on, one combatant doing everything that he could to deal the final blow, and the other doing everything that he could to halt his opponent.

Valiant's teeth were clenched tightly, grinding together as he strained himself to hold the powerful, bulky body of Wartortle in place, fighting against both the tortoise's momentum and the water type Pokemon's brute strength. As well as the Feeling Pokemon's own exhaustion and pain from the rest of the battle.

Valiant's arms began shaking, and a deep frown appeared on Ash's face a she realized that the young Ralts was giving out.

Whether he gave in to exhaustion or pain, nobody was quite sure. But the purple glow of Valiant's eyes began to flicker, and the weakening hold of the Psychic energy allowed Wartortle's body to successfully break through, the turtle letting out a frustrated shout as he brought his frozen fist down upon Valiant's forehead.

A loud CRACKING sound was heard as Valiant was propelled downwards onto his back, the smashing blow to his head annihilating the young Ralts' consciousness and leaving him still on the ground.

Snorting triumphantly, Wartortle rose upwards, his hands firmly pressed victoriously against his bulky hips as he stood over to the unmoving body of his latest fallen foe.

Disheartened, Ash returned Valiant to his Poke Ball as quickly as possible, looking a the small orb apologetically as the young Ralts was quickly sucked into it by the beam of red light.

"Thank you for giving it your all, buddy." he spoke soothingly to his companion, despite doubting that the unconscious Feeling Pokemon could hear him. "You never gave up, even when it was clear that you were outmatched. I couldn't ask for anything else from you."

Returning the young Ralts' Poke Ball to his belt, Ash immediately prepared himself for Gary's inevitable insults.

"How was that, Ashy boy? Brings back memories, doesn't it? Just replace that Ralts with a Pichu and this was pretty much a reenactment-"

"Enough, Gary." the other boy snarled as Ash had the sheer audacity to cut him off. "The battle isn't over yet. Save your trash talk for later."

As Wartortle stoically crossed his arms in patient preparation for his next opponent, Gary glared daggers into Ash's eyes from across the battlefield. Although Ash flinched a bit from the ferocity, he did his best not to make it visible, standing steadfast as he returned Gary's glare, albeit probably not quite as fiercely.

"I told you to keep your tongue in check, Ashy boy." Professor Oak's grandson snarled. "Don't forget, right now, I'm the one in the lead."

Ash grimaced at that. He was right, but…

"Not for long." he spat back, sounding more determined than angry. Unclipping another Poke Ball, he held it out in front of him as he eyed the orb carefully.

That Wartortle was a juggernaut for certain. Probably comparable to that monster of a Grotle that Paul had sicked on them back in Pewter City.

Enough raw power to easily overwhelm Valiant's barriers, even when they were at their best. Enough durability to shrug off just about anything, even blows to the head that didn't have to deal with his absurdly tough shell. Pokemon always received massive boons upon Evolving, he'd seen that first hand with Pikachu, and especially with Nebula.

Eevee wouldn't stand a chance. As much as Ash hated to admit it, her attacks would just be ineffective against this bulky monstrosity. Even Take Down would probably struggle against the durable might of Wartortle's shell, and would also leave Eevee herself injured in the process.

"It's time, then."

It had to be Nebula. She was a lot stronger than anybody else on the team right now, easily overshadowing all three of her teammates in terms of physical capabilities alone. If anybody could bring down Wartortle, it was her.

And if that still wasn't enough, they always had their trump card…

"You sure you don't want to just forfeit and give me my money in advance, Ashy boy?" Gary's insufferable voice sounded out from across the battlefield. "You'd be saving you and your team a heck of a lot of trouble!"

Gripping Nebula's Poke Ball tightly, and preparing to toss it outwards, Ash shook his head.

"Can it, Gary." Gary glowered as the ball sailed through the air, but couldn't fire back as Nebula emerged in a flash of bright, white light.

The Staravia was ready, immediately locking her eyes on her opponent, who did so in turn.

"Careful, Nebula." Ash warned her. "That Wartortle took out Valiant easily. He's really strong, and even more durable. Watch out for his shell, that thing's practically invincible."

As Nebula nodded, she glared forward upon hearing about the defeat of her friend. As she spread her wings outwards, in preparation for battle, Wartortle sunk into a fighting stance as he awaited Gary's orders.

"So it's the bird now, then." the other boy commented. "No matter. Wartortle! Blast that beak brain with Water Gun!"

The jet of water shot at Nebula, who launched herself into the air to quickly avoid the attack.

"Wind Blast, then Wing Attack!"

Gary blinked in surprise as Nebula fired her blast of concentrated wind at the Wartortle, who clearly wasn't expecting such a move as he quickly held his arms protectively in front of his face. He fought against the force of the wind, but the condensed pressure of the blast pushed him backwards and left him staggering in the process.

Which gave Nebula the perfect time to charge forward with Quick Attack and smash a wing, which was glowing with white light, into the large tortoise's cheek. Ash grinned at the impact of the attack as Wartortle was knocked off of his feet.

The triumph was short lived, however, as Wartortle surrounded himself in a watery vortex, using the aerial mobility provided to him with Aqua Jet to reposition himself and land on his feet.

No doubt, one of Gary's ideas.

"Rapid fire Water Gun!"

The series of continuous blasts of water spat out by the large, blue tortoise wasn't nearly as individually powerful as a single, concentrated Water Gun, but it was in much greater quantity. Had Nebula not greatly improved her aerial mobility since the battle with Brock, Ash might have been a bit worried, but he allowed a surge of pride to fill up in his chest as his bird friend skillfully dodged blast after blast.

But, upon realizing that this wasn't working, Gary quickly switched tactics. "Icy Wind! Full blast!"

The large gust of freezing cold, snowy wind that escaped from Wartortle's mouth was much bigger than the small, narrow jets of water that he had been firing at Nebula previously. Taken aback by the sudden change in tactics, Nebula abandoned dodging and flapped her wings to create another Wind Blast, which clashed against the Icy Wind.

Gary smirked. Perfect. The bird was in one place now.

"Wartortle! Aqua Rush!"

Abandoning Icy Wind, Wartortle retreated in his shell and began spinning. The Wind Blast slammed harmlessly into his rapidly rotating shell as his shell suddenly became submerged with water. Ash and Nebula both gasped aloud as Wartortle suddenly rocketed forwards, sailing upwards towards Nebula, his still spinning shell remaining engulfed in the water as he rushed towards her at incredible speeds.

A combination of Rapid Spin and Aqua Jet, an aquatic technique that fully weaponized the incredible strength of Wartortle's shell by utilizing the high speed momentum from Aqua Jet.

Nebula shrieked as she coated her wings in steel, crossing them out in front of her in a protective manner as Wartortle's water-engulfed shell slammed into her at full force. Even with the metallic coating of the feathers shielding her from the damage of what would have been a positively devastating impact, the sheer force of the blow sent her flying backwards and towards the barriers in front of Ash.

However, she kept her wings coated in steel, and slammed one of them into the barriers in order to catch herself, halting her flight.

The Iron Tail tactic that Pikachu always used to break his falls. But this time, with Steel Wing.

Ash was flabbergasted. What WAS that attack?! He hadn't expected a combination move like THAT.

And it was definitely potent, too. He wondered if Nebula would even still be conscious if she took a direct hit from that…

Wartortle was most certainly the real deal. As Nebula resumed her flight, Wartortle exiting his shell and landing on his feet after the previous collision with her Steel Wing, Ash called out his next order.

"Double Team! One copy!"

Nebula complied, splitting herself into two, both the real one and the copy flying around in opposite directions as they circled Wartortle from above.

Gary quickly responded.

"I see what you're doing, Ashy boy! It won't help you! Rapid Spin! Stay in place!"

Wartortle complied, and Ash grimaced as the stoic tortoise quickly retreated into his shell. Spinning at high speeds while Nebula circled around.

Gary and Wartortle had no idea which Nebula was the real one that they actually had to defend against, so instead, they had just resorted to Rapid Spin, so that Nebula couldn't hurt them regardless. Paul and Elekid had used a similar tactic against him and Pikachu back in Pewter City.

Changing tactics, Ash remained steadfast. "Drop Double Team and use Steel Wing!"

Wartortle had a natural resistance against Steel Wing, but at the same time, the added durable that the attack provided her wings with would allow Nebula to fair better against the incredible exterior of his shell.

Rushing forward with a burst of speed provided to her by Quick Attack, the clone vanishing in the process, Nebula slammed a wing with feathers coated in cold steel into Wartortle's shell. The metallic wing was unable to penetrate the blue tortoise's monstrous defenses, but Nebula herself felt no pain as the two clashed.

The force of Nebula's attack pushed Wartortle back a bit as Nebula sped back upwards. As Wartortle exited his shell to fire a quick Bubblebeam in her direction, Ash shouted out another order.

"Aerial Ace!"

Nebula gracefully flew under the incoming barrage of bubbles as she took aim at her water type opponent.

Coating herself in a glowing white aura, she began to speed her way downwards, but Gary had already shouted a counterorder.

"Aqua Jet!"

Engulfed in water, Wartortle propelled himself upwards towards the advancing Staravia.

BAM!

The two combatants both smashed into each other head-on, Nebula's sharp beak colliding with the top of Wartortle's sturdy head. Both of them bounced off of each other, descending through the air. However, Nebula, with a pained expression on her face, was knocked off balance from the impact, while Wartortle remained in control.

Even with Nebula's greater speed and momentum, Wartortle's bulk and the overall strength of his attack had given him the edge in the clash. Taking advantage of his opponent's newfound vulnerability, he opened his mouth to fire off a quick Icy Wind while still falling in midair.

Before Nebula had the chance to recover from the clash, she was struck head on by the snowy gust of wind, shrieking in pain as she was blasted backwards. As Wartortle solidly landed on his feet, however, Nebula was finally able to power through the pain just in time to break her fall with a Steel Wing, smashing a metallic coated wing into the ground to save her from being further hurt by the impact.

As Wartortle crossed his arms, Ash clenched his fists tightly.

Nebula had the advantage in speed and overall mobility, especially because she could fly, but Wartortle was clearly still stronger than her. And his overall defenses and great durability both complemented that greatly. Apart from the bruise on his cheek from Nebula's Wing Attack at the beginning of the fight, he was still mostly unscathed. Meanwhile, Nebula had just taken a painful hit from an ice type move, and was unable to come out on top whenever their attacks clashed against each other, even with her greater speed and momentum.

For the first time since evolving, Nebula had finally met her match…

There was no other choice then… they had to do it.

"Nebula! It's time, use Reckless!"

Gary and Misty both perked up at that, while Wartortle tilted his head curiously at the mention of the Ability.

Nebula also perked up at the mention. At the signal.

Nebula's eyes flashed red, and her whole body began to tense up as a glowing red outline surrounded it.

Pokemon had natural reserves of strength, that they continuously tapped into while exerting themselves in physical activity. These reserves allowed them to continue onwards with longevity, being tapped into overtime.

With Reckless, however, Nebula was now tapping into them all at once. She had no more reserves to fall back on for later. She was throwing all of her eggs into one basket, and using all of her inner energy at the same time. No worry or concern for tiring herself out. No worry or concern for getting herself hurt. No worry or concern for how her opponent might respond.

She had, quite literally, become reckless.

The bird shrieked violently towards the sky as she spread her wings outward, red lightning sparking across the surfaces of her body as her voice loudly echoed throughout the battlefield. The glowing, red outline lining across her body flashed brighter and brighter, radiating off of her body with unrivaled intensity as she set her sights on her opponent. A feral snarl escaped her beak, her bloodlusted and now animalistic noises directed towards the large, blue tortoise standing in front of her.

Surprisingly, Wartortle actually seemed quite caught off guard by the sudden change, slightly tilting his head to the side with his arms still crossed, a look of mild confusion on his face as he carefully assessed the bird from afar, still not yet moving from his position.

Gary and Misty were even more surprised, the former taking a small step back at the sound of the noises escaping from the bird's beak. Even ASH found himself perturbed by her sudden change in behavior, images of Nebula's friendly smile flashing throughout his mind as he struggled to take in… that.

An angry, somewhat crazed grin made its way to Nebula's face. With one more loud and violent shriek towards the sky above, blatantly reveling in her newfound power, she spread her wings out yet again, before flapping them furiously, making her way towards the air as she prepared to take her newfound strength (and bloodlusted killer instincts) out on her formidable opponent.

Ash immediately called out an order before Gary could.

"Wing Attack!"

The response happened fast.

The boy then grinned.

Gary's eyes practically bulged.

Nebula's speed was carried by Quick Attack, but whatever agility she had before paled in comparison to the blur that she was now.

Ash would have felt the wind force from her quicking off of the ground if it hadn't been for the barriers.

Before either he, Gary, or Misty could register it, a loud SMACK sounded throughout the battlefield, as a yelping Wartortle was sent flying back first into the barriers in front of Gary.

As Nebula kicked off into the air, flapping her wings to gain altitude, the tortoise got to his feet as a notable bruise appeared on his front. The water type staggered a bit, but was otherwise still ready to go.

Gary's face was pale as Nebula hovered above the battlefield. Ash considered using Wind Blast, and was just about to give the order, but suddenly decided against it.

Now that Reckless was in effect, Nebula's actions would become far more taxing on her energy than usual. She no longer had any reserves, and an overuse of Wind Blast and Whirlwind surely wouldn't be doing her stamina any favors, given the sheer amount of vigorous wing flapping that they both involved.

Nebula wouldn't realise this, of course. She wasn't being cautious anymore. Which meant that Ash now had to be cautious for her instead.

But before he could switch tactics, he heard Gary shouting.

The other boy was livid. From just one attack, Nebula had put him on edge.

"Wartortle! Blast that thing with Water Gun! Rapid Fire!"

Normally. Nebula probably would have skillfully avoided the barrage of blasts being spat upwards her way, but in her new state, things were different. She'd much rather smash through, charge through, or deflect incoming attacks than avoid them. Whatever was the most convenient. Cautiousness was not an option anymore.

She was out for blood.

The Staravia shrieked another violent shriek as she charged downwards towards the incoming barrage, her wings glowing with a bright, white light as she sliced through each and every blast of water in her way with Wing Attack.

She winced in mild pain as her wing smashed into Wartortle's now rotating shell, the blue tortoise having used Rapid Spin just in time to block her attack. However, the sheer force of her blow catapulted the spinning shell a good distance away.

However, as she began to charge after it, Wartortle exited his shell and hit her with a barrage of bubbles, the young Staravia being struck by them just as she was closing in.

She grunted in frustration and pain from the blow, being propelled backwards a good few feet, but was back to rushing forward the moment the momentum ceased, undeterred by the attack.

This time, Wartortle, having just finished using Bubblebeam, had no time to retreat into his shell, and was smashed head on with an Aerial Ace, the tortoise crying out in agony as he was painfully tackled across the battlefield.

He could only keep Nebula at bay temporarily, but could never hold her off for long. As Nebula cleared the distance between them to prepare for her next attack, Gary's body was shaking, his knuckles white as he clenched his fists with increasing tightness.

"NO!" he shouted to his temporarily downed Starter. Pointing a shaking finger at Ash, he snarled in a manner that almost came across as animalistic. "This moment of glory's finished! I'm not gonna have you humiliate us any further!" he looked to Wartortle, who was in the process of picking himself up, albeit much more slowly this time. "Get up Wartortle! We're not losing to some worthless failure and his beak brain!"

Wartortle made his way to his feet, and, picking up on Nebula's hyper-aggression, immediately retreated into his shell, spinning with Rapid Spin in preparation for Nebula's inevitable next attack.

As Nebula prepared to charge forward, Ash called out. "Steel Wing this time, Nebula!"

Nebula complied, coating her wings in metal as she descended towards her guarded opponent. With another animalistic shriek, she smashed one of her metal wings into the spinning shell, sending it sliding across the battlefield, the impact of the blow disorienting Wartortle and leaving him to involuntarily retreat from his shell.

The momentum of Nebula's blow didn't stop as Wartortle exited his shell, though, and, unprepared for the velocity, and, ultimately, unable to maintain his footing, he the blue tortoise found himself staggering backwards as he struggled to stay upright, teetering back even as his movements began to slow to a halt.

Ash had to admit that Nebula's behavior was… unsettling. This wasn't the same Nebula who usually greeted everyone in such a chipper tone every morning. Who was practically everywhere with Pikachu and even gave him free rides on her back to check out the view from the sky together. Who felt so guilty about her role in Eevee's capture just yesterday.

This Nebula was entirely different. As though she had been swapped with another Staravia altogether. Reckless was certainly a terrifying Ability. Not just because of the boosts that it gave, or the drawbacks to the user's stamina that it involved, but, most of all, because of how it altered the mind.

He wondered how Pikachu would react to Nebula's sudden and abrupt change in personality. The thought of the young mouse's potential reaction to his best friend's sudden mood shift was both an amusing and concerning one.

Ash would have to look up the exact cause of this later. Was it an adrenaline overdose? A sudden anger? Was her brain just going haywire in general?

They were questions that were flowing through his mind throughout the battle, but also ones that he knew would need to be addressed later, and not immediately.

Because for now, they had an advantage that they needed to capitalise on.

"Nebula! Quick Attack, then Wing Attack!"

The young bird shrieked in response, bolting head first into the still staggering Wartortle as she forcefully drove him to the ground. Pinning him onto his back with her talons, she drove a glowing wing into his face with another battle cry escaping from her beak.

The SMASHING sound echoed across the battlefield as Wartortle was slapped cleanly across the face, Nebula's glowing, bright red eyes glowering down at him as her glowing wing struck its target.

Gary was screaming at the top of his lungs now. "Icy Wind!"

Had she not been in her Reckless state, Nebula probably would have been able to avoid the blast of icy air that struck her at point blank, but with her newfound aggression, she wasn't in nearly as much of a hurry to clear the distance between herself and her opponent.

An enraged shriek sounded across the battlefield as Nebula was catapulted upwards, the direct hit from the Icy Wind agonizingly assaulting her body. But as the attack ceased and she was left hanging in the air, she quickly righted herself, hurt but far from down, as vengefully blitzed forward with another Wing Attack. Wartortle was still in the midst of getting up, struggling his way to his feet, when the attack smashed into him, sending the back of his shell smashing into the barriers in front of Gary as the tortoise wheezed in agony.

The large, blue turtle slid downwards onto his butt, shell leaning against the barriers as his bruised and battered body struggled to pick itself back up.

Gary looked like he was going to puke. "W-Wartortle…"

This couldn't be it, right? They wouldn't lose to Ash-

The small grin making its way to Ash's face immediately disappeared as both he and Gary were visually reminded of something.

Nebula wasn't the only one here with an Ability that greatly powered the user up.

And Wartortle's just so happened to take effect in moments like these.

This time, it was Wartortle's body that glowed brightly as a powerful, ocean blue aura engulfed his body.

Torrent was an Ability that activated when its user was on the ropes. When they were on their last legs.

And when it did, the power of their water type moves increased exponentially.

Wartortle's eyes flashed a bright, ocean blue to match the rest of the aura surrounding his body as he discovered newfound adrenaline, making his way back up to his feet with a facial expression that conveyed much more enthusiasm than Ash had ever seen from him before.

He could feel the energy coursing through his veins. Pumping through his bloodstream. Flowing throughout his body. And it felt GOOD.

Ash's face suddenly became uneasy. Up until now, Nebula's Reckless ability had given her the edge. The power to overwhelm Wartortle's defenses while smashing through his attacks. But now, with Wartortle's newfound power boost…

Had they just lost the upper hand?

In spite of his usual stoicism, Wartortle could NOT help the widening grin that made its way to his face as he let out a triumphant battle cry towards the sky occupied by his powerful, feathered opponent. Above him, Nebula let out a fearsome shriek in response, as if accepting a challenge.

Gary was starting to feel just a little bit more eased up now, but not by much as he pointed forward at Nebula, who flapped her wings above them while aggressively eying her opponent.

"Wartortle! That feathered freak of nature is no match for your power! Put that loser down with Water Gun! Rapid fire!"

The jets of water that escaped from Wartortle's mouth were much bigger than before. And yet also more condensed. And they moved a lot faster.

"Out of the way, Nebula!" Ash shouted frantically.

Nebula should have dodged. Ash TOLD her to dodge.

But she didn't.

Nebula was already rushing forward, prepared to smash through the powered up blasts with her Wing Attack like before.

As the first blast of water collided with her wing, Nebula felt a sharp pain in her wing from the force of the impact. All of a sudden, it was as though she had smashed wing-first straight into a rock. She grunted out in displeasure as her now stubbed wing scattered the water that it had just struck, the droplet's raining down onto the battlefield, but could not right herself in time for the second blast from the barrage to strike her square in the chest.

Ash gasped aloud as Nebula shouted in pain, losing her balance in the air as Gary gave a follow-up order.

"Great! Now Water Pulse!"

Wartortle held out his arms again, this time, the sphere of liquid forming in between his hands growing much larger and glowing much more brightly than before.

ANd when he tossed it, it SAILED through the air and SMASHED into its target quicker than anyone currently present ever could have predicted, including even Gary and Wartortle themselves. Nebula's pained shriek of agony assaulted Ash's ears as the boy guiltily watched his airborne friend sailing towards the barriers.

Nebula couldn't regain her composure in time to slam a Steel Wing into the barriers in order to stop herself. And even if she could, she wouldn't have been cautious enough to do so anyway. She wasn't thinking about saving herself, only about beating down her opponent.

She smashed back-first into the barriers, and began descending downwards. Just before her body could hit the pavement, however, she regained her composure, stopping her fall with a mighty flap of her wings as she continued to flap and make her way back upwards. As she reached full height once again, a primal shout escaped from her beak, directed straight at Wartortle, her eyes practically pulsing with their red glow and her face livid.

Ash breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived as Gary's mockery filled his ears.

"How's that, Ashy boy? Now that we're on an even playing field again, it's time to finish this with style!" he pointed accusingly at Nebula. "Your glorified feather freak won't be able to stop this one, and won't be smart enough to dodge with that ability activated! Wartortle! End this bird brained trash heap with Aqua Rush!"

Wartortle retreated into his shell yet again. As he spun, the water that engulfed him was much fiercer than before.

Ash's face was pale. Gary was right. Nebula wouldn't dodge it.

Blocking it with Steel Wing wouldn't work. Nebula had still been sent flying last time. And this time, she would lack the self preservation to stop herself with Steel Wing before she could slam into the barrier.

Wind Blast? Maybe, but she'd surely tire herself out, even if she could block the attack with it. She had already been using Reckless for quite a bit, and Ash wasn't sure if the attack would be enough to do true damage to Wartortle while he was still in his shell.

The rest of Nebula's arsenal certainly wouldn't work either. Which meant that…

...Nebula would probably knock herself out in the process, but hopefully, if she could overpower Wartortle and Gary's attack, at least she could force a draw on them.

Aqua Rush was clearly a very powerful technique. Probably the best one that Gary and Wartortle had.

So Ash and Nebula would just have to respond in kind.

"Cut loose, Nebula! Double-Edge!"

As Wartortle's rotation continued to increase in velocity, Nebula let out a loud cry as she engulfed herself in a bright, white aura.

The pale energy surrounded her body as she took aim at her target. Ash's breath caught in his throat as both combatants rushed forward, and if he had been paying attention to Gary, he would have seen a similar reaction from him as well.

Wartortle's Aqua Jet carried him far faster than it already had before, and had even more power behind it as well. As a result, this Aqua Rush was incomparable to the one that had previously been used earlier in the fight. The tortoise ascended towards Nebula in his rapidly spinning shell, at speeds far greater than Ash could have ever imagined the blue brute traveling at.

Nebula's spine-chilling cry sounded across the battlefield as she propelled herself downwards towards her advancing opponent. Traveling at an even greater speed than Wartortle, she put all of her might into her powerful charge in preparation for the upcoming clash.

SLAM!

The smashing noise echoed across the battlefield as the two attacks met with one another in midair. Ash, Gary, and Misty all would have felt the gusts of wind that were birthed from the shockwaves of the collision had it not been for the barriers separating them from the conflict.

The two attacks pushed against each other in midair, Nebula straining herself as she continued to push against the opposition combatant with a ferocious snarl. Wartortle's shell was beyond rock hard, and the momentum provided for it from the powered-up Aqua Jet was not something to be understated.

She felt the sweat flowing down her body and the fatigue slipping in. She had been using Reckless for a fairly good bit now, and had attacked several times at full force with her Moves being greatly powered up by the Ability. All of the energy in her body, being used up at once. And she was beginning to run out.

It had only been a matter of time, too.

But she would use all of the energy that she had left to win this battle. To demolish the opponent struggling against her and come out on top. For Ash's sake. And for Valiant.

Wartortle had been slowly pushing her back, but her convictions were too strong. Putting everything that she ever could have had into the clash, she shrieked angrily as she began pushing back against the might of her opponent, her body roughly shoving against the exterior of the hard shell that stood in her way.

Gary's eyes widened in disbelief as Wartortle began to slowly, but surely, be pushed back by Nebula's assault.

"No…!"

Ash didn't breathe. He didn't open his hands. He watched in silence and intensity as Nebula slowly but surely gained the upper hand. As she hammered against the advancing shell with her strongest attack, pushing it back and doing everything that she possibly could to shove it down-

And then her body gave out.

Nebula had been using Reckless for too long, and now she was out of steam.

As the might of her Double-Edge rapidly decreased along with her now deteriorating momentum, Wartortle pushed forward with his feathered opponent now at the mercy of his shell. With Nebula's resistance gone, she was rapidly launched into the barriers by the impact of her shelled opponent's attack, smashing against the barriers before falling to the ground.

Ash's heart sank as his feathered friend unceremoniously hit the ground with a thud. Her body was motionless, eyes closed as she lay sprawled out on the pavement.

Nebula had been using Reckless for too long. The boons of the Ability had allowed her to gain the upper hand, but in turn, the drawbacks were ultimately what had cost her the fight.

Exiting his shell, Wartortle landed on his feet and observed Nebula's still form, drawing deep breaths as his hands fell to his sides. He was tired, but his Torrent Ability meant that he still had plenty of power left.

Ash missed the deep sigh of relief that Gary breathed, only noticing him when the other boy finally spoke up again.

"Y-You see now, Ashy boy?!" he pointed to Wartortle, who began to stand upright again, albeit still breathing a bit hard. "That's power!" he pointed to the unconscious Nebula. "Your featherbrained loser was just a pretender!"

Back on the sidelines, Misty rolled her eyes at the boy's tone of voice. It almost sounded like this Gary kid was trying to convince himself more than Ash.

Ash paid Gary no mind as he returned Nebula to her Poke Ball. As the red light finished drawing her in, he looked down at the orb sympathetically and placed a hand on it.

"You were amazing, Nebula. Thank you so much."

Nothing Gary said fazed him. They all knew the truth. Gary knew the truth. That Wartortle had met his match every bit as much as Nebula had met hers. And Ash would never stop being proud of her for that.

Still, it meant that he now only had one teammate left.

The situation technically wasn't as bad as it seemed to be on paper. Gary's Eevee had taken a decent amount of damage, and Wartortle even moreso.

At the same time, however… Eevee had literally just joined the team. She had never battled with him before.

And as damaged as Wartortle very clearly was, his defenses and Torrent ability would still most certainly serve a problem. His Ability was still invigorating him, as far as his Water Type Moves were concerned, at the very least. Eevee would probably just need to land a few clean hits at most in order to finish the job, but the opposite was also true.

Gary's own Eevee, while certainly not in tip top shape, still wasn't completely helpless, and he also had one more Pokemon that hadn't even battled yet.

Ash clutched Eevee's Poke Ball in his hand as he found himself deep in thought.

This was a do or die situation. Maybe he was moving to fast to assume that he was ready to beat Gary yet…

But… quitting just because he would probably lose if they continued… was that what Trainer's did?

Was walking away when the odds were too against you to be worth it considered pragmatic or spineless?

He knew Gary would say the latter, if only to have an excuse to continue mocking him… but this wasn't about what Gary said. They weren't in Pallet Town anymore. Gary wasn't the "leader" anymore.

"What's taking you so long, Ashy boy?" the other boy scrunched up his face. "That bird was your ace, right? This won't take very long, then. Send out your Eevee so we can get this over with."

Ash glared at Gary, but said nothing.

He doubted he'd win at this point. But it wasn't hopeless, and although he didn't care what Gary's views were, and didn't consider surrendering to be spineless… that didn't mean that he would just give up.

Overcoming odds that were too great to be overcome… that was something that every rookie trainer strived to do. Perhaps the one thing that he and Gary both had in common, was the desire to achieve what no other first year Trainers ever had.

Win or lose, didn't matter at this point. If he spent his journey running away from battles like this, he'd never reach the Indigo Plateau.

Eevee appeared in front of him, immediately perking up at the sight of Wartortle.

"Eevee…" Ash knelt down to speak with her for a second. She turned her head towards him with a hint of uncertainty. "Our opponent is tough, but I believe in you, okay?"

His voice was encouraging, doing his best to hide his doubts. No need for Eevee to go into her first battle on the team feeling like she was in a hopeless position.

Whatever small chance that they had… they would capitalize on.

"Hmph." Gary grunted in an unimpressed tone. "For a moment there I thought you were giving up."

Ash's face grew stern.

"Rookies give up all the time, Gary." he said with an even tone of voice. "But whether you like it or not, I'm not going to be one of those rookies."

A hint of anger appeared in Gary's eyes, although his face quickly grew into a smirk.

"And what makes you think you're going to be the one to break all those records and achieve what the other first years hadn't? Hate to break it to you, Ashy boy, but you're a prime example of all the inevitable failures that are spawned with each Season. Only the exceptional trainers won't be forgotten."

"You mean that little speech you gave to me on Opening Day?" Ash's glare tightened. "Doesn't resonate with me anymore, Gary. So quit trying."

Gary's eyes practically flashed red for a moment. As he returned Wartortle to his Poke Ball, he snarled in Ash and Eevee's direction, which earned him a look of aggression from Eevee.

'Pipsqueak thinks he can talk back to me.' he thought bitterly to himself. 'He earns one little Gym badge, and he thinks he's not at the bottom anymore? He's not a future master. He's just a sub par failure who fluked his way through the Qualification Exam. Well flukes don't cut it in the world of professional Pokemon training, and they certainly don't cut it against me!'

"If you won't hold your tongue, then I'll just have to clamp your jaw shut, wannabe." Holding a fourth Poke Ball in front of himself, he spoke cooly. "My first capture isn't that far off from Wartortle, and I think she'll be the perfect way to put the curtain down on your little glorified fantasy dream."

Ash immediately recognized the Pokemon that appeared in front of Eevee.

It was a bulky, yellow, bell-shaped plant with a wide, gaping mouth and pink lips. A small, brown stem in the shape of a hook was on the top of its head, and three small green spots rested just above its eyes. On each side of its body were two large, green leaves that seemed to act as hands.

Gary's final Pokemon was a Weepinbell.

Gary crossed his arms confidently. "You like her? She'll be the one to put you down. You and your little furball."

Eevee snarled, but Gary seemed to be more amused than intimidated.

'Probably because he's got his teammate and the barriers protecting him.' Ash thought with an inward snort.

But back to the battle.

That Weepinbell was definitely bulky, but it also hopefully meant that Eevee was much more agile. They'd have to exploit their speed advantage to even stand a chance.

"Careful, Eevee," he spoke softly. "That Weepinbell is part poison type. She'll be lethal against us." at Eevee's acknowledging nod , he continued. "Speed around the battlefield with Quick Attack. Do your best to maintain your agility. Prioritize Swift and Shadow Ball, and keep your distance as much as possible. Got it?" at her second acknowledging nod, he grinned and gave her a thumbs up. "Great! Go for it!"

Eevee took off running, immediately dashing off to the side as Weepinbell attempted to track her.

"Let's end this with style, Weepinbell!" Gary's voice sounded out across the battlefield. "Catch that furball with Vine Whip!"

Weepinbell nodded to her trainer, as Vines quickly extended from her body and lashed out at the moving Eevee, who avoided them with ease. Jumping into the air, she fired off a quick Shadow Ball, not charging it up too much, but putting just enough power into it to faze her opponent. The orb of distorted, ghostly energy struck down on Weepinbell's forehead and pushed her back a bit, but she did little more than grunt in mild pain.

In response, the large, bulky plant opened her mouth and allowed a blast of glowing, purple powder to escape from it. Ash grimaced. Poison Powder, of all Moves.

Eevee immediately realised that the glowing, purple cloud advancing towards her was bad news, and quickly changed directions, firing off glowing, golden stars from her mouth that pelted the side of her opponent's body as she made her escape.

"Hidden Power!" Gary called out.

The glowing orbs that Weepinbell fired off were very clearly in resemblance to rocks. A rock type Hidden Power. However, as Eevee quickly changed direction in order to avoid the assault, she was struck by a vine to the face as Weepinbell predicted her movements.

Feeling a sharp pain in her cheek, Eevee tumbled away from the blow as Weepinbell took aim at her yet again.

"Energy Ball!"

Ash blinked. Energy Ball? That was a really powerful grass type move…

But the young boy immediately realized that Weepinbell was taking a good deal of time to charge up her attack, so he immediately went on the offensive.

"Jump up with a full power Shadow Ball!"

Eevee complied, charging up the ghostly energy in her mouth and jumping up just in time to avoid the bright, glowing, emerald colored orb that shot out of Weepinbell's mouth a few second slater. As the large orb slammed into the barriers in front of Ash, creating a powerful shockwave that surely would have knocked Ash off of his feet had the barriers not been there to shield him, Eevee fired off her attack, a large explosion being triggered by the impact as Weepinbell yelped out loud in pain, the powerful Ghost Type Move scoring a very clean, direct attack right on her forehead.

As Eevee pelted Weepinbell with more glowing, golden stars on her way down back to the ground, Gary grunted in frustration. Upon landing, Eevee immediately took off running once again, only for Gary to quickly give another order.

"Poison Jab!"

To both Ash and Eevee's mutual surprise, Weepinbell fiercely propelled herself forward with Vine Whip, her leaves glowing a deep, bright purple as she lashed out at Eevee. The Evolution Pokemon was caught off guard as Weepinbell swung forward with one of her leaves and quickly slammed it into Eevee, smacking the young Pokemon away as the poison excruciatingly entered her system.

Ash's breath caught in his throat. That Weepinbell was incredibly fast when she used Vine Whip that way...

As Eevee tumbled away, Weepinbell quickly took hold of her with her vines. Ash's face paled as she slammed Eevee up and down against the ground multiple times before Gary gave his next order.

"Bullet Seed!"

Weepinbell opened her mouth, and quickly blasted Eevee with a mighty barrage of glowing, golden seeds that completely pelted the Evolution Pokemon's body. Eevee cried out in unbearable agony at the aggression of the attack, her body practically being pierced by the mighty onslaught.

As if to top it all off, Weepinbell chucked Eevee into the air once she was done, leaving the young Evolution Pokemon to unceremoniously fall head first to the ground. Ash let out a deep sigh as his newest teammate lay limp on the ground, and quickly returned her.

"You did good, Eevee." he said soothingly. "Don't worry, this was just your first battle. We'll get stronger together."

Looking over to Weepinbell as he clipped Eevee's Poke Ball back to his belt, Ash could see that the grass/poison type Pokemon had not gotten out of the battle unscathed, in spite of how quick that it was. Her forehead was bruised from the Shadow Ball, and a few minor bruises outlined other parts of her body.

It was all mostly superficial, though. She was still certainly in much better shape than the rest of Gary's Pokemon were.

After showering his Pokemon with praise, Gary returned Weepinbell and made his way towards Ash, arms crossed and a triumphant look in his eyes.

Ash steadied himself, meeting Gary with an even look as the other boy's signature smirk reappeared on his face.

"We both knew how this would end, Ashy boy. But you were just in denial, weren't you?"

Instead of answering him, Ash removed his backpack and rummaged through a pocket. Pulling out some money, he strapped the backpack back on and extended his arm to Gary.

"Just take your money, Gary. You won, I lost, I get it already."

Gary frowned at him, but accepted the prize money nonetheless.

"You 'get it', huh? That's not the impression I got during our-"

"Because I'm not going to lose next time." Ash cut him off, crossing his arms and doing his best to remain steadfast and neutral, eying the other boy carefully. "You beat me this time. And last time, too. And right now, I'm okay with that. I'll be stronger than you eventually. Next time we run into each other, my team and I will beat you and your team, no matter what you guys throw at us."

At the end of the day, Ash and his team had knocked out one of Gary's Pokemon, and injured two. Weepinbell was the only one on Gary's team who had come out of it in good shape.

His teammates had given it their all against their opponents, and so had he.

Ash was… disappointed by this loss, but he wasn't broken by it. This wasn't the humiliating dumpster fire that his first battle with Gary was. This was a hard fought battle where he and his friends had simply come up short. They weren't weak. They were simply outclassed. But they won't be forever.

Gary's scowl almost made Ash flinch a bit, but the young boy quickly steadied the look in his eyes as the other boy poked him in the chest.

"You'll win next time? Keep dreaming, pipsqueak. I don't know what's gotten into you since you left Pallet Town, but I'm not liking this new attitude of yours. I'll beat you down as many times as I have to until you get the picture. I'm at the top, you're at the bottom. Stop acting like things are going to change."

Ash wanted to respond, but decided against it. It was one thing to fire back at Gary and not let him walk all over him anymore, but it was another thing to let it drag out into an argument.

He'd said his piece, and that was that. Anything else would just be dragging things out, or reiterating what he had already said. He wasn't in the mood for a shouting match.

Let Gary have his moment of glory. The latest of many. Ash was used to being upstaged by him, just like how everybody else in Pallet Town was.

'No… I can't let Gary of all people define what my journey is going to be like.' Ash thought to himself. As he watched the other boy leave in a huff, disappearing back into the Pokemon Center, he ran his hand across the four Poke Balls that were currently residing on his belt. 'Beating Gary is just a small part of our adventure. We have to focus on the greater goal too. Not just surpassing one person. Enough with the tunnel vision.'

He had already realized that before, when he had earned the Boulder Badge from Brock. That he could succeed, and that what Gary and the others all said didn't matter.

But he realized that even more now. Regardless of how the battle had ended, he knew he just couldn't keep dwelling on what Gary thought of him. Or what all of his peers back home did either.

This journey of theirs… that he and his team were on… it wasn't about beating Gary, or proving anybody else wrong, either.

It was about reaching the Indigo Plateau. The ultimate goal for every Trainer in Indigo.

He and Gary both shared in that goal. All of the other Trainers in Indigo did as well. And it was what should matter the most.

He wanted to be stronger than Gary, but that wasn't what was most important thing in play right now. If he limited his goals to just a single person, he and his team would never reach their true goal, the one that counted in the end.

Ash smiled to himself as he looked down to his Poke Balls.

"Thanks for fighting as hard as you can, guys. We'll win next time, I promise you that. For now, let's just keep training."

He was about to head back inside, when a familiar voice suddenly made itself known.

"He was quite obnoxious, wasn't he?"

A slightly startled Ash whirled around to see Misty approaching him, somewhat more casually than before.

Right… she was here.

"Oh… hey." Ash said, suddenly feeling a bit shy again as he remembered their previous… "interactions"... if he could even call them that.

She rubbed the back of her head a bit, sighing irritably.

"I was honestly hoping he'd lose. Just to shut him up a bit." she scoffed. "Although, I suppose he would have just thrown a crying fit if you'd beaten him. Would have just made it worse."

"U-um… yeah." Ash stuttered in response.

He supposed he'd never really thought of how Gary would actually react to losing… mostly because he'd never seen Gary lose before.

But Gary was already getting worked up within the battle itself, and Ash wasn't sure if the idea of him throwing a temper tantrum was cathartic or insufferable.

"So…" Misty crossed her arms a bit. "I'm assuming there's history between you two? Doesn't sound like it's pleasant."

Ash allowed a small, awkward grin to make its way across his face as his cheeks mildly flushed. "Y-yeah. I g-guess you could say that."

"Hmph."

A quick silence fell between them, Misty carefully looking Ash over as though she wanted to say something. Ash was still a bit uncomfortable in her presence, but waited to see if she still had anything else to say.

When she never did, he slowly turned to leave, assuming that she just wanted to be left alone again.

However, he quickly stopped upon feeling a hand on his shoulder. Turning around a bit to meet her gaze, he could see her frowning a bit.

Removing her arm from his shoulder, Misty looked him over again as a mild twinge of redness began to occupy her cheeks.

"Look… about… before…" she sighed. "I'm… sorry about my behavior from earlier today, Ash." she eyed him apologetically, her voice seeming to be sincere. "I was just… not in the best mood. I… shouldn't have taken it out on you."

Ash blinked a bit, but rubbed the back of his head with an awkward smile.

"N-no. I-it's… fine. It's fine. You don't need to apologize, I was never offended."

"Hmmm…" she didn;t seem so sure, but she also didn't press any further. Gesturing towards the inside, she spoke. "I'll make it up to you. It's a bit early for lunch, but you wanna go grab a quick snack while your team recovers?"

Ash was taken aback by the sudden invitation, but found himself quickly nodding. "Sure, if you want."

She grinned a bit. It was a bit friendlier than before. Not the most cheerful smile in the world, but certainly more appealing than Gary's, for whatever that was worth. And overall, it conveyed an effort to be welcoming. No hostility, or smugness of any kid. Just a small grin and nothing else to it.

"Great, let's go."

Ash nodded, allowing her to go first before following her in.

Mercifully, Gary was long gone by the time they got inside. After turning his team in to Nurse Joy, Ash followed Misty to the cafeteria for a quick bite to eat.

Their conversation was a bit more lively this time.