Fog Badge

The next day Ash was preparing for his gym battle against Morty.

"Hey Ash have you decided what Pokemon you're going to use aside from Lugia?" Misty asked.

"Yeah Noctowl and Misdreavus." Ash answered.

"I can't wait to see this gym battle." Tomo said.

"You better be careful in the gym battle Ash." Brock cautioned. "Since Morty uses ghost type Pokemon, this battle will turn out to be difficult."

"You're right Brock." Ash remarked. "After all ghost type Pokemon are tricky. But there's no need to worry; Noctowl, Misdreavus and Lugia know psychic type moves and I've been preparing them for this."

Misty smiled nervously.

"Trust you to be confident Ash." She said.

The next day it was time for Ash's fourth gym battle and he and the others went back to Morty's gym. Some children were inside the gym as well as Morty. Morty explained that they were his students and he was teaching them about ghost type Pokemon.

"Should we come back some other time?" Misty asked.

She was afraid they were interrupting his lesson.

"No need to." Morty replied. "I let my students watch my gym battles all the time. That way they can learn a lot more about ghost type Pokemon."

The gang nodded. Morty and Ash got ready for their battle on the gym arena as Tomo, Misty and Brock took their place behind Ash to watch. The referee made the announcement and explained the rules about it being a three on three Pokemon battle.

Now it was time for the gym battle to begin. Morty sent out his first Pokemon; a Gastly.

"I'm going start small first." Ash said. "Misdreavus I choose you."

Misdreavus came out of her Poke Ball, ready to fight.

"A ghost type Pokemon vs another ghost type Pokemon, huh?" Morty said. "I can't wait to see how this will turn out."

"I'll go first. Misdreavus, Psybeam." Ash said.

Misdreavus fired two rainbow colored beams from her eyes at Gastly, but Gastly quickly dodged it by disappearing. Misdreavus tried again, but Gastly easily dodged it a second time.

"That Gastly is really fast." Brock pointed out. "This is going to be a challenge for Ash."

Gastly was disappearing and reappearing non-stop, confusing Misdreavus.

"Stay calm Misdreavus." Ash instructed. "Gastly is just trying to keep you from attacking."

*'It's clear that Morty uses a ghost type Pokemon's invisibility to his advantage.'* Ash thought. *'But this won't prevent me from obtaining my fourth gym badge.'*

"Misdreavus, use Screech." Misdreavus screamed loudly in the room and everyone had to hold their ears, even Gastly couldn't stand the noise.

"I'm surprised Screech works against Gastly." Misty said.

"Well normal type moves that do damage like Quick Attack and Tackle don't affect ghost type Pokemon." Brock said. "But moves like Screech and Disable are a different story."

"Okay Misdreavus, use Shadow Ball." Ash said.

Misdreavus fired a dark purple ball from her mouth at Gastly, and it hit Gastly. Gastly fell to the ground, having fainted and earned Ash the first victory.

"Wow Ash certainly knows how to fight a ghost type Pokemon." Misty said.

"Yeah, he seems to have trained Misdreavus well for this gym battle." Brock added.

"Go for it, big brother!" Tomo cheered.

Morty returned Gastly to it's Poke Ball and then sent out his next Pokemon, a Haunter.

"Seems like I'll be battling Gastly and it's evolved forms." Ash said to himself.

Morty got to attack first this time and told his Haunter to use Lick on Misdreavus.

"Oh no." Misty said. "When it comes to Lick, that always means trouble."

"Yeah and it's not easy to counter it." Brock added.

"Misdreavus use Double Team to avoid Haunter's tongue." Ash said.

Misdreavus quickly made multiple copies of herself to avoid Haunter's tongue.

"Clever Ash." Morty said. "But I'm not falling for this. Haunter, Night Shade."

Haunter fired black and dark red streaky beams from it's eyes and Night Shade not only knocked out the multiple copies of Misdreavus, but hit the real Misdreavus as well. Misdreavus was in trouble.

"Now Haunter use Shadow Punch." Haunter's right arm turned blackish purple and then it punched Misdreavus.

Misdreavus fell to the floor in defeat, earning Morty the win.

"Morty sure knows how to battle with ghost type Pokemon, doesn't he?" Misty asked.

"Yeah, even if ghost type Pokemon are tricky to handle Morty handles them rather well." Brock said.

Ash returned Misdreavus to her Poke Ball and released Noctowl to battle Haunter.

"Just to let you know Morty." Ash said. "I know full well that ghost type attacks don't work on normal type Pokemon and vice versa."

Morty smiled.

"You're pretty smart Ash." He said. "But I also know that too. Haunter use Dark Pulse."

Haunter placed it's arms in front of itself and then fired a beam of black and purple circles from it's hands at Noctowl. Ash knew that Dark Pulse was a dark type move and Noctowl would take damage from it.

"Counter it with Air Slash Noctowl." He said.

Noctowl raised his wings above his head, created a ball of light blue energy and fired it at the Dark Pulse. A little bang occurred when the Dark Pulse and Air Slash collided with each other, but nothing serious happened; Noctowl and Haunter were still willing to fight.

"Okay Noctowl it's time to use Psychic." Ash said.

Noctowl's eyebrow tufts turned blue and released a blue light at Haunter. Noctowl's Psychic was super effective on Haunter and it fell to the floor defeated, earning Ash his second win.

"Ash wasn't kidding when he said his Noctowl knew some psychic type moves." Misty said.

"Well don't forget Misty." Brock reminded her. "Ash helps his Pokemon learn new moves as well as help them become stronger."

Morty returned Haunter to it's Poke Ball.

"I can tell from this battle that Ash has a strong bond with his Pokemon." He said to himself. "But I'm not beaten yet."

He sent out a Gengar to battle.

"Can you still battle?" Ash asked Noctowl. Noctowl nodded.

"Okay Noctowl, use Psychic again." He said.

"Use Shadow Ball Gengar." Morty said.

When the Shadow Ball and Psychic collided with each other, it triggered an explosion and everyone felt the dark energy from the Shadow Ball.

"Gengar is stronger than Gastly and Haunter combined." Brock said.

Suddenly Gengar disappeared.

"It's become invisible to confuse us again." Ash said. "Noctowl use Foresight to make Gengar visible again."

Noctowl was just about to use Foresight, but it suddenly got hit by Gengar's purple arms even though it was still invisible.

"That was Sucker Punch." Brock said. "It's a dark type move and the one who uses it gets to attack first."

"Ash may be in trouble then." Misty said.

"Be strong Noctowl." Tomo whispered.

Noctowl was punched multiple times by Sucker Punch and then finally he collapsed onto the gym floor. Morty had won this round.

"Now Ash has only one more Pokemon to use." Brock said.

"I just hope Lugia can handle this." Misty said.

Ash returned Noctowl to his Poke Ball and released Lugia. The children were amazed once they saw Lugia, because they had never seen one before. They had only seen pictures of it in books.

"I have waited to battle your Lugia Ash." Morty said. "And I can't wait to see what it can do."

"Use Shadow Ball again." Morty told Gengar.

"Use Dragon Pulse Lugia." Ash ordered.

Lugia fired a turquoise ball from his mouth at the Shadow Ball and the two attacks collided with each other.

"Wow Lugia has gotten stronger." Misty said.

"It certainly has." Brock nodded in agreement.

Gengar suddenly became invisible again.

"Again huh?" Ash asked calmly. "Use Flash Lugia."

Lugia shined brightly and released a very bright light. Gengar showed itself again, trying to shield it's eyes from the bright light.

"Using Flash was a smart move." Brock complimented. "Because ghost type Pokemon can't stand very bright lights."

"Okay now's our chance." Ash said. "Lugia, use Psychic."

Lugia's eyes turned blue and then it fired a light blue beam of energy from his eyes. Gengar took a direct hit from Psychic.

"Now let's finish it off with Zen Headbutt." Ash said.

The top of Lugia's head turned blue and then Lugia headbutted Gengar hard. Gengar first hit the ceiling and then fell to the gym floor before fainting.

"Gengar is unable to battle." The referee said. "The winner of this gym battle is Ash."

Ash ran over to Lugia and stroked his head.

"Well done Lugia, I'm proud of you." He said happily.

Lugia happily nuzzled him like crazy after being praised. Tomo, Misty and Brock walked over to Ash.

"You did it big brother!" Tomo cheered.

"That was excellent." Misty said.

"You and your Pokemon were great out there." Brock said. "And it's obvious that Lugia is getting stronger."

Morty returned Gengar and walked over to Ash.

"Ash that was the greatest battle I've ever had." He said. "And I had a great time battling Lugia. The Fog Badge is now yours, my friend."

The Fog Badge was purple and in the shape of a wispy ghost. Ash thanked Morty and happily accepted it. The children congratulated Ash too.

"Ash I wish you the best of luck on your journey." Morty said. "And if you happen to run into any more legendary Pokemon, make sure you tell me about it the next time you come here."

"I sure will." Ash replied.

So the gang exited the Ecruteak Gym to continue their journey.