When we arrived at Mauville City, we couldn't believe what we were looking at. The last time we came here, it was just like a normal city. But now it has become a giant department mall.

"So this is Mauville City? It sure has changed a lot the last time we came here..." I say.

"Oh, I guess you don't know about it. The renovation of Mauville City started 2 years ago." Mark says.

As we enter the city, we are in awe at the sight of all kinds of stores. Alice asks, "But where are the residential places in the city? All we see are stores."

"There are apartments in the Mauville Hills area, which is located on the second floor, and there is also a recreation area on the top floor." Minami says.

"Hey, look! It's Wally!" May says as we notice Wally and his uncle in front of us.

"Wow! So this is Mauville City!" Wally says.

"Hahaha! You sure seem to be enjoying it, Wally." His uncle says. "So what would you like to do? Do you want to grab a bite to eat at the Mauville Food Court? Or maybe we should get you a Bike of your own at Rydel's Cycles. Would you like that? I bet the exercise would be good for your health."

"No, thank you! I want to challenge the Gym right away!" Wally says, much to the uncle's surprise.

"Let me see... I'm pretty sure the Gym is... Yup! Straight ahead this way! Just through the inner courtyard!" Then he rushes off, with his uncle chasing after him.

"So I guess that boy over there is also a Gym challenger?" Mark asks.

"We've met and it is thanks to Ash that he got his first Pokemon." May says.

"If Wally is challenging the gym right now, that means we can explore this whole place first." I say. "But after that training, I think we should find the Pokemon Center."

We get to the Central Courtyard, and that's where the Pokemon Center and the Poke Mart are located. After we finish healing up our Pokemon, we decide to explore the northeast district first.

There is the TV Mauville, which produces every program that airs on the BuzzNav app in our Rotom Phone. Inside, we can tour the studio, browse the gift shop, and even sit behind the news desk and read the latest bulletin before it airs. There is also a Battle Institute, where we can battle other trainers for fun, and an Inverse Battle Stop, a battle that reverses the type of matchups.

Mark says, "Brother, do you want to buy some bikes?"

"We do have some bicycles, so why do we want to buy some?"

Mark says, "You don't know, Rydel's Cycles offers two kinds of bikes. The Mach Bike and the Arco Bike."

We are still confused about that, but when we enter the shop, we find Rydel. "Well, well, what have we here? A most energetic customer! Me? You may call me Rydel. I'm the owner of this cycle shop. Your running shoes... They're awfully filthy. Did you come from far away?"

"We actually travel a lot since I'm doing gym challenges and contests at the same time." I say.

"I see. If you had one of my Bikes, you could go anywhere easily while feeling the gentle caress of the wind! I'll tell you what! I'll give you a Bike! Oh, wait a second! I forgot to tell you that there are two kinds of Bikes! They are the Mach Bike and the Acro Bike! Mach Bikes are for cyclists who want to feel the wild, blowing wind as they ride! Acro Bikes are for those who prefer a technical ride! I'm a real sweetheart, so you can have whichever one you like! Which one will you choose?"

"I'll choose the Arco Bike." I say.

"And I choose Mach Bike." Alice says.

Then the others choose their own bikes, except for Max since May is not going to let him ride one until he gets older. Then we bid farewell to Rydel as we head to the Southeast District.

Other than the ultimate move studio and the pledge move dojo, we arrive at the Food Court. As we get inside, Max says, "Let's see.. this food court is a bit strange, so there are some rules we have to follow before we can eat."

"What kind of rules?" Minami asks.

"Number one, place your order at the counter, there are three items on the menu here, so order whatever you like. When you're done ordering, the restaurant staff will give you a buzzer. Number two, sit in a chair while you wait for your food, it may take a while for your order to be ready. Have a seat and wait. And here's the important part, while you're sitting and waiting for your food, others will come and battle you for your seat. You have to fight back if you want to eat the meal you ordered. And number 3, eat your food. When the buzzer goes off, it means that your order is ready to be picked up at the counter. All that's left to do then is to sit back down and eat."

"So we have to battle if we want to have our seats?" May says. "That sounds tough... I really just want to eat..."

"Don't worry, in fact, this is perfect training for us before the gym." I say as Pikachu is excited to battle.

We go to the Village Sub Combo for our meals, and we place 6 bowls and get the buzzer. The staff tells us that it takes 5 turns to be ready. And of course, when we're sitting down at the table, some trainers are battling us for the seats. After one-shotting each trainer with ease, we defeated 5 trainers before the meal was ready.

"So sorry to keep you waiting! Here's your Village Sub Combo! It's ready and fresh from the oven. Thank you so much for coming just when everything is at its most delicious! This is free of charge, so please feel free to take it!"

We receive a Nugget and some Wiki Berries from the staff, and then we start digging into the meal. Once we're done, we head to the southwest district. "So this is supposed to be the Game Corner?"

"It seems to be closed." Max says.

The owner apologizes to us and he decides to give us the prizes, the Treecko doll, a Torchic doll, and a Mudkip doll. And we're finally at the northwestern part of Mauville City. After some shops, we finally find Wally arguing with his uncle in front of the gym.

"Uncle, I'm begging you! I want to challenge this Gym to see how much stronger I've become! Please! You'll let me, won't you?" Wally asks.

"Now hold on, Wally... It's certainly true that you've grown quite a lot stronger alongside your Pokemon. But don't you think that jumping right into challenging a Gym might be pushing it?"

"I'm not pushing it! If it's me and my Ralts, we can beat anyone!" Wally says and he finally notices us. "Ash! Alice! May! Max!"

"Nice to see you again, Wally." I say as we greet him. He says, "Ralts and I have gotten a lot stronger since we first met. Growing together! I want to prove that to you and my uncle both. Please...help me once more... And have a battle with me!"

"Sure." I say. Alice says, "If you don't mind, how about letting me battle?"

"I guess it's okay." I say. Wally says, "Thank you, Alice. OK. Here we go! We're going to win this, Ralts! We have to!"

He of course uses Ralts, while Alice goes for Mawile to battle. Ralts is actually giving Mawile a hard time, but Mawile uses Iron Head to defeat Ralts.

"Wow... You really are strong, Alice!" Wally lowers his head. "Uncle... I'll go back to Verdanturf..."

Now we're feeling bad for Wally, but he says, "Alice, thank you... Being a Trainer is tough, isn't it? It's not enough just to battle with your Pokémon. I can't become a true Trainer like that... Not really..."

"Wally, there's no need to get so down on yourself. Why, what's keeping you from becoming stronger? Nothing is! All you need to do is keep growing. Come on, let's go home. Everyone's waiting for you."

Wally nods and says, "...Yes, Uncle. Guys... I... I'm definitely... I'm going to get stronger. Much, much stronger! I feel like I learned a lot from just one Pokémon battle with you... About my own limits...and Ralts's... So...um... That's why... If it's all right... Could I... Could I call you...my r-riv—"

"Call us what?" I ask, but then he sighs, "Ah, never mind! S-sorry! It was nothing! Please forget about it! Guh...good-bye!"

After he leaves, Wally's uncle says, "It just dawned on me that you must be the young trainers who kept an eye out for Wally when he caught his Pokemon. So it's you we have to thank for Wally becoming so positive about the future. Thank you."

"No problem." May says. And then he decides to give us the HM for Rock Smash, since I already have it, May is the one taking the HM. "Even if there are obstacles in your path, I think you'll be able to break through them. We should head back now, but... If you ever have the time, I'd love it if you'd stop by our home in Verdanturf. I'm sure Wally would enjoy it, too. We look forward to seeing you."

After he leaves, I say, "Now my third badge is in there waiting for me!"

"That's the spirit." Mark says.

Then we enter the gym door, and much to our surprise, the door just falls to the ground, and there are some tracks in front of us. May asks, "What's this?"

"Weird." Minami says, and much to our surprise, as we step on the door, it turns into a platform with some things to hold on and it starts moving.

"This is how they welcome you into the gym? I don't see a Gym guide anywhere..." Alice says.

We notice some doors are opening for us to go through, and May says, "I feel like I'm on a ride in an amusement park."

When the track goes upwards, May says, "I'm not feeling amused."

"Just like a... Roller Coaster!" Mark yells as we start to go downwards. We try to hold onto the handrails so that we won't fall off, and then we somehow get into the water and continue moving at a fast speed.

Alice says, "Well, this is no way for a gym leader to welcome its guests."

"You're right. It seems like a strange way to say hello." Mark says.

"Come on, guys! I think it's fun!"

And much to our surprise, we see a Raikou in front of us. "A Raikou?" It starts attacking us with Thunder Shock, and I yell, "Pikachu! Use Thunderbolt!"

The attack doesn't seem to work, so I have him use Iron Tail, and the Raikou turns out to be just a mecha. Alice asks, "Pikachu, are you okay?"

"Fine!" Pikachu says to us.

"That was brilliant!" The door opens and two people come out. "I must confess, I've never thought I've seen a day when my mecha Raikou was turned into a pile of scrap metal."

I have to guess this man here is the Gym leader. May asks, "So you're the gym leader?"

"Guilty, I'm Mr. Wattson, leader extraordinaire of the Mauville Gym. And him? That's Watt, my assistant."

"Cool. I'm Ash and I come here for a battle, and I'm here for my third badge!" I say.

"I haven't seen a challenger with that much spunk for a long time. Yes, this will be good. Ash, you and I have a battle date." Then he starts to laugh once more.

And as we follow through the door, we find the gym guide and now Wattson and his assistant are heading to probably the end of the gym mission.

"Yo, how's it going, Champ-to-be Ash? Wattson, the Leader of Mauville Gym, uses Electric-type Pokémon. If you challenge him with Water-type Pokémon, he'll zap them! Bzz-zzzt! And he's put in switch-controlled electric devices all over his Gym! Eccentric! Hey, go for it!"

Judging by the puzzles, it is a little similar to Lt. Surge's Vermilion Gym. But the different part is that there are two switches that either affect the blue electricity or the red electricity judging by the color of the switch.

The first trainer is a Guitarist named Kirk. He says, "My electric soul, it'll shatter your dreams whole, whoa-yeah!"

He uses two Pokemon, a Magnemite and an Electrike. I use Makuhita to battle both Pokemon, and with the help of Mud-Slap, both Pokemon have a hard time hitting him and he can finish with Arm Thrust. "That was plugged in, amped up, overdriven electric, man!"

We change the currents and we head to the second floor, the second trainer is a youngster named Ben. He says, "This Gym got puzzles! Isn't it fun?"

"It is kinda..." I say as he uses only an Electrike, which is defeated by Marshtomp's Mud Shot in the end. "It's no fun to lose..."

The third trainer is a Battle girl named Vivian, and she says, "With my charm and my Pokemon's moves, you'll be shocked!"

She didn't use an Electric Type Pokemon but a Meditite, so I go with Sableye, with a Shadow Claw, Meditite is defeated. "I'm shocked by your power!"

The final trainer is a Guitarist named Shawn. "I trained under Wattson! There ain't no way I'd lose easily!"

He uses two Voltorbs to battle, but both of them are defeated because he has them use Self-Destruct while my Nosepass is still on the field.

Then Wattson and his assistant are now at the back of the room. Wattson says, "What? You've gotten past all my rigged doors? Wahahahah! Now, that is amusing! The plans to reform Mauville are done for now. Making traps for my Gym and battling with young Trainers like you are the things I live for now! Then I, Wattson, the Leader of Mauville Gym, shall electrify you!"

Then the battle begins as this time it is three Pokemon each. Much to my surprise, Wattson says, "I'll be battling with my Voltorb, Magnemite, and Magneton! I've been working with these three for a great number of years!"

"It's kinda surprising when he'll reveal the Pokemon he'll be using." Minami says.

"He sure seems confident." Alice says.

Pikachu wants to go first, and I decide to respect his wishes. Wattson laughs, "Great! Super! Like I said, you got spunk! Starting with an Electric Pokemon. You asked for this!"

He goes for Magnemite and it goes for Swift, Pikachu dodges and I have him use Thunderbolt, but much to my surprise, Magnemite is already defeated.

"But... but how?" Wattson gasps. I brush it off and say, "Yeah. Nice job, Pikachu!"

"Man, he beat Magnemite with one attack!" Max says.

"What's unbelievable is how powerful that Pikachu's Thunderbolt attack was." Mark says.

Wattson laughs and says, "I guess that every rule, there is an exception." Then Voltorb is next and he uses Screech, I have Pikachu use Thunderbolt one more time, and Voltorb is also defeated.

"Not again... twice in a row with one attack?" Wattson gasps.

His final Pokemon is Magneton, and he goes for Zap Cannon. I have Pikachu use Thunder, and the attack breaks through the Zap Cannon and defeats Magneton.

"Impossible..." Wattson says, and I can't believe I just won the gym battle that easily.

Wattson is at first shocked, but then he somehow gives me a laugh, which I think is some sort of wry laugh. "I was electrified by you. Now, take this Badge!"

He gives me the Dynamo Badge, and I thank him. He says, "With the Dynamo Badge, Pokémon can use the HM Rock Smash outside of battle. One other thing—Pokémon up to Level 40 will obey you now, even if you got 'em from someone else! I swell with optimism, seeing a promising young Trainer like you!"

But then he just walks away, and I start to see that Pikachu is not feeling well. "Pikachu! What's wrong?"

I try to hold Pikachu, but I gasp, "Oh no! Pikachu's burning up again!"

We rush to the Pokemon Center, and when we give her the Pikachu, Mark asks, "So what do you mean again?"

"When Alice and I first came into the Hoenn Region, we met Team Rocket and they used some sort of electro-magnet on him to cause him like this. There was no Pokemon Center in Littleroot Town, and Pikachu's fever is causing him to attack us in sight." I say.

"I think I remember that... but does that mean Pikachu has touched the electro-magnet again?" May asks.

I gasped, "There has! I think Wattson's mecha Raikou was the one that caused him to be overcharged!" I gasp. "And that's probably why Pikachu sweeps through all 3 of Wattson's Pokemon with one hit!"

After Pikachu's electricity is now back to normal, he jumps back into my arms, I say, "I'm sorry, pal. I should have realized that..."

Watt then rushes in and he says that he can't see Wattson anywhere. He says that he's going to abandon the gym, much to our surprise.

"Oh no! We've got to find Mr. Wattson right away!" Minami says.

"He needs to know that your Gym battle was a mistake!" Alice adds.

"Yeah." Then Watt asks us what we mean, and we decide to reveal everything to him. Nurse Joy then reveals to us that he might be in the New Mauville Power Plant. We decide to head there and explain everything to Mr. Wattson.

When we get there, we find that Wattson is facing Team Rocket with their machine. I was wondering what they were up to when they didn't show up at the Food Court or other places in Mauville. And much to our surprise, they take Pikachu and the Electrike beside Wattson and trap us in nets. After getting out of the net, Wattson decides to use the Mecha Raikou to battle Team Rocket, and it is then we send out Espeon and May's Torchic to attack the machine.

In the nearby cage, Pikachu is leading the other Electric Type Pokemon to destroy the cage, and they escape just when Team Rocket finds out that Raikou is a fake. After using Thunderbolt to send them flying, he is thanked by the Electric Pokemon. Pikachu is humble and he also says that Electrike helped him.

I say, "Mr. Wattson. This badge isn't mine." I decide to return the badge, "That gym badge of ours wasn't fair?"

"Sir. Pikachu got super-charged with the electricity when bested our Raikou machine." Watt says.

"Yeah. That makes Pikachu's attacks a lot more powerful than normal." I say.

"Well, that makes sense." Wattson says. "But still, Ash, I think you should keep that badge anyway. Your Pikachu may have been more powerful than usual in the gym battle, but I watched Pikachu rescue those Pokemon, and seeing how well you two worked together won me over, so there's no doubt you're the most deserving of this Dynamo Badge."

Then we're delighted as I get my third Badge. And it turns out that Wattson also befriends Electrike and he promises that if Electrike grows more, then he wants a rematch, and of course I agree.

Here is a new chapter, even though the Mauville Gym is over, that doesn't mean the whole Mauville City is done. I hope you like this chapter.

Ash + Alice's Pokemon:

Butterfree x2 (One Pink), Pikachu x2, Lapras, Meganium, Espeon, Steelix (Crystal), Mantine, Grovyle, Combusken, Marshtomp, Mightyena, Zigzagoon, Beautifly, Dustox, Lombre, Shiftry, Taillow, Wingull, Ralts x2 (One Shiny), Surskit, Shroomish, Vigoroth, Nincada, Whismur, Makuhita, Nosepass, Skitty, Sableye, Mawile, Aron, Plusle, Minun, Wailmer, Corphish

May's Pokemon:

Torchic, Beautifly, Skitty

Mark's Pokemon:

Blaziken, Marshtomp, Ludicolo, Wingull, Surskit, Shroomish, Hariyama, Wailmer, Corphish

Minami's Pokemon:

Zigzagoon, Taillow, Ralts, Vigoroth, Delcatty, Mawile, Lunatone