Hive Badge

The next day, it was time for Ash's second gym battle and the gang was walking to Azalea Town's gym.

"So Ash." Misty said. "Do you know what type of gym Azalea Town's gym is?"

"Yes I do." Ash nodded. "I don't think you'll like my answer though."

"Why not?" Misty asked.

"This gym is a bug type gym." Ash replied. Misty began to turn pale.

"Oh great!" She cried. "Of all the types it just has to be bug type Pokemon."

"There she goes freaking out again." Tomo whispered.

"I'm going to feel sorry for the gym leader." Brock whispered back.

"Hey Misty." Ash said. "If you want, you can stay at the Pokemon Center and not watch the gym battle."

"No way!" Misty shouted. "Bugs or not, there's no way I'm missing any of your gym battles Ash."

Then Misty began walking in front of the boys.

"Is she going to be all right?" Tomo asked.

"I don't know." Ash replied. "But we better keep an eye on her."

Finally they reached Azalea Gym; it was like a giant greenhouse. When they entered the gym, trees and grass were everywhere.

"Wow, this is just like a forest." Brock said.

"Yeah, this reminds me of Viridian Forest back in Kanto." Ash said.

Misty was walking slowly and keeping her eyes open for bug type Pokemon. Sure enough, the gang ended up seeing Caterpie, Metapod, Weedle and Kakuna. Misty started to scream when she saw them.

"Oh boy." Ash sighed. "I hope she doesn't do that during my gym battle."

"Hey would you stop the screaming please." A voice said.

A boy who was thirteen years old with lavender hair walked up to the gang.

"Sorry about that." Ash apologized. "She's afraid of bug type Pokemon."

"If she's afraid of bug type Pokemon." The boy said. "What is she doing here then?"

"I'm here to battle the gym leader and she wants to watch me." Ash said. "My name is Ash."

"I see." The boy replied. "Well I'm Bugsy, the leader of Azalea Gym and I accept your challenge Ash."

Bugsy led the gang to the battle arena; it was in the middle of the gym with lots of grass and trees surrounding it.

"Since I use bug type Pokemon, I intended to make my gym look like a forest since bug type Pokemon love forests." Bugsy explained.

"I understand what Bugsy means." Brock said. "Gym leaders like to make their gyms just right for whatever type of Pokemon they use."

Misty understood it too; her gym was an aquarium for water type Pokemon.

Now it was time for the gym battle to begin. Ash and Bugsy got ready to battle on the arena, while Misty, Tomo and Brock stayed by the sidelines to watch. Misty was still looking nervous because of the bug type Pokemon.

*'I hope this gym battle ends soon.'* Misty thought. *'I can't stand being in this bug type gym.'*

"The gym battle between Bugsy the Azalea Town gym leader and Ash Ketchum the challenger will now begin." The referee said. "It is a three on three Pokemon battle and whoever defeats three Pokemon first wins. The challenger can switch Pokemon but the gym leader can't."

Bugsy's first Pokemon was a Spinarak. Ash sent out Chikorita.

"Why did you send out a grass type Pokemon to battle my Spinarak?" Bugsy asked. Grass type Pokemon were weak against bug type Pokemon.

"I really don't care about type." Ash explained. "And I have faith in Chikorita."

"Very well then." Bugsy said. "Spinarak, String Shot."

Spinarak fired a web at Chikorita.

"Dodge it Chikorita." Ash ordered.

Chikorita ran fast to dodge the string shot.

"Now use Vine Whip." Chikorita aimed her two vines at Spinarak.

"Use your web to dodge Spinarak." Bugsy said.

Spinarak shot it's string shot on a tree branch and swung from the tree to dodge Chikorita's vine whip and then it kept swinging from tree to tree.

"This Ash is my strategy for utilizing my bug type Pokemon's speed." Bugsy explained.

Ash was impressed, but didn't have time to think about it. Chikorita tried to hit Spinarak with Vine Whip again, but Spinarak was moving too fast.

"We need to slow that Spinarak down." Ash said. "Chikorita, Sweet Scent."

Chikorita sprayed a pink powder from her leaf towards Spinarak, stopping it in it's tracks.

"Now Chikorita, Tackle." Chikorita tackled Spinarak hard, causing it to faint.

"Spinarak is unable to battle." The referee said. "This battle goes to Chikorita."

Chikorita was happy and jumped into Ash's arms out of happiness.

"That was really clever." Brock said.

"Yes." Misty replied. "Ash knows how to turn things around when he's at a type disadvantage with Pokemon."

Tomo cheered for Ash and Chikorita.

Bugsy returned Spinarak.

"You might have beaten my first Pokemon Ash." He said. "But this next Pokemon will be a lot harder to beat."

His next Pokemon was Metapod.

The others was confused with Bugsy's decision to use a Metapod in the gym battle.

"Be careful Ash." Brock advised. "Bugsy's Metapod might be strong if he's using it in a gym battle."

"Razor Leaf!" Ash ordered.

"Use Harden Metapod." Bugsy said.

Metapod glowed a whitish color and then became hard as steel. When Chikorita's leaves hit Metapod they bounced off.

"Oh boy." Ash sighed. "Metapod's Harden is going to be troublesome."

"Metapod jump and tackle Chikorita." Bugsy ordered.

When Metapod tackled Chikorita, she fainted.

"Chikorita is unable to battle." The referee said. "This battle goes to Metapod."

Ash and the others were surprised about what had happened.

"It seems Bugsy trained his Metapod well." Brock said. "Otherwise it wouldn't have been able to do that."

"What's Ash going to do now?" Misty asked.

Ash returned Chikorita and sent out Lugia to battle. Bugsy was shocked when he saw Lugia.

"No way!" He gasped. "How have you obtained a Lugia? That's one of the Johto Region's legendary Pokemon."

"I'll explain after the gym battle." Ash replied.

"Will Lugia be okay to battle?" Misty asked.

"It will be okay Misty." Brock said. "Ash has looked after Lugia well and from the looks of it, he is ready to battle now."

"Okay Metapod." Bugsy said. "Tackle that Lugia."

Metapod jumped to tackle Lugia.

"Quick Lugia, Gust." Ash said.

Lugia stood up, flapped it's wings and released gusts of wind. Metapod lost concentration and was unable to tackle Lugia.

"Wow." Misty said. "Even though Lugia's young, it can actually battle well."

"There's no doubt about it." Brock stated. "Ash had Lugia practice for a while with his Corviknight."

"Okay Lugia, Sunny Day." Ash said.

Lugia fired a white beam from his mouth into the sky and made the sun shine brighter.

"Sunny Day not only makes the sun shine brighter, it also powers up fire type moves." Brock explained.

"Why would Ash do that?" Misty asked.

"Weather Ball." Lugia opened his mouth and a reddish-orange ball with fire streaming around it appeared as Lugia fired it at Metapod.

"Now I get it." Brock said. "The move Lugia just used is called Weather Ball. It's primarily a normal type move, but depending on the weather it changes type. And with the sun out, it's now a fire type move."

"Oh I see." Misty remarked. "And since fire types are super effective against bug types, Ash decided to use that move."

"Big brother is going to win." Tomo said.

Metapod took a lot of damage from Weather Ball.

"Now use Headbutt, Lugia." Ash ordered.

Lugia headbutted Metapod really hard and caused it to faint.

"Metapod is unable to battle." The referee said. "Lugia wins the round."

"Wow I'm impressed how strong Lugia has gotten for a baby Pokemon." Misty said.

"Well Misty." Brock said. "Baby Pokemon grow up faster than you think they can."

Misty knew Brock was right because her Togepi was very independent as well.

Bugsy returned Metapod.

"Ash you are a good trainer." He said. "You have defeated two of my strong bug type Pokemon. But now I'll introduce you to my strongest bug type Pokemon."

His third Pokemon turned out to be a Scyther.

"That Scyther looks really strong." Brock said.

"You can do it big brother!" Tomo shouted.

Ash returned Lugia; he figured Scyther would be too much for Lugia.

"Cyndaquil, I choose you!" He said, tossing his new fire type Pokemon out of the Poke Ball.

"I had a feeling you would use a fire type Pokemon Ash." Bugsy said. "But I warn you now, me and my Pokemon have trained a lot for fire type Pokemon."

"Yeah." Ash said. "Well even if you did, I'm still going to win this battle."

"Use Fury Cutter for Cyndaquil." Bugsy ordered.

Scyther prepared it's scythes to slash at Cyndaquil.

"Quick dodge those scythes Cyndaquil." Ash said.

Cyndaquil, being a small and fast Pokemon managed to dodge the scythes with ease.

"Now Cyndaquil, use Flamethrower." Ash ordered.

Flames appeared on Cyndaquil's back and then he sent a stream of fire at Scyther.

"Use Swords Dance Scyther." Bugsy said.

Scyther crossed it's scythes across it's chest and spun around like a top. And when Cyndaquil's Flamethrower made contact with Scyther, it bounced off.

"Wow." Brock gasped. "The way Scyther spun really fast like a fan repelled the flamethrower."

"But if it continues to do that." Misty said. "Then Ash will have no chance of winning."

Tomo was starting to get concerned for Ash. He started to look thoughtful.

*'That was a good technique.'* He thought. *'But I need to do something to get past it.'*

Just then an idea came to mind.

"Cyndaquil get ready to use Flamethrower again."

"Again huh?" Bugsy asked. "Use Swords Dance Scyther."

Scyther spun around fast again.

"Okay Cyndaquil jump right above Scyther and use Flamethrower again." Ash said.

Cyndaquil jumped really high and he was over Scyther's head and blew a stream of fire at Scyther. Since Cyndaquil was using flamethrower from overhead and not at the side, Scyther's Swords Dance technique didn't work this time and it was scorched by the flamethrower.

"End this with Tackle." Ash said.

Cyndaquil tackled Scyther really hard and then it fainted.

"Scyther is unable to battle." The referee said. "This match goes to Cyndaquil. Therefore the winner of this gym battle is Ash from Pallet Town."

Ash was happy with his victory and gave Cyndaquil a hug. Tomo, Misty and Brock went up to Ash.

"You were great big brother." Tomo said.

"You had a lot of great ideas in that battle Ash." Misty said.

"Yes." Brock said. "You and your Pokemon were great."

Bugsy walked up to Ash after returning Scyther.

"Ash I felt for sure my Scyther would always win against fire type Pokemon." He said. "But after this battle with you, I realize that I still have a lot more training to do. I was also thrilled going up against your legendary Pokemon, Lugia. Morty will be speechless when he hears about this."

"Morty?" Ash asked.

"Morty is the gym leader in Ecruteak City." Bugsy said. "And he studies legendary Pokemon all the time. So there's no doubt he will be surprised when he realized you have a legendary Pokemon on your team."

"Then I look forward to seeing his surprised face." Ash said.

Bugsy presented the gym badge known as the Hive Badge to Ash.

"You deserve it." He said.

The Hive Badge was in the shape of a ladybug with three spots. Ash thanked Bugsy then he and the others left the Azalea Gym.

After Ash's Pokemon were healed in the Pokemon Center, the gang met Maisy outside the Pokemon Center.

"Grandpa sent me to give you guys the special Poke Balls." She said.

She gave Ash his seven Poke Balls. The Level Ball was black, white and yellow with a red V mark on it. The Lure Ball was blue, white and red with three small yellow lines. The Moon Ball was blue, black and white with a yellow crescent moon. The Friend Ball was green and red with red marks. The Love Ball was pink and white with a pink heart. The Heavy Ball was black and white with blue bubbles on it. The Fast Ball was red, white and yellow.

"Wow cool." Ash said, thrilled to have seven different Poke Balls. Maisy gave Misty her two Lure Balls, Tomo his Level Ball, Lure Ball and Friend Ball and Brock his Heavy Ball. Maisy also explained that her grandfather had yet to figure out the GS Ball.

"He promises to tell you immediately when he finds something out."

The gang thanked Maisy, bid farewell to her and then left Azalea Town for their next destination.