That night, I try to cheer Grotle up and say, "Grotle, in case you didn't know, I think it's cool that you evolved during our battle. It's just like nothing can keep us from winning, you know. Sorry, I didn't call you to attack because I should've. But your power is way up, and once your speed is up, you're going to be powerful."

But Grotle still feels down. And that night, just when we're about to sleep, the other Pokemon wake us up and I ask, "What's wrong, you guys?"

Then we notice that the only ones in the room are Staravia and Piplup, the others are gone and they say that Grotle just runs off. When we rush outside, we notice Paul's Torterra, who he left on the ranch for now.

When we see Rhydon going for a Hammer Arm, Torterra just absorbs the attack with ease. "Torterra can dodge this, but it doesn't want to?" Lillie asks. "It's choosing to stand there and take it!"

"But what for?" Gladion asks.

Then we see that Rhydon's attacks don't work until Torterra stands on its hind legs and comes down, pinning Rhydon to the ground before using Frenzy Plant. Being four times weak as Grass, Rhydon is prepared to face the attack, but Torterra stops the attack and the tree roots withdraw.

"I think Torterra is waiting for a moment to attack..." Daniel says.

"And also like a heavy weight boxer..." Tox adds.

We rush to the other Pokemon, and I say, "I saw the whole thing, and thank you, Torterra. You're trying to give Grotle some serious pointers on how to battle, isn't that right?"

He nods, and I say, "So you're saying that Grotle has to take the attacks and until the right time counters it."

Grotle nods with understanding before Torterra leaves, heading back to the ranch with the other Pokemon. Then we're going to help Grotle with his new battle style.

The next day, we arrive at the Veilstone City Gym, and we also notice that Lucas is also there. Dawn asks, "Lucas? What are you doing here?"

"Hey! Guys, Dawn, I heard everything from Mom, are you fine?" Lucas asks.

"Don't worry. Dawn did challenge the Veilstone Gym yesterday just to cheer the gym leader up. And I think she's feeling better." Tox says.

"Wow, you just keep getting tougher and tougher. Me? Well, I took a look in the Game Corner and... I mean, yeah, of course, I've been working on my Pokédex, but... Anyway, keep it up! I'll see you around!"

As he leaves, Dawn sighs, "Why I'm not surprised, Lucas really likes the Game Corner..."

"We can also check out that place, but first, we have a gym to go." I say.

As we enter the gym, we notice a lot of doors and sandboxes, and the gym guide says, "Hey, there! How's it going, Champ-to-be? The Gym Leader is a user of Fighting-type Pokémon. She'd be a terror against Normal-type Pokémon. But! And it's a big but! Just between you and me... Maylene, the Gym Leader, said Flying-, Psychic-, and Fairy-type Pokémon could be real trouble for her! If you want to battle her, smack the punching bags along the rails. You have to hit those bags hard!"

We go to the left column and fight the Black Belt Darren first. He says, "We're the Karate Quads! I will strike a blow for courage with my fist! Hiyah, couraaaaaaaaaage!"

He uses two Machoke and a Machop, so I use Espeon to win the match with the Psychic moves. "I couldn't force my way to victory..."

Since we can't move the door, we have to go back and head to the second trainer in the middle column. The Black Belt named Jeffery says, "I will strike a blow for tears with my fist! Hiayh, teeeeeeeaaaaars!"

He uses a Meditite and a Machoke this time, so I decide to go into Togetic, with the Flying and Fairy moves, both Pokemon are defeated with ease. "I'm so hungry, kid... I don't have any strength left..."

And since we can go through the sandbox to the top row. The Black Belt Colby says, "I will strike a blow for love with my fist! Hiayh, loooooooove!"

He uses three Machokes this time, and I go with Butterfree since it has the endurance when it comes to Fighting Type Pokemon, all three Machoke are defeated in the end. "Argh! Crunched!"

And we can't go through the doors once more, so we decide to head to the right column and face the final gym trainer named Rafael. He says, "I will strike a blow for hope with my fist! Hiayn! Hooooooppppe!"

He only uses a Meditite, and all four of them really yell strange words. I use Spiritomb this time and since both Psychic and Fighting moves aren't going to use on him, it is an easy victory for me. "We came up short but not by much."

After pushing the walls, we finally reach the gym leader Maylene. She says, "I don't really know what it means to be strong, or how I got to be the Gym Leader. But I will do the best I can as the Gym Leader. I take battling very seriously. Whenever you're ready!"

Her first Pokemon is Meditite, and I go with Togetic to battle, the Detect from Meditite is really annoying, but Togetic is much stronger and it uses Fairy Wind to defeat her. The next is Machoke, which defeats Togetic with a Rock Tomb that I wasn't expecting, so I go with Gallade, using its Psycho Cut to defeat the Pokemon. The final Pokemon is Lucario, and it defeats Gallade with Bone Rush and Metal Claw, so I use Mismagius, with the Levitate ability causes Lucario's Bone Rush to miss and the Ghost moves to miss as well, in the end, Mismagius wins by using Shadow Ball.

"...OK. You win. That was a tough loss. I learned a lot from it. Please, accept this Gym Badge." Maylene gives me the Cobble Badge, and she says, "Um... I should explain about that Badge. If you have that official Pokémon League Badge, you can use the hidden move Fly outside of battle."

Fly? Not Defog or Strength? Well, this is interesting. Lillie's turn is next, and Maylene says, "Here we go, Lillie. Let's give everything we got!"

"Of course." Lillie says. "I'm going to win just like Ash!"

She starts Machoke first this time, and Lillie goes for Bronzor. Lillie commands Bronzor to use Gyro Ball, but Machoke counters it with Brick Break.

"She's using Brick Break as a defense..." I say.

"Sounds like a warrior like Maylene will do." Daniel ads.

Lillie has Bronzor pushback, using Zen Headbutt next. Machoke easily dodges it and Maylene commands her Machoke to use Cross Chop, leading Bronzor to take a powerful hit. Maylene commands her Machoke to keep using Brick Break which hits Bronzor multiple times.

"I don't think Bronzor can take more hits..." Gladion says.

Maylene commands her Machoke to use Seismic Toss as a finishing attack, but Bronzor goes for Gyro Ball again, and this time it uses Psyshock and hit Machoke, which leads to Machoke being knocked out.

"Way to go, Bronzor!" Lillie cheers.

"I'm impressed by your move. Now time to bring out my second Pokemon, Meditite!"

So Meditite is next. Lillie commands Bronzor to use Gyro Ball, but Meditite easily counters it with Detect and then uses Meditate to boost its attack power.

"That's the same thing that he did to me..." I say. Bronzor uses Gyro Ball again, but Maylene commands her Meditite to use Detect, and then Meditate to raise its attack power again so it can finish it all in one hit.

"I won't let you finish me off with one hit. Psyshock!" Lillie yells, but Maylene commands her Meditite to bounce off the wall and use Drain Punch, which hits Bronzor.

"Keep it going! Psyshock!" Lillie commands, but Meditite uses Confusion, which confuses Bronzor. Lillie sends back Bronzor and goes for Prinplup, and it uses Metal Claw to hit Meditite.

"Your Prinplup has great speed, but so does Meditite! Drain Punch!" Maylene commands Meditite to keep using Drain Punch so it can absorb Prinplup's energy and heal itself.

"Quick! Dodge it and quickly use Metal Claw!" Maylene commands Meditite to keep using Detect, preventing Prinplup's Metal Claw from hitting. It works for a bit, but then Meditite's Detect fails and it is hit with Metal Claw several times.

"Your Priniplup has some amazing battling skills." Maylene says.

"Check out some Water moves! Whirlpool!" Lillie says. The Whirlpool hits Meditite, then it goes for Confusion, which knocks the Whirlpool back to Prinplup and also makes it confused.

Lillie returns Prinplup and sends back Bronzor once more, with its confusion healed. Meditite uses Drain Punch, but Bronzor pushes it back, and then attacks with Payback. Maylene orders Meditite to use Confusion, but with no more energy left, the move fails and Bronzor knocks out Meditite.

"Payback works after Bronzor takes the hit from the Drain Punch." I say with a nod.

Maylene only has one Pokémon left, while Lillie stays with Bronzor. Maylene sends out Lucario. Bronzor uses Zen Headbutt as it closes in Lucario counters it with Metal Claw which takes Bronzor out of the battle.

Prinplup is next, and it goes for Bubble Beam, but it is easily dodged by Lucario. Prinplup keeps using Bubble Beam, but Lucario keeps dodging, easily done with its excellent speed.

"We need to get it close, use Metal Claw!" "Dodge and use Force Palm!"

The attack hits Prinplup, and Prinplup is paralyzed by the attack. "Now's our chance! Bone Rush!"

Prinplup tries to get away, but it gets hit multiple times. It is thrown to the ground and faints.

Lillie says, "You did your best like you always do. Lucario is just too tough." Then Lillie sends out her final Pokemon, which is a Buizel. "Buizel, it's up to you now."

As we watch the match, Tox says, "I wonder where Croagunk went..."

"Maybe he's outside?" Gladion asks. "Considering this is a Fighting Gym and Croagunk is a Fighting Type."

Buizel uses Water Gun while Lucario counters with Aura Sphere, resulting in an explosion, but Aura Sphere still connects with Buizel.

"Lucario! Bone Rush!" Buizel dodges the attack, but he is hit by the leg. "See what you think about this! Spin and use Aqua Jet!"

When Maylene orders Lucario to use Metal Claw, the Aqua Jet surpasses the Metal Claw attack and hits Lucario. Buizel uses Sonic Boom and Lucario uses Bone Rush to defend, spinning it. Lucario launches several Aura Spheres at Buizel, all of which are defended against by Buizel's Sonic Booms. Lucario gets in close and then uses Force Palm which hits Buizel. Maylene orders Lucario to finish up with Aura Sphere at maximum power. Buizel, still feeling the effect of Force Palm, manages to learn Water Pulse which surprises Ash and the others. Maylene orders Lucario to use Aura Sphere while Lillie commands Buizel to use Water Pulse.

The two raging energy balls result in an explosion, Lillie commands Buizel to spin and use Aqua Jet one more time while Maylene orders Lucario to use Force Palm, resulting in an explosion again that hurts both Pokémon, but both recover and the two Pokémon battle in the air, Lucario using Aura Sphere and Buizel using Water Pulse. The resulting explosion in the air destroys the battlefield's roof, exposing the field to the open sky. Both Pokémon are hurt until Maylene's Lucario manages to recover and attack Buizel with Metal Claw, which hits Buizel.

"Come on, Buizel! You got to get up now!" Lillie cheers, and now it gets back up.

"Now that's what I called Courage, but this is it!" Maylene commands Lucario to use Bone Rush, and Lillie orders Buizel to dodge, but he can't move.

Just then, it starts to rain, and Buizel dodges the Bone Rush at the last second, with his speed dramatically increased.

"That's Swift Swim! Buizel's ability!" Daniel says. "When it rains, Buizel's speed increases."

Then Lillie goes for another spin and use Aqua Jet, while Maylene orders Lucario to use Force Palm, from which Buizel takes some damage. Lillie commands Buizel to use Water Pulse, then to spin and use Aqua Jet against Lucario's Force Palm, a combination of Water Pulse and Aqua Jet. The resulting collision leaves both Pokémon unable to battle, and therefore the battle between Maylene and Lillie ends in a draw.

"What do you know... Buizel, you're great." Lillie says.

"Lucario, you fought hard." Maylene says.

After the fierce battle, the referee states that awarding a Gym Badge for a tie depends on the judgment of the Gym Leader. Maylene says, "Well then, let's say that Lillie challenges me to the greatest gym battle I've ever had. So please accept the Cobble Badge."

Since we're done with the gym battles, Reggie congratulates us and wants to show us the meteorites. I notice that they are the same sample that I got from Professor Cozmo in Hoenn.

After the exploration, we all head back to the Pokemon Center, and as we check the map, I say, "From here I say Pastoria City is a good choice. There is a resort at Lake Valor so we can actually take a rest. And I think the gym is a Water Gym."

Just then, Lucas rushes in and says, "There you are..."

"Lucas? What's wrong?" We are confused, and he says, "Hey! Guys! Listen, I need your help... I dropped my Rotom Phone by accident, and Team Galactic found it. Now they won't give it back. Please, I need you to help me."

"Team Galactic? Not Team Rocket?" We are surprised, and when we are outside, we find that there are Team Galactic grunts in the city, they are also trying to do something to the meteorites. We have to fight our way through, and after we arrive in front of the warehouse, we manage to get Lucas' Pokedex back. "Those things we had in the warehouse have already been moved to Pastoria City anyway!"

And after they leave, Lucas asks, "What's going on here? Why is Team Galactic out in the streets like they own the place?"

"They're after the meteorites..." Then we rush to the park, and on the way we manage to pick up the HM for Fly, I guess those Team Galactic people dropped them. And when we get to the park, we find the fourth commander? He has Toxicroak use Dark Pulse on us, but Maylene comes and has Lucario use Aura Sphere to block the attack.

"We don't care about your landmarks. But these meteorites must take the necessary forms to build the new world." The commander says. It is then Officer Jenny comes and she says that all the communications are gone and the equipment is all broken.

He has Toxicroak use Dark Pulse again, and we try to attack it back. Just then, Croagunk appears from Tox's Pokeball and it starts to glare at the Toxicroak.

"Toxicroak, what are you doing?" The commander says that Tox is now battling the commander and also the attack sending Team Rocket flying. We also try to destroy the hangers that take the meteorites, and my Pikachu is finally working with Paul's Electabuzz to destroy all the Golbat.

"Retreat now." Then they all try to retreat, much to our confusion. The next day, Lucas says, "Guys, thanks, honestly. If Professor Rowan ever hears that I lost my Rotom Phone... Oh, man, that's something I do not want to think about!"

"Yeah, and you're get a good scolding from Mom and Dad as well." Tox says. "So where are you going next?"

"I'm going to Pastoria City. The Great Marsh there has all kinds of Pokémon." Then we bid farewell as we continue moving.

Here is a new chapter, and in this chapter, you can see the third gym is done and I hope you like it.

Ash and Lillie's Pokemon:

Charizard x2 (In training), Butterfree x2 (One Pink), Pikachu, Rhydon, Tangela, Electabuzz, Magmar, Lapras, Eevee, Meganium, Togetic, Yanma, Espeon, Murkrow, Gligar, Steelix (Crystal), Sneasel, Piloswine, Mantine, Porygon2, Sceptile, Gardevoir (Shiny), Milotic, Dusclops, Absol, Turtwig, Monferno, Piplup, Staravia, Bibarel, Kricketune, Shinx, Roserade, Cranidos, Shieldon, Burmy x4, Pachirisu (Shiny), Buizel, Cherubi, Shellos (West), Ambipom, Drifloon, Buneary, Mismagius, Stunky, Bronzor, Spiritomb, Finneon, Magnezone, Lickilicky, Leafeon, Gallade, Probopass, Rotom, Manaphy

Dawn's Pokemon:

Ponyta, Piplup, Pachirisu, Cherubi, Buneary

Tox's Pokemon:

Roserade, Stunky, Croagunk

Gladion's Pokemon:

Umbreon, Riolu

Daniel's Pokemon:

Girafarig, Bronzor