Ash's Paldea Story

Chapter 53 Alfornada Gym Battle

When we finally get to the battlefield, we are waiting for the Gym Leader to show up, and then we hear a voice, "I suppose you're right, OK, I'll get things moving here on my end."

We turn around to find a woman on the phone talking. "Let's keep the tagline simple - "Naturally Beautiful." And order the new eye-shadow color too, would you?"

"Wait, so that's the Gym Leader?" I open my mouth wide, I did see her a lot on the commercials here at the Paldea Region, but I never thought that it is actually her. Though she seems to be on the phone, is that because she's busy?

"Thanks, you're a doll. Gotta run now. Chat with you later." Tulip ends the call and turns to me. "Hello there. I'm Tulip, the Gym Leader here. Though I must tell you that being a makeup artist is my main line of work. Why don't you say that we work together in the future? Ash Ketchum, the World Monarch?"

"I will consider it." I say.

Dawn says, "Wait, is Ash really considering Tulip's offer? The old Ash would never do that!"

"Well, he's growing after all." Lillie says.

"Dendra had nothing but praise for you. She said you totally slayed out there." Tulip says. "Hehe. I must say, you are a cute challenger, Ash."

I blush with slight embarrassment, it is not normal for somebody to say me cute, and I can see that both Lillie and Nemona are flaring with jealousy. Tulip says, "I'm sure my ESP exercise made you all the more beautiful. Doesn't that make you happy?"

"Well, it was fun I guess." I say.

She notices my Pikachu and says, "You keep your Pokémon beautiful and clean as well. I see you have quite the aesthetic sense. Appearance is equally important for both people and Pokémon."

Then the referee comes and says, "The Battle between the Alfornada Gym Leader Tulip and the challenger Ash Ketchum is about to begin. Each trainer will be using 6 Pokemon, and when one loses all 6 Pokemon, the other trainer wins."

"Makeup is like magic. Anyone can use it to change their appearance. Allow me to put my skills to use to make your cute little Pokémon even more beautiful! Let's see how you handle Farigiraf!"

When the Pokemon appears, I say, "Farigiraf? If that's the case, I'll go with Grimmsnarl!"

As I send out my first Pokemon, the battle begins. Tulip says, "You're quite a good base to test my makeup magic on. What shall I use on you? I think I know. Use Iron Head!"

A Steel Type move in the beginning? And Grimmsnarl manages to take a lot of damage. I yell, "Use False Surrender!"

Grimmsnarl goes for the fake movement to let Farigiraf come closer and then hit with the super-effective move. Farigiraf goes for Reflect, raising the defenses, and it goes for the Crunch, but Grimmsnarl blocks it with the Hammer Arm.

Dawn says, "Ash is doing well in this gym..."

"This is surely an interesting battle." The girls turn to see that Professor Dendra is also watching the battle, and I also gulp to see her watching my battle.

"Use Spirit Break!" I decide to attack Farigiraf again, but Farigiraf goes for Iron Head, making Farigiraf flinch, but in the end, I go for Spirit Break once more, and Farigiraf is defeated.

"Now let's see if my Gardevoir can give you some trouble." The second Pokemon is a Gardevoir... I click my tongue because it is a Fairy Type. I have Grimmsnarl use Torment, preventing it from using two same moves in a row, but Gardevoir goes for the Dazzling Gleam, knocking out my Grimmsnarl.

"Pikachu, I need your help." I decide to have Pikachu on the field as my second Pokemon, but Tulip says, "Pikachu... I see. Use Mystical Fire!"

I widen my eyes as I see the fire attack hit Pikachu and lowers the Special Attack.