An hour later Joe found himself outside yet another gym, preparing himself for whatever was to come next. Luckily for him this was the seventh gym and after there would be only one left to take on. Ralph, Winter and Rocky were by his side. Since they had missed the last two battles this time they decided they would come and watch. Now they were about to walk through the glass doors. Winter and Rocky stood behind their friend as Joe stepped forwards and the doors slid open with a quiet squeak.
"Only two left." Winter thought aloud. They were all quite surprised by how far they had come in such a short time. To think that just over a month ago or so none of them had known each other. Now they were the closest of friend.
"Well we've done well to get this far." Rocky agreed. "I imagine that Joe could win this easily, couldn't you." He added, speaking to Joe directly now. Joe looked at him and nodded, slightly nervous now that there was pressure on him but not too bad.
"I can win. I believe in Ralph and the rest of my team. They can win for me. Of course I need to make the effort myself, as well." He added. Ralph rolled his eyes but couldn't help but chuckle at his trainer's words. He as well found it tough to remember anything from before. In fact he could hardly remember a second before they met. Strange. Joe turned back around and faced the open doorway. There was a heavy amount of heat flooding out from inside which made Joe's eyes water slightly as they tried to stop his from drying up. He wiped his sweating face. "Oh well. Out of the frying pan, into the charizard's mouth." He muttered and stepped inside. Immediately he was hit by a smouldering wave of hot air. His first reaction was to shut his eyes and raise his arm up in front of his face to block the heat. His eyes watered in an attempt to cool his face down. Winter and Rocky were doing the same thing, holding their hands in front of their face to block out the sweltering heat and bright orange light. Ralph was less lucky. He didn't have arms so instead he had to use one of his larger wings to shield himself. This wasn't as effective as he had to use his other three wings to fly, leading him to occasionally tilt on the right and nearly fall over. They stood still for several seconds, struggling to even breathe with the room at its current temperature. Suddenly a loud, lively yet slightly aged voice boomed over several speakers stationed on the walls all around the room.
"OH, SORRY ABOUT THE HEAT! I TEND TO FORGET MOST PEOPLE AREN'T USED TO IT! I'LL TURN IT DOWN A LITTLE!" Suddenly the room began to cool slightly. The immense heat died away to kindling warmth and the bright orange light became a simple fiery tint. As the trainers opened their eyes again they saw the internal of the gym properly. The lighting around the pitch was quite a bit darker than in the other gym's, maybe so it would make any fire moves stand out. The battlefield itself was flat and red, with thin crevices running around the sides, filled with undying fire. The terrain on it was slightly jagged but not too bad. What really stood out were the fiery piers located at each corner of the field which illuminated the entire battlefield without the need for lighting or anything like it. On the opposite side of the field stood a tall, elderly man wearing a thin long sleeved red shirt with a blue waved pattern at the bottom edge and long thin red trousers. His skin was a darker white then most people living in Kanto but not dark enough to be tanned. He had grey hair running along the side of his head, leaving the top completely bold and shining in the light of the fires. He stood watching the three trainers from his stand, a large, greying arcanine stood beside him. It looked to be nearly as old as he was. The man raised his arms and bellowed. "Welcome trainers to the gym of fire. I am Blaine, the fire wielding mastermind and I shall be your gym leader for today." Joe and Ralph shared surprised glances. "Who of you wishes to challenge me?" Blaine asked. Joe stepped forwards and walked up to the pitch.
"I shall." He declared, though not as dramatically as Blaine had.
"We'll be watching from the seating stands." Winter whispered in his ear as she and Rocky walked past, heading for the side. They spent a couple of seconds struggling to search in the dark before finding the seats and sitting down to watch. Blaine raised his hands up higher.
"Welcome." He boomed. "Your challenge has been accepted. Now there shall be a short quiz." Joe raised an eyebrow as he walked over to his podium and was about to pull out his first pokéball.
"Quiz?" He repeated. "Why are you quizzing me?" He asked. Blaine held up a flat hand.
"Hey, I'm the one asking you the questions, not the other way round." He interrupted. Joe went quiet, deciding it was probably best to let the gym leader have his way. It was his gym after all and, as long as this lead to them having an actual pokémon battle, he was prepared to put up with whatever the senile old man decided to do. Blaine pulled out a couple of cue cards from out of his podium stand and tapped them on the wood. He cleared his throat. "Mm Hmmm! Now then. Question number one: What is your name?" He asked.
"Joe." Joe told him simply. Blaine nodded.
"Ok. Good start." He put the first cue card down. "Question number two: What is my name?" He continued. Joe just stared at him. How was that even a question? He had already told him what his name was.
"You're Blaine." He told him, sounding a little confused. Blaine nodded again.
"Right. Thank you for reminding me. Next question." He put the second cue card down. "Question number three: What type of pokémon do I use?" He asked.
"I'm guessing fire types." Joe said, making a quick assumption on both what Blaine was dressed in, the style of the gym, the pokémon beside him and also on the fact that Bill had told him he used fire types. Blaine nodded again.
"Well done, right again. You really know your people. Now final question." He put the third cue card down. "What type of pokémon will you be using?" He asked. Joe thought for a second.
"Well, actually, I'll be using several types of pokémon." He told him. Blaine shrugged.
"Really? More than one type?" He tutted. "Kids have too much imagination these days." He muttered. He put the final cue card down. "Well shall we get into battling?" He asked, a bright fiery smile on his face and in his eyes. Joe reached for a pokéball.
"I was wondering when we'd get to that." He told him. Blaine's smile grew slightly.
"Feisty. I like it. If you can bring that energy into the way you battle then this should be fun. You'd better have bur heals!" He chuckled. He reached for a pokéball. "Ok then. Let's get started, shall we." He threw out the first pokéball, releasing a lethargic yet young looking flareon. It reared up and let out a cute growl, trying to look intimidating but failing.
"Hey, a flareon. I met one of them before near Celadon." He thought, pulling out his first choice. "I choose you, Carter!" He exclaimed and sent the ball flying through the air onto the field. It opened and Carter jumped out, ready and flexing his legs. Blaine raised an eyebrow.
"A hitmonlee, eh?" he thought to himself. "Huh. I must admit I never expected you to have that." He shrugged. "Oh well. Makes it more interesting." He raised a hand and clenched it. "Now for the real questions." He announced. Joe looked confused again.
"Wait, I thought you already asked me the questions." He asked. Blaine laughed and shook his head.
"No, they were warm ups. These are the real questions." He explained. "If you get each question right you get to decide if you want to attack first or not. However if you get it wrong I make the choice. Ready?" He asked. Joe shrugged. It didn't really make sense why he was being asked questions but whatever suited him.
"Oh." He agreed. Blaine narrowed his eyebrows and grinned.
"Alright. Here is my question. What are fire types weak too?" He asked. Joe thought for a second.
"Water and rock." He answered finally. Immediately Blaine shook his head.
"Wrong. They are also weak to ground." He told him. "That's the first question wrong and I get to decide who goes first." He paused for a couple of seconds. "I shall make the first move." He decided finally. He then pointed his hand out. "Flareon, use fire spin." He commanded. Flareon took in a small breath and let out a small swirly tornado of embers which swirled towards Carter. Joe jumped into action.
"Carter, jump over it." He instructed. Carter did so, kneeling down then pushing of the ground, leaping high over the swirling fire and avoiding being trapped inside the swirling vortex. Blaine made another move.
"Overheat!" He called. Flareon began to glow red with heat and it tensed its body. As carter landed on his feet it released, sending an opaque wave of red fire out from its body and struck him, pushing him back slightly. Carter growled and rushed in to make a proper attack.
"Hi jump kick!" Joe called. Carter leapt through the air, one long, elastic leg stretched out to strike. Flareon barely had time to react before the attack hit it straight in the face. It went rolling backwards before skidding to a stop, using its clawed paws to stop itself. Carter's attack had done some real damage, more then it could have anticipated. Blaine winced upon seeing the attack hit.
"Damn." He exclaimed quietly. "Alright Flareon, use flamethrower!" He instructed. Flareon took in a heavy breath as fire filled up inside its mouth.
"Carter, use rolling kick!" Joe called. Carter ran forwards and dropped, sliding across the floor with one leg out, the other pulled in. Flareon released its attack but carter avoided it, sliding underneath its belly and kicking its legs out from underneath it. Flareon hit the ground with a light thud as Carter slid out from the other side and jumped up into the air, landing on Flareon's back and ramming his side into its spine. Immediately it dropped flat to the ground, its legs sprawled out at tits side. It laid there, eyes shut but still breathing for several seconds before Carter stood, walked past it and bowed to Joe who bowed back. Blaine didn't show any sign of disappointment. He simply pulled out a pokéball and withdrew Flareon from the battle.
"A nice attempt. I can see that my weakest pokémon isn't enough to beat even one of your pokémon. Still, Flareon is young and I'm still training him." He put the pokéball back onto his belt. "Now you have to face one of my better pokémon, however. Are you sure you're up for it?" He asked. Joe nodded, resolutely.
"I can take it on." He announced. Blaine smiled at this.
"Alright then. Out you come, Ninetales!" He threw a second pokéball out onto the battle field and white, elegant looking fox with nine long fluffy tails that were incompletely attacked to each other. As well as this it had a long flow of white fur on the top of its head which spread down the back of its head like a mane. It whipped its tails around a little then sat down patiently near its master, waiting for instruction. "Alright, now for the next question. Name the three evolutions of the kanto fire type starter." He said. Joe didn't need to think about this one. He already had those three pokémon.
"Charmander, Charmeleon and Charizard." He answered. Blaine nodded.
"Well done. Full points. Now you get to choose whether you want to make the first move or not. "He explained. Joe considered for a second before finally answering.
"I shall try making the first move." He decided. Blaine nodded acceptingly. He raised out an open hand, gesturing he make choice. Joe turned back to Carter who waited patiently for instructions. "Carter, double kick." Joe called. Carter nodded and ran forwards, reaching his maximum speed in seconds. Blaine had been prepared for this, however.
"Confuse ray!" He instructed. Ninetales let a small bubble of purple ghostly light out from its mouth which glided forwards and headed for Carter. Carter stopped and watched the ball as it floated towards him and began to spin around him, slowly at first but quickly gaining speed. Carter followed it, spinning on the spot as he tried to catch it. Suddenly the ball disappeared in a puff of air and Carter stopped, his head rotating like a spinning top. He stumbled around, trying to find his opponent again and nearly fell over. Joe grunted.
"No, Carter. Come on. Focus!" He called. Carter hardly understood any words he said. To him in his confused state it sounded like 'oN, tarCer. meoC no. cuFos!' He landed on the floor, only just stopping his face hitting the floor by putting his hand out in front of him. Ninetales laughed. At this rate she wouldn't need to even make an attack. Carter shook his head, trying to focus and slowly pushed himself back up, still spinning slightly. He ran forwards, moving in a gradually tilting line, heading to hit opponent. He jumped, aiming to kick but instead of hitting Ninetales he flew over the edge of the pitch, hitting the lowered ground under it and landing in the fire around it. He yelled in pain as the flames scalded his skin and he shot up into the air, trying to pat out the flames. He landed on his side back in the field, huffing the last of the flames out. "Blaine laughed now.
"Very amusing performance. Ten out of Ten!" He cheered, mockingly. Joe tensed up.
"Carter! Get up!" He whispered. Carter rose slowly to his feet, shaking of the confusion finally. He could still fight but he'd taken a lot of damage from the fall and the fire. Another attack may be enough to take him out. "Good. Now use mega kick!" Joe called. Carter rushed forwards and rose out a steady leg which began to glow white with power. Ninetales didn't seem fazed. At the last second her body began to glow red and she released a fiery blast which hit Carter head on and knocked him over. He hit the ground with a loud thud and lay there, eyes spinning and head stinging. He tried to stand up but couldn't keep his legs stable or strong enough to push himself up. Finally he gave up and closed his eyes, lying defeated before the foe. Joe sighed, slightly disappointed but not angry. Carter had tried his best and he was still a new member of the group. Besides he had beaten Flareon already, meaning the others wouldn't need to spend too much energy on the rest of them. He withdrew him and thanked him for his help in the fight. He then put Carter's pokéball back on his belt and sent Ralph. He decided on Ralph because he was quick and agile. Hopefully that would be enough to beat Ninetales. Ralph took his place on the field. Blaine looked yet again surprised.
"Crobat? Again not a pokémon I would have expected you to have." He admitted. Joe smiled to himself. "You attack first, again." Blaine told him. Joe didn't think twice about this.
"Ralph, use Aerial Ace!" Joe instructed. Ralph shot forwards, both pares of wings folded in and acting as one. He glided forwards, making almost no sound and struck Ninetales in the side. The slash of air that was lefty behind from the attack was vicious looking like a scar. Quickly it faded and Ninetales groaned in pain. She seemed to survive most of the damage, however. Ralph came flying back around for another attack.
"Fire Spin! Blaine instructed. Ninetales blew out a couple of small embers which spun and rotated around each other, forming a fiery twister. The fire spin flew out and trapped Ralph as he flew through it. He struggled against the blaze but it was spinning so fast he was pulled along with the current, rotating around and around, getting ever faster till finally he was flung out and sent sailing through the air as the fire spin disappeared. He landed painfully on the ground and skidded across the ground, landing at Joe's feet. Quickly Joe lifter him up and dusted him down.
"You're ok." He said, helping Ralph relax. "Just make your attacks land and you can beat it. Ok, get back out there." He turned Ralph around and pushed him out, releasing him as he took off into the air again. "Fly!" Joe instructed. Ralph shot upwards, reaching the dark ceiling and hovering in the air, out of reach of any attacks. Ninetales glared up at him and tried using flamethrower but the fire didn't reach high enough to hit him. He chuckled and shot back down again, moving so fast he was a blur. He folded his wings flat out and dived. When he was about to hit the ground again he levelled out, sped forwards and struck Ninetales head on, sending it flying backwards. Ninetales huffed, let out a small ember of fire and collapsed, KO'd. Rocky and Winter clapped from the rows as they watched the fight. Joe was doing well so far and they hoped that it wouldn't go south from there. Blaine clapped as well but gave a slower yet still honest pat on his palm.
"Very good. You really are strong. So much power and courage in your pokémon. I applaud you." He said, withdrawing Ninetales and putting the pokéball back on his belt. He then unclipped a third ball and readied it. "Still, I have two more yet and you haven't even seen my strongest pokémon yet." He raised an eyebrow, tauntingly. "Would you like to meet them?" He asked. Joe looked at him. He seemed to be trying to trick him in some way, maybe by making him too confident. Either way he wasn't going to fall for it.
"Go ahead." He said, simply. Blaine narrowed his brow again, his smile never fading from his mouth. He raised the pokéball.
"Come on out, Magmar!" He roared, throwing the pokéball onto the field. When it opened another new pokémon appeared. This one looked to be nothing but fire all over its red upper body and yellow under body. It had a rather fat looking body with short hands and feet that ended in four claws. It also had a snout the breathed fire and a long, yellow tail that had a flame on its tip. Fire spouts bellowed out from two holes on the back of its head and long red spines ran down the ridge of its back. It raised its head up and breathed out a huge plume of fire from its thin snout, threatening its opponent. Ralph stared at the creature which, to him, looked like some kind of demon. "Now for the next question." Blaine announced, snapping Joe and Ralph out of their trances. He coughed again, this time more loud. "Ok then. In the Kanto pokedex what pokémon is classified as the Fire Horse Pokémon?" He asked. "And you cannot check." He added quickly. Joe stopped himself. This was a tough question. As far as he was aware there were two pokémon that looked like horses and were fire types: Ponyta and Rapidash. They just so happened to be evolutions of one another. But which was classified as the Fire Horse pokémon? He pondered over this for a minute. It seemed like a trick of some kind. He didn't know which the correct answer was because both seemed eligible for the title. Finally he decided to just choose one and hope for the best.
"Is it Rapidash?" He asked. There was a short, tense pause.
"No." Blaine said finally. Joe punched himself. He had got it wrong.
"Stupid." He muttered to himself. "Of course it was Ponyta, how could I make such a beginner mistake. Suddenly Blaine spoke again.
"The answer is Ponyta and Rapidash. Both are classed as the Fire Horse pokémon." His smile grew almost malicious. Joe just stared at him, utterly stunned by his horrible trick. "Not every question has a single answer, boy. Maybe you should remember that next time." He looked back to the battle. "Now I make the first move." He raised a hand. "Magmar, Fire Blast!" He commanded. Magmars snout expanded as it collected flame in its mouth and released it, creating a huge fiery five pointed star of flame which shot of towards the opponent. Ralph saw it coming and shot over it, narrowly avoiding getting singed by the edges.
"Good, Ralph." Joe called as Ralph flew out of the way. "Now, use poison fang!" He continued. Ralph sped forwards, wings folded in and mouth agape. The two large front fangs glistened purple as they filled with poison. As he flew it he bit down on Magmars swiping claw and brought his sharp fangs deep into its arm. As he did so however its fiery skin singed him, causing a lot of damage in the process. He pulled back, letting go of his attack and narrowly dodging a flamethrower that was sent in response. His mouth was burning hot where he had bitten into Magmars fiery arms. It had left small degree burns around his jaw which stung and distracted his concentration. "Damn, burned." Joe muttered. He thought up a new tactic quickly. "Ok, use Air Cutter to get it at a long range." Joe called. Ralph grunted painfully and flapped his wings, sending the cutting air slashing through Magmar and causing quite a lot of damage. Magmar fell forwards slightly but caught itself with one small hand and pushed itself back up again.
"Good, Magmar. Now use Overheat!" Blaine instructed. Magmar began to glow read as it pulled in the heat from around the room and released it in the form of a thin wave of hot air.
"Look out, Ralph." Joe called. Ralph just barely managed to dodge the oncoming attack as the heat tapped the top of his wing and burned it. The rest of him managed to fly over the wave and avoid being damaged. "Good, now use steel wing." Joe instructed. Ralph flew towards Magmar, both wings out flat and glistening silver. He struck Magmar on the side with the solid metal tip and flew on; avoiding another attack Magmar was creating. His burns were starting to take their toll now as his attacks were gradually getting weaker and so was he. If he didn't finish Magmar now and get a rest he'd go down from fatigue. "Fly!" Joe called again. Ralph shot upwards into the air and hovered there for a few seconds before diving back down, aimed at the large fiery monster on Blaine's side. Blaine however had been prepared for this.
"Fire Punch!" He called. Magmar bulled back a small hand which became engulfed in fire and threw it forwards as Ralph came in to attack. Ralph could not stop in time as he saw what was going to happen. As he was about to strike Magmar lashed out, punching him square in the face and sending him sailing backwards. The force that was created by how fast Ralph was going combined with the power created by Magmar swinging out with a fist was enough to know him out of the air completely. Ralph hit the ground painfully, his bat ears poking up in pain. He ground weakly and tried pushing himself up with his front wings. After a minute or so of trying he finally succeeds, getting back up onto his front and back wings which he used to hold himself up.
"Come on, Ralph. You can still win!" Joe cheered, slightly concerned by how it was beginning to go. Ralph smiled at him and nodded, strongly, affirmatively. As he turned back around to fight again, however, a fiery five pointed star hit him in the chest and sent him flying back even further till finally he hit Joe's podium and slumped forwards. He lay there for several seconds before he was finally pronounced as KO'd. Joe sighed. "Maybe not." He muttered. Blaine raised a clenched hand.
"I believe that's 2:2 right now." He announced. Joe picked up Ralph from where he lay and put him down by his side, allowing him time to rest from his injuries. He was still conscious but hardly able to move at that point, currently using the podium to lean on to keep himself up. "Go on and release your next pokémon." Blaine called again. Joe sighed and reached for his third pokéball. He gripped it in his fingers and held it up in the air for a second before finally throwing it up and into the air.
"Go, Cinders!" He called as the ball snapped open and his huge fiery Charizard flew out and glided around his side of the room for several seconds. Blaine raised an inquisitive eyebrow.
"Charizard. Actually that's a pokémon I was expecting you to have." He mumbled. He then raised a hand out again. "I still go first. Magmar, fire punch!" He instructed.
"Cinders, Wing attack!" Joe called. Cinders landed, released a heavy plume of flame into the air and lunged forwards, wings outstretched as he glided over the floor and towards the opponent. Magmar swung in with its attack and missed as Cinders flew straight through it and toppled it over, hitting it in the chest with a large orange wing. Magmar quickly got back up and tried to attack again using fire spin but Cinders was moving too fast. He dodged the attack with ease and returned the attack with a Slash. His claws swiped down across Magmar's face and knocked it back a couple of steps.
"Fire Blast!" Blaine instructed from his side of the field. Magmar readied itself and fired a huge blast of blazing fire in the shape of a star. He aimed it directly at the section of air cinders was flying into and struck him as he flew through it. Cinders winced but managed to take most of the damage with ease. He landed in front of Magmar to confront it personally.
"Slash!" Joe called. Cinders raised a sharp claw and brought it swinging down, glowing bright white. Magmar however jumped aside, narrowly avoiding being caught on the head by the blow.
"Fire Punch!" Blaine instructed. Magmar brought its flaming hand down on the top of Cinders head as he turned around to glaze at it. The blow was so strong that it knocked Cinders to the ground instantly. He pushed himself up, shook his head awake and glared up at the flaming mass. Magmar stood only feet away from him, readying a flamethrower. Cinders quickly covered himself with his wing, using them as a shield as Magmar released a pillar of burning flame. The fire bounced of Cinder's wings harmlessly. He looked over and growled, defiantly at his opponent. Magmar didn't seem concerned at all. Blaine also didn't seem worried by Cinder's strength. He raised a hand, pointed out a long finger and bellowed the words "Thunderpunch!" Magmar suddenly jumped into action, rushing forwards with an arm pulled back. Cinders roared and rushed forwards as well, preparing to use another slash.
"Cinders, no!" Joe called, seeing what was going to happen but Cinders didn't listen. He charged in head lowered and claws out. As he got close he raised them and brought them slashing down towards his opponent. At the same time Magmar brought its fist up, aiming for Cinder's jaw. There was a flash of electricity and suddenly Cinders was sent sailing backwards before he could land his attack. Magmar's attack had hit home, sparking electricity into Cinder's body and sending him rocketing backwards. Joe jumped aside as the heavy form of his charizard skidded backwards across the pitch and hit his podium at full force, cracking it down the sides and causing it to tilt. For several seconds he lay there dazed before finally he began to push himself up again. He was breathing heavily and there was real anger in his eyes. He raised his head and roared furiously, bellowing blue fire from his great mouth as he released his anger. Joe and his friends watched in wonderment, even Blaine was quite surprised. The raw power that was being displayed was colossal. After several seconds Cinders shut his mouth and lowered his head, his dragon rage calming down again. Magmar seemed a little surprised but not too concerned. It just narrowed his eyebrows and punched its fists together.
"Alright Cinders. Try that new move on Magmar!" Joe instructed. Cinders puffed a small ember from his mouth and charged forwards, his throat expanding slightly as it filled with fire. Magmar ran forwards as well, its fist sparking again with electricity. Cinders released his attack and Magmar was covered in purple blue fire which pushed him back and caused some strong damage. It didn't stop it, however as he managed to keep himself moving and struck Cinders in the stomach, hitting him backwards yet again. This time he didn't go fly anywhere near as far back as the Dragon Rage had dulled the power of the electricity in the punch. Quicker this time Cinders got back to his feet, readying a flamethrower in an attempt to keep his opponent back. Magmar however had been waiting for this. As Cinders took in a heavy breath and his stomach expanded and filled with fire, Magmar readied a small amount of fire at the end of his snout. As Cinders opened his jaw to breathe out another pillar of flame Magmar loosed its flame which sped forwards at lightning speed and disappeared inside Cinders mouth, stopping his attack completely. Cinders skidded to a halt, the small flame dancing at the back of his throat. He gulped and the flame went down into his stomach. Immediately he felt a rough burning sensation in his stomach. Smoke began to drift out of his nostrils and his eyes began to slowly water and turn red. He stood there, open eyed for several seconds. Then he began to howl. He ran about, stomping on the ground, the pain from the fire trapped in his belly driving him mad as it burned away at his energy. He roared and bellowed out several more flamethrowers in a desperate attempt to get the fire out. Magmar meanwhile just stood watching the display, arms crossed calmly. Blaine smiled, almost maliciously.
"Good, Magmar. Very good." He complemented quietly. "Now finish the deal with confuse ray." Magmar nodded and turned back to the fight. It released a small dot of ghostly purple light from its mouth which floated forwards towards Cinders and began dancing around him. He seemed a bit too preoccupied however with putting out the fire inside of him. He swatted out at the ghost ball while trying to rub his stomach and calm down the pain. Eventually he ended up spinning around in a circle with one hand on his stomach and the other on his head. Finally, when he felt as if he could take no more he toppled backwards, hitting the ground with another earth shaking thud, his eyes spinning and his stomach aching. Magmar stepped forwards and kicked him in the foot, getting a low, annoyed growl as a response. Joe looked away, disappointed in the outcome.
"Damn it!" He muttered, clenching his fists. Cinders wasn't exactly KO'd but he certainly wasn't in a fit state to keep fighting. Quickly he pulled out Cinders' pokéball and withdrew him from the field. "Down to one pokémon." He told himself, and pulled out his final pokéball. At least he'd saved his best chance for last. He looked up and saw Blaine standing with open arms upwards, smiling at him.
"Well now. This is a turn of events. Such a strong start turned into one pokémon left. I told you you'd need burn heal. I assume you do have one more pokémon, don't you?" He glanced down at Joe's hand, gripping the final pokéball by his side.
"I do." Joe said, calmly considering the strain he felt. Blaine lowered his hand and held one out, gesturing that it was Joe's move. Joe was about to throw the pokéball but then he stopped. "Wait. Before I reveal my finally Pokémon I wish to ask you a question." Blaine raised an eyebrow, intrigued.
"Ask away." He replied. Joe smiled.
"Ok. I want you to tell me what weaknesses fire types have." Joe asked. Blaine looked a little confused.
"I thought I asked you that question." He replied, rubbing his hairless chin. Joe nodded.
"You did, but now I'm asking you it. So come on. What's the answer?" Joe folded his arms, waiting for Blaine's reply. Blaine thought for a few seconds.
"Well that would be water, ground and rock of course." He told him quickly. He then raised his eyebrows and laughed slightly. "Dear boy, you'll have to come up with a better question then that." Joe's smile grew slightly.
"Ok. Next question. What pokémon am I holding in my hand?" He asked. Blaine stopped and looked up at him. His eyebrows raised. He didn't seem to know how to answer this.
"Do I just guess?" He asked. Joe nodded, slowly. "Hmm." He thought. "Well is it strong against fire types?" He asked. Joe nodded. "Is it a Golem?" He asked. Joe shook his head. "Well what about Sandslash?" Joe shook his head again. "Gyarados?" Blaine asked desperately. Again Joe shook his head. Blaine leaned back. "What what is it then?" He asked giving up. "What is your final pokémon?"
"So you give up?" Joe asked, mockingly.
"Yes I give up." Blaine shouted, thumping the podium. "So what is this pokémon?" Joe readied his arm.
"I'll show you." He called and threw the ball into the air. It sailed across the pitch and finally hit the ground, snapping open and releasing a young female, slightly timid looking vaporeon. Nami looked around the field, saw Magmar and recoiled in surprise, covering her face with her tail in defence. Blaine leaned back, raised his head and laughed. He laughed so hard he began to cough till he could hardly breathe.
"Really. You had me guessing just so you could reveal that. A frightened vaporeon!" Nami felt a little bit upset by this comment. She looked over at him, aimer and fired a thin ice beam at his arm, freezing the sleeve solid to the podium. Blaine jumped in surprise and looked down at his now frozen hand. With a swift movement he smashed the ice on the side of the wooden stand and looked down at the now slightly annoyed vaporeon that had attacked him. "Well she has spirit, I'll give her that. Please restrain your pokémon from attacking me in the future." Joe apologised and gave Nami a quick telling of.
"Don't aim for Blaine next time." He told her. Nami nodded thought not happily. "If you win this for me there will be a big portion of Berry Ice-cream for you after." He added. Suddenly Nami looked up, a big smile on her face. That had got her motivated. She yapped happily and Joe smiled at her. "Ok, Nami. let's do this." They both turned to the battle. Blaine was waiting patiently for Joe to ready. When he did he raised his arms up again.
"Magmar, use Overheat!" He commanded. Magmar's skin began to glow red as heat built up in it.
"Use Surf, Nami!" Joe called. Nami created a huge wave of striding water which built up and raised high into the sky over her. The two attacks released and sped forwards colliding into each other. Overheat didn't stand a chance at holding up to it. The heated wave of air hit the water and evaporated in seconds. All it succeeded in doing was heating the oncoming wave up a little. The surf crashed into Magmar, knocking it over with its pure force. Blaine stood, watching in horror as his pokémon was washed aside. In one foul swoop Nami had knocked out his second strongest pokémon. He may have been injured already but still it was very impressive. He quickly changed his expression from shocked to impressed.
"Well." He mumbled, rubbing the back of his head. "I must admit I didn't see that coming." Clapping came from the other side of the room. It was coming from Winter and Rocky who were cheering wildly as Nami executed her attack perfectly. Even Ralph had gotten back up into the air to see the fight properly now. Her attack had been so powerful it had surprise even him. It had been such a wave. An Awesome Wave! Joe smiled.
"Good work Nami." He applauded. Nami looked back and did a mock bow as best she could. Blaine turned to his Arcanine who had been stationary and silent during the entire match. It had been watching carefully, picking out all the small details on both how Joe fought and how his pokémon fought. Blaine stroked his long greying main and patted him on the head. Arcanine gave a low, puppy like growl as he did so.
"Your turn." Blaine whispered in his ear. Arcanine smiled evilly and jumped into the arena. As it landed on all fours it began to prowl its side of the field, howling like a wolf at the full moon, and bearing its teeth. Upon sight of it Nami immediately fell back into her timid mindset. She backed up and held her head down. Blaine chuckled. "Down to one each." He announced. "Now for my final question, trainer. Above all others." He raised his hands out dramatically. "Who's going to win?"
Joe and Blaine were locked in a deadly stare, neither blinking as they anticipated the others actions. Nami however was keeping her gaze well away from Arcanine's. She was currently too afraid to look it in the eyes in case it snapped. Some pokémon like Arcanine had a tendency to do that sometimes. Blaine pumped a fist in the air.
"My turn!" He shouted. He then pointed a finger at Nami. "Arcanine, use Extremespeed!" He commanded. Arcanine tensed its legs and then suddenly it was gone. The only thing left where it had been was a blurred white outline. Nami barely had time to see all this as she was struck in the side a split second later. She rolled over a couple of times and looked up, bewildered. Arcanine was standing where she had been, glaring down at her, fire wafting from the edge of its snarling mouth. "Flamethrower!" Blaine commanded again.
"Look out, Nami!" Joe called. Nami jumped aside just as Arcanine released its attack and sent the long cloud of singeing flames down at the floor she had been lying on. "Ok, now use Ice Beam and freeze it solid!" Joe commanded, getting slightly pumped by his excitement. Nami did so, firing Ice Beam at Arcanine's front feet and freezing them solid in a lump of ice. For a few seconds Arcanine tried to pull its legs out before finally deciding to melt it off. As it began to breathe more fire onto it Nami struck it in the side with quick attack, taking it by surprise. She rolled over it as it kicked her of and to the side and got back up onto its four large dog paws.
"Overheat!" Blaine called. The tension between the trainers and their pokémon was heavy. Arcanine glowed red as heated air swelled around it.
"Acid Armour, Quickly!" Joe instructed. Nami did so, small particles of a strange acidic substance oozing out of her skin and onto her coat. The liquid dried and solidified, creating a watery purple haze around her skin, hardening it and protecting it from serious damage. Arcanine released and its attack hit Nami head on. He winced and shut her eyes but most of the attack simply passed by her. She took a little damage but thanks to her new shell she had withstood almost all of it. The purple acid shattered away with the heat wave. She no longer needed it there anymore. She yapped, defiantly and waited for her opponent to make another move. Arcanine frowned at her, annoyed. For an elderly pokémon he was certainly very strong.
"Sunny Day!" Blaine barked. Arcanine fired a small but bright orb of red heated light into the air. It hovered over the field, illuminating the room and making it much brighter and much hotter.
"Hydro Pump!" Joe called. Nami gathered water in her mouth and released a huge cannon full at Arcanine. As the torrent flew forwards in a beam in began to evaporate and shrink till it became little more than a water gun. The remaining attack simply splashed over Arcanine and caused it mild inconvenience. Nami stopped the attack and looked in confusion at the evaporating steam around here. Here attack had weakened in the sunlight. Blaine was chuckling to himself.
"Sunny day. Weakens water type moves while strengthens fire type moves. Nifty for these little situations." He explained, not exactly to Joe but more to the entire room. Joe cursed under his breath. He'd have to think through this battle carefully. "Fire Blast!" Blaine commanded suddenly. Joe's brain snapped into sudden immediate action.
"Nami, use Ice beam, quick! Aim for its mouth!" He shouted. Nami looked unsure but did as she was told. As Arcanine was about to unleash its attack Nami fired an Ice beam directly into its open mouth, freezing it solid. Arcanine yapped in surprise as its upper jaw was locked into place. Inside its mouth sat a huge crystal of ice which stopped it closing. Arcanine growled and shook its head, trying to loosen the shard and spit it out but it would not move. Finally it resorted to using a flamethrower, melting the ice into water and then boiling it into steam. Finally when it could move its mouth again it turned to Nami. Its expression of anger turned to surprise when it saw the huge wave that sat behind her. It reached over fifteen feet high and was already beginning to curve over. Suddenly it came roaring forwards, toppling down onto Arcanine like an avalanche. For a while it disappeared under the water. When the attack subsided Arcanine lay still conscious on its stomach. It slowly pushed itself back up onto its feet, eyes closer and wincing with the effort. Nami watched it carefully as it stumbled forwards. Suddenly its eyes snapped open and stared straight into Nami's. Nami stepped back in fear. Its eyes were red and enraged and staring straight at her. She had looked it in the eyes at the worst possible time. Suddenly, without command, Arcanine sped forwards, almost a blur, running, screaming towards Nami. "Look out!" Joe called but he was miles to late. The second he finished saying the first word Arcanine struck, ramming Nami over onto her side and pinning her down with its huge paws. It glared at her, viciously, fire crackling its eyes and saliva dripping from its teeth. It roared in her face, filling her nose with the horrific smell of rotten meat that dogs always seemed to suffer from. As it did so however Nami saw an opportunity and took it. As it was about to finish its intimidating she fired a small burst of water from her mouth and into Arcanine's. Its jaw slammed shut as a reaction and it stared at her, unthinking for a few seconds. It suddenly leaned to the side and began spitting, trying to get the freezing water out of its mouth. While it was distracted Nami fired another jet of water, this time a much bigger on, straight into Arcanine's side, knocking it back and off of her. The large fiery dog hit the ground a few feet away and looked up in surprise. Nami was getting back to her feet.
"What?" Blaine asked loudly. Joe smiled at him.
"That was revenge for Cinders. You use horrible tricks then you'll get them used back at you." He smirked. Blaine growled and began shouting at Arcanine.
"Finish it!" He bellowed. Arcanine stood back up and charged again, cloaking himself in fire and heat, attempting to use Fire Blast and Overheat at the same time. Now was Joe's chance. A move like that would use a lot of power. If Nami could dodge it the Arcanine would be easy to take out. If she couldn't then Blaine would most likely win. Then he remembered the floating fire ball above the battlefield.
"Of course." He muttered. If he could take it out then Arcanine would have less power on its side, meaning it would be tougher for it to make an accurate shot. Quickly he turned back to the field and began commanding. "Nami, use Hydro Pump on the Sunny Day! Aim at the sphere!" He called. Nami looked up and saw the ball hanging above her. She readied an attack. Arcanine was getting closer. Then she released, sending a long burst of quickly evaporating water up at the flame. One small drop made it that high. It flew up and hit the fire ball, evaporating instantly. A second later the ball faded away and the room became a lot darker and colder. Nami looked back at Arcanine who was so close now, but slowing down gradually. "Dodge!" Joe shouted, tension streaming around him. At the last second Nami jumped aside, narrowly avoiding singeing her feet on Arcanine's fire. Arcanine kept running and turned, heading back to attack. Now, use Surf!" Joe called again. Nami stopped and water began to gather under her. It rose higher and higher as the water seeped from the ground, the air, her skin and creative a massive looming wave of water. Arcanine still kept running, unable to stop. Then, the watery wall fell. Heavy droplets of water dropped from the air all around Arcanine as the entire wave lurched forwards. Finally arcanine released its attack, sending a heat wave and a fire blast spiralling towards the water. The fire attacks sped off, hit their target… and evaporated. Arcanine could only stair in fear and disbelief as the wave collapsed on top of it. Within seconds the entire battlefield was covered in water. When it left all that remained was an unconscious Arcanine and a very proud looking Nami. She would definitely be getting Ice-cream now. Blaine was just standing amazed, his jaw metaphorically touching the floor.
"Wow." He exclaimed. There was a long silence, broken only by the cheering of Winter and Rocky from the sides.
"Amazing!" They cried. "Brilliant!"
"Well done Nami." Joe complemented his pokémon. Nami smiled back at him. She rushed to his side and nuzzled his hand as he kneeled down and stroked her head. Ralph even joined in the congratulations, patting her on the bag and giving her a friendly hug. Blaine stepped away from his podium and helped Arcanine back onto his feet. He was still conscious but he was going to need a little help walking around for a while. He walked slowly over to Joe and held out a hand. Joe took it and shook it.
"Congratulation." Blaine told him. "You've just beaten your seventh gym leader." He pulled his hand away, leaving something shiny in Joe's palm. He looked down at it. It was a gym badge, shaped like a small ember of fire with a dark red gem centre. Joe took the badge and added it to the others he had already collected. Only one spot was left vacant. "The Volcano badge shows your victory over me, both in battle and in mind." Blaine smiled. "The other Gym Leader's were right. You were a worthy opponent." Joe looked up at him and nodded gratefully.
"Thank you. He said.
A little while later and the group were back in the pokémon centre getting healed up. The nurse had been kind enough to set up a little area where Joe's team could eat their reward, with a little help from Joe himself. Currently they were all tucking into a selection of different berries crushed and whipped into a cream. Even Pippy and Pitt had been given a bowl even though they didn't take part in the battle. Joe meanwhile was standing with Winter and Rocky who were still congratulating him on his win.
"I had no Idea Nami could create that kind of power." Winter said, astonished, staring over at the vaporeon who currently was trying to lick a bit of cream of her nose. Joe smiled and nodded in agreement.
"To be honest neither did I." He told them, honestly. "I think it was the fact I promised her a reward. Of course after I did that I couldn't leave the others out or they'd get Jealous." He chuckled. Winter chuckled as well.
"Just one left now." Rocky told him. "Scary isn't it. To think just yesterday you were battling me and loosing."
"I wasn't really loosing." Joe argued, cheekily. "More like letting you win." Rocky rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, right." He muttered. Bill walked in through the doors now followed by a ship captain. The two of them walked over to the group and stopped beside them.
"We're ready to head off now if you are." He told them. "We won't be going far. We can easily get to the Sevii Islands and back in a day via boat." The group looked around each other. They all seemed ready to head off.
"I'll just gather my team." Joe told him. Bill nodded.
"Meet up outside by the dock." He told him. Rocky and Winter followed after Bill and the Captain as they walked from the room and outside into the city. Joe quickly rushed over to his team and got their attention.
"Come on, guys. Time to go." He said. All six pokémon looked up at him, sad expressions on their faces. Most of them hadn't finished their meal. "You can take them with you." Joe told them quickly. "Just hurry, we're holding everybody up." Quickly all six pokémon slurped down the ice-cream and returned to their pokéballs. Only Ralph remained out, licking the last residue of cream of his face. He and Joe ran out of the pokémon centre, waving a final goodbye to the nurse as they did so. They ran down the stone pavement towards the docks. When they reached it they saw Bill and the others already waiting inside a small but fast looking sports ship. Joe and Ralph quickly climbed on board and the ship set of south east, heading for the Sevii Islands. As they sailed away a figure watched them from the volcano's ridge. Using his binoculars he picked out the five figures, three of them the ones he had been following since Viridian. He moved his sight further ahead and saw Three Island in the distance, its forests just visible on the horizon. A pokémon grunted next to him. He put the binoculars down and turned to Golbat who was looking questioningly at him. The figure sighed.
"They're heading for the Sevii islands." He told it. Golbat nodded, understandingly, shutting its jaw completely as it lent forwards. The figure turned back to the ocean. Without the binoculars the boat was just a speck on the water. He smiled to himself. "Only 36 hours to go now. See you at Silph Co." He stood up and raised out a hand. Golbat took off and gripped its feet onto his arm, perching there for several seconds. The figure turned to his pokémon. "Fly me to Saffron City." He commanded. Golbat took off again, this time grabbing it's master by the collar and lifting him of the air. The two of them flew off into the sky heading north towards the storm which loomed over Kanto's biggest city. It was there that the final battle would happen. The final hour before he would return.
