Hey guys, I'm back once again with the longest chapter yet. Sorry about the long wait on this one, I've had another story on the back burner so I could give myself a break and figure things out for this one. Of y'all ain't already read it, y'all can read the first four chapter's of my new story 'Umbra Aeternam'. If y'all could check it out, then I'd really appreciate it. Now I'll let y'all read and stop having to listen to my yammering.

"Please, put me back in my ball" I groaned as I stumbled along beside my trainer. Caleb patted my head apologetically and popped another Pokéblock, which counted as my breakfast, in my mouth.

"Sorry bud, but we gotta get you to wake up for the battle today." I sighed and leaned heavily on him while I struggled to keep my eyes open. Despite going to sleep a little earlier than everyone else, I still couldn't get enough of it. I've rarely had that problem, but when I did, it truly was a problem.

"Whatever...how much farther?" I asked after releasing a yawn and rubbing my eyes with a paw. He answered me by pointing to a large tree in the distance.

"Another tree...yay" I sarcastically stated and held a paw up in mock celebration. I wished I could have been like the rest of our group, able to actually sleep in instead of getting up at the crack of dawn to go and fight plants, as I had eventually discovered. Turns out that the old man I had met under the giving tree was actually the gym leader. I was surprised at first, but eventually realized that it made sense. The man looked like a gardener, and he ran a grass type gym, the two kind of went together quite well.

"The entire tree is considered to be the gym, but the battlefield will be at the very top, so its gonna be a bit of a climb" he said, making me groan and try and snatch my ball from his belt. He anticipated the move though and quickly grabbed it so I couldn't come in contact with it. I retaliated by giving him the puppy dog eyes, to which he just raised a brow with a smirk plastered on his face. "Nice try bud, but you know that doesn't work on me."

I sighed and resigned myself to my fate, following close behind him as we made our way up the tree. I stumbled a few times during the climb, courtesy of my half awake state, but otherwise made it up relatively easily. Of course Caleb, who wasn't use to climbing as much as I, had to stop and catch his breath a few times during the trip up. All in all, we had reached the top in about maybe...half an hour, give or take.

Thankfully I had woken up a little during the climb, so I was more or less ready for a battle, while Caleb struggled to climb that last ledge.

'Should I have carried you?' I taunted with a smirk while reaching a paw down to him. He just punched my shoulder after I had helped him up, making me laugh as his attempt to hurt me only made him hurt himself.

"Oww, dang that hurt!" he yelped and held his bruised knuckles while I just kept laughing at him.

'You should know, never punch a Steel type, it won't end well for you.' He just glared at me before walking on ahead, leaving me to follow behind him while I was adamantly ignored. I shrugged at his behavior and kept my 'mouth' shut, trying tot to irritate him further, no matter how much I wanted to.

"Well hello there, how can I help you young one's today?" I heard a familiar voice ask from out of no where, instantly breaking the tension between me and my trainer. We both looked behind us to see Ramos, the gym leader, standing there with a wide smile of his face.

"Oh, hello there Mr. Ramos, my names Caleb, and I was wondering if I could have a gym battle with you today" Caleb said, getting straight to the point. Ramos nodded to him before turning his attention to me with a concentrated look on his face.

"Say, you look mighty familiar, aren't you that Lucario I met yesterday, under the old giving tree?" he asked, to which I nodded. He smiled again and walked towards the both of us. "Well, it's a mighty fine pleasure to meet you again, as well as your trainer."

"Wait, you two met before?" Me and Ramos nodded and before looking at each other, a smile adorning both our faces.

"Indeed we have, and I gotta say that he's probably the most polite Pokémon I've ever had the pleasure to meet." I bowed to him in thanks, receiving a gentle pat on the head from both my trainer and the gym leader. "See what I mean."

"Yeah, that's Aaron for ya, I swear, it like he's more human than Lucario sometimes." He really had no idea just how on the ball he was with that statement. It even got a little chuckle out of me, seeing him so close but extremely clueless.

"Indeed, and since you raised him to be so polite to his elders, I thought you and I could have a battle right away." Caleb's eyes lit up matter hearing this.

"Really? Oh thank you Mr. Ramos." Was it hard to get a gym battle from him or something, sheesh. "But I have to tell you, I didn't raise him to be like that, he's just naturally polite."

"That's even better, now let's not keep him waiting, I know how fighting types can be."

'Don't be stereotyping me' I mentally growled, purely as a poor joke to myself. He was actually right on the money about how I was feeling right now, and that was excited. I hadn't had a real battle in far too long, so I was raring to go.

"Yes sir" Caleb responded and stepped back to his side of the field. "Now are you ready for me?"

"Now, now, don't be getting overconfident" Ramos chuckled and pulled a ball from his belt. "Alright, Jumpluff, come on out!"

"Kaen, I choose you!" my eyes shot open wide and I very nearly punched the human as hard as I could. Instead I sat there stunned, seeing my little now three tailed fox standing on the battlefield.

'Caleb, you have exactly three seconds to recall her before I punch the ever loving shit out of you' I growled in his mind, looking up at my trainer with a snarl and my hackles raised.

"Wait Aaron, just hear me out." Caleb begged and tried his best to sooth my anger. I stayed silent and listened to him, despite wanting to seriously hurt him right now, but kept my threatening posture.

"I know you care about her, and I know you don't want to see her get hurt, but how will she learn to battle if you never let her try?"

'I never said I didn't want her to battle, but there is no freaking way her first battle will be a gym battle.' After I said this, Caleb gave me a nervous smile, making me eye him suspiciously. 'Caleb...is there something your not telling me?'

"Yeah...this, kind of isn't her first battle" Caleb said with a nervous chuckle. My eye twitched as I was now slowly reaching out towards him. I grabbed a hold of his shirt collar and brought him down to my eye level.

'Caleb, I know you are my trainer, but if you ever disobey me when it comes to my baby girl, I will cut off your hands, and bitch slap you with them all the way to the freaking Pokémon League.' I promised to get him to the League, never specified what condition he had to be in. He now looked thoroughly terrified of me so I backed off, releasing his collar and stepping away from him while still glaring at him. 'I will allow it this time, I forgot that once a Pokémon is on the field that its automatically considered in the bloody queue, but when this battle is over, I want to talk to you privately.'

"...Alright...I'm sorry Aaron." He apologized, to which I just waved off.

'Whatever.'

"Alright, ya ready whippersnapper?" Ramos questioned. Caleb nodded and looked to Kaen with a confident smile.

'Good luck sweetheart, and remember, no matter the outcome, I'll be proud of you' I smiled and nodded to her, feeling her confidence resonating in her aura.

"I'll try my hardest daddy, now let's do this, I'm ready to show you what I can do" she said excitedly, earning a chuckle from me.

I watched Ramos nod to one of his gardeners and he ran up to the referee box after sharing a few words with the gym leader.

"ALRIGHT, THE GYM BATTLE BETWEEN RAMOS, THE COUMARINE CITY GYM LEADER, AND CALEB, THE CHALLENGER, SHALL NOW COMMENCE...READY, BATTLE BEGIN!"

"Alright Kaen, let's start this off with a Flamethrower!" Caleb commanded, to which Kaen responded by rearing her head back and throwing the pillar of fire at the cotton weed Pokémon.

"Dodge it and use Cotton Guard!" Ramos called, prompting the Jumpluff to deftly leap away from the attack before surrounding itself with more of its cottony spores, sharply raising its defense.

'Caleb, its attack power is pitiful, it's a Pokémon he uses purely to wear you out and piss you off' I told him, recalling a little information about Ramos' Pokémon. He nodded and ordered another Flamethrower, only form that to be dodged all the same.

"Get in close with Quick Attack!" The Vulpix nodded before leaping from her spot, sprinting at the Jumpluff full speed.

"Keep it back with Razor Leaf!" The opponent followed the command, calling down leaves from all around it and flinging them at the speeding Vulpix.

"Quick, Flamethrower again!" the attacks collided and created a cover for Kaen as she closed in and delivered a strong headbutt on her opponent.

'That a girl' I smiled and watched her repeat her attack, somehow seeing her way through the cloud of dust, despite never having battled in it...at least to my knowledge.

"Float up and use Sunny Day!" As soon as he ordered this, it felt like I suddenly found myself in a sauna, having to pant to cool down in the intense heat from the sun. Caleb didn't seem to mind the in the least though, in fact he looked downright giddy. He knew the move could double Kaen's power, but he was probably forgetting one thing.

"Use Fire Fang." That mouth full of scalding flames did look a lot more dangerous than usual, but it wouldn't mean anything if he couldn't hit it, which he was no where near doing. The Jumpluff was now moving at a speed that rivaled a freight train.

'Its faster than before, meaning that it must have the special ability Chlorophyll, which doubles its speed in intense sunlight.'

"Well that's just dandy" he growled and watched the Pokemon's movements carefully as he let Kaen attack in any way she wanted. I did the same and, in no time at all, saw that there was a pattern. Each time it dodged a certain attack, it moved in a certain way, instantly making it quite an easy target even with it's increased speed.

"Now Flamethrower, but spread it out!" Now my baby girls a fire sprinkler, dotting the field with red hot flames. The Jumpluff had no way to dodge it when it was literally everywhere, so in the end, it got clipped by an Ember before bursting into flames, that Cotton Guard just making it that much more flammable. Next thing we know, that thing was crashing down in a blaze of pure and glorious fire, enough to make a grown man cry.

"Jumpluff!" Ramos yelled and watched as the flames quickly died out on his Pokémon, all the cotton now burnt off, before returning it to its Pokéball.

"I did it, I won daddy!" Kaen cried and leapt into my arms from out of nowhere. I caught her easily and congratulated her in her victory, giving her an affectionate nuzzle.

"I'm so proud of you sweetheart, you fought well, and listened to your trainer. I'm glad your doing things right." I set the happy little kit down before returning my eyes to the field, seeing a Weepinbell now sitting on the field, waiting for us patiently. I must not have heard it popping out in my distraction, so I gave it an apologetic look before nudging my trainer.

'Let me take over' I said and put Kaen in my place.

"Wait, why?" he questioned.

'I'm part steel, and most Weepinbell know at least one poison type move. My typing makes me immune to that type of attack' I explained. Caleb gave me that 'oh right' face before nodding and returning Kaen to her Pokéball.

"Oh, sending Aaron out already are we? Well there's one strategy out the door" Ramos chuckled and gave me a kind smile. I smiled back and bowed to the man before taking my stance, eagerly awaiting my trainers orders.

"Alright buddy, use Extreme Speed!" I was right in their faces before he even finished that sentence. Weepinbell looked up at me in absolute shock and terror before I punched it right into the ground, imbedding it in the dirt.

"What the!" Both Ramos and Caleb exclaimed, amazed the sheer speed of my attack.

"That's what happens when you don't let a fighting type battle for over a week" I shouted and leapt away from my opponent and back in front of Caleb. 'Now let's do this!'

"Right, use Force Palm while its down!" I did just that, powering up the energy and rearing my arm back as I drew close, only to fall flat on my muzzle. I rolled out of the way of a Razor Leaf and backpedaled away so I could assess the situation.

'Tripped me with a Grass Knot' I said internally as I eyed the small roots rising from the dirt, making the natural tripping arch. That means speed is out the window, especially since there was no way I could get as fast as I did the first time. That was just an attack to release the energy I've been building up, which probably would have been better saved for a different attack, but it was too later to go back now.

"Razor Leaf!" My eyes instantly shot up and I formed a Bone Rush in my paws, twirling it around in front of me to block the many leaves that sped towards me. A few got through, leaving small cuts on my skin, but otherwise leaving me unharmed.

"Extreme Speed!" I nodded and sprinted towards my opponent as fast I possibly could.

"Grass Knot!"

"Not this time!" I shouted and formed a Bone Rush, using it as a pole vault as I flew into the air and dropped onto the Weepinbell with a downwards Blaze Kick. The hit connected, causing a huge amount of damage, but when I tried to move back after hitting it, I simply couldn't. The thing had grabbed my leg with one of its leaf hands and somehow leapt high into the air, still holding my leg, and flinging me to the ground with a Slam attack. The impact hurt like hell, but I recovered quickly and rolled back onto my feet.

"Aaron, you okay?" I heard Caleb ask and I looked back at him with a nod before turning back to my opponent with a glare.

'I'm fine, now give me another order before I go off on my own.' The look he gave me was one of determined amusement as he gave me a thumb's up.

"Extreme Speed!" Again I turned into a blur as I sped towards my opponent, copying my actions from before as I used a Bone Rush to avoid the Grass Knot, only to be knocked from the air by a Razor Leaf, which hit me full force since I had no way to dodge it. I landed on my feet before falling to a knee, pulling a razor sharp leaf that had embedded itself right in my abdomen. I growled and charged towards the flycatcher Pokémon with a Force Palm. Lucky for me, the Pokémon had landed mere inches from where I had stood, probably expecting me to be stunned from the attack. Instead, it found itself flying back from a hard hit between its eyes with me following close behind it. Despite losing most of its power, my close combat skills still pack quite a punch, literally. Couple that with the occasional Blaze Kick, and that plant went down in no time. Then, with one last Blaze Kick, the thing flew back, not getting back up again.

"Weepinbell, return" Ramos said and returned the Pokémon to its Pokéball after seeing it was not going to get up anytime soon. He congratulated it on a hard fought battle before giving me and Caleb another one of his prize winning smiles. "Very impressive indeed, you beat two of my Pokémon without really breaking much of a sweat. I see that you and your Pokémon share a strong bond from how well you communicate and follow through with your orders. But let's see how well you do against my last Pokémon. Gogoat, come on out."

Now I was staring right at the same Pokémon that I had seen Ramos riding the day before. Our eyes locked and I knelt down to bow to the older Pokémon before walking back to my trainer after he recalled me.

"Great job Aaron, but I think it's time for Lilly to take over" he said with a pat to my head before tossing a ball into the air, releasing the fiery Braixen, pun not intended.

"My turn" she smirked and twirled her blazing branch around and pointing the flame towards the mount Pokémon. The Gogoat smiled and looked back at its trainer confidently.

"This is going to be fun, don't you think?" Ramos asked, smiling back at his partner. Gogoat nodded and turned back to the fox Pokémon before finally starting off the battle. "Now if you don't mind, I think will make the first move. Gogoat, use Razor Leaf!"

"Flamethrower!" Caleb ordered back and made Lilly counter the storm of leaves with her flames.

"Now use Quick Attack!"

"Grass Knot!" I pretty much already knew that strategy flew out the window as I watched the fox fall flat on her face like I did after being tripped up by the root. Caleb growled in frustration along with Lilly as they both glared at the root before launching a Psyshock in retaliation. Her opponent easily dodged and sent another Razor Leaf her way, but instead of aiming for her, it was aiming for the ground right in front of her. This resulted in a lot of dirt getting kicked up and blinding her with a makeshift Sand Attack.

She was left open to the next attack as, in her blinded state, she was unable to see the vine wrap around her abdomen and toss her into the air effortlessly and bring her back to the ground very hard. I cringed at the sight of my mate being hurt, but I wasn't worried. She wouldn't be brought down so easily and proved it by shooting out of the cloud and hitting the enemy with a Quick Attack and a Fire Blast at point blank range. The dealt an enormous amount of damage seeing as the attack was one of the most powerful fire type moves out there and its typing doubled the damage.

'How is that thing still standing?' I thought while watching the thing struggle for a minute before rising back to its hooves. I have to give it props for its resilience, able to actually keep battling after taking that much damage at once.

"Quick Gogoat, use Leech Seed" Ramos ordered, making Gogoat launch out several seeds around the fire type that instantly sprouted and spread all over her before she had time to react. The plants started to glow a soft green light as Lilly grunted, feeling her energy being sapped away.

"Oh no you don't, Lilly, use Flamethrower on yourself!" She did just that, twirling her stick around before directing the tip at herself, unleashing a torrent of flames that turned the roots to ashes. "Now use Psyshock!"

"Dodge it!" dodge it, he did not. The damage he had already taken he weakened his resolve, thus decreasing his speed. This meant that it couldn't move as effectively as before, making it an easy target for the powerful psychic type move.

"Gogoat!" Ramos yelled again after his beloved Pokémon was hit once again. His worry seemed to be misplaced though since the Pokémon still got back up.

'Things built like a freaking tank' I thought as I watched it fire another barrage of leaves at the fire type. The attack still hit her pretty hard and did a good amount of damage, despite her type advantage. The simple fact that she cringed in pain was a good enough testament to its strength, but sometimes strength doesn't cut it. This fact was proven when Ramos' last Pokémon finally fell after taking another Fire Blast and Flamethrower, the grass type unable to outlast the onslaught of fire.

"Awesome job Lilly!" Caleb shouted after finally coming down from his state of shock after beating the gym leader in a perfect match. This has never happened before and the simple fact that he beat one of the gym leaders, some of the best trainers around, without losing a single battle was quite an accomplishment.

"Indeed, you did wonderful dear." I smiled and opened my arms wide, accepting the hug she had offered me. She smiled back and gave me a light peck on the lips before turning her attention to Ramos, who had walked over in front of Caleb, offering him a handshake.

"That was a superb battle friend. You beat me and made it look easy, I knew you must have been a strong trainer, but you done blown my expectations out of the water" Ramos said while shaking my trainers hand.

"Well, I can't take all of the credit here, my Pokémon do most of the work, I'm just here for support." Caleb replied while rubbing the back of his head.

'Don't belittle your importance Caleb. Without you, we would be totally lost out there' I told him after wrapping an arm around his waist and nuzzling him affectionately.

"Seems your Pokémon think otherwise, or at least Aaron does. A trainers role is very important to a Pokémon during battle. Without a trainer leading them in tht right direction, they'd just be running around all willy-nilly. Trainers are support and superiors to their team. Now this doesn't mean that you should treat your Pokémon like they don't matter, they are just as important as you and I. What I mean is, the trainer must lead and teach the Pokémon and the Pokémon must rely on their trainer for that guidance, always remember that'" Ramos said with his saintly wisdom that is only achieved through age and experience.

"Right, thank you Mr. Ramos" Caleb said and bowed to the man, me doing the same.

"Its not a problem, now to commemorate your flawless victory against the Coumarine City gym, I'd like to present you with this Plant badge" he said and pulled out one of the small metal badges from his overall pockets, handing it over to Caleb. He happily accepted it and held it up for us to see the small, leaf shaped object that proved we had beaten the gym.

"Sweet, that means were halfway there you guys. Four more and we'll finally get to challenge the Pokémon League." Caleb looked absolutely ecstatic from this fact and even picked up me and Lilly in a big hug, suddenly gaining a large boost in his strength.

"Ow, ow, ow!" he cried and dropped both of us, holding on to his side like it was in extreme pain. I gave him a deadpanned expression and pointed to my chest spike, wordlessly telling him to pay more attention next time. "Right...well let's go on and get out of here, I want to celebrate."

'Music to my ears' I said in agreement before following Caleb out the door after bowing to Ramos once again. I noticed Caleb's mood instantly drop when he realized that he had to climb down all over again. Oh wait, never mind, there's an elevator down...REALLY!

I couldn't help but growl at the sight of the elevator. Wouldn't that have been better located on the bottom instead of making us climb all the way up here.

"Relax bud, don't let it bother you" Caleb said and placed a hand on my head, scratching behind my ears to calm me. This, coupled with the feeling of Lilly's fuzzy body hugging onto mine, appeased my annoyance and helped me relax. Then I remembered other ways to relax and have a good time celebrating.

'Caleb, how old are you?" I asked, already forming a plan for tonight.

"Seventeen" he answered, eyeing my curiously.

'What's the legal drinking age in Kalos?'

"Sixteen." I smiled after hearing this and looked between my trainer and Lilly, then looked forward with a large grin.

'Tonight is going to be soooo, much fun."

Remember to click that fave button or send me those reviews.

By the way, sorry if I sound like I'm repeat myself in battle scenes, I never was good at writing them.

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