(For Barbacar, who inspired part of the idea for this fic.)
Having only recently established an Elite Four and a Champion, the region of Alola was quite surprised when there were proposals made to create gyms on the four islands. The intent was to attract trainers from all around the world, and thus rake in more money from tourists. Of the eight gyms were that established (two per island), one of the most unconventional choices for one was set up on Mount Hokulani near the observatory. The gym was run by a young woman named Jennifer, who had blonde hair, brown eyes, and was noted for the bright yellow headphones she was never seen without (along with her signature yellow and gray goggles).
Many a trainer flocked to her gym, for they'd heard that she was incredibly tough. And indeed she was, she had racked up an undefeated streak that spanned almost fifty battles. A streak that Dan, a boy no older than ten with black hair and blue eyes, was hoping to break.
Arriving at the gym (which was set up inside a big power plant), Dan was surprised to see a guy with sunglasses and an official Alola t-shirt standing outside the entrance. "Yo, champ in the making!" The guy greeted. "I hear that all gyms in other regions have a guy that looks like me, and he always says that line. Anyway, my job is to officially give you some advice on this gym and its gym leader."
"Is that legal?" Dan asked with concern.
The sunglasses guy nodded. "It's definitely legal, I've told every trainer who's come here the same advice, but all of them have lost," Clearing his throat, he then explained. "Anyway, Jennifer likes rocking Electric types, yo! They really snap, crackle, and pop! Best make sure you bring some Ground types to short out her, and the trainers she's employed! Oh, and one more thing. That gym gets awfully noisy, Jennifer likes to spend working on her music and has turned her gym into a makeshift studio! All that equipment makes it hard to be heard, so make sure you've brought ear plugs! Jennifer won't even challenge you until you can turn off all that noise so she can take off her headphones. Best of luck."
"Thanks, I guess." Dan replied, as he accepted the earplugs offered to him from the sunglasses guy, and made his way into the gym. Sure enough, even with the earplugs firmly planted in his ears, Dan could hear the loud bass and melody from the electronic music blaring out over the speakers. "The other trainers must know how to turn off the equipment," He thought to himself. "I bet if I battle and defeat them, they'll tell me what to do." And he made his way off to the left side of the building.
After a series of intense battles, Dan was finally ready to approach and challenge Jennifer (after healing his team with various potions and elixirs and ethers). He walked right up to her, removed his earplugs, and spoke as clearly as he could. "Jennifer, I've come to challenge you!"
Jennifer could see that someone was trying to speak to her, but she had a hard time making out what it was thanks to her headphones. Removing them and her goggles, she looked at Dan and said to him. "Huh, what? Oh, I suppose you're here for an official badge challenge."
Dan nodded. "That's right, my name's Dan and I'm here for the Circuit Badge. I've already earned all the other badges, I'm hoping to be the first trainer to get all the Alola badges and test the new Alola Elite Four."
Jennifer smiled and nodded. "I expected as much, and as gym leader it's my responsibility to accept all challengers. Sorry if I sometimes sound a bit loud, working on new tracks and new albums can make everything else seem like background noise. But you know, if you think about it, life is a constant source of noise. Day in, day out, we hear all sorts of noises soft and loud alike. In fact, we hear the loud noises so much, that they tend to drown out the noises we should be listening to. The beating of our hearts, the soft chirp of birds and insects, even the sounds of nature itself. It's important that we take a little time to step back, turn off all that background noise, and listen to what is most important to us," Looking at her manager/referee (a tall, thin skinned man with dark brown hair styled shaggy, and brown eyes), she then instructed. "Boss, kindly inform Dan of the rules."
The referee nodded, and said to Dan. "This is an official Hokulani Gym battle! Both trainers shall use all six Pokemon they have on hand! The Pokemon will battle one on one with no time limit, and only the challenger is allowed to substitute Pokemon! Trainers, take your places!" He then pressed a button, as the floor opened up to reveal a simple arena with a gigantic screen resting above the referee. On the left side of the screen was displayed the gym leader, Jennifer, and on the right side of the screen was displayed the challenger, Dan.
"Hope you're ready, Dan!" Jennifer called, taking her place on the gym leader's side of the arena. "My Pokemon are primed and ready! Let me hear your Pokemon's voice loud and clear, and see what it speaks to me!"
"Very well, let's do this! Your winning streak is coming to an end!" Dan vowed, as he stood at the opposite end of the arena.
"Okie dokie, I'll start this show with a bang!" Jennifer said with a grin, and tossed out a pokeball as she shouted. "Magnezone, let's warm up the crowd!"
"Magnezone!" Magnezone cried, as it seemed to float back and forth in the arena.
"Krookodile, go!" Dan shouted, tossing a pokeball to face Magnezone.
"Krookodile!" Krookodile cried, jumping out to take on Magnezone.
"Begin!" The referee declared, waving both the red and green flags.
"Krookodile, let's send 'em packing! Earthquake, now!" Dan commanded.
"Krook!" Kroodile roared, and started to shake the ground fiercely!
"Magne!" Magnezone cried, as the vibrations caused rocks to fly up and hit it. Fortunately, it remained upright.
"I expected as much!" Jennifer grinned. "Now, Magnet Rise!"
"Magnezone!" Magnezone obeyed, as electricity surged underneath and lifted it into the air.
"Another Earthquake, Krookodile!" Dan shouted. "Let's end this quick!"
"Krookodile! Krook!" Krookodile obeyed, shaking the ground again. But this time, Magnezone was unaffected.
"Nice try, Dan!" Jennifer taunted. "Magnet Rise makes Magnezone immune to Ground type attacks! You'll have to play smarter than that if you wanna beat me! Now, Magnezone, shut 'em down with a Hyper Beam!"
"Magnezone, Magnezone!" Magnezone replied, as a gigantic beam of energy was fired from its two magnets. The blast struck Krookodile from behind, triggering a small explosion!
When the smoke cleared, Krookodile lay face down on the floor, black swirls for eyes. "Krookodile, no!" Dan shouted, he'd been hoping for the Ground type to sweep Jennifer's team like it had done to most of the trainers in the gym.
The referee held up the red flag as he declared. "Krookodile is unable to battle, Magnezone wins!"
Dan recalled Krookodile, and pondered his next move carefully. "Krookodile was my best bet to take down Jennifer's team with minimal risk," He thought to himself. "I've still got one Ground type left, but I'll have to save it until that Magnezone is taken care of. But at least I've got a an opening thanks to that Hyper Beam."
And just like that, Dan knew what Pokemon to send out next. "Go, Salazzle!" He shouted.
"Salazzle!" Salazzle cried out, doing a mid-air flip before landing on its feet.
"Ah, a rare find indeed, Dan!" Jennifer commented. "Now give me your best shot! I hope you realize though, Salazzle's Poison type attacks won't work on Magnezone."
"Oh believe me, I know!" Dan said with a smile, and then commanded. "Salazzle, Flamethrower!"
"Sala, Salazzle!" Salazzle roared, as a gigantic stream of flames shot out from its mouth and hit Magnezone! Magnezone didn't stand a chance, and went down.
"Magnezone is unable to battle!" The referee declared, holding up the green flag. "Salazzle wins!"
"Good job, Magnezone," Jennifer called, returning the Pokemon to its pokeball. "Get a good rest," Looking across to Dan Jennifer commented. "Not bad, only a handful of trainers could make it past my Magnezone, especially when it used that Magnet Rise trick. But you've still got five Pokemon left to get past, and this show's just getting started!" Tossing out another poke ball, she proceeded to cry out. "Stunfisk, let's set the stage for the main event!"
"Stunfisk!" Stunfisk shouted, as it flopped onto the arena.
"Salazzle, Flamethrower!" Dan called.
"Salazzle!" Salazzle roared, breathing a stream of flames from its mouth. Stunfisk was hit by the flames and pushed back, but it seemed to take little damage.
"Stunfisk, Mud Bomb!" Jennifer commanded.
"Stun, Stunfisk!" Stunfisk obliged, spraying out a gigantic ball of mud and hurling it at Salazzle. Some of the mud got into Salazzle's eyes.
"Salazzle, use Dragon Claw!" Dan ordered.
"Salazzle!" Salazzle obliged, two gigantic purple blades of energy formed on its arms and it tried to swipe at Stunfisk, but the mud made it hard to see and it missed.
"Stunfisk is quite the slippery opponent, wouldn't you agree?" Jennifer taunted, then to Stunfisk she ordered. "Stunfisk, time for Surf!"
"Stun!" Stunfisk obeyed, and an enormous wave of water appeared behind it. Said wave crashed into Salazzle, which couldn't take the hit.
"Salazzle is unable to battle, Stunfisk wins!" The referee declared.
The battle raged on for quite a while, and the tide shifted back and forth a couple of times. Stunfisk was able to fight Dan's third Pokemon, Steelix, to a draw. Then Dan's fourth Pokemon, Ludicolo, took out Jennifer's Manectirc with little effort, narrowly defeated her Alola Raichu, and somehow fought her Vikavolt to a draw (though only after forcing Dan to call it back in after initially battling Vikavolt with Decidueye for a bit).
"Heh, you're pretty good, Dan, I'll give you that!" Jennifer commented, grinning from ear to ear. "But the show's not over yet! It's time you met the star of the show, the Pokemon that makes this team complete! My undefeated ace!" Tossing out her last poke ball, she shouted. "Okay, Ampharos, it's time for the final act! Let's give the audience a finale they'll never forget!"
"Ampharos!" Ampharos roared, landing on the ground with a thud, its eyes narrowing in on its opponent.
"You'd best hope your last Pokemon's up to snuff, kid!" Jennifer taunted. "Ampharos will make short work of your Decidueye!"
And indeed it did, after effortlessly dodging a Spirit Arrow, all it took from Ampharos was a Signal Beam to shut down Decidueye and tie everything up!
"Decidueye is unable to battle, Ampharos wins!" The referee declared, holding up the green flag.
"Ampharos isn't messing around!" Dan thought to himself. "Well, guess I have no choice. I just hope it's up to the task." And he tossed out his last poke ball as he called out. "Snorlax, let's wrap this up!"
"Snorlax!" Snorlax cried, as it landed on the arena and faced down Ampharos.
"Hmph, that supposed to intimidate me?" Jennifer remarked with sarcasm. "Time to break out the show stopper! Ampharos, Mega Evolve!"
A gigantic spear of energy surrounded Ampharos, and it evolved into its mega form, sporting that rocker afro. "Ampharos!" It roared.
"Okay, let's set the stage for the finale! Rain dance!" Jennifer commanded.
"Ampharos!" Ampharos replied, dancing all around and raising its hands to the sky, causing rain to pour down.
"Snorlax, Giga Impact! Shut it down, now!" Dan commanded.
"Snorlax!" Snorlax roared, as it charged forward and plowed into Ampharos with a gigantic wall of energy.
Ampharos seemed to shrug it off with no trouble. "Heh, it'll take a LOT more than that to stop us!" Jennifer replied. "Now, Ampharos, show 'em what a REAL attack is like, Thunder!"
"Ammmmmmmmpharos!" Ampharos cried, as a huge bolt of lightning shot down from the sky and struck Snorlax!
Snorlax managed to stand, but sparks of electricity could be seen flowing around it, indicating that it had been paralyzed.
"Wow, that's impressive!" Jennifer exclaimed! "Usually no opponent is left standing when Ampharos unleashes its Thunder. Give yourself a pat on the back, kid, because it's gonna be the last lucky break you'll ever get."
"We'll see about that!" Dan commented, even though he had to wait a turn for Snorlax to recharge.
"Ampharos, Thunder! Let's finish what we started!" Jennifer commanded.
"Ampharos! Amph!" Ampharos bellowed, as another bolt of lightning hit shot down and struck Snorlax!
"Snorlax, hang on!" Dan cried, even though he wasn't sure if that was possible.
Miraculously, Snorlax found a way to hang on. But the scorch marks on it and its constant panting were clear signs that it couldn't take another hit like that.
"This can't be, I've never met a challenger so stubborn before!" Jennifer exclaimed, completely bewildered by this turn of events.
"It's time to end this, Snorlax!" Dan replied, making a series of motions with his hands. "Show 'em your Z Move, Pulverizing Pancake!"
"Snorlax! Snoooooooorlax!" Snorlax roared, as it was surrounded by glowing energy. It rushed towards Ampharos, only to leap up into the air.
"Ampharos, watch out!" Jennifer cried, but it was too late!
"Snnnnnnnnnnnnoooooooooooooorlaaaaaaaaaaaax!" Snorlax bellowed at the top of its lungs, and came down hard on Ampharos, just as Ampharos (in panic) shot off a Thunder! The two attacks collided and produced an enormous explosion!
The force of said explosion was so powerful, it shook the entire gym! Then, without warning, Ampharos (now in its normal form) came flying backward and hit Jennifer, the two of them were sent flying!
Dan and the referee were speechless! But the referee still found enough will power to declare. "Ampharos is unable to battle, Snorlax wins! The winner of this match is the challenger, Dan!"
"Alright!" Dan cheered, rushing out to thank Snorlax. But he couldn't help but wonder. "Whatever happened to Jennifer anyway?"
Dan didn't have to wait long to find out. While he was resting his Pokemon at the Pokemon Center, there was a sudden loud crash!
"Chansey!" The Chanseys cried, as they rushed with Nurse Joy to the source of the disturbance. A cloud of dust obscured two figures for a moment, but Nurse Joy frowned, she knew who it was.
"Oh for goodness sake, Jennifer. This is the fifteenth time this month you've come crashing through the roof of this center!" She scolded. "You really need to stop rocking out so hard and tell your Pokemon to control their power a little more. One of these days you're gonna get yourself hurt."
But Jennifer only laughed. "Aw, come on, Nurse Joy. Lighten up, I do this for a living you know. It's what makes my shows so unique," She then turned her attention to Dan, who had just entered the back room of the center. "Ah, Dan. Sorry about my abrupt exit earlier, it was not intentional I can promise you that much. I must say, your Snorlax was pretty powerful, same goes for the rest of your team."
"So, does that mean I win the Circuit Badge?" Dan asked, to which Jennifer nodded.
"Here you go, take it," Jennifer instructed, offering a badge that was copper colored and shaped like an electrical wire. "Now, I hope you show off those impressive battling skills for the Elite Four. I think you've got what it takes to be the next Alola region champion! Maybe you'll even befriend one of the Tapus. As for me, I've got a gym to run. But if you're ever itching for a rematch, just you stop by and I'll be sure to give you a real show."