Gotta Catch That One

Chapter 61: Can't Dragon Me Down

"And the next match will be Kingdra for Remo, against Gible for Ash," the announcer called out. Serena couldn't help but feel a little bit disappointed in Ash's choice. Gible looked more like the kind of Pokemon Bonnie would try to cuddle up with rather than a strong battler. However, she knew that Ash wouldn't choose the small dragon type if he wasn't capable of winning. She had no idea about its battle history.

Dawn actually enlightened the group about Gible, and her excitement made Serena much more confident. "Gible's amazing," she exclaimed, her pom-poms shaking from her excitement. "Remember how he totally beat Conway, Brock?"

Brock nodded, also looking pretty excited about the choice. "Gible might not look as fierce as some other Pokemon that Ash has, but he's up there with the strongest of them."

Serena, feeling much better now, turned her attention back to the battle. She hadn't even noticed Remo had ordered an attack. His Kingdra, a blue seahorse like Pokemon, was firing off a powerful looking hydro pump that was rocketing towards Gible. Ash, however, didn't panic. "Pretend the water is dirt, and use dig to dive under!" It was the most bizarre way Serena had ever seen dig be used, but she couldn't deny how effective it was. Gibles little arms and legs furiously started moving and he swam deep into the water, easily dodging the hydro pump.

Clemont laughed, shaking his head in disbelief. "Am I ever not going to be surprised by a move that Ash uses?"

Remo obviously wasn't as happy about Ash's innovative tactics, judging by the scowl on his face. He twirled his umbrella and held it up as he ordered his next attack. "Kingdra, use twister!" Immediately, wind started whipping around the water and it started to swirl up like a whirlpool. It suddenly shot into the air, and Serena felt terrified, seeing Gible get shot into the air, getting caught in the tornado of water.

"Draco meteor!" Ash shouted, his voice completely empty of any panic. Serena realized why, as the wildly spinning Gible was somehow able to fire off a fireball that shot into the sky. It exploded loudly and split into a barrage of fireballs that started raining down on the water. There were loud hisses as each one landed, bringing up huge amounts of steam from the water. A few of them even shattered the rocks. And there was a loud grunt of pain as Kingdra was struck by and knocked into the air. In that moment, Gible was released from twister and was in midair, ready for Ash's next order. "Dragon pulse!" As Gible was falling towards the water, he pulled back his head and then thrust it forward, launching the blast towards Kingdra, who was also on its way down. The attack landed perfectly and sent Kingdra rocketing away, outside the boundaries of the battlefield and into the wall of the stands, where it slumped to the ground.

"Kingdra is unable to battle. Gible is the winner!" the referee called out.

Serena saw Ash do a happy fist pump and Gible open and close his large jaws happily. Things were definitely going well to start off. "I guess Gible proved you guys right," Serena said to Dawn and Brock.

"Gible's amazing," Dawn said smiling. "That draco meteor is really strong. Piplup knows that better than anyone, don't you Piplup?"

Piplup had a bit of an irritated look on its face as it nodded. "Pip...piplup."

As Remo called back his Kingdra and pulled out his next pokeball, Bonnie suddenly grew very excited. "Oh look!" she shouted, pointing to something behind the group. Serena turned and saw Bonnie was talking about someone who was going around selling snacks. Obviously, with Ash starting out so well, the little girl's attention was not as much on the match as it could have been. "Can I get some ice cream, Clemont?"

Clemont sighed. "Bonnie, don't you want to watch Ash's battle?"

Bonnie folded her arms, looking quite upset. "I just wanted some ice cream. I'd enjoy the match more with some ice cream."