Heat Badge

Today the gang made it to Lavaridge Town where Ash could obtain his fourth gym badge.

"Ah finally, we are at a town." May smiled.

Brock pointed out in the guidebook that Lavaridge was famous for it's hot springs. Of course May wanted to go to them right away, and everyone else agreed to the idea.

"We have been through a lot on our way here, so we deserve a good rest for today." Brock said.

"Yeah and I'll have my gym battle tomorrow." Ash pointed out.

So the gang spent the day not doing any training, having their Pokemon checked out at the Pokemon Center and relaxing at the hot springs.

The gang had gone through a lot on their way to Lavaridge Town; they battled trainers, met new Pokemon and went to different places. But they did run into trouble; they encountered Team Aqua and Magma again. Team Aqua and Magma fought each other to steal a meteorite from Mt. Chimney because they believed that the meteorite would help them find Groudon and Kyogre. Their plan failed because the gang kept the meteorite safe. In addition some of the gang's Pokemon evolved; Ash's Seedot evolved into a Nuzleaf, Tomo's Nincada evolved into a Ninjask and then a Shedina and May's Azurill evolved into a Marill. So there were some good things during their travels.

The next day, the gang headed to the Lavaridge Gym. The gym resembled a hotel. Ash was just about to call out for a gym battle, but then a red-haired girl came up to the gang.

"Hi there, are you here to challenge the Lavaridge Gym?" She asked.

Ash introduced himself and told the girl that he was the challenger. The girl became excited.

"Finally someone for me to challenge, oh and my name is Flannery." She said.

Flannery explained that her grandfather was the gym leader but she had now taken his place as the new gym leader.

"Well Flannery, I am honored to be the first challenger of the new Lavaridge gym leader." Ash said.

Flannery led the gang to the gym's battlefield, which resembled a normal battlefield. Flannery's grandfather, Mr. Moore, was in the gym too.

"Found yourself a challenger, Flannery?" He asked.

"Yes grandfather, I have." Flannery answered.

She introduced the gang to Mr. Moore.

"Flannery told us you were the previous leader of the Lavaridge Gym." Brock said.

"That's correct." Mr. Moore said. "Ah those days being the gym leader were fun. Me and my Typhlosion faced many challengers and I loved showing them the power of fire type Pokemon. But now I'm getting too old for this and I wish to just sit back and relax. And that's why my granddaughter is now the gym leader."

Ash and Flannery got ready for their battle while Tomo, Brock, May and Max sat down on a bench. Mr. Moore offered to be the referee, especially since this would be his granddaughter's first gym battle. He also explained that it would be a three on three Pokemon battle.

Flannery sent out her first Pokemon, a Slugma who she called Meg. Ash smiled and sent out Corphish. As the Lavaridge Gym was a fire type gym, Ash had his Corphish, Milotic and Marshtomp on his team.

"Don't assume I'll lose just because you have a water type Pokemon Ash." Flannery said.

"I like a good challenge Flannery." Ash said.

Flannery ordered Meg to use Flamethrower and Ash ordered Corphish to use Bubble Beam. The Flamethrower and Bubble Beam collided with each other.

"Okay Meg use Smog." Flannery said.

Meg blew some very thick smoke from her mouth and cloaked itself.

"Smog will be trouble." Max said.

"There's nothing to worry about." Brock smiled.

He was right. Ash ordered Corphish to blow the smog away with Metal Claw and Corphish blew the smog away with it's claws. May and Max were surprised.

"Ash had dealt with attacks like that before." Tomo informed the siblings.

Ash ordered Corphish to use Bubble Beam and this time Meg was hit by the bubbles.

"Don't give in Meg. Use Yawn." Flannery said.

Ash knew that the move Yawn had the side effect of putting a opposing Pokemon to sleep. He quickly told Corphish to use Bubble Beam again. Meg was hit by Bubble Beam and fainted. However Corphish had fallen asleep due to Yawn.

So Ash won the first round, despite Corphish falling asleep.

Flannery returned Meg and sent out a Magcargo that she called Mag. Ash recalled his sleeping Corphish and sent out Marshtomp. Ash ordered Marshtomp to use Water Gun but Flannery had Mag use Double Team, which of course caused Marshtomp to miss Mag.

"Keep firing Water Gun until you hit the real Magcargo Marshtomp." Ash said.

Marshtomp did as he was told and finally managed to hit the real Mag.

"Okay Mag use Reflect." Flannery said.

Reflect was a move that could reduce damage from physical attacks by half. Ash smiled calmly and told Marshtomp to use Brick Break. Marshtomp ran up to Mag with it's right arm glowing and then went for a punch. In the process it broke the shield and then hit Mag really hard.

"Whoa what happened?" May asked.

Brock explained that Brick Break had the added effect of breaking Reflect and Light Screen.

"It's obvious that Flannery still has a lot to learn about Pokemon if you ask me." Max said.

The others agreed. Ash ordered Marshtomp to use Water Gun again. This time Mag received a direct hit and fainted.

*'Of all the tough trainers I've faced, Ash has to be the toughest.'* Mr. Moore thought.

Flannery also understood that Ash was tough, but she wasn't going to give up yet.

Flannery returned Mag and sent out her last Pokemon. This Pokemon was a orange-colored tortoise Pokemon with a grey and black shell on it's back.

Ash looked it up on the Pokedex.

"Torkoal, the Coal Pokemon. Torkoal digs through mountains in search of coal. If it finds some, it fills hollow spaces on it's shell with the coal and burns it. If it is attacked, this Pokemon spouts thick black smoke to beat a retreat."

Flannery ordered her Torkoal to use Sludge Bomb on Marshtomp. Marshtomp was hit by the big globs of sludge, and then he started to feel pain and his face turned a bit purple.

"Oh no Marshtomp has been poisoned. Sludge Bomb has the added effect of poisoning the opponent." Brock said.

Flannery then ordered Torkoal to use Overheat. Overheat was a very powerful fire type attack just like Fire Blast. Ash ordered Marshtomp to counter with Water Gun, but Marshtomp was in too much pain from the poison to do anything. Marshtomp was hit by Overheat and despite being a water type Pokemon, he took a lot of damage and fainted.

"Marshtomp was defeated by the combination of poison and Overheat." Brock said.

Ash returned Marshtomp and sent a still sleeping Corphish. He hoped Corphish would wake up soon. Flannery ordered her Torkoal to attack Corphish with Flamethrower.

"Okay Corphish use Sleep Talk." Ash said.

While still asleep, Corphish fired a Bubble Beam and it countered Torkoal's Flamethrower.

"How did Corphish do that? It's still asleep." May asked.

Max explained that Sleep Talk allowed a Pokemon to attack the opponent with any of it's moves even if it's asleep.

"That's a good move." May said.

Then Corphish woke up and Ash ordered him to use Crabhammer. Flannery ordered Torkoal to use Iron Defense and Corphish bounced off when it tried to use Crabhammer.

"Okay Torkoal, use Body Slam." Flannery said.

Torkoal body slammed Corphish and then it fainted.

"Wow Flannery's Torkoal certainly is strong." May said.

"Yeah and now Ash only has one Pokemon left." Brock said.

Ash returned Corphish and sent Milotic out. Flannery thought Milotic looked beautiful. She ordered Torkoal to use Overheat on Milotic, but Ash ordered it to use Mirror Coat. Overheat bounced off and struck Torkoal. Flannery gasped; this was something she hadn't expected.

"Okay Milotic use Hydro Pump." Ash said.

Milotic fired Hydro Pump at Torkoal which was a direct hit. Torkoal fainted on the spot and Ash won the gym battle.

Flannery returned Torkoal and spoke to Ash.

"Ash out of all the trainers I've faced in the past, you are the most incredible trainer I've ever seen." She said.

"Thanks Flannery and I must say your fire type Pokemon were incredible too." Ash replied.

Mr. Moore thought this was a great gym battle too.

"You still have a lot to learn about gym battles Flannery." He said. "Especially a lot more to learn about fire type Pokemon. But I must say; I couldn't leave this gym in better hands."

So it was clear that Flannery had definitely taken her grandfather's place as the new gym leader. Flannery then handed Ash the Heat Badge. The Heat Badge was a reddish-orange colored badge with a yellow dot and it was shaped like a wisp of fire.

After the gym battle ended, the gang said goodbye to Flannery and Mr. Moore, then left Lavaridge Town.