Author's Notes: So… More of Juan and such. His team is a bit shortened from his Emerald team… I didn't give him Whiscash because Kagurin has Turquoise, and Crawdaunt is just lame and really easy to beat anyway. I am aware Luvdisc is even worse, but it was too funny to leave out…

Chapter Fifty One: Vs Luvdisc!

Lynnie sighed as she kicked her feet up on the seat next to her. She was currently eating dinner in the Pokémon Center, and unfortunately, there hadn't been much for her to see in Sootopolis. True, most of the houses and other buildings looked pretty nice with the rebuilding, but Sootopolis was smaller than she'd realized.

Quickly, Lynnie finished off the last piece of her chicken and stood up. Yawning as she headed towards the cafeteria's door, she rubbed her eyes sleepily. Lynnie certainly hadn't been that tired before, but she definitely needed sleep if she was going to the gym the next day.

As she stepped into the hallway leading to the Center's common room, Lynnie blinked as she heard voices. She sped up a bit, and when she arrived in the room, she saw a small group of people sitting in the middle of the room. Most of them were sprawled out on top of their sleeping bags, but there was a girl sitting up in the middle of the group.

"So," she started, popping her bubble gum as she toyed with her equally pink hair. "I, like, tried to go out to the Cave of Origin earlier, y'know? Only they totally didn't let me near it!"

"Um, Jenny," a dark-haired boy frowned. "You realize that the cave is really weak from those quakes, right? It could crumble if anything else happens to it."

"Yeah, but I heard you can really see ghosts out there," Jenny scowled.

"Pfft, yeah. I went out there once, and the only ghosts I saw were a few stray Sableyes," another girl giggled. "And a Mawile. You know that place is actually just a shrine, right? It's called the Cave of Origin because rare Pokémon breed there sometimes."

"No, it's because of the spirits, and—" the boy started to protest.

"That's Mt. Pyre," another boy snorted.

Lynnie giggled as well when the group burst into laughter. Grabbing herself a sleeping bag, she sighed as she rolled it out in the back of the room. She sort of wanted to go look at the cave now too, but of course, she wouldn't be able too.

"Oh well," Lynnie mumbled, crawling into her sleeping bag. "At least I have something else to do tomorrow!"

Grinning, Lynnie slowly nodded off as she thought about her gym battle…


When Lynnie woke up the next morning, it was surprisingly less bright than she was used to, indicating that she hadn't slept quite as late as usual. Yawning and blinking, Lynnie simply folded her sleeping bag instead of rolling it up all the way—there weren't any members of the staff watching—and hurried to turn it back in. She was hungry, and breakfast had always had more of a priority to her than straightening her bedding even when she was at home.

Unfortunately, Lynnie had apparently woken up at about the same time as most of the other trainers had, and the breakfast line was long. She crossed her eyes as she got into line, sighing. Normally, she didn't have to wait so long as she woke up after everyone else. After several moments of waiting, Lynnie was finally able to grab a plate and a few biscuits.

There was one empty table left when Lynnie got through the line, and she quickly sat down and started eating. She admittedly tried to eavesdrop on a few conversations while she ate, but there were too many people talking for her to hear anything clearly. Sighing, Lynnie finished off the last of her biscuits, and got up to throw away the plastic plate.

When she got out to the lobby, there were several trainers milling around, apparently waiting for their Pokémon to be healed. A few more trainers came into the Center, and Lynnie quickly headed to the door when the group moved away from it. She hoped Juan would already be at the gym, and she grinned as she closed the glass door behind her.

Lynnie walked down the slight ramp in front of the Pokémon Center until she reached the shore. Most of the ground in Sootopolis was like that—it rose slightly and curved around, making a wide ridge along the volcano's wall that houses could be built on. Then, there was the small island in the middle of the lake with the gym, and Lynnie's grin widened as she released Skipper.

"Pert!" Skipper greeted as she materialized in the water.

"Hey, Skipper," Lynnie replied. "Will you take me over to the gym there?"

The Swampert blinked in confusion as she looked at the half-completed concrete building on the island. However, she nodded and let Lynnie climb onto her back.

"Actually, they're still rebuilding it," Lynnie explained. "But I think they're almost done. And Juan, the Gym Leader, said we could go anyway."

"Swamp," Skipper replied in understanding.

Fortunately, it only took a few minutes to reach the small island, and Skipper paused to let Lynnie get down off her back and onto the somewhat rocky ground. The blonde reached for Skipper's Pokéball, nodding as she looked up at the Water-Type.

"Thanks, Skipper."

Lynnie withdrew Skipper as she turned to look at the gym. It looked much bigger up close, and even the door was made of concrete too. She sighed as she realized it had to be heavy, and leaned into it slightly as she turned the knob.

"Hey, Juan?"

Lynnie's voice echoed around the nearly empty room. There were a few small statues of Water Pokémon around the gym, which must have been saved from the old building—a few of them were dented. A large pool was in the middle of the room, and a small, heart-shaped Pokémon was filling it up with water.

"Ah, that is fine, Luvdisc."

Luvdisc stopped and caught its breath, and looked up cheerily. Juan was standing near the edge of the pool, and he nodded in confirmation. He then looked across the room and saw Lynnie, smiling in welcome.

"Good morning, Miss Lynnie," he called. "It is good to see you so early."

"Yeah… Uh, so there aren't any tricks or anything to the pool, are there?"

Juan blinked, looking bewildered. "Tricks? Whatever do you mean?"

"Oh," Lynnie deadpanned, whishing she'd thought before she'd spoken for once. "Never mind. I guess I'm used to all the other gyms being weird or something."

Juan laughed, sounding more fascinated than mocking. "I see. Well, would you care to get started?"

"Well, yeah!" Lynnie grinned.

"Very well," Juan replied. "I shall start with Luvdisc."

"Luv," the Water-Type agreed mildly.

"Okay, I'll use Domino, then!"

Lynnie instantly reached for the Breloom's Pokéball, and Domino materialized next to her. He looked curiously at the pool, dipping his foot in and quickly stepping back, before he looked over at Luvdisc. It was floating placidly in the water, blinking at the larger Pokémon.

"Luvdisc, please begin with Water Gun."

"Mach Punch, Domino!"

The small Pokémon puckered its beak-like mouth slightly, and then shot a small stream of water at Domino. He tried to duck and then leap in for a Mach Punch, but he didn't dodge quite in time. Domino was still hit by the attack, and he stumbled backwards, more unbalanced than hurt.

Lynnie crossed her eyes as she came up with a new attack. "Okay, use Giga Drain instead!"

Domino nodded and leaned forward slightly. A bright, yellow-green glow surrounded both him and Luvdisc, and the Water-Type started to droop as the small bruises on Domino's stomach started to heal. After a few seconds, Domino looked fine while Luvdisc looked weak.

"Now use Bullet Seed, Domino," Lynnie called.

"Loom!"

Domino turned around with a jump, raising his tail. Several small seed shot out of the growth on the end of his tail, striking Luvdisc in the side. It cried out in surprise as it skidded through the water, hitting the side of the pool. Luvdisc closed its eyes and sank down a bit in the pool, apparently not ready to fight any more.

"Not bad, Miss Lynnie," Juan commented as he withdrew Luvdisc. As he took a new Pokéball off oh his belt, he went on with, "Now prepare for Sealeo."

A large, blue-and-white seal Pokémon materialized next to Juan, on the floor as opposed to in the pool. Juan must have caught Lynnie's confused look, as he proceeded to chuckle.

"Ah, Sealeo can indeed swim, but it is somewhat difficult due to its bulk."

"Oh, right," Lynnie replied, crossing her eyes again. "Okay… Well, Domino, use Bullet Seed again."

Domino immediately raised his tail again, blasting the attack at Sealeo. Admittedly, a few of the seeds ricocheted off of Sealeo's stomach, but most of the attack seemed to cause damage… The Water-Type winced as it was struck in the side and neck.

"Hm… Sealeo, try Ice Beam."

Sealeo managed to recover and nodded. It opened its wide mouth, and a ray of ice started to form. The Ice Beam widened as Sealeo shot it towards Domino, and ice started to coat him from the feet up. Domino blinked as he was frozen up to his neck, unable to move.

Lynnie frowned. "Well, at least you got in an attack, right?"

Domino tried to nod but failed, and Lynnie withdrew him. She paused, thinking about Sealeo's Ice Beam, but then grinned.

"Okay, come on, Oakley!"

The Shiftry appeared next to Lynnie, stretching. True, Oakley would be vulnerable to the ice attack, but Lynnie had an idea.

"Use Razor Wind, all right?"

"Shift!"

Oakley spread out her fan-like hands, and then whipped them forward, causing three small whirlwinds. As the tornados sped across the pool and towards Sealeo, they picked up water, forming three mini-whirlpools. The whirlpools hit Sealeo one at a time, catching the Water-Type and spinning it upwards. It spun out of the top of the combined whirlpools and flew forward, crashing into the pool with a large splash. After a few seconds, Sealeo resurfaced, but it was lying on its side with its eyes closed.

"Ah, that was quite resourceful."

Juan withdrew Sealeo and reached for his last Pokéball—Kingdra, Lynnie remembered. She then grinned and scratched the back of her neck before Juan released the Water-and-Dragon-Type.

"Well, I do something sort of like that with my Swampert sometimes. Except, you know, it's actually a Whirlpool."

"I should remember that if you choose to use your Swampert, then," Juan replied, his eyes twinkling slightly as he released Kingdra into the pool. "Either way, I am down to my third Pokémon."

"No problem… Oakley, use Extrasensory this time!"

"Smoke Screen, Kingdra."

Oakley narrowed her eyes, and a dark purple glow formed around her. However, before she could launch the attack, Kingdra shot a film of smoke from its mouth, blocking it from view. As Oakley blinked, Juan went on with another move.

"All right, Kingdra, now use Water Pulse."

The wave of water shot through the smoke, dissipating it, but it was too late for Oakley to hit anyway. Surprised, Oakley tumbled backwards as the attack hit her and crumpled to the floor. Kingdra looked on calmly as Oakley tried to get back up in vain.

"Oh well, you still did pretty well, right? Come on back, Oakley."

Lynnie withdrew Oakley and then paused. She could only use one more Pokémon—it was pretty much a given that the battle was supposed to be a three-on-three. However, Kingdra had managed to beat Pearl the previous day, and Lucky didn't like battling…

But Juan already knows about Whirlpool now, Lynnie sighed inwardly. But… I didn't tell him about Mud Shot… If that makes any difference… Probably not, but whatever.

"Eh, I'll use Skipper."

The Swampert materialized in the pool, across from Kingdra. Skipper blinked curiously, but Kingdra looked as calm as ever.

Juan smiled mysteriously. "Kingdra, use Dragonbreath."

"Skipper, use Whirlpool and Mud Shot!"

Kingdra started to blast the electrical breath attack at Skipper immediately. However, Skipper managed to form a Whirlpool just in time, and she shot it at Kingdra. The other Water-Type was caught in the vortex, and Skipper fueled the attack with a Mud Shot.

As Kingdra spun up through the combo, the Dragonbreath shot through the side of the whirlpool, hitting the upper part of one of the gym's walls. Lynnie and Juan held their breaths for a moment, but the wall only dented very slightly, and they sighed in relief. A few seconds later, Kingdra shot out of the whirlpool as well, and it fell into the pool with a much smaller splash than Sealeo had.

However, like Sealeo, Kingdra rose to the pool's surface a few moments later on its side. It blinked weakly, but then closed its eyes. Juan smiled resignedly as he withdrew it.

"Very good, Miss Lynnie."

Lynnie grinned as she withdrew her Pokémon too. "Yeah, it was! I almost thought I was going to lose for a minute before I picked Skipper."

Looking slightly amused, Juan walked around the pool to Lynnie. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a blue, triangular badge. When he handed it to her, Lynnie grinned and proudly clipped it onto her bag's strap—she finally had all eight badges.

"So this makes your eighth badge, yes?"

"Uh huh! This is great," Lynnie bragged slightly.

"In that case… I believe this year's Pokémon League Tournament is beginning soon," Juan replied thoughtfully, tapping his chin. "Next week, if I recall correctly. The tournament is in Evergrande City; that is not far from here, distance-wise, but it is quite a long way if you are riding a Pokémon. I would recommend trying to find a boat in Lilycove—it is much closer to here, after all."

"All right!" Lynnie forced a grin, but she couldn't help getting the feeling that she'd overlooked Lilycove's dock the last time she'd been there…

"Well, best of luck to you, Miss Lynnie."

Juan reached out his hand for a handshake. Lynnie took it and grinned, winking.

"Thanks, Juan! Bye!"

Lynnie turned to head for the door, a euphoric feeling swelling in her stomach as she left the building.