Coal Badge

Ash was finally going to face Roark for the Coal Badge. Yesterday he did some training with Riolu, Piplup and Masquerain. Dawn also showed Ash, Tomo and Brock her special move the spin. She demonstrated with her Piplup and what happens is Piplup jumps and spins and thanks to the spin he gains speed to dodge an attack. Ash liked that and practiced that with Dawn and his Pokemon because he found it very helpful. So today Ash was ready. Ash and Roark took their places on the battlefield. Riolu stood next to Ash and Dawn, Tomo and Brock sat on the sidelines. Dawn was dressed in a pink cheerleader outfit with some pink pom-poms to cheer for Ash; she was the type of girl that would cheer her friends on. Piplup, Buneary and Burmy were holding pom-poms to cheer too.
Roark sent his Onix out first and Ash sent his Masquerain out.
"Masquerain, use Bubble Beam." Ash said.
"Use Screech, Onix." Roark said.
As Masquerain blew a lot of bubbles, Onix used Screech to break the bubbles apart. 
"Agility and then Steel Wing Masquerain." Thanks to the speed boost from Agility, Masquerain wasn't fazed by Screech and then struck Onix with Steel Wing.
"Nice." Dawn said, impressed. 
Roark was impressed too. Onix tried to slam Masquerain, but it was too fast for Onix to hit her.
"Now Masquerain, Hydro Pump." Ash said. 
Masquerain blasted Hydro Pump and Onix was hit by it, receiving a lot of damage.
"That Hydro Pump was amazing." Dawn said.
"Hydro Pump is one of the strongest water type moves." Brock explained. 
Piplup was amazed by the Hydro Pump attack and hoped to learn it one day. Even though Onix was hurt by the Hydro Pump attack it was still able to fight. 
"As you can see Ash, I train my Pokemon during my free time." Roark said.
Ash could see that, considering how strong Onix was. 
"Onix, Double Edge."
"Steel Wing, Masquerain." Ash said.
Onix and Masquerain collided with each other with their attacks. Masquerain had been tackled really hard but wasn't beaten yet. As for Onix it was struck really hard by Masquerain's Steel Wing and then fainted. 
"Wow Ash is good at this." Dawn said. 
"It's like we told you before Dawn." Brock said. "Ash has battled 28 gyms so he knows what to expect from gym leaders and their Pokemon." 
Seeing this caused Dawn to understand Ash knew how to handle gym battles. Roark returned Onix and sent Geodude out next. Ash returned Masquerain and sent Riolu out next. 
"Why did Ash return Masquerain?" Dawn asked.
"So it can rest after it's battle with Onix." Brock informed her. "It's not good for Pokemon to continue battling if they're tired following a battle with a strong opponent."
Dawn knew Brock was right and didn't question it anymore.
"Riolu, Aura Sphere." Ash told it.
Geodude dodged it and started to use Rollout.
"Dodge Geodude, Riolu." Ash said.
Riolu jumped and flipped to avoid Geodude. 
"Now Bullet Punch." Riolu's fists glowed blue and he threw a barrage of punches at Geodude. 
Brock pointed out that Bullet Punch was a steel type move which would do a lot of damage to Geodude. Geodude then grabbed Riolu and used Seismic Toss. 
"You okay Riolu?" Ash asked.
'I'm fine papa.' Riolu mentally replied.
"Okay then, use Aura Sphere." Ash said.
Riolu fired an Aura Sphere attack and Geodude was hit by it. Geodude couldn't take it anymore and fainted. 
"A second win." Dawn said.
"That Riolu of Ash's sure is something, even if it's still young." Brock added.
"Well done Riolu." Ash said.
'Thank you papa.' Riolu mentally said.
Roark returned his Geodude.
"Ash, you are quite the challenger, but don't forget about my third Pokemon." He said. 
"I haven't forgotten about your Rampardos, Roark." Ash replied.
Roark sent out his Rampardos. Ash returned Riolu and sent Masquerain out to battle again.
"I thought Ash would use Piplup now." Dawn said.
"He'll save Piplup for later." Brock told her. "You see Dawn, Masquerain still has some energy left to battle. And when it comes to battles you sometimes have to use Pokemon that still have energy left before using a Pokemon with lots of energy. That way you won't be in much of a pinch when you're down to the opponent's final Pokemon." 
"Oh." Dawn said. 
She was learning a lot of things already, despite the gang only being at the first gym.
"Hydro Pump." Ash told Masquerain.
"Dodge and use Head Smash Rampardos." Roark ordered.
Rampardos dodged Hydro Pump and then charged into Masquerain with it's head. Because Head Smash was a rock type move, Masquerain took 4x the damage because it was a bug/flying type. That attack was too much for her to handle and she fainted.
"Wow, that Rampardos is strong." Dawn said, surprised.
"It's a lot stronger than it was as a Cranidos." Brock agreed. "That's evolution for you."
Tomo thought Rampardos was really amazing. Ash returned Masquerain and turned to Riolu.
"Are you okay fighting again Riolu?" He asked.
'I am papa.' Riolu said.
Riolu was sent out next.
"Riolu, Aura Sphere." Ash ordered.
Rampardos dodged it and got ready to use Zen Headbutt. 
"Quick dodge it with Quick Attack." Ash said.
Thanks to Quick Attack, Riolu was able to get out of the way before it was hit.
"Use Aura Sphere again." Ash said.
Riolu fired Aura Sphere again and this time it hit Rampardos, but it didn't do much damage. Rampardos was a lot stronger than Riolu and Riolu was still young. Rampardos used Zen Headbutt again, knocking Riolu out. Ash only had one Pokemon now.
Ash ran over to Riolu.
"Are you alright Riolu?" He asked, picking it up.
'Sorry Papa, I lost.' Riolu said.
"It's alright." Ash said. "You did well in your first gym battle. Now you rest."
Ash walked back to his side and placed Riolu next to Pikachu. Pikachu checked to see if Riolu was okay. Ash then sent his Piplup out to battle.
"I hope Piplup can defeat Rampardos, since it easily defeated Masquerain and Riolu." Dawn said, worried.
Tomo and Brock were worried as well because of how strong Roark's Rampardos was.
"Headbutt." Roark told Rampardos.
"Rain Dance, Piplup." Ash said.
Piplup chirped loudly, summoned some dark grey clouds and it started raining. The rain threw Rampardos off slightly.
"That's one good thing about Rain Dance." Brock said. "Not only does it power water type moves up. It also keeps rock and ground type Pokemon from fighting because they hate water."
Piplup then used Bubble Beam and the bubbles hit Rampardos. Thanks to Rain Dance, Bubble Beam was a lot stronger. Rampardos was still able to fight after the attack connected. 
"Rampardos, use Zen Headbutt." Roark said.
Rampardos charged towards Piplup, but it used the spinning move Dawn showed to Ash and his Pokemon to avoid being hit.
"Our special training with my new spinning move paid off." Dawn said.
Roark was impressed with the move.
Piplup used Bubble Beam again.
"Now Steel Wing." Ash said.
Piplup struck Rampardos with metallic wings. Roark was surprised because he had never seen Piplup use Steel Wing before. After being hit by Steel Wing, Rampardos couldn't take any more and fainted. Ash was the winner.
"Wow Ash did it." Dawn said.
"See Dawn, it's like we said." Tomo told her. "Ash knows what to do because of all the gym battles he participated in before."
Dawn nodded in understanding.
Roark returned his Rampardos and walked over to Ash.
"Ash, that was a exciting battle." He said, handing Ash the Coal Badge.
Ash and Tomo were happy to have obtained their first gym badges. 
"Now follow me to the Oreburgh Museum kids. I have something for all of you." He said.
The gang was curious to find out what Roark had in store for them.
At the Oreburgh Museum Dr. Kenzo waited for Roark and the gang.
"Kids, for assisting us with Aerodactyl and those thieves." Roark said. "We wish to present you with these. You see, we found several Skull and Armor fossils and revived them as Cranidos and Shieldon. We'd like you to have Cranidos and Shieldon."
The gang couldn't believe their ears.
"Are you sure about this?" Ash asked.
"Yes." Roark nodded.
Dr. Kenzo agreed too.
Ash, Brock and Tomo were happy to hear this and they accepted by each taking a Cranidos and Shieldon.
"What about you Dawn? Do you want Cranidos or Shieldon?" Roark asked.
Dawn shook her head.
"Thank you Roark, but Cranidos and Shieldon are not my kind of Pokemon." She admitted.
She thought Cranidos and Shieldon were a little too rough for her liking.
"Then maybe you'll like this instead." Dr. Kenzo said.
He left the room briefly and then came back with a Pokemon egg.
"Hey, that's a Smoochum egg." Tomo recognized it. "I know that because my Jynx hatched from that when it was a Smoochum."
Dawn was amazed to see a Pokemon egg.
"It was left here at the museum a few days ago and no one has claimed it." Dr. Kenzo informed them. "So I thought you should have it."
Dawn couldn't believe she was getting a Pokemon egg.
She looked Smoochum up on her Pokedex and thought it was really cute.
"I'll take it." Dawn cheerfully said. "Smoochum will be perfect for contests."
So Dawn got a Smoochum egg while the boys got a Cranidos and Shieldon.
After that the gang waved goodbye to Roark and Dr. Kenzo, then left Oreburgh to head to Floaroma Town. Ash and Tomo still had seven badges to obtain.