Hello and welcome to another chapter of Pokémon Journey: Livvi's Johto Scrapbook!

Last time, Livvi and Alicia ended up separated in a neighbourhood in southern Goldenrod City, where Livvi ran into Nathan, a reporter from the Goldenrod Post who helped evolve Evoro into a jolteon to help an article he was writing, and Alicia captured a wild slugma that had gotten lost in the shopping district.

Upload Date: 13th September 2017


Chapter 8: Alicia's First Solo Battle

Goldenrod City, Johto

7:41pm, 20th April 2006

The hold-ups on the rail line through Goldenrod City had stacked up, causing chaos on the transport network. After long delays, Livvi and Alicia had finally decided to leave the train two stops before the one they needed, on the basis that it would probably be faster for them to walk.

"How are you feeling?" Livvi asked. "Are you tired?"

"I'm okay for now," Alicia replied. "We don't have that far to go now, do we?"

"I don't think so," Livvi said, glancing at her town map. They'd reached the centre of Goldenrod City some time ago. They were just looking for the central station, their intended destination, since there was a pokémon centre nearby. Livvi really hoped that the chaos with the trains wouldn't mean that there wasn't any room left there.

"Now that we're here, I'm starting to feel a little bit nervous," Alicia sighed, drawing closer to Livvi's side.

"You mean about the gym battle?"

"Yeah…"

"I'm sure you'll be fine." Livvi smiled at her. "We're not going to have time to fight gym battles today, so we'll have plenty of time to train for it."

"Yeah, you're right." Alicia nodded. "And I need to spend some time getting to know my new team member."

"Oh, yeah!" Livvi exclaimed. "I remember you mentioning it on the train. What kind of pokémon did you catch?"

"A slugma," Alicia replied, pulling out the poké ball and showing it to Livvi.

"Wow! Looks tough!" Livvi gasped. "Does it have a name yet?"

"I was thinking of calling him 'Balva'," Alicia replied. "Does it sound weird?"

"No more than the rest of your pokémon's nicknames."

"…So, you think that all of my pokémon have weird nicknames."

"I didn't say that!"

"Ah!" Alicia was suddenly distracted as they rounded a corner. "That looks like the Goldenrod gym!"

Sure enough, a large building facing an open plaza dotted with trees and flower beds stood before them. It sported a large gym logo on the front, high above the door. It certainly seemed quite a bit larger than the Azalea gym.

"Yeah, it's closed." Livvi spotted the sign in the door. All of the lights were off anyway, so it was obvious that there was no one inside. They'd have to come back tomorrow to book slots for their gym battles. "Still, at least we know where to go now!"

"Yeah." Alicia nodded absentmindedly as she put Balva's poké ball away.

"…I'm sure it'll be fine," Livvi said reassuringly, taking Alicia's hand and squeezing it gently.

"Thanks, Livvi." Alicia smiled nervously back at her.

"Anyway, let's get to the pokémon centre first." Livvi checked her town map again. "I think that we need to head in this direction."

The two of them left the plaza and walked along a narrow street packed with small shops, most of which were closed, and a handful of bars full of adults who'd finally left the office for the day. Livvi and Alicia passed by and emerged into another small square.

"Here we are!" Livvi nodded in satisfaction. Ahead of them was the large form of the Goldenrod central train station, where they theoretically should have gotten off. Livvi didn't know if they'd managed to beat their train in, but she'd stopped caring by this stage. They'd gotten to see a bit of the city and they'd reached their destination.

They turned to their left and quickly found the pokémon centre facing the train station across the plaza. Fortunately, it seemed like a large one and the trainer lounge and restaurant didn't seem that busy.

The automatic doors whirred open as they approached. They stepped inside and immediately headed for the reception desk.

"Can we get a room for the night?" Livvi asked.

"Certainly," the receptionist replied. "May I see your trainer card?"

Livvi handed over her card so that the receptionist could take down her details. Then he handed her a pair of card keys.

"Room 31," he said. "Head straight up to the second floor and then turn right in the corridor. It'll be one of the rooms on your left."

"Thank you," Livvi replied as she took the card keys.

"Do you think they're still serving dinner?" Alicia asked as they started walking towards the staircase.

"Probably." Livvi nodded. "Shall we drop our stuff off in the room and then head down for something to eat?"

"Sounds good to me!" Alicia replied eagerly.


9:08am, 21st April 2006

The sky was gloomy as Livvi and Alicia stepped out onto the practice arena behind the pokémon centre. There was a slight chill in the air which made Livvi feel uncomfortable. She tried to shrug it off as she and Alicia called out their pokémon.

"Have you decided who you're going to use?" she called across.

"I don't think I've got much of a choice…" Alicia replied, looking down at her four pokémon. Ruo, Pari and Balva were all stood to attention patiently. Saffa, on the other hand, was flopping about as usual. She wouldn't be a good choice under any circumstances. A four-on-four battle wouldn't be an easy one with only three effective pokémon.

"Well, you can still choose your order," Livvi said, trying to sound as optimistic as possible. "Look, why don't you think about which would be your best 'scout'?"

"Scout?"

"Yeah, you know – the pokémon you send out first when you don't know what to expect."

"…I don't think I've heard that term before."

"That's because I came up with it just now!" Livvi grinned. "But seriously, who do you think would be best for that sort of thing?"

"Probably Ruo," Alicia replied, sighing as she recalled Saffa. "But wouldn't it be better to keep my best back until later?"

"That's a good point." Livvi nodded. "I bet the gym leader would save their best for later on in the battle too."

"So, maybe I should go with Pari," Alicia said, looking at the dunsparce.

Pari gave an eager nod – he was clearly prepared for the role.

"Ah, that's probably best." Livvi looked at him as well. "I mean, we still don't really know Balva's fighting style after all."

"That's what I was thinking," Alicia replied. "I don't want to be trying to get to grips with my opponent when I still don't know my pokémon that well."

"We should probably do some training then." Livvi beckoned to Dacino as she moved over to one end of the arena.

"Got it." Alicia nodded at Balva.

Both fire types took their positions and stared across the arena at each other. Both glanced back as they waited for their orders.

"Alright, use Harden!" Alicia called.

Balva cried out as he allowed the outer edge of his body to cool and harden.

"Use Smokescreen!" Livvi ordered.

Dacino immediately shot out a cloud of thick, black smoke which concealed his half of the arena. As the scuttling of his footsteps filled the air, his opponent looked around carefully in an attempt to pinpoint his location.

"Use Ember!" Livvi shouted.

A stream of fiery embers suddenly erupted from the cloud and shot towards Balva.

"Counter it with your own Ember!" Alicia quickly ordered.

Balva was quick to respond. Taking a deep breath, he fired a blast of embers at Dacino's approaching attack. Bangs and crackles filled the air as the two attacks collided. Losing their speed, the embers dropped to the ground and burnt out.

"Now use Amnesia!" Alicia yelled.

Balva nodded. A slightly vacant look suddenly came over his face.

"Nice!" Livvi grinned as the smoke cleared. "That really narrows down by options." She nodded at Dacino. "Use Flame Wheel!"

Dacino fired out a small jet of flame and started rolling forwards. The flames surrounded him, creating a fireball as he approached. However, Balva was able to sweep to the side to avoid the attack.

"Use Rock Throw!" Alicia called.

Balva shouted out as he suddenly hardened the lava on his back. Forming it quickly into a decent-sized rock, he arched his back violently to send it flying towards the cyndaquil. Wincing in pain, he quickly started replenishing the lost mass.

Dacino, caught by surprise, took the hit head on and hurled back with a crash.

"Okay! That's enough!" Livvi called out. She walked out across the arena to check on Dacino. "Are you alright?"

Dacino pulled himself up and winced in pain. He cried out determinedly, apparently not wanting to let her down, but Livvi could tell that he'd been hurt more than he was letting on.

"That was a pretty good attack, Alicia!" Livvi grinned at her. "Balva might actually do really well in this gym battle!"

"Y-You think?" Alicia was surprised by the slugma's power. He hadn't seemed particularly powerful when she'd first caught him, and he'd been cornered and afraid back then! "So, should I lead with him instead?"

"Hmm." Livvi pondered the question for a second. "I guess that's your call to make!" She grinned guiltily. "You know your pokémon, after all!"

"Yeah…"

It didn't really help, but Alicia was starting to feel a little more confident about her chances now. Judging by the impressed looks on Ruo and Pari's faces as they ran over and called out to Balva enthusiastically, they were feeling more confident as well.


11:17am, 21st April 2006

After finishing their training, the two girls had returned to the pokémon centre to heal their pokémon before heading off to the Goldenrod gym. They'd been expecting to find it completely crowded, but, as they'd walked through the door, they'd been greeted with a lobby that was empty apart from the receptionist.

"Welcome to the Goldenrod gym!" she called to them as they looked around. "Are you here for gym battles?"

"That's right." Livvi nodded as the two of them reached the desk. "Are there any slots available today?"

"There's plenty," the receptionist replied. "The earliest in the 11:20 slot."

"That soon?!" Livvi cried in surprise. That wasn't long from now.

"Yeah." The receptionist nodded. "We don't have that many challengers in here – there's one fighting now and another booked in later in the afternoon."

"Well, that works out for us, I guess," Livvi sighed. "But I'd have thought there'd be more challengers in a city this big."

"We have a bit of a reputation," the receptionist replied sheepishly. "It tends to scare off less experienced trainers…"

"I-Is that so…"

Livvi and Alicia looked at each other.

"Well, I won't get better if I don't challenge myself!" Livvi declared.

"S-Same here!" Alicia piped up.

"Glad to hear it!" The receptionist beamed at them. "Can I see your trainer cards?"

"Sure." Livvi reached for her trainer card, but Alicia suddenly darted forwards and slapped her card down onto the desk.

"Thanks." The receptionist picked it up and started tapping away at her keyboard.

"Huh? You're going first?" Livvi asked Alicia in surprise.

"I kinda felt like I might lose my confidence if I waited…" Alicia shifted her foot nervously.

Livvi smiled. "You don't need to be that nervous. I'm sure that the gym leader isn't as tough as the gym's reputation suggests. Right?" She glanced at the receptionist.

"H-Huh?" the receptionist cried, startled by the sudden question. "A-Ah, yeah, sure! That's right!" she stammered unconvincingly. She handed Alicia back her trainer card. "Well, you're all signed up now! Just wait over there until the current challenger leaves."

"S-Sure." Alicia took her card and walked over to sit on one of the sofas while Livvi booked her slot.

Was the gym leader here going to be really strong? That was what the receptionist's reaction suggested, but then the exact level of her strength would be subjective, right? Alicia was confident that her pokémon could handle tough battles now – she was completely changed from when she'd lost her first gym battle against Falkner in Violet City – but would her leadership be enough to lead them to victory?

And just when she'd decided that she wanted to stop being a burden on Livvi, this kind of gym leader had shown up.

She shook her head.

She needed to be strong. She couldn't let the nerves get to her, or she'd be depending on Livvi too much.

As Livvi finished at the desk and started walking over towards her, they both spotted a dejected-looking boy leaving the arena tunnel.

"I can't believe it…" he mumbled as he passed. "That miltank was just unreal…"

Livvi and Alicia watched him as he walked through the automatic doors and out of the building. They shared a quick glance. Alicia's heart gave a jolt as she noticed the nervousness in Livvi's eyes. If Livvi was intimidated too, then what hope did she…

"L-Looks like you're up!" the receptionist called. "Best of luck to you!"

"Y-Yeah!" Livvi gave her a wobbly smile. "You'll be fine! Don't worry about it!"

"Thanks…" Alicia returned the smile and nervously got to her feet.

The two girls shared a final nod before heading their separate ways.


11:20am, 21st April 2006

As Alicia emerged from the tunnel and found herself standing in the arena, she noticed that there was a pink-haired girl standing at the far end.

"So, you're my next challenger, huh?" she called over to the new arrival. "Welcome to the Goldenrod gym! I was worried that my team and I would have nothing to do until the afternoon!"

"Umm, what are the rules for this gym?" Alicia asked as she reached the challenger's corner.

"Whoa! Hold on there! We haven't even introduced ourselves yet!" the girl called. "I'm Whitney, I'm the leader of the Goldenrod gym!"

"A-Ah! Sorry!" Alicia cried. "I'm Alicia, from Cherrygrove City!"

"Nice to meet you, Alicia!" Whitney grinned. "There's no need for you to be so uptight – we're just have a friendly battle!"

"Umm, so the rules…"

"Oh, right!" Whitney nodded. She turned to the referee. "Did you want to do your thing?"

"Will do!" the referee replied. She stepped forwards to the side line. "This is an official Johto League gym battle between the Goldenrod gym leader, Whitney, and the challenger, Alicia Law from Cherrygrove City! This battle will be fought using a three-on-three single format and will be over when all three of one side's pokémon are unable to battle! In addition, only the challenger may substitute pokémon!"

Up in the stands, Livvi quickly made her way along and sat down to Alicia's left. She'd felt really nervous back in the lobby, but now that she'd seen the gym leader, she felt more at ease. She seemed like a nice person. She briefly caught herself wondering if the gym's reputation was undeserved, but then she remembered the previous challenger leaving the gym.

She frowned. She definitely couldn't afford to underestimate Whitney.

"Are you both ready?" the referee called.

"Sure!" Whitney called enthusiastically, while Alicia nodded.

"Alright, begin!"

Both girls immediately reached for their first poké balls.

"Go, Clefairy!"

"Go, Pari!"

Pari burst out of his poké ball and materialised on the ground. Opposite him, a pink pokémon with stumpy legs and arms and tiny wings on its back materialised in front of Whitney.

"Clefairy?" Alicia quickly pulled out her Pokédex.

"Clefairy, the fairy pokémon and the evolved form of cleffa. On every night of a full moon, groups of these pokémon come out to play. When dawn arrives, the tired clefairy return to their quiet mountain retreats and go to sleep nestled up against each other. Their adorable appearance makes them popular as pets. However, they are rare and difficult to find."

"Alright, start off with Double Slap!" Whitney called.

Clefairy trilled loudly as she raced towards Pari.

"Use Dig!" Alicia quickly yelled, fumbling to put her Pokédex away again.

Pari shouted his understanding and spun his tail. In a split second, he bored a hole in the ground and disappeared from sight. Clefairy halted her attack and looked around cautiously.

"Use Metronome!" Whitney shouted.

"Metronome?" A confused look appeared on Alicia's face.

Clefairy started waggling her finger. A white glow suddenly surrounded it. With a shout, she suddenly fired a jet of water at the ground, harmlessly splashing outwards. Beneath the surface, Pari continued digging without any problems.

"Urgh! I was hoping for Magnitude or Earthquake!" Whitney pouted.

"Wh-What kind of attack was that?!" Alicia cried.

"You've never seen Metronome before?" Whitney grinned. "This is going to be fun!"

At that moment, Pari erupted from the ground and slammed into Clefairy from below, sending the fairy pokémon flying back.

"Use Double Slap!" Whitney immediately called, recovering quickly.

Clefairy charged forwards again and prepared to deliver a volley of slaps to Pari. The dunsparce, however, dove under her arms before spinning around. Clefairy was ready for him, however, and spun just as quickly. Pari wasn't able to dodge the second attack and fell back under the flurry of slaps.

"Use Rage!" Alicia called.

Pari growled as he nodded. He powered himself forwards and slammed into Clefairy. The fairy pokémon let out a cry of pain as she was thrown back. However, she quickly pulled herself back to her feet.

"Use Metronome again!" Whitney called.

Clefairy grinned and nodded before waggling her finger a second time.

"This again?" Alicia glanced at Pari, silently communicating that he should be careful. Pari returned the glance, understanding.

Clefairy's finger glowed white again. Suddenly, she was surrounded in crackling electricity. With a shout, a large bolt of lightning shot up into the air. As it struck the roof of the arena, it bounced back down. Pari shrieked in pain as he was struck directly.

"Pari!" Alicia cried in alarm.

The lightning bolt lasted for only a split second before vanishing, but it was enough to have done a lot of damage. Pari was just about clinging on, but he was covered in scorch marks. Occasional electrical jolts continued to flit across his body, causing his muscles to spasm.

"But it was a water attack before," Alicia gasped. "How could it have changed?"

"Impressed?" Whitney grinned. "Metronome is a move that lets the user use any other attack. But it's completely random – you were really unlucky that you got hit by Thunder!"

"A move with power that you can't predict," Livvi whispered. "If it became a fire type attack and hit Barru…" She frowned. She was starting to see why the Goldenrod gym had acquired its reputation.

"Use Rage!" Alicia called to the wounded Pari.

The dunsparce, mostly recovered from the immediate effects of the electricity and his anger fuelling his power, charged forwards and managed to strike Clefairy while she was off-guard. As she was flung back, however, she was able to recover.

Both pokémon were worn down. Pari was worst, but his repeated attacks had taken their toll on Clefairy as well.

"Use Double Slap again!" Whitney yelled.

Clefairy didn't hesitate. She flung herself forwards in renewed anger and slapped Pari as hard as she could. He endured the first one, but the second sent him flying back. He landed in front of Alicia with a loud crash.

"Dunsparce is unable to battle!" the referee announced. "Clefairy is the winner!"

"Alright!" Whitney cheered. "Great work, Clefairy!"

Clefairy trilled happily in response, clearly thrilled at finally seeing her opponent fall.

Alicia quickly withdrew the exhausted Pari. It was going to be a tough battle from here on. She tightened her grip on her next poké ball. She needed to keep calm and focus.

"Go!" she shouted as she threw the ball. "Use Ember!" she added as the ball popped open and Balva materialised on the ground.

At the same instant that energy around him popped into a burst of sparks, a stream of embers shot forth. Clefairy, not expecting such a sudden attack, was hit directly. She cried in pain as the small embers singed her fur and burnt her skin.

"Now use Rock Throw!" Alicia called. If she could just keep her opponent on the backfoot…

Balva immediately formed a rock on his back and fired it at Clefairy. Still, stunned by the last attack, she didn't have time to dodge. There was a thud as the attack hit and Clefairy was flung back. She smashed to the ground and lay still.

"C-Clefairy is unable to battle!" the referee announced, stunned by the speed of the turnaround. "Slugma is the winner!"

"Wow! You're pretty tough after all!" Whitney gasped as she recalled Clefairy. She smiled at the poké ball. "You did great out there!"

Alicia didn't respond to Whitney's compliment. She was too focused on watching for the moment her next pokémon appeared.

"She's actually doing really well," Livvi murmured. "I just hope that she doesn't let it go to her head."

"Go, Aipom!" Whitney called as she threw out her next poké ball.

The small monkey let out a cry as she burst out and landed nimbly on the ground.

"Use Ember!" Alicia ordered immediately. As Balva fired a burst of embers towards Aipom, she pulled out her Pokédex again.

"Aipom, the long tail pokémon. An aipom's tail ends in a hand-like appendage. The tail is so powerful that they can use it to grab tree branches and hold themselves in the air. They rely on their tails so much that their real hands are rather clumsy."

Aipom nimbly jumped to the side as Balva's attack approached her. A wide grin on her face, she spun and swung her tail in his direction, sending a stream of star-shaped rays towards him. Balva attempted to evade the attack, but was struck anyway and hurled back.

"Are you alright, Balva?" Alicia cried.

Balva let out a shout and reared back up to his normal height.

"Use Rock Throw!" Alicia called as Aipom started darting closer again.

Balva nodded and fired a rock from his back. Aipom dodged the attack once again and dove close to unleash a flurry of swipes on him using her tail.

"Great work, Aipom!" Whitney grinned as Aipom jumped back again. "Now use Rock Smash!"

Aipom called out cheerfully as she dove forwards for another strike, her tail clenched into a fist and glowing a dark red colour.

"Use Harden!" Alicia yelled as Aipom descended.

Balva reacted quickly and stiffened the lava on the outside of his body. Aipom slammed into him, the force of the impact cracking through the hardened shell. But Balva held on, wincing in pain.

Aipom jumped back. As she landed, she grimaced in pain. Though she'd managed to break Balva's armour, it seemed that she'd burnt her tail on the lava beneath.

"Use Swift!" Whitney quickly worked out what was happening and gave her next order.

Aipom nodded and fired another volley of star-shaped rays towards Balva.

"Use Amnesia!" Alicia yelled.

A vacant expression appeared on Balva the instant before he was struck by the rays. As they cleared, he remained upright. Most of the damage appeared to have simply bounced off.

"Now use Ember!" Alicia shouted.

Balva nodded and fired another burst of embers towards Aipom.

"And again!" Alicia shouted as Aipom nimbly dove to the side.

"That aipom is pretty tricky," Livvi sighed, watching as it avoided a second attack before jumping up to use Swift. "I wonder which pokémon I'd use if I were in Alicia's position…"

She'd been alternating between cheering for Alicia and thinking quietly about her own gym battle, though Alicia had been so tied up in the battle that she hadn't noticed. Livvi was trying to learn as much as possible from the battle – what kind of strategies Whitney liked, what kind of attacks she preferred. Though she'd been a trainer for over a year, she'd only been battling extensively for about three weeks. Even with all the attention she was trying to pay to the battle, she was bound to miss something.

Her attention was distracted by a shout as Aipom took a bad hit from a rock thrown by Balva.

"Hang in there, Aipom!" Whitney called.

"Use Ember!" Alicia yelled.

Balva didn't hesitate. He sprayed a stream of embers across the battlefield, striking Aipom once more and forcing her back.

"Now use Rock Throw!" Alicia shouted. She wasn't going to let up. The instant she dropped her guard, Whitney and Aipom would recover and they'd be back to square one.

Balva recognised the urgency in her voice and, despite the injuries he'd picked up during the battle and the depleted magma in his body, he cooled another rock and hurled it at his opponent.

"Look out!" Whitney let out a shout of warning, but Aipom was too slow to react. There was a thud as the rock scored a direct hit and Aipom tumbled to the ground, landing in a heap.

"Aipom is unable to battle!" the referee announced. "Slugma is the winner!"

Alicia was panting too heavily to be able to say anything. With the way Aipom had been darting around, she'd been worried that she'd never score a hit. The adrenaline was pumping through her veins, her focus entirely on the battlefield. She shared a quick nod with Balva as Whitney withdrew Aipom, not hearing what she was saying at all.

She realised that she was shaking slightly.

Though she'd told herself otherwise, there was still a part of her that believed that she wouldn't be able to win this battle on her own. Her heart sank further as she picked up the words 'best pokémon' from Whitney's side of the battlefield as she pulled out her last poké ball.

"Alicia!"

Alicia almost jumped as Livvi's voice rang through the air and cut through her thoughts.

"You've gotten her down to just one pokémon!" Livvi called, a big grin on her face. "You've almost got this battle in the bag! I know you can do it!"

Alicia smiled.

"Sure, I've got this!" she called back, feeling as though the weight of the pressure she'd been putting on herself was lifting slightly. If Livvi believed that she could win, then she could definitely win!

Looks like she's got her head back. Livvi gave a satisfied nod. She knew that it was easy to get too draw into the battle and to forget to look at the bigger picture.

…That being said, though, Livvi had noticed that Alicia tended to put a lot of stock in what she told her. She hoped her encouragement wouldn't make her overconfident.

"Go, Miltank!" Whitney yelled.

A pink cow-like pokémon burst from the ball and landed with a thud on the ground. She looked across at Alicia with a confident grin on her face.

"Ah! I remember hearing that before…" Alicia quickly pulled out her Pokédex.

"Miltank, the milk cow pokémon. Miltank give over five gallons of milk on a daily basis. Their sweet milk is enjoyed by children and grown-ups alike. People who can't drink milk turn it into yogurt and eat it instead. If they have just had a baby, the milk they produce contains much more nutrition than usual."

"It sounds quite…" Alicia couldn't really think of the word. But it definitely didn't seem like a pokémon that would be particularly good at battling…

"Use Defence Curl!" Whitney ordered.

Miltank nodded and curled herself up to conceal her weak points.

"Use Ember!" Alicia called.

Balva quickly fired a blast of embers towards his opponent. He scored a direct hit, but the tiny flames didn't seem to do much damage against Miltank's tough hide.

"Use Rollout!" Whitney shouted.

"Ah!" Alicia gasped as Miltank started rolling forwards at an incredible speed. Within seconds, Balva was struck and hurled back. He landed with a more of a splat than a thud. He grimaced in pain as he forced himself back up. Though it was difficult to see on Balva's semi-fluid body, there was some severe damage.

Miltank, in the meantime was whirling around for a second pass. A second hit would probably finish the already-weakened Balva off, but there was no way that he was agile enough to dodge.

An idea suddenly came to Alicia.

"Dive into the hole!" she yelled.

Balva, initially confused, suddenly realised that he had landed close to the hole Pari had dug earlier. With a quick nod, he darted forwards and dove into it. Miltank sailed harmlessly overhead.

"Now use Ember!" Alicia called.

Balva poked his head back above ground and fired a stream of embers at Miltank. Once again, he scored a direct hit, but the attack still didn't seem to be even bothering her that much.

"Use Rollout again!" Whitney ordered.

Miltank rolled towards Balva with full force.

"Duck down and use Rock Throw!" Alicia shouted.

Balva ducked back into the hole with seconds to spare. As Miltank passed overhead, he fired a rock from his depleted back, slamming into her and sending her flying up into the air. She fell out of her ball as she soared before crashing to the ground with a thud.

"Great work, Balva!" Alicia called with a grin.

"Use Stomp!" Whitney immediately called as Miltank got back up.

With an angry shout, Miltank stormed back over to the hole. Balva immediately scuttled further down the tunnel out of sight, but Miltank wasn't satisfied. Raising her right leg, she slammed in down on the ground with incredible force. There was a sudden cracking sound. Without warning, part of the arena floor gave way and collapsed, sending a cloud of dust into the air.

As it cleared, Balva was visible among the crumbled rocks, knocked unconscious by the cave-in.

"Slugma is unable to battle!" the referee announced. "Miltank is the winner!"

"She's so tough," Alicia murmured almost despairingly as she recalled Balva to his poké ball. She was down to her last one. She couldn't afford to make any mistakes this time. "Go, Ruo!"

Ruo gave a determined cry as he burst out of the ball and landed on the ground. Much larger than his two team mates, he made for a much more impressive sight. He swung the leaf on his head to one side before fixing Miltank with a glare.

"Use Reflect!" Alicia called.

Ruo nodded. He quickly summoned a psychic barrier around himself, protecting him from physical attacks.

"Not bad!" Whitney grinned. "But we'll just smash straight on though!"

Miltank shouted defiantly as she jumped up to begin another roll. As she approached, Ruo darted to one side, but wasn't able to keep up the speed like he'd done as a chikorita. Miltank slammed into him on the second pass and hurled him back. Though he landed with a crash, the damage wasn't too bad.

"Now use Razor Leaf!" Alicia called once she had confirmed that Ruo wasn't badly hurt.

The bayleef threw his leaf to one side, sending a cluster of razor-sharp leaves flying towards Miltank. She let out a cry as they struck and slashed at her. Though she winced in pain at the many cuts, she didn't seem too badly hurt.

"Use Stomp!" Whitney ordered.

Miltank stormed forwards again, knocking Ruo back and slamming her foot into him. Ruo let out a gasp of pain as the air was knocked out of him. He lurched backwards and crashed to the ground. He struggled and pulled himself back up, panting as he tried to regain his breath.

"Use Razor Leaf!" Alicia yelled.

Ruo nodded painfully and hurled another cloud of leaves in Miltank's direction.

"Now use Synthesis!" Alicia called as Miltank was struck by the attack.

Ruo stood the leaf of his lead upright as he absorbed sunlight. Some of the bruises from the previous attacks he'd taken started to heal.

"Use Stomp again!" Whitney shouted.

Miltank, nursing the cuts from Ruo's last attack, looked up and started storming towards the bayleef.

"Use Body Slam!" Alicia yelled.

Ruo dashed forwards as well. The two pokémon met close to the middle of the arena and slammed into each other. Both were bounced back by the force of the impact and crashed to the ground. They both pulled themselves back to their feet.

"Use Rollout!" Whitney yelled.

Miltank tucked herself into a ball and started rolling towards Ruo again.

"Move to the left!" Alicia shouted desperately.

Ruo didn't even pause to acknowledge the command. He dashed to his left before skidding to a halt and turning back to face Miltank.

"Ah! Miltank! Watch out!" Whitney shouted.

Miltank ploughed on and, suddenly, rolled into the rock-filled crater left after she'd destroyed Pari's tunnel. Knocked off-balance, she fell out of her ball and flew through the air.

Straight towards the waiting Ruo.

"Use Body Slam!" Alicia yelled, hardly daring to look.

Ruo gritted his teeth and threw himself towards his opponent. There was a loud smash as they collided. Ruo came off better, using his momentum to throw Miltank back. He landed on his feet while his opponent crashed to the ground closer to Whitney.

"Now use Razor Leaf!" Alicia shouted urgently as Miltank started to pull herself up, the tension and emotion audible in her voice.

Ruo fired a final cluster of leaves. Miltank cried out in pain as she was struck by them. The injuries finally becoming too much, she slumped backwards. There was a thud as she hit the ground.

"Miltank is unable to battle!" the referee announced. "Bayleef is the winner! All three of the gym leader's pokémon are unable to battle, so this match goes to the challenger, Alicia Law from Cherrygrove City!"

"We… did it?" Alicia gasped, the fact that the battle had ended not really sinking in. As the adrenaline wore off, she felt the strength leave her legs. She dropped to the ground, blinking a couple of times as she took in what had happened.

"Wow! What a great battle!" Whitney cried excitedly as she recalled Miltank. She bounced across the arena and patted Ruo on the head. "You're one tough pokémon – I thought we had you for sure!"

Ruo smiled wearily before pulling himself back to his feet and trudging back over towards Alicia.

"Thanks, Ruo." She smiled weakly at him. She suddenly found herself blinking back tears as the bruised and battered bayleef rubbed his nose against her shoulder.

"Need a hand up?" Whitney offered her hand to her.

"Thanks." Alicia took it and stood up again, her legs wobbling slightly as she put her weight on them.

"I had a great time fighting you," said Whitney. "You've definitely earned this." She produced a simple, yellow, square-shaped badge and placed it in Alicia's hands. "This is the Plain Badge – recognition that you were able to beat me and Miltank!"

"Thanks, Whitney." Alicia smiled tiredly.

Up in the stands, Livvi smiled as she stood up. She'd been worried for a while there, but Alicia had just managed to pull through.

Now it was her turn.


So, Alicia manages to narrowly win her battle against Whitney. Somewhat of a misleading title really, given that Alicia has already fought a number of solo battles (including against Falkner at the start of Chapter 3) up to this point…

There isn't really much more I wanted to say for this chapter. We'll have Livvi's gym battle against Whitney in Chapter 9, which should go up after Chapter 32 of Hoenn.

As ever, I appreciate any feedback you have on this chapter.

Until next time!


Team Listings:

Livvi Weston:

Active:

Barru (Bulbasaur): male, timid, highly persistent, likes sweet food, grass-poison type, Overgrow ability, knows Tackle, Sludge Bomb, Solar Beam and Leech Seed.

Cylune (Venomoth): male, modest, proud of its power, likes dry food, poison-bug type, Shield Dust ability, knows Stun Spore, Psychic, Toxic and Silver Wind.

Evoro (Jolteon): male, jolly, alert to sounds, likes sweet food, electric type, Volt Absorb ability, knows Thunderbolt, Double Team, Double Kick and Quick Attack.

Tavro (Hypno): male, quirky, loves to eat, eats anything, psychic type, Forewarn ability, knows Psychic, Hypnosis, Future Sight and Headbutt.

Litine (Marill): female, mild, good endurance, likes dry food, water type, Thick Fat ability, knows Defence Curl, Tail Whip, Water Gun and Rollout.

Dacino (Cyndaquil): male, adamant, loves to eat, likes spicy food, fire type, Blaze ability, knows Ember, Swift, Flame Wheel and Smokescreen.

In Viridian City:

Dorru (Nidorina): female, quiet, mischievous, likes dry food, poison type, Rivalry ability, knows Fury Swipes, Double Kick, Poison Sting and Crunch.

Salea (Blissey): female, gentle, somewhat vain, likes bitter food, normal type, Natural Cure ability, knows Softboiled, Psychic, Double-Edge and Egg Bomb.

Alicia Law:

Active:

Ruo (Bayleef): male, naughty, often dozes off, likes spicy food, grass type, Overgrow ability, knows Body Slam, Synthesis, Razor Leaf and Reflect.

Pari (Dunsparce): male, quirky, likes to thrash about, eats anything, normal type, Serene Grace ability, knows Rage, Defence Curl, Yawn and Dig.

Saffa (Magikarp): female, rash, often lost in thought, likes dry food, water type, Swift Swim ability, knows Splash.

Balva (Slugma): male, hasty, a little quick tempered, likes sweet food, fire type, Flame Body ability, knows Harden, Rock Throw, Ember and Amnesia.