Karyme: The Perfect Love

Chapter 7: I Challenge You!

Notes: Phew! Finally was able to finish this one. Sorry it took so long. My computer got messed up with a whole bunch of viruses and it was moving at 2 mph. So I had to format my hard drive and start all over... Lame huh? I also had a small case of writer's block, so I'm trying to conquer that. So this chapter's pretty long, about thirty pages written out on paper and about words. Anyways, it's longer than any chapter I have wrote so far, so I hope you enjoy it! Oh, yeah. I don't own pokemon, only Alex, Jade, Luna, Karyme, Drake, and Malak.

...These damn nightmares...They were back...Worse than ever...They haunted me...Never leaving...Always with me...They haunted me...They were still filled with...Pain...Death...and suffering...They were about the ones I love...Karyme...Jade...They died...over and over again...It never stopped...Always the same...Repeating...Until I was awoken...They'd be running towards me...They would stop...They would be laughing...Happy...Jade was always the first to speak...she would say, "Alex, I love you"...She would laugh and smile...Then someone would slit her throat...She screamed...Her eyes widened in horror...Her screams echoed all around me...I felt her pain too...It ripped through me like a dagger...She would collapse to the floor...Death...Blood was everywhere...Karyme was next...The same thing would happen...She would say, "You're my reason for living now"...She would have her warm smile on her face...I knew what would happen next...I tried to get to her...I had to save her...My legs wouldn't move...I closed my eyes...I couldn't bear to watch it...She screamed...I felt lightheaded...Blood splattered my face...It was warm...There was a rushing noise...

I opened my eyes. Karyme! I turned to my right. She was there. I don't know what I would have done if she wasn't. Karyme was staring at me with a worried look on her face.

"Did you have those nightmares again?", Karyme asked. She pushed her paw up against my cheek. It felt so comforting.

"Yeah, I did."

"What was it about? I always feel better when I tell someone else," she said, putting her head on my chest. I couldn't tell her. She'd think I'm crazy. I had to lie.

"It was my mom. She made brussel sprouts for dinner." Karyme laughed. We layed there for another hour as the sun rose. Drake and Luna woke up after about an hour. Luna stretched and yawned, revealing her pointy canine teeth.

"Good morning, Alex," she said once she saw I was awake.

"Morning, Luna. Sleep well?"

"Couldn't have slept better." Wish I could say the same for myself. "How are you feeling? Is your leg okay?"

She stretched her injured leg out. She twisted it, stretched her toes and bent her knee. "It feel's great! Thanks again for helping me." I gave her a smile as a "your welcome". Drake gave a wide yawn. He stretched his mouth wide and gave a small roar. (can't really explain it that good. Kind of like how a lion yawns)

"Good morning everyone," Drake said sitting up. "I had the strangest dream. Someone was forcing me to eat stinky cheese." We packed up the tent and got all ready to fly back to Canalave. That's when I remembered Luna didn't have a pokeball.

"Hey Luna!", I called. Luna was sitting next to Drake, chatting. She looked up and walked over to me. "Here. It's your pokeball. That is, if you still want to come with us," I said holding a pokeball out to her and she touched the little button on it without hesitation. She disappeared inside it and the ball gave the familiar "ding." Luna reappeared in a flash of white light.

"Do I have to stay in it for the journey back?", Luna asked.

"Well Drake can't carry both of us."

"He doesn't have to," Luna said smiling. "I'm able to use the move Extremespeed. I use it to run across water."

"Wow! That's amazing," I said. I've never seen a Lucario that could use that move before. "Are you ready to go now?"

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

"All right then, let's go." I put Karyme back in her pokeball and I got on Drake's back again. We turned to face the wide ocean and he looked back at Luna. She smiled at him and said, "Try to keep up." She ran back to the forest's edge and turned around to look out over the water. She stood there for a couple seconds, then started running back down the beach. She ran faster and faster, until her legs became blurred. She ran out over the water, kicking up a huge wake behind her as she streaked back towards Canalave.

"Damn," I said my jaw dropping.

"Took the words right out of my mouth," Drake replied as he spread his wings and took off after her. We flew out over the water and came up behind Luna. She had her arms flying behind her as she ran. Drake flew lower until he was nearly skimming across the water. We came up beside Luna as she ran. She looked over to both of us beside her, as we stared back astonished. She smiled and let out a laugh that was drowned out by the wind whistling in my ears. She looked forwards again and put on a burst of speed, pulling ahead of us at speeds I thought unimaginable. (Kind of reminds you of Road Runner, huh? BEEP BEEP)

"Oh, so that's how it is? Hold on Alex!" I tightened my grip and Drake beat his wings hard, propelling us forward even faster. This is insane! Canalave was coming up fast. Luna was way ahead of us. She ran past the few boats that were out on the water. We flew over them not long after. Drake slowed down as the beach came into veiw. A lone figure was lying out on the sand. It was Luna. I recognized her blue coat of fur. We descended and landed next to her. She was stretched out on the sand with her arms behind her head and her legs crossed. The moment I slid off of Drake's back, she gave a giant, fake yawn.

"What took you so long?"

"Show off," I replied, laughing at her sarcastic remark. She laughed too. Drake didn't say anything. I don't think he likes getting beat. I let out Karyme and we headed up the beach and back into the city.

"We'll just stop here for a quick rest and then we'll head to Jubilife City." We all headed to the Pokemon Center. I put everyone in their pokeballs and handed them all to Nurse Joy.

"Back so soon? How did you like Iron Island?", asked Nurse Joy, as she put my pokeballs into the healing machine.

"How did you know I went to Iron Island?"

"Only the whole city saw you return. I think it's even on the news." Nurse Joy picked up a remote and switched on a TV above the counter. The Canalave News at noon was on.

"...A boy, his Charizard and his Lucario arrived from Iron Island about ten minutes ago. The local boaters who witnessed this said, it was a spectacular event." The camera switched to a reporter interviewing a couple of people. It switched from person to person.

"I thought I was seeing things, I did."

"Woosh!"

"And I thought Sonic the Hedgehog was called the blue blur. That Lucario would give em' a run for his money."

"All right, now back to you Dave," the reporter said after finishing. I sat down on the same waiting bench as before and watched Nurse Joy while I waited. "...Apparently, there have reports of strange disappearances near Oreburgh Mine..." I looked back up at the TV, a little curious about this story. "...Experts say it's probably just mining accidents, but others say it could be connected to a Mightyena they saw a couple of days before the disappearances began. One lucky Oreburgh resident managed to get this picture of the Mightyena." A picture showed up on the screen. I bolted upright when I saw the picture. It was Malak. I recognized him instantly. His left ear was missing and he had scars all over his body. He was standing on what looked like a pile of boulders. Moonlight was shining down on him, lighting up his slender form. Blood was running the length of his muzzle and neck. He had his teeth bared and his hackles raised. It looked like he was growling at whoever took the picture. "Unfortunately, the Oreburgh resident went missing the day after he took this picture..." A million questions formed in my head as I slumped back against the seat. How did he get here from Leynoh? Why was there blood on his muzzle? What was he planning on doing here? The questions burned around inside if me, when I felt somebody tap my shoulder. I looked up and saw Nurse Joy standing above me. She was smiling down at me and had my three pokeballs in her hands.

"Here are your pokemon," she said cheerily. I stood up and took my pokeballs from her.

"Thanks," I said. I let out Karyme, Drake and Luna.

"Your pokemon have been healed to perfect health. We hope to see you again!" ('We hope to see you again?' Is she hoping that my pokemon get hurt so I have to come here again?) I said thanks again and headed for the door.

"Wait. Alex," Luna said behind me.

"What's up?", I said turning around. Luna was standing in front of a large poster. It showed a very pretty, blonde haired woman with six pokemon standing around her. She was wearing what looked like a cape with dressy pants and high heels. Everything was black, even the fluffy scarf around her neck. She wore a confident smile and was standing in a triumphant pose with her hand on her hip. Around her were a Roserade, a Gastrodon, a Spiritomb, a Milotic, a Lucario, and a Garchomp. Down at the bottom of the poster were big yellow words that said, "Do you want to be a Champion?" It was a poster for the Pokemon League Gym Challenge.

"Who is she?", Luna asked.

"I think that's Cynthia, the Pokemon League Champion."

"How do you become Champion?"

"There's a series of Gyms scattered throughout the Sinnoh region. You have to beat each one to earn yourself a badge. When you have all eight badges, you can challenge the Pokemon League to become the Champion." Luna was staring at the poster with a glint in her eye. "Do you want to challenge a Gym?" She looked excitedly over at me.

"Could we really Alex?"

"Sure we can. If it's okay with everyone else." I looked over at Karyme and Drake as I said this.

"I'm in," said Drake.

"Let's do it," said Karyme.

We headed over to the Gym on the other side of the city. The giant building loomed over us as we looked up at it. I looked over at Drake, Karyme and Luna. They all looked determined and ready. "All right, here we go." We stepped through two sets of sliding glass doors. We were in a sort of lobby area. It was a plain room with an information booth that was empty and a couple of chairs. There was a door straight ahead of us that said "Gym" on it. We headed straight through the doors. We came out under a set of stands and ahead of us was a walkway that lead straight to the Gym floor, cutting right through the stands. I walked forward and stood on the edge of the Gym floor. There were a dozen trainers, with their pokemon, having sparring matches with each other. The Gym Leader, Byron, was walking among the battles pointing out flaws and strengths to the young trainers. He looked like he was getting on in his years. He was wearing a white shirt, gray pants and he had on a black cape. He had a five o'clock shadow on his face and a mop of brown hair that sat atop his head. I didn't really know why, but he was carrying around a shovel in his left hand. When he noticed me standing there he looked over to me. His eyes had a piercing gaze that bore right through me. We locked eyes for a couple of seconds, sizing each other up. He turned his head and called to one of his assistants. He whispered something to him and walked across the Gym to me.

"Are you here for a Gym battle?", he said in a rough voice.

"Yeah, I am. I can come back later if you're in the middle of something," I said, acknowledging the sparring trainers.

"I'm not. I'm sure our battle will help in their training anyways," Byron said, scratching his chin. "I'll give you fifteen minutes, then we'll battle." He turned around and walked to the back of the Gym, entering a small office. The foor of us took up seats in the stands. While we were waiting, we talked over our strategy.

"Ok, so his three pokemon are Steelix, Bastiodon, and Bronzor. All of them are steel types, so Karyme, Drake, you both have an advantage already. Luna, you have an advantage too because his pokemon are big, heavy and slow. You may have to try harder than Drake and Karyme on your attacks, but you should be fine. As long as you keep your speed up, they shouldn't be able to hit you with any attacks. Drake, you're going to be my heavy hitter. If things get rough, I'm sending you out. Karyme, you'll have to be my main attacker. Combine speed with your fire attacks. Just so everybody knows, when you're battling, if you can't fight anymore, just quit. It's not worth getting permanately damaged. He's going to be tough. He's Gym Leader number six. So. Anybody have any questions?"

"I got one," said Drake. "How do you make it sound so simple?"

"Fifteen minutes later, Byron stepped out of the office and looked up to me in the stands. We walked down to the Gym floor and waited. Byron looked over to his assistant and nodded. The asistant blew his whistle and the trainers returned their pokemon.

"Students, Gym Leader Byron and a challenger will be having a match. Everyone needs to clear the floor." The trainers left the floor and nearly all of them found a seat on the stands. They were chatting, laughing and shooting glances at me Great, an audience. Byron and I both took up a side of the Gym. The assistant stood on the side, right on the center line.

"This will be a three on three pokemon battle. The victor will be decided by whoever can knock out their opponents pokemon first. The Gym Leader will not be allowed to subsitute pokemon. Challenger, are you ready?"

"Yes!"

"Gym Leader Byron, are you ready?"

"Let's just go, Ivan," Byron said, pulling a pokeball off of his belt.

"Contestants, select your pokemon!" Byron sent out a Bronzong. Drake should be able to handle this.

"You're up, Drake!" Drake walked out to the middle, towards the opposing Bronzong. They starred daggers at each other. Drake let out a low grunt and narrowed his eyes intimidatingly. The Bronzong didn't do anything. It just stood there not moving an inch. It was a bit creepy, to tell you the truth. The asistant raised his arms into the air and shouted, "Begin!" The crowd cheered and clapped as Drake spread his wings and flew up to the ceiling, above the Bronzong.

"Ok, Drake! Use Body Slam!" Drake dove down at the Bronzong and crashed into it. It barely budged.

"Brick Break, Bronzong!", Byron shouted. The ends of Bronzong's arms glowed white and it started spinning towards Drake.

"Dodge it and hit it with a Flamethrower!" Drake sidestepped the attack easily and shot a blast of flame at the Bronzong. It engulfed it in flames. "Yeah! You got it!", I yelled.

"Psychic, Bronzong." I looked at the ball of flame that housed Bronzong. I could make out a faint purple in the blazing inferno. The flames dissapated as the Bronzong emerged glowing purple. It shot it's psychic energy at Drake, picking him up. Drake roared in agony as the psychic attack pressured him, pushing in at him from all sides.

"Drake! Leer!" Drake stopped his struggling and turned his face to look at the Bronzong with a look of pure murder on his face. It wasn't really his look, it was just part of the attack. The Bronzong dropped him and backed away. Drake pushed himself back onto his feet.

"Come on now Bronzong! Take Down!", Byron shouted. The Bronzong charged at Drake with amazing speed. Drake was still recovering from the Psychic and was hit with full force. Drake was sent tumbling backwards, rolling and sliding from the force of the impact. The crowd "ooed" as Drake was hit. Drake slowly, but steadily got to his feet. His eyes were wide with anger and he threw back his head letting loose a powerful roar. I recognized this attack. It was Rage.

"Hit it with a Mega Punch with everything you got!" Drake roared again and charged at the Bronzong. He pulled back his fist and punched Bronzong hard, striking him in the middle. There was a giant gong-like sound that echoed throughout the room, emmanating from the Bronzong. It didn't even flinch when Drake hit him.

"Headbutt, Bronzong." Drake looked up at the Bronzong towering over him. It hit Drake with a swift, but hard headbutt. Drake fell to the groung on his back in front of the Bronzong. "Now Body Slam," Byron said. The Bronzong started to fall forward to body slam on Drake.

"Quick Drake! Flamethrower!" Drake shot a Flamethrower out of his jaws that hit the Bronzong point blank. It was blasted backwards away from Drake. They both got to their feet and stared at each other.

"Take Down," Byron said. The Bronzong charged at Drake again.

"Wait for it..., wait for it," I said. The Bronzong was getting closer and closer.

"Hold on, and...Now! Fly over it and use Siesmic Toss!" Drake quickly flew just above it, effectively dodging it. Drake reached down and grabbed it's shoulders. Drake used a Siesmic Toss in midair, using the momentum of the charging Bronzong. Drake did an aerial front flip, taking the Bronzong with him and smashing it face first into the ground. Drake landed next to it and stared at it's motionless form. The assistant waited five seconds and when Bronzong didn't get up, he declared, "Bronzong is unable to battle. The victor of this round is Charizard!" The crowd cheered and clapped as Byron returned his Bronzong.

"Nicely done. You ready for this one?" He put Bronzong's pokeball back on his belt and pulled off another one. He threw it into the air and out came a Bastiodon. It stared at Drake out of the small eyes on it's head. It was mostly a black color but there was some yellow here and there on it's body. These were strange pokemon. Their faces are more of shields than faces. It was stronger than a concrete wall and any attack used on a Bastiodon from the front was laughable. It's body, however, was it's weak spot.

"Challenger! Will you switch pokemon?", the assistant called out to me.

"Drake. Do you still want to battle? You look tired." Drake was panting hard as he turned to me.

"Maybe...a quick rest," he said. He walked back to me and sat down with his back against the wall behind me, next to Luna. She hugged him tightly, moving up next to him.

"Challenger! Choose your next pokemon!", the assistant shouted to me from across the Gym.

"I'm going, I'm going," I mumbled to myself. I think Karyme would be good for this. I'll save Luna for Steelix. "Ready Karyme?"

"Yes," she said, trotting out to the middle of the floor. She dropped into a fighting stance and waited for the battle to begin. The assistant raised both of his hands again and shouted, "Begin!"

"Karyme! Use Agility!"

"Use Iron Defense, Bastiodon." Karyme ran circles around the Bastiodon, as Bastiodon's skin hardened and became shiny.

"Get around behind it and use Flamethrower!"

"Quickly, Earthquake Bastiodon." Karyme was just about to shoot a Flamethrower, when the Bastiodon stomped it's foot down on the ground, causing the whole ground and Gym to shake. Karyme was blasted up into the air from the attack and came down hard on her side. I felt a sharp pain shoot through me as I saw Karyme hurt. I felt like I just got hit by a Thunderbolt right through my heart. I almost ran out to her, but leaving the trainer's box means forfeiting the match. The crowd "ooed" and "ohed" as Karyme hit the ground.

"Karyme! Are you okay?"

Karyme slowly got to her feet, grunting in pain. "I'm fine," she said shakily.

"Okay try a Faint Attack." Karyme dissapeared and reapeared seconds later right behind the Bastiodon.

"Look out Bastiodon!"

"Crunch Attack!", I shouted. Karyme jumped on it's back and sank her sharp teeth into the fleshy part of Bastiodon's neck. It roared in pain and started bucking wildly, trying to throw off Karyme, but she hung on firmly. The Bastiodon rolled onto it's back, forcing Karyme to let go to avoid being crushed. This was a bad move for him though, because it's unprotected underside was exposed.

"Finish it with a Fire Blast, Karyme!" Karyme jumped a safe distance away and charged up a strong Fire Blast. The Bastiodon was on it's back, flailing it's stubby legs uselessly. Karyme shot a blast of flame in the shape of a star, at the Bastiodon. It hit him directly, swallowing him up in flames. Karyme circled around it, making sure it didn't lunge out at her. The flames dispersed, revealing the Bastiodon. It was lying on it's side, smoking slightly and breathing heavily.

"Bastiodon is unable to battle. The victor of this round is Houndoom!" The crowd cheered and clapped again. Karyme ran back to me and nuzzled my chin, giving me a lick on the cheek.

"You were amazing, Karyme!", I said hugging her to me.

"Oh, stop it. You're making me blush," she said turning pink.

"Challenger! Choose your next pokemon!", shouted the assistant again. This guy is really pissing me off.

"I want to try again," Karyme said.

"Don't you want to rest a bit?"

"No, I think I'll be better off battling now than later."

"Okay, go ahead," I said as Karyme ran back off to the middle of the Gym floor. Byron pulled the last pokeball off of his belt and threw it high into the air. There was a briliant flash of white light and a Steelix materialized in front of us. It's probably one of the worst pokemon to come face to face with, let alone battle. It was an enormous pokemon, at least four stories high. It's body was made up of boulders that hardened into steel when it evolved. They all formed together to make up a snake-like body. It looked menacingly down at Karyme.

"Careful Karyme! Don't underestimate it!"

"Begin!", the assistant shouted.

"Flamethrower, Karyme!"

"Dig, Steelix." Karyme shot a Flamethrower, but Steelix dodged it by digging underground. Karyme bent her knees getting ready to jump out of the way at any second. I noticed the ground started to crack underneath Karyme.

"Karyme, underneath you!" Karyme looked down and jumped out of the way. There was a large blast and dirt flew everywhere as Steelix reapeared. He just barely missed Karyme. Karyme was crouched into a fighting stance, with her teeth bared and she was emitting a low growl. "Try another Flamethrower!" Karyme shot a tongue of flame at the Steelix. It easily slithered out of the way.

"Rock Throw, let's go!" Steelix's tail glowed and he smashed it into the ground, sending rocks flying at Karyme. She dodged them all except for one. It hit her in the chest, causing her to fly backwards. She hit the ground and slid a bit. I felt that pain go through me again. It wasn't nearly as bad as the first one though. Karyme got shakily to her feet again, wincing in pain and letting out a whimper. I opened my mouth to ask her if she was alright, but she said, "I'm fine fine, Alex." I was a bit uneasy about this, but It's her decision. Even if I don't like it that much.

"All right then. Use Agility then Flamethrower!" Karyme took off, turning into a black and silver blur. She ran circles around the Steelix, spitting out a Flamethrower every so often. The Steelix was really taking a beating from the flames. It was roaring and thrashing about in agony.

"Get away Steelix! Dig!" The Steelix dug underground once again, leaving only a cloud of dust behind.

"Keep your speed up, Karyme. Don't let it even get a chance to hit you!" Karyme ran around the Gym floor, making sharp turns at random. The only sound in the Gym now was Karyme's soft padded thuds and the crowd cheering. I couldn't hear the Steelix's burrowing anymore. A minute, two minutes, three minutes passed and still not even a tremor from the Steelix. As Karyme whizzed by me, I was scanning the ground for any sign of a crack. Karyme ran once again to the other side of the Gym and then I saw it. A couple of cracks forming directly in Karyme's path.

"Karyme! Left!" Karyme dodged left just before the ground erupted again from the emerging Steelix. But it din't emerge from the cracks. It came up right under Karyme. Damn! It was a trap! The Steelix shot up out of the ground and hit Karyme's underside. She was blasted into the air in my direction. She hit the ground hard. The moment she hit the ground, the sharpest pain yet shot right through me, ripping right through my heart. I winced and collapsed to my knees, crying out in agony. I felt dizzy as my vision blurred a little. What was this? Why do I feel Karyme's pain? Karyme tumbled on the ground, rolling and sliding, until she slid to a stop in front of me.

"Karyme...," I said placing a hand on her side. She was bleeding from her mouth as I felt her against my hand. She din't respond to my touch at all. She was unconscious.

"Houndoom is unable to battle. The victor of this round is Steelix!" The crowd cheered and clapped, but it was a bit more subdued this time. I think I even heard some boos among the applause. I pulled her pokeball off of my belt and returned her. Sorry Karyme... I felt a hand on my shoulder and I turned around to see Drake standing there, his face showing determination.

"I'll go next," he said.

"All right with me." Drake walked out to the middle of the floor. Even Drake looked small compared to that Steelix. They stared each other down, their eyes boring into one anothers.

"Begin!", shouted the assistant for the fourth time.

"Fly Drake!"

"Iron Defense." Drake flew into the air and the Steelix turned, if possible, even shinier as it hardened it's body.

"Use a Flamethrower!" Drake kept his distance from the Steelix and shot a Flamethrower out of his mouth.

"Use Iron Tail to block it." Steelix's tail glowed white and he brought it up to cover his face. It effectively blocked the Flamethrower, deflecting it away from him. Shoot. The Steelix saw that one coming from a mile away. Drake needs to get closer. But if he does, he'll just get taken out by that tail. Well, we'll have to at least try.

"Drake! Try getting around behind it and hitting it with another Flamethrower. Fly fast, and watch out for that tail!" Drake roared and shot forward like a bullet, heading straight for the Steelix. The Steelix brought up it's tail and swung it down at Drake. Drake barrel-rolled out of harms way and flew around behind the Steelix. Drake opened his jaws wide and let loose a powerful blast of flame, hitting it directly in the back of the head. The Steelix roared and swung it's tail at Drake again, as if trying to swat an annoying fly. Drake barely dodged out of the way that time, letting the tip of Steelix's tail graze his side.

"Careful!" Drake continued to dart around the Steelix, spewing flames here and there. The Steelix kept up it's relentless attacks at Drake. The Steelix, getting smart, faked a lunge of it's tail to the right and then quickly swung it back to the left. Drake saw the lunge and rolled left, where he met the swing, crashing into the tail. Drake was knocked out of the air and he crashed to the ground he slid a ways before finally coming to a stop.

"Drake! Can you hear me?" Drake didn't respond.

"Charizard is unable to battle. The victor of this round is Steelix!" I pulled out Drake's pokeball and returned him too. I turned around to look at Luna and saw that she was pushing herself to her feet.

"You don't have to battle, Luna. He's pretty strong."

"Hey. I was the reason we came here in the first place. I can't back down and let Karyme's and Drake's hard work go to waste. Besides, 'pretty strong' isn't strong enough to beat me. Let's go!" I smiled at her enthusiasm as I watched her walk out to the middle of the floor. The crowd cheered when they saw the Lucario from the news was going to battle.

"Begin!"

"Dynamic Punch, Luna!"

"Dig." Luna's right paw glowed yellow and she charged forward. The Steelix quickly dug a hole and dissapeared beneath us.

"Use your aura to find it!" Luna's eyes glowed yellow and it looked like smoke colored a soft blue was coming off of her. She suddenly jumped to the left as the Steelix blasted out of the ground, exactly where she was standing only moments before.

"Extremespeed and Aura Sphere!" Luna darted around the Steelix at amazing speeds, shooting spheres of aura pelting at the Steelix. It roared at Luna, swishing it's sharp tail again. Luna was forced to stop and jump back as the tail almost hit her.

"Rock Throw" The Steelix swung it's heavy tail down at the ground making rocks shoot at Luna. Luna used her Aur Sphere to blast some out of her way and some she dodged.

"Try a Force Palm Luna!" Luna ran at the Steelix again and Steelix predictably swung it's tail down at Luna. She swiftly dodged it and it smashed into the ground beside her. She used the immobile tail to run up his body and hit it hard in the side of the head with a Force Palm. The Steelix roared and collapsed to the ground. Luna jumped off and landed lightly beside it. The Steelix got back up and slowly slithered to the side, never taking his eyes off of her.

"Use Safeguard, the Dig!", shouted Byron. The Steelix's body pulsed with a golden light as it dug underground.

"Spot it with you aura, Luna." Luna glowed blue again and scanned the ground beneath her for the snake pokemon. After a couple of seconds, she looked back up at me with a worried face.

"I can't find it! Safeguard is shielding it's aura!", Luna said in a panicky voice. We waited for what felt like an eternity, when the ground started to crack underneath Luna. Wait. we can't just keep dodging it's attacks. I had an idea. Hopefully, it would work.

"Don't move Luna."

"Alex?", Luna said turning her head around to look at me.

"Trust me. Get ready to jump. Wait for my signal." Luna nodded and waited for the Steelix. The ground erupted underneath her. "Jump!", I yelled. Luna jumped just as the Steelix blasted out of the ground. Luna used the force from the Steelix's attack and the combined power of her jump to blast her up towards the ceiling. The Steelix looked around stupidly to see where the Lucario went.

"Now, Force Palm!" Luna started into a steady dive right down at the Steelix, sped up by the force of gravity. The Steelix looked up just before Luna smashed into hi face, right between the eyes, with a powerful Force Palm. The Steelix was hit with the force of a speeding train and sent smashing into the ground. Dust flew everywhere from the Steelix's impact, covering the Gym floor and stands. I coughed and covered my eyes as the dust cloud swept around me. It finally started to settle and I looked out onto the Gym floor to see who was still standing. The only thing I could make out was a giant mass, which must have been the Steelix. Oh no. I hope Luna didn't get hurt. The dust cleared a little more until I could clearly make out the scene before me. Luna was standing next to the fallen Steelix.

"Steelix!", Byron shouted. The Steelix remained on the ground, not moving a muscle.

"Steelix is unable to battle. The victor of this round and match is Alex!" The crowd erupted with screams and cheers as Byron returned his Steelix to it's pokeball. He walked across the battle ravaged Gym floor to me with a smile on his face.

"Thanks for a great battle kid," he said stretching out his hand. I gasped his hand and when he pulled away, I felt something in my palm. In my hand was a shniy new Gym badge. It was circular and colored silver, with three smaller patches of orange.

"Thank you," I said, looking back up at him.

"Sure. That's the Mine Badge. Put to good use," Byron said. He turned around and walked back into his office. I turned around to head out the door, but found my way blocked by what looked like everyone that was sitting in the stands. They were still whooping and cheering.

"That was amazing!"

"Can I get a picture with your Charizard."

"Can I have your autograph?"

"Wow."

"Your Lucario is awesome!"

"Can I see your Houndoom?"

"That was so cool!"

"Wow!"

And it went on like that for about twenty minutes until I finally just pushed through all of them. I exited out of the sliding glass doors and headed back to the Pokemon Center. It was pretty late now. The sun was low in the sky, coloring everything golden. I could hear the Murkrow and Noctowl starting to wake up from their slumber. I entered through the Pokemon Center's sliding doors and walked up to the front desk. I handed my pokeballs to Nurse Joy once again and sat down on the same waiting bench. The T.V. was still on from before. I folded my arms and leaned back, looking up at the T.V. A soap opera was on, displaying some guy and a really pissed off girlfriend. These stupid shows were all the same. "How could you cheat on me?" "But I love you!" SMACK! "Well I don't love you" Aww boo hoo. Damn soap operas make me want to kick in someon'es face. I was brought back to my senses by the jingle from the Canalave News.

"Here's an update of the situation in the Oreburgh Mine. A number of citizens confirmed that they saw the Mightyena from earlier today, with a whole group of other canine type, drag several smaller pokemon down into the mine," a reporter said from behind a news desk. "We will now go to Christine for more on this story. Christine?" The camera changed to another reporter.

"Thanks Emily. Behind me you can see the Oreburgh Mine. Reports have confirmed that several large canine pokemon kidnapped a few smaller pokemon and have taken them down into the mine. We have no clues as to what is taking place down there. A pokesquad is just now entering the mine to try and restrain the canine pokemon and rescue the others." Behind her there were ten men and ten Arcanine. They had on matching uniforms and were marching into the entrance of the mine. "As you can see, the group consists of an elite squad of enforcers and ten highly trained Arcanine. The team hopes to finish by morning. All we can do now is wait. This is Christine, reporting for Canalave News."

Th report ended and I stood up. It's time Malak learned that he can't do whatever he wants and not have to pay the consequences. I have to stop him. I had to do this for those poor pokemon..., and for Jade...

End Notes: Wow, that was long. I don't know about you guys, but I wasn't really happy with this chapter. If you guys thought it wasn't that good too, then let me know. Well I think I'm just about full with character requests. You guys buried me in requests! XD Wow, did I just say XD? Somebody slap me... Chapters might be slowing down a bit cuz I just started school again (I'm a Junior yay!) and I'll be writing don't worry! I think I'll be shooting for 30 chapters so I hope you guys can hang in there with me! So, I have enough character requests, but I still need some more characters to work for Malak. If you want a character to work for Malak, let me know ASAP! I only have three slots however, so hurry up! Also, be sure to visit Our community. By our I mean Mintobrandybuck, myself and Felix The Eeveetrainer's Community, The Shadow Trifecta. If you like my story, then you'll love the Community! Bear with us though, cause we just started it, so any complaints you have can stay with you. Umm, I think that's all. See ya!