Landslide

The team arrived in Driftveil City with Ryan eager to get his fifth gym badge.

However, Ryan also carried a sense of worry with him as well. He remembered that his last gym battle with Elesa had been televised, which meant that maybe Lucy could've seen it, meaning she may have an idea of where he may be, so he seriously had to keep his wits about him, since he didn't know when Lucy would catch up to him.

Thankfully, a night at the Driftveil City Pokémon centre was enough to help him and his Pokémon to relax and allow them to psych up in preparation for the battle.

The following morning, he and his friends woke up, got dressed and had their breakfast before heading out to the Driftveil City gym, so Ryan could take on Clay, the Miner King.

Admittedly, Ryan still wasn't too sure of a strategy, but he knew his best chance of success was with Wartortle.

As the trio of trainers stepped through the doors of the gym, they found a mineshaft elevator waiting for them.

"Let's do this" Ryan said in an epic fashion as he and his friends stepped onto it.

He pushed the button.

Nothing.

Ryan, obviously confused as to why the lift wasn't working, pressed the button again.

Nothing.

Growing agitated, he pressed it a few more times.

Still nothing.

"It must be stuck" Jason said to the others.

"Well, either that or Clay isn't here at the moment" Selina interjected.

"What makes you say that?"

Selina pointed towards a note stuck to one of the doors, one which they'd failed to notice coming into the gym.

The trio read the note.

Dear Trainers,

Sorry to say that the gym is closed at the moment, as I'm currently competing in the Unova Leaders Tournament today. Trainer battles will continue once the tournament is over.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

Clay

"Damn it! That's twice"

"Well, at least he left a note"

"Hmm. Unova Leaders tournament. Where might that be held?"

"If I remember this correctly, there is a giant indoor stadium just down the road where they hold all the tournaments in the Unova Region. In fact, the entire world goes there to see the best trainers battle it out in different tournamants".

"Sounds interesting. How about we check it out?"

"Sounds like a good idea to me".

As the team arrived at the Pokémon World tournament stadium complex, they found that the Unova Leaders tournament was more popular than they thought.

Everywhere they looked, the place was bustling with people.

Also, people who couldn't get a place in the stadium were watching the tournament unfold on various large screens.

As the trio stepped into the stadium lobby, they found more of the same.

The spectators were busy watching the final match of the Unova Leaders tournament unfold: Cheren VS Drayden. Cheren was battling with a Stoutland, whilst Drayden was battling with a Druddigon.

Drayden was on the verge of winning, but Cheren wasn't giving up easily.

The sounds of cheering could be heard from the arena.

As the trio watched the battle unfold, they heard a voice calling out to Ryan.

They looked in the direction from where the voice came from.

It was Roxie, standing at the entrance to the VIP section.

The trio went over to her.

"It's great to see you again, Ryan" The Virbank City gym leader said happily. "I've been hearing so many great things about your battles. I take it that you went to Driftveil City to challenge Clay, but he wasn't there, so you came here to see if you could find him."

"Precisely"

Roxie then noticed Ryan's friends.

"Who are you two?"

"Oh, these two are old friends of mine: Jason and Selina. Brendan and May needed to head back to the Hoenn Region on an urgent mission. I actually bumped into these guys on the way to Nimbasa City".

"Hi"

"Hello"

"Oh, okay. Cool. Hi guys. Hey, how would you guys like to watch the rest of the battle in the VIP hospitality box? There are a few people in there who would quite like to meet you".

"Sounds good to us".

"Alright then. Let's go!"

The group then headed up a group of stairs and towards the VIP box.

A security guard attempted to stop Ryan and his friends from entering, but Roxie reassured him that they were with her.

As they entered the box, they could easily see why there was heavy security.

Inside this hospitality box were gym leaders from all over the world, including the likes of Gardenia and Sabrina, spectating the battle in comfy recliner chairs whilst eating luxurious food.

At this point, Burgh, who had been eliminated in one of the earlier rounds of the tournament, noticed Ryan and his friends.

"Ah! Ryan! It's great to see you again. Congrats on beating Elesa" He said, getting out of his chair and shaking Ryan's hand.

This then attracted the attention of the other gym leaders, to which they then went over to meet Ryan and his friends.

"Oh hey guys! Fancy seeing you here!" Said Elesa.

"Clay, Skyla, Marlon, take a good look for this young trainer will be challenging all of you and Drayden very soon. Be warned, Ryan is one hell of a fighter" Roxie told the other gym leaders.

Ryan stared up at his next Gym Battle opponent: The massive, Stetson wearing leader of the Driftveil City Gym, Clay.

"So, yer the trainer people have been talkin' about, huh. I'm Clay. I'm the Gym Leader 'round these parts. Don't be expectin' no easy fight. I'm not called The Miner King for nothin'" Clay said to him.

"Miner King or not, my Pokémon and I are still going to be going all out. " replied Ryan confidently.

"Ooh! That's proper fighting talk. I like that." Skyla commented.

This particular comment made Ryan blush a little bit.

"Why don't you three take a seat?" Sabrina asked the trio. "We can watch the rest of the battle".

The three trainers then took three empty seats between Skyla and Gardenia and watched the match with the gym leaders.

Ryan had the virtue of getting the seat right next to Skyla.

Ryan soon found himself in conversation with the Mistralton City Gym Leader.

"So tell me about yourself, Ryan." Skyla said to him as they watched the battle. "When did you decided to take on the Unova League?"

"Well, I'd actually decided a few years ago that I'd like to try and take on the League. This mainly comes from watching so many League battles on the TV whilst growing up. However, I wasn't allowed to leave home as early as most young trainers, but I was allowed to have my first Pokémon before then, so I asked for a Squirtle on my 14th birthday and, well, the rest is pretty much history" Ryan said, indicating to Wartortle, who was sitting next to Ryan's seat, watching the battle.

"So why exactly weren't you allowed to leave home early?"

"Well, my parents feared that if I left when I was younger, I'd end up making quite a lot of bad mistakes on my journey, so they kept me at home to make sure that I the chance of making a terrible adventure decision was minimal. To be perfectly honest, I thank them for doing that. In my opinion, I doubt I would've done this well if I started when I was younger."

He sighed.

"However, I definitely can't thank them for what they were planning to put me through".

"What were they planning?"

"Well, two years ago, I'd made an agreement with my parents to get married before I went out on my adventure, so as to secure my long term future. They set me up with a girl called Lucy. Now, to begin with, she was actually really sweet. However, once our wedding had been announced, she became more controlling and possessive of me. But worst of all, she wanted me to get rid of my Squirtle in favour of a Piplup. I tried to bargain with my parents, but they was nothing they could do. So, we opted to run away on the eve of the wedding and start our adventure early".

Skyla had a look of utter shock on her face.

"That's horrible! You poor thing. I don't blame you. If I was in your shoes, I would've run off as well".

The other gym leaders had heard and all nodded their heads in unison.

"Don't worry about me, Skyla" Ryan said reassuringly. "Ever since that night, I've never looked back. My friends and I have been travelling fast, winning one gym badge before quickly continuing on to the next battle, always knowing that Lucy and my parents are in hot pursuit of us. But you know what, I sincerely doubt that's going to stop me anytime soon. But enough about me. Tell me about yourself. What was your first Pokémon?"

"Well, the first Pokémon I ever remember encountering was a cute little Pidgey that my dad picked up on his travels in the Kanto Region. I guess this is what ignited my interest in Flying Type Pokémon. The first Pokémon I ever actually got was a Ducklett, which I still battle with at the gym as a fully evolved Swanna. I have a huge amount of trust for my Pokémon as they do for me, but I've always had the best relationship with Swanna".

"I don't find that surprising. I heard that trainers that have a great relationship with their Pokémon often have the best relationship with their first one".

"Yeah. But still, It can still get quite lonely working at the Mistralton Gym. I've never had many chances to go places and meet people. That's the unfortunate burden of being a gym leader, I suppose. But still, I'm hoping to retire from being a gym leader eventually. Perhaps I'll settle down with someone and have a kid who can pick up where I left off".

"Sure. Do whatever you want to do. Just make sure you end up with the right guy. Speaking of which, what kind of guy would float your boat?"

"Well, I honestly don't know. Perhaps someone like you, Ryan".

Ryan began blushing again.

"Is she coming on to me?" He thought to himself.

As they continued chatting, Ryan found himself getting lost in Skyla's bright blue eyes.

Every once in a while, they'd stop their conversation to continue watching the battle. However, during some of these moments, Ryan would soon find himself peering over at Skyla. His eyes would then trail down from her beautiful face and along her alluring figure.

If he thought Lucy was pretty, then Skyla was the best damn thing he'd ever seen.

He soon found himself blushing again.

On the battlefield below, Cheren's Stoutland was still fighting hard against Drayden's Druddigon.

"Now, Stoutland! Use Wild Charge!"

The Stoutland then began charging towards the Druddigon, surrounding itself with electricity.

"Druddigon! Finish this with Sucker Punch!"

Druddigon then launched a powerful Sucker Punch attack, striking Stoutland hard across the face and intercepting the Wild Charge attack.

This proved more than enough to knock it out.

"Stoutland is unable to battle" The Referee called out. "Druddigon wins, which means the victor is Drayden!"

As the crowd began clapping and cheering, Cheren and Drayden returned their Pokémon to their balls and shook hands with each other in the middle of the field.

"And now, the Unova Champion will present Drayden, the tournament winner, with his trophy" Declared the announcer.

On cue, Nate, the reigning Unova League Champion stepped out of a seat in the front row and walked onto the battlefield, carrying a large trophy.

As Nate handed the trophy to Drayden, shaking his hand, the cheering of the crowd became even louder.

The trio of trainers soon found themselves standing in the stadium's main atrium, with the large group of Gym leaders, waiting to congratulate the two combatents.

As they stepped out of the main stadium and into the atrium, the other gym leaders then encircled the two, congratulating them on the great battle they just had.

Cheren then recognised Ryan.

"Oh hey, Ryan!" He said, shaking his hand "It's felt like ages since I last saw you. I've been hearing great things about your journey, so I had to see how you were doing".

He then noticed Jason and Selina.

"Ah. I see Brendan and May headed back to the Hoenn Region"

"They did indeed. These guys are my old friends. Jason and Selina".

Drayden then walked up to the group.

"Drayden, these are Ryan, Jason and Selina".

"Mr Drayden, it's an honour to meet you" Ryan said, holding his hand out for Drayden to shake.

"Likewise, young trainer" The burly mayor of Opelucid City replied, shaking Ryan's hand and almost crushing it with his vice like grip.

"Er. N-nice grip" Ryan whimpered, nursing his hand.

"Now then, ah believe you were wanted to challenge yours truly" Clay said to Ryan.

"Oh yes. I did"

"Well, what are y'all waiting for? Are we battlin' or not?"

"Yes. Yes we are".

"Alrighty then. In that case, we'd better be heading back to Driftveil City"

"Hey, how about we come to watch as well?" Cheren asked the other gym leaders. "It's probably been a while since we've seen another gym leader do battle with a challenger. Besides, he'll be challenging some of us very soon, so it'll allow us to see how he battles".

The Gym leaders agreed to this.

"Did someone say battle?" Said a voice from afar.

They group looked in the direction of the voice.

Nate was standing before them.

He then noticed Ryan and walked up to him.

Ryan's face was one of utter shock and awe. Right here, right now, the Unova Region Champion was standing before him.

"So, you're that Ryan kid that I've heard good things about" Nate said, holding out his hand.

Ryan, still in shock, shook his hand.

"Good sir, let me just say that it's a great honour to meet you" Ryan eventually brought himself to say. "By the way, these guys are my friends, Jason and Selina"

Ryan motioned to his friends.

"Ah! Hello there". Nate said to Ryan's friends, shaking their hands.

"Hi!"

"Hello".

"Anyway, we were actually just about to head off back to the Driftveil City Gym, as Ryan was here to battle Clay" Cheren said to Nate.

Nate sighed happily.

"God, it feels like only yesterday that I was challenging Clay. How about I come with? Besides, I'm expecting Ryan to be at the Unova League soon, so I'd better see how he battles".

Ryan was amazed. The Unova League Champion wanted to see him battle.

"Sure. Go ahead" Clay said to the Champion.

"Alright then. Let's go!"

The large group of trainers then left the World tournament Stadium and headed off back to Driftveil City.

It wasn't too long before the group were deep within the mines of the Driftveil City Gym, waiting for the battle to commence.

Ryan and his Wartortle were stood at one end of the battlefield that was sketched into the rock, whilst Clay stood at the other end, with one of the miners acting as referee for the match.

"Okay, I'm ready" Ryan said to Clay.

"Alrighty then" The Gym Leader replied, producing a pokeball "Krokorok! Go!"

Ryan looked down at Wartortle.

"Go for it, buddy"

"Tortle!" The turtle pokemon replied happily, running on to the other end of the field.

"Okay, Wartortle, I'm going to hang back and let you decide how this battle plays out" Ryan said to Wartortle. "Since his pokemon are all Ground Type, they'll be weak against Water Type, so you'll have the advantage. Just try and win this thing".

Wartortle nodded.

"Alright Krokorok! Use Crunch!"

Krokorok then launched itself at Wartortle, teeth fully bared.

Wartortle, anticipating an attack like this, leapt into the air before landing a powerful Aqua Tail attack in the back of Krokorok's head, dealing massive damage.

Whilst this wasn't enough to knock Krokorok out, the following Water Gun attack from Wartortle was.

"Krokorok is unable to battle. Wartortle wins!" Declared the miner.

"Yes! Great job so far, Wartortle!" Ryan said to his partner.

"Well, that was quicker than expected" commented Marlon.

"Yes, but it's only Clay's first pokemon" Added Drayden. "Wait until he gets to Excadrill".

Clay withdrew his Krokorok.

"You did good, partner. Take a nice long rest" He said before taking out his second pokeball.

"Well, you did well against Krokorok, but lets just see how well you do against my next pokemon" He said to Ryan "Go! Sandslash!"

"Okay, same as before. Just remember to avoid the spines" Ryan said to his friend.

"Sandslash! Crush Claw!"

Sandslash rushed Wartortle, with its claws glowing white.

Wartortle responded to this by dodging out of the way.

Each time Sandslash attacked with its claws, Wartortle dodged out of the way. In fact, this continued until Sandslash finally managed to land a hit on it.

Whilst this did sent Wartortle flying into the air, it managed to balance itself out and land on its feet, before responding with a Water Pulse attack.

Just as Wartortle did when Sandslash first attacked, Sandslash dodged out of the way of the attack.

Each time Wartortle launched a Water Pulse, Sandslash leapt out of the way.

However, on the fourth time Sandslash dodged away from a Water Pulse, Wartortle caught it off guard with a sudden Water Gun attack, dealing a massive amount of damage to it.

Wartortle then finished things off by landing an Aqua Tail attack, sending Sandslash flying into a nearby stalagmite, knocking it out.

"Sandslash is unable to battle. Wartortle wins again!" The miner declared.

The spectators greeted with news by applauding Ryan and Wartortle.

"Great job once again, buddy" Ryan said happily to his friend.

"You did as good as you could, Sandslash. Take a break" Clay said to the fainted Sandslash as he returned it to its pokeball.

He then produced his third and final pokeball.

"I've saved the best for last. Excadrill! Go!"

"Okay, go harder than before. This is his strongest pokemon" Ryan said to Wartortle.

"Excadrill! Use Rock Slide!"

As rocks began falling out of the ceiling, caused by Excadrill releasing a white energy, Wartortle quickly rolled out of the way, before launching a Water Gun in retaliation.

Excadrill tried again, but the outcome was the same.

Wartortle then began charging towards the Excadrill.

Excadrill lunged at Wartortle with a powerful Slash attack, but Wartortle simply flipped into the air, leaving Excadrill wide open.

Then, Wartortle launched another Water Pulse, striking Excadrill on the head and causing massive damage. Wartortle then struck Excadrill on the head again, this time with an Aqua Tail attack, before landing right in front of it. For a short while, Excadrill stood motionless, before finally crashing to the ground, unconscious.

"Excadrill is unable to battle. Wartortle wins again, which means the victor is the challenger: Ryan!"

This was greeted by the sounds of cheering and applause from the audience.

"Yes! Amazing job Wartortle! You did it!" Ryan called out, elated.

"Tortle Tortle!" Replied Wartortle as he rushed up to Ryan and the two embraced.

Clay withdrew Excadrill into its ball and approached the pair.

"Well. So that's what all the hubbub was about, then. Seems they were right about you"

Clay reached into his pocket and pulled out a Quake Badge.

"As the Driftveil City Gym Leader, it's mah honour to give you yer own Quake Badge".

"Sweet! Thanks Clay!" Ryan replied, pocketing the badge and shaking Clay's hand.

Jason, Selina and the others then came onto the battlefield and began congratulating Ryan on his victory.

"Okay, now that was brilliant!" Cheren told him "You were good when you fought me, but what just happened was amazing. That may have been the quickest anyone has ever beaten Clay. It seems that you've raised your Wartortle exceptionally".

"I agree with Cheren" Nate added. "Hell, not even I beat Clay that fast. You made it all look so easy".

"Now then, I guess the next thing for you to do would be to head on up to Mistralton City to challenge Skyla" Burgh interjected.

"Yes. I'll definitely do that very soon" Ryan replied.

Nate pondered for a moment.

"Say, Ryan, I was just wondering, have you heard of the Driftveil Tournament?" He asked.

"I'm aware of it"

"Well, since the tournament is taking place tomorrow, why don't you sign up? It'll allow you to gain some vital experience ahead of your next Gym Battle".

Ryan thought about this for a moment.

"Sounds good to me"

"Hey, how about Jason and I enter as well?" Selina piped up. "We could just participate for the sheer hell of it".

"That sounds great"

As the evening drew in, the group found themselves stepping out of the Pokemon Centre to say their goodbyes.

"You've got a roaring fire of determination and spirit, young Ryan" Drayden said to him. "It would be a great pleasure to battle against you in the near future".

"Same here, bro" Marlon added

"Don't worry. That will indeed happen" Ryan replied.

Just then, something pinched Ryan's butt, causing him to yelp in surprise.

It was Skyla.

"That was a great battle you had out there, Ryan" she said "I'll be waiting for your challenge when you arrive in Mistralton City".

She then leaned in until she was almost touching Ryan's left ear.

"And if you do brilliantly, you might get more than just a Gym Badge" She whispered seductively, gently giving a stroke to the other side of Ryan's head.

This caused him to begin blushing like mad.

Skyla giggled softly.

"You're so cute when you blush like that" She said. "Hey, good luck in the tournament tomorrow. See you!"

With that, she headed off along Route 6 with Drayden and Marlon, briefly stopping to give Ryan a cheeky wink.

Elesa chuckled, shaking her head.

"That Skyla. She's always had a certain way with men. Sometimes, she's even had more men fawning over her than I've had. Anyway I hope things go well for you three in the tournament tomorrow. See ya!"

She, Burgh, Roxie and Cheren then headed off towards the Driftveil Drawbridge, waving goodbye.

This only left Ryan, Jason, Selina, Wartortle and Nate, with Ryan still staring off in Skyla's direction, blushing madly.

"I think she likes you, Ryan" Jason said to him.

No reply.

"Uh, Ryan? Are you alright?" Asked Nate.

No reply.

"Ryan, you in there?" Selina asked, giving Ryan a small poke.

Still no reply.

Just then, Ryan then fell backwards onto the ground.

As the others looked down at him, he just laid there drooling like an idiot.

You could almost see the love hearts floating around his head.

"Skyla, are you really sure about him? You do realize that you've probably got a couple of years on him already"

"So what? It can't be more than just a year or two difference. Besides, the whole idea of "the prettiest girl going with the prettiest guy" is BS and you know it"

"Yeah, I guess I can give you that. Especially considering the last three guys you were linked with. Some of the guys I've met haven't been much better either. Anyway, we're getting off topic. What exactly do you see in Ryan that isn't present with any of the other guys you've met?"

"Well...honestly, it's a whole bunch of things. He comes across as just the nicest person. He's quiet, and courteous. As far as I can tell, he has a good head on his shoulders and he cares deeply for his Pokemon."

"...and he has a psychotic fiancée, which we don't know exists or not."

"Oh, don't be like that. He's telling the truth, I know it. You and I have met enough guys in our lives to tell when someone's lying".

"Good point. Even so, he could either be A) a very good actor or B) actually telling the truth."

"Maybe, but I'm not getting that sort of vibe from him".

"Yeah, I'll give you that. Even so, you can never be too certain. Just promise me one thing, alright?"

"What?"

"When Ryan gets to you...try to avoid doing anything I wouldn't do".

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Why would you ever-"

"Quit the sarcasm, Skyla. You know what I'm talking about. In the space of a couple of minutes, you pinched him on the butt before whispering in his ear, and I quote, "if you do brilliantly, you might get more than just a Gym Badge" while stroking the side of his head. Finally, as you were leaving, you went and winked at him. Poor Ryan looked like he was about to pass out".

"Yeah, I know, but he's just so adorable when he blushes like that. I just want to pick him up and give him some loving".

Elesa sighed.

"You know what? Clearly, you're intent on going through with this. I'm just going to hang up now. Just keep in mind that if anything bad happens, it's on your hands".

"Oh, I'll be fine. Love you, Ellie!"

*Click*