Ash's Journeys: Kanto

A Gritty Moth

Ash POV

'You wanna stay in, Pikachu?' I asked, wanting to see if it was fine to keep him in.

'Yeah, I'll be fine,' Pikachu gritted out, visibly strained from the paralysis effect. Against my better judgement, I decided to keep him in. Gabite would be perfectly fine against the Bug/Poison Type, and I had a feeling I would regret not switching him in.

Pushing the doubts to the back of my mind, I turned my attention back to the battle in front of me.

"Alright, Pikachu, Thunderbolt," I ordered.

"Dodge it Venemoth, then Bug Buzz," Koga answered back, still smug with a grin.

Man, I wanted to pummel his face so bad. He had such a punchable face that seemed to be just calling my fist to come and relentlessly obliterate his skull.

"Pikachu, Quick Attack to dodge, then respond with a Thundershock."

Pikachu then tried to jump to the side to dodge to avoid the Bug Buzz, but crumpled to the ground to the paralysis, making me grit my teeth in frustration. The Bug Buzz connected, leading to Pikachu getting flung across the battlefield in a burst of smoke.

Alright, enough was enough. I was taking Pikachu out, this was getting us nowhere.

However, to my surprise, as the smoke cleared, Pikachu lay there on the ground, knocked out.

"Pikachu is unable to battle, Koga wins! Challenger, send out your next Pokemon," the referee called out.

I was momentarily stunned for a moment, as I slowly pulled out Pikachu's Pokeball and returned him for the time being. 

How did one of my strongest Pokemon get taken out that easily? That hadn't happened at any of the previous gyms that I had faced. Looking at Koga, I realized that this would be a much tougher challenge than what I had first anticipated. This could truly end up being one of the toughest battles I had faced yet.

I pulled out Larvitar's Pokeball, planning on taking out the Venemoth with Larvitar before letting Gabite take the lead after.

"Larvitar, I choose you!" I called out as I threw out the Pokemon, ready to put the embarrassing loss behind me.

'Whoo! Let's get it,' Larvitar hyped up as it came onto the field, pumped and ready to go.

"Battle begin!" the referee called.

'Be careful Larvitar, that Venemoth's gonna try to Stun Spore you or something like that, make sure that you pay attention to whatever it's doing,' I instructed mentally to my Pokemon.

'Don't worry, I got this,' Larvitar replied before turning back to the battle, waiting for Venemoth to make the first move.

"Venemoth, Bug Buzz!" Koga ordered, seeing that I was waiting for him to break first.

"Rock Throw, then set up your Sandstorm!" I replied back. The goal was to get Larvitar more elusive and hidden so it would be much harder to get paralyzed or hit with some other status effect.

With Rock Throw stopping Bug Buzz, Larvitar had the opening it needed to set up its Sandstorm. With it now up, Larvitar could hide the in sand while keeping an eye on the brightly colored and clumsy Venemoth.

"You little coward, hiding isn't going to get you anywhere," Koga replied with a growling smirk. "Gust!"

I watched in surprise as a powerful Gust was able to shred through Larvitar's Sandstorm, showing exactly where my now vulnerable Pokemon lay.

"Now, Poison Powder!" Koga called out.

"Dodge it, Larvitar!" I yelled out in desperation, knowing that it was likely too late.

"Gust!" Koga called out again.

With the help of the fast wind, Larvitar was completely covered in the Poisonous powder, and with the help of Gust, was slammed backward with huge force.

"Larvitar! You good?" I asked, knowing full well he was not alright.

'I'm fine!' Larvitar replied with a fierce growl. 'That stupid ass bug is gonna regret that.'

Before I could recall Larvitar, he charged straight back into the fight.

I groaned internally as I could see the writing on the wall. This was not going to end well.

"Looks like your Pokemon need to get their emotions under control," Koga said with a chuckle. "Your inexperience shows, Ash. Venemoth, finish off that twig with Psybeam!"

"Dodge Larvitar, NOW!" I yelled in desperation.

Before Larvitar could react, the Psybeam connected, driving him into the ground in a blast of smoke.

I knew before the referee even made the call that this round was over. It was all up to Gabite now.

"Larvitar is unable to battle, Venemoth wins!" the referee called once the smoke cleared.

I sighed and returned Larvitar. It was time to lock in now, Gabite would need to take out 3 Pokemon on its own, so I had to make sure that I minimized the amount of damage it would take on this fight.

"Gabite, I choose you!" I called out, sending out the Dragon-Type.

"Battle Begin!"

"Alright Venemoth, let's clean this up," Koga called. "Psybeam!"

"Gabite, use Dig!" I responded, trying to dodge as many attacks as possible.

Koga growled as he saw his Psybeam miss its mark. 

"Running from me isn't going to win you this fight, Ash. Come out and fight me," Koga gritted out. "Venemoth, Stun Spore the entire field."

'You gotta get outta there' I said mentally to Gabite.

'Yeah, I'm trying' Gabite responded as it frantically tried to claw its way back up. The spores were starting to cover the field now, and there was only one area where Gabite could make it out on time.

Mentally, I directed Gabite to the spot, hoping that it could make it out on time. 

'Come on, Gabite, you're running out of time' I urged mentally, staring at the battlefield. 

Right as the spores were about to cover the entire field, Gabite broke through the ground, leaping high into the air.

"Alright, now Gabite, set up your Sandstorm!" I yelled, realizing what I had to do quickly.

Gabite roared as its Sandstorm came up sweeping away the Stun Spore. The plan was similar to what I had tried with Larvitar, but it would be much more effective this time with Gabite.

"This again? You might be worse than I thought," Koga taunted with a cackle. 

"Venemoth, use Gust!"

I smirked.

'Now, Dragon Breath,' I ordered. 

As Venemoth began to flap its wings to blow the Sandstorm away, Gabite saw the opening to attack. With the help of the Sandstorm, it snuck behind the Bug Type before aiming its Dragon Breath straight at it.

"NOW!" I yelled.

With that, a beam of draconic energy spewed out, slamming Venemoth into the ground. 

"Sand Tomb," I added, making sure to use the opportunity to attack it with the Ground Type move.

A huge rock came out of the ground, hitting Venemoth and trapping it inside, dealing massive damage. 

Once the smoke had cleared and the tomb broke down, Venemoth lay there, knocked out.

"Venemoth is unable to battle, Gabite wins," the referee called.

"Nice job, Gabite," I complimented as Gabite gave me a nod.

One down, two more to go.

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A/N: 1130 words.