"Are you stuck already?" Lacey called. I could barely hear her over the pounding rain. Her tone was actually concerned instead of mocking like I had expected.
"Not a chance!" I could handle this minor setback. "Grovyle, let's go!"
"Ludicolo, energy ball!"
"Grovyle, energy ball!"
The two green balls collided and detonated. This was the moment I decided that I now had the advantage. There was no way that that thing could move quickly how it was built. Grovyle, on the other hand, raced effortlessly over the grassy field. Ludicolo fired another energy ball. Grovyle easily sidestepped it.
"Leaf blade!" I yelled as loud as I could.
Even through the sheets of rain, the glowing blades on Grovyle's arms were easy to make out. My pokemon raced right past the ludicolo, raking it's blade across the round pokemon's body. Ludicolo lost it's balance for a moment but then recovered. Grovyle advanced again but was diverted off course by a shower of razor leaves.
I knew that I needed to get rid of this ludicolo. It's rain dance was a serious threat to my chances of winning. "Grovyle, fury cutter!"
The green blades disappeared and Grovyle's claws extended into glowing red scythes. Pivoting in the now muddy grass, it launched itself at the bigger pokemon. Spinning and slashing, Grovyle danced around Ludicolo. Each landed slash made Grovyle's claws get bigger and more powerful. At first Ludicolo didn't even try to defend itself which puzzled me. Then it blasted Grovyle in the face with a very well-timed energy ball. It must've picked up on a pattern Grovyle had that I hadn't noticed.
"Grovyle, return!" It took me two tries to tag the pokemon with the laser from it's ball through the rain. The rain that was beginning to let up a little, I noted. "Pikachu, go!"
I hadn't originally even wanted to put Pikachu into my team but less effective attacks seemed like a better idea than Sandslash who was weak to grass. With the arrival of Ludicolo and it's water-typing, that put Pikachu at least on equal footing.
"Thunderbolt!"
The lightning tore through the rain drops and just clipped Ludicolo. The big pokemon spun around and fell. It was surprisingly quick in rolling back to it's feet and firing off a water pulse. I had Pikachu dodge it with a quick attack.
"Ludicolo, return!" Lacey had apparently seen enough. "Back to you, Torterra!"
I frowned. Pikachu was essentially unable to injure the ground-typed Torterra. I had no choice but to call the electric pokemon back. Even though the rain was letting up, it was still falling so I really had one option. "Heracross, let's go!"
"Hera! Hera-cross!" the bug pokemon shouted as it recognized the type of pokemon it's opponent was. Apparently Heracross was not a big fan of torterras these days.
"Leaf storm!" Lacey yelled and Torterra's tree exploded with glowing leaves.
"Avoid it and attack with aerial ace!" I countered.
Heracross blasted into the air. The glowing leaves pounded into the ground where it had just stood. Heracross made a wide turn and began to pick up speed. Torterra tried to adjust it's aim but by that point Heracross was moving much too fast. It slammed into the grass pokemon, knocking it up onto two legs.
"Grab it!" Lacey shouted, clenching her fists. "Crunch!"
Torterra lurched around and tried to bite down on Heracross.
"Close combat!"
Torterra got a punch to the nose for it's trouble. Heracross then slammed it's horn down on top of Torterra's head, driving it down into the ground. The bug pokemon swung one leg around and swatted Torterra aside with a vicious kick. Heracross closed in and delivered a series of thundering blows to Torterra's side. The big grass pokemon stumbled again and crashed.
Then the rain stopped.
"Heracross, return!" I yelled as warm sunlight washed over me. "Charmeleon! Flamethrower!"
Charmeleon's feet had barely landed on the ground before it was shooting fire across the field. Not up on more than two feet yet, Torterra was unable to move. It was completely basted in flames. I had a good feeling about this battle now.
Then something unexpected happened.
Charmeleon's fire began to retreat.
I couldn't figure out what was going on until a glowing green storm became more clear beyond the edge of the flamethrower. Torterra was actually beating back the flamethrower with a leaf storm! For a moment I was at a loss for words. The power that it must've taken for a grass-type attack to beat back a fire-typed attack was staggering. The two attacks detonated each other.
"I told you I was going to be using my strong pokemon!" Lacey was practically jumping up and down. "You're going to need more than just fire to me! Torterra, giga impact!"
I had never seen a torterra run before. It was extremely frightening to see something that big pick up that much speed. A purple energy orb formed around it's body with orange streaks spiraling away from the front. I could feel the power even from that far way.
"Charmeleon, flamethrower!"
Torterra just kept on chugging right through the fire. It couldn't have felt good but the power of giga impact had turned Torterra into some kind of juggernaut. The grass pokemon slammed into Charmeleon. The power it had built up detonated. Charmeleon was hurled across the field. It bounced once and then crashed into a tree. The tree groaned with the impact.
As my pokemon struggled to get up, I spun back around to watch Torterra continue it's onslaught. Only it didn't move. It was like it had been frozen in time. My eyes got big as understanding dawned. Torterra had to recharge from giga impact!
"Charmeleon return!" I called. Hope was coursing through my veins. I hadn't wanted to get this deep into my team already but it was my best shot at putting Torterra away. "Steelix, your turn!"
I heard Lacey squeak as Steelix rose to it's full height on the battlefield. I couldn't believe that she'd be intimidated by my pokemon so it was obvious she knew what Steelix could do if it knew the right attacks. It did.
"Ice fang!"
Two jagged bolts of blue energy raced out from Steelix's mouth. Torterra roared in pain as they hit home, apparently done recharging. It tried to move away but all it did was change where Steelix's attack was hitting. The ice fang slid down Torterra's body and towards it's front leg where a giant chunk of ice formed. Torterra was suddenly jerked back in it's attempt to escape. It's foot was frozen to the ground.
Steelix loomed over the trapped pokemon and I shouted, "Iron tail!"
The blow was strong enough to separate Torterra from it's icy bonds. It was airborne for a dozen or so yards, impressive when you consider it weighed over six-hundred pounds. The ground shook when it landed and I lost my balance for a moment. Then I had Steelix use rock tomb. A giant pillar of rock ripped up through the ground underneath Torterra and hurled it into the sky. This landing impact was even more violent.
"No way!" I roared. Torterra was somehow still trying to get back to it's feet! "Steelix, use ice fang!"
Too weak to resist, a thin layer of ice began forming over Torterra's body. It called out in pain and using what had to be the last of it's energy, shattered the ice.
"Giga drain!" Lacey shouted.
The jagged peaks of rock on Torterra's back glowed green and then began to stretch out. They managed to wrap around the very end of Steelix's tail. They began to pulse back towards Torterra and Steelix roared in pain. My pokemon was having it's energy drained. With it's tail immobilized, three of it's attacks were neutralized as well.
"Ice fang!" It was my only hope. "Aim for the giga drain spot!"
The two blue bolts slammed into the green tendrils and exploded. The green tendrils withdrew and formed back into rocks. Torterra looked a little more fresh but it was still near the end of it's energy.
"Steelix, return!" I was really flying by the seat of my pants now. "Heracross, come back!"
There was no movement for a heartbeat as the two pokemon stared each other down. It kind of reminded me of a standoff in an old west movie.
"Torterra, leaf storm!"
"Heracross, horn attack!"
Heracross took to the air and managed to swerve out of the way of the brunt of the storm. It got clipped by a handful of leaves but kept right on flying. The bug pokemon drove it's big horn into Torterra and drove it back a few steps.
The end was near. I could feel it. "Close combat!"
Heracross batted Torterra's head from side to side with a pair of stiff cross jabs. A flying knee staggered the big grass pokemon. It weakly tried to bite at Heracross but the bug pokemon jumped up and drove both feet into Torterra's face. Lacey's pokemon's legs began to buckle and it's back legs gave out. A mighty horn strike and a powerful double handed uppercut made the front ones give out too.
"Torterra is unable to battle!" the ref announced. "Heracross is the winner!"
Heracross posed triumphantly. I didn't want to laugh but I couldn't help it.
"Well done!" Lacey congratulated me. "That took some quick thinking to string together that much constant switching and battling! You kept me guessing!"
I tossed her a casual salute. "I do my best."
She gave me a big grin and held up a poke ball. "Ludicolo, come back!"
I quickly got Heracross off the field. From experience, I knew that using close combat seriously lowered Heracross' defensive capabilities. "Pikachu, your turn again!"
Before I could issue, Ludicolo was back doing the hula. Thick clouds filled the sky again. I threw my head back and sighed as the rains started again. Then a though struck me: why was she making it rain anyway? Charmeleon was already less effective due to Lacey's pokemon's type anyway.
"Ludicolo, return!" I was apparently getting my answer. "Go, Exeggutor!"
Exeggutor gave Ludicolo a run for it's money in the bizarre appearances category. It was literally a walking coconut tree. Light brown with rings going all the way up to where a series of light brown heads ringed the top below a crop of long leaves. Grass pokemon are weird.
For a moment I wasn't quite sure what to do. I knew that this newest pokemon wasn't just a grass-type. Torterra had also been a ground-type and Ludicolo was part water-type. There was just no way. However, with the rain still falling I couldn't bring out my pokedex to check my theory without risking serious damage to the device. In the end, there was really only one thing to do.
"Pikachu, thunderbolt!"
A streak of lightning seared through the rain.
I could barely make out Lacey waving her hand. "Light screen!"
Even with the downpour, I could make out the light blue glow that formed in all of Exeggutor's eyes. A shimmering gold box appeared around the grass pokemon as the thunderbolt came near. The electric attack smashed into the golden energy and streamed around it, like a river going around a big rock. When the lightning bolt was gone, the golden box faded but I was pretty sure I hadn't seen the last of it.
"Light screen…" I muttered to myself. "I'm thinking that reduces special damage? Yeah, that sounds about right. Geez, listen to me talking to myself! Pikachu, time to change tactics! Iron tail!"
Pikachu tore across the wet grass. Rain sizzled when it came into contact with energy the electric pokemon's tail was glowing with. Pikachu leapt into the air, somersaulting forward to bring it's tail down on the big grass pokemon.
"Psychic!"
Just like that I had my answer.
The light blue glow returned to Exeggutor's eyes and an aura of the same color appeared around Pikachu. All the electric pokemon's momentum was killed and it hung suspended in midair. My pokemon squirmed but it couldn't seem to break free.
"Not good! Thunderbolt!"
Pikachu erupted in lightning again. The light screen returned, filtering the brunt of the damage away from Exeggutor. It had probably only felt a slight tickle.
Lacey jerked her head to the side. Exeggutor's eyes pulsed and Pikachu was flung in the direction Lacey had indicated. Pikachu was slammed into a tree and then pealed back off by the psychic grip. The blue eyes pulsed again and Pikachu was pounded into the wet earth.
I called to my pokemon to break free but it was no use.
"Leaf storm!" Lacey yelled.
The spiral of glowing green leaves washed over my immobilized Pikachu. When the wave of leaves had passed, Exeggutor released it's psychic grip. Pikach dropped to the ground like a wet rag.
"Pikachu is unable to battle!" the ref declared. "Exeggutor is the winner!"
Now I found myself in an interesting spot as the rain stopped and the sky began to clear. In theory, Grovyle would be the obvious choice to send out. It's fury cutter would be devastating to the grass/psychic combination. But on the other hand, it was one of only two pokemon I'd managed to get onto the field against Ludicolo. Charmeleon and Steelix were essentially non-factors against the water/grass combo. I needed to do all the damage I could without bringing Grovyle and Heracross into the mix.
"Charmeleon, go!"
"Exeggutor, ancient power!"
A swirling silver orb formed in front of Exeggutor's body. It hovered there for a moment and then shot out at Charmeleon.
I swore. "Son of a bitch! Dragon rage!"
Charmeleon managed to get the attack off in time. The two orbs slammed into each other and exploded. Now I had something else to worry about. With a rock-type attack like ancient power, Exeggutor could now give Charmeleon trouble. I needed to go on the offensive quickly.
"Charmeleon, flamethrower!"
It had seemed like a good idea at the time. Then I watched as the fire streamed around the light screen that I had forgotten about. I was pretty sure that I saw the grass pokemon flinch slightly but I knew that it had taken little if no damage. The only upside that I could see was that as long as the light screen was visible, Exeggutor didn't seem able to launch any attacks.
"Well now…," I said to myself. "That just might work. Charmeleon, advance on Exeggutor!"
Charmeleon dropped it's flamethrower and then began to charge it's opponent.
"No!" I yelled. "Keep the flamethrower going too!"
The fires roared back to life as Exeggutor looked like it was getting ready to launch an attack. The protective golden box reappeared. Charmeleon quickly closed the gap. Now it was only a few feet away from Exeggutor.
"Fire fang now!"
Abruptly, Charmeleon ended it's flamethrower but a fire still ranged in it's mouth. The fire pokemon leapt at the exeggutor. It was too close to counterattack. Charmeleon latched on with it's claws and then bit down. I lost sight of the two pokemon in the ensuing explosion.
Charmeleon had just bitten down with a second fire fang when I head Lacey shout, "Psychic!"
A blue aura flowed over Charmeleon and ripped my pokemon away from Exeggutor. The psychic force slammed Charmeleon into the ground.
"Return!" I just managed to tag Charmeleon with the laser from it's poke ball. "Steelix, your turn!"
Exeggutor tried to reestablish a psychic grip, this time on Steelix. Thanks to it's steel-typing, Steelix was able to fight free from the grip
"Iron tail!" I ordered.
"Block it with psychic!" Lacey countered.
A blast of light blue energy blasted out from Exeggutor's eyes. It wasn't strong enough to deflect Steelix's attack but it was powerful enough to divert it. The glowing tail smashed into the ground a few feet away from Exeggutor. Instead of being smashed flat, it was just thrown aside by the shockwave instead.
I had to capitalize on my momentum and fast. "Rock tomb!"
Steelix pounded it's tail on the ground and a giant spire of rock jabbed out of the ground. It smashed the rising Exeggutor right in the face, or at least a couple of them. The impact was powerful but somehow the grass pokemon staggered and tipped enough to stay on it's feet.
"Leaf storm!" Lacey shouted.
Even staggering around, Exeggutor managed to get aimed at Steelix. From the leaves at it's top came the spiral of glowing leaves. Steelix reared back and roared in pain as they slammed into and exploded against it's metal skin. The big steel pokemon twisted away before disappearing underground.
"You can't hide down there forever," Lacey warned me. "Steelix has to come back up at some point!"
I waggled a finger at her. "Don't be so sure! Steelix, ice fang!"
Panic seized my heart when for a moment nothing happened. Then two jagged bolts of lightening pierced the surface of the ground. Exeggute had been pivoting around in anticipation and was caught right in the bulk of the body. The big grass pokemon toppled but it clearly wasn't out of the fight. Sans hands, it had to use it's psychic powers to get itself back on it's feet.
"Steelix, return!" I ordered. "Charmeleon, go!"
I knew it was probably useless but I was hoping by continuing to switch my pokemon around that I might keep Lacey at least a little off balance. If nothing else, it at least let me vary the attacks I could throw at her pokemon.
"Flamethrower!"
Charmeleon's head rolled back and then shot forward as it expelled it's river of fire. It slammed into the light screen yet again. I grabbed at the back of my neck in frustration. If I couldn't get through that screen, I didn't have much chance.
Then the golden light screen vanished.
Fire poured over Exeggutor. All it's heads hollered in pain. The sudden impact of the flamethrower had knocked it back and it couldn't gain enough footing to lean forward so it could unleash it's leaf storm to fight back the flamethrower.
"Psychic!" Lacey screamed.
A blue aura engulfed Chameleon's flamethrower. It suddenly curved into the sky just a few feet in front of Exeggutor. The fire looped back over and slammed harmlessly into the ground ten yards or so to the side of Exeggutor. The grass pokemon did not look very happy. Char coated it's brown, bark-like body and most of it's leaves were now singed. I had finally managed to tip the scales in my favor.
I pointed at Exeggutor. "Dragon rage!"
"Psychic!"
The crackling yellow orb swerved drastically off course and exploded far off in the distance.
"Leaf storm!"
"Flamethrower!"
The fire and grass attacks barreled into each other. Even after all the abuse I had heaped upon it, Exeggutor was still more powerful than Charmeleon. The cyclone of leaves forced the flamethrower back with more ease than I would've liked to see. Abruptly the leaf storm vanished. Charmeleon was seized in the blue aura of a psychic grip and hurled across the battlefield.
I wasn't sure if Lacey knew something I didn't but she was certainly taking the offensive now. "Ancient power!"
Charmeleon had just gained it's footing again when the swirling silver attack slammed into it and exploded. The fire pokemon tumbled back to the ground, taking serious damage from the rock-type attack. It was far from out of the fight though, rolling to the side to avoid a second ancient power.
"Dragon rage!" I ordered.
"Light screen!" Lacey countered.
The shimmering golden box appeared. As the dragon rage detonated against it, I got an idea. Technically, it was a variation of something I had already done but it was still worth a shot.
"Dragon rage!" I shouted. "Then flamethrower!"
Charmeleon was back on it's feet. It spat out the crackling orb that was dragon rage and then immediately followed it up with a flamethrower. The flamethrower was faster than the dragon-type attack and it swept the orb up along with it. Pushing the dragon rage ahead of it, the two attacks slammed into the light screen practically at the same time. The golden shimmer of the light screen grew increasingly bright as it tried to deal with the massive damage I had sent it's way.
I pointed to Charmeleon. "Now! Fire fang!"
With it's vision still cloaked by the light screen and the roiling explosion it was defending against, Exeggutor never saw Charmeleon coming. The fire pokemon dove through the dissipating fireball and light screen. Latching onto Exeggutor's thick skin with it's claws, Charmeleon bit down. I lost sight of the two pokemon in the ensuing explosion. A second detonation quickly followed. The a third.
A fourth detonation didn't appear. Lacey and I waited in silence for the smoke and fire to waft away. When it did, both pokemon were still visible. Exeggutor was laying limply on the ground. Charmeleon was standing on top of it. When it knew it was visible, the fire pokemon spat a quick burst of flames into the air.
"Exeggutor is unable to battle!" the ref announced. "Charmeleon is the winner!"
Lacey and I both recalled our pokemon. Her only option left was Ludicolo. As far as I could tell, my best option was Grovyle. It not only knew a move that was super-effective but was resistant to all of Ludicolo's attacks. It seemed like a no-brainer.
I wasn't entirely sure, but I think Ludicolo came out of it's poke ball doing the hula and summoning back the rainstorms. With a sigh, I accepted the downpour yet again. I wasn't going to be dry for a week.
"Grovyle, energy ball!" I ordered just for a change of pace.
Grovyle pulled it's claws back to form the green ball. It hurled it forward and to my surprise, it slammed into the golden light screen! I had faced a pokemon using light screen before but I had never seen it transfer from pokemon to pokemon like that. Although as I thought back, it had never had a chance to transfer to other pokemon in any of my previous battles.
"That's a surprise," I muttered to myself and then to Grovyle, "Quick attack!"
Even in the wet, muddy terrain Grovyle was still fast as lightning. A streak of white followed in it's wake. Suddenly Ludicolo was no longer in front of it.
Grovyle and I both yelled out in surprise as Ludicolo was now off to it's side.
"Water pulse!" Lacey shouted.
Ludicolo held up it's big, mitten-like hands to form the big ball of water. It pushed it out and it rocketed into Grovyle, taking my pokemon clear off it's feet. My pokemon quickly climbed back to it's feet and shot me a look. Neither of us was quite sure what had happened.
"Water pulse!" the Gym Leader repeated.
Now Ludicolo appeared right behind Grovyle. My grass pokemon just barely had time to turn around before it was taken down by another water pulse.
Something was starting to make sense to me now. When I had faced it earlier, Ludicolo had just barely been clipped by a few attacks and then pasted Grovyle with an energy ball with surprising accuracy. I looked up into the sky. It had something to do with the rain. That could be the only reason Lacey kept bringing it into play. Charmeleon and Steelix were already less effective against Ludicolo so there was no sense in using the rain to keep them off the field. Then it hit me:
The rain was making Ludicolo faster!
I actually smacked myself for not realizing it sooner. Between making Ludicolo faster and boosting the power of it's water-type attack, the rain was like almost like using a cheat code in real life. That being said, Grovyle was still probably my best option to have on the field.
"Grovyle, use quick attack!"
Ludicolo may have been faster in the rain but it still wasn't as fast as my grovyle using quick attack. The smaller grass pokemon slammed into the bigger one, knocking it backwards.
"Fury cutter!"
Grovyle got in two good, quick hits before Ludicolo regained it's balance. Ludicolo began dancing backwards as it evading Grovyle's onslaught. Grovyle was just fast enough to keep the big grass pokemon contained but not fast enough to actually be able to inflict damage without using quick attack.
"Ludicolo, razor leaf!"
Ludicolo held up it's hands and a spray of dark green leaves came at Grovyle. The leaves shattered as they pounded into my pokemon, sending it stumbling backwards. For an attack that was supposed to be not very effective it still packed a decent punch.
"Energy ball!" Lacey yelled.
Her pokemon put it's hands up in front of it's body and the green ball formed there. With a gentle push Ludicolo sent it rocketing towards Grovyle. Still off balance, Grovyle couldn't recover in time to dodge it and I lost sight of my pokemon in the ensuing explosion.
"Water pulse!"
It's hands still in the same position, the orb of water formed in front of Ludicolo. I could actually see the water pulse getting bigger as falling rain was absorbed into the forming attack. With the same gentle push, Ludicolo sent the water pulse rocketing towards Grovyle. I screamed for my pokemon to get out of there. I never saw it emerge from the fading explosion as the water pulse splashed into something.
"Grovyle is unable to battle!" the ref declared. "Ludicolo is the winner!"
"Good work," I said to my pokemon after I recalled it. "You inflicted some serious damage."
As I tucked the shrunken ball back into my holster, I craned my neck back to look into the sky. Dark clouds were still spitting rain down on us. It had been raining for quite a while now. At the edges of some of the clouds I could see them starting to dissolve. I only had to last a little longer and then the rain would be gone.
"Second time's the charm!" I announced as I grabbed a poke ball off my belt. "Staraptor, you're up again!"
The bird pokemon looked even less happy to see me this time. It shook violently in a vain attempt to shed the water that was quickly collecting on it's feathers. If looks could kill, it would've killed me on the spot.
This time Lacey had no hesitation in attacking. "Energy ball!"
"Move Staraptor!"
Staraptor did as I had commanded but I was fairly certain it was more out self-preservation than out of a sense of duty. I had wondered if the flying pokemon would have difficulty staying airborne in the rain but so far Staraptor was showing no signs of straining to keep aloft.
It was time for the moment of truth. "Staraptor, aerial ace!"
"Use razor leaf, Ludicolo!"
I wasn't exactly held in suspense long. Instead of diving and picking up speed and energy, Staraptor split into eight copies of itself. While using double team had successfully avoided Ludicolo's attack it was a far cry from what I had ordered.
"Still having technical difficulties?" Lacey called to me, a playful note in her tone.
"Maybe a little." I tried to make it look like I was looking at her but in fact I was taking note of the easing rain. "We'll work through it. Staraptor, take down!"
"Water pulse!"
This time I got glowing wings which Staraptor used in an attempt to diffuse the water pulse. The water-typed attack was stronger than it had bargained for and the flying pokemon was knocked from the sky. Now it's anger was divided between me and the pokemon that had just bested it. As it dove at Ludicolo without waiting for a command, I silently wished I had had a chance to get Butterfree or Haunter back from Professor Oak before coming here.
"Ludicolo, energy ball!"
White energy began to stream from the tip of Staraptor's beak as it picked up speed. It corkscrewed around the incoming energy ball and then slammed into Ludicolo with aerial ace. The big grass pulled an arm back and slammed an water pulse into Staraptor. The flying pokemon crashed to the ground. That might've been the end for Staraptor but I didn't wait to find out. The rain had lightened to a faint drizzle.
"Staraptor, return! Heracross, take us home!"
"Razor leaf!"
Heracross took a long step to it's left and then jumped into flight as the cloud of razor leaves smashed into the ground where it had been. Ludicolo tried to track my pokemon with it's spray of leaves but Heracross quickly flew out of range.
"Aerial ace!" I shouted.
Stopping it's backwards momentum, Heracross pulled an arm and a leg back like it was going to start running and then zipped back in the direction of Ludicolo. White energy began stream from it's horn as it built up speed.
"Water pulse!" Lacey ordered.
Sunlight pierced the clouds as the water pulse formed. A much smaller water pulse than I had been used to seeing. As Ludicolo launched it, I knew it was dangerous nonetheless.
"Do a barrel roll!"
Heracross swung out, up and around the incoming water pulse, letting it pass by harmlessly. Ludicolo tried to start backpedaling and found that it's speed had returned back to normal. Heracross plowed into Ludicolo, knocking it clear off it's feet. The bug pokemon pulled up in a short arc and charged back after it's opponent.
I stuck a fist straight out. "Close combat!"
As Ludicolo bounced once off the ground, Heracross drove a flying kick into it's side. The sudden change in direction clearly disoriented the ludicolo as it had trouble regaining it's sense of balance. Heracross was quickly on top of it. It buried it's horn into Ludicolo's midsection and then heaved backwards. Showing more strength than I realized it had, Heracross threw the rotund grass pokemon back over it's shoulders. With a quick buzz of it's wings Heracross got a few feet in the air and then snapped it's wings back closed. It stuck out an elbow and used gravity to drive it into Ludicolo's chest. Bouncing back it it's feet, Heracross jumped atop Ludicolo and rained down punches. Ludicolo only escaped after forming an energy ball off to the side in one hand and slamming it against Heracross.
"Rain dance!" Lacey yelled to her pokemon that was struggling to get up. "And hurry!"
"Oh no you don't!" I roared. "Night slash!"
As Ludicolo's arms flowed to the left for the first part of it's hula dance, Heracross appeared in front of it's face. It slashed a glowing purple arm across Ludicolo's face and then dropped down and drove the other glowing arm into it's stomach. Ludicolo dropped to a thick knee and it was clear to all that the end was near.
"Finish it with another night slash!" I shouted.
Heracross pulled both glowing arms back and threw them forward together. Ludicolo sailed backwards in a surprisingly graceful arc. It crashed to the ground, throwing mud everywhere. A final few drops of rain landed on it's beak as Lacey and I awaited the referee's decision.
"Ludicolo is unable to battle! Victory for the challenger Tim and Heracross!"
"Way to go!" I shouted as I rushed the bug pokemon and scooped it into a hug. I regretted it only slightly when some of the spiky extensions on it's arms put a gash into my bicep.
"Well done!" Lacey said as she skipped over. "That was fun! I hope all your friends are this much fun to battle!"
The referee approached and snapped a picture of me and Heracross. I had wanted to get all my pokemon in the shot but I was told it was tradition to just have the final victorious pokemon in the picture. After a satisfactory picture was taken, I gave all my pokemon to the referee who I had forgotten doubled as the nurse.
"Speaking of my friends," I said to Lacey, "where are they? I figured they'd be watching."
Lacey giggled. "There's more than just me and Nicole here." I assumed she meant the nurse. "There's a few other people roaming around here and the pokemon make sure to keep everyone back. Being grass-types, they tend to root for me and try to keep new challengers back so they don't pick up on my techniques."
I glanced back over my shoulder at the battlefield. It was completely soaked and half the grass was torn up to reveal mud. A giant pair of holes still remained from where Steelix had gone underground. "No offense, but they were probably able to pick up on them from pretty far away. A rain storm isn't exactly subtle."
"Oh come on." She rolled her blue eyes at me. "You can't honestly believe that's the only trick I have up my sleeve do you? I'm a Gym Leader! Besides, depending on how many pokemon they use, I'll be adjusting my team."
I hadn't thought about that. "So you have a trio of pokemon for every amount of pokemon your opponent might use?"
"Nope." Lacey ran her fingers through her drenched hair as she talked, trying to untangle it. "I have at least three different teams for every amount of pokemon I might face."
I stared at her in fascination for a moment. That meant she had at least fifty-four different pokemon that she had raised and trained. I had twenty-one pokemon (twenty-eight if you included evolutions) and I really only raised and trained ten of them. The level of commitment she had devoted to her profession was astounding. Then again, there probably wasn't much else to do out here in the middle of nowhere.
"Come on!" Lacey said brightly, bouncing off. "Let's get you registered as a victor and paid!"
She lead me to a small hut near the edge of our battlefield. I hadn't noticed it earlier but some damage to the grass nearby told me that either Pikachu or Charmeleon might've almost set the thing on fire if not for all the rain. Inside was a small wooden table with a safe beneath it. On the table was laptop computer with cords running out to the generator, a small satellite dish for what I assumed was internet connection and a card swiper.
"Have a seat," Lacey said, indicating one of the two light colored wooden chairs next to the table.
As I sat down and realized how stiff my legs were, Lacey squatted down to the safe. I picked at my clothes while she punched in her code and pulled something out. With all the moisture in the air, it would take forever for them to dry.
"Here we go!" Lacey shot back to her feet so quickly that it started me. She extended her hand with the badge in it. It was shaped kind of like a flower. It was silver on the inside with a rainbow of petals going around the outside. I took it carefully and then realized I didn't have my pack to tuck it into.
"Oh, one of my grass pokemon grabbed it," Lacey explained with a wave of her hand. "I've usually got one or two roaming around behind challengers just in case I use rain dance. Figured it was a good idea after a few trainers had stuff ruined by the downpour. Ah, here we go!" A walking mass of greenish-blue vines strolled into the hut with my back held aloft in outstretched vines. "Thanks Tangela!"
As the pokemon walked off, I secured the badge with my other three. Lacey was tapping a few buttons on her computer and then demanded my trainer card. I swiped it through the reader. The light on the reader turned green and Lacey gave me a thumbs up.
"All set! You are officially registered as a champion of the Everglades Gym!"
She came at me quickly and gave me a hug that I returned awkwardly.
"You should go find Nicole," Lacey said, leading me out of the hut. "She can show you where the clothesline is if you want to dry your clothes a little faster. I think we'll be seeing some abundant sunshine soon." She winked at me. "Don't tell your friends though!"
Just like that, she was gone. It might've been me, but I was pretty sure that the Gym Leaders were getting progressively weirder.
It felt good to be in dry clothes again. My wet ones including my shoes hung from a clothesline not far from the battlefield. With pokemon in hand, I went and found a secluded spot. Dylan was battling right now and I wanted to watch him, mostly to find out how many pokemon he used, but I had a more important task first. I found a patch of dry grass to stand on and then pulled a poke ball from my belt. Tossing it into the air brought Staraptor out.
I crossed my arms over my chest as it landed in front of me. "Ok, let's talk. You've clearly got an issue with me. What's your deal? I caught you fair and square."
Staraptor apparently disagreed. It began cawing at me and moving it's wings around to emphasize points. Unfortunately, I understood none of what it was saying. Then it made a noise. It was a buzzing noise almost like an electrical current. Living out in the Everglades like it had, there wasn't really anyway for it to know that noise. Unless…
"Hold up." I held up a hand and it surprisingly stopped. "Make that noise again." The flying pokemon buzzed again. "Is that my pikachu? Are you mad about Pikachu?"
Staraptor made a noise that I'm sure would've translated to "Finally!"
I considered this for a moment. "You're mad about Pikachu… So, you didn't like that I captured you using Pi-" Then it hit me. "You didn't like that I battled you with Pikachu! You think I had an unfair advantage?"
"Star! Star-aptor!"
This was certainly interesting. Granted I had only been a trainer for less than half a year but I'd never heard of a pokemon complaining that it had been caught unfairly. As far as I could discern, Staraptor was making a claim that if I hadn't had a type advantage it would've defeated me and still been free. When I voiced this thought, it chirped back what sounded like an agreement.
"Ok, let's make a deal then," I said. "Double or nothing. We'll battle again and this time I'll use a pokemon that doesn't have a type advantage over you. I win, you stay with me and we try to coexist. You win and you can go free. If I see you on the way out, I won't try to recapture you again either. Deal?"
I extended my hand to shake and as I realized that it was probably a stupid gesture and started to pull it back, Staraptor reached a wing out. It gave me more like a high-five than a handshake but the meaning was clear: we had a deal. Staraptor flapped it's wings and dropped back a few paces to give me room.
There was only one real option for me. "Charmeleon, let's go!"
Staraptor shot into the sky and looped around, bearing down on my pokemon with an aerial ace.
I calmly pointed and waited for the flying pokemon to close the gap, "Dragon rage!"
By waiting until the last second to issue the order, Staraptor had no chance to respond. The crackling yellow orb slammed into it and detonated. Staraptor spiraled out of control and crashed to the grass.
"Flamethrower!"
A solid pillar of fire scooped Staraptor off the ground and drove it into a nearby tree. As flames sprayed everywhere, I felt a twinge of pity for Staraptor. This had been it's idea but the only pokemon that I had that wasn't at a type advantage or disadvantage was also my strongest pokemon. The flying-type pokemon probably would've had better luck facing Pikachu again.
"Now use slash!"
Charmeleon's claws glowed a bright white and increased in length. It raked them across a charging Staraptor forming an X and sending Staraptor crashing back into the tree. The tree creaked dangerously as a crack appeared where the staraptor had impacted it twice now.
I sighed. "Sorry Staraptor but I think it's game over."
The defiant pokemon pushed itself up, using it's wings like arms. As soon as it was standing it split into eight copies of itself. A grin tugged at my mouth. Staraptor certainly had spunk, I'd give it that.
"Flamethrower!" I yelled. "Sweep them all!"
Staraptor and it's images took flight as Charmeleon's fires roared back to life. Swinging it's head from left to right the flamethrower trailed like a whip, instantly vaporizing false images until it swiped the real Staraptor aside. Feathers now badly charred Staraptor spiraled wildly out of control and crashed into a mud puddle.
"Good effort!" I said in all sincerity as I threw Staraptor's poke ball.
The ball bounced off the downed pokemon and sucked it inside. There was no struggle this time. I wasn't sure if it was because Staraptor was honoring our deal or because technically I had already captured the pokemon. Either way, I calmly walked over to retrieve the ball and collected Charmeleon to take back to the nurse.
After a quick healing I headed over to the battlefield to watch the last bit of Dylan's battle. As I watched, I realized that he was in a much better position for this gym than I was. Against grass-types my offense revolved around Charmeleon and Heracross since Staraptor wasn't obeying yet. Dylan had his quilava as the centerpiece of his offense but had better supporting players than I did. His Croagunk had super-effective poison on it's side; Dustox had psychic and flying moves at it's disposal; Gliscor had fire-, bug- and poison-typed moves to use. The biggest surprise came when Dylan unleashed his newly caught scyther onto the field. Unlike my staraptor, it obeyed him without hesitation, giving him another pokemon with bug and flying attacks.
That didn't mean he had a cake walk though. I had missed what Lacey's first pokemon was but I saw her other two as she swapped them out. One of them was unmistakable an evolution of an eevee. It looked very similar only a lighter color and it's ears and tail seemed to go from flesh to leaves at the ends. A big leaf also curled out from it's forehead. The leafeon was incredibly quick and wielding more than just grass attacks. The other pokemon I saw I recognized as a jumpluff. It was round and blue with a cotton spore on each side and one above it's head. It's secondary flying-type helped insulate it from bug-typed attacks, of which Dylan had a few.
Lacey was actually employing almost the opposite strategy she used against me. Instead of summoning the rains, she kept summoning the bright sun. At first this boggled my mind when I saw how powerful it made Gliscor and Quilava's fire attacks. Then I saw how fast it made Jumpluff. Jumpluff had been fast before, probably faster than my fasted pokemon, but the sun made it insanely quick. I could blink and miss it moving long distances. It danced with ease around Gliscor and then knocked it from the air with a devastating solar beam.
As Gliscor was declared unable to battle, I really began to admire how skilled Lacey actually was in battle. There had to be a multitude of strategies swarming around in her head, some building on consecutive moves by different pokemon. She was actually offering her opponent an advantage at the moment in favor of boosting her own advantage as opposed to what she had done to me. I couldn't help but shake my head. If someone ever noticed the poor girl way out here, she might be part of the Elite Four some day.
It became clear to me as I continued to watch that Dylan was not at as much as an advantage as I had previously thought. When his scyther was taken out he started a rotation between his quilava and his croagunk. It occurred to me that I hadn't seen anything besides those three and his previously defeated gliscor. I was pretty sure that these two pokemon might be his last, although I had no way to be sure since I didn't know how many he had started with.
Leafeon was the first to fall. The sun faded as it was readying a solar beam, making it wait to charge up enough power. Quilava and it's flamethrower had no such wait time. The tidal wave of fire swept Leafeon off it's feet and deposited it in front of it's trainer.
Despite the obvious type disadvantage, Dylan switched to Croagunk when Jumpluff reemerged onto the field. Jumpluff's cotton spores glowed a brilliant white and then released a trio of blindly bright orbs into the sky. They disappeared high above us and I could feel the intense heat as the effects of Sunny Day came back into play.
Jumpluff slammed into Croagunk with an aerial ace. Before Croagunk could counter with it's poison sting, Jumpluff had fired off a solar beam. Croagunk threw up dual poison jabs in an attempt to block the solar beam. The two attacks detonated, throwing the two pokemon apart. A plume of black smoke wafted into the air.
"Oh you've got to be kidding me," I groaned.
The black smoke floated in front of the bright sun, momentarily blocking it out.
"Sucker punch!" Dylan roared.
Croagunk materialized in front of Jumpluff and buried a fist into it's round body. A spray of poison sting put some distance between the two pokemon and then Croagunk closed it again with a poison jab. It was readying another when the sun emerged again. Jumpluff flattened it with a solar beam.
Dylan made a quick swap to let Croagunk rest up and took advantage of the sun with Quilava. Jumpluff may have been fast enough to keep dodging flamethrowers but it wasn't fast enough to get closer. Then abruptly Dylan had Quilava racing off with a quick attack. Quilava eventually caught Jumpluff and bodily checked it into a tree. The grass pokemon bounced off and right into a waiting flamethrower.
I didn't bother waiting around for the referee to declare the match over; it was pretty clear that it was. Thanks to Lacey's particular strategy the clothes that I had hung near the battlefield were essentially dry. My shoes were still a little damp but I removed them from the clothesline anyway incase she decided to break out the rain techniques again.
Dylan walked out of the winner's hut as I was finishing tying my shoes to my pack and gave me a weird look.
"Shut up," I said. "It rained during my battle. It rained a lot."
He laughed. "Yeah, we could see that even from where we were. The way those clouds were only over the battlefield it was pretty obvious one of you had called them in. I take it it wasn't you?"
"Why would I?" I asked, slinging the pack over my shoulder. "No way would I use water pokemon against a grass-type Gym Leader."
"So why did she?" Dylan asked.
"Ever seen a ludicolo?"
He thought for a moment. "Kind of looks like a big pineapple with a sombrero? Yeah, why?"
"They get really fast in the rain and it boosts their water-type attacks. Fire pokemon are helpless basically."
Dylan made a face.
I sighed. "She also had a light screen around it too. Between the rain and the light screen, things were not easy."
"Could be worse," Dylan said with a shrug as we approached the area we had eaten lunch in.
"How do you figure?" I dropped my pack and lowered myself into a chair.
"David's battling right now. He has no fire pokemon. He has a golbat and a scyther that are effective against grass. One of his two strongest is weak against grass. Compared to what he's probably going through, we had a cake walk."
There was an explosion in the distance that accentuated his point nicely.