Theme Song
It is time for the home stretch (Gray shows her badge case with eight badges)
For it is the final catch (Magna appears, smiles, and fades, which is repeated by Fidens, Leviculus, Decorus, Durus, and another Pokemon)
Your goal's right there, it is your fate (Owen and Red stare down at the championship battle of the Indigo League)
Go ahead and become great! (Gray throws a Pokeball forwards and it opens)
No way! (2x) We won't back down! (Durus lunges at the camera and slashes it)
We will! (2x) Win that crown (Montage of Gray defeating Trentavious, Savannah, and Marcus before she looks across a battlefield and sees Owen)
This is it, the final quest (Gray looks off into the sunset with Chase, Tara, and their Pokemon)
You must do your very best... Pokemon!
How's it going, people? Last chapter, Gray managed to beat Trentavious and move on to the top 16! This chapter, she will be practicing for her battle against Savannah, and that's about it. Now, let's get going!
MCMXCV: Froslass definitely seemed weak now that I'm looking back at it. Drapion, at least in my opinion, was pretty strong, he just had a poor matchup with Fidens being so fast and resisting poison type attacks
Blaze Falcon: Eh... don't be too certain about Savannah losing. She's going to show how much she's improved, and Gray's Pokemon are gassed right now. Also, Venasaur, sadly, isn't battling
Trentavious Phoenix: Like I said above, I don't think Drapion seemed weak, he just had an awful matchup against Fidens' speed and resistance to poison type attacks. Plus, he was being used more as an annoyer with Toxic Spikes. And while Toxic Spikes would normally remain in effect, I like to break the mold, similar to Ash using Infernape's Flare Blitz to get rid of Toxic Spikes
ShadowDragon9000: Haha, yeah you do and stick to it! It's your shtick ;) You're probably not wrong about the result of the battle, but I won't spoil it because of obvious reasons
Defender31415: Thanks
guest: Serperior is female, and I only called it a male once, not every time it's been introduced. I also love Drapion because of how strong Paul's was, and it's such an intimidating presence with Toxic Spikes and the ability to contort its body like a pretzel. He will definitely be a lot stronger the next time Gray and Trent meet, and Froslass will be, too
Guest: Thanks for the review! Kalos Adventure was my favorite story (this being a distant second), and that's a pretty weird (not in a bad way) team you talked about. Mega Fusion was one of the best parts about writing that story, and the name was proposed in a review, if I remember correctly. Glad to see you enjoyed the story!
Gray's team
Durus, (f), level 44, Power Gem, Feint Attack, Bite, Metal Claw, Pay Day*, Slash* - (Persian)
Leviculus, (m), level 40, Water Gun, Dig, Rain Dance, Body Slam, Mega Kick*, Ice Punch* - (Politoed)
Fidens, (m), level 42, Quick Attack, Wing Attack, Ancient Power, Dragon Breath, Crunch*, Acrobatics* - (Archeops)
Magna, (f), level 39, Confusion, Yawn, Astonish, Uproar, Last Resort*, Protect* - (Chingling)
Decorus, (f), level 43, Vine Whip, Moonblast, Psychic, Magical Leaf, Grassy Terrain*, Petal Blizzard* - (Florges)
"I still can't believe we actually won!" Gray exclaimed in-between bites of her food.
Her five Pokemon nodded in response while Chase and Tara sweat dropped at the sight of the victory feast. Gray's mom had made her daughter and her Pokemon the most incredible dinner they had ever seen. Everyone else was free to eat, and they did, but Gray was somehow still stuffing her face with food.
"So, do you want to do anything tonight?" Chase asked Tara casually as they sat on the couch in front of the television.
The blonde blushed in response and turned her face away so Chase couldn't see, and he scratched his head in confusion.
"Are you okay, Tara?"
"Hahaha I'm fine!" the girl answered with fake laughter.
Scyther, Audino, and Musharna sweat dropped at Chase's obliviousness, as he smiled and nodded at Tara.
"I actually need to step out for a little bit and check on some things. Scyther, could you come with me?" Tara asked her Pokemon as she began to walk out of the apartment.
Scyther followed his trainer outside, and they stopped in the hallway immediately.
"I'm gonna call him right now. I want you to keep an eye out."
"No problem," the bug type replied as his trainer dialed a number into her Pokedex.
"Hey. Yeah, we're in Saffron. Uh-huh, yeah. I need you to send him right now, and remember, no one can know about this," Tara whispered into the Pokedex before hanging up. "We're all good to go. Make sure you don't say a word," the girl warned her Pokemon before heading back into the apartment.
Scyther followed his trainer inside and shook his head, not wanting to keep the secret from the group he had grown so close to.
000
"Sammy, stop moving!" Gray shouted at the girl, who had an apple resting on her head. She was blindfolded and Decorus was practicing on making her Magical Leaf as accurate as possible and capable of hitting specific targets on enemies.
"How do you expect me to do that!?" the girl screamed right back, making Gray bring a hand up to her head angrily.
The five Pokemon that were training were far too focused on becoming stronger to pay any attention to the feuding girls, who stopped yelling when Musharna floated over and made his Dream Smoke circle around their faces. Both girls were calmed immediately, and Chase patted Musharna's back thankfully before speaking up.
"You know, Gray, maybe you could draw a target instead of making Sammy one," the teen suggested, making Gray roll her eyes before nodding. "Wait, where's Tracy?"
Gray and Sammy looked around and shrugged, but Chase's question was answered when the girl skipped out of the apartment building and walked onto the practice battlefield.
"What are you three doing out here?"
"I'm helping Gray practice for her battle tomorrow, but she wants me to have this apple sit on my head so her Florges can hit it!" Sammy screamed angrily as she stomped and crossed her arms over her chest.
"I'll do it."
Sammy deadpanned at her twin's response, and she watched as Tracy nonchalantly placed the apple on her head.
"Fire away, Decorus!"
Decorus did as she was told, and the Magical Leaf sliced the apple. Tracy, meanwhile, looked over at Sammy and shook her head in shame, as there wasn't a single cut on her body.
"See? Not so bad."
"Thanks, Tracy!" Gray said to the twin, who smiled in response. "Now, who else needs to train?" Gray quizzed as she looked around at her Pokemon alongside Decorus.
The shiny Pokemon remained silent until she cleared her throat and turned to face her trainer.
"None of us," the fairy type informed Gray, who stepped back in shock before Decorus continued. "I hate to be the one to say this, but we're all exhausted, Gray. The Pokemon Center may be able to get rid of injuries, but it doesn't replenish our energy. You're going to have to catch another Pokemon."
Enraged by the idea, Gray began to wave her arms around violently as she spoke.
"There's not enough time to train a sixth Pokemon, and even if there was, it's not like I'd catch the first one I saw. I only catch Pokemon I feel a bond with," she answered while looking Decorus in the eye.
The fully evolved Pokemon raised an eyebrow, questioning the validity of the statement, which made Gray laugh.
"Okay, or if they're destroying cities, but either way, I'm not catching another Pokemon just for the sake of having a full team! You guys are as resilient as they come, so a little fatigue isn't going to keep you all down!" the brunette exclaimed, clearly unaware of how exhausted her Pokemon truly were, due to the fact that she was a human, and that they never showed any signs of fatigue.
"I don't know, Gray, I think Decorus might be right, as much as I hate to admit it," Durus told her trainer, whose jaw dropped in shock. "The fact that I'm willing to stand here and say that I'm still hurting from the battle with Trent means we need another team member. You know I'll never complain about being tired and will keep fighting if you want me to, but I don't see how we can keep it up much longer."
"Yeah," Fidens, Leviculus, and Magna added in unison, making Gray scowl.
The girl gave all five of her Pokemon the stink eye, but stopped when she saw how serious they all were. A hand then fell on her shoulder, and Gray turned to see Chase standing by her side.
"They're right, Gray. If you're keeping that spot open for Fortis, I think you need to move on."
Gray glared at her friend before taking his hand off her shoulder, which caught Chase and the others by surprise.
"I'm not keeping the spot open for Fortis, and I'm not catching another Pokemon! That's final!" the girl screamed before stomping on the ground powerfully.
Her Pokemon, Chase, Sammy, and Tracy stared in silence as Gray's face turned red from anger, and she started to walk away from the group. She stopped, however, when Tara walked outside and spoke up.
"Guys, I think you need to leave Gray alone and let her do what she thinks is right," the blonde announced, making Gray smile. "Chase, you never hear me or Gray telling you to study more, and all five of you, you never hear any of us telling you to do stuff you don't want to. Just mind your own business."
"That's right!" Scyther exclaimed in support of his trainer, who looked around at the others angrily.
"Besides, it's not like some Pokemon is just magically going to come down from the sky and ask Gray to join. That'd be crazy!" Tara exclaimed while throwing her hands up for emphasis.
Everyone looked around at each other before nodding reluctantly, making Tara smile. Gray quickly walked over to the blonde and hugged her thankfully before pulling away and looking at her Pokemon.
"Thanks for the support, Tara and Scyther. Now how about we call it a day and head inside? We have a tough battle tomorrow, and I don't want any of you tiring yourselves out before it."
The five Pokemon cheered in response, and they began to walk towards the apartment building along with Tracy, Sammy, Chase, and Gray. Before they could open the door, a loud buzzing sound filled the air, and everyone looked around in confusion except Tara and Scyther, who smiled.
"What did you two do?" Chase asked with a whiny tone, making the girl and her Pokemon laugh.
They simply pointed into the distance, and everyone ran over to their sides before a black figure appeared in the sky. Gray and her Pokemon narrowed their eyes in an attempt to identify the figure, but they couldn't. Suddenly, it disappeared, and the girl scratched her head in confusion.
"Well that was weird," Gray muttered before turning to head back inside.
The figure surprisingly reappeared and it began to descend at the speed of light, capturing everyone's attention once again. Instead of moving away in fear, the group of trainers and Pokemon stayed still, and they watched as the figure landed, causing a cloud of dust to shoot up. As the dust began to settle, a familiar face walked forwards and smiled at Gray, instantly bringing the girl to tears. Without saying a word, she ran over to the familiar figure and hugged it. Her Pokemon soon followed and ran over happily.
"Fortis, what are you doing here!?" Durus screamed before hugging the Flygon, who was beaming. "Why aren't you back at the Pokemon Reservoir?"
"Yeah, aren't you supposed to be protecting them from the flock of Fearow?" Magna quizzed.
The dragon and ground type looked around at his trainer and family before turning his translator on to answer. While the translator began to start up, Gray stared at Fortis and noticed he had become significantly more muscular. An overwhelming sense of power radiated from the Pokemon, which wasn't the case prior to his being released.
"Haha, I would be if the flock of Fearow hadn't had a change of heart. They decide to live in the reservoir with the others after I knocked some sense into them. When that happened, Ronald told me Tara called him asking how I was doing, and when he told her the Fearow became good, she demanded that I come back because you apparently need me for the Saffron Tournament, so here I am!" the powerful Pokemon answered with a smile as he embraced Leviculus.
"Tara..." Gray said as she walked over to her friend teary eyed. "I-I can't thank you enough. Is this a permanent thing?"
"Yup," Fortis answered excitedly while flapping his wings powerfully.
Gray jumped with joy before hugging Tara, and she turned to see Fortis was still hugging his teammates. She watched as Decorus stepped forward and embraced the dragon type while crying tears of joy, which made Fortis laugh slightly.
"It's great to see you, too. I didn't forget what you said back in Fuchsia City."
The fairy type blushed at the comment once she stopped crying, and Fortis laughed at her response before making his way over to Chase and Tara, both of whom were hugged along with their Pokemon.
"Oh, Fortis, this is Musharna. Audino and I saved him when we visited Gray's mom's Adoption Center!" Chase exclaimed, helping Fortis learn why the psychic type was present.
The two Pokemon exchanged greetings, but Fortis was quickly whisked back over to Gray by the Durus.
"So, Fortis, how about I show you my house? Then you can meet my mom and brother."
"Let's do it!"
Wow wow wow wow wow, slow down for a second. I know this was a pretty crummy way of bringing Fortis back, but in my defense, it's kind of hard to write such an important chapter during the middle of a tournament. Anywho, I decided to bring Fortis back due to the lack of a true replacement (seriously, how ridiculous would it be for Gray to catch something as strong as him?), and because I love Flygon... but the replacement was a much bigger issue. With that being said, Fortis is officially back and he'll get to showcase just how strong he has become since evolving and protecting the reservoir! With her team back up to six members, Gray should be able to give a few of her Pokemon some much needed rest heading in to her next battle. Till next time, peace out.
Next Chapter: "A Powerhouse Emerges!": Squaring off with Savannah in the top 16, Gray and her Pokemon leave everything on the line in hopes of advancing to the quarterfinals. While doing so, one Pokemon distinguishes themselves as a cut above the rest, wowing everyone in the stadium. Which Pokemon is it? Will they be able to push Gray into the quarterfinals?
Saffron City Arc
Chapter 52: The Kanto Kids
