A/N: This chapter was an absolute pain to write; I just hope that it isn't a pain to read. I'm not really sure how well I write battle scenes, so some feedback would be nice. I'm thinking of maybe deleting this chapter and just skipping to Alex's fight if it's too much.
Cool, refreshing air blew over Alex as he and Lily walked through the automatic doors of the Rustboro Pokemon Center. Though it was barely noon, the sun had already become unbearable and the humidity only made it worse. Alex finally understood why Lily had wanted to spend the night in town; He still hadn't gotten over the shock of finding a dozen Wurmple sharing his sleeping bag for warmth. He was suprised at how cold it got at night, considering how hot it was during the day.
"Welcome to the Rustboro Pokémon Center", said a passing nurse to the exhausted pair, "What can we do for you today?".
"Oh, we just need to clean up a bit...", said Alex, wiping sweat from his brow.
"Ok, then", she said, smiling, "The washrooms are just down the hall on the left."
Lily walked ahead of Alex, visably angry. She turned back and glared at him.
"We wouldn't have to do this if you hadn't wasted so much time battling", she sneered, narrowing her eyes.
Alex was too tired to be angry," At least we made it here in one piece. Besides, we can't afford to spend every night in a Pokémon center"
"I can", Lily retorted, flashing her cash-filled wallet," When you win almost every battle you fight, you can afford anything."
"Then why were you covered in a week's worth of shit when I ran into you?", he asked casually.
"Shut up, I'd been on the road for a while!", Lily shouted, blushing, "When a Pokémon Center isn't nearby, I camp out. Otherwise, I stay in them as often as possible."
The washrooms were exceptionally busy with dozens of Trainers walking in and out, carrying towels, soap, and other various toiletries. Alex took notice of this and decided that he'd rather wait until another time to shower, but Lily insisted that she had to be clean as soon as possible.
"I like to look nice when I challenge a city's Gym Leader", she explained as she got out some shampoo, "You should do the same."
"No, it's alright, I'll just wait out here", he sighed, impatient.
He walked out into the lobby and sat in one of the plush, vinyl chairs. A group of trainers were seated opposite of him and talked amongst themselves. Even though they were younger than him, he could tell that they were much more experienced. One of them had four gym badges pinned proudly on the front of his vest and talked rather loudly about his adventures to his friends and another was accompanied by a Graveler, which from what he understood, was a moderately experienced Pokémon. They were what he had always wanted to be, what he still wanted to be: An official Pokémon Trainer. Not a 16 year old imposter who has just as much skill and practice as a 10 year old. He fidgeted nervously in his seat, wishing that Lily would hurry up so they could leave.
"Hey!", yelled one of the kids, "Are you a trainer?". It was the boy with the four badges.
Alex sunk a bit into his seat, "I don't know-yeah, sure-I guess so-"
"What do you mean 'you don't know'?", the boy said, mockingly.
One of the other trainers, a young girl, shook her friend's shoulder.
"Don't bother him, Michael", she whispered, looking waryily at Alex.
"Shut up, I'm not bothering him!", Michael snapped. He turned back to Alex, "Show us your Pokémon".
"Why?", he replied blankly.
"Because older trainers like you always have cool Pokémon!", the boy exclaimed.
The other trainers heard him and gathered around Alex, looking on in anticipation.
"Awesome! Did he say what kind he had?"
"He only has three pokeballs, they must be really strong!"
"Come on, show us already!"
Alex was trapped, surrounded by noisy, excitable preteens who wanted to see Pokémon he didn't have. He played through every possible outcome, most of them ending in laughter and humiliation, possibly even outing him as a fake. He got up from his seat and tried to push his way out of the crowd when suddenly, a Ninetales made its way through the congestion and rubbed up against his legs.
"Tails...", it purred contently.
The young trainers gasped in delight and immediately began to pet and comment on the fire Pokémon. Alex was bewildered and looked around frantically to try and find were it had come from. He spotted Lily, arms crossed and watching on with smug satisfaction. It didn't help that she had taken the time to dry her hair and apply make-up.
"Ok, guys", Alex said above the roar, "Me and...um-Tailsy, have to get going".
He pushed past the crowd and ran out of the Pokémon Center, the Ninetales following close behind. Lily strutted out shortly after.
"Thanks for getting me out of that mess...", he said begrudgingly.
"No problem", she smirked, patting her Ninetales on the head.
"I guess I should thank you too", he said, looking down at the Fox Pokémon.
He reached down to pet it, only to have it snap at his hand and glare at him disdainfully. Lily gave the Ninetales one last pat before returning it back into its pokeball.
"Amber doesn't like people, especially boys", she said, almost sounding proud, "She only acted all lovey-dovey towards you because I commanded her to do so. Otherwise, she'd probably tear you to pieces".
"Let's just get to the Gym", Alex sighed, "I just want to get my badge and get out of this city..."
The Rustboro Gym was far less impressive than he imagined it to be. It was a modest, brick structure that could have been a rec-center or maybe even a school. In fact, it might as well been a school, considering how many kids there were battling each other. Strangely, they all had rock-Pokémon of some sort, mostly Geodudes, and looked too young to be real trainers. Maybe it was a part of an extension program at the local Trainer's School?
"Welcome, challengers!", a voice called out from the back of the gym.
A young woman with elaborate pig-tails wearing a formal, yet very short dress walked towards them. Alex was surprised to see someone like her in what seemed to be in a Rock-type exclusive Gym. She reached out shook Lily's hand.
"I'm Roxanne, Leader of the Rustboro City Gym", she said.
"I'm Lily Williams of Violet City, it's a pleasure to meet you", Lily said.
"You're the Gym Leader?", Alex blurted out.
He realized his faux paux the moment it came out of his mouth. The two girls stared daggers at him and he recoiled, humiliated by his mistake. Roxanne let go of Lily's hand and grabbed Alex's, shaking it with a death grip.
"I'm Roxanne, Leader of the Rustboro City Gym", she repeated, this time with a bit of malice.
"I'm Alex Monroe of Violet City, nice to meet you", he mumbled, trying to tolerate her handshake.
"Very well," said Roxanne, walking back to her side of the Gym, "I assume both of you are Trainers and wish to battle me for my badge? Which one of you wants to go first?".
Before Alex had any time to react, Lily jumped ahead of him and stepped into the ring. Initially, he wanted to be the first to win his badge, but after his exchange with Roxanne, he thought it might wise to observe his friend first. The children in the Gym noticed that a battle was about to commence and they surrounded the ring, cheering for their Gym Leader. Roxanne opened a box and pulled out three pokeballs.
"I see that you're more experienced than most Trainer's who challenge me, so I plan to use my most advanced Pokémon.", she said to Lily. The children on the sidelines yelled in excitement, their voices creating a cacophonous echo.
"Let the battle commence!", Roxanne announced, throwing a pokeball into the ring.
In a flash a light, a monstrous snake-like behemoth appeared before them. Alex followed it's long, segmented body from its tail up to its enormous head, making his neck ache. Its metal body glistened in the bright lights and it let out a low growl that sounded like creaking steel.
"A Steelix, huh?", Lily noted, feeling around her belt, "In that case...Go, Kiki!.
A beautiful Vaporeon materialized on the field and spread her fins wide, showing off for the crowd. The young spectators leaned closer to get a better view, captivated by the Bubble Jet Pokémon.
"Take notice," Roxanne called out to her students, "That's a Vaporeon, one of the many possible evolutions of Eevee. It's a water-type which means it has a type advantage over my rock-type Pokémon." The children nodded in response, some taking notes.
Lily grit her teeth impatiently, "Kiki, Hydro Pump!"
Kiki dug her feet into the ground and blasted the Steelix with an impossibly large torrent. The giant roared in agony as the water eroded away at its rocky skin and reeled back. It fell, the length of its body sounding like a rock slide as it hit the ground, ending with a concussive boom that shook the lights. The crowd of students went silent, staring at the unconscious Pokémon in disbelief as a flurry of loosened dust rained down from the ceiling. Alex was just as shocked, amazed that the Vaporeon could take down something that was at least ten times its size. Roxanne was the first one to break the silence, clearing her throat.
"You've trained your Vaporeon well, "she said coolly, returning her Steelix," Let's see how you fare against my Golem".
A battle-hardened Golem entered the fray. It heaved up a foot and stomped the ground, rattling the windows. Lily smirked and returned Kiki, throwing another pokeball into the ring.
"Go, Sandrew!", she yelled.
"Sandrew?", Alex asked.
"Be quiet, I thought it sounded cute at the time"
A Sandslash came out of the pokeball and stared downed his opponent. He shook his quills and hissed, trying his best to look intimidating.
"Sandrew, Sand Tomb!"
"Golem, use Earthquake!"
Sandrew curled himself into a tight ball and began to spin around, whipping up the dirt from the ground into a cyclone that surrounded the Golem. The rock Pokémon recoiled slightly as the dirt hit its face and shell, but as undeterred. It began to stomp its feet in quick succession, sending strong tremors in the Sandslash's direction. The attack threw him off-balance and he fell backwards, obviously pained as the earth shook beneath him. Slowly, he got back up, panting lightly.
Roxanne noticed how much damage the Shrew Pokémon had taken, "Finish it off, Golem, use Roll-Out!"
The Golem withdrew its head and limbs into its shell and spinned backwards before lunging at its opponent. Oddly, the cyclone of dust followed it.
"Quick, Sandrew, Dig!"
Sandrew quickly tunneled under the ground, just avoiding the Golem's attack. It looked like it was going to roll into them and Alex began to run out of the way before the Golem started to spin in the opposite direction, causing it to slow down. It rolled back next to Roxanne and spun in place. The ground cracked as Sandrew tunneled underneath, revealing its position. The Gym Leader carefully followed the trail before giving the command.
"There!", she pointed.
Her Golem immediately rolled out and hit Sandrew as he burst from the ground. However, just as the Golem struck him, he too made contact with his opponent. The two Pokémon returned next to their trainers, both on the verge of fainting. The Megaton Pokémon was beginning to spin more irregularly, the dust cloud eating away at the remainder of its health. Finally, it slowly stopped and remained still. Roxanne frowned and returned her Pokémon.
"You did a good job", Lily said to her Sandslash. He bumped his nose against her hand in affection before he was returned to his pokeball.
Roxanne silently pulled out her last pokeball and threw it into the ring. At first Alex thought it was a Scyther until he spotted its flat, wide rocky head. It stared back at him maliciously and slowly ran one of its sickle-like blades across the other, creating an audible sharpness.
"Kabutops", it said under its breath.
Lily grabbed a pokeball that was covered in stickers and tossed it, "Go, Chiklet!"
The Meganium appeared and stood proudly beside his trainer. Alex was a bit confused why Lily was going through the trouble of switching out her Pokémon when the ones in battle were still able to fight. Her Vaporeon alone could have taken out her last opponent, maybe even this one too, but she chose to use almost all of her Pokémon. He wondered if she was just trying to show off, trying to prove to him that she was the superior trainer. Considering what he knew about her, that was probably the case.
"A grass-type," Roxanne remarked, "Wrong move. Kabutops, use Ice Beam!"
A cold, mist began to fall from the Kabutops' mouth that was shortly followed by concentrated white beam. It hit Chiklet dead on, causing frost to build along the edges of its petals and antenna. It stoically took the pain, occasionally shaking off ice.
"Solar Beam!", Lily commanded.
Chiklet flattened out his petals and turned them to face the light coming out from the windows. The remaining frost that covered his body instantly melted and his antenna began to slowly grow brighter and brighter. The Kabutops narrowed its eyes and charged at the Meganium, mist trailing behind it as it prepared another attack. Before it could make its move, it was engulfed by a ray of strong, warm light that illuminated the entire Gym. Alex turned away, shielding his eyes. He opened them to find the Kabutops flat on its back, motionless.
"So...I've lost", Roxanne said formally, returning her Pokémon, "Very well, please except the official Hoenn league Stone Badge.
The Gym Leader gave Lily a small, grey pin and shook her hand, nodding her head in respect. She turned and looked at Alex expectantly.
"You're up", Lily said, giving him a quick tap on the shoulder.
Alex grabbed Skip's pokeball and slowly traced the lock with a finger. Finally, he took a long, deep breath before stepping into the ring.