Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or form. Just the plot and OC of this story.
Diego walked along one of the main roads of Violet City watching the people that walked past him and listening to his Pokémon chat. It was interesting how people reacted towards a trainer and their Pokémon. He could have understood certain peoples reaction if he would have been walking along with a team of enormous Pokémon instead of three small first evolution Pokémon, the tallest of which was two feet and four inches. So he was very confused when people would cross the road to get away from the group or when some parents would usher their children away from his Pokémon and glare at him like he was carrying around a disease. Diego realized how uncensored he had became growing up in a Pokémon Daycare, Pokémon had never poised a threat to him or had never tried to attack him, without him provoking them, but he realized that not everyone had had the same upbringing as him. It wasn't all bad some adults would stop him and talk to him about his Pokémon and his journey before they began droning own about their own journeys and some children would came up to Diego and ask if they could touch his Pokémon causing them to go into uncontrollable giggling fits when they felt the contrast between Ferno's fur and Ripas' scaly hide.
"I think that little girl had something sticky on her hand." Ripas said leaning against Ferno and rubbing against him.
Diego glanced down at Totodile "yeah I saw her with an ice cream before she came to pat you, so that was probably it." He smiled. Diego looked forward as Ferno snapped at Ripas before he glanced sideways at his shoulder where Dea began talking.
After she finished Diego glanced down at pair who were walking along the ground and waited for a translation. When both stayed quiet Diego loudly cleared his throat, "no I refuse to translate anymore, and you have another Pokémon which you can understand get him to translate." Ferno growled swinging his head from side to side.
Diego just shrugged and wondered what was wrong with Ferno before shifting his glance to Ripas who began translating, "she asked 'where are we heading?'"
"We're heading to the Pokémart to pick up some supplies before we take up the gym challenge." All the Pokémon seemed to be satisfied with this explanation and when back to talking amongst themselves. It took them another thirty minutes to reach the Pokémart at the slow pace they travelled at, because each one of Diego's steps counted for two or three of the Pokémon's steps. When they did enter the Pokémart Diego told Ferno and Ripas to stay close as the Pokémart was bigger than he had expected.
After gathering up some potions and a few pieces of food Diego paid and was out of there. On their way to the Pokémart he had seen that the gym was a little back towards the way they had come so Diego set out in that direction. It took a few minutes to reach the gym. Diego stood outside of gym in front of a newly painted sign:
'Violet City Pokémon Gym Leader: Falkner The Elegant Master of Flying Pokémon'
"Huh I wonder what type he trains." Diego said sarcastically before walking up to the doors where another sign was stuck to the door:
'If Pokémon are not battling they must remain inside their pokéballs.'
Diego looked at the sign as if it was written in gibberish, "Wha..." Diego trailed of before shrugging and turning to his Pokémon "well you heard the sign, everyone back into their 'balls." Dea and Ripas didn't resist being put back in their pokéball but when Diego pulled out Ferno's 'ball the Growlithe began growling and backing away.
"You know I don't like being in there." He growled
"Yeah I know and I promise that the moment we get back outside I'll bring you back out, okay." Diego said reassuringly. Ferno growl and barked before Diego put him in his pokéball. He put the pokéballs away in his pockets and pushed the fogged glass door open. He had been inside a Pokémon gym before so he was use to the usual layout of a gym. He walked into the front hall/foyer of the gym and spotted a man sitting behind a desk on a phone. He began heading towards the man who held up his hand when Diego reached him. Diego decided to have a look around while the man finished his phone call. Diego noticed that the foyer was pretty barren save for a couple of chairs and one piece of art that hung next to the door.
After a minute or so Diego heard the man behind him say "what can I help you with?"
"Ahh yeah, I was wonder when the next opportunity to battle the gym leader was?"
"I believe Falkner has left for the day and won't be accepting a challenge until tomorrow." He man said looking down at a schedule book. "I can schedule a time for you to take the gym challenge for tomorrow if you like."
"Ah yeah that would be great. Also there is another person I'm travelling with that will want to take the challenge as well."
"That okay but there will have to be a break between challenges to allow people to heal their Pokémon." Diego nodded to show he understood, "alright the earliest opening is at 10am, is that good for you?"
"Is there any time later?" Diego asked thinking of how Sarah had been sleeping in lately.
"Well 11am is taken but I can get you 12pm and the other person 2pm." The man said studying the book.
"Yeah that will be good." Diego smiled. "Can I borrow a pen to write down the times?" the man produced a pen and a note pad to write on. "Thanks." Diego said after he finished writing and passed the equipment back to the man.
"Is there anything else I can help you with?" the man asked.
"Nah I'm good, thanks." Diego said turning around and stuffing the note in his pocket.
When he got out of the gym he brought Ferno back out, who muttered something about breaking his pokéball, Diego decided to keep the others inside their pokéballs. "Come on Ferno let's go check on Sarah." Diego said beginning to walk towards where he and Sarah were staying.
It took Diego and Ferno 45 minutes to reach the Pokémon Centre at the eastern side of Violet. Diego walked through the automatic door at the front and began heading towards the accommodation block situated at the rear of the Centre. The block consisted of thirty rooms that could be rented out by anyone who had nowhere else to stay; meaning it mainly was populated by trainers on their journeys which also meant it was populated by a high number of Pokémon. Diego opened the doors to the block and had to hold his foot up in the air as a Marill and a Poliwag came sprinting out from the door startling both Diego and Ferno. After Diego got into the hall he saw an obstacle that he would have to overcome to get to his room; an Electivire and a Rhydon were having a debate in the middle of the hall effectively blocking off the hallway. When Diego reached them he asked them to let him through.
Both of the giants looked down at him and glared at him before moving aside, obviously irritated to have their debate interrupted. As Diego walked between them with Ferno in tow he heard one of them grunt; "look at that thing it's so small and pathetic."
Diego heard Ferno growl and beat him to a rebuttal "he may be small but he could kick you asses any day." Diego smiled and Ferno barked at them. Diego half turned to look at them and saw that both of them had a look of shock on their faces. Diego could help but laugh as he reached his door to the room he shared with Sarah. His laughter stopped when he heard music and singing coming from the other side of the door.
He slowly and quietly opened the door and signaled to Ferno to be quiet. When he opened the door a crack the words of the song came to his ears;
" … And my heavy heart sinks deep down under you and your twisted words,
Your help just hurts
You are not what I thought you were
Hello to high and dry
Convinced me to please you
Made me think that I need this too
I'm trying to let you hear me as I am" the word rang out as Diego peeked in to see that it was Sarah who was singing.
"…I'm not gonna write you a love song
'cause you asked for it
'cause you need one, you see
I'm not gonna write you a love song
'cause you tell me it's make or break in this
If you're on your way
I'm not gonna write you to stay
If all you have is leaving I'ma need a better reason to write you a love song today
Promise me that you'll leave the light on
To help me see with daylight, my guide, gone
'cause I believe there's a way you can love me
Because I say
I won't write you a love song
'cause you asked for it
'cause you need one, you see
I'm not gonna write you a love song
'cause you tell me it's make or break in this" Diego was taken aback, he hadn't realized how good Sarah was at singing. As she continued to sing Diego quietly walked into the room and stood in front of the door and watched Sarah begin playing an imaginary piano.
"…Is that why you wanted a love song?
'cause you asked for it
'cause you need one, you see
I'm not gonna write you a love song
'cause you tell me it's make or break in this
If you're on your way
I'm not gonna write you to stay
If your heart is nowhere in it
I don't want it for a minute
Babe, I'll walk the seven seas when I believe that there's a reason to write you a love song today, today."
With that the music stopped and Diego began clapping and Ferno howled, "Encore, Encore!" he shouted as Sarah whipped around and stared at him with wide eyes.
"Oh My Arceus Diego, how long have you been standing there?!" she said her face turning red.
"Long enough to see that you're really good at singing." Diego smiled walking over to his bed and laying down on it.
"Diego you can't tell anyone about this, you weren't even supposed to find out about it." She stammered looking at him pleadingly.
"Why what's wrong with singing, its fine for a girl to be able to sing."
"It's just… that between you, Red, the others and my family I've kind of became a bit of a tomboy. I mean come on I have two other sisters and no brothers, remember." Sarah explained.
Diego shifted himself into a sitting position and looked her in the eye, "what do you mean between me and Red?"
"Well you two always treated me like one of the guys when we were little so I guess I kind of became a bit of a manly girl." She said looking at the ground between her feet.
Diego saw how much this meant to Sarah and decided to be a good friend, "alright Sarah, I'll keep your secret. And come on we all have secrets. I have a bunch personally."
"Like what I know basically everything about you?" she frowned.
Diego laughed, "Sarah there are thing that I know that I can never tell anyone, at all."
"Oh but just Guardian stuff." Sarah scoffed.
"No. Not all of it. Granted a major of it is but there are still things that have nothing to do with being a Guardian that I have to keep a secret."
Sarah just shook her head before saying "did you check out the Gym?"
Diego nodded and pulled the note out of his pocket, "I got us scheduled to take on the Gym at those time tomorrow," he pointed at the times on the note, "I presume you'll want the 2 o'clock time?"
Sarah nodded, "we should probably go do some training."
"Yeah but first I need to take care of natures calling." Diego said walking towards the bathroom.
"Make sure you open the window." She called after him as she heard the door lock.
The rest of that day consisted of training for the upcoming battles; Diego noticed a slight rivalry beginning to develop between Ferno and Ripas. After the day training the group headed out a restaurant for dinner but they were asked to leave because 'they were disturbing the other dinners'. With that they headed back to the Pokècenter to rest up for the next day.
"Come on Diego, we're gonna be late." Sarah said running ahead of Diego.
Diego pulled out his Pokénav and checked the time, "Sarah we're a quarter of an hour early, we'll be fine. Plus I'm the one who is battling first."
"So come on, you don't want to be late." Sarah said turning and motioning to him to hurry up.
"Argh." Diego groaned before breaking into a jog. The pair jogged for about 100 meters before they neared the Pokémon Gym. Diego stopped in front of a reflective window a few meters from the Gym. "You sure I look okay." He asked Sarah who had stopped a meter ahead of him.
Sarah facepalmed, "Diego you're a guy, what do you care about how you look?"
Before going to dinner yesterday Diego had grudgingly gotten his parent to send him some money to buy some new clothes as ever since the group had reached Violet Diego had been wearing Sarah's spare clothes. He had gotten himself a replacement running shirt and some everyday clothes. He now wore a dark gray, almost black, t-shirt and navy blue track pants that he had unzipped into shorts.
"Well I don't want to look retarded." He said turning to Sarah and continuing to walk towards the Gym.
"Diego it's you, you always look retarded." She smiled.
"Says you." He muttered.
"Will you two stop; we have to get ready for the battle, Diego." Ferno growled beside him as they reached the door.
"Well that doesn't make any sense." Sarah said eyeing the sign on the door while Diego returned Ferno.
"Yeah well the gym leader makes the rules so take it up with him." he said walking into the Gym. The pair walked up to the main desk where the same man sat. "Hi there I'm here to take the Gym Challenge, I was here yesterday."
"Ah yes, you're a couple of minutes early," this caused Sarah to smile sheepishly, "but I can get you an early start if you like."
"Yeah that sounds good." Diego said.
"Oh I almost forgot you need to fill out this form." The man said producing a form on a clipboard and a pen. "The forms pretty standard, just ask me if you need help with something."
Diego nodded and began filling out the form. It was made up of general identity questions; name, birth place, trainer number that type of stuff. It only took Diego a few moments to fill out the completed form and hand it back to the man, who scanned over it to make sure all the areas were filled in.
"Alright follow me." He man said standing up and walking towards a set of doors. Once they were through them the man turned to Sarah, "you can go watch the match from the grandstand." He gestured towards a grandstand on the left of a battle area that already had a couple of people seated in it.
"Good luck, Diego." Sarah smiled at him before walking towards the 'stand for a seat.
"Follow me." The man instructed.
Diego had a look around the battle area and noticed that the gym had a very high roof. "Well I guess they need room." Diego mumbled. He looked back at the grandstand and spotted Sarah, "does that grandstand ever fill?" he asked the man.
"Yes, when ever Falkner comes out to battle someone there tends to be large crowd to watch, if someone makes it up to Falkner that is."
He's trying to undermine your confidence, Diego, ignore him the voice said.
I know Diego thought.
The man led him to a sort of waiting room. "Wait here, I will come and get you when it is time to begin." With that he left.
Diego sat down on one of the plastic chairs and pulled out his pokéballs containing his Pokémon. He looked through transparent tops and his Pokémon looked back at him, "alright guys this is it, this is where it begins. The first one is always the hardest after all but this is what all the training is for. Let's do this." he said as much to himself as them, all of his Pokémon nodded and snarled, even Dea bared her teeth to look aggressive causing Diego to chuckle lightly but inside he felt like he was about to puke.
"It's time." A voice said beside him. Diego stood and put his Pokémon back in his pockets before turning and following the man out of the waiting room. The man led Diego along a short hallway before stopping at the end of it. "This is where I stop, just follow the path and go up the stairs to enter the arena." He paused and looked down at the boy, "good luck." He said before turning and walking back down the hallway.
Diego watched him walk away. After the man turned a corner and vanished from Diego's field of vision Diego turned back to the arena, "well better now than never." He muttered and started walking towards the arena. It was only fifteen meters from the mouth of the hallway to the steps of the arena, which were just three steps to the raised arena. Diego walked up the steps and stepped into the arena. He noticed that there was an official on the side of the arena. He looked to his left and saw Sarah sitting on the grandstand; she gave him two thumbs up making him smile. That smile faded when he turned back to face his opponent who had walked into the arena.
Diego's opponent was a kid probably the same age as him. He was shorter than Diego with reddish brown hair. He wore what looked to be a blue flight suit with some weird wrapping around one of his forearms.
Diego would have like a bit more time to size up his opponent but the official decided not to waste any time on starting the match. "Alright this is the first match in the preliminary rounds to determine whether or not the challenger will face Gym Leader Falkner. This match will be an all on all team battle. Both of the trainers may switch out their Pokémon at any point. Do both trainers accept these conditions?" both boys nodded, neither were talking in an attempt to psyche out their opponent. "Alright then," the official began raising his arm, "when I drop my arm both of you must release your Pokémon so grab them out now." Diego began searching around his pockets for the pokéball he wanted while his opponent pulled a pokéball out from a bag behind him. "Ready…" the official called, Diego's grip on the pokéball tightened, "Begin!"
"Go Spearow!" the boy shouted tossing his pokéball up in the air. There was a small cloud as the pokéball released the Spearow into the air.
"Go Ripas!" Diego said quieter than the boys shout holding Ripas' pokéball in front of him to release him.
Both Pokémon were out on the battling arena and were staring at each other. Diego wasn't quite sure whether or not he should attack first or let his opponent do it. Oh hurry up Diego and use Rage he thought. "Ripas, Rage!" he called giving the Totodile the opportunity to charge at the Spearow.
"Spearow use Fury Attack!" the boy shouted as his Spearow began flying at Ripas with an impressive speed.
Good Diego thought as Ripas was closing down the gap between the two Pokémon, when Diego had been training Ripas while in Violet he had honed the Totodile's attack strength. All it needs to do is get close enough for Ripas to hit it. The distance between the two Pokémon was shrinking quickly, with only about ten meters left Diego changed tactics, "Ripas use Water Gun!"
The trainer was so confused by Diego's switch of attacks that he didn't react to the command. Ripas skidded to stop, straightened himself up and shot a pressurized jet of water at the Spearow. The jet missed its target of the Spearow's body but as the Spearow tried to dodge it the jet hit one of its wings causing it to fall to the ground a couple of meters in front of Ripas, who had resumed charging at it with his rage attack ready.
"Spearow get up and use Peck!" the boy shouted. His Spearow began moving but only very slowly, the actual Water Gun that had hit it wasn't very strong but the speed at which the Spearow had been travelling when it hit the ground had been quite fast meaning it had taken more damage from the impact with the ground.
Ripas continued to bare down on the Spearow who had now propped itself up on the wing that hadn't been hit. The boy stood there speechless until Ripas was just about to launch his attack before yelling "Now!" the Spearow launched itself at Ripas with its last ounce of strength. Both the Pokémon collided but the result was obvious as when Ripas hit the Spearow it was thrown backwards while Ripas simply skidded backwards a small distance.
The official looked at the result of the collision; the Totodile stood upright breathing deeply and the Spearow lay on the ground unmoving, knocked out. Both the official and Diego watched the Spearow's trainer return it to its pokéball and raise his hands before announcing "I'm done."
The official nodded at this, "the Spearow is unable to continue battling and the defense trainer has no more Pokémon to continue battling with so the defense trainer has lost and victory is awarded to the challenger who will be moving onto the next preliminary match."
Diego stood there shocked that he had beaten the first trainer. It wasn't until the official spoke to him that he snapped back to reality, "challenger, return your Pokémon and return to the holding room." Diego looked down and noticed Ripas standing beside him, smiling, waiting to be returned. Diego returned the Totodile and walked back to the waiting room.
The moment he got there he brought out Ripas' pokéball and smiled at him. "You did absolutely amazing, Ripas. The way you dealt with that Spearow was amazing." Inside his pokéball Ripas was snapping happily. "But I reckon that you did enough battling so I'll save you until we have to face Falkner, sound good?" Ripas nodded and curled up to go to sleep. Diego sat there watching Ripas sleep until the man from the reception came in.
"It's time to take on the next trainer." He motioned for Diego to follow him.
"Don't I get to heal my Pokémon?" Diego asked following the man out of the room and into the hallway.
"No. If you beat this trainer then you will be facing Falkner and that's when you get to heal your Pokémon." They reached the mouth of the hall again, "good luck, although after last match I don't think you need it."
Diego turned and walked towards the arena without waiting for the man to leave. He walked up the steps and stood in the same stop as last battle before glancing at the grandstand and noticing that there were about ten more people sitting on it than before. It took Diego a moment to locate Sarah but he found her giving him another thumbs up. He smiled and turned to face his new opponent, his smile only slightly fading. His new opponent was wearing the same clothes as the previous trainer. This trainer was older than the other one, probably older than Diego, and he had jet black hair that was cut to shoulder length. The official repeated the information that he had stated the previous match. Diego was beginning to get slightly unnerved as his opponent hadn't stopped staring at him he whole time, Diego wasn't even sure if he had blinked yet. The official raised his hand again and Diego grabbed out the pokéball he was planning to use. His opponent already had a pokéball in his hand. The official dropped his hand "Go!"
"Go Pidgey!" the trainer shouted.
"Go Dea!" Diego shouted. Both Pokémon stood, staring at each other.
"I'm not going to wait for you to attack first." He shouted at Diego. "Pidgey use Tackle!"
The Pidgey began flying at Dea; Diego noticed that it wasn't moving anywhere as fast as the Spearow had been. The Pidgey was about seven meters away from Dea when Diego made his move. "Double Team!" he commanded, Dea replicated herself into seven copies. "Now use Teleport!" Dea and all of her copies began glowing before they vanished in a burst of white light. But the Pidgey had hit one of the Dea's before it had the chance to teleport completely, luckily for Diego it hadn't been Dea so the copy simply disappeared in a wave of light. Diego had to bring his arms up to cover his face as the Pidgey pulled up to avoid hitting Diego but flew inches past him. The Ralts' reappeared in six different positions around the arena; even Diego didn't know which one was the real Dea. The Pidgey flew up high and landed on one of the rafters attached to the roof, looking down at all the Ralts' with all the Ralts' looking back.
Diego decided to end the stalemate, "Dea use Confusion and bring it down to the ground." All the Ralts' eyes began to glow red and the Pidgey became outlined by red, Diego had to admit that six Ralts with complete glowing red eyes was slightly creeping him out. The Pidgey shrieked as it was lifted from the rafter and pulled directly downwards towards the floor at speed.
"No!" the trainer shouted as his Pidgey hit the ground and was knocked unconscious.
"The Pidgey is unable to continue battling, it must be returned." The official stated while the defense trainer returned the Pidgey before pulling out another pokéball. "You must return your Ralts back to its original form before we can continue." The official said to Diego. Before Diego could instruct Dea to return all the copies vanished leaving the Ralts closest to Diego behind.
The trainer released his other pokéball only to reveal another Pidgey. Original Diego thought.
"Go!" the official dropped his arm again.
"Pidgey use Sand Attack!" the trainer shouted. His Pidgey began flapping its wings causing the loose material on the floor of the arena to be lifted into the air and pushed towards Dea. After a couple of moments of extensive flapping the Pidgey had managed to create a wall of dust between the two teams. "Now Pidgey use Tackle." Diego heard his opponent shout.
"Dea be ready for it." Diego said watching the wall, waiting for the Pidgey to burst from. Diego had been watching the wall so intently that he hadn't realized that the Pidgey had taken an alternate path. Diego heard a cry and looked up to see the Pidgey plummeting towards Dea. There wasn't enough time for Diego to react but Dea did. Just before the Pidgey hit her she attempted to jump out of the Pidgey's path but she didn't get enough time clear the attack. The Pidgey didn't hit its mark of Dea's head but did hit her in the shoulder. After Dea was hit the Pidgey pulled up and flew back behind the now-thinning wall of dust. Dea was lying on the ground and wasn't moving.
"Dea?" Diego said worry dripping from his voice.
"Ah, the Ralts…" the official began but stopped when he saw Dea pull herself off the ground.
"Dea are you okay? Do you need a rest?" Diego asked worried for his Ralts, Ralts didn't have the greatest defense stats and that Tackle had been a strong one. Dea nodded and stared straight at the dust cloud.
"I guess that Ralts is still up, oh well." The trainer laughed, the wall had faded to the point that Diego could see the outline of the trainer and his Pidgey. "I'll finish this then, Pidgey use Tackle."
This time Diego was prepared and when he saw the Pidgey fly towards the dust cloud he made his move. "Dea use Confusion!" Diego instructed pointing towards the Pidgey. He had expected Dea to use Confusion on the actual Pidgey but instead of seeing a red Pidgey outline Diego saw the dust cloud turn reddish. The Pidgey's head had just escaped the cloud when it happened. Dea used her Confusion to force all the particles of the cloud to compress down onto the Pidgey's body incasing it in the cloud, which now resembled more of block. The Pidgey cried out in pain while the whole arena fell silent. The two trainers and the official stared at the block and at the Pidgey who was losing strength rapidly. After a few moments the Pidgey stopped making any noises and when limp but when Dea didn't release it from its prison Diego stepped in, "Dea that's enough." Dea continued to hold the block in place, "Dea! Enough!" Diego shouted and Dea jerked her head around to look at him. Diego looked at her with worry and she looked at him with full red eyes, she turned back to the block which stopped glowing red, returning back to a cloud, and the Pidgey fell out onto the ground. Dea stood there staring at the unconscious Pidgey before she shook her head and began backing away until she bumped into Diego's leg, when she hit it she looked up at Diego with fear in her eyes and Diego looked at her with worry in his.
"Ah, the Pidgey is unable to continue battling and the defense trainer has no more Pokémon to continue battling with so the defense trainer has lost and victory is awarded to the challenger who will be moving onto the gym leader battle against Falkner." The official said shakily not sure where to look. The trainer returned his Pidgey and left the arena without saying a word. Diego returned Dea before turning and walking down the stairs back to holding room without saying a word either.
Well that was… interesting, to say the least the voice said.
The man was waiting for Diego when he got back to the holding room. "Come with me to heal your Pokémon." He said not giving Diego time to sit down or recover from the battle. Diego followed him back into the hallway and away from the arena. He led Diego through a door with the hospital cross. Inside the door was a simple, small, white room with a couple of plastic chairs in the corner and a Pokémon healing machine against the back wall. The pair walked to the machine and the man healed Diego's Pokémon. After the healing was done the man led Diego back out to the hallway. The man told Diego to wait outside the waiting room until he returned, "I'll check if the gym leader is ready." The man returned a few minutes later and led Diego back along the hallway towards the arena. He stopped just before the mouth of the hallway and turned to Diego, "look kid, I don't know how much training you've done but I wouldn't underestimate Falkner. He may be young but he's tough as nails. You've managed to get through the preliminary rounds but Falkner is another couple of steps up from those trainers. Just don't get too cocky, kid." With that he turned and walked back down hallway leaving Diego alone once again.
Diego stood in the mouth of the hallway listening to the murmuring of the people outside in the stands, it sounded considerably louder than before. Well it's now or never. he thought to himself taking a step towards the arena, first one's always the hardest. Diego walked out to the steps of the arena and stopped. He looked over to the grandstand and was shocked to not only see it full but to also see people standing around it, waiting for the battle. Diego took a deep breath and walked up the steps and entered the arena. There was no opponent on the opposite side of the arena so Diego glanced at the stands again this time looking for Sarah. He couldn't see her in the spot he thought was her usual spot, she probably just at the toilet he tried to reassure himself.
"Challenger!" someone shouted at him. Diego turned back to the arena and noticed a boy standing opposite him. The boy was probably about fifteen and stood taller than Diego. He was dressed in a blue something, what is he wearing? He had dark blue hair that fell over one of his eyes, how did he need get blue hair? Just looking at this guy was confusing Diego.
"This is the final battle for the challenger, Diego Grove, in his attempt to gain the Zephyr badge. He will be battling against the current Gym Leader of the Violet City Gym, Falkner." With the mention of their gym leader the crowd started cheering. Once the crowd had died down the official continued, "This will be a three on three battle, both the challenger and the Gym Leader can switch out their Pokémon at any point but can only use a maximum of three Pokémon. Does the challenger accept these terms?" Diego nodded, not wanting to break eye contact with Falkner, "does the Gym Leader accept the conditions?" Falkner nodded. "Alright then, take out our first pokéball and be ready to begin on my mark." Diego reached into his pocket and pulled out the pokéball he wanted while Falkner produced his own 'ball. "Alright. Ready," the official raised his arm, "Go!" he shouted.
Both boys released their Pokémon into the arena. A Totodile and a Pidgey glared at each other once the smoke cleared. Both boys and Pokémon refused to make the first move; it wasn't until a grinding sound was heard that Diego looked away. He looked up and saw that the roof was slowly pulling apart to reveal a cloudless, blue sky. As if this place wasn't tall enough. he thought to himself but his thoughts were ripped away when he heard Falkner say a command.
"Pidgey use Sand Attack." The Pidgey began to push material and debris into the air creating a larger wall than the previous Pidgey had created. Once the wall was fully assembled Falkner continued his commands, "Now use Gust." the Pidgey began flapping its wings causing a wind to push the wall towards Ripas and Diego. Soon a cloud of dust had settled over Ripas rendering him practically blind. Diego realized what Falkner was doing before he gave the command; "Pidgey use Tackle." the Pidgey flew straight at the cloud of dust.
"Ripas get ready…" Diego trailed off as the Pidgey dived into the cloud and Ripas cried out when the Pidgey hit him. The Pidgey flew out of the cloud.
"Hit it again." Falkner smiled. The Pidgey turned and dived towards the cloud again.
"Ripas be ready for it." Diego said before the Pidgey flew into the cloud again but this time there wasn't a cry of pain from Ripas instead it was the Pidgey who shrieked in pain. Following the shriek there was a 'thump' of something hitting the ground with force.
"I pinned it to the ground!" Diego heard Ripas growl from inside the cloud.
"Alright use Rage." Diego commanded. Ripas grunted and a series of shrieks follow. There are about five shrieks before they stop. Diego glanced up at Falkner who was wildly searching the cloud for any trace of his Pidgey. The gym when silent for a moment before the unconscious Pidgey was thrown out of the cloud and landed close to Falkner, who looked at the unconscious body in shock and horror. He looked up at Diego, with wide eyes, who stood staring back at him.
"The Pidgey is unable to battle it must be returned." The official said. After Falkner returned his Pidgey he pulled out another pokéball and looked at Diego in the eye. Diego saw that his eyes were no longer filled shock but that they were full of anger.
Falkner released his next Pokémon, which once the cloud vaporized revealed a Spearow. He didn't make a noise, he just stared at Diego. "Go!" the official shouted.
Diego decided to make the first move; "Ripas use Water Gun." Ripas shot a pressurized out of the significantly thinned cloud.
"Dodge it!" Falkner commanded. The Spearow lifted off into the air meaning that the Water Gun missed by a significant distance but that didn't worry Diego. "Use Peck!" Falkner shouted, the Spearow flew straight at Ripas' shadow through the cloud.
"Ripas Rage." Diego commanded. The cloud had thinned to the point that both Pokémon could see shadowy shapes of each other. The Spearow was just outside of the cloud when Ripas jumped out at it. The plan had been for the two Pokémon to collide and be forced onto the ground before Ripas would use Rage on the Spearow. But Diego had miscalculated the speed at which the Spearow had been travelling so when Ripas jumped at he ended up jumping straight over it. The Spearow pulled up, turned and began heading towards Ripas before he had landed. The Spearow hit Ripas in the left shoulder causing him to fall to the ground from the power of the hit. The Spearow flew back into the sky, turned and flew at Ripas again but this time Diego was prepared. When the Spearow was about ten metres away he told Ripas to use Rage so when the Spearow was just about to hit the Totodile Ripas pushed himself of the ground and punched the Spearow with an increased powered Rage. The Spearow was about to hit the ground when it opened its wings and flew back into the air before it hit the ground.
Damn that thing is really good at maneuvering Diego thought as he watched the Spearow fly back at Ripas.
Diego had thought the next attack was going to be another Peck but Falkner changed that; "use Fury Attack!" he shouted. Ripas had been momentarily confused at the change of attacks and the Spearow exploited to the full affect. It flew close to the ground and hit Ripas before quickly turning back and hitting him again. The Spearow hit him a total of four times before flying away to the rafters, the evidence of the attacks on Ripas was visual on Ripas as he was breathing very deeply and was swaying. Diego knew that if another attack hit the Totodile that it would be the end for him.
"Let's finish this, Spearow use Peck!" the Spearow began diving at Ripas from above.
The Spearow was falling fast so it didn't take long for the Spearow to reach the level above Ripas. Before the Spearow hit Diego shouted "dodge it and use Rage!" Ripas stepped to the side, making the Spearow miss, and punched it with a very powerful Rage. While the Spearow had been hitting Ripas with the Fury Attack it had been building up the strength of Rage. The Spearow was launched sideways from the strength of the Rage, it bounced off ground adding to the damage before coming to a stop near the official. It was obviously not going to get up after the damage it had just sustained. Diego had been watching the Spearow, making sure it wasn't getting back up, when he turned back to Ripas he saw the Totodile sway and fall forward, unconscious. The damage he had taken had obviously done more to him that Diego had originally thought.
"Both Pokémon are unable to continue battling and must be returned." The official said as both boys returned their Pokémon.
"Good work Ripas." Diego whispered to Ripas' unconscious form before putting him back in his pocket.
"Will both trainers ready their next Pokémon. And allow me to remind everyone that the Gym Leader only has one Pokémon left to battle with." The official stated. Diego pulled out the pokéball he was going to use. The official raised his hand, "Go!"
Falkner released a Pidgeotto and Diego released a Growlithe. Both Pokémon stared at each other. The Pidgeotto stood taller than the Growlithe but the Growlithe Intimidate ability had lessened the Pidgeotto's offense.
Falkner beat Diego to draw; "Pidgeotto use Tackle!" The Pidgeotto lifted off the ground and began flying at Ferno.
"Ferno use Ember!" Diego commanded. Ferno released a jet of fire at the Pidgeotto.
The jet was getting closer to the Pidgeotto when Falkner countered; "use Gust!" with that the jet of fire was pushed onto itself before dispersing in the wind. The wind continued down the arena until it hit Ferno and Diego, Ferno flattened himself to the ground and Diego threw up his arms to cover his face. That could have been the battle, if the Pidgeotto would have continued using Gust slowly leeching away at Ferno's health until he gave up but that would have taken days to do, so Falkner changed tactics, "now use Quick Attack!" the Pidgeotto stopped flapping it's wings and began speeding towards Ferno, who was still pinned to the ground. As it closed down the gap between the two Pokémon the wind stopped buffering Ferno and allowed him to stand up and see the Pidgeotto coming towards him.
The Pidgeotto had about five metres left on its attack, "Ferno dodge it and use Bite!" Diego said. Ferno jumped to the left of the Pidgeotto's path and snapped at its wing. The Pidgeotto shrieked in pain as it flew back to Falkner having missed its attack. Diego realized why the Pidgeotto had shrieked when he looked at Ferno; there were a couple of feathers in the Growlithe's mouth which stuck out. Ferno burnt them to ash and let the remains fall the floor. Huh well that was intimidating Diego thought. The standoff between Ferno and the Pidgeotto began again, each glaring at each other from opposite sides of the arena, their trainers also glared at each other. This time Diego wasn't going to let Falkner to get the hand up on him so he attacked first; "Ferno close down the gap!" Ferno began charging down the arena at the Pidgeotto.
"Fly up!" Falkner commanded, his Pidgeotto flew straight up. Diego watched it expecting it to stop at the roof of the gym but it simply flew through the hole in the roof, it continued out of Diego's field of sight. Ferno stopped in the middle of the arena and looked up trying to find the Pidgeotto.
"I can't see it." Ferno growled scanning the sky through the hole.
"Pidgeotto use Gust!" Falkner shouted pointing at Ferno. The arena was quiet for a moment before the sound of rushing wind filled the arena. Ferno was suddenly pinned down by wind coming down through the opening in the roof.
"Pidgeotto use Quick Attack!" there was a cry from above and the wind stopped pinning Ferno. There was another cry and the Pidgeotto fell back into the arena, but it wasn't falling it had narrowed itself into a steam line shape and was flying down at Ferno.
Ferno straightened himself up off the ground and looked up to see the Pidgeotto speeding towards him. "Ferno dodge it and use Ember!" Ferno jumped out of the way of the feathered bullet, pivoted around on one paw to face the Pidgeotto and shot a jet of fire at the Pidgeotto, who was still falling along the same path because it had been travelling too fast to change its path of trajectory. The jet made a direct hit, hitting the Pidgeotto square in the middle of the back. The Pidgeotto shrieked and pulled up before it hit the ground, flying towards Falkner. It landed on the ground in front of its trainer and Diego saw the damage that had been done by the Ember, smoke was rising off its back from feathers that had been set on fire. Diego was quite impressed by had well the Pidgeotto was taking the damage, most Pokémon would have been struggling with the effects of being burned to that degree. It wasn't that bad as the feathers would grow back to their original size but at the moment it looked pretty bad.
Falkner was obviously getting stressed out by the battle and Diego could tell he wanted to end it but neither Ferno nor Diego was going to give up easily. "Pidgeotto use Tackle!" Falkner shouted pointing at Ferno. The Pidgeotto lifted off the ground and began flying at Ferno but it was obviously having problems with the change in its feathers as it was swaying and weaving from side to side as it approached Ferno.
"Ferno be ready with an Ember." Ferno began charging an Ember while watching the Pidgeotto approach. It was about ten metres from Ferno when it made a decision, the Pidgeotto must have realized that it was never going to hit Ferno hard enough to deal any real damage just flying at Ferno so it began lifting itself higher into the air. It was about at a seventy degree angle from Ferno when it tucked its wings in and began falling straight towards Ferno, gaining speed as it fell. "Now!" Diego commanded Ferno who shot a fireball at the Pidgeotto. The Pidgeotto flew straight through the fireball and continued to descend towards Ferno. Diego wasn't worried by the fact that Ember hadn't done that much damage because it had accomplished its goal of disorientating the Pidgeotto. When the Pidgeotto had gone through the fireball it had had to close its eyes and Diego took advantage of this, "Ferno use Bite." Ferno ducked under the blinded Pidgeotto's Tackle and while the Pidgeotto was falling he clamped his jaws around one of its legs. Before the Pidgeotto hit the ground Ferno dug his claws into the floor of the arena, holding him in place, and the Pidgeotto, suddenly having something stop its forward motion, slammed into the ground causing a small dust cloud to be thrown up.
"It's out." Diego heard Ferno growl as he released the Pidgeotto's leg and began walking over to Diego.
Diego looked at the official who looked stunned by the intensity of the attack. He soon snapped out of it "The Pidgeotto is unable to continue battling and the Gym Leader has no more Pokémon to continue battling with so the Gym Leader has lost and victory is awarded to the challenger." With that a cheer ripped through crowd and Diego began smiling, letting the noise rush over him. He smiled until he looked at Falkner, who had returned his Pidgeotto and was walking towards Diego. When he reached Diego he held out his hand "been a while since I had such a great fight." He smiled.
Diego took his hand "first time I've had a fight like that."
"Well congratulations you've earned this." Falkner said releasing Diego's hand and holding out a Gym badge in the other.
Diego took it and smiled "thanks." He looked at the Zephyr Badge in his hand. First one he thought.
"I want a rematch by the way." Falkner said making Diego frown, "of course not until you're stronger. That's when I can use my stronger Pokémon." He smiled.
"I can't wait for it. I had better go heal my Pokémon. Thanks again." Diego turned and began walking back down the stairs and towards the entrance of the Gym. Diego nudged Ferno with his foot, "You did great mate." Ferno just held his head high and growled happily.
Thanks for reading and please review I could really do with some feedback.
and the song is Sara Bareilles 'love song'.