The battle for the Gym badge — the final Gym badge in the Kanto region — was about to begin. Both opponents stood in their positions, each one determined to win, but no one wanted it more than Ash.
Our protagonist had started his journey just a few months ago, capturing strong Pokémon, training them, and earning Gym badges while remaining undefeated in every battle he had faced. Normally a novice trainer wouldn't have been able to accomplish something like that, but for Ash it was different. He was a reincarnated person from planet Earth who possessed a system that rewarded him every time he completed the missions it gave him. However, what truly gave him the advantage in this world was his extensive knowledge about Pokémon — knowledge he had learned in his previous life — combined with the original Ash's innate talent as a genius in Pokémon battles. When those two things merged, the most talented and knowledgeable trainer of all was born: a trainer who had remained undefeated since the start of his journey, but who never let it go to his head.
Right now, this trainer was stepping up to obtain his eighth badge — the badge that would qualify him to participate in the Kanto Pokémon League.
"Let's begin! I choose you, Rhyperior!" Miyamoto said.
An intimidating Rhyperior emerged from its Poké Ball. Its enormous rock body could intimidate even the bravest of trainers.
"Ivysaur, I choose you!" Ash exclaimed.
Ash's Ivysaur stepped onto the battlefield, ready to show what it was capable of. Ivysaur stared at the Rhyperior in front of it without fear, despite its imposing presence.
"A pre-evolved form?" Miyamoto wondered.
It was unusual. By this point, most trainers brought out fully evolved Pokémon, and it was rare to see one that hadn't evolved yet. Still, underestimating her opponent wasn't like her.
"Rhyperior, use Stone Edge!" Miyamoto ordered.
"Ry!" Rhyperior roared.
It slammed its fists into the ground, and a large number of sharp stones burst upward. Every single one ended in a deadly point — anyone hit by them would be seriously injured.
"Dodge it and use Leech Seed!" I shouted.
Ivysaur tried to evade Rhyperior's Stone Edge. It managed to avoid most of the stones, but still took a hit. Fortunately, the blow wasn't strong enough to destabilize it, and it was able to launch its Leech Seed without issue.
"Use Protect!" Miyamoto commanded.
Rhyperior surrounded itself with a shield-like barrier, blocking the Leech Seed.
"Tch, this won't be easy! Ivysaur, use Growth!" I said.
Ivysaur nodded and began to focus.
"Take the chance and use Fire Punch!" Miyamoto ordered.
Even though it was quite slow, Rhyperior moved forward, its fist engulfed in flames, aiming to strike Ivysaur.
Ivysaur's body was sent flying by the powerful punch, preventing it from completing its attack.
"Then I'll try a different strategy! Ivysaur, get as close to Rhyperior as possible!" I said.
Rhyperior was very slow, but if I kept too much distance, it could easily dodge Ivysaur's attacks. So first I needed to close the gap.
"Saur!" Ivysaur nodded.
Despite being hit by that powerful Fire-type attack, Ivysaur recovered quickly and charged toward Rhyperior.
"Since you're offering, I won't refuse your gift! Rhyperior, finish this with Fire Punch!" Miyamoto said.
She didn't know what Ash was planning, so she went for the simplest option: hit it before it could do anything.
Rhyperior ran toward Ivysaur, its fist covered in fire, ready to strike again, but…
"Now!" I shouted.
Ivysaur understood perfectly. When its face was just centimeters away from Rhyperior's fist, it stopped dead in its tracks and took a step back, dodging the blow.
This caught both Miyamoto and Rhyperior completely off guard. They never expected Ivysaur to be able to stop so abruptly, let alone move backward.
"Use Energy Ball!" I exclaimed.
Ivysaur didn't waste a second and slammed a powerful Energy Ball into Rhyperior, sending it flying.
The attack had hit hard, leaving Rhyperior slightly dazed.
"Now Sunny Day!" Ash ordered.
Without waiting for it to recover, I told Ivysaur the next move. It executed it immediately, and a small yellow ball resembling a miniature sun rose into the sky.
"Now finish it with Solar Beam!" I shouted.
Ivysaur quickly began charging a Solar Beam, but…
"Not bad, but it's time to end this. Rhyperior, use Rock Wrecker!" Miyamoto said.
Even with Sunny Day active, Solar Beam still needed at least three seconds to charge and fire — more than enough time for Rhyperior to prepare its attack.
Rhyperior thrust its hands forward, and a small rock began forming in front of it.
"It's too late for that move! Go, Ivysaur!" I said.
A powerful Solar Beam shot toward Rhyperior, which launched its rock at the same time.
Ash thought Rhyperior had launched the attack incomplete because it didn't have time to use full power, but… that wasn't the case. He soon realized the rock was growing larger as it flew toward the Solar Beam, reaching an impressive size.
"Impossible!" I exclaimed.
How had it had time to charge that attack? The Solar Beam had literally taken less than three seconds to charge! How could it have recovered and attacked so quickly?
"Do you think you're the first one to use this strategy? Of course we've trained to come up with a counter!" Miyamoto said.
This strategy wasn't common among novice trainers, so she had to give Ash credit for pulling it off. But experienced trainers had already tried it against her before, so she had developed countermeasures. The only solution she found was to improve Rhyperior's reaction time. They had practiced that move so much that Rhyperior had mastered it and no longer needed much time to launch it.
When the enormous rock collided with the Solar Beam, it looked like it would shatter, but it didn't. The rock only slowed down slightly before smashing straight into Ivysaur with nothing it could do to stop it.
The brutal impact sent it flying into the wall.
"Ivysaur!" I cried out.
Damn it, this woman is tough. But in my defense, there was no way I could have predicted that. It's clearly a strategy she always keeps ready to surprise her opponents and not give them time to react.
"Ivy…" Ivysaur groaned.
The impact had been too strong. Its whole body was injured, covered in bruises from the double hit. It was on the verge of fainting.
"Your Pokémon can no longer continue. It would be better if you switched it out. I don't like hurting Pokémon that can't keep fighting," Miyamoto said.
Ivysaur was about to collapse and her Rhyperior was still in good shape. Why bother finishing it off? That would simply be cruel.
Miyamoto was right. I had to recall it to its Poké Ball. Ivysaur couldn't take any more, and I had completely underestimated the power of that Rhyperior. I had wanted to experiment with Ivysaur to awaken its hidden potential, but instead I had only hurt it.
On the other hand, Ivysaur was furious. It had also trained incredibly hard, but in the end it had fallen behind! When it started its journey with Ash, it had promised itself that it would protect him and help him achieve his dream. It had never had a trainer before, but it doubted there was any trainer as good as Ash. He always treated all his Pokémon with affection, cared for them, and encouraged them when they were down. They were his family.
Ivysaur remembered everything they had been through and the faces of its companions. Even though none of them except Pikachu were outside their Poké Balls, it felt as if they were all cheering it on, encouraging it to keep going and not give up in the face of adversity. Knowing that everyone was cheering for it… it simply couldn't lose. It couldn't fall here! And so the miracle happened.
Just as Ash had taken out his Poké Ball, a dazzling light enveloped Ivysaur.
"It's evolving!" Miyamoto said.
"I can't believe it. Did it actually work?" I wondered in amazement.
"Pika pi," Pikachu said, staring intently at the phenomenon.
In the stands, everyone watched Ivysaur attentively, excited to witness a Pokémon's evolution.
"Wow, incredible!" Molly said.
The evolution of a Pokémon was beautiful! Just watching it made her desire to become a Pokémon Trainer grow even stronger!
Ivysaur gradually changed shape. From a small creature, its stature grew little by little until it formed a figure everyone recognized. The light faded, revealing an imposing Venusaur.
[ATTENTION, VENUSAUR WANTS TO LEARN THE MOVE SLUDGE BOMB! DO YOU WANT TO REPLACE ONE OF ITS CURRENT MOVES WITH THIS ATTACK?]
Forget Growth. I won't need it anymore.
[VENUSAUR HAS FORGOTTEN GROWTH AND LEARNED SLUDGE BOMB!]
{Note: Wow, the author is quite original, always evolving his Pokémon at the exact same moment. Ahem. How do you prefer them to evolve? I think this is epic, but I accept all your suggestions. Obviously they are all already evolved and I have other plans for Eevee, but in future regions I will implement your suggestions.}
…
While this battle was taking place, a curious figure was watching through the window without anyone noticing. Because, obviously, Gyms have windows like all buildings. Or did you think they were in complete darkness? Obviously the answer is no.
Let's move on to the person watching the battle. If we look closely, we can see it was a teenager who didn't appear to be more than 15 years old. She was, to be honest, a complete beauty. Her hair was split in two colors: the right half was blue, while the left half was yellow. The girl was wearing a short-sleeved yellow T-shirt, blue jeans, and white sneakers. She also had fairly tanned skin.
This girl was watching Ash and Miyamoto's battle through the window.
"Wow, an evolution in the middle of battle! Impressive! Maybe if I upload this to my social media, my followers will increase. After all, it's not every day you get to witness a Pokémon evolving!" the girl exclaimed with a smile.
The name of this girl was Naria, an aspiring streamer. So far she didn't have many followers, but with her talent, she was sure that in the future she could become as popular as Iono. Even more so! In fact, Iono was the reason she decided to become a streamer, and she hoped to meet her in person one day.
"And the trainer looks pretty handsome too. I'm sure I'll gain followers if I take a photo with such a good-looking guy!" Naria exclaimed.
Naria was constantly thinking of ways to increase her followers. Although so far not many of her ideas had worked, which is why she grew so slowly. She was so obsessed with becoming popular that even here on vacation she didn't stop looking for opportunities. In fact, that very morning she had separated from her grandfather — with whom she had come on vacation — just to search for new ways to gain followers.
"I know! I'll record his entire battle! Maybe later I'll upload it to my social media if it's good enough! That way my followers will skyrocket!" Naria exclaimed.
Although she knew she would have to ask the boy's permission beforehand if she wanted to do that, because uploading a photo or video of someone without consent… was practically illegal. And even though she wanted to gain followers at all costs, she didn't want to commit illegal acts.
"I'll record the whole battle and then try my luck!" Naria told herself.
Luckily, she had started recording the battle just before Ivysaur evolved. Unfortunately, she didn't know if the battle had just started or was already over, but even if it was the latter… it wouldn't be bad at all!
"Yes, come on, I have to get lucky this time," Naria said to herself.
Lately she hadn't gained many followers, not because of lack of talent, but because of her inability to become known — a very common problem among streamers, a problem that even Iono had to face in her time.
{Note: I modified Naria's age a bit, but otherwise everything is quite logical. Plus, you'll be surprised by the way Naria goes from aspiring streamer to famous streamer. I already have it all planned out. Moving on to more succulent topics… just imagine a threesome between two successful streamers and Ash… it's simply sublime!}