“If you want my Slowpoke can lure a Pokémon,” Jen said as she had a feeling that Liam did not to do that either.

"That's alright," Liam said. "I appreciate the offer though."

"We'll meet you at the local Pokémon Centre if you still want to fish up a Water type," Shiranui responded, looking to get his Pokémon healed up and ready.

"Actually, I think I might place a call..." Liam said thinking aloud. He called Oak and had a regular old Pokéball transferred to him. He decided that if he needed it, he had a powerful backup Pokémon, but he hoped it wouldn't come to that.

“You can take your time,” Jen said as she pets Aura.

With that, Liam was ready to head over to the gym and asked his friends if they were ready as well.

"Ready," answered Shiranui, confident he could beat the gym, but feeling flashbacks from his tenure at the Vermilion City Gym.

“Ready,” Jen said as Coal the Carkol pops out of her Ulterball to help Jen out.

With that, the group made their way toward the gym. Liam offered to let one of the others go first this time.

"I went first last time," Shiranui stated, "Jen, Chuck, what about you?"

"Jen can go first, if she wants to." Chuck said.

Jen nods as she walks out onto the battlefield as flames starts to float around the battlefield as Jen could tell that a Ninetailes is showing off before Kabu appeared. “My Ninetailes must smell or sense you are fond of foxes, dog, or wolf Pokémon.” Luba said as he call his Ninetailes to the battlefield, Jen pulled a Luxary ball out of her bag. “I am fond of all Pokémon, I choose you Mimi.” Jen said as her Slowpoke appear on the battlefield. “Rain Dance,” Jen said as her Slowpoke made it rain. “Extrasensory,” Kuba said as his Ninetaiattacks Jen”# Slowpoke and she flinch. “Whirl Pool,” Jen said as her Slowpoke summon a vortex of water trapping the Ninetailes and knocking it out.

Kuba return his Ninetailes and called out his Arcaine, “Hydro Pump.” Jen said as Kanu told his Arcaine to use Flame Thrower. As it is still raining it boost Slowpoke Hydro Pump as the blast hit Arcaine it was knocked out. Baku recalled his Arcaine and send out Centiscorch and Gigananta max. “Centriscorch use Max Centiferno,” the Centiscoech covers the ground of the ground trapping the Slowpoke is knocked out. Jen recalled Mimi the Slowpoke and called out Coal her Carroll and Dynamax. “Coal use Rockfall,” Jen said as Coal summon a giant sand storm knocking out Centiscorch.

Kuba and Jen recalled their poke balls as they both praised their Pokémon. Luba walks over to Jen to gibe her the fire badge and tells her the location of the next gym before he healed his Pokémon for his next battle.

Liam went next.
"Ah, Champion Coleman, it is an honor to meet you, I have heard stories of you," Kabu said. "I have roots in Lavaridge Town, and heard about your victory there, using a Marshtomp who evolved during the battle."
"That's right," Liam said.
"Well, no matter. You may find this to be a tougher fight than that one," Kabu said. He tossed out a ball and sent out a Kantonian Ninetails. Liam grabbed one of Luxury Balls, sending out Beckham.
"Ninetais, use Confuse Ray," Kabu ordered. The attack worked and Beckham became confused.
"Beckham, use Double Kick!" Liam ordered. Beckham managed to land the attack and gave Ninetails a pair of swift kicks.
"Disable," Kabu ordered. Ninetails used a strange energy to block Beckham from using the move Double Kick for a while.
"Mud Shot," Liam said. Beckham kicked up a ball of mud, landed a super-effective hit on Ninetails.
"Use Dig!" Kabu ordered. Ninetials burrowed into the ground.
"Use Bounce," Liam called, but Beckham hit himself in confusion. Ninetails KO'd Beckham with the Dig attack. Beckham's picture on the jumbo screen was then blacked out and Liam recalled him, thanking him for the attempt.

Liam then sent out Balin, the Sirfetch'd.
"First Impression!" Liam called. Balin made a quick and powerful strike on Ninetails, scoring a critical hit and KO'ing it. The crowd cheered as the fantastic move, as they had at Beckham's defeat. Kabu next sent out Arcanine.
"Will O' Wisp!" Kabu ordered. Balin was burned by the attack.
"Swords Dance!" Balin did a special dance and increased his attack power
(Burn 1)
"Flame Wheel," Kabu ordered. Arcanine curled into a ball and became engulfed in flames, ramming into Balin. Balin was ordered again to use Swords Dance.
(Burn 2)
Balin was starting to look worse for wear. Kabu ordered Arcanine to use Flame Wheel again but missed. Liam called for Brave Bird He took down Arcanine, only to fall to recoil damage.
"Light that fire and get your mind moving, Kabu! There still must be a path to victory!" He sent out his final Pokémon, Centiscorch.

"Centiskorch, the Radiator Pokémon. A Fire and Bug-Type. When it heats up, its body temperature reaches about 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit. It lashes its body like a whip and launches itself at enemies. While its burning body is already dangerous on its own, this excessively hostile Pokémon also has large and very sharp fangs. "

"Well, it's time for my secret weapon," Liam said reading a regular Pokéball. "It's time to shine! Hydro!" Liam's very first Pokémon, now fully evolved and equipped with a Mega Stone emerged.
"Blast!" Hydro roared.

"Burn bright, Centiskorch. Let Gigantamax change your size and your form!" Centiskorch took on its Gigantamax Form.

"Now Hydro, let's show Kabu our bond! Go beyond, Mega Evolve!" Liam pressed the Keystone fastened into the underside of his Z Power Ring and held his arm up toward the sky. Hydro and Liam's arm were both enveloped in bright light as Hydro took on his Mega Form.

"Flame always burn upwards, and so we'll always aim to go higher. You understand, don't you? Use G-Max Centiferno!" The G-Max Pokémon used its signature move and dealt a fair amount of damage considering it was a STAB, but not very effective move.

"Water Pulse!" Liam ordered. Hydro launched the ball of water right into Centiscorch's face, making it recoil. The G-Max move did some damage between turns to Hydro.

(G-Max 1, Centiferno 1)
"Dark Pulse," Liam ordered. This attack also landed Centiskorch survived the attack and used the same attack, putting Hydro to less then half health.

(G-Max 2, Centiferno 2)
"Withdrawl!" Liam called. Hydro retreated into his shell to add on to his defenses. Kabu ordered his G-Max move to be used for the third time. Hydro was now in low health as Centiscorch returned to normal.

(Centiferno 3)
"Water Pulse!" Liam called. The attack hit and confused the target.
"Use Bug Bite," Kabu ordered. But Centiscorch hit itself in confusion, knocking itself out.

"I'm often regarded as the first real roadblock of the Gym Challenge, and yet you defeated me! Clearly, your talent surpassed my many years of experience. I still have much to learn!" Kabu and Liam approached one another center stage and shook hands. Kabu then gave Liam the Fire Badge and healed the six Pokémon who fought.

Next on the fight card was Shiranui. "Champion Tsukiko, I wondered whether you were actually taking on the Challenge," Kabu opened, "Few people who defeated my gym have got their endorsements from Allester."
"You were expecting maybe the Fiery Riddler and his Magmortar?" Shiranui rebutted, referring to Blaine.
"I know of whom you speak;" Kabu responded, "And Let me tell you that while I like his unusual battling location, this gym is tough in its own ways and my Centiskorch has made many challengers quit."
"Is that so?" Shiranui rebutted before breaking into an impression of Lt. Surge, "Does da fiery baby want to come to the gym at Vermilion City and see how we do t'ings?"

With that zinger of a comeback, Kabu opened the battle with his Ninetales and Shiranui responded with Nekomata. "Ninetales, open with Will-O-Wisp!"
"Nekomata, use Misty Terrain!" The Meowstic covered the ground in mist, preventing the Will-O-Wisp Ninetales launched from having any effect.
"Ninetales, use Ember!"
"Nekomata, Role Play!" Nekomata used her psychic powers to change her ability. Unfortunately for Kabu that ability was now Flash Fire and Ninetales' embers triggered that ability.
"That's admittedly a good strategy on your part," Kabu commented, "Ninetales, Quick Attack!"
"Nekomata, Psybeam!" Both Pokémon executed their attacks and Nekomata's Psybeam blasted Ninetales for a critical hit, knocking it out.

Kabu sent Arcanine out and he was in a bit of a quandary—with Nekomata having an active Flash Fire for an ability and Misty Terrain in effect, he was limited in his options. "Arcanine, Agility!"
"Nekomata, Trick Room!" Arcanine relaxed its body to go faster, but Shiranui was one step ahead on his call as Nekomata conjured a zone over the field that made slower Pokémon faster and vice versa. "I knew you'd try something like that," Shiranui commented.
"Arcanine, Bite!"
"Nekomata, Expanding Force!" Nekomata made a come-hither motion at Arcanine and Arcanine charged in for a Bite attack. As the Bite landed, Nekomata used her psychic powers to blast Arcanine away for major damage.
"Arcanine, Bite once more!"
"Nekomata, use Psybeam!" One more beam of psychic energy compliments of Nekomata and Arcanine was knocked out. The Misty Terrain had subsided at that point.

"Light that fire and turn up the heat, Kabu!" Kabu said to himself to psych himself for the battle ahead, "There still must be a path to victory!" He sent out his headliner, Centiskorch.
"Well, you're down to your last Pokémon;" Shiranui counted out on his fingers, "I'm still on my first; and Nekomata is immune to Fire attacks."
"You are correct, Champion Tsukiko;" Kabu replied, "But Meowstic, like most Psychic-type Pokémon are weak to Centiskorch's other type as I'll demonstrate. Burn bright, Centiskorch. Let Gigantamax change your size and your form! Max Flutterby!"
"Nekomata, Protect!" Kabu recalled Centiskorch, activated his Dynamax Ring, turned around and threw Centiskorch's Poké Ball to the back of his side of the field. The ball opened to reveal a much longer and much hotter Centiskorch that Shiranui scanned with his Rotom Phone.
"Centiskorch: Gigantamax Form, the Radiator Pokémon. Gigantamax energy has evoked a rise in its body temperature, now reaching over 980°C. Its heat waves incinerate its enemies." Centiskorch conjured a large flock of energy butterflies that zeroed in on Nekomata and struck with a large explosion. After everything cleared, Nekomata was knocked out from a critical hit.

Shiranui switched Nekomata for Ikari. "Centiskorch, use G-Max Centiferno!"
"Ikari, Dynamax and use Max Rockfall!" Shiranui did similarly to Kabu and after throwing the Dynamax-charged Poké Ball to the back of his side of the field, a very large Shelgon appeared. Centiskorch curled up in zigzags until it resembled a very large hotplate and launched an enormous fireball at Ikari. The Shelgon felt the explosion and got trapped in a big vortex reminiscent of Fire Spin, which it survived thanks to type resistance. Ikari stomped her front legs on the ground, causing a large monolithic slab to pop out of the ground that soon fell forward and crushed Centiskorch into a one-hit knockout.

"Many trainers have said that I'm the first impenetrable wall of the Gym Challenge, and yet through your cunning strategies you penetrated that wall and defeated me in battle," Kabu stated, "I may have many years of experience, but you have shown me first hand what a champion can bring to the field and I have a lot to learn from it." Kabu and Shiranui approached one another at the centre of the field and shook hands. Kabu then gave Shiranui the Fire Badge and healed the Pokémon who fought that intense battle.

"The next step in the Challenge is to defeat the Stow-on-Side Gym," Kabu stated.

Chuck was up next as Kabu sent out Ninetails. Chuck sent out Bond, the Drizzile. The Ninetails started off with Extrasensory, dealing a good amount of damage to Bond, who retaliated with Water Pulse, getting off the confusion and causing the Ninetails to hurt itself. He then finished it off with another Water Pulse.

Next, Kabu sent out his Arcanine, who immediately attacked with Retaliate, dealing massive damage to avenge it's fallen ally. The Drizzile recovered and fired off a Water Pulse, scoring a good hit but then Arcanine rammed into him with an Extreme Speed. Bond wasn't looking good as he shakily got to his feet. The Arcanine charged in, aiming to finish it with a Burn Up, as Bond fired off another Water Pulse, the colliding attacks flooding the stadium with steam. When it cleared, both Pokemon were standing, staring at each other, until Bond collapsed, knocked out. Arcanine gave a smug look, before collapsing itself, a double KO. Chuck and Kabu returned their Pokemon and Kabu sent out Centiscorch, while Chuck sent out Nessie, his Lapras.

Immediately, both activated their Dynamax bands, Gigantimaxing the two Pokemon. Centiscorch fired off a Gmax Centiferno, surrounding the Lapras in a fiery tornado, but she quickly doused that with a Max Geyser, blasting the giant centipede Pokemon and knocking it out with a massive explosion, earning Chuck the victory and his third badge.

"So, now it's onto Stow-on Side, for the next gym," Liam said with a smile. "Well, after stopping back at the Pokémon Center of course. While at the Center, Liam sent Hydro back to Oak's Lab for the one whose spot he took. Liam then went to Joy to heal his team.

Jen waits for her Pokémon being heealed.

Shiranui submitted his Pokémon for healing and while he waited he checked his PokéNav app. "Looks like we'll need to traverse the northern half of the Wild Area to get to Hammerlocke and then make our way west to Stow-on-Side," he stated.

Chuck went and got his Pokemon healed as well.

In a few minutes, Joy and a few female Indede brought the heros' pokémon back to them. After handing over the treys, the all bowed in unison and wished the heroes a nice day.
"You guys ready?" Liam inquired.