"Don't worry, I have another Pokémon ready just for you," Whitney teased, stepping back to her battle platform.
"I'm ready for anything you've got," Free retorted, taking his place and grabbing a Poké Ball. The referee returned to his place as well.
"This battle will be a two on two Pokémon single battle between the challenger, Free and the gym leader, Whitney. Only the challenger may make substitutions. No time limit. Begin!" The referee shouted, holding up two flags.
"Miltank, you're turn!" She shouted. The pink cow she had been dancing with earlier when they had first walked into the gym skipped onto the battlefield.
"Mila!" She cried happily. Free grinned at her Pokémon choice and pulled out his Pokédex.
"Miltank, the Milk Cow Pokémon. Normal-type. Miltank gives over five gallons of milk on a daily basis. Its milk is packed with nutrition, making the ultimate beverage for the sick or weary.
"She's so cute!" Heather commented.
"Go, Wooper!" He shouted, throwing his Poké Ball.
"Woopa?" Wooper looked at his surroundings in a daze. His eyes glazed over as he stared at the ceiling.
"Why is he going with Wooper?" Clover asked.
Heather sighed, "He's trying to give as much training to his Pokémon as possible."
"Maybe, but not in a gym battle," Deka lectured.
"You shouldn't use a Pokémon if it is poorly trained. I really do hope that this isn't going to be your whole strategy," Whitney told Free. "I want an awesome battle!
Free shook his head, "I'll put faith into every single one of my Pokémon!" He gave a quick look at Wooper, whose eyes never left the ceiling. "Even… Wooper…"
"Miltank, use rollout!" Whitney commanded. Miltank immediately rolled into a ball and quickly flung herself towards Wooper whose eyes opened wide at the sight of the rolling, pink ball heading straight towards him.
"Wooper, get out of the way and use water gun!" Free commanded. Wooper turned to move, but tripped over his own tail, blasting water into the air. It didn't even faze Miltank who ran right over Wooper.
Wooper was indented into the ground and couldn't move. His eyes were closed, signaling that he was done.
"Wooper is unable to battle," the referee announced.
"Wooper, return," Free muttered. Wooper was absorbed into the Poké Ball and Free held it close. "Maybe next time…" He put back Wooper's Poké Ball and threw another into the air. "Go, Umbreon!"
The Poké Ball exploded open and Umbreon landed on the ground. "Bre…" Umbreon growled at Miltank who had stopped rolling.
"Okay, now this is a dumb move! You haven't even had time to train Umbreon yet!" Heather snapped. "You should've gone with Quilava or Chikorita!"
"How dumb do you get?" Deka asked Clover with a cocky smile.
Clover shook her head, "You can do it, Umbreon!"
"Miltank, use rollout!" Whitney shouted. Miltank once again rolled into a ball. She came up way faster to Umbreon than she had to Wooper.
"Umbreon, quick attack!" Free commanded. Umbreon barely dodged Miltank's attack. She crashed into a wall, but wasn't affected by the blow at all.
"Again, Miltank!" Whitney ordered.
"Mila mila!" Miltank smiled and rolled again.
"Umbreon, tackle attack now!" Free yelled. Umbreon lunged at the pink cow, but was flung across the field on impact.
"We can't attack while she's moving that fast…" Free muttered to himself. "But there's nothing else we can do…"
"Miltank, direction change!" Whitney shouted before Miltank hit another wall. Umbreon struggled to get up off the ground and braced himself for another rollout attack.
"Quick attack!" Free shouted again. But it was too late. Miltank had an abrupt speed change and was heading towards Umbreon faster than he could move. Miltank collided with Umbreon, sending him flying once more. Umbreon lay in a helpless heap on the ground.
"Umbreon on is unable to battle. Victory goes to the gym leader, Whitney!" The referee held up a flag to Whitney who cheered and began to dance with Miltank who didn't look the slightest bit hurt.
"Return, Umbreon. You tried your best," Free whispered.
Whitney smiled, "I'll gladly accept a rematch challenge if you train hard.
"He'll have to train hard if he's going to battle like that," Deka mumbled.
Heather approached Free and held out her hand to pat him on the back.
"No! Let's go, Chikorita!" Free yelled before running out the gym's doors with Chikorita following him. Heather, Deka, and Clover all chased after him. By the time they got outside it was still pouring, and Free and Chikorita were nowhere to be found.
"What should we do?" Heather cried. "He could've ran off anywhere!"
"He'll come back," Deka patted her shoulder. "But I never knew he was such a rusty trainer…"
"Deka!" Clover hit her brother.
"Ouch!" Deka rubbed his arm and glared at Clover. "We should probably get inside…"
Meanwhile, Free was running through the rain, towards the Pokémon Center. He ran inside and found Nurse Joy at the counter. She caught sight of how drenched he was, "Oh my! You're soaked!"
Free nodded and held out his Poké Balls, "Can you please heal up my Pokémon. I have something urgent that I have to do."
Nurse Joy quickly healed his Pokémon as he left a message to give to his friends if they came to the Pokémon Center looking for him. Once his Pokémon were healed, he ran back outside and out of town. He ran to the edge of Ilex Forest, looking for any Pokémon to train against.
Free stood at the edge heaving from the heavy running. "Bring it on! I challenge any Pokémon to battle me!" Almost immediately, a Pidgey appeared from the trees and flew towards him.
"Go, Umbreon!" he shouted while he threw his Poké Ball into the air. Umbreon emerged. He had a look on his face as though he was sleepy.
"Bre…" Umbreon sighed, ready for battle.
"Umbreon, quick attack!" Free commanded. One quick attack easily took down the Pidgey.
"We have to find stronger Pokémon to train against. All of us!" Free told Umbreon and Chikorita while throwing his different Poké Balls into the air. Each of his Pokémon circled around him before Free ran deeper into the forest. All of his Pokémon followed, ready to get stronger for their trainer.
A/N So, Free suffers his first loss... Oh well! We'd like to say thanks to everyone who has been supporting us throughout this story (All two of you!) and that after Chapter 30 we will put a small stop to posting chapters for this story and instead start posting out 10 part "Movie" story. This is for the main writer of this story to get as ahead as possible (In all honest, we're currently at chapter 70 but we want to get as far ahead as possible so it is easier to keep posting). Please do give that a check out in two weeks if you would.
Much Love, JohtoBlue
