Author's Note: I owe all of my readers a HUGE apology, as I have not updated this story in a very long time. I'm so sorry, and please continue to read my stories anyway! The reason that I have not updated is because there was a personal/family tragedy and I was away from home a week to deal with some stuff. I will try to update this once more before the week is over if the teachers don't give me too much homework, to make up for the two/three weeks of not updating. :)
Chapter 10: Preparing for Mt. Keevo
"Hey, that really was an awesome contest finish," A voice that was familiar to Kelly spoke from behind the trainers.
The group was now at the Pokemon Center, getting Sera and Kelly's pokemon healed up.
Kelly turned at the sound of the voice to see Nicole from the contest behind them, her arms folded lazily over her chest.
"Uhm, thanks," Kelly said, offering a smile.
"Tic!" Zaye waved cheerfully, seeming more pleased to see someone from the contest than her trainer was.
"Hey, you guys are about to head through Mt. Keevo, am I correct?" Nicole asked, giving the group a questioning look.
"Uhm, yeah," Kelly said, shooting a glance at Melony, who nodded in agreement.
"Well, I might be a coordinator, but I'm also a devoted trainer," Nicole started, "so do one of you want to battle me?"
The group was silent for a moment, before Xander spoke up. "I'd love to battle you just for the fun of it."
"Okay, that sounds cool," Nicole smiled. "Let's head out back."
"Uhm, mind if I leave you guys for awhile and go get some field work done?" Nico asked, her voice wavering just a bit.
"Nah, that'll be fine," Xander spoke in a collected voice. His eyes then turned to Sera. "I want Saint back if you don't mind."
"Oh, okie!" Sera beamed, handing Xander the pokeball that contained his Delibird.
"I am going with Nico," Lauren said, as Nico made her way past the group. Lauren was following her, walking in a way that could remind someone of a cat.
"Let's head out back and get this battle started," Nicole said, a smile still upon her face.
The remaining group members, along with Nicole headed to the field in the back of the Pokemon Center.
"So, how're we gonna do this battle?" Xader said. His arms were now crossed over his chest, and his signature smirk dominated his face.
"How about one double battle?" Nicole suggested. "The next time I see you, if I think you're good enough, we'll use more Pokemon."
"Alright, that's just fine," Xander uncrossed his arms, and took out two Pokeballs. "Saint, Charger, you two are up!" He called out.
"Deli!" A Delibird that was a bit small than most Delibirds appeared in a flash. The Pokemon waved its arms as if trying to fly, and fell on its butt, sighing.
"Jolt!" Charger landed on the field with his quils arched, a scowl on his face.
"Okay, then come on out, Emerald, Lember!" Nicole threw two balls into the air.
A Grovyle appeared, its eyes narrowed. "Gro," It snarled.
A Swampert appeared beside the Grovyle. The pokemon was laying down until it realized that the battle was about to start. "Swampert!" It stood up, towering over the other Pokemon.
"I hate Grovyles," Sera spoke in a pouty voice.
"Not all Grovyles are the same," Melony rolled her eyes.
"TOT!" Terra let out a battle cry, and tried his best to wiggle his way out of Sera's arms.
"No!" Sera commanded, and Terra calmed down.
"Go, Emerald, Leaf Blade!" Nicole commanded, pointing to Charger.
Xander snickered. "Dodge," he spoke in a quiet voice.
His simple command showed that his Pokemon could think on their own, because Charger leaped into the air, while Saint didn't bother to move.
"Use Ice Beam," Xander spoke another simplistic command. He still had a cocky smirk on his face.
"Why is he full of himself in battle?" Melony sighed, rolling her eyes.
"Deli... BIRD!" Saint dug into his bag, and a beam of ice shot from his hand when he pulled his hand out.
The beam collided with Emerald but she managed to use the blades on her arms to withstand some of the attack.
"Emerald, jump!" Nicole commanded. "Lember, Earthquake!"
"Swamp..." Lember growled before pounding the ground with its large hands.
Emerald just managed to dodge the tremors.
"Deli!" Saint almost managed to hop into the air, only to snag his foot on the ground and fall.
The earthquake shook the field, and Charger was damaged as he fell through the ground.
Xander winced, barely managing to keep his balance as the ground shook. When the ground calmed, Xander spoke. "It's time to get serious! Saint, use Signal Beam, and Charger, Dig quickly!"
"Jolteon!" Charger snapped, almost instantaneously disappearing into the ground.
"Bird!" Saint performed the same actions as he did with Ice Beam, only a colorful ray came from his hands this time.
Emerald was knocked out of the sky by the powerful ray, falling hard to the ground. "Govyle..." She mumbled, wobbling as she pulled herself to her feet.
"Use-" Nicole didn't get the time to finish her command as Charger burst from the ground and slammed into Lember, sending electrical sparks flying.
"Swamp!" Lember cried out as the two flew into the sky.
"Thunderfang!" Xander now commanded, while the Pokemon were still in the sky.
Charger bit down on Lember's arm as hard as he could manage, causing Lember to cry out in pain.
The two Pokemon then fell to the ground, Charger standing on Lember's back.
The Swampert was unconscious, making no effort at all to recover.
"Alright, that's great, Charger!" Xander grinned.
"How can Charger manage to always kill Pokemon in two hits?" Sera asked, speaking in a cute tone of voice.
Melony simply shrugged to make it obvious that she wasn't paying much attention to Sera.
"Okay, now, finish Emerald off with a Swift!" Xander called to Saint.
Nicole winced as he said the command, but she didn't say anything as Saint opened his bag and sent stars flying towards Emerald.
The Grovyle was hit, and even though she was almost fainted, she swung her blade to hit Charger with a strong Leaf Blade.
Charger yelped in pain as he was hurled to the ground by the blade, knocked out.
Emerald wobbled a bit on her feet before falling on top of Charger, also fainted.
"Deli..." Saint simply examined the field, and the three Pokemon that were unconscious.
"Ugh, you're good," Nicole sighed, recalling both of her Pokemon.
Xander recalled his Pokemon as well, and chuckled. "Great battle."
Nicole now walked over to the group and offered a smile. "I'm heading through now, so I'll see you guys whenever," she said. "Hope to have a contest with you again, Kelly, and hope to battle you again, Xander."
With that, Nicole was off, and before the group could even say anything to each other, another trainer stepped onto the battlefield.
The trainer was a male that stood a slight bit taller than Melony, with hair pulled into a low-ponytail. His eyes were dark enough that you could barely tell that they were brown. He was dressed in a black t-shirt with a lightning bolt design, red cargo pants, and red tennis shoes.
"I would love to take on a challenge now, if one of you would be willing to do a battle with me," he spoke in a voice that made it obvious that he was around the age of fourteen or fifteen, as it switched tones every now and again.
Melony only thought for a moment before she stepped onto the field. "Using two Pokemon a piece, single battles sound alright to you?" She asked. She wanted to pick the rules as she wanted some more experience in single battles and she only had two pokemon.
"That's just fine," The male said. "My name is Shin Lozano, by the way."
"Melony Chast," Melony said simply. She tried to keep her eyes narrowed in a determined manner, but her nerves were starting to get to her pretty fast. "Go, Izumi!"
The Wartortle, who had been standing at Melony's ankle, waddled onto the field, not used to its new weight.
"Okay, let's go, Chikorita!" Shin called, sending out a Chikorita.
"Chika!" the Chikorita waved, its red eyes determined, ready for battle.
"Chikorita, start off with a tackle," Shin commanded.
"Chika!" Chikorita nodded, and dashed for Izumi.
"Izumi, Withdraw, and block it!" Melony commanded. Only if you were close to her could you here her voice waver.
"Don't lose your focus and confidence," Xander spoke under his breath.
Melony ignored him as she watched her Pokemon withdraw into its shell.
Chikorita slammed into Izumi's solid shell, and wobbled backwards. It let out a whine that turned to a scream as Izumi stuck her head out of her shell and clamped down on Chikorita's leg.
"Eh," Shin seemed slightly unnerved by Izumi's quick action. "Quick, Vine Whip!"
"Rita!" Chikorita slung a vine out, and slapped Izumi across the face.
"War..." Izumi stood, rubbing her face.
"Water Gun to make it back off!" Melony called, slightly warming up to the battle.
"War..." Izumi's eyes narrowed, and she let out a jet of water.
The water didn't hurt Chikorita that bad, but it got her away from Izumi.
"Razor Leaf!" Shin now commanded. His body was starting to tense up as he realized that he was at the disadvantage, even with the type advantage.
"Chikah!" Chikorita sent sharp blades of leaves at Izumi.
"Dodge and Tackle!" Melony called out, hoping that Izumi was fast enough to dodge.
Izumi nodded and did a cartwheel, barely dodging some leaves. Once the leaves were cleared, she charged at Chikorita, hitting her head on, and knocking her out.
Chikorita fell to the ground, her eyes closed, and Shin recalled her.
"Okay, let's go, Spheal," Shin sent out a round- seal like Pokemon.
"Spheal!" The Pokemon barked.
"Izumi, come back!" Melony called.
Izumi ran to Melony's side, and Melony patted the Wartortle's head.
"Now, let's go, Dahlia!" She sent out her Ghastly.
"Ghass..." Dahlia hissed, a broad grin on her face.
"Ice Ball!" Shin commanded.
Spheal barked and shot out a ball of ice at Dahlia.
"Ghastly..." Dahlia grinned and opened her mouth, letting her tongue flop out. The Ice Ball landed in her mouth, and her cheeks puffed out.
"Don't you dare explode, Dahlia," Melony said in a warning tone.
Dahlia spat out the ball of ice coated with a Shadow Ball. The ball collided with Spheal, knocking it back. Dahlia snickered.
"Body Slam!" Shin cried. He was obviously getting slightly frustrated with the battle.
Spheal barked a bit weakly and rolled at Dahlia. Spheal unfortunately kept going, straight through Dahlia, and Melony had to jump out of the way to keep from getting hit.
Dahlia grinned broadly and spat another Shadow Ball at Spheal, causing the small Pokemon to be blasted into the air.
Spheal crashed hard, and after a minute of no motion, it was obvious that it was unable to battle.
"Wow, you beat me," Shin said, recalling his Pokemon. "That was an awesome battle." He walked over to Melony and held out a hand for a handshake.
Melony shook his hand, after returning Dahlia to her ball. "Thank you, and I agree."
"Wow, Melony, that was amazing!" Xander wrapped an arm around Melony, and she ducked out from under him.
"Yay, Melony and Xander are super battlers!" Sera cheered.
"TOT!" Terra cheered as well, though he might not have known what he was cheering for.
"Great!" Kelly commented.
"Ri..." Nova nodded, as if he was finally starting to approve of Melony and Xander.
"Tic, Tic, Togetic!" Zaye clapped cheerfully.
"Now, we need to go find a room to stay in and wait for Nico and Lauren to get back, right?" Melony asked, not letting her friends' compliments get to her head.
"Yeah, we do, and we need to discuss why you avoid me even though you like me," Xander smirked.
Melony's face lit up almost instantly. "Uh... No."
"Well, I hope we cross paths again," Shin said, smiling sweetly.
"Yeah, that would be nice," Melony smiled back, still trying to recover from Xander reminding her that he knew.
With that, Shin departed, and the group went into the Pokemon Center to get settled into a room and rested up for their journey to the peak of and the second gym.