"And that's the story," Ash finished.
It's been a bit, and Barry and Lucas both joined up with the group for lunch, and like Ash thought, Lucas ended up dragging Barry here.
As the resident professional foodie, how could Lucas pass up the opportunity for food? So while usually he is sleepy and aloof, as soon as he got the text from Ash, he got Turtwig to tie him up with a vine, then had Munchlax carry him all the way to the meeting spot.
And as for the story Ash just told them, it was the story of how he and Cynthia FIRST met, you know, during the Unown incident. He has to specify that because he is not planning on telling them about the Arceus incident, at least not here in town. Maybe he'll reveal that later if he feels like it, but that was future him's choice.
For now, they were processing the story and nodding along. It was a bit much to take in, the fact that some Unown literally took over a town and made it night permanently, but hey, it could be worse. Ash could have said they fought a god or something. That would be ridiculous.
"So basically," Barry said, slowly processing everything, "you met Cynthia because a bunch of Unown took over a town?"
"Pretty much."
"And then you two just became friends?"
"Pretty much."
Verity stared at Ash for a few seconds, "How the heck are you so casual about this?"
Ash shrugged, "I dunno. Cynthia's still just Cynthia."
Dawn sighed, "You keep saying that like it makes sense."
"It does to me."
Verity shook her head, "You're so weird."
"Thank you."
"That wasn't a compliment."
"I choose to take it as one."
Lucas quietly continued eating, apparently having already accepted that Ash's life was just like this.
After a little more talking, everyone eventually finished lunch. Ash leaned back in his chair and looked around the table, "Well, that was fun, but it's about time we head over to the Gym."
Barry immediately shot up from his seat, "Then I call dibs!"
Ash blinked, "Dibs on what?"
"The first battle!" Barry declared, pointing dramatically at himself, "I'm gonna be the first one to challenge Gardenia!"
Dawn raised an eyebrow, "You are?"
"Yep! And you can't stop me or I'll fine you!"
Ash stared at him for a moment, then reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, "That's unfortunate."
Barry's confidence immediately wavered, "What?"
Ash turned the screen around and showed him, "Because I already scheduled the first battle."
Barry's face went completely blank, "…What?"
"Yep."
"When?!"
"This morning."
"YOU DIDN'T EVEN TELL US!"
"I didn't need to."
Barry's eye twitched, "So you're telling me you already scheduled the Gym battle while we were eating?"
"Nope." Ash put his phone away, "I scheduled it before you guys even got here."
Barry looked like someone had just kicked his puppy, "But I called dibs!"
Ash gave him a completely deadpan look, "Should've scheduled it."
"That's not how dibs works!"
"Sounds like a skill issue."
Lucas quietly snorted into his food.
Verity covered her mouth, trying not to laugh.
Dawn wasn't even trying. She was openly laughing.
"Don't laugh!" Barry complained, "This is serious!"
Ash stood up and stretched, "Sorry, Barry. Get good."
Barry slammed his hands onto the table, "YOU CAN'T JUST SAY GET GOOD!"
"I just did."
"ASH!"
Ash started walking away, "Come on, guys. Gardenia's waiting."
Barry pointed after him, "I'm challenging you to a race to the Gym!"
Ash glanced over his shoulder, "You'll lose."
"I haven't even started!"
"You're already behind."
Barry immediately took off running, "THEN I'LL PROVE YOU WRONG!"
Ash watched him sprint down the street, "…And there he goes."
"Should we run after him?" Dawn asked.
"Why?" Ash asked.
"You aren't worried he'll try to take your spot?" Verity asked.
"First, not how that works. Second, we all know Barry wouldn't. And 3rd, I guarantee that he does not know where the Gym is," Ash said casually as he started leisurely walking down the street.
"I can confirm he has no idea," Lucas said as he was eating a big bowl of rice.
"Yep, so let's go, and put all your Pokémon back into their balls. Don't forget anyone," Ash said, as he went ahead and did it, returning all of the Pokémon he had out except for Pikachu and Vee.
The group did the same, well, except for Verity, who was looking around quickly, "Um, hey, Ash, you wouldn't happen to have—" but she got cut off when she heard some rustling.
She looked over, and it was coming from the trash can. She walked over and looked, and saw her Burmy in there taking the trash and adding it to her cloak, which visibly turned pink as she was adding a soda can into it.
"Burmy…" Verity sighed as she reached in and pulled out her Burmy, "How much did you put in your cloak?"
Burmy blinked twice slowly, not responding, making Verity sigh.
Ash walked up and patted Verity on the shoulder, "Well, look on the bright side, debatably, trash cloak is the best one."
Verity sighed and held Burmy up at eye level, "Okay, you're going back in your ball before you find anything else."
Burmy gave a tiny little wiggle, clearly not agreeing with the decision.
"Yeah, yeah. You can decorate your cloak later." Verity recalled Burmy into its Poké Ball and clipped it back onto her belt. She looked at Ash, then sighed, "Let's go."
Ash nodded, "See? Easy."
Dawn looked at the Poké Ball on Verity's belt, "You might want to keep an eye on that one."
"I know," Verity said, "Apparently I have to keep my Pokémon away from trash cans now."
Ash shrugged, "Could be worse."
"How?"
"Your Pokémon could be stealing food."
Vee, who was sitting on Ash's shoulder, immediately looked away.
Ash slowly turned his head toward him, "...Vee."
Vee whistled innocently.
Dawn narrowed her eyes, "Wait. What did he do?"
Vee didn't make eye contact, and so Ash shook his head, "We'll talk about it later. Let's go to the Gym."
Ash, Dawn, Verity, and Lucas continued down the streets of Eterna City, with Ash walking at a leisurely pace while everyone else followed behind him.
Barry was nowhere to be seen.
"So…" Dawn said after a moment, "how long do you think it'll take Barry to realize he's going the wrong way?"
Ash shrugged, "Probably another five minutes."
Lucas glanced down at his bowl of rice, which he was somehow still eating while walking, "I'd give him three."
Verity looked between them, "You guys sound very confident."
"No, no, it makes sense," Dawn nodded.
A few minutes later, Ash stopped in front of a large building covered in plants, vines, and various decorations that made it very obvious this was the Eterna Gym.
Ash looked up at the building, "And we're here."
Dawn smiled, "Finally."
Verity looked around, "Where's Barry?"
Ash glanced down the street, and there was nothing, "He'll figure it out eventually."
Lucas nodded, "Probably."
Before anyone could say anything else, the doors to the Gym suddenly swung open.
"Hey!"
Gardenia stepped out, smiling, "You kept me waiting! I was wondering when you'd show up!"
Ash smiled and shrugged, "Yeah, well, you never told us a time. You just said you accepted our challenge."
Gardenia blinked, "I mean...I guess that's fair."
"Okay, so now we are ready. Well, we are missing one, but he'll catch up."
"Yeah, I'm surprised Barry isn't here already. Guess you were right," Verity shrugged.
Gardenia looked around, "Barry?"
Dawn pointed down the street, "He's our friend, and he ran ahead."
Gardenia tilted her head, "Oh?"
"He wanted to be the first one to challenge you," Ash explained, "Then he took off running because he thought he knew where the Gym was."
Gardenia stared at him for a moment before slowly smiling, "Ehehehe! He doesn't know where the Gym is, does he?"
Lucas shook his head while continuing to eat his rice, "No."
Gardenia giggled, "Oh, wow. Amazing!"
Verity looked toward the street, "He should probably be here any second now."
Ash shrugged, "Give him a few minutes."
Gardenia stepped aside and motioned for them to enter, "Well, come on in! I can't wait to see what you've all got!"
Ash walked inside first, with Pikachu sitting on his shoulder and Vee following close behind. Dawn and Verity followed him, while Lucas calmly finished the last of his rice before stepping inside.
They walked into the Gym, which somehow looked more like a garden than a gym, although Ash did notice that it looked more like its Platinum counterpart because of the giant flower clock on the ground.
Dawn looked around, "Wow…"
Verity stared at the plants, "This place is huge."
Gardenia smiled proudly, "I know, right? I love it! When it comes to Plant Pokémon, you can't go wrong with a little greenery!"
Dawn looked around, "You've really gone all out."
Gardenia nodded, "Of course! I'm a master of vivid plant Pokémon!"
She suddenly leaned closer to Ash, lowering her voice, "Although…"
Ash raised an eyebrow, "Although?"
Gardenia glanced around nervously, "I really hope none of the scary stuff from that Old Chateau followed you here…" As she said that, from behind her, a Roserade who was tending to the flowers shook her head, looking disappointed.
Ash snorted as he waved his hands in front of him, making them move like noodles, "Oooo~ I dunno, I have been craving the souls of Gym Leaders recently."
Gardenia stared at Ash for a few seconds before slowly backing away from him, "Um…"
Ash kept waving his hands around like noodles, making a ridiculous ghostly face, "Boo."
Gardenia immediately jumped behind Roserade, "N-Nope! Not funny!"
Ash burst out laughing and dropped his arms, "Ehehehe!"
Dawn covered her mouth, trying not to laugh, "Ash…"
Verity looked away as she was visibly shaking, trying not to laugh, "You really shouldn't mess with her about ghosts," she said through snorts.
Gardenia peeked over Roserade's shoulder, "Hey now! That's not nice!"
Ash grinned, "Sorry, sorry. I couldn't resist."
Gardenia sighed and slowly stepped back out from behind Roserade, "Whew...Okay. No ghosts. We're all good. Right?"
Ash gave her a thumbs-up, "Yep."
Gardenia looked at him suspiciously, "You're sure?"
"Pretty sure."
Gardenia stared at him for another second before eventually sighing, "Whew! Okay, I'll trust you. For now."
She stepped farther into the Gym and gestured toward the massive flower clock in the center of the battlefield, "Anyway! Welcome to the Eterna Gym! I'm Gardenia, the master of vivid plant Pokémon!"
Ash looked around, "Yeah, we kinda figured that out."
Gardenia smiled, "When it comes to plant Pokémon, you can't go wrong with a little greenery!"
Verity looked around at the enormous amount of plants growing throughout the Gym, "A little?"
Gardenia laughed, "Ehehehe! Okay, maybe a lot!"
"Anyway, let's do this," Ash said, stretching and rolling his shoulder, "I'm good to go."
"Alright, how many Gym badges do you have, by the way?" Gardenia asked.
"Just one. This will be number 2."
"Alright, let me get the team ready," Gardenia said, walking over to a flower bed, and she started sorting through some balls.
Dawn perked up, "Oh, I almost forgot I've got to change," she said, "Go ahead without me. I'll be there in a sec." She took off running to the bathroom to get her cheerleading outfit on.
Verity sighed, "I still don't know how she can do that with no shame."
To which Lucas shrugged.
After a few seconds, Gardenia walked back over with 3 balls on her waist, "Okay, I'm ready to go. I assume you don't need me to tell you the rules."
"Pretty self-explanatory," Ash said, pulling out one ball and spinning it on his finger, "3 on 3, standard Gym rules."
"Yep, let's do this!" Gardenia held out her ball, "This will be fun. Let's have our battle!"
But before either of them threw out their balls, Barry suddenly burst through the Gym doors, "I'M HERE!"
Everyone turned toward him.
Barry stood there completely out of breath, his hair a mess and his clothes covered in dirt.
Ash slowly looked him up and down, "You look terrible."
Barry pointed at him while trying to catch his breath, "I...got...here!"
"Yeah, you're a bit late, my dude, so get on the stands and wait your turn," Ash said.
"You know you could have told me where the Gym was before I took off running," Barry said, looking defeated. He went over and sat next to Lucas.
"You did run before we could stop you. This one is on you," Lucas said, shaking his head.
Barry let out a breath, "Uhh...is there water here? I could use something to drink."
Gardenia scratched her cheek, "Um...well, there is a vending machine, but...it's kinda broken, and the people who said they would come and repair it haven't come."
"Of course," Barry said, slouching in the seat.
Then, just next, Dawn ran back in after changing and got on the stands, holding up 2 pom-poms while her Piplup stood next to her with some too, both in cheerleading attire.
"Alright! I'm here! Go, Ash, you can do it!"
Ash snorted, "Thanks, Dawn. I almost thought I was gonna lose without you here," he said playfully. Then he turned back to Gardenia, "Well, before we get interrupted again, shall we start?"
"Let's," Gardenia grinned.
At the same time, they both threw out their balls. Gardenia's opened first, and from it came out a Cherrim with a Life Orb, and on Ash's side, his opened next, and from it came his Snorunt, who had a berry in her mouth.
Gardenia took the first move, "Alright, Cherrim, [Sunny Day]!"
Cherrim immediately jumped into action, spreading its little arms as a warm glow began spreading throughout the Gym. The artificial sunlight pouring through the windows suddenly became much brighter, and the temperature rose noticeably.
Then, immediately, Cherrim bloomed into its Sunshine Form.
Ash saw that and smirked as he wagged his finger, "Nuh uh, [Hail]!"
Snorunt tossed the berry into her mouth and swallowed it before immediately spinning around. A cold gust of wind blasted through the Gym, and clouds immediately covered the sunlight. Then Cherrim was forced back into Overcast Form.
Gardenia's smile dropped, "Wait, what?!"
"Sucks to suck," Ash said playfully, "I haven't been hitting my quota of annoying people yet. Time to fix that."
Gardenia narrowed her eyes, "Alright then, Cherrim, [Sunny Day] again!"
Cherrim immediately spread its arms, and the sunlight returned, bathing the Gym in warmth as it shifted back into its Sunshine Form.
Ash pointed forward, "[Hail]!"
Snorunt spun around again, sending a freezing gust through the Gym as dark clouds gathered overhead. Snow began falling, and Cherrim was forced back into its Overcast Form.
Gardenia frowned, "Again?!"
"I'd be stupid to not do it again."
"Fine! Cherrim, [Petal Blizzard]!"
Cherrim spun around, sending a storm of razor-sharp petals flying across the battlefield.
"[Protect]!"
A green barrier appeared around Snorunt, blocking the petals before they scattered across the field.
Then Ash swiped the air, "Now [Spikes]!"
Snorunt hopped around the battlefield, tossing several sharp layers of spikes onto Gardenia's side.
Gardenia frowned, "Cherrim, [Sunny Day]!"
"[Hail]!"
The sunlight returned for only a moment before the snowstorm immediately swallowed it again.
Gardenia's eye twitched, "You're really going to keep doing that?"
Ash shrugged, "Pretty much."
"Cherrim, [Magical Leaf]!"
A barrage of glowing leaves flew toward Snorunt.
"[Ice Shard]!"
Snorunt launched a burst of ice shards that smashed through the leaves, scattering them across the battlefield.
Gardenia grinned, "Then try this! [Leech Seed]!"
Cherrim launched several seeds toward Snorunt.
"Nah, [Double Team]!" Ash commanded.
Snorunt split into several copies, causing the seeds to miss as they scattered across the field.
Gardenia looked at all the clones and clicked her tongue, "[Petal Blizzard]!"
The petals swept through the battlefield, knocking several of Snorunt's copies away until only the real one remained.
"Another [Spikes]," Ash commanded.
Snorunt scattered another layer of spikes across Gardenia's side.
Gardenia sighed, "Cherrim, [Sunny Day]!"
Cherrim immediately threw up the sun, and the clouds dispersed as they were replaced by the bright sun. Cherrim switched back over to Sunshine Form.
This time, Gardenia was ready for Ash to command another [Hail], but it's exactly because she expected it this time that Ash smirked, "Alright, now is a good time, [Disable]."
Gardenia's eyes widened just as Snorunt's little eyes glowed as she glared at Cherrim, shutting off her access to [Sunny Day].
Gardenia had no choice but to try this, "Quick, [Weather Ball]!"
Now that Cherrim wasn't getting disoriented by going back and forth, it jumped up and charged a red orb between its flowers. Now, [Weather Ball] is an interesting move. It changes based on the weather, and in Sun, it becomes Fire-type and its Base Power doubles.
Usually, Gardenia uses Cherrim to take care of people who think they can come in here with an Ice- or Bug-type, but unfortunately, she hasn't run into anyone pulling the strategy Ash was doing now.
So the best bet for her was to try and take down Snorunt in one hit before it set up [Hail] again.
Once the orb was fully charged, Cherrim fired it directly at Snorunt, and Snorunt was unable to dodge because of how small its little legs are. There is a reason why both of its evolutions end up floating, but Snorunt got hit and sent flying back into the ground.
Gardenia held her breath to see what happened. Technically speaking, a hit like that should have been able to knock out Snorunt because of how frail they are, but she didn't let her guard down.
And just as she feared, Snorunt slowly stood up. Before she could ask how, Snorunt spat out the stem of the berry she had in her mouth. It was an Occa Berry stem, the one that reduces Fire-type damage.
Ash winked, "Too bad. Better luck next time, [Hail]."
Snorunt spun again, and the sun was covered by the clouds one last time. Cherrim was forced back into its Overcast Form. This time, it couldn't go back, and with the hail continuing to fall, the little flower Pokémon started taking damage from the weather.
Gardenia gritted her teeth, "Alright, Cherrim, don't let that stop you! [Energy Ball]!"
Cherrim gathered a glowing green sphere between its flowers and fired it at Snorunt.
"[Protect]!" Ash commanded.
Snorunt quickly threw up another green barrier, blocking the [Energy Ball] as it exploded against the shield.
Ash pointed forward, "[Ice Shard]!"
A barrage of sharp ice shards shot toward Cherrim, slamming into it and knocking it backward.
Gardenia frowned as Cherrim stumbled, "Come on, Cherrim!" she called as Cherrim took more hail damage.
Gardenia sighed, "Fine! Cherrim, [Petal Blizzard]!"
Cherrim spun around, sending another massive storm of petals across the battlefield.
Ash whistled, "Let's go, do this, [Spikes]."
Snorunt jumped back, shooting the final layer of spikes into the storm that would land over on Gardenia's side, but because of that, she couldn't dodge and she got picked up by the storm, lifting her up into the air.
Gardenia raised her hand to the air, "Now finish this with [Energy Ball]!"
Cherrim raised its head and fired a ball of green energy directly toward the flailing Snorunt, with no way to dodge.
Ash smiled, "You did great, Snorunt. Leave us off with a [Light Screen] before you go!"
Snorunt stayed herself and managed to quickly set up a screen, but even with the reduction, it wasn't enough to stop the orb. It exploded, sending Snorunt spiraling down and landing with a soft thud and spirals in her eyes.
Gardenia finally let out a sigh, "Finally. How much longer is my move gonna stay blocked?"
"I ain't telling you that." Ash returned her to her ball and got his next ball out, "Besides, she did her part. The rest is up to us. Staravia, you're up."
Ash threw out his next ball, and from it Staravia flew out, stretching his wings with an Eviolite.
This time, Ash took the first move as he pointed forward, "[Aerial Ace]!"
Staravia immediately shot forward, his wings slicing through the air as he rushed toward Cherrim.
Gardenia quickly raised her hand, "Cherrim, [Energy Ball]!"
Cherrim fired another glowing green orb toward Staravia, but Staravia easily weaved around it before slamming directly into Cherrim with his wings.
Cherrim was sent skidding backward across the battlefield.
Gardenia gritted her teeth, "Come on! Cherrim, [Petal Blizzard]!"
Cherrim spun around and sent another storm of razor-sharp petals toward Staravia.
"No, you don't, [Double Team]!"
Staravia split into several copies, causing the petals to fly through several of them while the real Staravia flew upward.
Ash grinned, "Now [Aerial Ace]!"
Staravia dove straight through the storm of petals, his wings glowing as he struck Cherrim head-on.
Cherrim was knocked backward, and the hail continued to fall around it.
Gardenia looked at Cherrim and could see it was barely standing, "Cherrim, [Weather Ball]!"
Cherrim gathered another orb. This time, since there was hail, it turned blue and Ice-type before she fired it.
"Dodge with [Quick Attack]!"
Staravia suddenly vanished in a blur, dodging the attack before rushing straight toward Cherrim.
Gardenia's eyes widened, "Cherrim!"
Staravia slammed into Cherrim with another hit, sending the little flower Pokémon flying backward.
Cherrim landed on the ground and tried to push itself back up, but its legs gave out. At the same time, the hail suddenly stopped, and the weather went back to neutral.
Ash looked up and whistled, "Good thing we managed to finish that quickly, otherwise that might've been a problem."
"Come on, you're no fun," Gardenia said as she returned Cherrim to its ball and pulled out another.
"Well, excuse me for not wanting to let a Grass Gym Leader get the Sun out," Ash said with a huff.
"Well, I guess I can't blame you. I would do the same. Also, kinda reminds me how Candice fights," Gardenia muttered, rubbing her chin. Then she snapped out of it, "Oh right, Grotle, I choose you!"
Grotle jumped out of the ball and landed heavily on the ground with Leftovers, but unfortunately, as it did, it got hurt from the spikes, and since there were 3 layers of them, that was 25% already off.
Gardenia looked down at Grotle, then over at the three layers of spikes covering her side of the field, "Ugh...I really should've dealt with those."
Ash grinned, "Yep."
Gardenia narrowed her eyes, "Don't look so smug."
"I can't help it."
Grotle shook itself off and looked toward Staravia, who was still hovering above the battlefield.
Gardenia pointed forward, "Alright, Grotle, [Rock Tomb]!"
Grotle stomped its feet against the ground, causing several large rocks to burst out from underneath Staravia.
"Move with [Quick Attack]!"
Staravia suddenly darted through the air, weaving between the rocks as they shot upward.
Gardenia clicked her tongue, "Then use [Bullet Seed]!"
Grotle opened its mouth and fired a rapid stream of seeds toward Staravia.
"[Aerial Ace]!"
Staravia twisted through the barrage, then dove straight toward Grotle with its wings glowing.
Grotle braced itself as Staravia slammed into it, but the larger Grass-type barely moved.
Gardenia smiled, "Not bad, but Grotle isn't Cherrim, [Bite]!"
Grotle lunged forward, its jaws snapping shut around Staravia's wing.
Staravia cried out as Grotle tossed him aside. Staravia shook himself off and flapped back into the air. At the same time, Grotle started nibbling on the Leftovers to heal.
Ash let out a small breath, then raised his hand, "[Aerial Ace]!"
Staravia shot forward again.
"[Protect]!" Gardenia commanded.
Grotle quickly surrounded itself with a green barrier just as Staravia slammed into it. The attack bounced off, sending Staravia backward.
Gardenia pointed toward Staravia, "Now, [Rock Tomb]!"
The ground beneath Staravia erupted again as several rocks shot into the air.
"No, you don't, [Quick Attack]!"
Staravia accelerated, barely slipping between the rocks.
"Again!"
Staravia continued weaving through them, but one of the rocks clipped his wing, throwing him off balance.
Gardenia immediately took advantage, "Now, [Bite]!"
"Counter it with [Aerial Ace]!" Ash commanded.
Staravia recovered in midair and dove toward Grotle just as Grotle bit down on his left wing. He used his right to slash Grotle across the eyes.
Grotle recoiled, releasing Staravia as it stumbled backward. Staravia quickly pulled his damaged wing back and flew upward.
Gardenia pointed forward, "Don't let him get away! [Bullet Seed]!"
Grotle shook its face, then opened its eyes before firing a rapid stream of seeds toward Staravia.
"[Double Team]!"
Staravia split into several copies, all of them flying in different directions as the seeds tore through the air.
Gardenia narrowed her eyes, "Grotle, don't fall for it! [Rock Tomb]!"
Grotle stomped the ground, causing rocks to erupt all over the battlefield.
Several of Staravia's copies disappeared as the rocks smashed through them, but the real Staravia managed to weave between them.
Ash pointed toward Grotle, "[Aerial Ace]!"
Staravia dove toward Grotle again, his wings glowing as he flew straight toward it.
"[Protect]!"
Grotle threw up another green barrier. Staravia slammed into the barrier and was forced backward.
Gardenia smirked, "Got you!"
Ash just smiled, "Not quite."
Gardenia blinked, "What?"
Ash winked and pointed downward, "Now [Hurricane]."
Gardenia looked at where Ash was pointing, and she saw that the spikes were there, but before she could process that, Staravia used the momentum from getting knocked back to flip, then swipe his wings downward.
As soon as he did, underneath Grotle, a cyclone started building. Then quickly, it grew to a big [Hurricane], and the spikes got picked up and were added into the spinning current, constantly stabbing Grotle in every direction.
Grotle tried to hold its ground, but after getting stabbed constantly, it let go of its footing for just a second, and that was all that was needed. The air current picked up on Grotle's foot, managing to finally pick up the big turtle and make it go airborne.
And as Grotle panicked while it was being pushed around in the air and Gardenia was quickly trying to think of a way out of this one, Ash snapped his finger, "[Brave Bird]."
Staravia kicked his feet off the ground and shot upward. As he did, his body was covered in fire as he broke through the air current and hit Grotle right in its exposed stomach, knocking the air out of it and sending it flying out of the [Hurricane].
Grotle fell backward and landed next to Gardenia. It was on its back and had spirals in its eyes, knocked out.
Gardenia sighed and returned Grotle to its ball, "You did great, Grotle. Get some rest."
Ash smiled as Staravia flew back toward him, "Nice one, bud."
Staravia puffed out his chest and let out a proud squawk.
Gardenia looked at them and shook her head, "Not how I was expecting this battle to go, if I'm honest, but I guess I can't complain too much. I don't think I've ever fought anyone like this before."
Gardenia reached for her final Poké Ball, "But in that case…" Gardenia said as she held it up, "Looks like it's time for my last Pokémon."
Ash looked over at Staravia, who stood forward, ready to keep going, and he looked back at Gardenia, "Then bring it on."