Chapter 10: Oreburgh!
After the encounter with the aggressive, odd looking thieves known as Team Galactic, many strange rumours and whispers began to spring up. At first it had been miniscule; unfortunately there was only one thing that was faster than the speed of light. And that was the speed of gossip. Something that Harry knew far too well. The city had erupted with the false advertisement that had been distributed throughout the city; preaching about new energy sources laying within Pokémon, and how they could use it for themselves.
Of course everyone knew better.
The two kids that they had saved had told Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy everything; news of the attack had spread quickly throughout the rest of the region giving warning to the populace of Sinnoh. It may not have been much, but it was enough to at least warn the people.
Norman, on the other hand, looked greatly disturbed by the appearance of Team Galactic. Him being the one to press the issue forward upon meeting the Jenny when they had arrived at the Pokémon Centre again. None of them knew why the leader had reacted with such persistence, not that the matter wasn't important, Norman had immediately jumped onto getting the word out about Galactic. It was rather strange witnessing the leader acting out of character from the usual laid-back pleasant attitude that the three had come to known the past month and some. Something was bugging the man more than he had been letting on; the sheer ferociousness and desperation that Norman had displayed worried them.
But no one more so than Sirius; he knew that some things had been kept from one another but said nothing out of respect for the other, now Sirius was starting to question that. Should he have asked Norman more about his past, or was this something else entirely.
Not too long after they had departed Jubilife City and headed for Oreburgh, the city of the first gym. The distance between the two cities was at least a week away and that was depending whether or not they would stay on the route for certain duration of time, like before upon leaving Sandgem. However, oddly it had been Volkner that had suggested that they headed straight to Oreburgh as he had pointed out they had spent over a month training and preparing for the upcoming gym battle.
Of course Harry was still rather uncertain if he would participate in the gym battle, as Sirius had already made it clear that he wanted to give it a shot. The battle with Barry had passed through his memory, the excitement and thrill that he and Bagon had felt that day; it still lingered even now. There was something about it that he had enjoyed, and so did Bagon for that matter. That was why Harry had made a decision to battle at least the first leader before making any further commitments, there was still so much that he wanted to learn about this world. But there was one thing for certain that Harry acknowledged, whatever choice that he would make there would be no regrets.
Oreburgh Gym looked vastly different compared to the last three cities that they had been too; the place while appearing to have a modern design in comparison to Harry's and Sirius' world, the town seemed surrounded by mountains, even appearing to be right smacked in the middle of one from the distance. Buildings appeared from the 'hole' like landscape it was settled in.
"Welcome to Oreburgh, Sinnoh's number of city when it comes to mining and science facilities," Volkner commented proudly gesturing entering the city smirking around the place. "And it's Fossil Rejuvenation, too."
Sirius blinked. "Fossil Rejuvenation?"
"What that means is that the fossils that are found buried within the earth are able to be 'brought back' for a lack of a better term. The fossils in question are Pokémon that are long gone from this world, many researchers use the Rejuvenation in order to further their research of Pokémon," Norman explained further waving his hand, smiling.
Harry and Sirius exchanged a lingering stare before switching their attention back towards the other two. It seemed that this world was far more advanced than they had originally anticipated, the mere fact they could bring back fossils to life was an outstanding feat in all in itself; not even the wizarding world developed a spell that was capable of doing that. Excluding the spell for Inferi, not that they counted, at least in Sirius' opinion. Just how far technically advanced was this world?
"Isn't that...dangerous?" Harry began slowly, images of tyrannosaur –rexs and others dangerous dinosaurs instantly began to flash through his mind nearly making him shudder.
Norman placed a hand upon his shoulder. "It can be quiet dangerous, yes. But the researchers in charge are always very cautious when it comes to reviving the fossils taking measures in order to ensure the city and themselves are safe. One of these measures is that they try and not resurrect the flesh eating ones. Of course sometimes they are proven wrong about a Pokémon and it turns out that it wasn't a herbivore like they thought…" he trailed off before shrugging.
"That's comforting," Hopefully the level of corruption wasn't as bad as it had been back in their world.
"If things do get out of they take care of it, or someone else with stronger Pokémon does." Volkner continued on lazily yawning, adjusting his arms behind the back of his head gazing upward.
Sirius snorted unimpressed. "Good to see that nothing changes. When something goes wrong someone else ends up doing the clean up."
"Know from personal experience?" Volkner retorted dryly.
"Who knows?" Sirius smirked sardonically at the younger male briskly brushing by him without a care quickening his pace straight to the nearest Pokémon Centre. His mood seemed to have soured to his displeasure. He had come here feeling excited and ready to try a battle for himself, it was something that Sirius enjoyed and played on indulging in. He could see clearly why everyone in this world loved battling so much! It was a bit different from duelling, but still enjoyable nonetheless. And because of that he planned on going all out!
A smirk marred his face entering the Pokémon Centre as his sour mood seemed to dissipate.
Gray eyes took in the building feeling the refreshing air wash over his body putting him at ease. The centre seemed to always have a way to make people feel welcomed and completely relieved, he searched towards the desk looking for Nurse Joy, but instead found himself accidentally bumping into someone.
It made him snap back into reality. "Sorry about that," Sirius apologized sincerely to the person; a man, much younger then himself, that much he was quite certain of, with brunet hair that spiked at the back of his neck while the rest was covered by the red helmet that laid upon his head and it had a light in the middle. He wore thin glasses along with a black shirt underneath a beige shirt and pants with yellow reflective strips around his arms, shirt and at the ends of his white gloves. Oddly to him the other man was wearing a pair of black rubber boots.
"Nah it's alright," The man smiled at him pleasantly. "I was off in my world as well."
Sirius chuckled. "In that case how about we call it even for the mean time?" As he held out his hand out. "Name's Sirius Black."
"Nice to meet you, name's Roark." The brunet, now revealed as Roark, shook his hand firmly with his tight grip. "You're not from Oreburgh?"
"Not from Sinnoh actually. I arrived with my godson around a month and some ago, it's a rather nice place." Sirius answered the other, sliding his hands into his pockets.
Roark chuckled. "In that case I'm glad to hear that you and your godson are enjoying Sinnoh. I'm guessing this is your first time in Oreburgh?" At Sirius nod the brunet chuckled. "I see. Well I hope you enjoy your stay, unfortunately, as much as I wish I could show you around, I can't. This week is going to be rather busy." A sharp sigh escape from him shaking his head and leaned against the side. "And it's only going to get busier."
"Oh?" Sirius blinked rapidly at the claim. "What is it that you do?"
Before Roark was able to reply the doors opened from behind him. "Sirius!" The wizard's head snapped backwards to see Harry and the others finally arriving. And he ended up on the receiving end of his godson's pierced glares. "You could have waited for us you know," Harry said flatly pointing a glare at him.
"Sorry!" He piped truthfully, smiling sheepishly.
Roark held his hand to his forehead waving. "Yo Volkner."
"Hey Roark," The blonde waved lazily at him.
"You two...know each other?" Sirius' head snapped between the two younger men in confusion.
Volkner smirked widely. "Hm. Roark is the Oreburgh Gym Leader."
Needlessly to say that rest was history.
The fact that Roark was the city's gym leader had taken Sirius by surprise stunning, not expecting someone even younger than Volkner to also be a gym leader, once snapped out his stupor he had immediately requested a gym battle not only for himself but for Harry as well. However, Roark was forced to explain that during the current week he was could only take on two gym battles a day; one in the morning and the other in the afternoon, further revealing that he had an opening in the afternoon during the next day offering to whom ever wanted to battle him first.
Sirius hadn't even hesitated when he gave the opening to his godson. In his mind Harry deserved to be the first one out of them to have a gym battle. Harry had worked his ass off training with his Pokémon, under the guidance and aid of Volkner and Norman, if anyone was truly ready to challenge the leader it was him.
And that's exactly where they were now.
"This battle between the gym leader Roark and the challenger Harry will now commence! This will be a three versus three battle, only the challenger being allowed to substitute, when all three Pokémon from one side have fainted will the battle have ended. Now begin!"
Roark smirked widely. "Just because you and Volkner are friends doesn't mean I'll be going easy on you Harry! As a Gym leader I plan on fighting to the best of my abilities."
"I wouldn't have it any other way, Roark." Harry retorted not unkindly, nodding sharply with his eyes narrowed watching the other man carefully. "To do otherwise would be an insult to us both. Now are we going to battle or we going to talk?"
"That's what I wanted to hear!" Roark announced pulling his arm back, face hardening and eyes narrowed tossing a Pokéball. "Geodude go!"
The flash of light from the Pokéball enveloped the room to reveal a floating rock with arms, a pair of onyx eyes and a tight frown as it grunted upon seeing Harry; judging him. His arms shifted into an offensive fashion holding it's fists up to prepare for the fight that was about to behind, this Pokémon was no slouch when it came to battling from what he was able to tell.
Over by the bleachers Sirius had its Pokédex out pointing towards the field. "Geodude, the Rock Pokémon. Often found on mountain trails, Geodude hide half of their body when resting and will swing it's fists angrily when woken. They are well known for their impeccable defensive and physical might."
"So it stays true to its name then," Sirius remarked with a click of his tongue eyeing the Pokémon unimpressed. "You'd think it be a bit more..."
"Durable?" Volkner offered, folding his arms against his chest.
The wizard frowned thinly. "I was going to say more presentable but I guess that works."
"Don't underestimate Roark," The electric leader chided the other man. His attention was firmly on the field waiting in anticipation for the battle to start, his fingers intertwined as a gleam passed through the sapphire pools. "Sinnoh Gym Leaders aren't just chosen randomly you know. No Leader is." His eyes glanced briefly at Sirius before returning to the field. "And just because Roark is the first gym leader that's being battled doesn't mean that he's weak."
"I didn't mean it like that." Sirius defended snappishly throwing a glare at him.
A snort came from Volkner. "Could have fooled me."
"I'm sure that Sirius didn't mean it that way Volkner. Though there is a common trait with Rock Gym leaders all of them have and use Geodudes, one of my co-workers Roxanne uses one and she's the first gym leader and a young man from Kanto, that's a friend of my daughter's, named Brock was the gym leader of Pewter City and used a Geodude." Norman mused aloud stroking his chin thoughtfully.
Volkner shrugged his shoulders. "Not surprised a lot of Gym leaders tend to use the same Pokémon that others use."
"Some anyway, Normal type leaders don't really tend to same Pokémon." Norman disagreed politely.
"No offense Norman, but that's mainly because there's not a whole lot of you." The blonde said not unkindly. "There's only three of you right? You for one, Whit-" Norman's eyes narrowed darkly at the mention of that name."...noted, I don't particularly like her either and lastly Lenora from Unova, so there's three in total."
"Normal types aren't exactly the most popular Pokémon that people would pursue as a choice for a leader," Norman stated scathingly, shaking his head. "Many trainers have a habit of dismissing them as weaklings...until they end up taking on a gym leader, of course." A sharp smile managed to slide on his face taking on an almost menacing edge.
Sirius raised an eyebrow, but refrained from commenting further. "Can we focus on the battle please?"
Harry had chosen Nidoran to open up with steadily keeping their eyes on their opponents waiting for them to make the first move.
"A Nidoran? That's an interesting choice," Roark commented bemused. "However, don't go thinking that it will be enough to stop us! Geodude use Rock Throw!"
Geodude's arms were raised into the air appearing to hold something as a flash of light appeared above him until a giant boulder had appeared in his hands. Without hesitation the Rock-type hurtled the boulder as it shattered into medium sized rocks that rained down on Nidoran rapidly.
"Nidoran use Poison String to destroy the rocks and then use Double Kick on Geodude!" Harry cried instantly, fear etched on his face upon seeing the rocks. He didn't want Nidoran to get hurt in the battle even though he was aware of the inevitability of it.
The poison type let out a ferocious roar as his horn began to flash brightly growing in size before charging straight towards the rocks leaping out of the way at the nearer rocks while using the horn to knock away others, before jumping onto a rock using it as a platform and made a giant leap towards Geodude, swinging the horn at the rock-type only for it to be grappled by the other Pokémon. Adding the second hand Geodude began to spin around, and around and around gaining speed the longer that it continued before throwing Nidoran across the room, as if he was a bag of potatoes.
Thankfully, it had not been out of bounds allowing the battle to continue.
Nidoran forced itself to stand throwing a glare at the Geodude. "Nido!"
"Alright Geodude let's end this with Roll out!" Roark commanded throwing his arm forward.
Harry's eyes narrowed watching as Geodude wrapped himself into a ball before dashing towards Nidoran. "Use Double kick in order to stop him Nidoran!"
The small poison type nodded shortly managing to barely get out of the way while Geodude collided straight one of the boulders on the field creating a small hole within it. Slowly, the rock-type got out and turned towards the direction where Nidoran was standing, swiftly lunged towards him.
"Don't let him get away this time Geodude!" Roark hollered loudly, eyes narrowed at the scene observing the two as Nidoran had once again dodged the attack rendering his Geodude once again getting stuck in a wall. Biting down on his teeth, the leader frowned thinly. The speed between Nidoran and his Geodude seemed relatively the same only the key difference laid within the reaction time with that the opponent was able to safely manoeuvre out of the way of the attack. Unfortunately, he couldn't allow that continue any longer. "Geodude cease using Rollout and use Seismic Toss!"
The rock unwrapped himself letting out a low grunt. "Geo!" Diving towards the unsuspecting Nidoran he attempted to grab from behind only to narrowly miss before proceeding to chase after the poison-type relentlessly, flinging angrily at his opponent, trying to follow through with the commands given to him.
"Keep dodging his attacks Nidoran!" Harry cheered on, looking relieved that Nidoran was able to avoid the other's attacks. But how could they end this fight? Geodude was most likely use to long drawn out battles like these, while Nidoran was not thus placing them at a disadvantage. Frankly speaking, as painful as it sounded, Harry didn't know how much longer Nidoran would be able to last. They needed to end the fight quickly as possible the question was how? He was well aware that Fighting type moves were very effective against Rock-types, but they simply needed to get close to Geodude at the same time avoiding getting grabbed. His eyes narrowed as they searched the field, there had to be something that they could use.
The field was completely centered on a mountain like environment which made sense due to Roark's typing. Unfortunately that meant also gave the leader another advantage over them, damn it.
Harry gritted his teeth eyes peering over the battle watching as Geodude knocked into the larger boulders that were sc...
Suddenly a smirk slide onto his face. "Nidoran!" Harry shouted at the top of his lungs. "Get onto the boulder!"
"Nido!" The poison-type nodded shortly kicking off of the stones leaping straight into the air shifting his body around in a spiral like motion and landed safely on the largest boulder that towered over the rest of the field. Narrowing it's eyes, Nidoran eyed Geodude warily waiting as the other approached with much hostility. The rock-type drew nearer and nearer with each passing second holding it's fists out widely in order to grab hold, not that Nidoran would allow that, kicking his legs back as he started to charge up his attack; his hind legs began to flash a white light making a jump at the Rock-type once it was close enough. With that Nidoran slammed his feet down on the Geodude.
A sharp, painful cry pierced the room echoing off the walls as dust filled the field covering Geodude and Nidoran, blurry silhouettes could be seen within the clouds. Anxiety surged through the trainers as time seemed to pass by ever so slowly; it seemed almost like an eternity.
Suddenly out of nowhere the dust evaporated into nothingness leaving no trace insight revealing Nidoran standing quite proudly at his accomplishment as attention drew towards the unconscious Geodude that lay on the ground appearing completely thrashed from the fight. The rock-type was lying in a small crater which had been created due to the combined impact of the Double Kick that Nidoran had used and the collision from above, needless to say Geodude was now out for the counter.
"Geodude has fainted the victory goes to Nidoran!" The referee cried slashing his arm down towards Harry.
The bespectacled teen let out a sigh as he felt relief wash over him, wearing a tentative smile. "Well done Nidoran, I'm proud of you!" It seemed to be an invitation for affection as Nidoran ran over towards him landing straight on his chest just narrowly avoiding the horn, falling straight on his behind before Harry patted him lovingly. "U-urgh...y-you're welcome!" He gasped out struggling to get out a few chuckles.
Roark smiled ruefully holding up a Pokéball, shaking his head amused by the antics of his challenger. "Geodude return!" The beam of light hit dead on returning his beloved partner back into his Pokémon, the sad smile remained. "Thank you for all your hard work today, Geodude. You deserve a nice long rest my friend." Placing the Pokéball back on his belt before grabbing another, however, he took a few more moments allowing Harry to savour his first victory. "I have to admit you're doing very well Harry, but don't go thinking that you'll be able to beat me so easily. My next Pokémon isn't a pushover!" He tossed the ball straight into the air. "Let's go ONIX!"
The beam of light engulfed the room entirely as a giant creature emerged from the Pokéball spreading straight to the ceiling above revealing a rock-like serpent with a horn upon its head. The body was made of up giant boulders that decreased in size all the way down, yet it still towered over Nidoran with pure ease.
Harry oddly began to feel a sense of déjà vu upon seeing the creature, and swallowed thickly. "Onix, huh? Let's see what the Pokédex has to say about this guy," As he pulled it from his back pocket holding the object towards the snake like creature.
"Onix, the Rock Snake Pokémon. Onix is capable of tunnelling through the ground at fifty miles per hour while underground and is able to shake the ground with its thunderous roar alone. Onix absorbs the hard material beneath the earth in order to strength it's defence."The Pokédex informed mechanically.
"Good to know, I guess. Not sure if it's going to help though," Harry murmured lowly sliding it back into his pocket, facing the obelisk that was before them. At least with Onix's large size had granted them an opening that could be exploited, by the size could prove troublesome for Nidoran. He pressed his lips together exchanging a brief glance with the poison-type before nodding his head, his eyes snapped back to Roark. "Alright we're ready!"
"That's what I like to hear!" Roark nodded approvingly. "Show us what you've got!"
"Nidoran let's start things off with a Poison Stingto blind Onix!" Harry cried out.
A sly smirk on formed on Roark's face. "Sorry to say Harry but that's not going to work on us," The smirk was replaced with a thin frown. "Onix use Screech and then knock Nidoran away with a Slam attack!"
Onix flung it's head backwards to unleash a powerful screech that shook the entire room; even the ceiling had been effected as dust fell from above and the everyone else was forced to cover their ears bar Roark, whom remained unaffected. Nidoran had shut his eyes tightly attempting to block out the sound, unaware of the danger that approached from the front. Onix pulled its tail back before swinging forwards quickly meeting with the poison-type sending the small creature flying through the air and rolled around the ground, tumbling over a stone then laying there silently.
"NIDORAN!" Harry screamed in horror, eyes bugged out staring at the small poison type. His heart nearly came to a stop upon seeing Nidoran not moving, thankfully the feeling vanished as he saw the eyelids twitch and met with a pair of red eyes; filled with tiredness, but reassurance. It put him at ease.
"Looks like Nidoran's almost out of it, Onix. Finish him off will you?" Roark asked tilting his head. "Another Slam should do the trick."
"Onix!"The rock snake growled loudly lunging towards Nidoran again pulling its tail back again preparing to knock Nidoran out of the ring.
Harry hissed biting down on his lip. "Nidoran use Peck to divert Onix's tail and then use Double Kickonce he's vulnerable!"
"NidoRAN!" The poison type answered sharply, the tip of its horn began to flash brightly, growing in size and charged straight towards the attack in question, his head was lowered enough that he was still able to see the up and coming attack. The gap between them was narrowing quickly as the two lunged at another with Onix making the first move by throwing his tail, during that moment Nidoran raised his head upwards using the horn to slide underneath tilting it upwards putting Onix off balance and nearly toppling the snake-like creature over, the poison type then climbs on, scaling up the back of Onix; it's feet glowing brightly charging up the attack as he began to reach the desired destination.
Onix's head.
With just a few feet away Nidoran made a dive forwards intending to unleash his attack in a similar manner that he had used against Geodude. After all, it worked the first time, it should work a second time as far as the poison-type was concerned. Nidoran then slammed both of its front feet onto Onix's head before switching to the hind legs, unfortunately, it seemed little to no damage had been done to it.
"Shit," Harry cursed softly, that didn't seem to work. "Looks like we're in a bit of a bind now, but what to do?" He knew that Rock types were resistant against Poison attacks, though uncertain if it would actually work against Onix. He bit down on his lip trying to think of a way to take it down.
Unfortunately, it seemed that Roark had other plans. "If you're just going to stand there then I'm going to move in for the attack! Onix use Rock Throw!"
Instead of creating a giant boulder like Geodude had done, Onix merely used his tail gathering from the side of the field wrapping it tightly against him, then raising it upwards and swinging back and forth to gain momentum and then tossed the rocks towards the direction where Nidoran laid.
"You need to get up, Nidoran!" Harry cried out fearfully watching helplessly as they drew closer towards the poison type, Nidoran struggled to stand wincing visibly upon attempt shutting his eyes due to the pain. "Hurry! C'mon Nidoran please stand up and run. T-the rocks are coming closer!"
The orbs of red slitted open, acknowledging the urgency of his words and casting a glance at the in-coming attack. At that moment where the rocks were only inches from impacting Nidoran shot Harry a look filled with regret, as the heavy barrage hit their target, shaking the ground. Harry fell down to his knees staring in horror, unable to look away from the scene that he had just witnessed, his eyes fell to the ground feeling the strain as his body began to shake violently trying to comprehend what had just happened.
It seemed unreal...how could he have left this happen?!
Roark closed his eyes briefly glancing at the referee, nodding sharply.
"Nidoran has fainted, the win goes to Oni-"
The referee was interrupted as a burst of light shined through the rubble spreading across the room reflecting off of the metal forcing Roark, Harry and everyone else to cover their eyes. Then the brightness began to dim, eventually fading as quickly as it had appeared. Everyone appeared to be rather bewildered by what had just occurred before their expressions changed into disbelief as the rubble exploded all over the place while a purple flash ran across the field colliding into Onix; the rock snake slide backwards falling backwards onto it's back.
"What the hell was that?!" Roark exclaimed snapping his head towards his Pokémon. "Onix are you alright?" His eyes and tone held a strong level of concern for the rock-snake, as the large Pokémon nodded his head the miner allowed himself to relax with relief.
Before Harry was no longer the small Nidoran that he had captured back in Route 203 this new Pokémon was far larger in comparison, the ears had also grown larger taking a sharper characteristic as the horn had also grown. While the face had matured a bit taking on a more rebellious feature; the body had several spots around the body and while they were miniscule they were still noticeable; just like the sharp tooth on each side of this new Pokémon's face. It was not something to underestimate.
Reaching once again for his Pokédex Harry held it out. "Nidorino, the evolved form of Nidoran, like it's pre-evolution it shares the title of the Poison pin Pokémon. It is known for its violent disposition using it's poisonous horn in order to stabs it's foes; the horn in its self is known for being able to break through diamond."
"So...that light was...an evolution?" Harry whispered glancing up at Nidorino with a mixed feeling of awe and surprise, a renewed feeling of confidence bolstered within placing the Pokédex back into his pocket and smirked. "Nidora...err sorry, I guess I should start calling you Nidorino, huh?" As the Poison-type shot him a dry look causing Harry to flush but he quickly regained his composure. "Do you think you'll be able to take out Onix?"
An arrogant smirk appeared on Nidorino's face as he let out a fierce growl, sharply turning back to the fight watching as Onix returned wearing a frightened expression, obviously it was not happy for being taken by surprise.
"I think it's time that we end this little battle don't you agree Harry?" Roark questioned from his side.
Harry inclined his head. "I couldn't agree more Roark!"
The miner smirked. "In that case Onix use Double-Edge!"
"Nidorino finish him off with Double-Edge!"
Hearing the commands that they had been given the two Pokémon lunged towards one another, the two both began to glow brightly, charging up their respective attacks with Onix being coated with a white light that wrapped around his body appearing like a shield that spiraled around in a circular motion, appearing as if the snake-like creature was hovering in the air. Nidorino's legs were flashing brightly increasing in speed almost vanishing from sight due to the brightness of the energy that was coursing through his body. As the distance between the two diminished even more the two hurtled towards one another, aggressively coming into contact with each other that invoked a giant gust of wind that pushed back into the walls of the gym, Harry had fallen backwards using his arm as a shield while Roark had used his helmet to protect him from tumbling over.
The powerful display of the attacks had rendered the two into a stand still both refused to move from the spot shoving against each other determined to come out as the victor in the battle. The sounds of feet ruffling echoed through the gym.
It was only going to end one way; one of them would fall.
"C'mon Onix!" Roark cheered thrusting his fist forward. "Don't back down!"
Harry frowned. "Nidorino do your best!" He cheered from his side.
The poison and rock type continued to push hard trying to topple the other in order to claim victory neither of them were blaming on losing the fight. The two were exhausted from the fights barely able to hold on as they used each other as leverage to keep standing, fatigue had begun to seep onto their faces panting underneath, however, it could not be seen from far away; their expressions gave it away. It would not be much longer until one of them collapsed.
Onix growled lowly in tandem with Nidorino's hard grunts, hard stares shared between them. With one hard pant later as if on cue the two had fallen to the ground together, laying unconscious as the gym had fallen silent.
After several moments passed the referee snapped out of his stupid. "Both Onix and Nidorino have fainted!"
"A double knock out, never thought that would happen," Volkner murmured from the sidelines rather bemused by the outcome. It was true too as it rarely ever happened in a Pokémon battle from what he was used to, needless to say it was a surprise. "And Harry was able to take out Roark's Onix for that matter."
A smirk appeared on Sirius face as he threw an arm up. "That's my godson! I knew he could do it! He has this battle in the bag!"
"He is doing exceptionally well." Norman agreed nodding with a smile on his face as he turned to him and glanced backwards to the field. "I'm rather eager to see how the rest of this battle plays out."
Volkner shot the two a stern gaze. "Don't be so certain. Now that Harry has taken out Geodude and Onix it's likely that Roark is going to resort to using that Pokémon." He said in a rather grim tone as his eyes flickered back to the field.
Sirius gave him a skeptical look opposed to Norman's stare of understanding which turned sober.
"Gym leaders always have their ace in the hole you could say, their strongest and signature Pokémon that they use in battle," The electric leader elaborated to Sirius having caught on to his look. "Raichu maybe have been my first and mostly used Pokémon but it's not my signature Pokémon. You haven't seen it yet."
Norman leaned against the chair. "Most of us keep our signatures hidden from the challenger until the very end of the battle."
Now Sirius looked rather worried by the remarks swallowing thickly as he returned the field below.
"Onix return!" Roark called returning the rock snake back to its Pokéball, giving a warm smile. "Thank you for all your hard work today, Onix. I have to say you're doing rather well for your first gym battle Harry, I congratulate you!"
Harry had returned Nidorino back to his Pokéball around the same time that Roark had, staring at the man he flushed slightly at the praise. "Thank you Roark. But I didn't do all of the work Nidora...sorry, I mean Nidorino did most of the work. I just helped from the sidelines."
"And your modest, I like that in a trainer!" The miner grinned widely in a relaxed manner as it took on an arrogant edge. "Unfortunately this is as far as you go, I cannot allow you to go any further than this!" Picking a ball from his waist and tossing it into the air. "C'mon out, Cranidos!"
For the fourth time that day, the field was engulfed by the light from the Pokeball, revealing a small grey dinosaur. It had blue skin at the end of the tail and the head had the same color of blue that appeared to be in a spherical design while horns circled around the head. The red eyes flashed with child-like delight and happily bounced upon arrival, kicking back onto the dirt with its sharp nails digging deeply into the ground showing off their strength. Like Geodude and Onix it possessed immense strength and confidence within its capabilities.
"Cranidos, the Head Butt Pokémon. A dweller of the jungle 100 million years again, due to the head being as hard as steel, Cranidos would head butt trees within its path."Harry for the third time that day pocketed his Pokédex again, frowning at the dinosaur like Pokémon before him.
'Sending out Pichu is absolute suicide,' Harry thought grimly. Curling his lips and bit down on the bottom; while Volkner had helped him train the newest addition to the team he knew it would not be enough to stand up against Cranidos' might; on the other hand there was Bagon, while he was sure that the small dragon would be able to stand up against Cranidos he wasn't sure for how long. The main reason he had sent out Nidor-ino in the first place was due to the attack type advantage that he had. Unfortunately, it appeared that there was little to no choice in the matter as he pulled out a Pokéball from his belt and threw it. "Bagon let's go!"
Upon emerging from the Pokéball Bagon looked around glancing at the room staring with wonder until his eyes had landed onto him lunging towards his direction hugging him tightly, Harry let out a small chuckle returning the embrace before releasing.
"You ready Bagon?" Harry asked quietly at the dragon with a serious gaze.
Bagon nodded swiftly bagging his fist onto his belly. "Bagon bag!"
"Glad to hear it, then let's show Roark exactly what we're made of!" Harry announced his hand forming into a fist holding up for Bagon to see. "We just need to beat Cranidos and we're in the clear. I know you can do this!"
"Bagon!"
Harry grinned widely.
"A Bagon?" Roark's voice grabbed Harry's attention seeing the surprised look on the miner's face. "I have to say I never expected you to have one with you. You're certainly full of surprises aren't you?"
The wizard shrugged dismissively at the claim. "I would not exactly say that, Roark but thanks."
"Is that so?" The miner appeared bemused by his words. "Well I think I'll be the judge of that now won't I? Enough talk! Cranidos start off with flamethrower!"
Harry gritted his teeth. "Bagon dodge and follow up by using Dragon Rage!"
Cranidos whipped it's head backwards and thrust forward unleashing a powerful blaze of fire straight at Bagon. The dragon stumbled about trying to dodge the attack letting out a sharp cry upon getting skimmed by the flames, skidding across the ground and turning clumsily to face his opponent as his body began to flash a dark red light and unleashed a powerful burst of energy that hit the dinosaur like Pokémon. Unfortunately, while Cranidos had taken the attack full-force it remained mostly unscratched and proceeded to lunge towards Bagon with another flamethrower, this time the dragon managed to dodge the attack successfully but found himself running from the burning flames that chased behind him.
It had not taken Harry very long to figure out Cranidos had no intent at stopping to use the attack unless given orders by Roark. That proved to both be rather bothersome and useful, as he watched Bagon tripping over and rock, tilting forward falling onto the ground with a soft smack.
'Shit!'Harry exclaimed mentally. "Bagon use Force Energy!"
The dragon heeded Harry's commander shutting his eyes and began to glow a faint white light at the same time Cranidos flamethrower descended upon him covering Bagon in flames. The temperature within the gym rose exponentially while the attack continued on, it seemed that the dinosaur-like Pokémon wouldn't stop until the job was done.
"You can stop now Cranidos. That's enough," Roark called off the attack satisfied.
The dinosaur-like Pokémon ceased the attack upon his trainer's commander giving the miner it's full attention which had quickly been diverted back to see Bagon laying on the ground; covered in soft black burns but appeared nothing serious had been left on the dragon. Uncurling from the spot, the dragon had stood up opening his eyes cautiously taking in the surrounding and let out a sigh of relief resuming back into a fighting stance facing Cranidos rather cockily grinning at his opponent happily.
Taking the advantage of Roark's and Cranidos stilled shock Harry quickly issued a commander. "Bagon use Zen headbutt!"
"BAG...ON!" The dragon growled loudly charging up the attack feeling a light shined above his head dashing forward and lowered downwards as he hit directly on Cranidos sending the other Pokémon back several feet onto the ground. Looking proud at the accomplishment Bagon let out a cheerful cry.
"Cranidos!" Roark cried out snapping out his shock and grew angry. "Cranidos I think it's time we put this to a finish!" Slashing his arm down angrily as he glared. "It's time for you to taste your own medicine use Zen headbutt!"
"Bagon you use Zen headbutt too!" Harry said firmly.
Bagon and Cranidos charged at one another hitting against each other pushing around the field growling at one another as they parted and collided again. The two repeated the actions several times over creating a distance between each other.
Roark smirked. "You've raised your Bagon well, I've heard that their rather difficult Pokémon to raise!"
"I can't really take all of the credit," Harry flushed rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, accepting compliments was something that he was trying to get use to no matter how true his response had been. The others had a great deal in helping him care for the small dragon; since Volkner and Norman were experienced trainers both raising their own Pokémon they gave him advice and aid whenever he needed it, for that Harry would always be grateful. "I had help."
"I see, still, you are the one that did most of the work when it came to raising Bagon," Roark remarked calmly. "You don't give yourself much credit do you?" Cocking an eyebrow, smiling wryly at the younger boy. "Cranidos Head Smash!"
The dino-like Pokémon charged forward brandishing it's head from the ground upwards knocking Bagon into the air crashing several feet back, as the dragon-type began to stand up Cranidos attacked again crushing Bagon up against a boulder, whom let out painful cries that had been cut short by the dino.
"Bagon use Tackle to free yourself!" Harry shouted swiftly.
The dragon growled lowly snapping his tiny arms forward onto Cranidos head trying to preventing getting hit by the attack, gritting teeth together and shutting both eyes in struggle to push Cranidos way. The other proved rather strong in terms of strength, feeling his legs starting to move upwards against the boulder that was to the back. It was at the moment when the dragon had gotten a good idea, allowing the attack to push Bagon upwards against the rock flipping him over and landing behind Cranidos, as the other Pokémon colliding into it behind him, as the dragon whipped around grabbing the other by the tail pulling him out and began to spin him around, and around.
Bagon released Cranidos furiously tossing the other Pokémon across the field far from where they had been standing straight out of the field into the out of ends zone.
"Cranidos is out of bounds, the winner is Bagon and Harry!" The referee announced throwing both of his hands up into the air.
Roark appeared absolutely stunned staring in disbelief at the outcome of the match. "...I...lost?" Closing his eyes briefly the leader shook his head shortly returning his beloved Pokémon back to the ball murmuring words of soothing comfort, his eyes roamed to where Bagon and Harry were cheering together with their friends celebrating their victory openly. It was a nice change from the regular decorum usually battling the trainer, handing them the badge and watching them head off. Bemused Roark motioned his co-worker over, whom had a black trey within his hands, as he took it from him approaching the small group. "Harry?" gaining the trainer's attention he held out the trey revealing a silver box that held the brownish object laying on red fabric. "Your way of battling and utilizing attacks to turn the match into your favor was well thought out. It is my humble honor to present you with the Cobble Badge!"
"The...Cobble Badge?" Harry repeated staring at the badge that glistened underneath the lights. Slowly, his arm leaned forward wrapping his fingers around the object shuddering at the cold, steely feel that tingled against his skin, taking it fully into his palm a large smile spread across his face inwardly pride shot through him. He had won his first badge. It seemed rather unreal, in the beginning of it all, he had been hesitant about battles, but after battling Barry, he had gotten over the aversion finally seeing why many trainers enjoyed it. It was exhilarating. "Thank you Roark."
The leader grinned in response. "The next gym you should head to would be Eterna City, mind you, the other leaders are far stronger than I am."
"I'll make sure to keep that in mind." Harry nodded shortly; the badge remained in his palm gripping it.
As Roark had turned to address Sirius the referee had returned bringing with him a boy, that appeared to be around Harry's age from the looks of it wearing a purple jacket with black along the shoulders on top the exposed steely blue shirt and brown khaki pants, looking rather unpleasant at best from the stare and expression that marred his face. He looked less than impressed with the area appearing to be snorting his gaze fell towards where they were standing eyeing them with a strange gleam that passed through the dark orbs before outright dismissing their presence focusing solemnly on Roark. He also noted the stricken look that had appeared on Norman's face upon seeing the boy.
Did he know him from somewhere? Harry frowned glancing back at the boy making a mental note to talk with Norman later about the trainer in question. It was rather rare for the man to frown, rather showing any negative emotions, the man was rather friendly and warm compared to the expression that was currently lining his face. Why had the boy caused such a reaction from Norman? His line of thought had been interrupted not soon afterwards.
"Sorry Roark but this kid wanted to know if your available for a gym battle," The referee looked apologetic sending a ruefull stare between the two.
Roark winced turning towards the boy. "I'd love to have a gym battle with you, unfortunately, I won't be free until tomorrow afternoo-"
"He can have my spot if he wants." Sirius piped up instantly, looking rather sheepish slowly with an innocent smile appeared. "I don't think I'm ready quite yet."
"Are you sure Sirius?" Roark questioned gaining a nod from Sirius returning his attention to the trainer. "In that case is tomorrow morning around ten work for you?"
The boy nodded curtly. "That's fine." His eyes darted towards Sirius bowing his head dashing towards the exit without as much of a second thought.
Volkner cocked an eyebrow. "Friendly," He remarked in a flat tone sliding his hands into his pockets eyeing the direction of where the boy had left. "Not much for conversation either I'd wager."
"And you're one to talk?" Roark rebuked dryly.
"...I plead the fifth."
"Point proven. Thanks."
"Glad to be of service."
"Smartass."
"Me? A smartass? That's a new one. I thought that was Flint."
"Consider yourself moving up in the world."
"I feel honored.
"You should be."
Roark was amused. So was everyone else.
The leader had joined the group as they headed towards the exit wanted to at least bid them a friendly farewell, upon arriving the doors had opened abruptly as Norman had suddenly stumbled backwards knocking into Sirius; whom caught him before he had hit the ground. The respond had winded them all forcing them into bewilderment as their brains struggled to comprehend what had happened, shadows had towered against them.
The first shadow belonged to a young girl with long blunette hair that had been tied back with broaches wearing a white hat that had a pink Pokeball design in the middle, her blue eyes danced with shock and horror her mouth completely open. Her magenta scarf wrapped neatly around her neck, barely falling past her shoulders. Her arms were completely exposed to the world as were her legs. She had a black skirt with pink circling around it that was on top of a white blouse. On her shoulder was a Piplup that glanced between Norman and the other person that had crashed into him.
Besides the girl was a tall tanned male, his eyebrows furrowed in worry and mild bemusement at the scene. He had spiky brown hair with a dark green collar shirt underneath an orange vest with brown near the shoulders; he held the strap of his bag which swung around his shoulders.
"Norman?"
The Petalburg gym leader snapped out of his stupor at the sound of the familiar voice looking at the smaller figure. "Ash?" Blinking rapidly re-adjusting himself upwards with the help of Sirius his posture had returned staring openly at the young teen before him.
Silence fell over the two as if on cue the two had all but exclaimed in unison:
"What are you doing here!?"
Chapter 10-end.
Sorry for the late delay everyone I was hoping to get this chapter out sooner rather than later, unfortunately, my beta and I hit a snag that we were able to thankfully get around and are back in business. Chapter eleven has also been finished in the mean time and is currently going under editing. Once again I want to thank all of my reviewers, readers and my lovely beta for everything; without you guys this fic wouldn't be possible!
And plus we have now Harry not only has gotten his first badge, but his first evolution; and entered possible rivals!
I'm also curious as to how the pacing is going; should I slow it down, speed it up or is it okay as it is? Please let me know!
Harry's team:
Bagon
Pichu
Nidoran - Nidorino
Until next time make sure to leave a review!