Perhaps I should start skipping through the gym battles. Or get better at writing battles. Either way but the first one is probably easier lmao

Two of the names of Elesa's Pokémon are courtesy of Fafar so you can blame her for the fabulous spider

Who's that Pokémon? ... character ...


The audience was silent, waiting in anticipation for the battle to begin. Spotlights faded once more, the lights around the arena flickering on to give a better view of the challenge.

Axle stepped forward, watching the Emolga through narrowed eyes. He certainly looked ready for this gym battle.

Knowing that the fighting was about to start, the Emolga hopped from her perch, opening out her wings to glide slowly around the arena. Elesa was watching the challenger, waiting for him to call his first move.

No point wasting any more time; Ryan just hoped they'd trained enough for this battle. This was also the first time he'd had a battle with so many people watching… "Axle, use dragon claw!"

Axle focused on the moving creature, claws shining an odd colour in the unnatural light. As it floated down lower to the ground and within reach, he charged forward, preparing to attack.

"Now, Glenna, volt switch!"

With a cheeky grin on her face, the Emolga sent a jolt of electricity at the dragon – enough to force him to stop, snarling as the current passed through his scales but with them to protect him it didn't do much damage. However, the moment the squirrel let out the attack, she vanished in a flash of red light.

Volt switch sends a Pokémon back to its Poké ball? Ryan's eyes widened slightly. Axle looked surprised as well as there was another flash and a Galvantula landed lightly in front of them.

"Try and keep up, or you'll be left dazzled!" Elesa grinned; the statement sent a ripple of cheer throughout the audience.

Was that Elesa's battle strategy? Switching her Pokémon to confuse him? At least Axle wouldn't take much damage from the electric-type attacks. "Axle, don't give up just because the Pokémon changed! She's trying to confuse you!"

With a brief glance back at his trainer, the dragon gave a small nod. After that switch, the Galvantula was right in front of him; it couldn't get away fast enough, claws slashing across its body as it backed away with a hiss.

"Dragon claw, again!"

"Gavin, volt switch!"

The swipe missed as the spider vanished with a wave of electricity and a flash of light, just as Glenna had done before. The Emolga soon appeared in the air once again, gliding in a circle around Axle and letting out a cheeky squeak.

Glenna soon had the smirk wiped off her face as the dragon's attack finally connected, causing a small explosion of electricity. With a squeal of surprise the electric squirrel was flung backwards, smacking into and tumbling across the ground before eventually coming to a rest at the foot of one of the ladders.

Gasps echoed through the audience, and even Ryan found himself holding his breath. Was the Pokémon okay?

The brief moment of silence seemed to last for an age; then Glenna's tail twitched, and the Emolga blinked open her eyes slowly. She didn't seem too seriously injured, but there was no way she'd be able to fight in that condition.

"Oh, Glenna!" Elesa gasped. "Return and rest, darling. You put on an amazing show today!"

As the Emolga was drawn back into her Poké ball, another round of cheer went through the crowd. They didn't seem to be directing their support to either side over the other; they were just enjoying watching the battle.

"Well done, Axle," Ryan said quietly, a smile on his face. The dragon-type only gave a grunt in response, but he didn't miss the slight spark of pride in his eyes. It seemed Axle enjoyed battling alongside him after all.

Another red flash and the Galvantula was back once more. Burgh had battled him with three Pokémon; surely Elesa had at least one more Pokémon she hadn't used yet as well. Still, despite the gym leader's switching technique, attacking with Axle's strongest move seemed to be working out well so far; they'd already defeated one of her Pokémon. "Keep using dragon claw."

Axle was about to charge forward to attack the electric-type, yet he hesitated. His lips drew back in a snarl. He almost seemed routed to the spot.

What's wrong with him? It was then that Ryan noticed a few sparks of electricity still snaking through his scales. Oh no, he's been paralysed—! It must have happened when he attacked the Emolga. And now he couldn't move to attack – or to avoid getting hurt by anything Gavin might throw at him.

"Volt switch!"

It seemed the spider wasn't sticking around for long either. Axle let out a roar of pain and frustration as he was hit by the electricity once more, unable to fight back or even move from the spot.

A flash of light and a shriek of a battle cry and the gym leader's final Pokémon was revealed. Hooves made an echoing clack as it landed, mane sparking with electricity. A loud cheer reverberated around the room and the Zebstrika held her head up proudly. This must have been Elesa's star Pokémon – in more ways than one.

He couldn't force Axle to stay out and fight that thing when the paralysis was already hampering his movement. "Axle, return for now," he commanded, drawing the dragon back into his capsule. He didn't complain, although whether that was because he didn't mind or he simply couldn't because of the paralysis, Ryan couldn't tell.

So who should he send out to fight next? There was nobody else on his team who could stand up to electric-type attacks. Perhaps there was a way to use Elesa's switching technique against her. In which case, that was probably the first priority.

"Smith!"

The Trubbish gazed up in awe at the zebra after he landed, offering a small wave. The Zebstrika snorted and turned her head away, nostrils flaring. At the response, Smith looked slightly dejected.

"Now, Thundra, beauty isn't only skin deep!" Elesa said with a quiet laugh. "But it's also not the most important thing in battle. Volt switch!"

Thundra looked relieved to be able to get out of there, preparing to send out the spark of electricity and vanish back to the safety – and hygiene – of her Poké ball. Still, there was something they could do.

"Quickly, Smith, before she leaves! Toxic spikes!"

"Huh? Oh!" At the command Smith quickly spat out a spray of purple-coloured barbs, scattering them around the far side of the arena. Before he could create any more, however, he was hit by the Zebstrika's attack, pushed over backwards by the force of the electricity. "I'm okay… I think…"

Gavin was drawn out of his capsule once more, ready to fight. Yet as he landed on the ground, some of the barbs became attached to his fur, piercing through and injecting the spider with poison. He hissed and chittered as patches of his fur started to gain a purple tint.

"Oh, goodness," Elesa hummed. "That was certainly a well-thought-out move." She looked towards her Pokémon, which was suffering from the poison but still able to fight. "We'd better counter that, don't you think? Electroweb!"

She wasn't switching this time. Perhaps hoping that if Gavin stayed out for long enough then he'd pick up the rest of the barbs and Thundra wouldn't get poisoned as well. If that was the case, they could make sure that didn't happen.

Gavin raised his antennae, shooting out a net of electricity-infused web and trapping the poison-type beneath it. He tried to escape, but the sticky material clung to him, pulsing electricity through him at the same time.

Smith had to escape from the web or it'd continue to drain his energy. But they also needed to deal with the challenge that was to come next… "Toxic spikes, again!"

Wincing from the pain of a constant cycle of electricity running through his body, Smith managed to send out another wave of spikes. It didn't affect the spider at all, but it would be an effective trap for when Thundra came back out afterwards.

"Now, Gavin, let's finish this with slash!"

Smith had to escape from that web, and quickly. "Sludge bomb!"

As the spider scuttled towards him, Smith gathered as much energy as he could muster to fire a ball of sludge at the creature. The toxic materials it was made of tore through the web, causing enough of it to melt that the Trubbish could break free. Gavin hissed fiercely as he was hit by the sludge, backing away slightly as it burned against his fur, but he wasn't defeated yet. Hopping forwards, he lashed out with one leg, clawing the poison type.

Smith was thrown backwards. He tried to push himself back up, but it was clear his energy was dwindling after being hurt so bad.

"Smith, it's okay. You did really well in this battle; you can rest now," Ryan told him, returning the relieved-looking Trubbish to his Poké ball.

Gavin wasn't looking in particularly brilliant shape either. It was only a few moments after the opposing Pokémon had disappeared that he fell to the ground, his energy to battle drained by the poison.

Another rumble of excitement echoed through the crowd as both Pokémon vanished from the field. Elesa was down to her last Pokémon while Ryan still had three left – although they didn't know that he'd only willingly send two of them out to battle. He'd promised Mariana that he wouldn't make her fight against an electric-type, and he intended to keep that promise. He just had to hope that Jay and Charlotte would be capable of taking out the gym leader's final Pokémon.

Jay looked just as over-excited as ever as he appeared, hopping on the spot. "Gym battle!"

"Okay, Thundra! It's up to you to steal the show now!" Elesa called as she tossed the Poké ball into the air. Red light erupted from it and the zebra landed gracefully on the ground – although that grace was broken by the angered shriek as multiple poisoned spikes dug into her, leaving the Zebstrika badly poisoned before her battle had even begun.

The gym leader wasn't one to miss a beat. "Flame charge!"

Trying her best to overcome the poison, Thundra let out a loud snort, pawing at the ground with one hoof before speeding forwards, flames wrapping around her body. Jay didn't even get a chance to react before he was thrown backwards.

"Jay!" Ryan cried. Thundra was definitely powerful. It looked like they'd have to use that power against her. "Use payback!"

"Ah ah ah, not so fast!" Elesa grinned with a flick of her finger. "Thundra, stomp!"

The Umbreon climbed back to his paws, eyes glowing as he prepared to fight back with the added power of the damage he'd taken. Yet the zebra was still close to him, and at the command from her trainer, she reared up into the air, bringing her front hooves crashing down on the smaller creature.

"Jay, no!"

He was thrown to the ground once more, unable to carry out his own attack. Still, he managed to climb slightly unsteadily back to his paws, letting out a whine of annoyance. "That was mean…!"

"If you aren't prepared to fight then just give up!" Thundra snorted, mane crackling with electricity.

Her stubborn attitude reminded Ryan of Nate's Zebstrika, Raisin. Perhaps they were all like that…

Still, they couldn't give up now. It looked like they'd have to use the same technique they'd used to battle against the Luxray earlier. "Jay, screech!"

The fact that Jay was upset at the creature for hurting him probably helped as he threw back his head and let out a high-pitched shriek. Thundra backed away, almost thrown off-balance by the sound as her ears twisted backwards. She let out a fierce snort and a cry of her own, as if trying to block out the noise.

"Finish with spark!"

Jay's screech was cut off by a surprised wail as he was suddenly hit by the charging zebra. Thundra was so fast he hadn't even seen her move. The sudden zap of electricity stunned him as he was thrown across the arena, crashing to the ground in front of his trainer, ears and tail flopping limply.

"Jay…" For a moment Ryan was worried he'd been knocked out completely, but it wasn't long before the Umbreon opened his eyes. As he tried to get back to his paws a quiet whimper escaped him, and that was when Ryan knew he couldn't fight. "Rest for now."

"But I didn't even get to do anything…!" the dark-type complained.

"You helped, I promise. We'll win this." The assurance seemed to help, and Jay had no more complaints as he was taken back into the safety of his Poké ball.

Taking one final capsule from his pocket, Ryan held onto it for a moment as he watched the Zebstrika. There was no way he could send Mariana out to fight that thing. "Okay, Charlotte, it's up to you!"

"Oh, so no pressure then," the Mienfoo replied sarcastically as she emerged. "Bring it, stripes!"

Thundra just glared at her, letting out an aggravated snort.

"This battle is certainly starting to glow!" Elesa cheered, bringing another wave throughout the audience. That was enough to make Thundra lift her head higher; the Zebstrika certainly had an ego. "Now, use flame charge!"

"Detect!"

As the zebra raced forwards once more at an amazing speed, Charlotte's ears twitched. She hopped out of the way just as the electric-type reached her, managing to avoid getting hit by any of the flames swirling around her fur.

Yet Thundra didn't stop her gallop, turning to race around the arena instead. The flames were fading but the crowd's cheers hadn't, and the creature gave off a few sparks for show as she sped past.

Even so, Thundra's striped fur was still tainted purple in some places. If she kept running like that, the poison would wear her out faster.

That meant they were probably planning something; Ryan needed to try and finish this battle as soon as possible. "Force palm!"

Charlotte waited for the electric-type to come near to her before jumping forward, bringing energy into her right paw as she prepared to hit the zebra with it.

Yet Thundra's agility was amazing, and she jumped at the last moment, sending the attack to the ground instead as dust exploded into the arena.

"Thundra, spark!"

She drove her hooves into the ground, turning quickly to charge back the way she'd come.

"Char, look out!" Ryan cried, but there was no way she could see what was happening while trapped in the cloud of dust.

The fighting-type was hit head-on by the attack, sparks of electricity shooting through her as she was thrown against the side of the arena. The people in the crowd above leaned forward in their seats to try and see what was happening below.

Charlotte fell to the ground, trying to recover her energy. That attack had hurt her badly.

"Char, c'mon, get up! You can do it…!" Ryan tried to cheer her on, unsure whether it was working. Although the Mienfoo was tired, she struggled to try and get back to her paws, legs trembling slightly from the effort.

He couldn't force Mariana to fight such a strong electric-type. He'd have to believe in Charlotte and hope she could win this battle on her own.

"It looks like this battle might be about over," Elesa stated, a victorious yet apologetic smile on her face. "Now, Thundra! It's time to bring this show to a close; use spark one last time!"

With a victorious whinny, the zebra reared back before charging for her opponent once more.

"Char—!" Ryan didn't know what to do. Was he really going to lose this battle?

Although, Thundra was moving slower than before. The poison was starting to affect her badly. It wouldn't be long until it drained her energy completely; if Char could manage to land an attack…

"Use pound!"

Almost out of breath as she managed to stand up once more, Charlotte watched the approaching Pokémon. Letting out an angry snort, Thundra leapt forwards, mane sparking with electricity and ready to crash into the fighting-type.

Gathering as much energy as she could, Charlotte jumped towards her, swinging one paw. Yet there was something… different. Her paw was glowing in an odd colour. That's not pound…!

Thundra shrieked as the attack connected, punched hard in the shoulder and sent off-balance. Her power was drained from her in the short time the two were connected; then Thundra was sent crashing to the side of the arena.

As Charlotte landed, she looked a lot stronger than she had done a moment ago. Thundra, meanwhile, was struggling to try and get back up; finally, with a quiet whinny of defeat, her head fell to the ground. Her energy was spent, both from the poison and her power being drained from her.

There was a moment of silence in the room – then the audience exploded into cheer.

"Challenger, you certainly turned that battle around!" Elesa commented. "Thundra, you tried your best, even if you didn't quite manage to take the spotlight. Maybe you'll have better luck with the next challenger."

The Zebstrika gave another quiet snort as she was returned to her Poké ball. Although they'd defeated the zebra, they certainly hadn't defeated her pride.

"I did it!" Charlotte cheered as she ran back over to her trainer. "I don't know what on earth just happened but I did it! High five!"

As she jumped into the air, Ryan held out one hand – then drew it back the second she smacked her paw against it. "Ow—we won the battle! And Char, I think you just used drain punch…!" He almost couldn't believe it. In fact, he could barely hear himself think over the noise of the audience.

With a bright and friendly smile on her face, Elesa walked over to stand in front of him. She offered both hands; one for him to shake, the other holding a disc and a piece of metal. "Well done, challenger. I hereby present you with the Bolt Badge, proof of your victory. Take this TM too; TM72, volt switch. As you might have guessed, it's one of my favourite moves!" As he shook her hand, she added, "by the way, you never introduced yourself. What's your name?"

"Ryan. And this is Charlotte," he told her, casting a glance at the Mienfoo as he said her name.

Once he was in possession of the badge and TM, Elesa picked up the colourful cane she'd set aside and held it up to the crowd once more. "Let's hear it for the challenger Ryan and his Pokémon Charlotte!"

Another eruption of cheer ran through the crowd. "Ryan! Charlotte!"

"This must be what it feels like to be famous," Charlotte muttered, looking slightly dazed as she watched the crowd cheer for them.

Ryan might not have enjoyed being the centre of attention, but he had to admit it felt good to have so many people cheering for him. Still, he hoped the rest of the gyms wouldn't have such a crowd as this one…

"Elesa!"

The call was almost drowned out by the audience, but the gym leader must have noticed, for she glanced around at the sound of her name. The colourfully-dressed gym guide was stood by the door of the tent, an unfittingly serious expression on his face.

"John, is something wrong?" Elesa asked, walking closer so that she'd actually be able to hear what he was saying. The cheers were starting to fade now. Ryan and Charlotte watched in confusion. What was going on?

"There were screams coming from outside, so I looked and then—then this thing ran past," he explained, looking confused and slightly shaken up. "I don't think it saw me, but I haven't the foggiest what it was."

"It sounds like trouble," the gym leader decided, taking a Poké ball from her pocket – one she hadn't used in the battle – and removing her headphones, holding them out to the guide. "Look after these for a moment, would you?"

"Yes, ma'am," he nodded.

Elesa turned back to the crowd, who had stopped cheering and caught wind of the news, a few quiet worried murmurs being passed around. "Everyone, don't panic; it should be safe to remain inside the gym until I've sorted this out."

Ryan exchanged a glance with Charlotte as the gym leader vanished through the door.

"The heck was that about?" the Mienfoo questioned.

"I don't know," he shrugged. He had a bad feeling about this. "Let's find out what's going on too."


After storing the badge and TM away safely, Ryan headed out of the gym, ignoring the guide's abrupt warning that it might be dangerous. He returned Charlotte to her Poké ball so she could rest after the battle and released Mariana. She was the only one who hadn't participated, so at least she'd be capable of fighting back if anything did happen out here.

He gave her a brief explanation of what was going on as they hurried after Elesa. The gym leader hadn't gone far, still trying to look for whatever had caused the commotion. She glanced around in surprise at the sound of footsteps. "You didn't stay at the gym? It might be dangerous out here."

Ryan just shrugged. "I have my Pokémon."

Elesa gave the water-type a thoughtful glance. "I wasn't aware you had another one with you." It was more of a curious observation than an accusation.

"I promised I wouldn't make her fight against your electric-type Pokémon," he replied simply, not really knowing how good of an explanation she'd find it.

"You're a considerate trainer, I'll give you that much," she hummed. Holding up the Poké ball she'd carried with her, she pressed the button, releasing another Emolga which appeared in the air and went to land somewhat unsteadily on her shoulder. "This is Elek. His tail was permanently damaged a long time ago; I haven't used him for a gym battle since, but the little guy is still more than strong enough to deal with any funny business. I guess in that respect, it's almost a similar situation." Elesa smiled, reaching up to scratch the squirrel under the chin. He let out a happy squeak at the affection. "He makes a nice companion too."

Ryan just watched, somewhat curious. He knew there was a possibility of Pokémon getting badly injured in battle – enough so that even the Pokémon Centre's accelerated healing wouldn't be able to save them. Yet he'd never witnessed first-hand what a trainer would actually do if something like that happened. N had told him of Pokémon he'd met in the past who had been mistreated or even abandoned by people when they lost the ability to fight properly.

He could see that Elek's tail was slightly crooked, and from the messy way he'd landed it probably affected his ability to fly, but other than that he still looked healthy.

"You look surprised," Elesa continued. "It can be dangerous sometimes for a gym leader to use every one of their Pokémon in battle, especially if they lose to the challenger. Unfortunately there are bad people out there who would take advantage of a situation like that, attacking for selfish reasons when they don't have any Pokémon who can fight back." Noticing Ryan's alarmed look at her serious tone, she gave a friendly smile and added, "Things like that don't happen very often, don't worry. It's more of a safety precaution."

He breathed a small sigh of relief. "Being a gym leader sounds dangerous." If anything, he could cross that off the list of jobs he might want to have when he was older.

"Oh, there are far more dangerous careers to have, believe me. I wouldn't want to be the person who cleans the windows in this city, for one," she said, a laugh accompanying her words as she looked around at the tall buildings. "However, I do still have a job to do – and this is one of those rare times it may be dangerous. It might be safer for you to go back to the gym or the Pokémon Centre."

"But I don't—"

No sooner had he spoken than he was interrupted by a high-pitched scream. It sounded like it had come from nearby. Ryan glanced around at the buildings, trying to see what had caused it. Mariana's ears twitched alarmingly as she clung to his leg, fighting the need to hide behind him.

A moment later something appeared at the end of the road. A strange-looking creature; it had six legs and scuttled along almost like the Galvantula they'd seen earlier and was probably around the same size. Yet its body shone in the sunlight, made of some kind of metal, and it didn't look anything like a spider. There was a small turret at the centre of its body, with something on top that looked a bit like a camera. It had a couple of spikes sticking out of its sides as well.

"What is that thing?" Elesa murmured, sounding more like she was asking herself than him. Elek gave a quiet grumble, a few sparks of electricity forming from his cheeks.

As she spoke, the creature turned towards them. What had looked like a camera before seemed to be watching them, and as it locked on the eye started to glow red.

It's like the things we saw in the Dreamyard and the forest…

The thing then started to scurry towards them. Its' legs looked sharp near the ends, and they almost dug into the concrete as it scuttled forwards. The eye was flashing red now.

"It doesn't look friendly," Elesa observed, taking a step forward and holding out her arm so that Elek could run along it. "Electro ball!"

The Emolga ran forwards, jumping into the air once he reached her hand and quickly forming an orb of electricity in front of him. He fired it at the creature, pushed backwards by the force and falling back to land in his trainers' arms once more. Electricity crackled in the air as the ball flew towards the oncoming threat, and it wasn't long before the attack hit its mark.

As soon as the electricity hit it the creature stopped moving, jolting slightly from the surge of energy and the red light vanishing. Ryan breathed a sigh of relief. It looked like it had been defeated.

"I guess that's crisis averted," Elesa said with a smile, looking down at the young trainer. "No wonder there was such a commotion out here."

Ryan just nodded, unsure whether he should actually mention the fact that he'd seen things like that before or not. Yet he was distracted by an odd buzzing sound.

The creature was still standing. The electricity Elek had fired at it before was now gathering around the spikes, and they were starting to glow brightly.

"What—" the gym leader abruptly changed her sentence, holding out an arm almost as if to shield him. "Get back!"

Ryan stepped back – and almost tripped over Mariana in the process. What was Elesa going to do? The thing was about to send the attack back at them, and there was nowhere for shelter out here in the middle of the road!

Everything seemed to happen all at once. The odd creature fired the electricity, sending it through the air with an ear-splitting crack. A shadow flashed past. The earth trembled.

A large Pokémon appeared in front of them with an angry snarl, taking the force of the electricity but not affected by it at all as the sparks simply snaked through its scales to the ground. Lips drawing back in a snarl and showing off rows of sharp teeth, it charged forward and lashed out with a fin-like claw, sending the odd creature flying into the side of a nearby building. It gave off another few sparks, but not as an attack this time; it crumpled to the ground, broken.

Ryan just stared up at the Pokémon in somewhat shock after everything that had just happened. It returned the glance, a somewhat curious look in its eyes, and seemed pleased that they were unharmed.

Still, this was a dragon he'd never seen in real life before. Is that… a Garchomp?

The clacking sound of heels somewhere behind them caught his attention, and all five of them looked back; at the sight of another person, presumably someone she knew, Elesa smiled. "That was certainly good timing."

As they walked over, the stranger flashed a smile of her own, pausing to brush the fringe out of her face. "I suppose it's a good thing I decided to stay in Unova for a few more weeks, huh?"