Time is so precious these days. I don't know why. I guess I can finally use the phrase 'so little time, so much to do'... or something like that. Things are kinda stressful, but hopefully I'll be able to get more done now that camp is closed and camp is finished for the year. Bleh. Good for you, bad for me, lol. Well, enjoy the chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra or Silver.
Chapter 12
Later that day, both Koga and Lyra walked back to the Pokémon Center. The excitement was too much for Lyra to take for just one day, however, and she passed out right on the spot. Right now, she tossed and turned in her bed, sweat pouring from her body as she dreamed up her nightmare.
She was in some sort of dark place. The air smelled thick and heavy, like a cave. In the distance, there was water dripping, but Lyra paid no attention to it. She was running, her red slip-on shoes thumping loudly and echoing across the stone floor. She was gasping, trying to catch her breath as she ran. "What do you want?" she heard herself shout. Then, she heard two females laughing hysterically, and she stopped, whipping her head around to see Annie and Oakley, laughing as hard as they could. In front of them was Espeon and Ariados, who seemed to be grinning along with their Trainers.
"You know too much," Annie muttered.
"Time to kill you!" Oakley finished, and both sisters pointed their pointer fingers forward. Both Ariados and Espeon crouched down and was about to pounce when a voice spoke up.
"No, let me take care of her," a young, male voice said in a familiar tone. Annie and Oakley smirked evilly and stepped off to the side, showing a person sitting in a type of stone throne. A light flicked on above the throne, and it showed Silver resting his head against his hand. Instead of his normal get-up, however, he wore a gray uniform. His jacket was all gray, except for the cuffs, which were a darker color than the rest of it. There was a red gem and a yellow stripe that separated the sleeve and the cuff, and the same yellow lining was used in the front of the jacket. It started at his shoulders, which had two maroon stripes starting from his neck to his shoulder blades, and went down his body to the edge of the shirt, then went along the edge and back up in a symmetrical pattern. Next to the lines, there were five golden buttons on each side of the shirt, trailing down to the edge of the shirt. His pants were plain gray, and on his feet, he wore black boots. He stood up from his sitting position and took out a Poké Ball.
"S-Silver?" Lyra exclaimed. The redhead ignored her and threw the ball, releasing the Croconaw that was stolen from Professor Elm a while ago.
"Water Gun," Silver ordered, and Croconaw opened its mouth, firing a blast of water from its mouth straight at Lyra.
The brunette quickly sat up, gasping for breath. She looked around to see where she was. Inside my room at the Pokémon Center? Koga must have carried me here when I passed out. The young Pokémon Trainer yawned loudly and noticed she was in her clothes still. Her blanket and sheet were tossed on the floor. Her pillow was on the edge of the bed, by her feet, and her hat was on the floor in front of the bedside table. She took a deep breath and wiped her forehead of sweat. She picked up her PokéGear and checked the time. When she saw it, she gasped and her jaw dropped. "Ten Forty-two? I must have slept all day yesterday and all night!" She jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom built into the room. She brushed her teeth and quickly brushed her hair before jumping into the shower. She squirted some of the Pokémon Center brand shampoo onto her hand and started to wash her hair. As she did, she thought about her nightmare.
"I wonder if Silver was here with Team Rocket... Would he even be part of them?" she thought aloud to herself. "He certainly has the attitude for it, but wouldn't he wear the uniform?" Lyra put her hand to her chin and thought, imagining Silver in a Team Rocket outfit. It didn't look right, but it sure was possible. Just then, the soap from her hair slipped onto her face and dripped down, landing right in her left eye. She immediately closed it and yelled out slightly in pain, putting both hands up to cover the eyelid. As she put her hands up, she stepped back and slipped on a stray drop of shampoo that managed to drip off Lyra hair. Her foot came out from under her, and she screamed, grabbing onto the peach shower curtains for support. While Lyra was light, she definitely was heavy enough to pull out a shower curtain, and the plastic ripped from the rings holding it up, and both Lyra and the curtains fell out of the tub. She fell to the ground with a thump, and the curtain tied around her legs, making her unable to move. "Ouch..." Lyra muttered, rubbing her arm where she landed on the linoleum covered floor. Suddenly, the doorknob opened and Nurse Joy came barging in. When she saw Lyra lying naked on the ground with soap in her hair, one eye squinting, with the peach shower curtain wrapped around her feet, she gasped and ran up to her.
"Are you okay?" she gasped, and helped Lyra up. Lyra's face was red as a Tomato Berry as she quickly grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her body. "What happened?"
"I guess I wasn't paying attention and soap got in my eye. Then I slipped on some soap on the floor, and here we are..." Lyra explained. "And here I am, standing naked... I'm fine, though." Nurse Joy nodded, and picked up the shower curtain off the floor.
"These are a lost cause, however. But, they can be easily replaced," Nurse Joy muttered, and smiled at Lyra. She then looked up at the young Trainer's hair and giggled. "You can shower in the room next door to get all the soap out of your hair." Lyra looked at the floor in embarrassment. Nurse Joy left to unlock the room next door while Lyra gathered up her clothes and quickly ran to the next room while trying to avoid any other Trainers who might see her with soap in her hair and wearing nothing but a towel.
Most embarrassing moment of my life!
o 0 o
Finally, Lyra managed to get ready without any more injury, embarrassing moments, or destroying any more of the Pokémon Center's property, and she walked into the Pokémon Center's lobby, where Nurse Joy was waiting with her Poké Balls ready, and a complimentary breakfast for Lyra and her Pokémon. "Nurse Joy, you really don't have to do this," Lyra stated, sitting down as the pink-haired nurse and her Chansey handed her a tray with bacon, scrambled eggs, and three bowls of Pokémon Chow. "These kinds of things happen to me all the time, trust me."
"It's not a problem. It's our way of saying 'sorry'." Nurse Joy petted Marill briefly before walking away. The brunette sighed and started poking her eggs with a fork. Unlike her, however, Marill, Chikorita, and Mareep didn't feel the least bit concerned and started feasting on the food like there was no tomorrow. She sighed and stared out the window. In the distance, she could see a windowed dome roof just above some of the trees.
"Is that a greenhouse?" Lyra asked herself.
"No, that's the Azalea Gym," Nurse Joy replied, putting a glass of Moo Moo Milk on the table in front of her. Lyra was surprised by the pink-haired nurse's arrival and jumped up, slamming her knees against the wood structure.
"The Gym?" she asked, rubbing her knees where she had banged them. Nurse Joy nodded.
"Yes. It's run by Bugsy," Nurse Joy commented. "Most people call him the Walking Bug Pokémon Encyclopedia because of his studies on Bug-type Pokémon." The brunette Trainer sighed.
"Another smart and tough Gym Leader? That's just great..." she muttered to herself. Nurse Joy chuckled.
"It's a Gym Leader's job to test Trainers for the Pokémon League," she replied. "Don't let things get to you. If you do, then your Pokémon will sense this and they will become nervous during the battle as well."
"My Pokémon... will become nervous... as well?" Lyra repeated slowly. Chikorita briefly looked up at its Trainer and cocked its head before taking another bite of its food.
"Pokemon have a funny way of sensing what their Trainers feel, and if they sense that the Trainer is nervous, it will make them nervous as well," she answered. Lyra stared at Nurse Joy and suddenly smiled widely.
"I get it! So what you're telling me is, don't be nervous and I'll win!" she shouted.
"Um, not exactly-"
"Thanks, Nurse Joy!" she exclaimed, and started chowing down on her breakfast as fast as she could.
At least she's eating, Nurse Joy thought, and walked away smiling.
o 0 o
"Wow, it's huge!" Lyra exclaimed, looking up at the Azalea Gym in awe.
"Maar, ill!" her Marill replied, nodding its head. The building looked like a huge, teal greenhouse from the outside. It had a windowed dome-like roof over it, and there was no front door at all; just a large entrance. As Lyra and Marill stepped into the enormous building, she instantly felt as if they were teleported into a large forest. All around, there were trees, flowers, and different types of plant life everywhere. It was so peaceful in here as well, and Lyra felt as if she could climb up a sturdy tree and take a long nap in one of the branches. The brunette looked into one of the giant oak trees and saw a Caterpie doing just that, and she chuckled to herself as she moved forward.
She continued watching the life inside the Gym as she strolled through the Gym, when suddenly, the Pokémon Trainer turned around and bumped into a large green object. Surprised by the creature, she screamed and jumped back, holding her hand over her heart. The Pokémon looked at Lyra curiously with its black and white eyes. It was hanging down from a tree branch by a small white string coming from the top of its head "Sorry buddy, you scared me," she said to it, taking a deep breath. "What are you, anyways?" Before she reached into her pack to grab her Pokédex, a voice answered her.
"Metapod, the Cocoon Pokémon. Metapod is the evolved form of Caterpie. Using a hard shell to protect its body, it prepares for its next evolution," the voice of a young male recited. Lyra looked up to see a lavender haired boy looking down at her with a smile on his face. He was sitting on a tree branch, a red book with a round purple Pokémon on the cover opened and placed on his knee. He wore a green t-shirt with a yellow tie in front of it, and matching green short-shorts with them. On his feet, he wore brown shoes with white socks with one green stripe across the top that were pulled up close to his kneecaps. "You really shouldn't scream in here, miss. If you scare the Bug Pokémon, they might attack you." Lyra scoffed at the boy.
"I said sorry, kid," she fumed. "Who do you think you are anyways?" The lavender-haired boy closed his book and swung his legs over the tree, sitting to face Lyra and Marill.
"I don't think, I know who I am. I'm Bugsy, Leader of the Azalea Gym, where we just happen to be," he replied. Lyra smirked to herself.
"Ah, so you're the Gym Leader..."
"Why? Are you a challenger?" he asked. She nodded and pointed at him dramatically.
"My name's Lyra, and I'm from New Bark Town. I challenge you to a Gym Battle, Bugsy!" He nodded and climbed down a ladder that was behind the branch.
"As Gym Leader, I accept your challenge, Lyra," he said. The two walked along a path that eventually lead to a clearing. In the middle of it, there was a large dirt battlefield that was surrounded by grass and trees. Standing in the middle of the battlefield was a referee dressed in an orange and black sweater that had a Poké Ball over his heart, and black shorts. When he noticed the two, he walked up to Bugsy and the two talked briefly before he headed off to the side of the battlefield. Bugsy stood on one side of the rectangle, and Lyra stepped into the challenger's zone on the other.
"You nervous, Marill?" she asked the Aqua Mouse Pokémon hanging on her arm. The Pokémon shook her head and Lyra smiled. "Good, 'cause neither am I!"
"This official Pokémon battle between Bugsy, the Gym Leader of the Azalea Town Gym and Lyra Soul, the challenger from New Bark Town is about to begin," the referee stated. "Each Trainer may use three Pokémon. A Gym Badge is at stake! Are the Trainers ready?"
"Me and Marill are all set!" Lyra replied.
"Before we start, Lyra, I want to ask you something that I ask all my challengers," Bugsy interrupted.
"Um, sure, shoot away."
"Have you ever heard the saying 'The Trainer who learns the rules of the Bug Pokémon, learns to rule the Bug Pokémon'?" he asked.
"Well, I can't say I have. But I'm sure that you've learned the rules of the Bug Pokémon, right?" she smirked. Bugsy smiled back.
"Right. You're not as dumb as you look, Lyra." The brunette gasped at his statement.
"What's that suppose to mean?" she shouted in anger, but the Gym Leader ignored her shouting and pulled out a Poké Ball.
"Remember how I said that you shouldn't shout in here or the Bug Pokémon might attack you? Well, here's an example! I choose Metapod!" he shouted, and tossed the Poké Ball onto the battlefield. The round object opened up and released the green Cocoon Pokémon, much like the one Lyra encountered earlier.
"Metapod, huh? Okay, Chikorita isn't going to match up good against it," Lyra thought to herself. "So I'll choose Mareep! Go!" Out of Lyra's Poké Ball, the yellow Wool Pokémon came out and bleated, ready for battle. "Let's start off strong, Mareep! Use ThunderShock!" Mareep ran forward, yellow sparks of electricity flickering around its ears.
"Metapod, jump!" Bugsy shouted.
"Wait, what?" Lyra exclaimed. But, Metapod did the unthinkable and jumped eight feet into the air, much to Lyra and Mareep's surprise. "Mareep, fire ThunderShock!" Mareep shook away the confusion and fired a blast of light blue electricity from its body at Metapod.
"Dodge and Tackle!" Bugsy commanded. Metapod flipped around the ThunderShock and sped down like a rocket at Mareep, crashing into it at full force. Mareep bounced off the ground and rolled across the dirt. It got up quickly, however, and charged more electricity around its ears.
"That thing is fast for being a cocoon!" the brunette muttered in surprise to herself. "ThunderShock again!" Mareep bleated loudly and fired another blast of light blue electricity from its body at Metapod.
"Metapod, Harden!" Bugsy shouted, and Metapod's body immediately started to glow light green, and when the glow stopped, a white shine flashed across its now hard-as-steel body. The ThunderShock struck Metapod, and it cringed in pain. However, it didn't seem to take nearly much damage from the attack as it would have. "Now, use Tackle attack!" Metapod recovered from the attack fairly quickly and jumped into the air once again.
"Mareep, you use Tackle as well!" Lyra commanded, pointing her finger at Metapod. Mareep charged and jumped into the air towards Metapod.
"Metapod, dodge!" Bugsy retaliated, and suddenly, Metapod disappeared from sight.
"No way! That thing is so fast!" Lyra shouted, looking around for the Cocoon Pokémon. Mareep landed on the ground and started looking around as well.
"Metapod, now!" The lavender-haired Gym Leader called, and Metapod bolted out from one of the tree branches on the right side of the stadium and slammed into Mareep, sending it flying once again. It then jumped back into another tree branch. "Give up, Lyra?"
"No way, Bugsy!" she responded, and bit her lip. This Metapod is unbelievably fast. Every time we try to hit it, it disappears or uses Harden, she thought. She pulled out her Pokédex from her pocket and clicked on Mareep's entry. When she saw the moves her Pokémon had, her eyes widened. "Where did Mareep get these kind of attacks?"
"Looking through your Pokédex in the middle of an important Gym Battle isn't something you should be doing right now," Bugsy scolded. "Metapod, attack!" Lyra heard the leaves in the tree behind her rustling, and looked up as Metapod sped above her head and charged at Mareep, getting ready to hit it with another Tackle attack. As she looked up, she also saw a bunch of leaves fluttering behind Metapod as it jumped at her Pokémon.
"Okay, I think I have a plan..." she muttered, putting away her Pokédex. "Mareep, dodge that Tackle!" The Wool Pokémon nodded and jumped up into the air, causing Metapod to hit the dirt floor and kick up dust. In the middle of the dust, Metapod disappeared, and there was a whoosh as its speed caused the airborne dirt to shift. The dust separated in a path heading towards a tree. "Ha, this will work out perfectly. Mareep, use ThunderShock on that tree right there!" At its Trainer's orders, Mareep's black and yellow striped ears became surrounded in yellow sparks, and it once again fired a beam of light blue electricity from its body.
"Dodge, Metapod!" Bugsy yelled.
"That's what I hoped you'd do," Lyra said, smiling. As the tree was blasted with the ThunderShock, a green blur shot out from in between the branches. "Mareep, Cotton Spore!" The Wool Pokémon nodded and suddenly, small balls of cotton came out of Mareep's wool and started floating in the air. When Metapod hit a handful of the floating cotton balls, they stuck to its hard shell. Suddenly, Metapod's eyes closed in pain and it fell to the ground like a rock, sparks surrounding its body. Bugsy gasped at the new developments.
"W-what happened?" he stuttered.
"You see, Cotton Spore doesn't do much; mostly, it's used to slow down your opponent's Pokémon," Lyra explained. "But, my Mareep's wool absorbs electricity, and when it used ThunderShock, it briefly left some electricity particles in its wool. When your Metapod went through the air and hit the Cotton Spores, they stuck to it using the static electricity stored inside the wool. And when it connected with the cotton, it was like hitting a handful of Mareep. And guess what my Mareep's ability is?"
"Your Mareep has to have Static! That means..."
"That your Metapod won't be able to speed around the battlefield anymore," Lyra finished. "Mareep, use Thunderbolt now!" And at its Trainer's command, Mareep's ears became surrounded by yellow electric sparks and it fired a powerful electrical blast from its body at Bugsy's Metapod, who was lying helpless on the ground.
"Metapod, Harden!" Bugsy worriedly shouted. Metapod's body started to glow light green and a white shine spread throughout its body as it used the attack, but the Cocoon Pokémon was still blasted by the powerful electric attack. When the dust faded, Metapod was knocked out.
"Metapod is unable to battle; Mareep wins!" the referee announced. Bugsy pulled out his Poké Ball and recalled his Pokémon.
"You tried your best, Metapod. Good job," he said, and put the Poké Ball away. "You managed to defeat my first Pokémon, Lyra. That's impressive, but now you have to battle one of my strongest Pokémon in my bug Pokémon arsenal." The Gym Leader took out his Poké Ball and tossed it. "Spinarak go!" From the burst of light, the familiar green spider-like Pokémon that Frieda had came out.
"You did a good job, Mareep," Lyra said to the Wool Pokémon, taking out its Poké Ball. "Return for now." After Mareep was safely back in its Poké Ball, Lyra turned to Marill. "Think you can handle it?" Marill nodded its head, and jumped off Lyra's arm and onto the battlefield. Bugsy started commanding his Pokémon right away.
"Spinarak, String Shot attack!" he commanded, and Spinarak immediately jumped into the air, firing a thick white string from its mouth at Marill.
"Marill, dodge it!" the brunette Trainer called. Marill jumped to the right, and the string stuck to the ground. "Now use Water Gun attack!" The Water Pokémon landed on the ground and fired a spray of water from its mouth at Spinarak.
"Dodge it by going into a tree, Spinarak!" Bugsy directed. Spinarak obeyed and pointed its head up, firing a String Shot from its mouth at a tree branch and pulling itself out of the way of Marill's Water Gun.
"Oh no, it's going into the trees!" Lyra groaned. "Marill, after it with Aqua Jet!" The Aqua Mouse Pokémon nodded and instantly its body was surrounded by water. It then shot like a rocket at Spinarak. However, the String Spit Pokémon cut the string from its mouth and flipped around, shooting a white string from its abdomen and connecting to another tree branch.
"Poison Sting, Spinarak!" Bugsy ordered, and as his Pokémon swung like an Aipom on its tail, Spinarak pointed its face at Marill and fired multiple white needles from its mouth.
"Marill, look out!" The brunette Trainer exclaimed, but Marill was too close to the attack, and the shining stingers flew right into the Aqua Mouse Pokémon. The water around its body broke apart and it fell to the ground. It didn't seem to take much damage from the attack, however; thanks to the layer of water that had surrounded it.
"Now Spinarak, use Bug Bite now!" the Gym Leader commanded, and Spinarak jumped out of the tree, ready to jump on Marill and bite it; its red mandibles opening and closing repeatedly.
"Marill, Water Gun attack!" Lyra called, and Marill immediately jumped up, firing a spray of water from its mouth and hitting the String Spit Pokémon as it fell, blasting it against a tree behind it. Spinarak slumped to the ground, knocked out from being crushed in between the water and the tree.
"Oh no! Spinarak..." Bugsy cried out.
"Spinarak is unable to continue! Marill wins!" the referee declared. Marill and Lyra jumped for joy as Bugsy recalled his Spinarak back into its Poké Ball.
"That was awesome, Marill! Just one more, and that Hive Badge is as good as ours!" she said to her Pokémon. The Pokémon nodded in response.
"Not so fast, Lyra," Bugsy interrupted. "I may have only one Pokémon left, but that's as far as you're going to go." The lavender-haired Trainer pulled out a Poké Ball from his pocket. "This is my strongest Pokémon; the Bug Pokémon warrior! I choose you, Scyther!" He threw the Poké Ball and it burst open, releasing the bright light from it. As the glow faded, a green Pokémon with two scythes as arms appeared on the battlefield.
"Hey, I recognize that Pokémon..." Lyra muttered, squinting her eyes. "That's the Pokémon that Koga of the Elite Four used!" Marill looked up at the Mantis Pokémon's glare and stopped in her tracks as its dark navy blue eyes stared down at her unimpressed. "We have to be careful, these things are fast. Marill, use Water Gun!" Marill gulped and jumped back, taking in a deep breath before firing off a stream of water at Scyther.
"Scyther, Double Team attack, now!" Bugsy commanded. Scyther called out and suddenly multiplied into four, much to the surprise of Lyra and Marill. As the Water Gun reached one of the four Scythers and passed right through it. As it did, the clone disappeared, leaving only three left.
"No way! How are we going to get past that?"
"Scyther, use Slash attack!" Bugsy ordered, and all three Scythers sped towards Marill. Two of them headed to the left and right, respectfully, and closed in on the Aqua Mouse Pokémon.
"Marill, use Aqua Jet and fire up!" Lyra directed, and Marill jumped into the air at her command, its body becoming surrounded by water and firing into the air like a rocket. All three Scythers stopped and stared into the air as Marill broke free from the water around it. "Now, use Tail Whip!" Marill started falling, and it grabbed its tail in one of its hands and started swinging it like a ball and chain.
"It's using the momentum of its fall to gain more power when it lands..." Bugsy concluded. "But, that's not going to stop Scyther and its clones..." The Water-type Pokémon finally reached the ground, and instead of throwing its tail downwards, however, it pulled up and swung its tail vertically. Bugsy gasped for a moment, but then shook it off. Two clones disappeared as they were hit by the orb at the end of Marill's tail. However, when the orb reached the real Scyther, it quickly raised one of its scythes and blocked the blow with it. "Fury Cutter!" When Scyther heard its command, it pushed away, causing Marill to be pushed back. Then, it jumped and started repeatedly cutting Marill with both of its scythes. Finally, it gave one last slash before jumping back and watching the Aqua Mouse Pokémon fall to the ground unconscious.
"Marill is unable to battle! Scyther wins the round!" the ref called out. Lyra ran out onto the battlefield and scooped up Marill in her arms.
"Are you okay, Marill?" she asked the small Pokémon quietly. Marill slowly opened its eyes and uttered out a response. "You battled excellent. You deserve a nice, long rest in your Poké Ball." The brunette pulled out the red and white ball and the laser sucked Marill into it. "Marill barely got hit before, so how did that Fury Cutter attack knock it out?"
"Good question," Bugsy replied as Lyra made her way back to her side of the battlefield. "Fury Cutter is an attack that doubles in power every time it connects with the opponent. That's why your Marill fell so easily." Lyra grumbled at his response and looked at his Mantis Pokémon, who stared at her and awaited her choice of Pokémon. Lyra pulled out a Poké Ball and pressed the silver button in the middle, making it grow to the size of a baseball.
"Mareep, come back out!" she shouted, tossing the Poké Ball and releasing the yellow Wool Pokémon back onto the battlefield. "We need to win this, Mareep! Let's do it!" Mareep called out in approval and got into a battle position.
"Think what you'd like, but there's no way you're getting past my Scyther," Bugsy said, shrugging.
"We'll see... Mareep, use Cotton Spore now!" Lyra commanded, and Mareep lowered its head, releasing balls of wool from its back into the air and around the battlefield. "Now, use ThunderShock!" When Mareep was finished releasing the Cotton Spore into the air, yellow sparks of electricity appeared around its ears and it fired a blast of light blue electricity from its body at Bugsy's Scyther.
"Okay Scyther, Double Team!" Immediately, Scyther created three other copies of itself, and one of the copies was hit by the attack, causing it to fade instantly. "And now, Slash!" The three Scyther split up and charged at Mareep in all different directions, but Lyra's brown eyes were glued to the Cotton Spore attack. Lady luck started singing for Lyra as a cotton ball managed to stick onto the Scyther to the right of her Mareep, and was going through the others.
"Thunderbolt! To your right!" Lyra shouted. Mareep nodded and spun its body around so it faced the Scyther to the right. It then fired a blast of yellow electricity from its body at it, and the Pokémon opened its eyes wide before being hit with the electric attack. As it cried out in pain, the other two Scyther clones disappeared. "Gotcha!" Bugsy gasped, and looked up at the Cotton Spore.
"So that's how you figured it out..." he muttered.
"Yup, and now your Double Team trick will have no effect on us. Mareep, use Thunderbolt again!" Lyra ordered. Sparks appeared around Mareep's ears as it gathered electricity for the blast, and Scyther jumped up into the air, landing in front of Bugsy again.
"Scyther, Swords Dance!" he called. As Mareep fired the electric blast, the Mantis Pokémon crossed its scythes over its chest and started to spin rapidly. It spun so fast that the Cotton Spores were being blown away from the battlefield. The attack reached Scyther, but it was spinning so fast that the wind around it acted as an air bubble and pushed the attack into the ground. Both Lyra and Mareep gasped as Scyther came to a stop, completely unharmed. "You may have figured your way out of Scyther's Double Team, but Scyther and I still have our Swords Dance combo."
"S-Swords Dance combo?" Lyra muttered, still temporarily stunned from the Thunderbolt attack not working.
"Swords Dance is one of Scyther's best attacks. Not only does it give Scyther attack power, it also creates a barrier of wind around it," Bugsy explained. "We know what types Scyther is weak against, and we created a barrier to block that and any other attacks that might be hazardous to Scyther."
"Scyther, Scy!" it called out in victory, clanking its scythes together.
"Face it, Lyra; you don't stand a chance against us," The Mantis Pokémon's Trainer said. "You may have found a way around Double Team, but when it comes to Swords Dance, your Mareep doesn't stand a chance." However, Lyra smirked, which stunned Bugsy.
"You're so full of yourself, it's hilarious," she replied.
"What do you mean?"
"You think you're the only one with a back-up plan? I was actually kinda hoping my Cotton Spore strategy wouldn't work, so I could show you how much I've improved because of our battle." Bugsy's face of confusion didn't change, so Lyra decided to carry out her plan. "Mareep, use Flash attack now!" Mareep bleated out loudly and pointed its tail at Scyther. Suddenly, the yellow orb at the end of its tail started glowing brightly, and a beam of light shone brightly on Scyther's face. The Mantis Pokémon shut its eyes tightly and put its scythes in front of its face to block the bright light.
"Scyther!" Bugsy called out, also shielding his eyes from the bright light.
"Okay Mareep, use Thunderbolt to finish off Scyther!" Lyra commanded, and Mareep once again fired a blast of electricity from its body at Scyther. Since Scyther couldn't see from the Flash attack, it had no idea when the attack was going to hit, and it got shocked by the attack. Scyther called out in pain as Mareep stopped its tail from shining, and when Bugsy opened his eyes, Scyther was smoking and on the ground.
"Scyther is unable to battle! Mareep wins the round! The victory goes to the challenger from New Bark Town!" the announcer shouted, and Lyra squealed in happiness and ran up to her Mareep, hugging it tightly. Mareep happily licked her face. Bugsy smiled and pulled out a Poké Ball.
"Good battle Scyther. You put up a good fight," he said, and a red laser shot out of it and sucked in the unconscious Mantis Pokémon. "Lyra!" Lyra looked up from her Mareep and saw Bugsy approaching her.
"Mareep, return," she said, and recalled her Mareep into his Poké Ball.
"You did a great job out there, Lyra. Although I lost, you really showed that you are, and will continue to be, a great Pokémon Trainer. This Hive Badge is yours." Bugsy reached into his pocket and handed a round, circular badge that looked like the back of a Ledyba with three spots on its back. Lyra gladly accepted the badge and stuck it in the second slot of her badge case.
"Badge number one..." she mumbled happily, looking at the badge with wide brown eyes. "Thanks so much, Bugsy!" Lyra put her badge case back in her backpack and, after saying goodbye to Bugsy, headed out of the Gym. She felt extremely proud of herself for the win, and was thinking about heading to the Pokémon Center to give her Pokémon a long rest when she noticed someone standing in front of the Gym, looking at her with angry red eyes.
"Oh, it's you," the familiar stern voice said.
Lyra's first Gym win! It's very exciting! And another chapter's down! Sorry for the long wait, guys, but it takes time to write these chapters, especially when you hardly have any time to yourself. So how long has it been since I've updated? How do you guys like Gen. V? I personally don't think they should have added it myself, but meh, these Pokémon are going to be with us forever, so I guess we don't have a choice. I'm excited for the games, though. They seem to be pretty fun. Not really much to say, so I guess I'll thank the reviewers of last chapter.
Thanks:
NightmareSyndrom
DragonforceX
CaramelldansenXLove
pokemondude (thanks for the review!)
OMGItsRainingOttsels (Well, in the anime, the Elite Four seem to travel around the region, trying to get stronger. Plus, he had heard that Team Rocket was in the area, so he decided to check it out. Thanks for the review!)
arkee
Curse of the Black Rose
Nianque
JapanDreamer09
Tobiruun
That's it, basically. Next chapter, Lyra gets confronted by the one and only Silver. Not much of a preview, but I'm kinda in a rush. Okay, so thanks for reading/reviewing, guys, and I will see you next chapter!
