Hello and welcome to another chapter of Pokémon Journey: Hoenn!

Last time, the group continued their journey across Meteor Falls. Along the way, they encountered a very eager bagon who wanted to battle Turkey and ended up joining Will's team.

Upload Date: 10th March 2018


Chapter 54: Brother V Brother

Meteor Falls, Hoenn

9:46am, 7th June 2006

Even somewhere like Meteor Falls that had been largely abandoned by humanity wasn't entirely silent. The league season meant that almost everywhere in the region was busier and livelier than normal – trainers and their pokémon were constantly training whenever they weren't travelling, eating or sleeping. The mornings, quiet in the winter and autumn, were often particularly loud since many trainers liked to train before they started the day's travelling.

This was the reason for all the noise in the western part of Meteor Falls. Now that they were safely away from the worst parts of the meteorite strike zones, the group had taken a far laxer view towards sticking in one place and training for longer. James and Will were taking full advantage of this – all of their pokémon were doing some form of training, though they were particularly focusing on Toya and Nulin.

"One more try!" James called.

Nulin nodded in response and soared up into the air. Opening his beak and concentrating hard, he fired a pure-white beam at a rock nestled against the mountain slopes. A pale mist rose from it as it struck the rock and encased it in a layer of ice.

"Wow! You're really doing it!" Will grinned. He turned and nodded at Toya. "Don't let Nulin outdo you!"

Toya also attempted to fire a beam of ice, but he missed his target after losing control of the beam. Still, it was an improvement: it was the first time that he'd managed to fire the beam on his first try.

"I was wondering how you were doing. Looks like both Nulin and Toya are really starting to pick Ice Beam up!"

James and Will looked back to see an old man approaching them from the old, wooden house a short distance from where they were standing. His name was Harold and, when they'd met him the previous evening, he'd been very keen to brag about being the person who lived furthest inside Meteor Falls.

Since the group had decided to camp nearby, they'd spent some time that evening talking with Harold, learning that he had once been a trainer in his youth as well. That was when he'd mentioned Ice Beam, his favourite attack.

James and Will had jumped at the opportunity to help their pokémon get stronger and had set to work with Nulin and Toya to master the technique. After part of the evening and much of the morning so far dedicated to this practise, it looked as if their efforts were finally paying off.

"They really have picked it up easily! You really did a great job teaching them," said James.

Harold chuckled. "Oh, I don't know about that. A good teacher is nothing without good students!"

Nulin and Toya looked pleased after hearing that.

"Should we start thinking about getting going?"

Richard was walking over from their former campsite with Nicola, all evidence of their presence having been packed away again.

"I guess we should," said James, checking his watch. "We want to make it to the next town as soon as possible." Supplies were getting low again, after all.

"I don't think that there's much more I can teach Toya and Nulin," said Harold. "Just keep practising and they'll have them down in no time at all!"

"Understood!" Will nodded. "Thanks for all your help, Harold!"

"It was my pleasure, young man!" Harold grinned at them. "It's always nice to see youngsters out travelling with their pokémon at this time of year – it reminds me of the good old days!"

The group waved at him as they started walking down the road leading out of the valley. It wouldn't be long now before they were back in civilisation.

"So, what's the first thing you're going to do once we're in Kaban City?" Richard asked, looking between the others.

"A shower, definitely!" Nicola immediately replied.

"I want to try and find a tough trainer to fight," said Will.

"Oh? You're feeling pretty confident at the moment?" James grinned.

"Of course – Toya and I are going to master Ice Beam and grow even more powerful!"

"I think you've grown pretty strong recently anyway," said Richard. "I mean, you've got Turkey and Gulpy, who are already quite tough themselves. Blue is really keen to fight and packs quite a punch. Plus, you've got Toya's new moves as well."

Indeed, Blue was currently scuffling with Kacha as they walked along, tackling each other playfully as they scampered after the trainers. She'd already spent as much time today training as the other three combined. Will was starting to think that just practice battles wouldn't be enough to satisfy her for long.

"Well, we should get to Kaban City before we worry about what we do there," said James. "Let's go, guys!"


Kaban City, Hoenn

12:21pm, 7th June 2006

Kaban City wasn't a large place, but it seemed like a metropolis as James led the way across the bridge in the centre of town. After all the time they'd spent in Meteor Falls, it was a wonder to behold – full of life and activity, shops that were full of stock and streets that were full of people walking about. It was a world away from what they'd seen in the mountains.

It took him until then to remember that it hadn't even been a week since they'd first started following the path leading up to Meteor Falls. Five days – that was all. But it felt like they'd been away from the bustle of modern life for a very long time.

They wasted no time in tracking down the pokémon centre and heading in so that they could book rooms for the night and have their pokémon checked up by the nurse. It was a process that they'd become so familiar with that they hardly noticed it normally, yet they realised how much they'd come to miss the old routine while they'd been away in the mountains. In many ways, it had felt even more desolate than the empty, rolling dunes of Route 111.

"Oh! New pokémon!" Nicola exclaimed as they walked through the entrance to the trainers' lounge, spotting a couple of pokémon that she hadn't seen before.

Richard laughed. "Calm down! Remember that we're back in the city now!"

Nicola didn't respond, instead pulling out her Pokédex and pointing it at a small, green pokémon with red and blue flowers on the end of its spindly arms.

"Roselia, the thorn pokémon and the evolved form of budew. Roselia shoot sharp thorns as projectiles at any opponent that tries to steal the flowers on their arms. The aroma of these pokémon brings serenity to living things. A roselia that drinks nutritionally rich spring water blooms with lovely flowers."

For such a small pokémon, it sounded like it packed quite a punch. Nicola made a mental note not to challenge the trainer sat with it and turned her Pokédex towards the other pokémon, a cute, pink pokémon that was round like a balloon.

"Jigglypuff, the balloon pokémon and the evolved form of igglybuff. A jigglypuff's vocal chords can freely adjust the wavelength of its voice. These pokémon use this ability to sing at precisely the right wavelength to make their foes most drowsy. When these pokémon sing, they never pause to breathe. This puts them at a severe disadvantage against a foe that cannot be put to sleep."

"Yeah, you want to watch out for jigglypuff," said Richard. "They can cause some real problems in battle."

"Really? It's so cute though…"

"You haven't heard them sing. I pray that you never have to…"

"…I'll take your word for it then," said Nicola. She looked around at the others. "Anyway, don't we need to plan what we're doing next?"

"I guess so, yeah." James nodded, reaching for his guidebook. "There are a couple of options for where to go from here."

"Before we start that, I have a question," said Will.

"Fire away."

Will nodded at Nicola, who gave him a blank look in return, before turning back to James. "I'm feeling confident in the strength of my team right now – we've been training hard and improving ourselves. I want to battle you to see how far I've come."

There were a couple of seconds of silence.

"Oh! That's what you meant!" Nicola suddenly exclaimed, finally working out why he'd suddenly nodded at her. "You're taking my advice then?"

"You suggested this?" Richard asked. "Are you sure that was a good idea?"

"What do you mean? The only way to truly improve as a trainer is to fight others, right?"

"I guess so, but to go up against James…"

James looked his brother in the eye. He could see his determination in his facial expression. They'd never had a proper battle together before, just practice spars. He knew that Will's tactics and drive meant that he was a capable trainer.

But he lacked experience fighting real battles, so there was only one way that it could really end. Still, it would be a good experience for both of them and James saw no reason to deny him. He nodded. "Sure, but let's have lunch first while we wait for the pokémon to be all healed up."


1:37pm, 7th June 2006

"Alright, what rules do you guys want to use?"

Richard looked between James and Will as he stood at the side of the arena.

"Well, we've both got four pokémon each, so I guess we could just use all of them?"

James looked over at Will, who nodded.

"Let's do that then!" Richard grinned.

"Good luck, both of you!" Nicola called.

James and Will both reached for their first poké balls and hurled them out.

Gulpy materialised in front of Will, while Kacha appeared opposite them. Both pokémon looked excited to get started. They all waited for Richard's shout before the orders started flying.

"Begin!"

"Go on the attack!"

Both trainers urged their pokémon forward. Gulpy lurched towards Kacha, only for the pikachu to vanish from sight for a split second. He reappeared on the gulpin's left, slamming his fist into her flank. Her flexible skin bent inwards with the impact, the force of the punch causing her to rock to the side.

However, she didn't seem all that bothered by it, as if the attack was a mere annoyance. She spun around, taking advantage of the momentum from Kacha's punch, and fired a blast of sludge towards him. He managed to race clear at the last second, but the sludge has glanced his right side. He winced as he came to a stop; once the initial pain subsided, he could feel his skin itching as the sludge irritated it.

"Keep your distance!" James called. There was no point wasting attacks up close when he'd have an advantage at a distance.

Kacha nodded and jumped to the side to avoid a second ball of sludge thrown by Gulpy. Growling as he fixed his gaze on his opponent, he started charging electricity in his cheek sacs. A crackling sound filled the air as the gathering bolts jumped around him.

"Hold position!" Will ordered. "Brace for it!"

As Kacha fired a bolt of electricity, Gulpy seemed to let herself sag closer to the ground. The electricity struck her easily, passing through her body and causing her to spasm. As Kacha lifted his attack, however, a blank look came over her face. Though her body was covered by scorch marks and her muscles occasionally jerked involuntarily, causing her entire body to wobble, she didn't look to be in pain at all.

"Use Sludge!" Will shouted.

Gulpy fired another bundle of sludge towards Kacha, but it came so slowly that he had plenty of time to dodge out of the way. The pikachu fired another bolt of electricity at his opponent, again managing to strike her directly. Once again, however, Gulpy seemed to forget all about the pain.

There was an uneasy stalemate on the arena for a couple of seconds as both pokémon eyed each other carefully and the two trainers thought about what to do next. It was Will who moved first.

"Pound!"

With a startling burst of speed, Gulpy flung herself across the practice arena towards where Kacha was standing. She slammed into him before he had a chance to react, sending him stumbling backwards, barely able to maintain his balance.

Spotting the opening, Will called out, telling her to use Sludge. The poisonous mass was already flying through the air before he'd finished his order. Kacha cried out in alarm and attempted a last-minute dodge. He was too slow and was struck by the full force of the attack.

"Use Poison Gas!"

Will wasn't going to let up. He knew that there was a power imbalance between Gulpy and Kacha. If they didn't move fast to claim victory, then they'd just get worn down by his superior firepower.

At his command, Gulpy expelled a small cloud of gas. It floated quickly in Kacha's direction and, despite his best efforts to resist it, he inhaled some of it. He coughed and choked, unable to focus as Gulpy sprang forwards again.

"Thunderbolt!" James called.

Kacha reacted instinctively, firing out a blast of electricity directly in front of himself. He caught Gulpy while she was in the air, sending electricity coursing through her. However, it wasn't enough to stop her advance and she slammed into him once again.

The process repeated, Gulpy charging at Kacha as he tried to ward her off with electricity, until the pikachu finally collapsed, unable to carry on the fight.

"Kacha is unable to battle!" Richard announced. "Gulpy is the winner!"

"Kacha, return!"

James recalled the injured pokémon to his poké ball. "You put up a good fight – looks like we underestimated Gulpy." He looked over at his younger brother as he put Kacha's ball away and pulled out another one. "Alright, I guess it's time I get serious! You won't get away with using your normal tactics this time, Will!"

"I'm looking forward to it!" Will called back. Though he was starting to get into the swing of the battle, he could feel his throat going a little dry. James was still stronger than him and a head-on fight would be difficult for him to win, if it was even possible at all. He'd need to focus everything on achieving victory.

"Go, Charka!"

The poké ball spun through the air and bounced off the ground before popping open. The charmeleon materialised, hopping from one foot to the other as he got ready to fight.

Will wasn't prepared to just sit back and wait for him to attack though. "Use Sludge!"

Gulpy opened her wide mouth and spat a ball of sludge at Charka. However, he simply opened his mouth and fired a stream of flames at the oncoming attack. The sludge was engulfed and incinerated. It was going to be a far tougher battle than the last one.

"Go on the offensive! You know the drill!" James called.

With a brief, knowing smile, Charka opened his mouth and spat out a cloud of thick, black smoke. As it filled the air and floated across the arena, Gulpy started moving, hoping to keep herself clear of the next attack. Will already knew exactly what to expect – James was using it anyway because it was effective.

Sure enough, an orange glow appeared from the cloud, followed a split second later by a jet of flame that licked its way across the arena and wrapped itself around Gulpy. The gulpin cried out in alarm as she found herself caught in the middle of a fiery vortex, immobilised by the smoke and flames.

A final burst of flames came streaming from the rapidly fading smoke cloud and licked their way towards Gulpy, combining with the vortex to create a searing inferno. The trainers felt the heat wave from the intense flames hit their faces. After only a few seconds, the last of the flames dissipated, leaving a burned and exhausted Gulpy lying on the ground.

"Gulpy is unable to battle! The winner is Charka!"

Such power!

Will could hardly contain his frustration at how easily Charka had counter attacked and defeated Gulpy. Still, he reassured himself, Gulpy had been severely weakened by the battle with Kacha. They'd have put up a much greater fight if they'd been at full strength.

Charka was James' strongest pokémon and one of his closest friends. He was the symbol of the strength of their team. If Will was to prove that he'd become stronger and was worthy of respect, then he knew that he needed to bring the charmeleon down. He had to give it his all.

"Go, Toya!"

Toya gave him a nod as he materialised on the charred and blasted arena floor. He winced slightly as he felt the hot ground on his feet. Across from him, Charka looked just as confident as ever, even with his traditional weakness to water attacks.

"Water Gun!"

Will wanted to start as strongly as he could. There was no time to worry about winning in a particularly skilful way – all that mattered was bringing Charka down. As long as he doused him in enough water, victory would be assured.

Charka wasn't prepared to just sit back though, and neither was James. With a shout from his trainer, Charka jumped to the side and prepared to fire back. Fire Spin wasn't a strong move, but it was very effective at keeping the foe pinned down. Toya was struck by the counter attack and grunted in pain as the flames tore around him as they raced skyward.

"Flamethrower!"

As Charka prepared for his attack, the fiery vortex suddenly started wavering and rotating faster. With a sudden burst, the flames suddenly dissipated and the vortex collapsed. Toya's spinning shell came to a rest and the wartortle himself popped back out. With a shout, he fired a jet of water towards Charka, who responded with a burst of his flames.

"Wow! They're really going all out!" Nicola gasped, watching as the two pokémon exchanged attacks with an increasing speed and ferocity.

"It's not really that surprising. Will loves focusing on power and James' strategies using Charka kinda work the same way. They're both their first pokémon as well, so…"

"Yeah…" Nicola could understand. There was something about a battle between two first pokémon – a sign that both trainers were pulling out all the stops.

Breaking off from the engagement briefly, Toya and Charka put some space between each other. They locked eyes for a tense second. As Toya prepared to attack again, Charka suddenly spat out another cloud of smoke. Though he and James were quickly hidden from Will and Toya's sight, the sound of the recall beam was unmistakable.

The sound disappointed Will. Though it was an agreed part of the rules and something that James regularly did in battles, he'd really been enjoying the showdown between their two strongest. Charka being withdrawn could technically be seen as an admission of defeat by James, but Will felt a little bit cheated by it. He hadn't truly beaten Charka and that meant there was some unfinished business for later.

He was snapped back to reality as a deafening sound echoed from within the smoke, a shockwave racing forwards and knocking Toya off of his feet. There was no mistaking that yell – Muro had taken to the battlefield!

As the loudred walked out of the fading smoke, he fixed Toya with a fierce look. He wasn't going to let himself be outdone.

"Use Uproar again!"

Muro nodded, his ears starting to pulse as he prepared another blast of sound. Toya tensed himself as Muro shouted loudly, the sound echoing around. A second shockwave hit him, but this time he stayed upright. He shook his furry tail as he took a step towards his opponent.

"Counter attack! We need to gain the initiative!" Will shouted.

Toya was quick to respond. With a brief nod, he darted forwards. Muro spotted his opportunity as Toya drew closer and raised his foot, aiming to smash into the wartortle. However, Toya changed direction at the last moment and, in trying to turn back to face him, Muro overbalanced and almost fell over. With the loudred exposed, Toya dived in and bit at his ankle. There was a shout of pain as his opponent toppled backwards and crashed to the ground.

The sudden switch to Muro had caught Will somewhat off-guard, but it looked like the battle was going back in his favour again. Still, he needed to think of a way to swing things decisively in his favour. If Toya defeated Muro, then there was still Charka and Nulin to go. Of those, Charka was the biggest threat. He had no doubt that Toya would be able to defeat him, but he would still have Turkey and Blue if needs be.

Toya had been continuing to hold off Muro with carefully aimed blasts of water. Now that his opponent was soaked, it was time for his next strike. Taking a deep breath, he fired a bright white beam at Muro.

Muro attempted to dive clear as James shouted a warning, but the icy beam caught his foot. As it froze, the ice rapidly spread up the rest of his body until it was completely encased. There was a loud crack as the ice shattered again and Muro crashed to the ground.

Still, he picked himself up and started storming back towards Toya. The wartortle jumped to the right to dodge the wild swing but misjudged his distance and landed flat on his belly a short distance away. Muro spotted the opportunity immediately and plunged towards him as he scrambled to get back to his feet. The loudred slammed his foot down onto him with a loud thud, winding him.

"Go defensive!" James called.

Muro jumped back from Toya and watched him carefully, preparing himself for another attack.

As Toya clawed his way back to his feet, Will wondered why James had decided to pull back instead of pressing his advantage. Maybe he was trying to keep him in the fight for longer – Muro was starting to look worse for wear and a powerful attack might be enough to finish him.

A powerful attack?

An old, familiar idea came to him. He glanced at Toya, noticing that he looked pretty worn down as well. It would take some bold moves to win this battle, but he thought that he had a chance.

"Smash yourself into the ground, Toya!"

"He's going with this again?!" Nicola exclaimed as she watched Toya obediently plough himself into the ground.

The wartortle winced in pain as he staggered back to his feet, but it had worked. A faint blue, watery aura started to surround him and grew stronger. Now was their chance.

He knew what his trainer wanted him to do even before the words left his lips. He opened his own mouth and felt a powerful surge of water gushing up from inside him. Fixing his gaze on Muro, he fired an even more powerful jet of water towards him.

With a shout from James, however, the loudred dived to the side at the last moment. As Toya remained stunned for a split second, Muro stormed towards him from the left. He finally turned his head and hit Muro, but he was too close. Fighting through the water, he slammed into Toya with a mighty kick.

Feeling his strength leave his legs, Toya toppled backwards and landed on his back.

"Toya is unable to battle! The winner is Muro!"

Will felt a little stunned as he recalled Toya to his poké ball. He'd been convinced that his final shot would win him the round. He'd still thought it when Muro was hit at the last moment on his approach. Still, Toya getting knocked out was something he'd already factored in. He just hadn't thought that it would happen against Muro. Though he was a tough pokémon, he'd never really struck Will in the same way as James' other pokémon – too few powerful moves to threaten him.

Pulling out another poké ball, he cast aside those thoughts. Toya might have gone down, but he was determined to launch his own counter attack.

"Go, Blue!"

The eager Blue materialised on the ground and flapped her tiny arms, jumping up and down with enthusiasm. She grinned eagerly at Muro opposite her.

"Go for the knockout!"

At Will's command, Blue immediately sprang forwards. Unlike Will's other pokémon, she didn't have an attack pattern that he'd taught her. Though he was going to have far less control over exactly what she did, it also meant that James would have a harder time predicting what she would do next.

Unfortunately, he had to go along with whatever Blue decided and a direct frontal assault wasn't quite what he'd had in mind. Still, Blue fought through Muro's sonic shockwaves and managed to slam into his stomach with her armoured head. As he stumbled backwards, the bagon followed up with a stream of fiery embers.

Crying out in pain as the embers singed him, Muro managed to regain his balance. This time, he raised a foot as Blue stormed forwards again. He lowered it at an angle, attempting to slip beneath her tough head and strike her more vulnerable body, but Blue lowered her head as she approached, making it impossible.

Instead, both pokémon recoiled in pain. Muro recovered first and took advantage of the opening to blast Blue with Uproar again, leaving her momentarily stunned. He followed up with a loud screech. He rushed forwards, limping noticeably, as Blue staggered about, clutching her head. There was a loud thud as he slammed his foot into her.

"Come on, Blue! Get it together!" Will called. "You can win this – I know it!"

Though still a little disoriented by the recent attacks, Blue quickly moved back to go on the offensive again. Her first headbutt went nowhere as Muro dodged out of the way, but a second one scored a hit on one of his legs. As he dropped to one knee, Blue spotted her chance and ploughed into him with a final strike.

"Muro is unable to battle! Blue is the winner!"

Will sighed with relief as James recalled Muro. The battle was even again, and he still had a chance to win. He didn't know which pokémon James would send out next, but he was confident that Blue would have the strength and stamina to go up against them. He still had Turkey in reserve as well, just in case.

"Go, Nulin!"

Nulin, huh? Will had thought that Charka was a more likely choice, but he supposed that James might be trying to take advantage of their weakened state or setting up so that Charka had less work to do later. Either way, his strategy remained unchanged.

"Give it your all! Use Headbutt!"

Blue surged forwards, flushed with the thrill of her victory over Muro. That tiny wingull might be able to fly, but she wasn't about to let herself be outshone.

However, she quickly discovered that it was going to be far from easy. With each attempted strike, Nulin wove around, deftly avoiding Blue's attacks with ease. After every dodge, he dived closer and struck at Blue with his wings before pulling back out of reach.

"Focus Energy!"

Blue disengaged briefly and fixed Nulin with a purposeful stare. Her eyes scanned the wingull's body relentlessly, identifying every possible weak spot. It was tougher than it normally would have been, given how fast he was flying around.

As soon as she was done, Blue launched herself into another attack. Nulin dodged, but she landed and threw herself up again. She missed his body but caught one of his wings and he started toppling down.

This was their chance! Blue pulled back slightly to prepare for her next attack. She started moving forwards, taking aim and lowering her head. Nulin had managed to keep himself airborne, but he was struggling to hold himself in place as his wing recovered.

"Ice Beam!"

As Blue drew closer, Nulin opened his beak and fired a white beam, a chill filling the air. Blue was far too close – there was no opportunity to dodge. In seconds, she was encased completely by the ice. As it shattered, the force of the attack sent her flying back. She crashed to the ground by Will and lay still.

"Blue is unable to battle! Nulin is the winner!"

Will gritted his teeth as he recalled Blue to her poké ball. "Good effort. Don't worry, we'll still pull through," he said as he put the ball away.

He'd been backed into somewhat of a corner now. Turkey was tough, but he would struggle against both Nulin and Charka. Still, he matched up well against Nulin – he was larger and heavier, so his attacks would pack more of a punch. He'd trained against the wingull so often that he knew his fighting style completely. The difficulty would be in the fight against Charka.

"Go, Turkey!"

Turkey surged out of the ball and immediately started flying at Nulin. His wings were bathed in a white light as he smashed into him. The wingull was hurled backwards with a cry. He managed to right himself and flew forwards again, his eyes following Turkey as he circled around to face him again.

Will knew that he had a unique opportunity to land easy knockout blows. There was no point wasting time with Steel Wing, which would have less effect – Turkey could probably finish Nulin off with just a couple more Aerial Aces. However, he was keen to practise their new attack as well.

"Fly!"

"Water Pulse!"

Turkey shot up high into the air. Nulin's attack sailed harmlessly below him and splashed to the ground.

There was a tense pause as Nulin and James watched for Turkey's next move. The swellow was difficult to see clearly, given the height he'd ascended to.

Suddenly, they detected movement. Turkey had started diving, gaining speed as he plunged towards Nulin. It looked like the attack was going to be a powerful one!

As the swellow rocketed down towards him, Nulin prepared to make his move. He suddenly fired a ball of water into the air towards him, followed quickly by a second one. Turkey had plenty of time to avoid both, but his distraction gave Nulin an opportunity to start moving clear. As he drew closer to the ground and frantically made adjustments to his flight course, Turkey heard a high-pitched sound rise up towards him. He tried to clear it from his mind, but it was so distracting! His course thrown off, he was suddenly hurtling straight at the ground. He tried to pull up but ended up crashing on the arena floor.

As he clawed his way back up, Nulin had already swept around behind him. There was a splash as a ball of water struck him, soaking his feathers and knocking him back to the ground again.

"Focus, Turkey!" Will yelled.

Hearing his trainer's voice, Turkey pulled himself back up again. This time, he lurched forwards to avoid another attack from Nulin. He shook his head to clear it and finally took off again, shaking some of the water from his feathers. Disappointed that he hadn't remained in his vulnerable state, Nulin gained height and switched his position so that he was ready for the next stage of the battle.

Turkey was quick to circle around and charge at Nulin with his wings spread wide. Nulin responded in kind, his own wings surrounded by white light. The two of them smashed into each other, the smaller and physically weaker Nulin being knocked aside by Turkey. As he was flung back, however, the wingull managed to fire another ball of water. It hit the surprised swellow and knocked him back.

Both pokémon were starting to get exhausted. Nulin looked as though he was just barely keeping himself in the air, his normally-straight wings flapping irregularly. Turkey was better off in terms of physical injuries but being hit by the balls of water had disoriented him and he was looking increasingly drained.

Will hadn't forgotten that Turkey still needed to fight Charka after this and, with the swellow's strength being whittled away, he was more mindful than ever of Nulin's Ice Beam attack. It still posed a strong risk to Turkey, being as powerful and accurate as it was, and it could even be enough to end the battle. There was no time to be cautious.

"Use Fly again!"

Turkey shot up into the sky again. As he circled far above, he focused his attention on Nulin and tensed himself for his dive back to the ground. With a cry, he tucked in his wings and let his body tip downwards. The wind raced past him as he gained speed, but he was focused and kept his eyes firmly on his target.

Finally spreading his wings slightly to control his descend, he swung his lower body down so that he was ready to slam into Nulin with his talons. The wingull made a desperate attempt to evade but moved just a little too slowly. There was a thud as the two pokémon hit the ground.

Will allowed himself a sigh of relief. The attack had gone just as planned and Turkey's power meant that the battle with Nulin was effectively over. He just needed to think about how he was going to put down Charka, or if it would even be possible.

As those thoughts were running through his head, however, he suddenly realised that Nulin had pulled free from Turkey and spun around to face him. Summoning his remaining energy, he opened his beak and shot an icy beam at his opponent. Turkey could only utter a brief cry of surprise before he was hit and encased in ice. He was thrown back as it shattered, crashing to the ground and laying silent.

"Turkey is unable to battle! Nulin is the winner!" Richard announced. "All four of Will's pokémon are unable to battle, so James wins!"

"Huh? How?" Will gasped, looking between the defeated Turkey and victorious Nulin. "We hit you with our full force!"

"You were too confident that you'd won the fight!" James called back as he walked forwards to pat Nulin on the head. "Nulin was able to just slip through the gap between Turkey's talons and counter attacked."

"Ugh." Will held up Turkey's poké ball and recalled him. Even if it had ended in a defeat, he'd been proud of the power and skill the swellow had displayed. Still, losing was frustrating. He couldn't quite grasp how he'd failed to overpower James' other pokémon. He knew that he'd gotten stronger, but he hadn't expected Muro and Nulin to put up as much of a fight as they did.

…Perhaps that was the problem – he'd underestimated how much trouble Muro and Nulin would give him. That wasn't too worrying though. He'd only done that because he knew the two of them well. Against a trainer and pokémon he'd just met, he wouldn't make mistakes like that.

"So, about the battle…" he said. He wanted to dissect his defeat and work out where he could have improved.

"Let's head back to the pokémon centre first," said James. "Once our pokémon are getting healed up, we can talk about what happened."

That seemed fair.

Will set off after James, Richard and Nicola as they all started walking away from the arena.


2:09pm, 7th June 2006

"So, where did I go wrong?"

Will was quick to restart the discussion as he sat down in the trainers' lounge.

"First up, I think you did really well," said James. "Blue was pretty tough and the rest of your pokémon have been growing stronger as well. You also came up with some good strategies to use against me."

"Agreed." Richard nodded.

"Yeah, I wish I could do as well as that against James," Nicola added.

"Yeah, but I still lost," Will replied. "Where did I go wrong? Was it because I underestimated Muro and Nulin?"

"That might be part of it," said James. "But I also think that you may have overestimated yourself a little bit."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you have several favourite tactics and I think you don't realise how easy it is for me to predict them. I was pretty much waiting for you to have Toya hurt himself to boost his water power and based my strategy around that. Similarly, I knew that you'd go for your best attacks with Turkey and focus on trying to do heavy damage with each strike."

"That sounds more like him being predictable rather than him overestimating his abilities," said Nicola.

"Ah, I guess so!" James chuckled. "Sorry, I couldn't think of the right way to phrase it on the spot."

"On that subject, I think you worked quite well with Blue in the battle," said Richard. "And you were certainly more unpredictable."

"I think that was the same with Gulpy as well." James nodded. "I wasn't expecting such a fierce attack from her and Kacha and I let our guards down."

"So, I need to work on making my moves less predictable and focus on trying to surprise my opponents?" Will recapped.

"That's probably enough to work on for now," Richard replied. "It was pretty fun watching the two of you go all out against each other – it's completely different having a proper battle to a practice battle!"

"Agreed!" James said.

"Do you feel like it was worth doing?" Nicola asked, looking at Will.

"Yeah, I think so." Will nodded, smiling at her. "Thanks for the suggestion. It's helped me out a lot."

"Sure! Next time, we should have another battle!"

"Actually, don't we need to talk about where we're going to go next?" Richard asked.

"Good point." James pulled out the guidebook. "The next town on Route 115 is Tiane Town."

"Isn't that the place Mia told us was hosting a contest soon?" Nicola asked.

"That's right." James reached into his bag and pulled out a second small book. Mia had given it to him before they'd parted ways in Kasena Town – it was a programme listing all of the contests that were due to take place across Hoenn this season. It was much more convenient than having to check the website every time they reached a new city.

"Are you sure that we're going to be in time for that? It took us quite a while to get through Meteor Falls…" Will pointed out.

"Here it is!" James found the page for June and scanned it to find Tiane Town. "We'll be just in time – the next contest is the day after tomorrow!"

"I guess that's settled then!" Nicola grinned happily. "I'm looking forward to it!"

"How far is Tiane Town?" Richard asked. "Do you think we'll make it in time?"

"Easily," James replied. "We could probably make it there before dinner time if we set off right now."

"That's really close," said Nicola. "Would it be better to get to Tiane Town sooner?"

James shook his head. "I don't think that it'll make much of a difference and we need to stay here while the pokémon heal up anyway. We had a rough trip across Meteor Falls, so I think we can afford to kick back a bit today."

"Well, I'm going to head out and do some practising for the contest!" Nicola jumped to her feet. "You're welcome to join me if you want!"

"I think I'll kick back and relax for a bit!" Richard grinned at her. "Might come out later in the afternoon though!"

"Suit yourself!" Nicola called back as she started walking towards the doorway. She probably wouldn't stay out that long today. After Meteor Falls and the intensity of James and Will's battle, they were all feeling pretty exhausting. It would be nice to have a chance to recover.


We haven't had a large-scale battle between some of the protagonists in a long time. It felt good to have an opportunity to put James and Will's teams to the test in this chapter and get a feel for how their teams have developed so far. I wanted to give more focus to James' new pokémon, since we've seen an awful lot of Charka and Kacha from Kanto and Sevii Islands, but it wouldn't have been the same with their move combinations. RIP Agile Slam. :(

I also wanted to try and get more into Will's head this chapter since he's currently the most neglected and underdeveloped character on the main cast. I hope that I'm making steps in the right direction with the events of this chapter!

Also, why is it that my Facebook posts only get likes if they're about chapter delays? :/

As ever, I appreciate any feedback you have on this chapter and don't forget to leave a like on the Facebook page.

Until next time!


Team Listings:

James Burton:

Active:

Charka (Charmeleon): male, naïve, often scatters things, likes sweet food, fire type, Blaze ability, knows Fire Spin, Smokescreen, Flamethrower and Metal Claw.

Kacha (Pikachu): male, modest, sturdy body, likes dry food, electric type, Static ability, knows Thunderbolt, Agility, Brick Break and Thunder Wave.

Nulin (Wingull): male, impish, highly persistent, likes sour food, water-flying type, Keen Eye ability, knows Ice Beam, Water Pulse, Supersonic and Aerial Ace.

Muro (Loudred): male, careful, loves to eat, likes bitter food, normal type, Soundproof ability, knows Howl, Stomp, Screech and Uproar.

Richard Winter:

Active:

Naro (Nidoking): male, mild, sturdy body, likes dry food, poison-ground type, Poison Point ability, knows Thrash, Megahorn, Poison Sting and Double Kick.

Chena (Mightyena): male, docile, capable of taking hits, eats anything, dark type, Intimidate ability, knows Take Down, Howl, Swagger and Bite.

Dish (Lombre): female, gentle, capable of taking hits, likes bitter food, water-grass type, Rain Dish ability, knows Rain Dance, Growl, Mega Drain and Nature Power.

Arro (Lairon): male, naïve, loves to eat, likes sweet food, steel-rock type, Sturdy ability, knows Metal Sound, Iron Tail, Iron Defence and Take Down.

Vortex (Baltoy): genderless, lonely, sturdy body, likes spicy food, ground-psychic type, Levitate ability, knows Rapid Spin, Psybeam, Mud Slap and Rock Tomb.

Nicola Hewitt:

Active:

Kipa (Marshtomp): male, quiet, somewhat vain, likes dry food, water-ground type, Torrent ability, knows Take Down, Bide, Mud Shot and Water Gun.

Mushy (Shroomish): female, calm, likes to relax, likes bitter food, grass type, Effect Spore ability, knows Mega Drain, Headbutt, Stun Spore and Leech Seed.

Zaggy (Zigzagoon): male, adamant, quick to flee, likes spicy food, normal type, Pick Up ability, knows Tackle, Rest, Headbutt and Dig.

Tricky (Electrike): male, quirky, somewhat of a clown, eats anything, electric type, Lightningrod ability, knows Bite, Spark, Quick Attack and Howl.

Mule (Numel): female, docile, often lost in thought, eats anything, fire-ground type, Oblivious ability, knows Ember, Magnitude, Amnesia and Take Down.

Will Burton:

Active:

Toya (Wartortle): male, modest, very finicky, likes dry food, water type, Torrent ability, knows Rapid Spin, Bite, Water Gun and Ice Beam.

Turkey (Swellow): male, mild, alert to sounds, likes dry food, normal-flying type, Guts ability, knows Aerial Ace, Steel Wing, Double Team and Fly.

Gulpy (Gulpin): female, mild, nods off a lot, likes dry food, poison type, Sticky Hold ability, knows Pound, Amnesia, Sludge and Poison Gas.

Blue (Bagon): female, adamant, proud of its power, likes spicy food, dragon type, Rock Head ability, knows Leer, Focus Energy, Ember and Headbutt.