The day afterwards was cloudy but it wasn't cold outside. It was a nice weather and I stretched my arms a bit, still a little sleepy after the night passed in the Pokémon Center. I had to challenge Sakura and I had to say, after the chat I had with her at the bar the day before I was pretty hyped to see what would she have in store for me.
I trained a little bit Aria and Blacky before the match. During the grinding, Blacky evolved in Herdier. After that I decided to enter the museum.
"Hello, do you have an appointment with the Gym Leader?" Acquamarin, the boy from the party and apparently Sakura's boyfriend, was standing near the door, smiling at me.
"Yes, I'm Alma from Nuvema Town!" I said, puffing my chest proudly, ready to take her on. Acquamarin giggled at my enthusiasm.
"Aight, gotcha. Sakura told me you would be coming! Over here, please!" I let Acquamarin guide me through the library. At the left corner, Sakura was reading a book on "Feeding 'mons: Secrets and tastes of the various types". When she saw me, she waved at me with a smile.
"Why hello there, Alma. I've been waiting for you! Shall we start?" she asked, a polite smile on her face. I nodded, I was really tense and excited. I felt ready to take her on.
"That's great. Follow me then! Do you mind being the judge of this match, Acqua?" she said, turning to face the boy.
"Of course not! Lead the way!" he promptly answered, smiling at me as to encourage me. Then he whispered: "Just don't take Sakura too lightly. She might be gentle with others, but in battle she's as cold and unforgiving as a blizzard." I nodded, thankful for his advice. The second gym was Ice types, and it wasn't going to be easy, even with the proper training. I could feel it.
Sakura lead us to the arena. The air conditioning was on, and I could feel a slightly cool breeze. The battle arena was the same as the first gym, but looking at the ceiling I saw some really dangerous-looking icicles hanging from it.
"Sakura, what are those?" I asked pointing at them. They looked really scary; what would've happened if one of them fell?
"Oh, you saw them already. They are... well, a little added difficulty. These icicles will fall on the ground every now and then. They haven't got a rhythm so I have no way of knowing where they will fall or when, just like you. It's random. Furthermore, if they hit a 'mon, they will stun it for a few seconds, leaving it unprotected. They can fall on my Pokémons just as they can fall on yours; you might want to pay attention while you're fighting." she explained.
"I see" I said, preparing Blacky's Pokéball. I wanted to start off with him before going with Aria. Ice wasn't very effective against water, so I wanted to keep her in case things didn't go as well as I planned. And those icicles... I had to be cautious and play around them, or even better, use them against Sakura to get a few hits off while her Pokémons were stunned.
"The battle will be a two vs two. The winner will have to knock out both 'mons of the opposing trainer. You know about the icicles, so... let's start!" exclaimed Acqua, signaling the beginning of the battle.
"Go, Blacky!" "I choose you, Suisen!" Suisen was a Cryogonal. I saw one of those in a documentary about Twist Mountain, and I knew they were dangerous foes. My suspects were confirmed shortly afterwards.
"Sui, start off with Mist!" Sakura immediately started off with a move. I couldn't even say something: a thick white mist started to form, clouding the entire battlefield and severely weakening my range of vision. "Blacky, come closer!" I ordered him. He barked and got out of the mist, but Cryogonal was still there and, because of the air conditioning, the mist was cold too, hampering Blacky's movements.
I heard a faint thump and I noticed something falling. Somewhere in the battlefield, an icicle had fallen. But I couldn't even see Sakura's Pokémon. That was really a problem. Blacky looked at me and barked encouragingly. "You're right! I shouldn't let something like this get to me." I said.
I couldn't finish my thoughts. An Ice Shard hit Blacky from the Mist. Sakura wasn't ok with standing without doing anything. "Blacky, are you o- To the left, to the left! Roll to the left!" Blacky yapped, rolling just in time as an icicle hit a spot that was really close to him.
'This is not good...' I thought, but then decided to go on the offensive. "Blacky, listen up!" He turned to look at me with puzzled puppy eyes. Aw, he was so cute! 'Oh, no. I should focus on the battle. Let's see...' "Can you smell Cryogonal's scent and find him in the mist?" I asked.
He seemed to think about it. An Ice Shard came for him again, but this time he evaded the attack. After a moment, he nodded and sniffed the air. He ran towards the Mist. "Great, attack with Take Down!" Cryogonal had a frail defense after all; I heard a sound but I wasn't sure whose attack was it.
There was another thump and I finally saw, thanks to the Mist starting to lose its effect, that Cryogonal had tried to evade Take Down but was hit by an icicle, so Blacky attacked him and hit him. Unfortunately, Cryogonal recovered easily and hit my mon with a Night Slash.
"Not bad! Using smell to counter Mist is a really good idea." Sakura said, looking at me. Now the Mist was completely gone, and both Cryogonal and Blacky had suffered some hefty damage. They were staring at each other now; no one was willing to give up, though Blacky looked a little worn out by the cold Mist.
Sakura was seemingly calm, analyzing throughly the situation of the battle with her analytic eyes. Then she decided to take action. "Ok, now that he's close, Bind!" Cryogonal extended his icy tendrils in an attempt to bind Blacky's body in a cold grip. I wasn't going to let her do that! I had to think of something, and I had to think fast. I had an idea.
"Blacky, use Bite on the tendrils!" Blacky jumped avoiding one of the tendrils, then bit the other one, pulling it with all of his strengh. Cryogonal looked in pain, but with the free tendril tried to whip him. With agile reflexes, Blacky managed to spin him around, making him dizzy and failing the attack. An icicle fell, but it was pretty distant from the spot we were fighting on.
"Great going, Blacky! Now use Tackle to pin him to the ground!" I ordered. He barked, ready to attack, but Sakura broke my winning streak quickly. "Alright, Suisen. Shoot Mist in his face to blind him and then use Ice Shard!"
I wasn't expecting that move, and neither I nor Blacky were prepared. The Mist blinded him, forcing him to interrupt the attack in confusion, and Suisen smirked in triumph before using a powerful Ice Shard that smashed Blacky against an icicle that had fallen previously and he took the chance to hit again with a Night Slash.
"Damn! Blacky, are you okay?" He was obviously not okay. He had took quite the few hits, and he looked a little dizzy too. He wasn't in top shape, at all. "Wooof..." he tried to act tough, getting up and trying to hide the pain. "Blacky, if you don't feel like it, then-" "Woof!" he looked at me as to say "Are you kidding? I can totally handle this!" I could feel he was lying, but I didn't want to let him down showing distrust in his regards.
"Ok, then go with a Tackle!" I exclaimed, looking for a second at the ceiling. An icicle was starting to shake. It was about to fall, and it would probably fall near Blacky, so I had to stay cautious.
Blacky tried to hit Cryogonal, but he was way too fast. He easily avoided the attack and blasted Blacky with an Ice Shard. Even so, Blacky was able to get up and attack with Take Down, roaring at the confused Cryogonal, who was probably asking himself how was he still able to stand after withstanding so many attacks.
"Suisen, don't let yourself be fooled! He's low on health! Use Night Slash and finish him!" Cryogonal nodded at Sakura's commanding voice and without hesitation he knocked out Blacky, but the Herdier was able to hit him before he could react, dealing heavy damage. Now Cryogonal was low on health too. The icicle finally fell near Suisen, but didn't hit him.
"Alright, great job. Come back! Go Aria!" The Panpour jolted in the air and then landed on her foot, ready to battle. "Start things off with Fury Swipes!" Aria looked at her before dashing at an outstanding speed. Cryogonal was too tired because of Blacky's Take Down and couldn't move, so he was hit. Fury Swipes hit 4 times, knocking him out.
"Great job, Suisen. Rest for a while now." Sakura said, returning her Pokémon. "Now, do your best, Tsubaki!" Tsubaki was a wonderful specimen of Glaceon, and looking closer I saw her fur was lighter. She was a shiny Pokémon!
"Wow, she's beautiful! Congratulations!" I complimented her, she had really pretty colors. Sakura briefly smiled.
"Thanks, but are you sure you can take her on? She's pretty tough, you know?" she said, a confident smirk on her face. I giggled. She had quite a lot of confidence!
"Well, I'll do my best! Go with Scald!" Aria nodded and dashed forward. Unfortunately Tsubaki was quicker and managed to avoid the hot water, and froze Aria's left leg with an Ice Beam. Aria yipped in pain and fell to the ground, right where an icicle was about to fall!
"Aria, use Scald on the icicle above you!" I managed to say. She nodded and melted the ice with a clean attack. That gave Tsubaki some room to attack, though, and she bit the Panpour with Bite.
"C'mon, Aria, now that she's close! Scald!" I encouraged her, for now that move was my best bet and the most powerful I had. Aria snorted and freed herself, sending Tsubaki off balance before hitting her with the Water-type move, burning her.
"Great job, Aria!" I complimented her. But Tsubaki wasn't ready to give up just yet, and neither was Sakura.
"Come on, Tsubaki! You can do it! Use Quick Attack!" Even with the damage of the burn the Glaceon managed to pull off the attack, hurting Aria that couldn't avoid it. She was sent flying for a brief time.
"Don't give up, Aria! Attack from above with Fury Swipes!" I ordered her, as she tried to pin down Tsubaki to attack her. It didn't work. Tsubaki smirked and fired a Shadow Ball at point blank range, hitting her and blasting her to the ground.
"Aria! No!" I exclaimed, alarmed. She was quite exhausted now, but managed to get up and looked at Tsubaki with anger and determination. An icicle fell between them, confirming their rivalry.
Even though Tsubaki was slightly weakened by Scald's burn, she dashed forward, trying to hit Aria with another Quick Attack. "Aria, jump up and use Scald again!" This time it worked, catching the shiny Glaceon off guard. But Tsubaki wasn't going to let Aria go away. Grunting, she hit her with her tail, sending her off balance and slamming her to the ground.
Aria was at her limits, but Tsubaki was too with the burn damage stacking up. The shiny Pokémon was breathing heavily, several burns signs spreading on her body. I briefly looked at the ceiling, and found an icicle about to fall. If I got the timing and the move right... that could've been my only chance to win without having to stall the burn out.
"Alright, Aria! Use Fury Swipes and pressure Tsubaki!" I ordered, breaking the cold silence of the gym, interrupted only by the pantings of our Pokémons.
"Use Ice Beam and strike her down!" retaliated Sakura. Tsubaki opened her mouth, ready to attack. In that moment I saw the perfect opportunity to bring her down. I had to get that right!
"Scald on her mouth, quickly!" The attack worked and Tsubaki staggered in pain, taking a few steps back, right where the falling icicle from before hit her, knocking her out and permitting me to get a few hits on, closing the match.
"Yes! We did it!" With some luck, we had managed to win, using the hazards against Sakura. The gym leader sighed but then smiled, letting Tsubaki get her rest.
"You did great, Alma. There's no doubt you deserve this." she said, handing me the Frozen Badge.
"Thank you very much, Sakura. It was a great match." I answered, stroking Aria's chin as she chuckled happily.
"Sure was! There's a gift for you. It's the Ice Beam MT. These can be used multiple times, so go ahead and teach it to everyone!" she said with a grin. "I must go now though. Let's have another match sometime."
"I'll be looking forward to it!" I waved at her while she left, holding hands with Acquamarin. "Great! We got the badge. Next city should be... Castelia City!"
Sorry for the delay in posting this. I had a lot of exams to take. I hope you enjoyed it!