I put up a new poll, so be sure to vote in that, because it may change the story in a somewhat dramatic way, I guess, lol. Anyways, enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra or Khoury, but all OCs belong to their rightful owners.
Chapter 23
"Blackthorn City is a very quiet city that is the home to many Dragon-type Pokémon Trainers," Khoury explained to Lyra as they flew on Tropius's back, its large wings cooling the two off from the afternoon sun above with a gust of wind every time it would flap them.
"Is there a Gym there?" the brunette asked.
"That's actually where we're heading right now," Tohmas answered back as he flew up beside them on his Pidgeot. "It's run by Clair, who's a Dragon-type Gym Leader, and one of the few Dragon-type Gym Leaders in the world."
"Wow... in the whole world?" Khoury nodded.
"The Blackthorn Gym is also where all Dragon-type Pokémon Trainers go at one time or another to receive training," he added, fixing his black-rimmed glasses.
"All Dragon-type Trainers...?" she muttered to herself, then gasped. "Hey, does that mean that Fabu-Lance of the Elite Four of Kanto and Johto trained there?"
" 'Fabu-Lance?' " Khoury repeated, his eyebrows pulled together in confusion. Lyra realized what she said and giggled to herself.
"Oh, my friend Marina has a huge crush on Lance and calls him 'Fabu-Lance'. I guess it rubbed off on me!"
"Actually, Lance of the Elite Four is from Blackthorn City!" Tohmas said to her, causing the brunette to squeal loudly. As she did, she shook in excitement, almost causing herself to fall of the Flying-type Pokémon. She called out in surprise and grabbed onto Khoury's waist in support, almost causing him to fall off as well. The midnight green-haired boy yelled in astonishment and wrapped his arms around Tropius's neck to keep both his and Lyra's balance. Tropius giggled at the two's mishap and continued to fly straight. "There's Blackthorn City now!" As the two regained their balance, the brunette and midnight green-haired Trainers looked down and saw a tranquil little city. Behind it, a huge mountain loomed over the city. The city was somewhat small, but surrounded in forest.
"Aw, what a cute little city!" Lyra commented as Tohmas directed his Flying-type Pokémon to land.
"Pidgooo!" Pidgeot called loudly as it landed on the ground below. Tropius said nothing as it flapped its wings and set down on the Blackthorn streets.
"Thanks guys! You two have been working hard for the past couple of weeks, and I'm so proud of you," Tohmas complimented, then returned them into their respected Poké Balls. Lyra pulled out a Poké Ball and tossed it into the air. It opened up and released a white light which automatically shot onto her arm. The light then condensed and formed into her Marill.
"Marill!" it said happily as it breathed in a lungful of Blackthorn City air.
"Yeah, you're right. The air is nice and crisp here," Lyra replied, breathing in some of it as well.
"Because Blackthorn City is surrounded by woods and a large lake at the foot of the mountain, the air is just about as pure as it can get," Tohmas explained to her as he started to walk. Lyra and Khoury followed him, despite having no idea where he was going.
"We're going to the Gym, right? Do you know where that is?" the brunette asked. Tohmas turned his head towards Lyra and nodded.
"I studied a map of Blackthorn City, so I think I know the location of the Gym. The Gym is all the way north of the city." After walking in silence for a few moments, Khoury spoke up.
"So Dad, what else is there about the Gym here? Are we really just here just because it battles with Dragon-type Pokémon?" Khoury's father smiled brightly at him and chuckled to himself.
"Actually, the Blackthorn Gym is one of the oldest gyms in the Johto region. It's been around for about a hundred years," he replied.
"Wow, a hundred years?" the brunette muttered, her eyebrows raised in surprise.
"Yeah, and each one of the Gym Leaders were Dragon-type Pokémon Trainers as well," Tohmas added.
"Wow, that's amazing!" Khoury commented. "I can't wait to see one of these Dragon-type Pokémon!"
"Well, you won't have to wait very long. I can see the Gym from here," his father replied, pointing in front of them. Up the path ahead, there was a large mansion-like building that was made of concrete and painted tan. In the middle was the entrance, which was a old fashion sliding door that protruded into the building, causing it to be shaded. Over the entrance was a arch-like design made into the concrete, and above that were two church windows, each symmetrical of each other. By the red-tiled roof, there was one large round window. There was a white concrete fence in front of the Gym's yard, which stopped on the path going into the Gym. At the ends were two sculptures that sat on the platform, looking down at those who entered the path. The one of the left was one of a large creature with small wings on its back and two antennae on its head. In between the antennae there seemed to be a horn-like growth on its head. The other statue was fierce looking. It featured a large creature with large wings and a massive tail which had a flame lit on the end of it. There were two horn-like growths coming out of the back of the creature's head as well. The group approached it and stopped at the gate.
"Wow, this place is huge!" Lyra commented. She noticed Marill looking at the statue to her right with a frightened look on its face. "Those statues are kinda frightening. Especially that one." Khoury walked up to the statue of the creature with the flame on the end of its tail.
"This is a statue of a Charizard!" he told her, then rushed over to the other statue. "And this one is a Dragonite!" Suddenly, the door leading into the Gym opened, and everyone turned their head to see who was coming out. A beautiful woman who had an air of confidence around her. Her light blue hair was wrapped up in a thick high ponytail that was tied with a golden band, but her bangs lay against the side of her face. The ends stuck outwards, however. There was also a strand of hair from the top of her head that was pulled down over her forehead. On her ears, she wore golden crescent moon earrings that hung down and almost touched her shoulders. On her chest, there was a medium-sized pearl, which was attached to the black choker and undershirt she wore, but the undershirt couldn't be seen, since it was covered over by a skin-tight sky blue body suit that had darker blue vertical lines on the sides of it. The suit was cut off at the thighs, and she wore blue boot heels with two black bands around the top, which was by the knees. As she walked forward, her blue eyes locked on them, the black and tyrian purple cape that stuck to her shoulders by two bronze shoulder clasps flowed in the wind. She smiled when she reached them and stopped, putting her blue gloved hands, which also had a large black band on the wrists much like her boots, on her hips.
"Good afternoon. Welcome to the Blackthorn Gym. May I help you?" she asked. Behind her, a very short older man with graying hair that stuck up in the back of both sides of his head walked out. He had a gray mustache on his upper lip, and he wore a black long sleeved button up shirt with red cuffs at the ends of it.
"Hello ma'am," Tohmas greeted. "We're part of the Johto Festival committee. We talked on the phone earlier this week?" Her blue eyes lit up and she smiled.
"Ah, yes, I remember now," she replied, sticking out her hand. "My name's Clair, the Blackthorn Gym Leader." She glanced down at the short man next to her. "And this is the Gym's assistant, Kaburagi."
"Wonderful to meet you two. I'm Tohmas, and this is my son Khoury and his friend Lyra," he introduced. Lyra waved bubbly at the two, and Khoury smiled.
"Nice to meet all of you," she said.
"What's the Johto Festival?" Kaburagi asked.
"Oh, right, it was your day off the day he called. Tohmas here is going to put me and the Blackthorn Gym in a video that promotes the Johto region," she explained.
"We're also traveling around the world to promote it. We want to show everyone how beautiful the Johto region is!" the taller man added, receiving a nod of approval from Clair.
"Clair, could you show us one of your Dragon Pokémon?" Lyra asked her, stepping forward.
"Hm?" Clair responded.
"Before she became involved with us, Lyra traveled around and collected Gym Badges," Tohmas told the blue-haired woman.
"Oh! Then are you here for a Gym Battle?" she questioned the brunette. Lyra giggled and shook her head.
"No, I'm nowhere near as strong as you are, but I'd love to see one of your Dragon-type Pokémon still, if that's okay," she replied.
"Actually, I was going to ask if we could include your signature Pokémon in the photo as well," Tohmas added.
"Sure, no problem," she agreed, then took out a Poké Ball. "Dragonair, go!" She tossed the Poké Ball into the air and it burst open, releasing a beautiful, blue and white serpent-like Pokémon. On its head were two small wings and on its forehead was a white horn. On its neck was a sapphire-like jewel which resembled Clair's pearl, and it had two of the same jewels on its tail. The Pokémon landed gracefully on the ground to the left of her Trainer and looked at the three people in front of it.
"Oh, wow! She's so beautiful!" Lyra exclaimed, taking out her Pokédex. "Dragonair, the Dragon Pokémon. Dragonair has the ability to manipulate the elements as it wishes." Tohmas took out his digital camera from his back pocket and held it in his hand.
"Shall we take the photo now?" he suggested. Clair nodded and turned to her Dragonair.
"This man is going to take a photo of us, okay?" she informed it. The Pokémon nodded its head, and Lyra, Khoury and Kaburagi moved out of the way. Clair looked at Tohmas and smirked, spreading her legs apart some and holding her arms out as fists in front of her. Dragonair pushed its head forward some so it looked like it was going to jump at Khoury's dad. As Tohmas pressed the button, there was a blinding white flash and he looked at the photo on the view screen.
"This came out wonderful!" he said, showing Clair as she walked up to look. "Thank you very much, Clair."
"It was our pleasure, right Dragonair?"
"Aaaaar!" it cried sweetly in response. Just then, a boy started walking towards the Gym. He had messy dirty blonde hair that was parted to the side, but his hair fell partly over one of his brown eyes. His face was blank, and his eyes showed hardly any emotion in them. He wore a black T-shirt with dark purple baggy jeans. On his back, he wore a tan-colored backpack, which was being held up the a single strap around his shoulder. He looked to be about fourteen or fifteen years old. Walking beside him was a dark green Pokémon with a red stomach. There was a large horn coming out of the top of its head, and there were two rhombus-shaped holes on both sides of its body. It walked on two legs, and walked with its eyes facing the ground.
"Hey, that's a Larvitar!" Khoury pointed out, pulling out his Pokédex and scanning the creature. "Larvitar, the Rock Skin Pokémon. Larvitar generally hatch deep within the earth and take a long time before coming to the surface." Like his Pokémon, the boy walked up the group with his head down, then stopped.
"Is this the Blackthorn Gym?" he asked so quietly that Clair had to pause for a moment to make sure she heard him.
"Um, yes, this is the Blackthorn Gym. I'm Clair, the Gym Leader here. Can I help you?"
"My name is Santos. I'd like to challenge you to a Gym Battle..." he stated. As his eyes scanned the group, something about him struck Lyra as familiar.
"There's something about your eyes..." she muttered, walking closer to try and get a closer look at him, much to his discomfort. He was taller than her, so she had to look up to see.
"Excuse me?" he asked, stepping back some to keep his distance from her as if she had a disease. She glared at him for a moment, then gasped and snapped her fingers.
"I know! I bet you're related to Tuscany and Frieda, right?" she questioned him. The quiet boy pulled his eyebrows together for a moment, then stood up straight.
"Yes, they're my older sisters..." he said. "I assume you've met them?" Lyra nodded her head furiously.
"Your eyes gave it away. You all seem to have the same shaped eyes," she told him. He paused for a moment, then looked away.
"That's not creepy..." he muttered sarcastically, causing Lyra to fall. Marill rolled off her arm and fell onto the dirt path. "So... can we have a battle?"
"Oh, can we watch?" Lyra asked, raising her hand into the air while still sitting on the ground.
"Yeah! I'd love to see Clair's Dragon Pokémon in action!" Khoury exclaimed, turning to his dad. "Can we, Dad?"
"It's fine with me, but I have stuff to do at the Pokémon Center here, so I won't be able to watch," he replied. "You should probably ask the Leader and Challenger, though." Lyra jumped up and Marill jumped back onto her arm after giving her a dirty look. Both young Trainers turned to Clair and smiled.
"Can we, Clair?" they asked at the same time.
"If it's alright with him, it's alright with me," Clair stated. "So, what do you say, Santos? Do you mind an audience?"
"It don't matter to me," Santos responded quietly, taking out a Poké Ball and putting his Larvitar into it. The group said good-bye to Tohmas and they all walked to the Gym together.
"How many Badges do you have, Santos?" Clair asked him as they walked to the battlefield.
"Currently, I have six," he replied bluntly.
"Wow, six of them? I don't even think your older sisters had any!" Lyra said to him.
"Out of the seven of us, I am the second youngest, but the strongest," he told her. "We each have a different goal and dream that we follow. Tuscany likes to collect Pokémon and Frieda is an archeologist. I, myself, am a Pokémon Trainer."
"That's awesome! So am I! I've only got two Badges, though."
"I started my journey about a year ago, so I've had more time than you," Santos said to her. Finally, the group reached the Gym and walked inside. The whole inside of the Gym was the battlefield, with the exception of two other rooms that were on the sides of the battlefield. There was a stadium in the middle of the room, and in the center of the stadium was a large square pool of water. In the middle of the stadium was a platform for the referee, Kaburagi, would stand. There was also a bench on the other side for other people to sit. Lyra and Khoury sat down on the bench, with Marill sitting in between the two, and Clair and Santos made their way to the battlefield. Kaburagi walked up to Santos and the two muttered to each other for a bit before he jumped up onto his platform. Clair was on Lyra's left, and Santos was on the other side of the stadium, nearest Khoury.
"The Blackthorn Gym Battle between Santos of Silver Town and Gym Leader Clair will now begin!" Kaburagi called, taking out two flags, one red and one green. "When all of one Trainer's Pokémon are unable to continue, the match is over. Each Trainer will be allowed the maximum usage of three Pokémon, but during the course of battle, only the challenger will be able to substitute one Pokémon for another." He paused to place the red flag in the hand closest to Clair, and the green one in the hand closest to Santos. He then lowered the flags, then waved them into the air. "Let the match begin!" Clair pulled out a Poké Ball right away.
"I hope you're ready, Santos, because here I go! Now Gyarados, go!" she shouted, tossing the Poké Ball into the air. The ball burst opened and released a white light into the pool of water and suddenly, the light was replaced by a huge snarling sea serpent-like Pokémon. The Pokémon roared loudly and glared down at Santos, who stared unfazed at it back. Lyra, however, yelled loudly and jumped up in fright from the roar.
"That thing is massive!" she shouted, both her and Marill holding their ears. Khoury took out his Pokédex and scanned the creature. "Gyarados, the Atrocious Pokémon. This Pokémon has a vicious temperament, so use extreme caution. Its fangs can crush stones and its scales are harder than steel." Santos pulled out a Poké Ball and pressed the button to make it bigger. He then tossed it in front of him.
"Nidoqueen!" he called, releasing a blue and tan Pokémon that looked a lot like a Nidoking, but with a smaller horn and larger tan chest plates. This time, Lyra pulled out her Pokédex and scanned it. "Nidoqueen, the Drill Pokémon. Nidoqueen has thick skin covering its entire body, protecting it from whatever techniques are used against it."
"I wonder what Santos is planning, because type advantage is not on his side this round," Khoury wondered aloud. "Nidoqueen's a Ground-type and Gyarados is a Water-type. This match will be interesting."
"This whole battle is going to be interesting..." Lyra added, trying to keep her eyes glued to the battlefield as the battle started.
"Gyarados, Hydro Pump!" Clair commanded. Gyarados called out loudly once again and fired a powerful blast of water from its mouth straight at Santos's Nidoqueen.
"Nidoqueen, Protect!" Nidoqueen spread its arms out and a turquoise energy shield appeared around its body. The Hydro Pump blasted the shield, but it couldn't hit it with enough force to penetrate it. "Now use Hyper Beam!" Nidoqueen roared as the Protect attack shattered and started gathering energy in its mouth. Suddenly, an orange orb of energy appeared inside it.
"Gyarados, counter with your own Hyper Beam!" Clair shouted, and Gyarados started charging energy as well. Both Pokémon then fired a beam of orange energy at each other from the orbs that had formed in front of their mouths. The two beams collided with huge force and exploded. Smoke and dust kicked up from the explosion, covering Clair's side of the battlefield since Nidoqueen started charging the attack first.
"Okay Nidoqueen, we have to end this quick-"
"Gyarados, Bite attack! Let's go!" the light blue-haired Gym Leader commanded from inside the smoke. Suddenly, Gyarados shot out of the smoke and dust and thrust its head straight at Nidoqueen. The sudden appearance of the massive Pokémon startled Santos and Nidoqueen both. Gyarados then slammed its mouth into Nidoqueen, knocking it down the ground. As Gyarados started to pull its head back, Nidoqueen stood up.
"Nidoqueen, use Shock Wave!" Santos ordered.
"Aha! That's why he chose his Nidoqueen to go up against Gyarados!" Khoury exclaimed. "Gyarados is Water and Flying-type, so Electric-type attacks do quadruple damage against it! This battle is over!" Nidoqueen's body became surrounded in light blue electricity and it fired a beam of light blue electricity from its body at Gyarados.
"Don't take me too lightly! Gyarados, DragonBreath!" Clair countered. Gyarados roared and released a powerful green beam of air from its mouth. The beam collided with the Shock Wave attack and expanded into a star-like shape, canceling out the electricity. Santos's mouth opened a little as Shock Wave faded away.
"W-what?" Lyra exclaimed in confusion. Khoury himself looked a little confused as well, but tried his best to explain it.
"I think Clair used DragonBreath as a barrier to block Shock Wave from hitting," he told her.
"That's right; I've raised my Gyarados to counter Electric-type attacks since he has such a weakness against them," the Gym Leader explained. "Your strategy of using Shock Wave was a good one, but not good enough. You're going to have to work harder to get this Gym's badge. Gyarados, Hydro Pump!" Gyarados snarled loudly once again and released a powerful blast of water from its mouth at Nidoqueen. The attack hit its mark and Nidoqueen called out as it was pushed back by the water blast. When the water stopped pumping out, Nidoqueen was still standing, though it looked really worn out. Suddenly, Santos pulled out a Poké Ball and pointed it at Nidoqueen. A laser shot out of the ball and sucked Nidoqueen inside. The light blue-haired Gym Leader nodded in approval. "Good decision recalling your Pokémon. I would have made the same choice." Santos said nothing as he produced another Poké Ball, this time a Great Ball, and tossed it onto the battlefield.
"Gengar!" he called, and the purple Shadow Pokémon appeared in a flash of light.
"Gengar!" Santos's Pokémon snickered, floating into the air to match eyes with Gyarados.
"Interesting choice. You know my Gyarados has Bite attack, and yet you chose a Ghost-type?" Clair pondered, then shrugged. "No matter; Gyarados, use Hydro Pump again!"
"Gengar, use Confuse Ray!" Santos commanded. Gyarados released another blast of water from its mouth, but Gengar shot towards it. At the last moment, it spun around to dodge the attack. However, Gyarados turned its head and managed to hit the Shadow Pokémon. It gasped in surprise as the water hit it and sent it spiraling backwards. "Shadow Punch then!" The Ghost-type Pokémon shook its head and regained its balance in midair. It then raised one of its arms and purple static appeared at the base of its arm and worked itself up to the fist. Gengar then took off towards Gyarados and punched the air in front of it. Suddenly, a large black fist seemingly made of shadows with purple static electricity around it appeared from its fist and struck Gyarados below the neck. The Pokémon called out in pain and waved back and forth.
"Gyarados!" the Pokémon's Trainer shouted in response. However, the Atrocious Pokémon recovered from the attack and glared at Gengar angrily. "Okay, now use DragonBreath!"
"Dodge it, quick!" As Gyarados fired a green beam of air from its mouth, Gengar flipped around and swerved away from the attack. "Great. Now use Hypnosis!" The Ghost-type Pokémon nodded and disappeared from view. Clair's Pokémon stopped its attack and its eyes started glancing around for its opponent, snarling a bit. Suddenly, Gengar appeared to Gyarados's left and when the Pokémon turned to attack it, Gengar clapped its hands together and then pointed its palms at Gyarados. Black circles then emerged from its hands and expanded as they moved towards Gyarados. The Water-type's eyes then began to droop and finally it fell asleep. "Now use Dream Eater..." Even before Gyarados began to fall, Gengar snickered and released a shadow-like version of itself from its body. In a matter of seconds, the shadow dashed right through Gyarados and it called out in pain, suddenly opening its eyes wide for a moment before they drooped back down.
"Gyarados, no!" Clair called, but then shouted and blocked her face with her arms as Gyarados's large head slammed against the ground in front of her.
"Gyarados is unable to battle! Gengar wins!" Kaburagi announced, waving his green flag at Santos's side of the battlefield. Clair looked to be in awe for a moment, but smirked and recalled her Pokémon.
"That was very impressive how you managed to beat Gyarados, Santos," she said, replacing her Gyarados's Poké Ball with another. "But this match is just getting started. Kingdra, I choose you! Let's go!" Like before, the Poké Ball opened up over the pool area of the stadium and the light shot down inside it. The light then faded and a medium-sized light blue sea horse-like Pokémon with a yellow stomach and a single fin on its back appeared.
"Do!" the Pokémon uttered.
"Oh, wow! Look at how powerful that Kingdra looks!" Khoury said excitedly, taking out his Pokédex. "Kingdra, the Dragon Pokémon. Normally at rest on the ocean floor, but in theories of high activity, even a yawn has enough power to create whirlpools."
"Oh no... that's bad news for Santos," Lyra commented after hearing the entry.
"Okay Gengar, let's start out strong! Shadow Ball!" Gengar agreed by putting its hands together. They then started to become surrounded in light blue static electricity and a black ball of energy formed in between them. Gengar then thrust its hands forward and fired the ball straight at Kingdra.
"Kingdra, use Agility to dodge it!" the blue-haired Gym Leader shouted. Kingdra nodded and it suddenly disappeared with only the ripples from the water telling the others where Kingdra had dashed off to. Lyra and Khoury both gasped.
"Wow, it's so fast!" the male exclaimed. Santos himself looked stunned at Kingdra's speed as well. Kingdra, however, had not reappeared, and his eyes scanned the water's surface, trying to see where the Dragon Pokémon had gone. All of a sudden, he gasped.
"It's under the water! Gengar, float away!"
"Good thinking, but not fast enough. Kingdra, use Twister!" Clair ordered, a smirk appearing on her face. The light blue Pokémon surfaced from under the water and it started to wave the fins that were on its face back and forth. A giant twister then appeared around Kingdra and it sucked up some of the water, forming itself into a water tornado. It then began to move toward Gengar, exiting the pool of water and rushing towards the Shadow Pokémon. Gengar looked shocked and started to float away in the opposite direction, but Kingdra started to move its fins faster, causing the Twister attack to move forward faster as well. Finally, the attack grabbed up Gengar and swallowed it. The Pokémon started to call out as it was tossed, turned and spun inside the tornado. Finally, the tornado disappeared and Gengar fell to the ground in a heap. Kaburagi stared at Gengar, his hands gripped to the flags, ready to announce the results if need be. However, Gengar twitched and put one of its arms above its head, then onto the ground. It was breathing heavily and it struggled to get up onto its knees.
"Gengar! Get up!" Santos exclaimed. Clair smiled and put one of her hands on her hips.
"Okay, I've seen enough. Kingdra, finish it off with Hydro Pump!"
"Doo!" her Pokémon replied, taking in a deep breath and firing a powerful blast of water from its mouth straight at Gengar. The Shadow Pokémon widened its red eyes as it saw the blast coming straight at it, but couldn't respond fast enough. Soon enough, Gengar was overpowered by the huge stream of water and pushed against the wall. When Kingdra cut off the water flow, Gengar was slumped against it, unable to battle.
"Gengar is unable to battle, and Kingdra wins!" Kaburagi announced. Clair smiled and put her hands on her hips.
"Great work, Kingdra. You did excellent," she complimented. Santos said nothing as he recalled his Gengar and pulled out another Poké Ball, tossing it onto the battlefield. In a flash of light, his Nidoqueen appeared once again. It looked worn down still from its battle with Clair's Gyarados, however. "So, you're choosing Nidoqueen again? Do you think it can beat my Kingdra?"
"We're about to find out! Nidoqueen, Poison Sting attack!" Obeying its Trainer's command, Nidoqueen opened its mouth and released a barrage of light purple needles from its mouth straight at Kingdra. Kingdra, however, dove under the water and the needles harmlessly disappeared as they hit the side of the pool. "Hurry, before it surfaces! Use Shock Wave!" Right away, Nidoqueen charged forward and ran up to the edge of the pool. It looked down to see Kingdra staring up at it intimidatingly from the bottom of the deep water. Nidoqueen's body then became surrounded in light blue electricity and it fired a beam of light blue electricity from its body into the water. Clair gasped at Santos's tactic as Nidoqueen fired the last of its Electric-type attack.
"You knew from Gengar's battle that Kingdra would dodge under the water, so you used Poison Sting as bait to lure Kingdra under the water!" she exclaimed.
"Wow, what a really smart strategy!" Khoury praised. "Electric-type attacks do more damage to a victim when they're in the water!" Finally, Nidoqueen stopped releasing Shock Wave from its body and the whole battlefield was silent as they waited for the results. The only noise came from the occasional light blue spark of electricity that sometime skipped across the surface of the water in the pool. Suddenly, the water exploded in a huge splash and Kingdra shot out, jumping high into the air. Santos, Khoury and Lyra all gasped simultaneously at the sight of the Dragon Pokémon's sudden appearance.
"Hydro Pump!" Clair ordered, seemingly unfazed by her Pokémon's entrance.
"Do-ah!" Kingdra called, firing a blast of water from its mouth at Nidoqueen. The water soaked it and when Kingdra stopped its watery assault, Nidoqueen was rocking back and forth until finally it began to fall forward, causing a huge splash as it fell into the pool.
"Nidoqueen is unable to battle, and Kingdra wins!" Kaburagi announced, and Santos quickly recalled his Pokémon into its Poké Ball before it could sink to the bottom and drown.
"I don't understand! Kingdra's a Water-type Pokémon, right? It should have fried at the bottom of the pool!" Lyra exclaimed.
"Kingdra's half Dragon-type," Khoury reminded, but examined Kingdra's undamaged body as it landed in the pool and awaited its next opponent. "Still, that should have done a lot more damage than it seemed to."
"Though your strategy was spot on, Santos, you have to remember that Dragon Pokémon aren't known to be pushovers, and my Kingdra is no exception." Her opponent was very quiet as he debated over which Pokémon to choose. His eyes were glued to the floor and his irises were scanning it back and forth as if reading some kind of invisible text that only he could see. Finally, he pulled his head up and reached into his pocket, taking out a Poké Ball and pressing the button in the center to make it larger.
"Mismagius!" he called, tossing the Poké Ball into the air. It opened up in a flash, and a dark purple ghost-like Pokémon that looked like it was wearing a large purple witch's hat on its head came out. It floated in the air like Gengar, but it had no arms or legs.
"Magius!" his Pokémon uttered, its yellow and red eyes locked on Kingdra. Lyra pulled out her Pokédex to scan the unknown Pokémon. "Mismagius, the Magical Pokémon. Mismagius chants incantations, and while some cause misery, some give happiness as well."
"Mismagius?" Khoury wondered.
"Mismagius is my first Pokémon and my number one choice if I'm ever in a difficult situation. I'm confident she can help me win this," Santos told them.
"Very well, then let's begin! Kingdra, start off with Twister!" Clair began, pointing at Mismagius.
"Quickly, Shadow Ball!" Santos shouted. Almost immediately, Mismagius opened its mouth and formed a black and purple orb of energy in front of it and fired it at Kingdra, who was beginning to wave its fins back and forth. The speed of the attack caught both Kingdra and Clair by surprise and the ball exploded as it struck the Dragon Pokémon. "Good job, Mismagius. Now, strike it with a Psybeam attack!"
"Kingdra, Hydro Pump!" the brunette heard Clair order from the other side of the battlefield. Suddenly, a blast of water shot through the smoke and slammed into Santos's Pokémon, pushing it against the wall of the Gym. "Your Mismagius is fast, I'll give you that. But you're not going to get two shots in a row," Clair said with a smirk on her face. However, the smirk quickly faded when Mismagius shot out from the pool water with its eyes glowing a multicolored aura. It then fired a beam of rainbow-colored energy from its eyes at Kingdra, blasting it out of the water and onto the battlefield with a thud. The blue-haired Gym Leader gasped and glanced at where Mismagius had been hit by Hydro Pump, only to see it turn black and disappear.
"I knew you'd try to attack again once your Kingdra was hiding in the smoke, so I had Mismagius use Double Team and hid in the water," Santos explained. "Looks like I did hit Kingdra twice in a row." Kingdra groaned in pain, but shook it away and stood up on the battlefield. "And now your Kingdra's out of the water, which means this will be like shooting Goldeen in a barrel. Mismagius, Psybeam attack!" Once again, Mismagius's eyes became colored in multicolored energy and it fired a beam of the same color at Clair's Pokémon.
"Kingdra, use Agility!" Clair called, and Kingdra disappeared.
"N-no way!" Lyra gasped, putting her hands over her mouth.
"It can move out of the water?" Khoury added, just as shocked. Finally, Kingdra reappeared behind Mismagius, just on the edge of the pool.
"Okay Kingdra, let's wrap this up with Twister!" Again, the light blue seahorse-like Pokémon started waving the fins on its chin back and forth and a huge twister appeared around its body. Since it was at the edge of the pool, some of the Twister sucked up some of the water, forming into a tornado with streams of water around it. Inside the tornado, Kingdra pushed its head forward and the attack shot at Mismagius, quickly sucking it up and spinning it around inside before spitting it out in a heap on the floor. Mismagius twitched for a moment before floating back into the air. It was breathing heavily, but it could still battle. Clair smiled with approval as it did. "I'm impressed. Not very many opponents can take Kingdra's Twister attack head on and still be able to battle."
"Mismagius, do you still have fight left in you?" Santos asked his Pokémon.
"Magius!" it replied, looking at him and nodding.
"Excellent! Then use Magical Leaf!" Mismagius obeyed and spun its body around once, releasing multiple glowing light green leaves from its body that fired at its opponent.
"Block it with Twister, Kingdra!" Like before, Kingdra formed a huge water vortex around it by waving its head fins back and forth. However, instead of firing it, Kingdra let it stay in place, using the water and wind as a shield to suck up the Magical Leaf and have it harmlessly spin around inside.
"You're not going to hit us with Twister again! Mismagius, prepare to dodge it!" Santos commanded.
"Oh, I'm not going to hit you with Twister," Clair told him. "Kingdra, Dragon Pulse!" Suddenly, inside the middle of the Twister attack, a mystifying, bright green light started to glow.
"Doah!" Kingdra called inside, and suddenly the air distorted for a moment as it fired an orb of light green energy from its mouth. The Dragon Pulse shot right through the Twister and fired at Mismagius. However, the Dragon Pulse seemed to absorb the wind, water and leaves and as it shot through, it suddenly became surrounded by spirals of wind, water and leaves. The move was very quick as well, and all this happened in a matter of seconds. Before their minds could analyze everything that happened, Mismagius was blasted by the Dragon Pulse attack and slammed into the wall, knocking it out immediately.
"Mismagius is unable to battle! The winner is the Gym Leader, Clair!" Kaburagi announced, raising the arm that was closest to Clair. Santos looked surprised, and stared out onto the battlefield, then at his Mismagius as if he didn't see what had just happened. He watched as Clair congratulated her Kingdra on a job well done, then recalled it into its Poké Ball. Lyra and Khoury were silent as well. Both of them were going over the battle in their head, remembering how Clair seemed to be ahead of Santos each step of the way. Finally, Santos returned his Mismagius into his Poké Ball as the blue-haired Gym Leader approached him.
"You had some pretty unique strategies, and you should be proud of yourself for that," she said to him. "I think you should train a little bit harder, and when you think you're ready, come back for a rematch anytime." One of the corners of Santos's mouth pulled up briefly, then went back down as quick as it came.
"I learned a lot from our battle. Thank you for this opportunity," he replied, bowing and then turning around to walk out of the Gym. Quickly, Lyra and Khoury grabbed their backpacks, and after the brunette waited for Marill to jump onto her arm, the two walked up to Clair.
"Thank you for letting us watch the battle, ma'am," Khoury muttered, then both of them copied Santos and bowed in thanks.
"You're very welcome. I hope you enjoyed yourselves," she replied. Lyra nodded, but she glanced to see Santos walk out the front doors.
"We should probably be heading back to see what your dad wants us to do," she suggested to Khoury, and the midnight green-haired boy nodded in response. The two walked towards the doors as well, and turned around to wave at Clair. "Good-bye Clair! Until we meet again!" Clair smiled and waved back.
"And I look forward to when you do for our Gym Battle, Lyra!" she called back. The brunette smirked and nodded before turning fully around and running out the door.
o 0 o
"Santos!" the brunette shouted, and the male Trainer turned around, stopping to wait for the two in between the two statues of Dragonite and Charizard. "It was a good battle. You put up a great fight."
"The tactic you used with your Nidoqueen was outstanding. And then when you used Double Team and had Mismagius hide underwater was very surprising. I almost jumped out of my seat!" Khoury complimented.
"Thanks, but my efforts were, in the end, wasted. My usual strategy did not work out," he stated matter-of-factually.
"What are you going to do now?" Lyra questioned.
"I think I'll train my Pokémon here for a while and try again. If I lose, well, I still have another badge I need to get before I get all eight," he replied. He looked down at her Marill, then looked away. "Lyra, you challenge Gyms, right?" The brunette nodded. "Then you better watch out. If we face each other in the Pokémon League, then you're my rival, and I'm going to take you down." She giggled nervously and scratched the back of her neck at his statement.
"Well, I suppose the same goes for me," she replied.
"Until then," he said, then turned around and walked to the left. The two of them watched him walk until they heard a man calling their name.
"Khoury, Lyra!" the voice shouted. When they turned towards the source, they saw Tohmas walking toward them, a huge smile on his face.
"Hey Dad! What's up?" Khoury greeted as he approached them.
"Did you watch the Gym Battle?" he asked, ignoring his son's question.
"Yeah, Santos lost. Clair is amazing," Lyra noted, then smiled at Khoury's father's smile. "Now, tell us; what's with the ear-to-ear grin?" Tohmas laughed to himself and looked proud.
"We're all set for the Johto Festival to begin!" he announced, and the two children cheered loudly.
"That's so awesome! I can't wait to start!" Lyra squealed.
"We head out the day after tomorrow to Slateport City, but that give us time to put together the video and give Lyra the run down of the Festival," Tohmas replied. He looked up at the colors the setting sun was making the skies. "I rented us some rooms at the Pokémon Center here, and Nurse Joy gave us permission to use the computers there to edit some software if we need."
"Woo hoo! Hot relaxing soak, here I come!" the brunette applauded.
"Mair, rill!" her Pokémon copied her, also looking forward to a warm bath. The other two laughed at them and they all headed over to the Pokémon Center.
*sigh* This is just one of those chapters that I wish it could never end, but at the same time, I'm sooo happy that it did. ^-^' Yay! This is the last chapter for traveling around to take photos! And only one more chapter until the Johto Festival! Let me just add before I wrap this chapter up how sorry I was that I had to miss an update! It couldn't have been avoided. Again, I'm really sorry! TT-TT
One more thing. As I said above, there's a poll on my profile that I posted, and you should all vote for it, whether you review this story or not. It might even change the story a little. Anyways, I'll thank my reviewers now!
Thank you:
ScotSniper (Which is another reason for him to have more of a role in the anime. - Thanks for the review!)
JapanDreamer09
arkee
Chriss111
Okay, that's it! Next chapter, Tohmas and Khoury give Lyra the heads up on what the schedule is for the Johto Festival. I'm personally excited to see how this chapter turns out! Anyways, thanks for reading/reviewing, and see you next chapter!