Silver eventually emerged out of the ice path tunnel and onto dry stable land and open sky again. It didn't take him long to realise that, not only had his friends abandoned him, but that Blackthorn City was also much closer then they'd originally thought. It was practically outside of the ice path, only half a kilometre south away from it in fact, at least within five minutes walking distance.
"Oh." He muttered, feeling a little abandoned. "Well, they could have at least waited for me." He muttered as he followed after the path his friends had taken, towards the city.
Blackthorn City looked exactly like they'd imagined. The best description of it would be: picture an old western town, except the buildings are made of a dark grey and red brick and the ground isn't sand but dry earth and dust, and it isn't anywhere near as hot. It also isn't in the 18th century. That is Blackthorn City. Most houses seemed to be spread apart, like a weird pattern on the earth's shell that could only be seen from above. To the furthest north part was the gym, and behind that a giant lake of water that spread out vastly into the mountainside. Silver however didn't take much time admiring the place. He knew where his friends would have gone first, where they always went first. He headed to the pokémon centre, which thankfully was rather close by.
When he entered in he found his friends being waited on by the counter nurse, Winter and Ralph standing to the side while Joe was having his head examined. A fitting experiment considering some of the actions he had taken today. Unfortunately the nurse wasn't checking him mental health. Only his physical.
"You don't feel lightheaded?" The nurse asked.
"No." Joe said with an air of uncaring annoyance.
"No dizziness or nausea?"
"No."
"No itching or serious bleeding."
"Nothing close."
The nurse backed away again, having made a thorough examination of his head wound. "Well it doesn't look infected." She took note. "How hard did you hit yourself?"
"Hard enough to be knocked out." Joe told her. Part of him thought that maybe it wasn't the rock that had done that bit. Considering the convenience of his eavesdropping into a legendary's conversation, it was quite possible that Meian had wanted him to hear it. That he had somehow induced unconsciousness into him. Joe shivered a little. A thought like that would make him paranoid… or at least more paranoid. The nurse put her hands to her hips in thought.
"How long was he out for?" She asked, turning to Winter now.
"I while." The girl told him. "I'm not sure for how long."
"An hour at least." Silver spoke up for her. She, Joe and Ralph turned to notice he had entered.
"You finally caught up to us then." Joe said, seeming a little entertained. Silver smiled cheekily back.
"You didn't exactly give me a chance to rest." He replied. Joe chuckled a little. "They won't be coming after us any time soon."
"Good." Joe winced suddenly, his head finally realising the pain he was in and his hand reaching to cover the cut on his head. The nurse turned back to him.
"It's going to take a few days to heal up." She told him. "A week at most. Till then you're going to need to wear a bandage."
"A bandage." Joe groaned.
"Yes." The nurse told him strictly. "It in order to keep out infecting. If you get one of them, then you'll need someone better than me to take care of you, and you'll most likely be stuck in a hospital bed for over a month!"
"Give me the bandage." Joe said quickly, the thought of the latter option quickly becoming much more dislikeable. Winter chuckled a little. The nurse had already pulled out a long roll of bandage wrap from her pockets, along with a pair of scissor and a needle and thread.
"Just hold still." She told him, lifting his fringe up to wrap the bandage across his forehead.
"Now you look like a veteran." Silver said mockingly as the nurse finished up. Joe gave him a grumpy scowl.
"It's not funny." He moaned.
"I think it's hilarious." Silver muttered, holding his knuckled to his teeth for fear he'd need to bite them to stop him laughing.
"At least you're not going to get sick." Winter reminded him.
"But we're wasting time." Joe replied. "We need to get moving again. We need to get straight out and take on the gym, before Team Rocket show up again."
"They've already shown up again." Silver reminded him. "That's who we were fighting in Ice Path, remember."
Joe glared at him. "You know what I mean." He scolded him. "Archer's after us because we're in his way. We need to get stronger to defeat him… I need to get stronger."
"Joe, you can't keep pushing yourself." Winter warned him. "You'll crack. You need a chance to rest." Joe stood up and pushed the nurse aside.
"I can't, Winter." He told her simply. "I need to fight the eight gym leader. I need to be ready to face him."
"But Joe." She tried to say. Joe was having none of it. He refused to listen. He simply started walking to the doorway, Ralph following beside him.
"You two can either come along or move out of the way. Either way, you aren't changing my mind." Winter and Silver didn't know how to convince him to stop. But this didn't stop the nurse trying.
"Hang on, you can't go out and fight gym leaders in your condition." She shouted at him as he walked away. "Your bandage will get ruined. You'll get sick. You need to rest, young man!"
"And what about your pokémon?" Silver called after him. "What about them. They need to rest too." Joe stopped, mid step. He didn't turn back, but it was clear he was thinking about it. Ralph looked at his trainer, worried for him and confused by what he was doing. Joe stood there for a few seconds, before responding.
"Resting up, even for a minute, is wasting precious time that we desperately need." He told them. "I love my pokémon. I want them to be safe. But if the rockets are after us, then they won't ever be. Resting now, giving them a chance to catch up, will leave them in more danger then pushing them further ever will."
"Joe, that's stupid!" Winter snapped at him.
"Do you have a better plan?" He asked her calmly, finally turning to face his friends. "Because if you do I'd love to hear it." Winter just stared at him. She couldn't respond. She didn't know how to. Joe held his head a little. "I'm sorry." He told her quietly. "Just please… let me do this. Once it's over, then I'll rest for a bit." Winter sighed.
"Okay." She muttered. She gave Joe a small smile, and he smiled back, but she felt in her heart that he was still making the wrong choice. "Just be careful today." She told him. "This is the eight gym leader. Whoever it is in that building won't be easy to fight." Joe nodded back to her respectfully.
"I know." He said.
Joe stormed through the glass doors to the pokémon gym, his whole stance and walk showing that he was already prepared for a fight. He entered alone. Winter and Silver didn't follow him. They wanted to rest. So this last battle was his alone. There would be no one there to encourage him on, no one to watch him succeed, or fail. He was alone, except for his pokémon, his closest friends Ralph, and his conscience. When he walked in he was surprised to find the stadium surrounded by a moat of boiling fire and lava. His initial though had been that this was a rather dangerous thing to have in a pokémon gym, but that thought didn't stay in his head long. He waked straight up to the podium and stood there, glaring at the gym leader who had watched him stroll in. She was not smiling. In fact she looked rather stern and cold, colder then Pryce had been, even when she was surrounded by several gallons of molten fire. She watched the trainer with piercing, watching eyes. Her black cape hung at her side, cutting of at her waist, her long blue hair flailing on top of it in one long ponytails. Her gloved hands hung by her side, scrapping her bare legs as the short jumpsuit she wore barely hardly passed her thighs. Her clothes were blue, both bright and dark shades, and around her thin neck was a choker with a single blue opal jewel. She looked royal and magnificent, but not in a beautiful way but fierce. She looked like she would happily destroy anyone who so much as looked at her wrong with a simple flick of her hand. She watched as Joe walked up to his podium, but restrained from speaking till he'd reached it and several seconds more had passed by.
"What do you want?" She asked simply. Joe blinked.
"I am here to challenge you." He told her simply. The gym leader also blinked.
"You want to challenge me?" She asked, sounding surprised.
"You are the gym leader, right?" Joe asked sarcastically. "Or have I got the wrong building?" The gym leader smiled.
"No, you are in the right place." She told him. "I am Clair, of Blackthorn City, and I am the gym leader here." She put her hands to her hips. My confused tone comes from looking at you. You want to challenge me?" She asked.
"Yes." Joe told her.
"Are you serious?" She asked, sounding slightly catty.
"What part of yes are you not understanding?" Joe asked, a lot less sarcastically now. "I wish to challenge you to a pokémon match in order to obtain your gym badge, the eighth one I need to reach the Johto Pokémon League. Do you understand now?" Clair continued to look at him, her expression not changing in the slightest.
"I think you're missing my point." She told him straight. "You are just a trainer. You don't even look like much at all. Why should I grant you the honour of battling me?" She asked.
"Because…" Joe told her.
"Don't bother coming up with some excuse." She interrupted immediately. "I certainly don't want to hear it." Joe looked furious.
"You're the gym leader." He stated angrily. "It's your job to battle challenging trainers. What would you be if you were to deny one?"
"A smart gym leader who only wants to battle very strong trainers." Clair told him.
"I took on Team Rocket!" Joe stated, in a desperate attempt to impress her.
"So have many other trainers in this region." Clair replied. "And most of them failed."
"I travelled all across Kanto!" Joe continued.
Clair yawned. "Boring. So you did a little walking. So what?"
"I battled the Kanto elite four!"
"I've got better things to be doing right now."
"I became champion!"
Clair paused in mid turn. She glanced back. "Go on." She said, seeming suddenly intrigued. Joe suddenly realised he was going to struggle explaining the rest of this part.
"Technically I became champion." He continued. "But I passed it on to a close friend, who I'd had to battle to earn the title from. He had also been champion only a minute. I won the match, but I let him stay champion, because he wanted it and I didn't." He looked at the gym leader. "Does that make you want to fight me?" He asked.
Clair looked him over. Her uninterested stare turning into a small pleased smile. "Alright." She said. "You've convinced me. Anyone who can earn the title of champion but also refuse to take it must be worth my time." She turned around again, facing him fully. "What is your name then?" She asked.
"Joe." Joe told her. "Joe Glende."
"Well, Joe…" Clair tod him. "I, Clair, the gym leader of Blackthorn City, accept your challenge!"
There was no transition between the preparation for the battle and the start of the battle itself. All that happened in between was the score board lowered down from the ceiling, hanging over the lava moat around the battlefield. Clair reached for a pokeball, as did Joe. He had decided not to go with Ralph first. This was to give him a bit more time, but also so Joe could figure out what pokémon she had and what matchup was best for his strongest team member. Clair pulled the ball back in her arm and threw it.
"Go Gyarados!" She called. The ball exploded open and released a massive blue form onto the dry field. Gyarados lay flat out on the hot floor, its head reared up. It roared fiercely, showing its dominance. Joe unclipped his pokeball of choice, pulled his arm back and released it.
"Go, Pippy!" He commanded. His pokeball landed on his side of the field and out of it popped his tiny pikachu. Pippy sparked and prepared to fight. He had battled against Gyarados before, but Clair's one seemed especially fierce and intimidating. It seemed to be slightly wild, even though it had done very little so far. Pippy couldn't help but shiver a little as he saw his opponent. Clair grinned. She thrust a hand forwards.
"Hyper Beam!" She cried. Immediately the full strength of Gyarados was unleashed onto the field.
"Dodge!" Joe cried. Pippy dived aside as a massive beam of light fired from Gyarados's gaping mouth and struck the ground right where Pippy had been standing. The small mouse rolled onto his front as he landed on his side and readied to attack himself. "Thunderbolt!" Joe called. Pippy sparked and released an arrow of static.
"Evade!" Clair demanded. Gyarados twisted and curved around, flexing its body into a C shape as the bolt reached its target. The attack flew straight past the giant serpent, striking a far wall and neutralising instantly. Joe growled. Her pokémon was quick, quick enough to avoid a thunderbolt. He'd have to play this a bit smarter and a lot quicker. Clair grinned proudly. "Now, use bite!" She commanded. Gyarados reared up and dived, aiming jaws wide at Pippy, planning to swallow him whole.
"Look out!" Joe yelled, having no idea what to do. Pippy saw it coming and jumped aside, only just avoiding the attack. Gyarados's face struck the ground, digging up the plastic and brick layer that laced its surface. It closed its mouth and chomped the few bricks in it up, causing concrete dust to fall away from its thin lips. The beast reared up again, getting ready to fight further. Pippy was already back to his feet, getting ready to attack once more. "Thunderbolt!" Joe called. Pippy charged static quickly then fired again. This time it struck its target. Gyarados recoiled with pain and surprise. It recovered quickly however and glared down on Pippy, small evil eyes squinted into slits.
"Dragon breath!" Clair commanded. Gyarados pulled its head to inhale and exhaled blue flames. Pippy darted aside, zigzagging to avoid the spitting hot flames. Gyarados kept its attention focused completely on him. It didn't even blink once, its blue flames lapping out of its mouth like water from a fire hydrant. Pippy was starting to get tired already. Dodging so much flame was tough to do, and Gyarados seemed to have a lot of it. So far Pippy had been lucky, but his luck did eventually run out. One small ember managed to singe his side, which did enough damage to cripple him for a second. Pippy collapsed onto his front, his right shoulder singed a little and going black with ash. He winced and tried to sooth it with cold air. Gyarados's attack had stopped for now, but Clair looked about ready to force on it another hyper beam.
"Hydro Pump!" She commanded. Gyarados took a few seconds to gather water, a blue light appearing in its gaping mouth and small droplets of water falling from its jaw. Joe had a short opening of time to act in.
"Pippy, use double team, quick!" He instructed fast. Pippy split himself into many multiple pikachu's. They stood in a line and, one by one, stuck their tongue out at the opponent gyarados in a taunting manner. Clair growled.
"Spray it down!" She roared. Gyarados fired, launching a cannon of water from its massive mouth and striking the row of Pikachu's. One by one they all disappeared as the attack struck them. Eventually Gyarados hit one that didn't disappear. Clair glared at it. "Strike that one there!" She commanded. Gyarados lunged at the remaining pikachu, fangs bared and jaws wide. Pippy didn't move. Gyarados launched itself and struck, swallowing Pippy whole with one bite. It reared back, thinking it had just won the battle, only to realise its mouth was full of dust. It spat out again, looking very confused at where the pikachu had been. There was a small pile of dust there too. It had been tricked. That pikachu had never been real, just a copy. It glanced back at its trainer. Clair was pointing rapidly at a corner, shouting something. "Look out!" She called. Gyarados turned to its right. A thunderbolt struck it in the neck. It toppled backwards, roaring in pain from the attack. The giant water serpent struck the ground, falling flaccid and limp in a pile. It shivered a bit, before finally falling still. Clair glanced at the scoreboard. The number of her pokémon had just gone down by one. She turned back to Joe, glaring angrily. "That was a sneaky trick!" She muttered.
Joe nodded, smiling back at her. "But it worked." He reminded her. Clair withdrew Gyarados, looking pretty annoyed that Joe had already taken one of her pokémon out. She clipped its pokeball back to her belt and unclipped another one. She held it out in her hand, getting ready to keep fighting.
"Alright." She muttered. "You're stronger then you look, I'll give you that." She held the pokeball in both hands. "But that last pokémon gave you a type advantage." She reminded him. She threw the pokeball. "Let's see how you do without it." The pokeball landed and opened. "Go, Dragonair!" She called. A long snakelike dragon appeared from it, with an opal, similar to Clair's, on its forehead. It lay flat out, its head reared up but its long body and tail stretching out behind it in a line. It already seemed ready to fight.
Pippy readied to keep fighting, static sparking across his arched back. "Set up another Double Team!" Joe instructed. Pippy immediately split into multiple images of himself, each of which lined up to confuse the opponent. Clair made her own command now.
"Dragonair, use Slam!" She instructed. The thin long tailed dragon darted forwards surprisingly quickly, hardly even slithering as it moved. It was as if someone was pulling it along on a string over a slippery surface. It moved gracefully, yet also fiercely. Once it was within attacking distance it lowered its head and rushed forwards faster, striking one Pikachu image and causing it to pop out of existence. It swung its tail around a second later, striking the four closest images around it. They too vanished upon impact. The real Pippy prepared to attack from his hiding spot.
"Use slam!" Joe instructed. Pippy darted from his hiding place among the line of pikachu's and lunged, jumping body first at the long target.
"Strike it away." Clair called quickly. Dragonair swung around again, this time raising its tail up. The strong limb struck Pippy in the side as he attacked, knocking him away and sending him rolling. He got back onto his feet, feeling a little weakened but preparing to attack again. He had already taken down a gyarados today. Dragonair couldn't be too much worse.
"You okay, Pippy?" Joe asked. Pippy nodded, yapping in confirmation. Joe smiled. "Okay." He muttered, deciding on his next attack. "Use thunderbolt again!" He instructed simply. Pippy sparked and fired his attack, the bolt of electricity striking Clair's Dragonair in the reared chest. Dragonair flinched for a second, but surprisingly seemed hardly bothered by it. It hardly even noticed it'd been attacked. Joe seemed confused. "It barely even flinched." He muttered. Clair was grinning malevolently.
"That's the great thing about dragons." She told him. "They can resist a lot, and then dish it back out again!" She pointed her finger directly at Pippy. "Thunderbolt!" She roared. Dragonair formed static around its opal and fired it in a sharp jagged bolt. Pippy looked on terrified as the attack flew towards him. It struck him square in the centre of his face. His tiny body was flung backwards, rolling in a clenched ball, his tail crumpling into his back. He stopped twenty feet away from where he had been, near the edge of the battlefield itself. The lava was only a foot under him, and thankfully he hadn't been knocked any further back or he would have fallen in.
"Pippy!" Joe cried, worried for his pokémon. He had come so close to real danger. Why did Clair even have lava in her gym? It seemed like a serious hazard to health. Pippy slowly got back to his feet. He was clearly weak, but he wasn't giving up just yet. He took a step forward, but Clair wasn't waiting for him to be ready. She made another command.
"Slam again!" She called. Dragonair came sliding towards Pippy, body forwards and head lowered.
"Look Out!" Joe called. Pippy saw his opponent coming in to attack and jumped aside just as Dragonair came stampeding past. It didn't stop in time to avoid going over the edge of the battlefield. Joe watched in horror, expecting the pokémon to drop into the boiling molten rock. He was surprised when it didn't do that, but instead remained in the same level it had been, barely dropping an inch. It turned around on thin air, it's tail now hanging on the edge and looked back at Pippy, ready to keep fighting. Joe's mouth dropped open. "How… How the…?" He managed to mutter, amazed. Clair laughed at him.
"Did you seriously think I'd leave boiling lava around the field and not cover it up somehow?" She asked him. Joe looked at her, confused. "There's a class layer over the edge of the field." She explained. "The lava's just a display. There's no way anything can fall into it." Joe seemed relieved by this. At least none of his pokémon, or Clair's, were going to get burned alive in here. Joe was going to say something in relief but Clair interrupted him before he could, already making her next attack command. "Dragon breath!" She commanded. Dragonair inhaled then exhaled fire, in the same way that a fire type used flamethrower. But there was one major difference. This fire was purple-pink, with a weird glitter to it. It was also twice as hot and even more blinding.
"Pippy, move!" Joe instructed. Pippy shielded his eyes from the light and dived aside, landing on his feet and scurrying across the field, around Dragonair. The long tailed dragon followed him, breathing flames of a dragon onto the field, attempting to strike her target. Even though the flames themselves didn't manage to hit him Pippy could feel his body weakening from the heat alone. Dragonair finally stopped its attack and Pippy collapsed, wheezing exhaustedly. He wasn't out yet, but he was clearly very tired. "Pippy, come back." Joe called. Slowly Pippy pushed himself up onto his back feet and he waddled slowly, exhaustedly, back over to his trainer. Clair and her Dragonair watched as he left the battlefield, re-joining Joe's side. Joe patted his pikachu's head comfortingly. "Well done, buddy." He muttered. "You did well." Pippy looked up at him happily. "I won't withdraw you just let." Joe told him. "Let's see what else she has, and if I need you again. At least you get a rest for now, though." Pippy's happy expression fell a little. He had though he was done for now, but Joe was thinking otherwise. It wasn't his place to argue with his trainer. But if he was sent back in to fight he felt he wouldn't last very long. Joe turned back to the stadium. Clair was rubbing her Dragonair's head, her pokémon now back by her side also.
"I will admit you are giving me a little trouble." She told him smugly. "But I have an interesting idea. What do you say we make the next fight a double battle?" She suggested. Joe seemed a little unsure. At first he thought it was weird one gym leader would want to double battle one trainer. But he accepted anyway.
"Alright." He agreed. "Why not."
"Oh you'll see why soon enough." She told him, sounding worryingly malicious as she said it. She unclipped a second pokeball, and waited for Joe to decide upon his own two. "You first." She told him. Joe readied to throw his pokeballs.
"Go, Quill! Go, Cyclone!" He called. His powerful typhlosion and his menacing red gyarados appeared on the pitch, ready to fight and prepared to win. Clair seemed to snigger a little.
"Alright. My turn." She pulled her arm back and threw the pokeball. "Come on out, Dragonair!" She called. Joe raised his eyebrows. Two Dragonair. She had two Dragonair, and they were both on the same field. Why did she have two? Surely one was enough. But no, sure enough, she now had two of the exact same pokémon on her side of the battlefield. Gym leaders didn't usually do this. You didn't see Lt Surge from Vermillion using two raichus, or Whitney using two miltank. That last one would've been an awful experience! Clair smiled to herself. "You wanted to fight me." She reminded him. "So this is what you get when I accept." She crossed her arms. "I'll let you go first." She told him.
Joe thought for a second, trying to come up with a strategy. The fact she had two of the same pokémon made typing very simple, but the problem came from not knowing all her pokémon's moves. Joe had only seen the first Dragonair use three moves so far, and the second one hadn't done anything yet. There was no telling what moves it knew. It was quite likely Clair had taught it different moves, on the ideas of diversity to deal with any situation. It was a cunning strategy that often worked favourably. Joe considered his team. He had one move that was super effective on dragon types available at this point. That was Cyclone's ice fang attack. He could just instruct her to use that. A pokémon as thin as Dragonair probably wouldn't be able to resist an attack that powerful. But the problem then arises of one Dragonair knowing thunderbolt. If it were to pull that attack off on Cyclone, who is a water and flying type, she'd be taken out instantly. It wouldn't even matter how powerful the attack was. Electric type moves were her Achilles heel. As for Quill, he didn't know any moves that would give him an advantage, but at the moment it seemed the opponent didn't either. Using him as the main attacker would take longer, but he'd be tougher to take down. In the end he had to make a choice. He didn't know all the opponents moves yet, but he would soon find out anyway. He made his choices and called them.
"Quill, use Strength. Keep her right Dragonair distracted!" Joe instructed. Quill nodded and charged, running bulk first at his opponent. "Cyclone, use ice fang on her other Dragonair. Take it out quickly!" Joe continued. Cyclone dived forwards, sliding quickly across the ground, using her powerful tail to move her across the ground. Joe was hoping he had remembered which Dragonair was which. He hoped that Quill could keep the thunderbolt using one's attention on him and off Cyclone, so she could take out the other one which hopefully didn't know thunderbolt. He hoped this plan would work. He didn't know what to do if it didn't. Clair made her own commands.
"Thunder Wave!" She said simply, not directing it at either of her pokémon specifically. Both Dragonair charged static, then fired it forwards in a thin bolt.
"Dodge, both of you!" Joe called, reacting quickly. Cyclone curled aside, reflexing out of the way of the bolt and avoiding being paralysed just in time. Quill curled up and rolled aside, letting his thunder wave zoom way past, barely even scraping him. "Keep going!" Joe called. "You can take them out."
"Dragon breath!" Clair called. Both her Dragonair released a long plume of purple-pink flame from their mouths. Joe's pokémon skidded to a halt, avoiding the attack just it time. They stood back, letting the flames ahead of them die out first. Thankfully neither Dragonair had managed to hit them. They were just out of range.
"Keep going!" Joe shouted again. His pokémon continued their charge.
"Slam." Clair counter commanded. Both Dragonair sped towards their charging opponents and met them near the centre of the field. Quill rammed into left Dragonair, pushing back against its slam with all his strength and weight. The Dragonair wasn't proving easy to move however. It pushed back, proving surprisingly strong and immovable for something with no legs or arms. The other Dragonair was attacked by Cyclone, her head rearing back and lunging down at it. She went in to bite down on Dragonair with frozen fangs, but missed as the pokémon was surprisingly fast. It avoided her attack and landed its own, slamming into her stomach with full force. Cyclone yelled and groaned. The attack had been surprisingly strong. But she didn't give up.
"Try again!" Joe called. Cyclone lunged again at the now recoiling Dragonair. This time she struck. Her icy teeth dug into Dragonair's back as she bit down hard. The thin dragon snake gave a painful cry as Cyclone sunk her teeth in. "Not too hard." Joe muttered worriedly as he heard Dragonair's scream, and saw Cyclone's attack.
"Ice Beam!" Clair called suddenly. Again, she didn't allocate which Dragonair would use it. Joe glanced at the one in Cyclone's grip hopefully. It was preparing no suck attack. He suddenly heard Quill yell. He glanced to his fully evolved fire type, to see his chest and legs had been frozen solid to the ground where he stood. The other Dragonair was backing up, free from his attack and looking rather pleased with itself.
"Ice beam…" Joe muttered, slow realisation striking him like an iceberg into an unwary ship. Both of Clair's pokémon had so far used the same moves. Both knew Thunder wave. Both knew dragon breath. Both knew slam. Ice beam was this one's fourth and last known move. "But that means…" Joe suddenly realised. He turned to look at the Cyclone, and the Dragonair she was still gripping in her teeth. Suddenly it dawned on him. And as it did so, Clair made her next attack.
"Thunderbolt!" She instructed.
"Cyclone, let go!" Joe roared. The red gyarados looked at him in confusion. She had no idea what he meant. She glanced at her prey, only to realise that Dragonair was not only still conscious but preparing an attack. To teach her a lesson, Cyclone bit down harder. Then several thousand volts passed into her mouth, shocking her instantly and frying her like barbequed eel. Instead of firing the thunderbolt outwards, Dragonair had fired it inwards, passing it over her body like a layer of skin. So when Cyclone bit down on it she got the full blast of the attack. The red gyarados's sharp jaws loosened, letting go of her target. Cyclone toppled backwards, smouldered and blackened, her eyes static. She collapsed onto her spine, her tail curling up and a delicious smell of cooked fish wafting off her. Joe sighed annoyed. The attack had knocked her out instantly. She'd never stood a chance. But the worst part was she hadn't even tried to listen to him. Clair was chuckling to herself.
"Some dragon of yours." She muttered. "Failed to even spot an easy trick." Joe felt like going over there and punching her, but he resisted the temptation. Getting in a real fight wouldn't help him at this point. He managed to keep his cool thankfully. He still had Quill on the field, and he had other pokémon to send out if he needed to.
"Less talking." Joe told her sternly. "And more fighting." Clair smiled at the comment.
"Okay." She said slyly. "Dragonair, slam!" She instructed. Both of her Dragonair charged to attack, moving quickly with chests out first.
"Quill, defrost quickly!" Joe commanded. Quill struggled in his ice enclosed pair of trousers, but it wasn't easy to break. The ice was strong and very slippery. He tried to claw it away, but when he did his hands would just slip on it. Joe had to think of another plan. "Okay then. Charge up your fire!" He instructed with haste. Quill glanced at him and quickly realised what he was planning. He smiled at his trainer. Quill's flame collar ignited into fire as his internal body heat began to rise. Slowly steam began to come of the ice. Water droplets formed. But it wasn't breaking fast enough. The Dragonair's reached him, and landed their attacks. They struck the typhlosion in the ice covered side, causing damage to him with each attack. But as they did so they cracked the ice. Slowly, with each slam, the ice began to break off. Quill kept heating up, gaining more fire power as he did so. The ice began to melt away. Then, when the two Dragonair came in for a fourth slam, Quill broke free. His fire burst from his body like a supernova. It evaporated all the ice in seconds, turning it into nothing but boiling hot steam. The two Dragonair were knocked far backwards, the fire not doing much damage itself but creating a lot of force, enough to push them away. Quill cooled down again. His overheating tactic had worked. Clair clapped her hands casually.
"A good plan, but it won't work twice." She warned her opponent. "Dragon's don't get hurt by fire" Sure enough she was right. Her Dragonair were already getting back up. They rolled onto their stomachs, looking up at their fiery opponent, seemingly barely scorched by his attacks. Clair was already making her next commands.
"Dragon breath!" She called. Both of her Dragonair attacked, releasing two plumes of dragon fire. Quill darted back, avoiding the attack.
Joe took another second to think. He needed to come up with another plan. One of the Dragonair was already weakened a lot, but now that Cyclone was out he had no way to quickly weaken the other one. He'd at least have to take the weak one out first, but how? He looked back at quill.
"Quill!" He called. Quill glanced at him. "Use rollout on the weaker Dragonair!" Joe instructed. Quill nodded back. He curled up into a ball and began to roll. As he rolled he slowly gained speed. Small cracks appeared in the ground under him as he moved, gaining more and more speed as he rolled across the field, moving as the size of a boulder.
"Dodge it!" Clair instructed. One Dragonair, the healthy one, managed to avoid the attack with ease. The other one wasn't so lucky. It was already tiring out and having been weakened by Cyclone already it wasn't able to react fast enough. Quill crushed it under his full force and weight, knocking it out instantly. Now there was only one Dragonair left. Quill kept rolling, made a U-turn and came back to take out the second Dragonair.
"Ice beam!" Clair commanded. Dragonair fired an ice beam again, but this time it bounced of Quill and reflected onto the ground ahead of him. He was moving too fast for it to freeze him. His fire was certainly stopping that from happening. The ice formed frost patched, which made the ground slippery. Soon Quill wasn't just rolling, he was sliding. If he were to hit Dragonair now he'd knock it out instantly. But Clair still had one trick in hand. "Thunder wave!" She called. Dragonair fired a thin shot of static, which struck Quill with ease. He uncurled, his muscles freezing up up, causing him to slide flat across the ice on his stomach. But he didn't slow down. He still hit his target. Dragonair was crushed under his weight in seconds. There was no way it would be able to resist the attack. Both of Clair's pokémon had been taken out in one move. Joe couldn't have been more proud.
"Damn…" He muttered. He looked at Quill and smiled. "Way to go, Quill!" he called. Quill smiled weakly back at him from his place on the icy floor. Slowly he tried to push himself up onto his feet. It would take him a while. His whole body was seizing up thanks to the thunder wave. But he was still going to fight.
"I don't think so!" Clair called suddenly. Joe and Quill looked at her. She had just withdrawn her Dragonair from the battle, both of them. She was already holding another pokeball in her hands, her last one. She released it, screaming like a warlord. "Go, Kingdra!" She yelled. The pokeball opened up and onto the field appeared a large blue seahorse. It had a long snout with a thin mouth at the end, two weird watery horns and one kelp shaped dorsal fin. It levitated a few inches above the ground, glaring angrily at Quill. Clair was also glaring angrily at Quill. "You think you'll win like that?" She roared, seemingly infuriated. "Well not likely! Not on my watch!" She pointed her hand out commandingly. "Surf!" She roared. Quill looked up as a giant wave rose above him. He could only look on in annoyance and self-disappointment as the tidal wave struck him down instantly.
Joe looked at the unconscious body that was Quill, then glanced back at the shivering Cyclone pile, then turned back to Clair.
"That was a little unnecessary." He told her. Clair shrugged, smiling evilly.
"That's pokémon battles!" She responded. "They're not always fair." She glared at him, adrenaline fulling her anger. "Well hurry up and send out your next pokémon." She snapped.
Joe only had two left, and one of them was still very tired out from his fight. But he didn't have much of a choice. He withdrew his two defeated pokémon, thanked them for their efforts, and then turned to his already released pokémon.
"Looks like you're going back in, Pippy." He said solemnly. Pippy looked a little disappointed, but he didn't argue back. He stepped out onto the field. Ralph looked at Joe with a worried expression. "Don't worry." Joe reassured him. "We can still win. Pippy can do it." He turned back to the battlefield. "Alright, Pippy." He called as his pikachu reached his place on the field. "We'll go easy first. Start off with Sub…"
"Dragon breath!" Clair interrupted with her own command. Pippy couldn't even blink before the attack came. Kingdra spewed a pillar of pink-purple smoke from its snout at Pippy, singing hi chest in an instant. The small electric mouse stumbled back, clutching his chest which was charred and blackened. Joe's eyes widened in fear.
"Pippy, are you okay?" He called. Pippy glanced back and nodded weakly. He looked exhausted, but he wasn't giving up just yet. Joe clenched his fists. Clair clearly wasn't going to give him a chance to act. He'd have to attack quickly in order to land a hit before she did. "Can you still attack?" He asked. Pippy nodded. "Good." Joe threw an arm outwards. "Use thunderbolt!" He commanded. Pippy sparked and fired a bolt of electricity. It struck Kingdra with ease. It didn't even try to dodge it. But when the attack was over it was still standing, barely hurt by the attack. Joe looked stunned. "But… how?" He asked. Clair made her own command now.
"Hyper Beam!" She roared.
There was a sudden gust of wind as Ralph shot from his place at Joe's side. He flew out towards Pippy as Kingdra gathered light in its snout. Joe watched him speed away, looking out in horror. He was going to protect Pippy. There was nothing he could do to stop him. He was already too far away to ever stop. He was moving too fast for Joe to chase after him. And Clair wasn't going to stop her attack. Kingdra was almost fully charged now. Ralph reached Pippy, throwing himself in front of the tired pikachu and shielding with his wings. And then Kingdra fired. A massive beam of pure light energy erupted from the end of the seahorse pokémon's mussel, blinding everything the vicinity. It launched at Ralph and Pippy, engulfing them in half a second. They had no chance to avoid it. Joe watched in horror as his pokémon were enveloped by the attack, and disappeared from sight. He shielded his eyes, the light proving too strong to stare at. After ten seconds of scorching heat and colour the attack finally stopped. Joe looked back at his pokémon. Pippy was unconscious. He hadn't stood a chance, and Ralph's defence had proved ineffective after all. Ralph himself was still awake, but only just. He was hanging on by a thread, barely able to move. His wings had been crumpled up, the heat and force breaking his strength and leaving him a harmless target.
"Ralph." Joe muttered, barely able to talk himself. His voice had been stolen by Clair's overpowered pokémon. Ralph tried to push himself up with his wings, but couldn't gather the strength to do so. Clair grinned evilly.
"I think that means I win." She said proudly. Joe closed his eyes tight. When he opened them again he did so to glare at Clair with hatred.
"That was hardly fair." He told her. "You attacked two of my pokémon at once. One of them wasn't even a part of this battle yet." Clair folder her arms.
"He got in the way." She told him simply. "I think it's probably more of your fault he went out like that." Joe clenched his fists in annoyance.
"It's against the rules to attack a pokémon that isn't a part off the battle." Joe insisted.
"Not if they get in the way of the fight." Clair told him.
"Then I demand a rematch!" Joe called stubbornly. He wasn't going to give up just yet. He was going to defeat her. He had too. If he didn't he'd never be strong enough to fight Archer. Clair gave him a cold glare.
"No." She said simply. Joe looked furiously stunned.
"No?" He repeated. "You can't say no! You're a gym leader! You're supposed to accept challenges from trainers!" Clair folder her arms tighter.
"I can accept any challenge I want." She told him. "I can also refuse a challenger. Remember, I only battle tough opponents and it is clear you aren't one of them." She turned aside. "Now get out!" She snapped coldly.
Joe felt an infernal rage building up inside of him. "You can't just turn me away!" He shouted. "I need your gym badge! I came all this way to fight you! I defeated three of your pokémon! You have to fight me again. You have to give me your gym badge!" Clair closed her eyes snootily.
"I don't have to do anything if I don't want to." She said childishly. "Now get out, before I throw you out myself!"
Joe stood his ground and folded his own arms defiantly. "I'm not going anywhere!" He stated stubbornly.
Twenty seconds later he found himself being thrown out by Clair herself. He had certainly been surprised to learn that she was not only fierce but also surprisingly strong. Her grip had been completely unbreakable. She shoved him forwards, causing him to fall face first onto the street. Ralph landed beside him, coughing a little with exhaustion. Joe had managed to withdraw Pippy before he was thrown out, so luckily he didn't get flung from the gym too. Clair stood in the doorway, glaring at him.
"If you're smart you won't come back!" She stated cruelly. "If you've got a problem with that, take it up with the elder in the cave!" Then she shut the doors, placing up a closed sign behind her. Joe groaned.
"Rude witch!" He muttered coldly. Ralph nodded in agreement.
Joe felt like a total failure. He had failed to defeat the last Johto gym leader. He had failed to obtain his eight badge. And he wasn't allowed to try again. It was all over. He was never going to stand a chance against Archer if he couldn't even defeat all the gym leaders. He had lost.
He stood up slowly, feeling ruined. "Let's just go." He muttered. Ralph crawled after him, not yet able to fly again. He looked up at his trainer, feeling worried for him. Joe said nothing more. He just walked back over to the pokémon centre, feeling very disappointed in himself and very angry at Clair.
"Oi, prisoner!" The rocket grunt who'd been placed on guard duty snapped through the door's cracked glass window. Danning looked up. "There's a visitor here for you." The guard called to him. Danning's head drooped again. He didn't look hopeful. It was probably Archer coming back to torture him further. "I'm sending her in." The guard told him. "Don't even think of discussing an escape plan!" Danning looked up again. 'Her?' He thought. The door opened and he gasped.
"Crystal!" He muttered weakly. His voice had dried up and weakened since they'd thrown him in his cell. The young girl stepped into the makeshift cell, holding her arms and looking extremely nervous.
"Hey, Danning." She muttered apprehensively. "Are… are you okay? They didn't hurt you much, did they?" Danning shook his head.
"No." He told her. "They've just starved me, that's all." Crystal nodded. "What are you doing here?" He asked. Crystal shrugged.
"I wanted to make sure you were okay." She said. Danning felt surprisingly contented by that.
"Thank you." He said, coughing weakly and wracking with muscle ache. He didn't attempt to move from where he sat.
"You've got two minutes." The guard told the young girl. Then he closed the door behind him, leaving the two of them alone in the room. Crystal took a step forwards, but didn't get any closer. Danning's smile faded slowly.
"They didn't hurt you to get to me, did they?" He asked caringly.
"Why did you do it, Danning?" She asked, sounding hurt. Danning looked her in the eyes. She was close to breaking already. "Why did you try and escape? Why did you have to bring me into it?" Danning held his head ashamed.
"I didn't want to." He admitted. "I wanted you to be out of this completely. You're my only friend, Crystal." He said solemnly. "The only one I have left. I never wanted you to get hurt. But I had to leave, and so do you. This place isn't for us, it certainly isn't for you. You need to get out, go far away, find that boy you ran into, stay with him, go anywhere but here. If you don't then Team Rocket will consume you. You'll never leave. You'll just be arrested in the end or die, either one is probably as bad as the other." Danning looked up again, real sorrow in his eyes but he did not shed a tear. "Please…" He begged. "Please, for me, save yourself." Crystal began to form tears in her eyes. She held her arms close to her body, nerves taking their toll completely.
"I can't leave, Danning, do you understand that?" She told him both sharply and regretfully. "If I try, they'll throw me in here with you. They've already tortured me, hurt me and beaten me to near death. I can't… I can't do it." She began to sob. "I… I'm scared." She muttered through her tears. "I can't…. I can't…. I can't leave… or they'll just kill me." Danning looked at her. She had been through so much. Too much. She didn't deserve what he'd gotten. She was too young for all this. Fourteen wasn't the right age to go through this.
"Crystal, Please…" Danning tried to say. "You need to go. Stay here and you'll forever hate yourself. You'll never get away from your pain. You'll be forced to live with it, never learning that the world isn't supposed to be like this." He paused. "Please, not for my sake but your own, get out of here as soon as possible. Please." Crystal hung her own head now. "You're the only person on this planet that even slightly cares about me anymore." Danning continued. Crystal looked back at him. "My wife left me three years ago." He went on. "My daughter's in some foreign country doing not very appropriate things. My parent's disowned me. My brother wants me dead. My own son even thinks I'm a monster. He's only eight." He looked back up at Crystal. "You're the only one left who gives a damn about me." He told her. "So please, just leave me here to rot… and save yourself."
There was a banging on the door now.
"Time's up!" The guard snapped through the glass. "You need to leave now, miss."
Crystal nodded. "I'm going." She told him, wiping away her tears. She glanced back at Danning. She didn't have anything further to say. She could only feel sorry for him, and not much more. She did manage to say a few final parting words before she left however. "I'm sorry, Danning." She said sadly. "You didn't deserve this."
Danning looked back at her. "Yes I did." He told her. Crystal stepped through the door and the guard closed it behind her, giving a dirty glance at Danning as he did so. Danning was left alone again in his dirty room which had been turned into a makeshift prison, holding his head and looking to the ground. He was alone again. He would remain alone for the rest of his life.
Crystal headed back up the hallway. She was going to her room. She was too tired for anything else today. She was struggling to keep back her tears anyway. As she stepped out from the hallway and into the large garage area a voice stopped her in her tracks.
"Crystal." It said in a simple and calm but commanding voice. Crystal stopped mid step. She turned back. Ariana was walking towards her, a nasty smile on her face. "There you are." She said, sounding worryingly malicious. Crystal turned to face her.
"What do you want?" She asked, sounding very worried and frightened but doing her best to hide it.
"Archer wants to see you." She told her. Crystal felt her heart drop and her knees weaken.
"W-why?" She asked, shaking a little and gaining a fearful stutter.
"It's confidential." She told her. "Now follow me."
Crystal followed the redheaded Rocket Commander to Archer's office, feeling incredibly nervous and slightly worried for her life. Ariana opened the door and let her in.
"He's waiting inside." She told her. Then she shoved her into the office.
"Sit down, Crystal." Archer told her sternly, but not angrily. His face was covered in darkness right now. The room light was off, so only shadow could be seen. Crystal obligingly sat down at her seat.
"Y-you want to see me?" She asked. Archer nodded in the dark.
"Yes, I did." He told her simply. "I have a new mission for you."
Crystal sighed. "Please, Archer…" She muttered. "I'm tired. I haven't slept in days. Can't you ask someone else to do this task for you?"
"No." Archer said simply. Crystal was surprised that her comment hadn't made him snap. If any other grunt had said something like it they'd be hanging by their small toe from the roof by now. But Archer was being stubborn about it. "This task is specific to you. It must be you and only you who performs it, or else it will not work."
Crystal sighed. She wasn't going to get out of it now. "All right." She said weakly. "What do you want me to do?" She asked. Archer leaned forwards on his desk, and switched the lamp on. His face was illuminated. Crystal gasped quietly. He wasn't wearing his mask. She got to see his face fully now. His short cyan blue hair glittered slightly in the light. Archer looked at her, and said his command.
"A squad of men is going to Blackthorn city to capture that annoying trainer and his crobat, and their friends if we ca find them all." He told her simply. "I want you to find them for me. They know you, so they should trust you… And I want you to lead them back to us."
Crystal looked stunned.
I would just like to say a thank you to everyone who has read this far. It hasn't been easy writing with university going on and problems at home, but I'm glad to know that people still read this story and still enjoy it.
I'd just like to place a benchmark here. This is not only the last gym battle chapter, but also the last chapter before the big event.
"A confrontation is coming. It cannot be avoided. And not everyone who goes to war comes back."
