Chapter 12

The battle slowed for a few minutes. Rufflet was out of Drilbur's reach for now, giving Luke time to think. Luke glanced at Rufflet; then trained his gaze on Drilbur. Both Pokémon were weary from the battle. I really have to end this soon, or Drilbur's going to outlast Rufflet.

"Alright, Rufflet, are you ready to go?" Luke inquired. The eaglet answered back with a determined screech. "Good, then try and land a Peck attack."

Rufflet flew over to Drilbur with a glowing beak, but the mole blocked it with Metal Claw. The two fought, parrying each other's blows with Peck or Metal Claw. After a minute of trading blows both Pokémon jumped back, they were exhausted. Luke had the sense that the next blow would determine who won. Drilbur ran at Rufflet, prepared to finish things with Metal Claw. Luke instructed Rufflet to intercept with Peck. The two Pokémon met, beak verses claw. They struggled back and forth. Luke sighed; it was out of his control now.

*10 MINUTES LATER*

Luke opened his badge case and glanced at the badges he had. He looked at Rufflet who was standing next to him and smiled and gave him a pat on the head.

"It's alright, buddy, it was all you could've done. Jamie has way more experience in the art of battling than we do. Heck, we've been a trainer for what, a week or two? Trust me, we'll win when we challenge him tomorrow, deal?"

Rufflet nodded fiercely and hopped up and down, looking as excited and determined as a Pokémon can get. Luke held out a Poke Ball and returned the eager eaglet, then got up off the bench outside the Virbank Gym and sighed. I know what I have to do.

Luke began walking along the edge of Virbank, until he saw the familiar sight of machinery and working men and stopped. Luke looked around at all the huge machines and storage things that were built in awe; this was the Virbank Complex alright. Luke walked into the complex, then deeper until he got to an area with a lot of grassy patches. He sent out Rufflet and told the bird Pokémon to remain quiet. Luke and Rufflet scanned the surrounding grass, looking for Pokémon. They weren't getting anything. Suddenly Luke caught a blue flash from the corner of his eye.

"Rufflet, use Wing Attack at 9 o' clock!"

Rufflet dashed away to the left of Luke, determined to catch the blue blur that they had spotted. Luke sped after Rufflet and came to a stop when he saw the bird had cornered a blue-skinned, human-like Pokémon in some type of karate uniform. Luke grinned; he had found a Sawk, one of the best fighting types in all of Unova.

"Nice job, Rufflet! We're catching this one," Luke praised.

Rufflet crowed happily, pleased that it had a chance to get itself a new teammate, and at how well it had done. The Sawk didn't look like a little ball of sunshine, however, and lashed out at Rufflet with a glowing red foot: Double Kick. Rufflet managed to dodge the attack in the nick of time, and retaliated with a Peck. Sawk tried a Double Kick again, this time succeeding in hitting Rufflet right on his beak. Rufflet stumbled back in pain, clutching his beak with his wings.

"Are you alright, Rufflet?" Luke called worriedly.

Before Rufflet had a chance to stand up and answer, Sawk dashed over and roughly swept Rufflet off of its feet with Low Sweep, then slammed it back down to the ground with Double Kick.

Luke winced, obviously Rufflet wasn't. Sawk raised his foot, about to strike again when Luke recalled Rufflet to rest. Rufflet decided to pop right out of its Poke Ball, chirping angry cries of disagreement at its trainer.

"You still want to go on?" Luke inquired.

Rufflet nodded fiercely, pure determination in his eyes. Luke remembered seeing that look before and smiled.

"What am I gonna do with you?" Luke said jokingly. "Alright then, Rufflet, I believe in you."

Rufflet hopped back over to Sawk and glared at the blue Pokémon; the latter didn't flinch one bit. Rufflet, tired of waiting, lashed out at Sawk with Wing Attack and nailed the Karate Pokémon. Sawk skidded backwards, giving Rufflet enough time to repeatedly ram into Sawk with Fury Attack. Eventually Sawk got his balance back and threw Rufflet off, but not before sustaining a good amount of damage. Now angered at being shown up by a bird, Sawk charged Rufflet. Rufflet didn't know what to do, at the speed Sawk was moving none of the eaglet's attacks were going to do much. Rufflet looked expectantly at its trainer.

Yay, I have to devise a strategy within the next 5 seconds… Never mind, I got it. :D

"Send a kick in the direction of his face, and do it AQAP*!" Luke dictated.

Rufflet obeyed and leapt upwards, delivering a surprisingly fast kick to Sawk's face. Sawk stumbled backwards but tripped over its own legs and crashed to the ground.

"A few good Pecks should do," Luke informed Rufflet.

Not wanting to miss the chance, Rufflet hopped onto Sawk's stomach and nailed Peck after Peck on the blue Pokémon. After about five good attacks Rufflet hopped off of Sawk, and Luke chucked a Poke Ball at it. The spherical device wiggled violently, flashing red multiple times, until finally it stilled and stopped flashing. Luke and Rufflet cheered, they caught themselves a new teammate!

"You did awesome, Rufflet, take a good rest." Luke applauded. Rufflet was returned to its Poke Ball in a flash of red light. Luke took both Sawk and Rufflet's Poke Balls and snapped them onto his belt, then headed towards the Pokémon Center.

*TEN MINUTES LATER*

After getting his Pokémon healed and ready, Luke decided to train a bit with Sawk before the battle. When he released Sawk and asked him if he wanted to train, Sawk immediately glared at Luke before returning to its Poke Ball.

Luke sighed. "I guess Sawk doesn't like me yet. Oh well, one day I hope we can get there…"

Luke sent out Sawk one more time, but before the Karate Pokémon could leap back into its ball Luke cut him off.

"Please, just hear me out, Sawk." Luke pleaded. Though absolutely bored, Sawk rolled his eyes and nodded his consent.

"You see, I'm trying to win all the Gym Badges in Unova and eventually conquer the Unova League and all, but I need to get more Pokémon. And right now, I'm about to get my third Gym Badge, but I need more manpower. I need a strong Pokémon like you to help me out here. I know you don't necessarily like me, but could you help me for this Gym Battle?" Luke begged.

Sawk looked extremely uninterested, but nodded slowly. Luke grinned, guessing that the whole battling thing had gotten Sawk's compliance… for now. Luke beamed at Sawk.

"Thanks, Sawk. We're going to get this Gym Badge for sure this time!" Luke cheered, already pumping himself up for the Gym Battle the next day. Luke returned Sawk and clipped the ball onto his belt, then headed over to the Pokémon Center. After checking in with his friends Nathan and Lucy, Luke rented a room from Nurse Joy and climbed into bed. Luke had trouble sleeping, he was thinking about tomorrow's battle and what he could do to make it become a win. Luke smiled; he managed to think of a few tactics before he dozed off.

*THE NEXT DAY*

Luke stood in front of the Virbank Gym for the second time, but this time was going to be different. This time, when he walked out of the Gym he would have the badge in tow. Luke mentally readied himself for the upcoming battle, and then stepped inside. He was again greeted by a familiar face: the leader of the gym, Jamie.

"Hello, Luke, come to challenge the Gym again I see?" Jamie quizzed.

"Yes I have," Luke replied, "But this time I'm going to win."

"Really now? Alright then, Luke, pick a battle type and show this old man what you've got!" Jamie challenged.

"I'll take the single battle using three Pokémon," was Luke's reply.

Jamie raised an eyebrow. "Caught some new Pokémon have you? Alright then, go Drilbur!"

The familiar mole Pokémon appeared in a flash of white light, looking as tough as ever. Luke responded by sending out Rufflet.

"Rufflet use Peck!" Luke ordered. Rufflet nodded, ready to put its training to work, and rushed towards Drilbur.

"Parry with Scratch then hit back with Metal Claw!" Jamie countered.

Drilbur obeyed and blocked Rufflet's glowing beak with glowing claws, and then dealt a blow to Rufflet's body with a pair of metallic claws. Rufflet stumbled backwards, leaving the eaglet defenseless. Seizing the opportunity, Drilbur crashed into Rufflet with a Rapid Spin attack. Rufflet was sent spiraling back towards Luke, landing at the trainer's feet.

Not really how I wanted to start the battle… Rufflet won't last much longer. Luke thought.

"Rufflet, to the skies," Luke instructed. Rufflet shakily took off into the air, freely gliding about the gym. Drilbur, slightly angered at Rufflet's carefree attitude, leapt up and tried to hit the eaglet with Metal Claw, but was promptly smacked back down by Wing Attack.

"Perfect! Now use Hone Claws as much as you see fit, Rufflet," Luke suggested.

Rufflet retreated back to the corner of the gym, using the window of opportunity and began flapping its wing to stay airborne. Gradually its claws got sharper and sharper, and Rufflet was surrounded by a faint red aura. Eventually, Rufflet's accuracy and attack stats were maxed out, and one good hit would finish the mole Pokémon.

"Now dive bomb Drilbur with Wing Attack!" Luke shouted.

With a loud screech, Rufflet swooped down from above with glowing, widespread wings and attempted to knock Drilbur out. At the last second though, Drilbur sidestepped the obvious attack and batted the small Flying-type towards the wall with Metal Claw. As Rufflet sped towards the wall, it all seemed over for the very fatigued eaglet.

"Use the force of the attack to bounce off the wall and crash into Drilbur with Peck!" Luke cried.

As Rufflet neared the wall, it righted itself and bounced off the wall as told, speeding towards Drilbur with a glowing beak.

"Counter with your best Metal Claw!" Jamie shouted back. As the two moves clashed, none seemed to have the upper hand. Despite its boosted attack, Rufflet could not gain the upper hand because of its condition. The two raged on, not daring to back down. After a minute of struggling, it seemed neither Pokémon could win. The notion was dismissed very quickly, however, as the two moves created an explosion that shot the two Pokémon backwards. Both mole and bird were hurled into the walls, and as the smoke cleared, both Pokémon were revealed to have swirls for eyes.

Luke sighed, but smiled at the same time as he returned Rufflet. "That's just classic you, Rufflet, always fighting until the end. Thank you."

Luke reached for another Poke Ball, and so did Jamie. Both Pokémon were sent out simultaneously.

"Go, Trapinch!"

"Go, Dewott!"

On Jamie's side appeared a small, orange ant-like Pokémon. On Luke's side appeared his newly evolved starter.

"You've definitely gotten stronger, Luke. It's been a great battle so far. But, my next two Pokémon are even stronger that Drilbur, think you can handle it?" Jamie challenged.

Luke smirked. "You know I can! Dewott, Razor Shell!"

The bipedal blue otter dashed towards Trapinch, grabbing two scalchops off of its legs and swinging them at the Ant Pit Pokémon. Before the Razor Shells could land, Jamie issued a command.

"Trapinch, use Bide!"

The small orange Pokémon began to glow a faint red color as steam began to rise from its body. Luke encouraged Dewott to go ahead anyway, as he believed that Dewott could take out Trapinch before Bide activated. As Dewott's blades of water connected with Trapinch's side, the Ground-type hung on. Dewott hit Trapinch one more time with its Razor Shell, desperately hoping for a KO. But after the second Razor Shell landed, the small little ant was still standing.

As more smoke began to rise from Trapinch's body and the red aura getting darker, Luke and Dewott knew this wouldn't turn out well.

"Try to soften the blow with your scalchops, Dewott!" Luke called.

The bipedal Water-type barely had enough time to set up its makeshift blast shield when Trapinch unleashed a huge wave of white energy from all around its body. The force of the attack easily bypassed Dewott's shells, throwing it violently into the wall.

"Holy crap… No, Dewott!"

And a bit of a cliffhanger there… C: Well, it's bee since I've updated… (It feels like it anyway). I have this chapter up now and you guys should expect another one very soon. :D

Hope it was as good as usual, and thanks for the support, readers!

-YY9000