Ash walked into place and Pikachu jumped off his shoulder as Machoke almost jumped onto his, Bea took the spot opposed to him.
"Alright so let's get this over with, one-on-one, I'll use my adrenaline monkey Machoke here, go ahead and choose whoever you want," Ash said, completely done with everything.
Brock and the Master were sitting on the side of the stadium and the Master leaned over to Brock, "Does he usually act like this."
"No, but as far as I know he hasn't gotten any sleep and is running off a jar of coffee, so that is probably a big part."
Bea on the other hand pulled out a single Pokeball, "Very well let us begin."
When she threw the Ball, out of it came a large panda with a thin stem in its mouth, revealing a Pangoro, it also had a Life Orb as a necklace.
One of the black belts ran into the middle and raised his arm, "This is an unofficial one-on-one battle against Bea and Ash, standard rules apply, begin."
Bea spoke up first, "Pangoro let's do this Swords dance then bullet punch."
Swords appeared around Pangoro and spun around him, when they dispersed Pangoro's fists glowed silver as he moved at high speeds, also boosted by the Life Orb and his ability Iron Fist.
"Protect into Bulk up!" Ash commanded.
As Pangoro first approached Machoke, Machoke made a Barrier and used it as a shield to block the attack meanwhile his muscles started expanding.
"Now Seismic Toss!"
As Pangoro's last fist came in Machoke put down the Barrier and grabbed Pangoro's arm, then he started spinning making Pangoro lose his footing and also go into the air until Machoke let go making Pangoro get thrown into the air.
Pangoro was shot and slammed into the ceiling then started falling until Machoke jumped and rocketed into Pangoro causing both to break through the ceiling and high into the air.
The master was shocked seeing that, "Wha- why is my personal dojo the one getting damaged!"
Brock could only pat his back as the master was almost crying.
Meanwhile, back to the fight, the two started spiraling down with Machoke above Pangoro while also holding his arms behind him. Making Pangoro fall face-first into the ground.
"Pangoro break free then Throat Chop!"
Pangoro's arms got covered in purple and black energy as he forced himself free and hit Machoke with an openhanded palm strike to his chest, making him take a step back as Pangoro jumped the distance and Chopped his neck, making Machoke cough and hold his neck.
"Now Ice Punch!"
As Machoke was holding his neck Pangoro's fist glowed blue as he delivered a powerful punch to Machoke's face and made him fall to the ground.
"Machoke get up and Power-Up Punch."
Machoke wiped his mouth revealing his smile as he got back up and made his fists glow red, Pangoro tried to dodge but Machoke grabbed him and pulled him into a punch, also boosting his attack.
"Now Machoke Brick Break!"
"Pangoro counter with Fire Punch!"
Machoke and Pangoro both ran toward each other with their fists glowing a different color and when they punched each other their fists collided, causing the ground beneath them to start breaking.
Both Machoke and Pangoro were thrown back, Pangoro taking more damage and Machoke getting burned.
Bea smiled, "I'm impressed you got this far but It's time we ended this, Pangoro Wicked Blow."
Immediately Ash's eyes widened, 'WHAT! Why does it have that, it shouldn't even be able to learn that?!'
But Ash had to shake his head, "Machoke brace yourself!"
Pangoro's body started getting covered in purple and black energy that crackled in the air like lightning that all condensed into his fist, then he moved quickly in front of Machoke launching a single punch.
The punch collided with Machoke's arms that were trying to block, but as soon as they collided the energy pushed down further and strengthened the punch, as it was a guaranteed crit so it went through his defenses.
As the punch went through, the ground started cracking, Machoke was struggling to try and keep his arms up to alleviate some of the damage but the more time went on the more force was being put onto him, until the final push and Machoke was pushed back and diapered into the dust and debris.
Pangoro stood proudly and tired, with the combination of Machoke's attacks and the life orb chip he was not doing so well.
Bea looked down, "It seems this is it, it was a fine duel but it seems I am the winner."
Bea was about to return Pangoro until she heard Ash say something, "Why do you say that, this battle isn't over."
As he said that Machoke's arm emerged and chopped the air, dispersing the dust revealing him damaged but also Steaming, as Guts activated.
Without any orders Machoke rushed and punched Pangoro in the stomach, then again in the face, then again and again and again. Machoke learned Close Combat and was continually using it again and again.
Finally, Machoke landed one last punch that caused Pangoro to fly back and crash into the building wall, and Pangoro was there with spirals in his eyes.
The black belt raised his arm, "Pangoro is unable to battle, therefore Ash and Machoke are the winners."
Bea ran over to Pangoro and helped him out of the wall, "You battled very well I appreciate it" Then she returned the panda to rest.
Meanwhile, Machoke raised his arm in satisfaction since he finally got a good fight.
Ash walked over to him, "You big oaf, of course, you get back up, I didn't doubt my knucklehead of a partner for a second."
Ash held out the Pokeball and Machoke fistbumped the button going back into it.
When Ash looked Back at Bea she was walking towards him when she was in front of him she put her fist out.
"That was a good battle, but I can tell this won't be the last time we battle, and next time things will be different."
Ash smiled and returned the fistbump, "Yeah it will be, next time I'll win both battles."
Bea smiled, "Then I'll just have to get even stronger."
"Oh that reminds me, you said you were in training, so I assume you're traveling through regions to train at the dojo right."
"Yeah, you pretty much summarized everything I'm doing, I am going to inherit my gym in 2 years, why do you ask?"
"Just curious, what regions have you traveled to then"
Bea put a finger on her chin, "Well I just started and wanted to start in Johto first but the borders have been closed so I wasn't able to get in, I was planning to go to Hoenn next.
"Ok that's interesting, well maybe we'll see each other sooner than you think, but for now see you." Ash quickly said then scurried away.
'So that means that Korrina and her haven't met yet, which also probably means that she hasn't become the gym leader either, though that does bring up the question of Maylene, but that's for later.'
With that, they both went their separate ways, meanwhile after Ash and Brock left the Dojo the Master remembered something, "Wait, who is going to compensate me for my Dojo!"
—
After some time Ash and Brock got to the Pokemon center and Ash gave Machoke over to Joy, not without Brock flirting with her and Zubat coming out to bite him.
Ash just left them alone and looked over the things he bought yesterday.
For Pokemon stuff, he couldn't get much since most would be over in the Celadon Department Store.
So all he could get was an Expert Belt for Machoke so he could swap them out, a new pair of sunglasses for Wartortle, and a few other small things.
But the best thing that he found in Saffron was the Power items, the ones that boost EV growth.
But other than that the only other important thing he got was a Laptop and a hotspot for it, just to make some things easier later.
Also, Rotom Phones were a thing but also crazy expensive since they were pretty new in Kanto so he didn't get one, but also he didn't need it for now. But other than that he didn't get anything else that was important enough to mention.
Ash looked over to Brock who was currently being held by Chansey and being taken to the back room, he shook his head and decided to finally do something he had been putting off.
He went outside to the field next to the Pokecenter and pulled out Gastly's ball, he looked at it and then over at Pikachu who gave him a nod, then threw it out, releasing the blue ball of mist.
"Jie Jie?" Gastly said, looking around, then at Ash.
"JieJieJie," She said before going over to lick Ash making Pikachu ignite his cheeks.
"Well that's a thing now," Ash said as he wiped himself off and calmed his mouse down.
"So I caught you and I need your help, with you things will get really easy, but for now all you need to do is go in my shadow."
Gastly stopped and looked at Ash's shadow before smiling and nodding, "Jie Jie Jie(✪ω✪)"
Then in one jump, she disappeared into Ash's shadow, it was a weird feeling since Ash could feel all of it but he got used to it pretty fast.
"How's it feeling in there?"
"Jie Jie Jie(*ˊᗜˋ*) (It's roomy, almost like a condo,"
"Well get used to it, I'll tell you what I need you to do later," Ash said as he walked back inside the center with Pikachu back on his shoulder.
When he got inside he saw Brock on the counter bandaged and Joy holding His Pokeball on a tray, "Right on time, your Machoke is fully healed, and your friend is ....let's just say fine, as good as I can legally announce him." Joy said while also slightly sweating.
"Yeah it's fine he is just like this, thank you for everything, I'll take him," Ash said as he put Machoke's Pokeball away and put Brock on his shoulder.
"Well, it seems you have everything under control, very well, stay safe," Joy said bowing as Ash walked out of the center.
When Ash arrived back in the hotel room he saw that Misty and Yellow were not back yet, so he went and put Brock on the couch, then he went over to his room.
When he got in he put down his bag and laid down on the bed to think about that Pangoro, 'Why did he have that, he should not be able to learn that.'
He turned around and looked at his Pokedex, 'Are their different learn sets, I did teach Jet punch to Wartortle pretty easily, I wonder if I could teach any other Pokemon something else, hmm'
As he was wondering he was about to try something until he heard the front door get kicked open and he heard a voice yell into the room, "We're back!"
Ash sighed and put his dex on the bed so he could walk out of the room, when he looked outside he saw Misty and Yellow holding bags and Yellow looking significantly more exhausted.
Misty was looking at Brock who was wrapped like a mummy still and when she noticed Ash she called out, "Hey we're back, come help us put this stuff away!"
From the corner, he saw Yellow mouth the words 'Help me.'
So he just took a breath and closed the door.