Ch. 3, Quest For The Bug Badge!
Translation: (Normal!)
Play Song!: (Santalune City - Pokémon X & Y Music Extended: watch?v=qsDMr5w_D3Q)
Alex, James, and Fennekin were all fast asleep! Sleeping in those beds felt like sleeping in a cloud, it was truly amazing! However, today was the day where Alex was going to attempt his first battle to get a Gym Badge! As the sun appeared in the horizon of Santalune City, it lit up the entire room from the outside. Alex woke up shortly after the sunlight started shining in his face. He eventually got tired of the brightness, yawning, and getting out of his bed shortly after. He stretched his arms as well as his back, and went into the bathroom first thing. He brushed his teeth, took a quick shower, changed into his traveling clothes, and looked through the window in the room once he returned back! He spotted the gym from far away across the City, and was really excited for the day ahead of him!
"Today's the day!" Alex thought to himself.
He wanted to wake up his friend, but he decided not to be a jerk, Instead, he sat down and waited a while for them to wake up on their own.
Thirty minutes later...
"Okay I had enough of this... Sorry you two, but... YOU GOTTA WAKE UP!" Alex shouted at them.
"OKAY OKAY I'M UP!" James yelled in terror, startled by his sudden shout and waking up instantly, alarmed!
He quickly jumped out of his bed and ran to the bathroom, ignoring Alex...
Fennekin was startled too, screaming like a maniac. She looked around to see who yelled like that, eventually spotting her Trainer laughing out loud, and that was enough for her to boil in rage!
"Fenne! KIIIIN!" Fennekin screamed angrily.
She growled at him, and she was getting herself ready to fire an Ember on him. Seeing the look on her face was priceless, but it was enough for Alex to shut up right away and stop laughing at her.
"W-Wait! No! Not in here!" Alex panicked, not looking forward to being burned early this morning.
"Nee!" Fennekin ignored him, shooting a small Ember attack towards his face!
"Woah!" Alex leaped out of the way before the attack could hit him, doing a roll, and landing on the carpet pretty hard on his back.
"Ow..." Alex mumbled from the friction burning his back.
He rubbed his back gently, trying to relieve himself of the pain. When he looked back up to Fennekin who was on the bed, she was giggling at him...
"You're in so much trouble..." Alex whispered, shaking his head in the process.
He waited a couple of seconds for James to be ready to go, but he was still in the bathroom. He gave an evil smirk towards the fox, and stood back up, towering over her.
"Fe-Fe!" Fennekin kept on giggling at him.
"Ugh... James you almost ready?" Alex shouted into the bathroom.
"Almost!" James replied back.
After a couple of minutes, James came back out of the bathroom in his normal clothes and grabbed all of his stuff. Alex did the same and carried Fennekin with him. They made sure that the room looked exactly the way it was when they first got there yesterday.
"Alright! Ready to go?" Alex asked, looking at James.
"I'm ready! I'm pretty sure Pokémon Centers have an arena behind them. That would be the perfect place for you to train." James replied, suggesting the arena.
"Perfect! Let's go!" Alex cheered, walking out of their room, and closing the door behind him.
He ran down the hall and felt the excitement in him. James kept up with him and Alex ran out of the lobby making his way outside. Before James left, he gave Nurse Joy the room key back. He eventually went outside and saw Alex looking at the gym from across the city.
"Come on! Follow me Alex." James told him.
Alex nodded his head and walked together with James as they made their way behind the Center.
"Hey I've been waiting to ask you this, but does Fennekin have a Pokéball?" James wondered.
"She didn't come with one when I saw her out in the street with her old Trainer. I guess he must have her Pokéball or something still..." Alex answered back.
"You should put her in a Pokéball. There's some bad people out there called Pokémon Hunters. They hunt down or steal other people's Pokémon even, and sell them for money! If she has a Pokéball, then she can't be stolen or captured, it'd be a lot safer!" James suggested.
"You're right... I SHOULD do that for her." Alex agreed.
He took out a Pokéball from his bag and showed it to Fennekin. However, she pushed it away and refused to touch the button on the middle of the capturing device.
"What's wrong girl?" Alex questioned his partner.
"Fen..." Fennekin sighed.
She pointed her paw at the Pokéball and then looked around the city for a while... Until she finally spotted a Fletching cage sitting on a random building's balcony, and pointed at that next.
"I won't keep you in the Pokéball I promise. I'll let you stay out here, I just don't want you to be stolen from someone else... I can't lose you to a Hunter, if that ever were to happen in the future." Alex mumbled into her ears.
Fennekin looked up at Alex, studying his eyes. She knew that she could trust him now, and saw his good side, so she made up her decison, pushing the button on the center of the Pokéball. A white light instantly surrounded her and she went into the Pokéball. It moved back and fourth in Alex's hand, stopping movement... After the first shake, the Pokéball flashed a bright red light on the button, symbolizing that Fennekin was caught!
"Phew Okay good... At least I don't have to worry about Hunters stealing her from me in the futurre!" Alex thought to himself, happy to know that Fennekin was officially part of his team!
He brought Fennekin right back out and put the Pokéball back into his bag, as the light was shooting out of the ball, it started forming and forming into a figure, until it revealed Fennekin, showing a huge smile on her face!
"See girl! Wasn't so bad right?" Alex asked, kneeling down at her.
"Fen!" Fennekin happily responded back, wagging her tail joyfully.
She jumped onto Alex's arms, and then made her way on top his head.
"That's great! Now you own her!" James grinned at the two smiling at each other.
Alex nodded in agreement, they both finally made it around the building and James was right, there really was an arena for battling behind the Center!
"Alright let's do this James!" Alex clenched his fists, looking ready to fight his friend.
He ran to one side of the arena, while James did the same to the opposite side across from him.
"Just so you know Alex, I had a disadvantage yesterday against your Fennekin... This time I won't lose!" James shouted out, feeling confident about his words.
"That doesn't concern me dude! Even if your other Pokémon is stronger than mine, that won't stop us from trying! Right Fennekin?" Alex yelled back, giving a quick glance at Fennekin.
"Kin!" Fennekin agreed with her Trainer, smirking proudly.
She jumped off of Alex's head and landed on the ground with ease, already looking ready to go! She was in her battle stance, looking very intimidating to James!
"Okay then! Whatever you say Alex... Come on out Squirtle!" James screamed.
He threw a Pokéball into the air and out came a Squirtle! Alex examined the turtle-like Pokémon for a bit, pulling out his Pokédex so that he could check it,
"Squirtle, the Water Type Turtle Pokémon. Squirtle's shell is not merely used for protection. The shell's rounded shape and the grooves on its surface help minimize resistance in water, enabling this Pokémon to swim at high speeds."
"That looks like a pretty cool Pokémon! Anyways... Even if it's a Water type, Fennekin and I won't give up, no matter what!" Alex sounded pretty confident of himself...
"Alright then Alex, this is gonna be a good fight! If either Pokémon are unable to battle then you lose. Are you alright with that?" James asked.
"Yep!" Alex answered.
"Okay! Battle begin!" James announced.
James Vs. Alex! (Rematch!)
Play Song!: (Battle! Friend - Pokémon X & Y Music Extended: watch?v=5zIMgjDOuew)
"Squirtle, I have a strategy to win. So don't attack yet okay?" James whispered to his Squirtle.
"Squirt!" Squirtle agreed.
"I'll let you attack first Alex!" James exclaimed.
"Okay Fennekin, use Tail Whip!" Alex commanded.
Fennekin started running towards Squirtle at great speed. When she finally reached him, she smacked him with her tail as hard as she could. The attack lowered Squirtle's defense a bit.
"Alright good! As long as she can dodge and use Scratch continuously, we can win for sure." Alex thought.
"Squirtle! Tackle let's go!" James shouted.
Squirtle approached Fennekin and jumped at her. Before he could land his attack on her, she jumped out of the way quickly.
"Keep attacking her!" James continued.
Fennekin kept on dodging and jumping out of the way so Squirtle couldn't get to her. He eventually couldn't catch up to her, due to her speedy dodging, so he looked over to his Trainer, hoping that there would be a plan b to this attack! James nodded his head and Squirtle understood what James wanted him to do. He went over to the other side of Fennekin, surprising her from his sudden movements! Now he was in front of her! However, Fennekin knew he would do that, So she jumped and did a flip over Squirtle, looking as cool as ever!
"Use Scratch!" Alex yelled.
Fennekin's paw grew long sharp claws instantly! She was still in mid air, so she let herself fall on top of Squirtle and scratched him across his face, dealing a little bit of damage to the Water Type! After taking the move, Squirtle fell down in pain. He quickly got up though, and turned around to face his opponent, giving her a killer look!
"Squirtle, you okay?" James asked just to be sure his Pokémon wasn't hurt in any way.
"Squirt! Squirtle!" Squirtle replied back, rubbing his head gently with his hand.
"Okay! Now let's try out our strategy." James suggested to him.
Alex was curious to see what they were hiding from him and Fennekin, but he shrugged it off and told Fennekin to use Scratch one more time! Fennekin grew the same long claws again and started running towards Squirtle again at a fast rate! But instead of him dodging, he ran away instead! He ran away into the opposite direction from Fennekin who was still going after him with her attack. He ran to the sides of the arena's boundary walls, smiling evilly to himself. Fennekin eventually got bored of chasing him around real quick, so she started leaping at him instead of just running, and that boosted her speed quite a lot! As soon as Fennekin was about to attack Squirtle, he eventually made it to the wall of the arena, quickly running up the wall, and doing a flip right off of it! He spun in circles and used Water Gun on Fennekin from behind! Fennekin didn't have time to react at what she just saw coming, but she was badly hurt from that move! And you could tell based on the painful expression that was shown on her face.
"Fennekin!" Alex cried out, worried about his partner now.
She tried to get up but had trouble trying to do so!
"Come on Fennekin, don't give up yet! I know you can still battle!" Alex cheered her on, giving her a little bit of hope to push on through the pain!
Fennekin heard her Trainer's voice and finally got up with an angry look on her face now! She opened her mouth and shot a bright pink beam at Squirtle. Squirtle didn't expect the beam to come at him so fast, so he took the hit from the move pretty hard!
"What WAS that?" James asked, curious about what the light was.
"It must be a new move!" Alex spoke in surprise.
He pulled his Pokédex back out and checked Fennekin's moves. Sure enough... Alex was right! Fennekin learned Psybeam!
"Awesome! You learned Psybeam Fennekin!" Alex celebrated.
"Fennekin!" Fennekin cheered, smiling back at Alex with that usual happy grin of hers.
She jumped up and did a quick flip in the air as a celebration. She looked at her Trainer smiling wide shortly after! This was finally James' chance to attack, so he commanded Squirtle by telling him,
"Now Squirtle! Use Water Gun and finish her off!"
"Fen?" Fennekin mumbled.
She turned around and looked at Squirtle who shot water at her up close, point blank away from her face!
"FENNEKIIIN!" Fennekin cried out loud.
She got hit from the projectile and flew away, sliding across on the hard ground, and eventually colliding with the arena walls on the side! Smoke was everywhere because of how hard the impact was with her body against the concrete wall. When the smoke had finally cleared away, Alex ran up to his Pokémon and looked around her to see if she was injured.
"Fennekin? Are you alright." Alex whispered into her ear, feeling very guilty about the pain she was going through.
Fennekin looked up at her Trainer and started to cry... She felt like she disappointed him because she let her guard down, leaving her completely open to Squirtle's attack.
"Fenne... Kin..." Fennekin struggled to speak.
She ignored the pain and quickly got back up into her battle stance. Alex smiled and then turned around to face James now, shaking his head at the same time.
"That was a pretty cheap move you did there James." Alex laughed at him.
"Why're you laughing then?" James asked nervously, scared about what was going to come next.
"Because I KNOW Fennekin, and she can still fight! So let's finish this!" Alex got pumped up even more about the rest of the battle.
"Hmph... Okay Alex! I have to admit it though, your Fennekin is pretty strong to take hits like that. I'm pretty sure you'll win against the Gym Leader!" James complimented his Pokémon.
"Thanks!" Alex appreciated his compliment.
"Squirtle, this time for real... Finish this battle with a Water Gun!" James commanded.
Squirtle immediately shot water towards Fennekin, just like the last! However, Alex had a trick up his sleeve and shouted out,
"Use Psybeam!"
Fennekin opened her mouth and shot a Psybeam out of it! Which flew towards the water very slowly. As the Psybeam and the Water traveled towards one another, Alex quickly said,
"Use Ember and combine it with the Psybeam!"
Fennekin used Ember and combined it with her Psybeam! Combing the two different moves into one larger projectile! It looked really powerful, and it started travelling at a much faster rate than before. James knew what was going on, so he yelled,
"Squirtle keep on firing that Water Gun!"
Squirtle continued to fire his Water Gun at the fiery Psybeam, but it was too powerful to counter the fire on the Psybeam itself! Whenever the water made contact with the combo'd move, the fire wouldn't even go out!
"Finish it off with Scratch! Push the Psybeam even further!" Alex commanded Fennekin once again.
She ran at her Psybeam and used her claws to hit the Psybeam towards Squirtle! After she did that, the fire surrounding the Psybeam, grew even larger flames! And it was traveling very quickly, almost as fast as a speeding bullet!
"Squirtle dodge it!" James shouted, hoping Squirtle could dodge the late move.
But it was already too late... The Psybeam had already struck Squirtle before James could even tell him what to do next...
"BOOM!" A loud explosion sound came from the move!
There was a big explosion, which left a lot of smoke behind, surrounding the entire arena! Both Alex and James gasped at the sight, not expecting the move to be so powerful! Heck, Alex didn't even know what was going on after what he just did. He just kept on spitting out attack after attack, thinking that this would be a good strategy for him to use in future battles! When the smoke finally started clearing away into the atmosphere above them, James ran up to Squirtle and he saw him struggling to even move at all!
"S-Squirtle! Are you o-okay?" James asked his Pokémon, sitting on the ground beside him.
He watched as his Water Type gave up on trying to stand back up... His Squirtle fell even further down, fainting from the attack...
Alex Wins Again!
He picked him up and held him close in his arms gently.
"Squirtle are you alright buddy? I'm sorry I pushed you so hard..." James apologized to him, feeling upset about the outcome of this battle for him and his Pokémon.
Squirtle opened his eyes slowly and looked up into his Trainer's eyes.
"Tle, Uirt..." Squirtle groaned in pain, rubbing his back.
"You were great out there, you know that right?" James whispered softly.
Squirtle nodded his head and then closed his eyes, resting in James's arms peacefully.
"You deserve a nice long rest!" James mumbled.
He took out Squirtle's Pokéball and returned him back into it, giving Squirtle a short rest inside! He put it away and then turned around to see Alex and Fennekin grinning at him.
James sighed and then started the conversation by saying,
"I gotta hand it to yah, that was a really fun battle! If you can combo that move on the Gym Leader, then you will definitely get that badge today!"
"Heh... Thanks man, I thought it wouldn't work, but apparently it did! That was fun though! Good battle James!" Alex laughed with his friend.
Both James and Alex gave each other a high five, then they made their way back around the Pokémon Center. So that they could heal up their Pokémon again.
"Fennekin, you were awesome during that fight!" Alex gave his Fennekin a tight hug.
"Fenne! Fennekin!" Fennekin blushed hard and returned the warm hug with her Trainer.
"Yeah, you were!" James complimented her as well, making her feel good about herself!
They quickly went back inside the Center, healed their Pokémon, and then came right back out again.
"So where's the Gym again?" James wondered.
"It's just up ahead! I can't wait to win my first Badge!" Alex cheered confidently.
"Don't get too confident just yet, wait until you actually WIN first!" James laughed at his sudden confidence.
"I'm pretty sure I'll be fine, only if Fennekin can be tough and dodge the moves as well as land that combo attack as well." Alex smiled at his partner next.
As the two friends passed through the city, they saw a Roselia statue at the center plaza of the city, catching both of their attentions instantly.
"You know... I DO wonder why they have that there..." Alex asked in curiousity.
"I don't know either... Maybe that Pokémon is significant to the city or something?" James questioned the statue's appearance as well.
Alex decided to ignore it and shrugged it off of his shoulders... It was probably just a decoration for the city itself! He spotted the gym from across the plaza, and immediately ran there as fast as he possibly could run! Alex kept on running until he reached the front of the Gym!
"Yes! We're finally here!" Alex was really excited at this point.
"Yeah! Good luck with your battle! I'm pretty sure you'll have the advantage with Fennekin." James said to him.
Alex nodded then looked down at Fennekin in his arms, she looked like she was ready to battle too!
"You ready girl?" Alex smiled down at his partner.
"Fennekin!" Fennekin happily returned the response.
He opened the doors and went inside of the gym. James followed him, they looked around the place and there was a long narrow hallway to their right side. They walked down the hall and looked around as well. There were lots of pictures of Pokémon in the wild, as well as different types of flowers in a forest too! They all looked like really nice pictures taken! Alex took a closer look at one picture in general, that caught his eye. It was a picture with all of the Kalos Gym Leaders together looking happy! He examined it for a while, but didn't know that they were all Gym Leaders, he just thought that they were normal people who loved to takes pictures of wildlife in forests.
"Who're are they?" James wondered too, looking at the photo as well.
"Not sure, but I'm guessing that they-" Alex started to speak again, but he was cutoff by a voice coming from behind them,
"You like that one huh?"
Both Trainers turned around and figured out where the voice came from. It came from a woman who had blonde hair, brown boots, a white tank top, green trousers, and two cameras around her neck and waist.
Alex noticed the cameras on her and immediately asked,
"Did you take all of these pictures?"
"Yes, I actually did. I took every single one of them! Why? Do you like them?" The lady raised her eyebrow in curiosity, smiling at the two boys admiring her work.
"Yeah! You're pretty good, you must really like taking pictures!" Alex complimented her.
"Aw, that's sweet! Thank you!" She replied back happily.
He looked back at the picture he was looking at before, and then looked back to the woman.
"That's you right?" Alex pointed his finger at the picture at one of the people in it.
"Hm? Oh! Yep that's me!" The lady laughed.
"Who are these people anyway?" Alex wondered even more about the photo.
"They're all Gym Leaders, we decided to have a New Years party back in January, so I took a picture of all of us together." She gladly answered his question.
"You're a Gym Leader?" James questioned her back.
She nodded her head and greeted them,
"Sorry for not introducing myself earlier, but I'm the Gym Leader in this city. The names Viola, it's a pleasure to meet you both!"
Alex and James highly respected her all of a sudden, looking up to her!
"My names Alex, and this is my partner Fennekin!" Alex greeted back, with his Fennekin waving her paw towards Viola.
"And I'm James!" James happily replied.
"A Fennekin huh? Hm..." Viola thought to herself.
She came closer to Fennekin and gently rubbed her chin. The Fire Type flinched at first, but pretty soon, a small smile formed on her face after Viola petted her gently.
"I wonder if this Fennekin was with that... One Trainer I fought yesterday..." Viola thought more about it.
The Leader then rubbed her nose, and Fennekin sneezed upon contact! Viola felt the soaring heat coming from her ears, quickly pulling her hands away from the Pokémon.
"Wow, feel that heat!" Viola laughed at Fennekin.
She focused back to the two kids and asked them,
"So anyways, what brings you two here?"
James elbowed Alex lightly, and he knew what he meant...
"I wanna challenge you to a battle! You don't mind do you?" Alex politely asked her.
Viola thought about it for a while before saying,
"Well, if you happen to be stronger than my previous challengers... Then I guess I could use a battle! I haven't had a challenger all day yesterday, so it'll be fun!"
"Awesome!" Alex cheered about her answer, thinking that she would deny him at first.
"Follow me to the arena." Viola offered, motioning them with her arms to follow her.
Alex nodded his head and followed along, James did the same thing too.
"What kind of Pokémon do you have Viola?" Alex asked, wondering what kind of Pokémon he would be going up against.
"You'll find out soon, your Fennekin will help you out, if you can keep your adorable Fire Type staying well in the first part!" Viola didn't wanna ruin the surprise.
Alex looked down at Fennekin while she did the same back to him. She smiled happily at Alex, giving him the look that she wasn't going to let him down in this fight.
"We're gonna do this together!" Alex whispered.
"Fen!" Fennekin agreed with her Trainer, wagging her tail,
"Good luck with your battle, I hope you win man! You got this!" James mumbled to his friend.
Alex nodded his head in response, looking forward to his first Gym Battle!
A couple minutes later...
They eventually made it to the end of the long hall, and there were large glass doors at the end of it. Viola went on in and opened the doors for them. When they got in, the arena looked huge! There was a large battlefield, which was surrounded by tons of trees, and all kinds of plants too. It was like a greenhouse garden!
"Woah! Cool!" Both James and Alex spoke at the same time, amazed by how the arena looked.
Viola went to her side of the battlefield, while Alex did the same to the opposite side.
"Alright, I'm sure you know the rules... But I'll remind you just to be sure. I can only use two Pokémon and you can use as many as you'd like. You'll get your badge if you can knockout my two Pokémon, good luck Alex!" Viola explained the set of rules.
Alex nodded his head and looked over to James, who was standing next to him.
"Good luck, hope you win!" James told him.
"Thanks!" Alex replied.
He let go of Fennekin and she ran up to the battlefield. She got ready and got into her battle stance, preparing herself for the fight.
"You choose Fennekin huh? Well then... Come on out Surskit!" Viola shouted out.
She threw a Pokéball into the air and out came a Surkit!
"Surskit!" Surskit yelled.
"What's that Pokémon?" Alex thought to himself.
He quickly pulled his Pokédex out and scanned Viola's Surskit.
"Surskit, the Water skating Pokémon. From the tips of its feet, Surskit secretes an oil that enables it to walk on water as if it were skating."
"Alright Alex, I'll let you go first! Battle begin!" Viola announced.
Alex Vs. Gym Leader Viola!
Play Song!: (Battle! Gym Leader - Pokémon X & Y Music Extended: watch?v=JWpCQ-t6RLU)
"Fennekin, start this off by using Tail Whip!" Alex commanded.
Fennekin immediately ran at Surskit and tried to hit him with her tail. However, Surskit kept dodging the attack, while Fennekin continued on. After a short while, Fennekin got tired pretty quick and started to slow down her pace.
"Surskit use Ice Beam and freeze the entire arena!" Viola exclaimed.
In a matter of seconds, Surskit jumped up really high in the sky and shot a large Ice Beam everywhere around Fennekin. Surskit kept on firing Ice Beam around the whole arena, and eventually the battle ground was completely frozen in a large sheet of ice! Fennekin didn't notice what Surskit was doing and she was still tired to dodge the move, but it was already too late... Her foot was completely frozen, and she was stuck in the ice!
"What?" Alex gasped at the scene.
Viola gave him a smirk and laughed quietly.
"All according to plan!" Viola thought.
When Surskit came back onto the icy ground, he didn't even slip on the ice.
"Of course! Surskit's feet can allow it to glide on ice as well, but I'm pretty sure Alex has a plan." James thought.
Alex looked at Surskit and then back to his Fennekin. He thought of a plan to try and win this battle.
"Finish Fennekin off with Bubble Beam!" Viola yelled.
Alex smiled and said,
"Fennekin, we're not giving up just yet! Use Ember below you and dodge the move!"
Fennekin listened and shot a small Ember attack below herself. The ice around her melted and her foot was free from the ice! She looked at the Bubble Beam coming towards her and quickly jumped out of the way. The move missed, but when she came back down to land on the ice, she slipped and fell down!
Viola smiled back at him and thought,
"Wow, impressive! Challengers usually don't last this long after the ice strategy!"
"Fennekin you alright?" Alex asked.
"Fen!" Fennekin nodded her head and quickly got up to her feet, slipping a bit.
"Ice Beam and Bubble Beam, I have to worry about that water move though." Alex mumbled to James.
"Yeah, maybe you should try that combo move you did on me earlier." James suggested.
"Too early, I'm a bit worried though for Fennekin. There's still a lot of ice and she can easily slip on it." Alex replied back.
"Use Bubble Beam once more!" Viola commanded.
Surskit shot a larger Bubble Beam than before at Fennekin. Seeing the size really worried Alex now... He had an idea though and he said,
"Use Scratch and jump out of the way!"
Fennekin immediately grew sharp claws on her paws and that allowed her to jump off of the ice with ease! She dodged the move easily and landed back onto the ice without slipping this time around! Viola examined Alex's plan and complimented him by saying,
"That was pretty impressive Alex, but you're missing one important thing!"
Alex tilted his head in confusion. He didn't know what Viola was planning to do.
"Alright Surskit! Skate up to Fennekin and use Sticky Web!" Viola yelled.
Surskit skated really fast on the ice towards Fennekin, and in a matter of seconds... He shot a large Sticky Web at her!
Alex shouted out, "Dodge it!" But he was too late...
Fennekin didn't have enough time to dodge the move, so it landed on her and trapped her in a large Sticky Web!
"Fenne!" Fennekin gasped in surprise.
She tried to use her claws to break the Web, but it prevented her from moving at all!
"Oh this ain't good..." Alex whispered to James.
"Yeah, that move surprised Fennekin. It went at her really quick too." James sighed.
Alex's worry came back to him, and Fennekin was stuck, giving Surskit the chance to attack again!
"Hm... Ice, Bubble, and Sticky Web." Alex thought.
He didn't have time to think of what he could do next because Viola interrupted him and yelled out,
"Finish her off and use Bubble Beam!"
Fennekin turned her head around and faced Surskit, she braced herself from the attack coming towards her. The attack eventually hit Fennekin's body. It hurt her a lot, but it didn't affect the Sticky Web. Fennekin didn't scream out in pain either, she took it like a champ. That's one of the things Alex noticed about her earlier!
"Like I said earlier dude... You're Fennekin is pretty tough. You should use that to your advantage!" James whispered.
"You're right..." Alex replied back.
He quickly told Fennekin to use Ember so that she could melt the Sticky Web. Luckily it worked, and Fennekin easily got out of the sticky situation she was trapped in!
"(No Pun intended!) XD" - Author!
Viola admired his Fennekin, she was surprised that Fennekin survived that Bubble Beam, it should've made her faint in one shot!
"Your Fennekin is pretty strong Alex, but no more games! This time I'm actually going to try my hardest to win!" Viola exclaimed.
"I won't give up either! Fennekin, Psybeam let's go! And use the ice to your advantage!" Alex shouted back.
Fennekin still had her claws from Scratch, so she didn't have to worry about the ice.
She ran up to Surskit quickly and shot a large Psybeam at him.
"Use Protect!" Viola commanded.
Then, a shiny pink shield surrounded Surskit and it canceled out the Psybeam.
Alex rolled his eyes and sighed thinking,
"Great... Her Surskit even knows Protect as well."
Surskit looked back at Viola and he nodded towards her. Viola had another plan too...
"Ice Beam!' Viola yelled.
Surskit shot a large Ice Beam towards Fennekin. The projectile went slower than usual though, and Alex knew what she was going to do with Surskit.
"Fennekin, counter the move with Ember!" Alex said.
Fennekin shot a slow Ember towards the Ice Beam as well. Viola smirked again and then her Surskit shot a fast Bubble Beam towards the Ice Beam.
When the Bubble Beam made contact with the Ice Beam, the Bubbles popped and there was now water surrounding the projectile. Alex was caught off guard, he thought that Surskit would do something else to distract Fennekin from the move, but he was wrong.
"Quick! Fire Psybeam at Ember!" Alex told her.
Fennekin listened to him and shot a fast Psybeam at her own move. When the Psybeam eventually reached the Ember, the two moves became one and it started going very fast towards the Watery Ice Beam. Alex grinned, this was his chance to attack. Surskit wasn't really worried considering he thought that Fennekin wouldn't do anything else to improve her Fiery Psybeam. Fennekin looked back at Alex, waiting for a command. Alex nodded his head whispering to her so that Viola couldn't hear him,
"Fennekin, I think Surskit is going to be distracted by the two moves colliding. They'll cancel each other out, so I want you to go through the smoke and surprise Surskit by using Tail Whip so we can lower his defense."
Fennekin's face kinda had a worried look on it after hearing that strategy.
"What's wrong?" Alex asked.
Fennekin pointed at the fur on her body, then she gave him an angry look.
Alex understood what she was trying to tell him so he said,
"Look, I know you don't like being dirty. I'll give you a nice long bath later on and make sure you're clean, but now's not the time for this Fennekin. I really need you to listen to me okay?"
Fennekin sighed and then turned around to face Surskit. The two projectiles eventually collided with one another and there was a massive explosion! There was a large black cloud of smoke that appeared as soon as they touched each other. The collision was so fierce and powerful that it destroyed, and cracked most of the ice at the center of the arena! This was Fennekin's chance, she ran at a great speed towards Surskit. She closed her eyes before entering the smoke. Viola didn't know what Alex was going to do, so she certainly was going to be surprised. When Fennekin came out of the black cloud, she was covered in black dust all over her body. Alex felt bad for her, she was really dirty now... He knew that she would be very mad at him when this battle was over. Surskit was startled from Fennekin running at him, and didn't have time to react to her move. She hit him hard with her tail, lowering his defense, and that made him startle too. Being stunned like that, gave Fennekin extra time to attack again, so she listened to Alex's voice yelling out,
"Use Psybeam!"
Fennekin opened her mouth wide and shot a large Psybeam at her opponent.
"Quick! Protect!" Viola shouted.
Surskit tried to use Protect but he was already hit from the Psybeam. He stumbled back a bit, closing his eyes in pain. The move hurt him badly and he was in complete agony!
"Surskit you alright? Try and use Bubble Beam!" Viola yelled.
Surskit quickly got up and ignored the pain, he shot a Bubble Beam at Fennekin who was still close. Alex knew that Viola would use that move so he shouted,
"Deflect it with Psybeam!"
Fennekin jumped back so that she could have time to shoot her Psybeam at the Bubble Beam. She shot it quickly and the Psybeam canceled out the Watery move. It went through it and hit Surskit again! Surskit rolled back far away and he stayed down for a while. He tried to get back up, but he fell back down to the floor. He couldn't fight anymore and Viola only had one Pokémon left now! The Leader sighed and then returned Surskit back into his Pokéball. She looked at the Ball and then smiled at it saying,
"You were great out there Surskit, You deserve a nice long rest."
She faced towards Alex again and shouted out,
"That was pretty great Alex! I haven't had a good challenger like you in a while, but prepare for my next Pokémon! Come on out Vivillon!"
Viola threw another Pokéball into the air and out came a Vivillon!
"Looks like she has another Pokémon, and this one looks stronger than Surskit..." Alex mumbled to himself.
"That was a great match between Surskit and your Fennekin Alex, good luck trying to beat Viola's last Pokémon!"
Alex nodded his head and quickly got out his Pokédex to scan his opponent's Pokémon.
"Vivillon, the Bug Type Flying Pokémon. Vivillon has many different patterns that are found all over the world. These patterns are affected by the climate of their habitat."
"Wow! That's a pretty cool Pokémon and it even has lots of different patterns too?" Alex exclaimed.
Viola gave him a couple of minutes to prepare. Alex checked on Fennekin to make sure she could continue on fighting and Fennekin looked alright. Viola smiled and then asked him,
"You ready to fight Alex?"
"Sure am!" Alex replied back.
Now he was excited, he and his Fennekin were feeling pretty confident enough that they could pull it off and win their first Gym Badge together.
"Alright then! Vivillon use Gust and push Fennekin into the wall!" Viola commanded her Pokémon.
Vivillon's wings turned white and she flapped her wings back and fourth. A huge stream of wind and air came towards Fennekin at great speed. Alex didn't expect it, nor did his Fennekin.
"Try and use Scratch!" Alex shouted.
She tried to use Scratch to hold onto the ground, but it failed!
"Fen! Fenne! Kiiiinn!" Fennekin screamed out.
She couldn't control her gravity and she flew back really quick towards the side of the Arena. She eventually collided into the wall and made a hole in it.
"Fennekin you alright? Can you get out?" Alex asked. He was worried for Fennekin now.
Fennekin tried her best to push herself out of the wall, but she couldn't do it. Alex started getting nervous now, He knew that Scratch or Tail Whip wouldn't work because Vivillon was in the air. Fennekin wouldn't be able to jump that high to reach her opponent. Viola grinned evilly and felt like the battle was already over.
"Looks like I've won, you were great Alex... but sorry it had to come to this. Vivillon use Psychic and keep Fennekin in that wall!" Viola said.
Vivillon used Psychic and a pink light surrounded Fennekin's body. Fennekin tried to resist the move, but she couldn't. The move was too powerful for her and she couldn't move at all!
"Oh no... This isn't good, what could she be doing?" Alex thought.
James had a worried look on his face too, he also thought that Alex had already lost. Fennekin was trapped and she couldn't do anything now, and Viola surprised Alex with her strategy.
"Don't give up now Fennekin! I know we can win this fight, I believe in you!" Alex told his partner.
Fennekin turned her head to look at Alex, then she remembered her previous Trainer again...
Flashback!
Translation: (Poké-Language!)
"You're a weak Pokémon, do you know that?"
She remembered it... That terrible night with her previous Trainer. She failed to beat Clemont and Viola yesterday... She let him down and she felt really bad now... Viola's strategy against her was much different than with Alex. Her Surskit didn't freeze the arena, he just kept on firing Bubble Beam at her constantly... She looked up as her Trainer showed the Pokéball that was hers. She looked into his eyes and she could tell that he was furious at her.
"Fenne?" Fennekin wondered what he was going to do next.
"I don't need you any longer, you're a weak Pokémon... So just leave, I have better and stronger Pokémon on my team than you could ever be!"
Her Trainer kicked her hard on her head... She fell down to the ground and felt the need to cry her eyes out, opening her eyes again, and looking back to him... She saw him leaving her alone on the empty streets of Lumiose City...
"FENNEKIIIN!" Fennekin screamed at him.
She got back up and tried to catch up to him, but when he turned around... He yelled once more,
"I can't believe I picked you to be my starter... You couldn't even beat Clemont or Viola! You're way too weak to even be considered a Pokémon! I don't need you anymore... Have fun finding another Trainer who would want you on THEIR team!"
Fennekin was shocked to hear that from him, she didn't want to find another Trainer... She didn't know what to do either... Except, try and convince him by crying... He didn't buy it though... He didn't even forgive Fennekin whatsoever, he just left her alone in the dark... He walked on forward, while Fennekin watched him getting farther and farther away! She wanted to try and follow him again, but she knew he would just deny her and kick her again even if she tried to do that... No Pokémon deserved to be treated this way... Hurt, heart-broken, lost, cold, and alone... Abandoned... Fennekin felt all of those things, she was strong so the kick didn't really hurt her that bad... Sure, she cried... But she would always get up, she would do her best to impress her Trainer, but he just didn't understand her when it came to just losing ONE battle! She looked down at the ground, tears streaming down her face and falling off to the concrete sidewalks below her... He was out of sight now and Fennekin cried even harder, still heartbroken to hear those awful and rude words that were spoken to her.
"How could he... Just leave me like this... All alone... After everything I've done to impress him and the rest of my team, he just leaves me right away, in the blink of an eye! What kind of human would do this?" Fennekin thought to herself, shedding tears and sobbing quietly.
She heard footsteps coming towards her way and felt a presence upon her. Feeling terrified that it'd be another bad human, she hid behind the streetlight post beside her, hiding away from the light, into the dark shadowy areas of the night. She looked as there was a dark figure approaching her, and it was much taller than she was! It was obviously a human, and Fennekin didn't know what to expect next, other than to hear the figure's soft voice speaking to her...
"Hey... It's okay, come here little fella!"
Fennekin denied listening to the human, she just stayed hidden and didn't bother responding back.
"You alright? I saw what happened and just wanted to come outside... To see if you were okay..."
"W-What?" Fennekin mumbled in surprise.
She wasn't expecting the human to ask her that, she expected him to yell at her for being outside... But for some reason, the soft voice seemed... Well, nice to hear in her perspective. Next thing she saw, was a hand extending out towards her... Without knowing what to do, Fennekin just continued to think to herself,
"What s-should I even do? Who is this human anyways? I-I don't even kno-"
With a lot of questions racing through her mind, she felt herself being pushed by an unknown force, and finally revealed herself into the light, approaching the human innocently... She pressed her head against his hand, but it felt kind of strange to her... She felt the hand rubbing her head, and it felt... Very pleasant! She didn't know what to say or think anymore, this new feeling she felt, was very unusual. It was definitely something she's never felt with her mean Trainer before, and Fennekin felt her heart warming up her emotions on the inside. Pretty soon, it felt really good now, and she felt a smile appearing on her face! She rubbed the hand back with her own head, and looked up at the human boy to see who was doing this to her. Next thing that happened, was that she felt herself being picked up by the boy and was held in his arms.
"Oh, so you're a Fennekin Huh?" The boy asked quietly, laughing at her.
Fennekin nodded her head happily, she smiled at him and enjoyed being carried too!
"Why would that trainer ditch you like that? You're one of the three starters a Trainer gets to pick, and you're all dirty too." The boy whispered even more.
Fennekin sighed in response... She had the same question too... She was a special Pokémon though, considering that only Professor Sycamore gave out the three starters of Kalos! She ignored the question though, and climbed up on top of the boy's arms and sat on top of his head. Fennekin giggled and grinned at him, she was beginning to like the boy... Maybe he could be her new Trainer?
"I think we should get you cleaned up! You're pretty dirty!" The boy laughed some more while walking across the street with her to his house.
Flashback End!
Translation: (Normal!)
That's when Fennekin remembered what Alex did for her, and how he took her in and let her sleep with him in that soft, warm, and comfortable bed. As well as even giving her a bath to clean her up! She wanted to pay him back by winning this battle so that she wouldn't make him sad! Thinking more about Alex, made her even stronger, she tried to resist the Psychic move... But she failed to do so. She was beginning to worry about herself now... She looked back at her opponent and had an angry look on her face all of a sudden, looking furiously mad.
"Now Vivillon, finish her off by using Solar Beam!" Viola commanded.
Vivillon started powering up her Solar Beam, along with a bright white shining light starting to form in her mouth. Alex waited for Vivillon to attack, he had an idea to counter the move! After a short while, Vivillon finished charging her attack and it was now ready to fire at any moment! She opened her mouth and out came a huge Solar Beam attack! It was a very large beam of light, and it looked extremely dangerous!
"Counter it with Ember!" Alex yelled.
Fennekin immediately fired Ember at the Solar Beam, hoping it would weaken or destroy the move even. Luckily it did, and Alex wasn't as worried as he was before! Fennekin eventually pushed herself out of the wall and slipped on a piece of ice considering there was still some icy chunks left over from Surskit's attack earlier. Alex examined the scattered pieces of ice around the arena for a while, then he looked at Viola's Vivillon.
"I GOT IT!" Alex mumbled to James.
"Um... What's your idea?" James wondered what he was planning on doing next.
"It's easy... If I can just use the ice to freeze Vivillon's wings, then I can easily get a clear shot with that combo move!" Alex explained.
"That's a great idea! You'll win this for sure if you can pull it off!" James agreed with his friend, hoping that it would work.
Alex nodded his head, now he was feeling very confident that he could win this fight!
"Vivillon use Sleep Powder!" Viola exclaimed.
Out of nowhere, Vivillon fired Sleep Powder at Fennekin pretty quickly! The Powder surrounded Fennekin's body and she tried to hold her breath in, trying not to inhale the powdery substance.
"That isn't going to work Viola! Fennekin make yourself sneeze!" Alex told her.
Fennekin smiled to herself and then tickled her nose with her own paw. She breathed in a bit of the Powder, but she sneezed quickly which made the Powder come right back out! The tiny fires coming out of her ears made the rest of the powder go away instantly! Seeing this, only made Viola shocked, and surprised at what Fennekin just did...
"What?" Viola gasped.
"Now Fennekin! See that big chunk of ice there? Grab it with your teeth and throw it at Vivillon!" Alex commanded his partner.
Fennekin looked around and saw pieces of ice everywhere on the ground. She spotted a huge one and picked it up with her sharp teeth. She threw it at Vivillon, but her opponent dodged it easily...
"Keep throwing them!" Alex continued commanding her.
Fennekin continuously kept on throwing ice at her opponent, hoping it would work eventually... Both of them got tired though, Fennekin got tired from throwing the ice, while Vivillon got tired of dodging the ice by constantly flapping her wings fast enough to move out of the way. Then... Fennekin heard Alex saying,
"Fennekin, remember... Even if we lose, it's okay! As long as we're having fun! That's much more important to me, even if we lose!"
Hearing those words coming from Alex, made her feel warm on the inside again. Thinking about him, only made her think of her old Trainer too... And how he would always yell at her, and how he would always push her too hard during battles too... Just thinking about her old Trainer was enough to make herself filled with rage! She didn't want to lose this battle, and she was going to win! She was going to win it for Alex! She picked up two pieces of ice from the ground and threw both of them at Vivillon. Her opponent dodged one very easily, but didn't see the other one coming right behind it! The chunk of ice impacted Vivillon's wing and it froze it completely, leaving her unable to fly any longer!
"Vivill!" Vivillon was surprised from the sudden impact!
She fell down to the ground pretty hard and tried to fly back up again, but her wing was completely frozen!
"Huh! Vivillon?" Viola asked her Pokémon to see if she was alright.
Vivillon was scared for her life now, she couldn't fly or move... She was basically stuck to the floor... Without her wing, she was in serious trouble, and it only made her even more vulnerable to attacks! Viola began to worry now, this wasn't looking good for her, nor for Vivillon! However, Alex on the other hand, was smiling as well as Fennekin too! Their plan worked, now all Alex had to do was hit Vivillon with Fennekin's combo move to finish her off!
"It's time to finish this once and for all! Fennekin, combo move let's go! Use Psybeam!" Alex shouted.
Fennekin shot a slow Psybeam beam at her opponent, who was still lying on the ground.
"Don't you even think about it Alex! She can still fight! Vivillon charge up Solar Beam one more time!" Viola spoke back, frustrated.
"Add that Ember to Psybeam!" Alex exclaimed.
"Fenne... KIN!" Fennekin fired an Ember towards her own attack.
The two moves combined, making a Fiery Psybeam once again! Vivillon charged up her Solar Beam quickly, but didn't fire yet until Viola told her to do so. After waiting for the perfect moment, Viola saw Fennekin running at her Fiery Psybeam, catching up quickly to the attack, so she said,
"Use Solar Beam!"
Vivillon instantly shot the move at the Fiery Psybeam! Alex didn't the projectile to get destroyed from the attack, so he shouted out,
"Fennekin, trust me on this! I need you to block the Solar Beam from hitting your move!"
Fennekin didn't hesitate either, she listened to Alex no matter what, and jumped over her combo'd move.
She braced herself, preparing to take the hit from the Solar Beam and ran ahead past the Psybeam! The move eventually struck her directly, causing massive damage to Fennekin!
"KIIN!" Fennekin screamed out in pain.
The Fiery Psybeam nearly hit Fennekin too, but it missed and hit Vivillon instead.
"VIVII!" Vivillon screamed too!
There was lots of smoke now... Leaving both Alex and Viola hanging, and making them feel bad for their Pokémon going through such pain...
"Fennekin! You alright?!" Alex yelled.
"Vivillon!" Viola shouted.
They didn't hear a single response from either Pokémon though... When the smoke had finally cleared away from the battlefield, they saw their Pokémon lying on the ground, looking very injured and hurt. They ran up to their Pokémon though, ignoring their battle. Viola picked up Vivillon and held her close, she fainted after taking the hit from Fennekin's move...
"You were amazing Vivillon, take a rest okay?" Viola mumbled to the Bug Type.
She returned Vivillon back into her Pokéball and put it away into her pocket, then she looked at Alex's Fennekin to make sure she was alright as well. Alex was about to pick up Fennekin, but he heard her cough out smoke slightly...
"Are you okay Fennekin?" Alex asked his partner, kneeling down to her level.
She coughed again, but finally stood up to her feet, smiling, and looking up at Viola saying,
"Fenne! Fennekin!"
Viola was thrown out of her world to find out that Fennekin was still standing after taking the hit from Solar Beam! Alex picked up his Fennekin and felt guilty for making her suffer through the pain.
"Fennekin, I'm sorry for making you go through that... We probably lost..." Alex sighed sadly.
Fennekin gave Alex a tight hug, while he returned the gesture back... Until he was interrupted by Viola laughing at him!
"What's so funny?" James questioned her, walking up to them and standing beside his friend.
Viola stopped laughing once she heard him speak, then she answered his question by saying,
"You thought you lost Alex? Your Fennekin can still fight and she's still standing... You won the battle!"
"WAIT REALLY?" Alex asked in surprise, with his heart pounding.
"Yep!" Viola grinned at him.
Alex Wins!
She took out two small looking objects and presented them to Alex!
"You earned it Alex, that was a fun battle! I haven't had that much fun in a while, thanks for the challenge! Anyways... Here's your Bug Badge! And take this also! It's a Badge case so that you can store Badges in it to prevent them from being lost easily." Viola congratulated him on his victorious win!
Alex took both of the objects from her, and felt a sudden joy inside of him!
"Thank you Viola! That was pretty fun!" Alex thanked her politely.
He lifted the Badge into the air and cheered out,
"Alright! Fennekin we did it! We got our first Gym Badge!"
"Fennekin!" Fennekin cheered with her Trainer happily!
He put the Badge into the Gym Badge Case, and put it away in his bag.
"That was so much fun to watch Alex! You and Fennekin were awesome out there!" James complimented his friend on his first Gym Battle!
He gave Alex a high five and petted Fennekin, making both of them smile in return! Viola continued to smile at them saying,
"I take it you're going to challenge the next Gym then huh?"
Alex nodded his head and answered the Leader's question.
"Well, good luck with that! If you're looking to add more Pokémon to your team, try and explore Santalune Forest! You'll find lots of good Pokémon there!" Viola suggested.
"Thanks for the tip Viola! I'll be sure to visit the forest before heading back to Lumiose City." Alex replied back.
"Take care you three! Maybe I'll see you again for a rematch when you get stronger in the future sometime!" Viola exclaimed.
"Definitely! See you then Viola!" Alex waved goodbye while turning around to leave the Gym.
James followed him out while Viola waved back at them too. When they finally exited the Gym, Alex felt so happy! He looked down at Fennekin who looked pretty tired out from the battle.
"You were amazing Fennekin! I bet if your previous Trainer saw you battle out there, he'd probably beg for you to come back to him!" Alex laughed.
His Fire Type fox yawned and then continued to hug Alex in response to what he just said. She felt happy around him, and was glad to be apart of his team! They went back to the Pokémon Center to heal up Fennekin really quick! Once they finished doing that, both Alex and James came back outside and searched the entire town for a route to the forest! Alex eventually spotted a blue sign towards the opposite side of the town that read,
"Santalune Forest ahead! Past Route 3!"
"Perfect! You ready to go and explore the forest James?" Alex asked his friend.
James nodded his head replying,
"Yeah, let's go!"
Alex and James started making their way down the route, continuing on with their adventure together!