Maura tapped her finger on the table she was sitting at in the Pokemon Center. "I hope Davin's okay... he's been gone for awhile now."
She thought like that until someone sat in the seat that was opposite of her side and said, "I'm back."
"Davin!" She looked up excitedly, but suddenly gasped when she saw that the boy had a large, red bump on his forehead. "Oh my gosh! What happened?!"
He gave a sheepish smile. "Let's just say I had a little... slip n' fall."
Maura shook her head. "I told you to be careful, didn't I?" She dug into her handbag and pulled out a purple cloth. "Now if only I had some ice to put in it to make the swelling go down..."
"I'll take care of that," Davin said as he pulled a Poke ball out of his backpack. "Kalis, come on out!" With a single throw, his new Ice Pokemon appeared on the table. "Do you mind using your Icy Wind to create ice cubes on this cloth?"
"Sno!" It grinned. Facing the cloth, it released its chilling wind on to it, creating small blocks of ice. Davin wrapped the cloth around them and held it to the bump on his head. "Ahh~. That's a little better." he said.
"So this Snorunt is the Pokemon you caught at Shoal Cave?" Maura asked.
"Yep. And I'm planning on doing my best to make it as strong as it can be."
"Nice. But where'd you come up with the name 'Kalis?'"
He shrugged. "I don't know. It just seems like a good name to me." He turned to the Snorunt. "You like it, don't you?"
It smiled and nodded. "Sno~runt!"
Maura chuckled. "Well, as soon as that bump is recovered, we'll head straight for the gym."
"Right! We don't want our badges to wait any longer now, do we?"
"Of course not." she grinned.
After a few minutes, the duo made their way towards the gym and entered it, seeing that the ceiling was decorated like the solar system and the walls had a dark blue color.
"Cool! I've never seen a gym like this before." Davin commented.
"Me neither. It's way more exotic than most gyms I've seen." Maura added.
"Why, thank you..." A voice said.
"...very much." Another voice said.
They both turned to see two blue-haired identical-looking people that wore light blue outfits with red coloring on some parts.
"Welcome to the Mossdeep gym!" They both said together at once.
"I'm Tate!" The boy said.
"I'm Liza!" The girl said.
"We're the gym leaders!"
"What?!" Davin exclaimed. "There are TWO gym leaders?!"
Tate laughed. "You wouldn't be surprised at how many times we've had that reaction from challengers."
"Yeah, you'd think everybody would know that there are two gym leaders here by now." Liza said.
"Huh. You know, now that I think about, those trainers at Lilycove DID mention something about there being two gym leaders." Maura said.
"And you waited until NOW to tell me?!" Davin shouted.
"Well, enough of the chit-chat. Let's get this battle going!" Tate said.
"So, which of you is going first?" Liza asked.
"Uhh..." Davin and Maura stared at each other in confusion. Then, Davin said, "Wait! There are two of you. So does that mean that you fight in double battles?"
"That's right!" They both nodded.
Davin smiled. "Okay, then. How about we make this a tag battle? If we win, you have to give a badge to both of us!"
The twins looked at each other for a moment and nodded. "Sure. I don't see why not." Tate spoke.
"You've got yourself a deal!" Liza said.
"Great!" Davin looked at his partner. "Maura, you ready?"
She nodded. "Let's do it!"
The challengers stepped on to their side of the battlefield while introducing themselves. The judge explained the rules when she went to the side of the field. "This tag battle between the Gym Leaders, Tate and Liza, and the challengers, Davin and Maura, will now commence. Each trainer may use two Pokemon. The winner is decided when all Pokemon on either side is unable to battle." She crossed her flags. "Begin!"
Tate got the first call. "Claydol, let's go!" A black doll creature with multiple red eyes and yellow beaks levitated on to the field.
"Xatu, come out as well!" A tall green bird with white and red wings appeared on Liza's side of the field.
"Claydol..." Davin opened his red Pokedex.
"And Xatu..." Maura opened her pink Pokedex.
"Claydol, the Clay Doll Pokemon. Claydol is the evolved form of Baltoy. Its arms are separate from its body and are kept float because of its manipulation of psychic power."
"Xatu, the Mystic Pokemon. Xatu is the evolved form of Natu. It has enigmatic power of foreseeing the future. Some people believe it is an emissary from another world."
"Just like you said, Maura. They use Psychic type Pokemon."
"Yeah." She nodded. "But we won't let that stop us!" She threw a Poke ball. "Go, Mightyena!" The ball opened and a big, black and gray dog came out of it.
Davin's Pokedex
"Mightyena, the Bite Pokemon. Mightyena is the evolved form of Poochyena. When in the wild, Mightyena form packs and can defeat enemies with skilled and coordinated teamwork. It will never defy the orders of a strong leader."
"Your Poochyena evolved! That's great!"
Maura nodded. "I was a bit hesitant at evolving it because I thought it would lose its cute appearance for contests, but in the end, I decided to go for it."
Davin took out his Poke ball. "All right! Kalis, I choose you!" The Snow Hat Pokemon made its battle debut in a flash of white light.
"What are you thinking?! You just caught Kalis! Shouldn't you use a Pokemon that you've already battled with?"
"Don't worry. I've seen what Kalis can do. I'm sure it'll do great."
Maura sighed. "I hope so..."
"Claydol, use Earthquake!" It pointed its arms towards the ground and used its psychic powers to create shockwaves that passed through the ground towards the opponent.
"Dodge! Both of you!" The trainers shouted at once, their Pokemon following commands by jumping in the air.
"Xatu, use Psychic!" The bird's eyes glowed light blue, causing Kalis and Mightyena to glow light blue as well. However, the latter was unaffected by this and landed on the ground on its feet while the former was being levitated.
"Mightyena, use Shadow Ball on Xatu!" A dark sphere formed in the dog's mouth and exploded on Xatu when it was launched, canceling the bird's hold on Kalis and making it fall to the ground.
"Kalis, you okay?" Davin asked. It responded by standing up. "That's good. All right, use Icy Wind!" A sparkling cold wind blew across the field, making the opposing side flinch.
"Mightyena, Sucker Punch!" With dashing speed, Mightyena was able to hit both Claydol and Xatu with swift tackles in the blink of an eye.
"Not bad, but you'll have to do better than that." Tate said. "Claydol, Ancient Power on Mightyena!" A clear white sphere formed in its arms and was thrown towards the designated target.
"Xatu, use Confuse Ray!" Its eyes glowed purple as beams of the same color shot out from its eyes and hit Mightyena, causing it to become confused and having Ancient Power hit it as well.
"Mightyena!" Maura gasped.
"Kalis, use Bite on Xatu!" Its teeth started to glow white as it came towards it.
"Send it back with Psychic!" Claydol's arms glowed light blue and pointed at Kalis, forcing it backwards with its power.
"Oh man. This isn't going to be as easy as I thought." Davin said.
"I told you that you should've used a different Pokemon."
"It's not that!" he argued. "It's their tricky psychic combinations that I'm worried about."
"Xatu, Calm Mind!" The bird Pokemon closed its eyes as a blue aura surrounded its body, increasing its Special attack and defense.
"Mightyena, snap out of it! I need you to use Sucker Punch!" Despite her call, the Dark type Pokemon was still dazed from Xatu's Confuse Ray.
"Stop Xatu with Icy Wind!"
"Claydol, Light Screen!" The black doll shielded its partner and it created a golden box around them that blocked Kalis's attack. "Ha! Now, all of your Special attacks will be blocked for the next few tuns!"
"Dang it!" Davin cursed to himself. "It's like they have a defense for everything we can throw at them."
"Not everything!" Maura said as Mightyena's confusion wore off. "Sucker Punch!" Like a jet, Mightyena took off and tackled both of its foes before any of them could move.
"That Sucker Punch is a real pain," Liza said to Tate. "We've got to do something about it."
"But how?" Tate asked. "Since its a Dark-type Pokemon, none of our Psychic moves will have any effect."
Davin thought for a moment. "Well, since Light Screen makes our Special attacks useless, then we'll just have to go Physical! Kalis, use Ice Fang on Xatu!" The Snorunt leaped in the air and came at the bird with its teeth glowing light blue.
Liza grinned. "Still haven't learned, have you? Xatu, use Psychic to send it back!" Its eyes began to glow.
"Believe me, I've learned." He grinned as well. "Do it, Maura!"
"Right! Use Sucker Punch on Xatu!" Mightyena canceled Xatu's Psychic with a body blow, leaving it wide open for a frost bite on its head by Kalis.
"Xatu!" Liza shouted.
"Now, Mightyena! End it with Assurance!" It ran towards Xatu with its right front paw glowing purple.
Tate panicked. "Claydol, Earthquake!" The shockwaves were dealt, but Mightyena jumped and smacked Xatu's face with its glowing paw, making it fall to the ground with unconsciousness.
"No, Xatu!" Liza screamed.
"Now, Kalis! Ice Fang on Claydol!"
"Mightyena, Sucker Punch!"
Claydol was rendered immobile from Sucker Punch and Kalis bit down on its head, causing ice to spread. At that moment, Light Screen appeared around Claydol and it shattered to pieces.
"Yes! Light Screen has worn off!" Davin turned to Maura and they both nodded.
"Kalis, use Icy Wind!"
"Mightyena, Shadow Ball!"
The respective attacks were launched together and collided into an explosion upon Claydol, making it fall right next to Xatu, unconscious.
"Claydol and Xatu are both unable to battle! The first battle goes to the challengers!"
"All right!" They both shouted.