Chapter 12

"Gible are you ready?"

"Gib-gib!" The little blue Pokémon called from on top of a large rock. Wolfy had decided to get in some last minute training before their second round match the next day, he and Gible were working on how to project his Dragon Rage. They decided to stand Gible on a high rock so if the Dragon Rage failed it would explode far below him and he wouldn't get hurt.

"Now remember, focus on your breathing," Wolfy called up to it from a short distance away, "Use Dragon Rage!"

Wolfy watched as the blue light built up inside of Gible before he transferred it to create a ball in his mouth. Gible took a moment to calm himself before he released the Dragon Rage, it flew forwards about five feet before it plummeted to the ground, creating another crater in the ground. "Good job Gible, that's the best one yet!"

Gible danced around on top of the rock but slipped, he tumbled down the rock and came to a stop at the bottom of one of the craters. Gible jumped out and danced around, Wolfy couldn't help but to laugh. He loved how nothing could dampen the little Pokémon's spirits; if something went wrong he'd just shrug it off and keep going as happy as could be.

"Your Gible is pathetic," Wolfy turned at the sound of the voice to find a young man looking back at him with piercing blue eyes. He must have been about the same age as Wolfy but his hair was bright white and almost seemed to glow in the moonlight. His tall, strong stature held him well and portrayed nothing but pure confidence in himself; this wasn't a trainer to mess with. "It's astounding to me how you managed to get through the first round without it having mastered such a basic technique."

Wolfy gritted his teeth, who did this guy think he is? He didn't know anything about Gible so who was he to judge? "Gible's young, he's still learning."

"You should give up on him now," the trainer said matter-of-factly, his arrogance was really pushing Wolfy's buttons, "I came over here because I saw your Gible in the first round. I was going to challenge you both but until he can learn to use basic moves properly I'd only be wasting my time. I guess having a rare Pokémon doesn't mean it's a good Pokémon."

"What did you say?!" Wolfy shouted, unable to contain himself anymore.

"I was hoping that fighting another dragon type would help my Bagon to evolve," he said as he walked away, "but a Caterpie would be more of a fight than your runt."

"That's it!" Wolfy roared but the stranger didn't even turn, "I challenge you right here, right now!"

"I told you it'd be a waste of my time," the trainer said still not turning as he walked off, "Try talking to me once your Gible can stand up properly."

Wolfy was fuming as he watched the arrogant trainer walk away; he entered the forest that they were training next to without ever looking back to Wolfy. "Gible?" he was pulling on the leg of Wolfy's jeans trying to check if he was ok.

"Let's get back to our training," Wolfy said reluctantly, half of him wanted to chase after the trainer and insist on a battle but he knew that battling angry wouldn't help him; it would be his Pokémon that paid the price. Gible scrambled up on top of the rock and waited for Wolfy's cue, it took him a moment to steady his thoughts before he could advise Gible. "Ok this time move your body forwards when you release it, maybe that'll give it some more momentum. Ok, use Dragon Rage!"

The blue glow built up again, once Gible thought it was enough her moved it to his mouth and released it whilst lurching forwards. The ball of blue fire surged forwards, flying towards the tree they were targeting twenty five feet away. Time seemed to slow down as Wolfy watched it soar; three feet and going strong, five feet, seven feet. Once it reached eight feet it slowed down and plummeted to the ground creating another crater; they were getting closer.

"One more time!" Wolfy called, strengthened by the improvement they made. The glow built up again before Gible launched it, surging forwards. Ten feet, with every attempt they were getting closer but Gible was getting more and more exhausted. After another hour of training they had hit a wall at eleven feet, no matter how many times they tried or what techniques they used Gible just couldn't make it go any farther.

"Shouldn't you be resting?" Vinen asked as he entered the moonlit area, his brown overcoat had hidden him the shadow of the trees.

"Vinen," Wolfy said a little disbelieving, he hadn't thought anyone was near them; he had purposely picked this spot because it was far enough away from town so they didn't disturb anyone. "What are you doing here?"

"I was tending the forest Pokémon when I heard your training," he said walking up to the rock Gible was standing on so he could get a better look at the Pokémon, "I've never seen a Gible before, let alone one of this colouring."

"He was given to Professor Yew by Drayden of Unova," Wolfy said walking up next to the gym leader, "he had asked the professor to give him to me when I started my journey."

"Considering how you battled today I can see why he chose you," Vinen said as Gible slid down the rock and landed on Wolfy's head, "it's good to see that you care for your Pokémon so much, they obviously care for you too."

"He's impossible not to love," Wolfy said smiling and scratching Gible's dorsal fin, he had discovered while camping that Gible liked the feeling, "but I really want him to win his first tournament and gym battle against you."

"Ah so you're participating in the Lillen League?" he asked in his soft, gentle voice, "Well once the tournament is over I'll accept your challenge, I battle one on one though so Miss Loca will have to wait her turn. I hope you don't think that, just because you have Charmeleon, you can beat my grass types easily."

"I didn't know you were a grass type gym leader," Wolfy said honestly, he was already formulating strategies in his head to defeat grass types.

"I grew up in the forests around here," Vinen said wistfully, gazing up at the star lit sky in thought, "I always felt a kinship with the grass types whilst my father cared for the bug types. My father was the gym leader before me but he's now one of the Elite Four. He left the gym to me."

"Who are the Elite Four?" Wolfy asked, he thought he'd heard the name before but couldn't put his finger on it.

"The winner of the Lillen League championship gains the right to battle the Elite Four," Vinen said reaching up and scratching Gible under his chin, he seemed to enjoy the sensation just as much as on his dorsal fin, "If they can defeat all four of them then they can challenge the Champion, the strongest trainer in all of Lillen, a Pokémon Master."

"So the Elite Four are the second, third, fourth and fifth best trainers?" Wolfy asked, Vinen nodded to indicate it was so. Wolfy never knew there was anything beyond the League Championship tournament, he wondered if he would ever reach that level.

"So why are you training so hard the night before the second round?"

"We're trying to master Gible's Dragon Rage," Wolfy said whilst Gible scrambled back up to the top of the rock, "he can form the attack but it doesn't fly very far. We've found ways around it in the past like jumping above the target or getting in close but he keeps getting caught in the blast, I don't want him to get hurt trying to attack his opponent."

"So you're trying to project the attack forwards?" Vinen said thoughtfully as the light built up in Gible's body.

"Exactly but every time we try-" Gible launched the attack as best he could but still couldn't get the attack to exceed eleven feet, "That happens."

"Well I think I see the problem," Vinen said with his finger and thumb framing his jaw line, "Gible could you please try again?"

"Gible-Gib!" Gible built up the power again, the glow forming as always.

"Now look at his stomach when he releases the attack," Vinen said still looking at the little dragon, the power moved to his mouth just before he released it. Wolfy saw it. The blue glow still reached from the stomach to the power in Gible's mouth, it was holding the attack back. "See it?"

"Yeah but why is it doing that?"

"The attack isn't fully formed yet," Vinen said looking to Wolfy with a smile, "he just needs to charge it up a little more, that's all. Gible, do it again but hold the power in your stomach for as long as you can."

"Gib?" he asked looking to Wolfy questioningly, when he nodded Gible jumped around before starting the attack again. This time he let the power build and build until the light was almost blinding before he released it. The flaming blue ball of power blasted out of Gible's mouth, smashed through the tree and impacted the boulder behind it, obliterating the stone. Shards of rock and splinters exploded outwards, once the dust settled the only remains of the tree and rock were the shards of rock in the ground and trees looking almost like gravestones.

"That's amazing!" Wolfy said dumbstruck, he turned to Gible who was stood on the rock with his mouth agape, "Gible you did it!" Wolfy's cheer broke him out of his gawping and he started dancing around on the rock, even happier than normal. He got so excited that he slipped and tumbled down the rock into Wolfy's arms, together they danced around elated. When they finally calmed down enough Wolfy looked to Vinen, "How can I ever repay you?"

Vinen was grinning from ear to ear at the spectacle of a trainer and his Pokémon dancing around like children. "You can go and rest up before tomorrow," he said pointing to the Pokémon centre, "It's almost midnight and you both have a lot to do tomorrow."

"We will," Wolfy said beaming; he never imagined a gym leader would be so helpful to someone who wanted to challenge them, "Thank you Vinen."

"No problem, now go back to the Pokémon centre," he said laughing as Wolfy and Gible almost bounced away, "and give us a good match tomorrow, I can see why Drayden took an interest in you."

Wolfy practically ran back to the Pokémon centre, elated and impatient to get the second round started the next day.