Sorry for taking a few days to get the new chapter up, but a combination of being sick and having to work made it difficult! Thanks to everyone who likes this story, and reviews are happily welcomed. Let me know if you love it or hate it! I hope to have new chapters up at least every other day, so stay tuned!
"You can't seriously say you don't regret packing a coat!" Gary argued with Iris. "It's not even thirty degrees out here!"
The team slowly trudged through six inches of snow as they eagerly walked through the last two miles before reaching their next destination, Glacier City. It had taken almost a month to walk to the northernmost city in the Legacy region. Their guidebook's fact section stated that the location was so far north, summer temperatures only got into the forties, and there was rarely a week without snow. Everyone quickly assumed the next gym had to contain ice type Pokemon, but still left the final determination for when they met the gym leader.
"It gets cold like this all the time back in Opelucid City in Unova," Iris said coolly. "Besides, you should have thought ahead. You knew we'd be traveling through this league for a long time. It only makes sense it'd get cold eventually."
Ash enjoyed listening to the two bicker about the cold as they walked. The past month had been stressful for the entire team for a number of reasons. Iris and Misty were butting heads, refusing to agree with the other. Ash couldn't figure out why they were having trouble getting along, and Gary decided it was best to avoid telling him about both girls' attraction toward him. The last thing he wanted was to get pulled into the drama.
Victoria was especially stubborn while they traveled. On multiple occasions, she tried to take charge of the group in leading the way, and every time she did, they got lost. Both Gary and Ash grew frustrated each time, but Gary was much more vocal about it. Ash and Gary also argued a number of times, each time focusing around Gary's lack of single victory in their first three gym battles. Gary continued to stand his ground, ensuring Ash that he just had unlucky situations each time, but Ash refused to let him get by on excuses.
The final two weeks of their journey was filled with freezing winds, snow, and sub-zero temperatures. Without the help of Ash's Charizard and Gary's Arcanine keeping a big fire lit, they were positive they'd have never made it. The team were forced to wear multiple layers of clothes, which made their walking far less comfortable and slower. Everyone also got sick, each time lasting a day or two, delaying them even more.
"Enough guys," Ash said through exhaustion. "I can see the city from here. Let's just get there, check into a hotel, and rest for the night."
"Now there's something we can all agree on!" Misty exclaimed. She could see how tired Ash was, both physically and mentally. Her goal was to help keep the entire load off of Ash, but found the task harder than expected.
After another twenty minutes of walking, the team arrived at the edge of Glacier City. Snow was heavily accumulated all around the houses and shops, but the roads and sidewalks were perfectly clear. It was obvious the people of the city made a tremendous effort to keep things clear of both snow and ice. The streets were lined with tall light-posts that had perfectly white poles, and every single house was painted white as well. Everything seemed relatively plain, yet looked perfect for the setting.
"I think that's the hotel there," Gary said, pointing to a three-story building not far from the entrance of the city. A neon sign in the window showed the word "vacancy" and flashed repeatedly.
"Looks like it," Ash said. "I'll check us in right now. Misty and Victoria, you guys want to find somewhere with food and bring some back to the hotel?"
"Sure thing," Victoria said. Her and Misty made their way down the sidewalk, looking back and forth for a store or restaurant.
"I think I'll take a walk and see if I can't find the gym's location," Gary said. Ash nodded, then he and Iris walked toward the hotel.
Just as they reached the hotel, Iris stopped and spoke up. "Ash, I'm sorry we've been so troublesome lately. I know you've been stressed."
Ash let loose a slight smile and shook his head. "You don't need to apologize. We never imagined such a hard journey to get here. Besides, if we would have made it that whole way without arguing, there would have been something seriously wrong. We're bound to argue once in a while when we see each other constantly day in and day out."
Iris felt deeply relieved at Ash's response. She could see the sincerity in Ash's eyes, and took ease in them. They walked into the hotel, and instantly marveled at the lobby. It was beautifully decorated. The floor was carpeted with velvet colored swirls, and the walls were painted a welcoming creamy white. There were three couches, all red with white throw pillows. An old-school wood fireplace was on the far wall, and three logs sat inside of it, forming a pyramid. The lights recessed into the ceiling, surrounding a large crystal chandelier that reflected the lights, brightening the room even more.
"This place is amazing!" Iris exclaimed.
"Welcome to Glacier Suites," the front desk attendant said politely. "Are you here for a room?"
Ash stepped up to the counter and pulled his Legacy League id out of his wallet. "I'm Ash Ketchum, one of the Legacy League competitors. We were hoping for two rooms for two nights."
"Ah yes!" The attendant typed a few things into the computer, then pulled two keys out of a drawer. "Of course your rooms are free of charge, courtesy of Mr. Yuki and the Legacy League. The men will be in room two, and the women in room five. Breakfast is from six to ten, and checkout will be at ten in the morning. Have a wonderful day, and good luck!"
Ash thanked the attendant and took the keys. Just as they finished, Misty and Victoria walked into the hotel, and Gary followed not far behind. The girls had four bags of carry-out food from one of the restaurants, and Gary held a map of the city.
"Great timing," Ash said. "We've got the rooms, so let's eat and get some rest."
The group agreed and proceeded to their rooms. Everyone had the same idea as they ate as fast as they could, then dropped into their beds. Ash could feel all the stress from the past month melting away as he entered nirvana laying on the soft sheets and covered himself with a warm fleece blanket. Pikachu passed on its normal sleeping spot at Ash's head on the pillow, and cuddled underneath the blanket as well, resting its head against Ash's shoulder. Within minutes, they were both fast asleep.
Gary had more trouble sleeping as he continued to think about what Ash had said during their travels. He was yet to defeat a single opposing Pokemon, and was feeling depressed over the situation. He never had such trouble defeating an opponent, and couldn't figure out what he was doing wrong. His Pokemon were all well-trained and rarely lost battles in the past.
"I can't keep losing," Gary thought to himself. "Ash asked me to come believing I was the second strongest trainer in this group. So far, Misty and Victoria have won the most battles, and Iris isn't far behind them. If I don't win at least one battle tomorrow, Ash might give up on me altogether."
"The gym is right around the corner," Gary told the group as they walked through Glacier City. It was nine in the morning, and everyone had found a new sense of determination and readiness after the nice night of sleep they had. Gary was the only one who still felt exhausted after only managing to get a few hours of sleep.
"You guys ready for this?" Ash asked the group in front of the gym's doors.
"More than ready!" Iris said energetically. Everyone cheered after Iris' words.
The doors to the gym slid open automatically, and the group walked in. They inside had a traditional gym setup, with stands on both sides, and a field in the center. The only difference was the icy surface of the field with two mini glaciers on it. On the far end of the field stood a man who leaned against a podium. He watched the group as the walked closer to the battlefield, and showed no sign of moving from his position.
"You must be Ash Ketchum and team," the man said. His voice was that of a common middle-aged man.
"That's right," Ash responded. "We're here to earn our fourth badge."
The man smiled at Ash's response and finally stood up from leaning against the podium. "My name is Bryce, the gym leader of Glacier Gym. I'm sure you don't need to guess what type of Pokemon I specialize in, being ice."
The group showed little emotion to Bryce's declaration. It was the most logical choice given the setting of the gym, and the location of the city. Ash looked over Bryce, who didn't dress like most grown men. He wore khaki cargo pants and a graphic t-shirt with a picture of a Lapras. He wore simple sandals, and had them loosely tied. It almost seemed like he was making an effort to look as laid back as possible.
"The shocker, however, is my battle rules," Bryce continued. "Instead of sending one Pokemon into the battle at a time, we will instead have two from each side. Now I'll give you a few minutes to figure things out."
Ash flinched at Bryce's rule. He eyed his team, who all looked equally concerned. They had never trained in a tag team format, and had no clue how well they'd cooperate with each other.
"What should we do?" Victoria asked. "We don't know what the best combinations would be for our Pokemon."
"Then we'll try to pick the Pokemon we think will do best against his," Ash said. "Don't be quick to pick a fire type Pokemon, cause there's a few different ice Pokemon that also have water type. Let's start with Victoria and Gary, then Misty, Iris, an finally me. I'm most familiar with Iris' battle style since we've battled each other so much in the past, so if it comes down to our final two Pokemon, me and her will have the best bet in working well together."
Misty didn't like Ash's decision, but quickly realized it was out of jealousy, not poor planning. She wanted to be his partner, but knew he wouldn't change his mind.
"Alright, I'll use my Accelgor," Victoria said. "I'm planning on using speed in this one, and since Accelgor doesn't use the ground to move, I won't have to worry about it slipping on the ice."
"I know you warned us about using fire Pokemon," Gary directed at Ash. "I still think my Arcanine will have the best chance here."
Ash nodded, hoping he was making the right decision. Gary didn't have many Pokemon with a weakness to ice, so his options were pretty wide. Arcanine was his highest level Pokemon, though, which gave him a slight advantage.
"I'll keep my Politoed in standby," Misty said. "I don't have any Pokemon with strong attacks against ice Pokemon, but Politoed should be a good match."
"Pretty much all of my Pokemon have ice weaknesses," Iris said. "But my Dragonite knows both a fire attack, and an electric attack, which would make it the best choice for me."
Ash agreed with everyone's choice, then thought about which Pokemon he should use. He suddenly realized a potential strategy against Bryce's ice field. He turned to Gary and smiled.
"Gary, your choice is perfect," he said. Gary was a little shocked over Ash's sudden enthusiasm. "You and Victoria should battle your hardest, but I know of a good last ditch effort it your Arcanine is about to go down. Have it use its most powerful fire attacks on the ice to melt it all. If you look at the field, it has a rim that goes around it, and rises about six inches above the floor. Once the ice is melted, it'll turn into a pool of water. Misty, your Politoed will be able to battle in its own element, then, just like mine will. I'll use Floatzel as my Pokemon."
"That's a great idea!" Misty exclaimed. "But what if he just tells his Pokemon to use ice moves to refreeze the water?"
"That will take a lot of time, so we just need to keep him on his toes," Ash answered. "You guys ready?"
Everyone put their hands in and cheered. They each placed their pokeball on the podium, and Victoria and Gary stepped forward. Bryce studied their faces, and could see their confidence.
"I've watched your battles up till now," Bryce said. "You're all pretty cool trainers, but that won't help you here. I can guarantee you've never battled someone as cool as I am."
"We'll see about that!" Victoria called. "Go Accelgor!"
"You too, Arcanine!" Gary called. The two Pokemon landed on the battlefield. Accelgor hovered above the ground, ready for a fight. Arcanine slipped and stumbled for a couple seconds, but managed to regain its balance relatively quickly.
"I will start with my Walrein and Mamoswine," Bryce said with a toss of two pokeballs. The large seal-like Pokemon and the massive tusked ice Pokemon readied themselves for battle.
"I'll keep the Walrein busy so it can't hit your Arcanine with any water moves," Victoria told Gary.
"Sounds good," Gary responded. "Ill target the Mamoswine."
Bryce replaced himself into a leaning position against the podium. He almost appeared to be unconcerned with the upcoming battle. Instead, his attention seemed to be more on how cool the trainers' Pokemon looked.
"Your Arcanine has a rad coat of fur," Bryce said. "You've put a lot of time into making it look good."
"Uh, thanks," Gary said slowly. "Are we going to battle?"
Bryce smiled, but didn't say anything. Gary's frustration was beginning to mount more and more each second. Victoria didn't say anything, but only looked back and forth between the two in confusion.
"We have polar opposites, I think," Misty told Ash in the background.
"I know what you mean," Ash replied. "Gary's more in your face and ready to move, but Bryce seems more laid back and goes with the flow."
"I guess we should start," Bryce finally said after picking something from his tooth. Gary's face was almost beet red from Bryce's declaration. "You guys can start."
"Finally!" Gary exclaimed. "Arcanine, go after Mamoswine with a fire fang!"
"Accelgor, use focus blast on Walrein!" Victoria called to her own Pokemon.
Bryce, still leaning against the podium, watched the trainers' Pokemon move in for their attacks. He reverted his eyes to his own Pokemon, and closed his eyes.
"Walrein, use roar," Bryce said calmly.
Walrein let out a loud roar, echoing through the gym. Accelgor flinched from the intimidating shout, and nervously switched its attack to Mamoswine. As it was about to hit Mamoswine with its focus blast, Arcanine suddenly collided with it. Both Pokemon fell to the ground in shock, confused by what had just happened.
"You gotta be kidding me!" Gary shouted. "You can't let your Pokemon fall for that!"
"We didn't see it coming," Victoria snapped. "It won't happen again. Accelgor, use yawn!"
Accelgor faced Walrein, and sent a wave of energy right into its face. Walrein was clearly effected by it as it began to feel drowsy. Bryce took notice, and instantly thought up an idea.
"Walrein, why don't you use encore on that Accelgor," he said. "And Mamoswine, use ice shard to keep that Arcanine busy."
"Arcanine, use your extremespeed to stop Walrein's attack!" Gary called.
Mamoswine launched a sharp icicle toward Arcanine, but Arcanine's superior speed easily allowed for it to dodge the attack. With unmatched speed, it ran after Walrein just as it prepared its attack. Bryce smiled, and locked eyes with Gary.
"Mamoswine, use earthquake," Bryce said.
Gary's eyes widened and called for Arcanine to stop its attack. Mamoswine slammed its massive hooves into the ice. The entire field of ice began to crack in all directions, and to everyone's surprise, the ice completely shattered, revealing a pool of water underneath it.
"No!" Gary yelled. "Arcanine, try to stay on top of the floating ice!"
Arcanine quickly jumped to the biggest piece of ice it could find, and struggled to keep its balance on the shaky surface. Walrein was swimming through the water with ease, and Mamoswine stood on its own piece of ice.
"He had this planned all along!" Victoria exclaimed.
"You kids should have thought of something more original than breaking the ice," Bryce said. "I've been a gym leader in the Legacy League for almost twenty years, and everyone who has ever challenged this gym has tried the same strategy. Because of that, I decided to make it my own strategy as well."
Gary and Victoria looked at each other, hoping the other would think of a new plan. Ash jumped out of his seat, and also worked to think of a new strategy.
"Guys, don't try anything new," Misty called. "Just because he's using the water doesn't mean we can't too! The old strategy is still the way to go, just keep Arcanine above the water!"
Gary and Victoria nodded simultaneously, and went on the offensive. Gary was the first to strike. "Arcanine, let's show this gym leader why you're my strongest Pokemon!"
Gary's emotions began to rage as he thought back on Ash's disappointment in the repeated losses in battle. Once again, the odds were stacked against him; more so than any other situation. No matter what, he couldn't lose another battle.
"Victoria, I need you to keep Bryce's Pokemon off Arcanine for a bit," Gary said. Victoria looked at him with confusion, but decided to trust him.
"Accelgor, keep Arcanine safe!" Victoria ordered. Accelgor used its speed, and flew straight towards Arcanine and stayed in front of it.
"Walrein, use toxic on Accelgor," Bryce said. "Mamoswine, use ice shard on Arcanine's platform."
Walrein was the first to strike, throwing a cloud of toxic gas toward Accelgor. Without needing an order from Victoria, use used protect and stopped the attack completely with the barrier. Not even two seconds afterward, Mamoswine's attack was launching four sharp shards of ice directly for Arcanine's ice platform.
"Don't let that platform break!" Victoria called to Accelgor. Accelgor attempted another protect, but the energy of the last protect had drained it too much to use another so soon. The ice was only a few feet away, and Accelgor sped downward, and stopped right in front of the attack. All four ice shards struck it, dealing massive damage. Accelgor looked back to Arcanine, seeing it was safe, then fell into the water.
"Accelgor is unable to battle," the ref announced. "Please send in your next Pokemon."
Victoria returned her Pokemon, and slowly walked away form the platform. Ash was equally disappointed, knowing full well Accelgor would have lasted much longer if it didn't have to protect Arcanine. Misty stepped onto the platform, and lifted her pokeball.
"Given the strategy you all planned on using, it won't surprise me when I see a water Pokemon that swims well," Bryce said.
"Kind of," Misty said. "Swimming alone won't do the job, so I choose Politoed!"
Politoed immediately dove into the water, and readied itself. Misty turned her attention to Gary, who looked at her, then his Arcanine. Misty quickly realized his plan, and smiled.
"I've got your back," Misty said.
Misty looked at Bryce, and gave a coy smile. Suddenly, a cloud formed directly above the battlefield, and rain began to fall from it. Bryce was initially surprised from the rain, but soon reverted back to his leaning position on the podium.
"Hey Iris," Ash said quietly. Iris changed her attention to him. "With Politoed's drizzle ability creating rain, your Dragonite can deal a lot of damage with its electric attack. Just make sure one of our Pokemon isn't in the water too."
"Misty must have thought of this when she chose Politoed," Iris said. Regardless of her unspoken rivalry with Misty, she couldn't deny Misty's excellent planning.
"Walrein, use ice beam on Arcanine," Bryce ordered. "Mamoswine, use icicle crash in Politoed's direction."
"Politoed, use surf," Misty called.
Politoed dove underwater, and quickly swam down, then back up. A large wave of water crashed across the pool toward the two opposing Pokemon. Both of their attacks hit the wave, freezing the water, but not getting any further.
"Thanks Misty," Gary said. "Arcanine, use solar beam!"
Bryce's eyes opened wider, and jumped up from his leaning position. Arcanine braced itself on the ice, and fired the massive green beam from its mouth. The attack flew directly toward Mamoswine, and its own platform was far too small to dodge.
"Walrein, use ice beam," Bryce ordered. Walrein immediately responded, and fired its ice beam toward Mamoswine's icy platform. Quicker than anyone expected, the platform grew, and Mamoswine narrowly dodged a direct impact from the solar beam. Instead, the beam nicked its side, substantially decreasing the damage it could have received. Bryce was surprised, however, at Walrein's sudden lack of movement. He quickly remembered the attack from Victoria's Accelgor, yawn.
"Walrein's asleep!" Misty called. "Politoed, use focus blast!"
Politoed quickly swam after the sleeping Walrein, and slammed its fist into it. Walrein flew back a few feet, and remained unconscious as it began to float to the surface of the water. Bryce grabbed his pokeball and returned Walrein.
"I'm sure Walrein would have had more fight left in it, but there's no reason for me to subject my sleeping Pokemon to free hits," Bryce said. "And Gary, I was pretty surprised. Not many Arcanine know how to use solar beam, so kudos."
Gary didn't say anything in response. His emotions were running wild as he watched his Arcanine struggle to keep its balance on the small, icy platform. He had doubts another solar beam would succeed now that Bryce knew it was possible.
"Join the party Cloyster!" Bryce said with a pokeball in his hand. The Cloyster jumped out of the pokeball and dove into the water. It swiftly swam around in the water, clamping its shell over and over.
Misty observed its movements, and tried to read its swimming patterns. Her attention was reverted when she noticed the rain from Politoed's drizzle ability was causing the pool to rise. It wouldn't be much longer before the water would start to overflow.
"I have an idea," Misty said softly to Gary. Gary turned his head to her in response. "I'm going to trap my Politoed and his Cloyster in the water by refreezing the surface. You'll be able to fight his Mamoswine without any interferences from Cloyster. I'll keep it busy."
Gary nodded and reverted his attention back to Arcanine. He was still nervous with his Pokemon's lack of balance on the slick surface. It would take all the control possible to stay one step ahead of Bryce and his Mamoswine.
"Let's go, Cloyster," Bryce began. "Use hydro pump on that Arcanine! Mamoswine, fire an ice shard in Politoed's direction."
"Politoed, use your ice beam!" Misty called. "Make a new floor!"
Everyone aside from Misty and Gary let their jaws drop. Cloyster began to swim to the surface to attack, but Politoed fired its ice beam attack, and aimed it directly above Cloyster. The water began to freeze, blocking Cloyster from getting above the water. Politoed continued to freeze the surface of the water until a thin layer of ice covered the entire pool. Cloyster slammed against the ice, but wasn't able to damage it enough to break it completely.
"Use fire blast!" Gary ordered.
Bryce was quickly forced to refocus as Arcanine stabilized itself and fired the large fire blast. "Mamoswine, dodge and use icicle crash."
The fire quickly moved toward Mamoswine, but it was completely dodged. It began to counterattack, but was distracted as Cloyster slammed against the ice directly underneath it. Politoed had just landed a direct hit with its focus blast, and was moving in for another attack. Bryce's eyes shot back and fort between his two Pokemon.
"His strategy is centered around using two Pokemon simultaneously," Ash told Victoria and Iris. "Since his Pokemon were separated, there's essentially two battles going on at once. That puts him at a disadvantage since Misty and Gary only have to worry about one Pokemon, but he has to worry about two."
"Cloyster, use rock blast on the ice," Bryce ordered. "Mamoswine, use earthquake."
"Not this time!" Gary shouted. "Arcanine, use fire blast!"
"Politoed, use ice beam anywhere Cloyster attacks!" Misty called.
Cloyster began to toss rocks that sat on the pools floor toward the ice. The ice was cracking severely with every attack, but Politoed quickly answered each on with an ice beam to refreeze it. Mamoswine also attempted to break the ice, but its earthquake attacks continued to get interrupted by Arcanine's attacks.
"This just isn't my scene," Bryce declared. "Mamoswine, use ice shard on Arcanine."
"Dodge and use extremespeed!" Gary ordered quickly. Mamoswine launched a sharp shard of ice toward Arcanine. Arcanine quickly dodged by jumping to the left, then started to run after Mamoswine. Gary's hopes were beginning to rise as he neared victory, but the emotion was short lived as Arcanine slipped and fell on its side.
"Shoot! Arcanine get back to your feet!" Gary called.
"There's my opening," Bryce said. Mamoswine, use earthquake."
Mamoswine lifted its front legs, and threw them down onto the ice. Just like before, the ice cracked in all directions, then with a second stomp, the entire field of ice broke completely. Arcanine was almost to its feet, but the ice beneath it shattered, plunging the Pokemon into the water.
"Now use rock blast Cloyster," Bryce continued.
"Politoed, intercept and use focus blast!" Misty shouted.
Politoed quickly swam after Cloyster, and stopped between it and Arcanine. Cloyster's attack slammed into Politoed, but it was endured and Politoed threw its fist into Cloyster. Cloyster managed to close its shell just before the attack, allowing for its hard shell to absorb the blunt of the attack.
Arcanine swam across the pool, aiming to reach an ice platform. Its swimming abilities weren't great, and moved too slow for it to dodge any attacks. Mamoswine was given an order to use another ice shard, and it connected with Arcanine's body. Arcanine yelped from the attack, and fell underwater completely. Just as it worked to resurface, another ice shard hit.
"There's nothing I can do," Gary said with a shaky voice.
"Return your Arcanine!" Ash called. "Bryce won't stop until its knocked out, and there's no chance it will reach a platform with those ice shard attacks!"
Gary's heart dropped as he heard Ash's words. He was about to lose yet another battle without taking out a single opposing Pokemon. Slowly, he held his pokeball out, and returned his Arcanine. To his surprise, just as he returned his Pokemon, Misty's Politoed had connected another focus blast with Cloyster, knocking it out.
"Well, two Pokemon out at the same time," Bryce said. "You all have awesome battling spirit."
Gary didn't hear a single word as he felt completely demoralized. He stepped away from the trainer's box, and sat down a few seats from the rest of the group. He didn't want to listen to any encouragement from Victoria or Iris, nor did he want to hear the criticism from Ash. Victoria noticed his distance, and started to stand up to move closer, but Ash grabbed her wrist.
"Leave him alone for now," Ash said. "It'll only make things worse if you try to cheer him up right now. Gary's a very introverted person in times like these. He'll get better on his own."
Victoria didn't like it, but agreed to leave Gary alone. Ash had known Gary a lot longer than anyone else, so she knew he was right. When Gary was ready, he would join the rest of the team in their location.
Iris stood up, and turned to Ash. "I can't use thunder as long as Misty's in the battle. I don't want to hurt her Pokemon too."
"Don't worry," Ash said softly. "You're both very talented trainers. Just trust each other and you'll be fine."
Iris nodded, and approached the trainer's box. Misty faced her, but didn't say anything. They clearly had issues with each other due to jealousy. The only person who hadn't noticed was Ash, much to Gary's surprise. Both girls failed miserably in being subtle about their feelings for him, and toward each other.
"Listen, I don't care about our differences," Misty said sternly. "We're both here for Ash, so let's remember that and do the best we can."
"Agreed," Iris said shortly. "I have an idea, but your Politoed needs to be out of the water for me to do it."
Misty almost instantly knew what Iris had in mind. She nodded in return, and faced the battlefield. There were only three decent ice platforms floating on the water, and Mamoswine stood on one. The other two were smaller, but would be enough for Politoed's smaller body. The platform closest to Politoed was also close to Mamoswine, which could cause problems, but the other platform was clear on the other end of the pool.
"I think we should try and take out Mamoswine first," Misty said. "Politoed won't be able to defend itself against any projectile attacks Mamoswine uses without being able to jump back into the water."
"Alright, I'll focus on it first," Iris answered. She grabbed her pokeball, and tossed it in the air. Her powerful and aggressive Dragonite launched out of it, roaring loudly as it flew over the battlefield.
"Wow, you chose your powerful Dragonite," Bryce observed. "You know, Dragonites are famous among sailors. The legends say that shipwrecked sailors would be guided to shore by Dragonites that lived out to sea."
"That is cool, but I'm just here to battle," Iris said in return.
"Fair enough. Let's do this then. I choose my next Pokemon, Lapras!"
The large water Pokemon emerged onto the field, diving into the water. It swiftly swam across the surface of the water, loosening itself up the the battle. After a few seconds, it stopped, and looked back at Bryce. Bryce winked at his Pokemon, getting a loving squeal from it. It was clear they had a very close bond with each other.
"We're ready whenever you are," Bryce announced.
Iris wasted no time after she heard Bryce's words. "Dragonite, use dragon dance!"
Dragonite soared above the battlefield, and performed a midair dance. A field of energy formed around it and surged for a few seconds before fading away. After the move ended, Dragonite's already amazing speed seemed to have increased, and most everyone knew that its attack power would also have been increased.
"Mamoswine, use ice shard on Dragonite," Bryce ordered. "Lapras, let's kick this off with a little surprise for our two opponents."
Misty cocked her head to the side in confusion. The first attack come from Mamoswine, launching a group of sharp icicles toward Dragonite. Dragonite easily dodged the attack, and stopped almost directly above Politoed's location. Iris smirked initially, but it was short lived as the shock of Lapras' attack forced her to jump a little. Lapras screeched loudly, and a large bolt of electricity flew from its mouth. The attack hit Dragonite, electrocuting it severely. Matters only got worse when the shock temporarily paralyzed Dragonite, and it fell into the water. As the electricity continued to surge throughout Dragonite's body, the water made it worse when the entire pool became a field of electricity. Politoed yelled in pain as it got hit by the surge, and even Lapras took heavy damage from its own attack.
Both Misty and Iris called out to their Pokemon in concern. To Iris' relief, Dragonite eventually regained control of itself and launched back into the air. Lapras also appeared ok, much to everyone's surprise. Politoed, however, was out cold, floating on the surface of the water.
"I can't believe that just happened," Victoria said in shock. "I didn't even know Lapras could learn any electric attacks."
"I knew they could," Ash replied. "But I've never personally seen it done."
"Return, Politoed," Misty said softly. "Thank you so much, Politoed."
"Welcome to my wicked battle strategies," Bryce exclaimed proudly. "And it will continue to get harder as the battle moves forward."
Misty shook her head in disappointment, then left the trainer's box. She plopped down in a seat next to Ash, and softly apologized to him. Ash put his hand on her shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze.
"No one could have expected his Lapras to do that," Ash said. "But don't worry, I've battled Iris so much over the past couple years, I know how she battles almost without having to pause. We'll take care of the rest."
Misty gave him a small smile, but it was more to mask her real emotions. As she heard Ash explain how well he knew Iris, her heart continued to sink. If they battled as well as Ash claimed they would, it could draw him closer to Iris, and further from her.
Ash finally stood up, and walked into the trainer's box. He gave Iris a confident smile, and she returned it with a similar gesture. Bryce observed the two trainers, and chuckled for a few seconds.
"Looking at you two tells me a lot," Bryce said. "You're in sync with each other, seemingly to point of not needing words to understand each others' thoughts. Maybe we'll have a true team battle now."
"Plan on it," Ash said. He held out his pokeball, as if pointing it at Bryce. "The Pokemon I chose for this battle has a great story behind it. An old friend of mine caught it as a Buizel, but she was a coordinator, and planned to use it in competitions. But Buizel wanted to be in Pokemon battles more than anything, so I traded my old Aipom to her for Buizel. I didn't use it nearly as much as I should have, and eventually stopped using it altogether, but after I returned home to Pallet, I got to work on building my perfect team for Pokemon battles. As I tested my water Pokemon, and Buizel proved to be the fastest swimmer, had the strongest attacks, and refused to give up until it either accomplished its goal, or couldn't move anymore from exhaustion. It didn't even take a week of training on an island before it evolved in the Floatzel that will participate in this battle."
Floatzel flew out of its pokeball and dove into the water. It flawlessly swam through the water at breakneck speeds. Even as it turned, its speed barely decreased. Bryce watched it swim around, admiring it movements with a sense of excitement.
"I've heard stories about how you've used the same six Pokemon for the past couple of years," Bryce said. "I've watched you previous three gym battles, and your Pokemon all look totally intimidating. I've never seen a Pokemon hold its ground against Athelston's Tyranitar like your Krookodile did."
"But I'm far from unbeatable," Ash said. "Every time I went into a battle believing I had no chance of losing, I traditionally walked away with a loss."
"You've grown wise over the years then. You're a cool dude, and few think otherwise."
Ash had to get over Bryce's attempts at being hip, then thanked him. Almost as quickly as they started their small conversation, they ended it, and reverted their attention back to the battle. Iris and Ash gave each other one last look, then began their assault.
"Dragonite, use dragon claw on Mamoswine," Iris ordered.
Ash spoke out to his Floatzel at the exact same time as Iris issued her own order. "Floatzel, use aqua jet!"
Dragonite darted down from its location in the air, and before Mamoswine could blink, the dragon's claws were slicing across its body. Mamoswine stumbled back in pain, stopped just short of the edge of the platform it stood on. Dragonite ended its attack, and shot back into the air. Immediately after Dragonite left Mamoswine, Floatzel appeared from behind it. It jumped out of the water and rammed its water-soaked head into Mamoswine's body. The force of the attack knocked it back even further, and it slipped off the platform and into the water. Bryce wasted no time, and returned his Pokemon, fully aware it couldn't swim.
"You aren't making this easy," Bryce said. "I haven't had such a wicked battle in a long time."
Misty nervously watched the battle ensue. She wanted nothing more than to watch Ash earn another badge, but she couldn't hide the feeling she was having. Deep down, she had a slight desire for them to lose, just so he wouldn't be drawn closer to Iris. Her mix of jealousy and guilt continued to stir, and as time passed, she began to feel sick.
"I choose Vanilluxe," Bryce declared. The Pokemon emerged from its pokeball and hovered over the water. It had two faces, each one resembling ice cream on top of a cone.
"Let's go for a double knock out," Ash told Iris. Iris looked at him and tried to figure out what he meant. "Don't worry, Iris. You'll know when you see it."
Iris chose to trust him, and called out to her Dragonite. "Dragonite, use another dragon dance!"
Ash went into action quickly after. "Floatzel, focus on Vanilluxe and use crunch!"
"Lapras, intercept Floatzel," Bryce ordered. "Now Vanilluxe, use ice beam on that Dragonite."
Vanilluxe launched a large beam of ice toward Dragonite, but Dragonite's speed was far too high for the beam to hit it. At the same time, Lapras swiftly swam after Floatzel, and got between it and Vanilluxe. Floatzel reacted, and easily shifted its direction, swerving around Lapras completely. Before anything could be done, Floatzel jumped out of the water and bit down on Vanilluxe. Vanilluxe appeared injured from the attack, and with Floatzel's extra weight, it fell into the water.
"Great Floatzel!" Ash praised. "It's your turn Iris. Get out of the water Floatzel!"
Floatzel wasted no time and jetted itself out of the water and landed on one of the ice platforms. As soon as it was safe, Iris immediately knew what Ash had planned.
"Dragonite, use thunder!" Iris called.
Bryce jumped as Iris issued her command. Dragonite summoned up a massive field of electricity, and launched all of it into the water. I bright flash overflowed the entire gym, blinding everyone from the action. All they could hear was the electricity sizzling the water. After what seemed like more than a minute, the electricity stopped flowing, and the blinding light faded. The aftermath revealed an unconscious Lapras, but Vanilluxe appeared to have gotten out of the water in time to avoid the attack.
Bryce returned his Lapras, and looked down to the floor. He didn't appear disappointed, but instead had the face of a child in a candy store. He was quickly moving away from his cool attitude, and didn't seem to care anymore.
"That was electric!" Bryce exclaimed while leaving a smile in honor of his little pun. "Many Dragonite know electric attacks, and even with that knowledge, there was nothing I could do about it. Now, while I am always confident in my final Pokemon, I feel as though my back is against the wall!"
"That was the plan," Iris responded. She also felt a bit of enjoyment from Bryce's new attitude. The threat of losing and crushing Ash's dream was sneaking its way into the back of her mind, and she only wanted to have fun battling with Ash. By looking at Ash, she could tell he was feeling the same way.
"Great job out there, Dragonite and Floatzel!" Ash called. Both Pokemon received the praise with energetic shouts and awaited Bryce's next Pokemon, ready for more.
"Now, to follow the previous three gyms you've challenged, my next Pokemon has the ability to mega evolve," Bryce explained. "But I'm a cool guy, and won't stand here claiming I'm unstoppable with it like all your previous challengers did. I will say we are quite powerful together, though. Don't let your guard down just because you had a couple impressive shots that last round. Let's go Abomasnow!"
Neither Ash nor Iris was surprised by his next Pokemon. It was the most believable choice among the ice Pokemon they had not seen for Abomasnow to be the one that could mega evolve. It already had impressive attacking power, and good defenses, so neither had to warn the other of the threat it posed, especially to Dragonite.
Bryce didn't wear his mega stone on his wrist like past gym leaders. His was instead hanging around his neck as a necklace, which no one had noticed until he pulled out of his shirt. With no over-emphasized slap or dramatic punch, he pushed the button and left the rest to his Pokemon. Abomasnow began to grow a little taller, but then hunched over and put its hands on the ground, leaving the team to assume it was shifted to a four-legged form. The snow-white fur that hung over its torso flared out, and formed a type of mane around its head, and then two large ice shards formed out of its back, and more fur flared out around those. The ice platform it stood on shook as the energy from the Pokemon pushed the water around it outward.
"I don't think this is going too be easy," Ash told Iris.
"Yeah, but we can do this," Iris responded. "You already beat a mega evolved Tyranitar on your own, so this shouldn't seem like much to you."
"Tyranitar was just one Pokemon against mine. We have to worry about Abomasnow while keeping his Vanilluxe at bay too. Dragonite needs to forget about trying to overpower its opponents, and focus on speed. My Floatzel will do the same, and try to handle Vanilluxe so you can work on Abomasnow without any distractions."
Iris, while still feeling confident, couldn't ignore the tone in Ash's voice. He rarely got that serious, and it was always for a good reason. No matter how confident she was, she had to recognize that her opponent was a Pokemon Master, and had years more experience than she had.
"Let's not waste time," Bryce declared. "Abomasnow, let's open this with blizzard!"
Ash rolled his eyes in frustration. He knew Bryce wouldn't waste time, but he didn't expect a move with that kind of power right off the bat. Abomasnow stomped its front legs, and roared as a massive wave of snow flowed around it. The snow quickly moved outward, and left no holes for a Pokemon to dodge the attack. Floatzel wasted no time in diving underwater, and waited for the attack to end.
"Dragonite, use thunder, but focus on yourself, not the field," Iris called.
Dragonite responded to the order without question, and summoned another massive force of lightning. The bolts began to surround Dragonite, with Iris hoping they would shield it from the blunt of the blizzard attack. Dragonite hovered in the air, struggling to avoid the lightning bolts that surrounded it as the blizzard caused a complete white-out throughout the entire gym. As the wind violently ripped through the gym, knocking anything that wasn't secured to the floor over. Dragonite faced Iris, hoping for advice, but they couldn't even see each other. It quickly lost its ability to stay in control, and the lightning bolts broke apart, letting the wave of snow in for a full-contact blow.
The blizzard finally subsided, and everyone regained their sight. Iris looked up, and Dragonite was still airborne, but heavily damaged from the attack. Its wings flapped slowly, causing it to bob up and down.
"We have a problem," Ash said suddenly. Iris turned her attention to him, then to where he was looking on the field. Floatzel swam under the water, but the surface of the water was completely frozen over from the blizzard.
"Oh no," Iris said. "Can it break through?"
"I doubt it. Floatzel doesn't have much physical strength."
Iris watched Dragonite continue to struggle to fly steadily. It was impossible for it to fight both Abomasnow and Vanilluxe on its own in its current condition. Her only hope was to break through the ice to free Floatzel.
"It only gets worse from here," Bryce called. "Vanilluxe, use ice beam on Dragonite."
Vanilluxe quickly released a beam of ice toward Dragonite. Dragonite fought to dodge the attack, but still lacked its normal agility. Iris rapidly ran through her own mind, trying to think of something that would give Dragonite the edge.
"Stop flapping your wings!" Iris suddenly called.
Dragonite did exactly as told, and stopped flapping its wings. With that, it suddenly dropped from its location, and the ice beam missed by what seemed to be mere centimeters. Iris let out a sigh of relief after noticing she had been holding her breath.
"Great job Dragonite!" Iris praised. "Now use fire punch on Abomasnow!"
"What are you doing?" Ash asked. "We need to break the ice."
Iris didn't answer, and kept her focus on Dragonite. Dragonite positioned itself in the air, only twenty feet away from the Abomasnow. As it began to fly toward the mega Pokemon, flames began to form around its fist.
"Abomasnow, use focus punch," Bryce called. "Stop that attack in its tracks!"
Abomasnow lifted its front legs, and began to stand up as it normally did without the mega evolution. A small field of energy surrounded its paw, and just as Dragonite moved in, it threw its paw toward Dragonite. Dragonite decided to meet the focus punch with its fire punch, rather than aim for Abomasnow's body, and their two punched slammed into each other. The force of the blows was enough to blow the snow that sat around them flying in all directions.
"Outrage!" Iris shouted.
Dragonite's roared loudly. Ash nervously watched Dragonite begin to push Abomasnow back, showing a look in its face that resembled what it looked like back when Iris struggled to teach it to control its own power. With incredible force, Dragonite spun around a slammed its tail into Abomasnow's side, then turned and swipe its claws repeatedly.
"This won't do!" Bryce said energetically. "Use ice beam, Vanilluxe!"
Vanilluxe fired off another beam, aiming for Dragonite's back. Iris called to Dragonite for it to dodge, but the outrage it was in prevented it from focusing on anything but attacking. Ash quickly studied the situation, but couldn't think of anything to do.
Iris closed her eyes, not wanting to watch the end. All she could hear was a simultaneous roar from Dragonite and Abomasnow, and a crash that sounded like ice shattering. Her assumption was that Dragonite had fallen and broken through the ice.
"That was unexpected," Bryce suddenly said. Iris opened her eyes, and jumped back a few inches. Dragonite was hovering above the field, only a few feet from Abomasnow. She scanned the rest of the field, and found Vanilluxe unconscious on one the ice, and Floatzel standing next to it. A hole in the ice was next to it, just barely larger than Floatzel.
"Amazing Floatzel!" Ash called with excitement.
Bryce returned his Vanilluxe and put his attention on Ash. "I never would have guessed a Floatzel to be powerful enough to break through solid ice using aqua jet."
Ash laughed and shook his head. "Honestly, neither would I. I'm sad to admit I didn't think Floatzel could do that."
Floatzel turned to Ash and gave him a stern look. Ash smiled at his Pokemon, and admired its fighting spirit. Just when he thought his Pokemon couldn't get any stronger, they would never fail to amaze him by reaching a whole new level.
"So now I'm stuck fighting two Pokemon with just one," Bryce said. "This is totally uncool, but I do what I gotta do."
Iris and Ash locked eyes, and nodded to each other. They were ready to end the battle. With their two Pokemon against Bryce's one, there was less strategy required. They both knew they had the green light to go on a full assault.
"Dragonite, use fire punch!" Iris ordered.
"Floatzel, use crunch," Ash called.
Both Pokemon moved in after Abomasnow from different directions. Bryce's eyes rapidly darted between the three Pokemon. He drew up multiple ideas in his head, and forced himself to pick the one that gave his Pokemon the best chance.
"Abomasnow, use giga drain on Floatzel," Bryce finally called to his Pokemon.
Abomasnow faced Floatzel. A beam of energy launched from its body, and connected with Floatzel. Floatzel stopped in its tracks, and knelt down as it felt the energy draining from its body. Just as it was about to give in, Dragonite swooped down and stopped directly in front of Abomasnow. The giga drain began to hit it, but the fire punch still followed through and connected with Abomasnow's body.
"Floatzel, use crunch!" Ash called. "You can do it!"
Floatzel stumbled for a couple seconds, then began to run after Abomasnow. Dragonite used one more fire punch, then flapped its wings to boost into the air. From directly behind it, Floatzel jumped into the air and bit down on Abomasnow.
"Don't give in!" Bryce called. "Use blizzard!"
"Dragonite, use outrage!" Iris ordered.
Dragonite entered into another fury of rage, and flew downward after Abomasnow. Abomasnow launched its blizzard attack at the same time, once again filling the entire gym with waves of snow that made it impossible to see. All the trainer's could hear were the sounds of their Pokemon, and it sounded like they were still battling.
"Dragonite, if you can hear me, use thunder!" Iris shouted over the whistling winds created by the blizzard.
Ash looked all over the field, hoping to see his own Pokemon, but could barely open his eyes as snow slapped his face. Everyone's attention was quickly sent to the far left side of the field, where large electric bolts shot in multiple directions. Both Dragonite and Abomasnow could be heard roaring, clearly feeling significant amounts of pain. Only a few seconds later, both Pokemon stopped sounding off, and the blizzard subsided.
"Where are they?" Iris asked as they regained their ability to see.
Ash looked to the left, and saw both Dragonite and Abomasnow on the icy surface, knocked out. He frantically tried to spot his Floatzel, hoping it survived the blizzard and managed to avoid Dragonite's thunder attack.
"There!" Misty called from the seats. She was pointing to the right side of the field with a smile on her face. Ash turned his head and saw Floatzel swimming in the water underneath the ice.
"Well how about that," Bryce said with a tone of surprise. "It would seem your Floatzel jumped back through the hole it created to avoid both attacks completely. With that, I have lost this battle."
Floatzel swam upward and used its aqua jet to break through the ice once again, and ran toward Ash. Ash welcomed it with open arms, and squeezed his Pokemon with excitement.
"You're awesome, Floatzel!" Ash screamed. Floatzel gladly accepted Ash's praise as it always would to support its own ego.
Bryce stepped down from his own trainer's box, and walked to the other side. He watched Ash and his friends congratulate each other. His observation revealed the type of bonds that were being created amongst the young trainers.
"You've all proven yourselves as worthy trainers," Bryce began. "The reason I require team battles here is to test how strong your bonds are with each other as friends. While it was clearly a struggle for you, having to come up with new strategies on the fly, you showed that you can work together to think something up. With that, I give you the Teamwork Badge."
Ash accepted the badge happily and put it in the case with the other three badges. He turned back to Bryce to thank him, but Bryce was already walking out of the room and into a different one. Ash knew Bryce wasn't being a sore loser, but some people just preferred to skip the pleasantries of losing.
"Alright guys," Ash said. "Let's get our Pokemon healed up, and go out to eat to celebrate!"
No one argued with his idea, and looked forward to a good hot meal. As they walked the streets of Glacier City, people congratulated them as they passed by. The further the team got in the Legacy League, the more their fame rose throughout the region, with no complaints from any of the trainers. They welcomed the attention, and knew that as long as they kept winning, they would eventually reach a new level of fame as Pokemon Masters. To them, nothing could possibly be better.