Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!
Pokemon Emerald
Chapter Forty Two
The Final Badge
"Two legendary pokemon fought here today, and two trainers stepped forward alongside a third legendary pokemon to prevent them from causing any damage." Juan announced, standing on an area of land in the middle of Sootopolis. It was one raised earlier by Groudon. The rest of the gym leaders and Elite Four were gathered around on the shore to watch, and Angela was still with Flannery.
Several small land masses were scattered between Juan and the shore, and May was standing near the edge of the water across from him as Juan made his speech. The water and the islands scattered between where Juan and May stood were to serve as their battlefield. Night was beginning to fall, but the day wasn't quite over yet as the sunset shone in through the opening in the crater wall.
"It is a shame the other trainer left so quickly." Juan continued solemnly. "However, to commemorate this day, May Maple from Littleroot will be competing for her eigth and final badge in an all-out battle. Both the challenger and I will be using six pokemon as opposed to the usual three."
"I already chose my six..." May thought, already holding a pokeball in her hand for her first pokemon. "Thankfully the pokemon transfer machine was working, so I'm all set for a battle with a water gym leader. If I had Plusle I'd be all set but I'm giving her a break..."
"May, are you prepared?" Juan asked her. May nodded in response. "Then let the battle for the final badge commence! Luvidsc, begin the show!" Juan held up a pokeball he was holding as he called out, releasing the heart-shaped fish pokemon Luvdisc as his first pokemon in the match.
"Tropius, I choose you! Go!" May called out as she released Tropius from its pokeball, the large leafy pokemon appearing on a nearby landmass to start the battle.
"HEY! Thats not fair!" Angela cried out, waving her arms around. "How's May supposed to battle a heart-shaped pokemon?"
"A good pokemon trainer can't allow something as simple as a pokemon's looks hold them back in battle." Roxanne informed Angela, crossing her arms over her chest. "A pokemon is a pokemon, whats matters in a battle is a pokemon's individual strengths and weaknesses."
"But its shaped like a heart..." Angela whined quietly. Flannery patted her on the head comfortingly.
"When you become a trainer someday, you'll understand..." The red headed gym leader said reassuringly.
"A pokemon like Luvdisc isn't to be underestimated..." Norman thought, observing the battle silently. "When May battled me, her pokemon consisted of Beautifly, Roselia, Kirlia, and Swablu. With those pokemon she managed to win..."
"Luvdisc, we shall start this battle with a Blizzard attack!" Juan called out. Luvdisc complied, sending a storm of ice and snow towards Tropius.
"Tropius, quick! Up!" Tropius flapped its broad, leaf-like wings to take off from the island it was on. Luvdisc's Blizzard attack hit just as Tropius was clear, coating the ground it was standing on in a layer of ice. "Now, use Magical Leaf!" Tropius gave a strong flap of its wings, sending a barrage of razor-sharp leaves out in front of it which immediately began to hone in on Luvdisc.
"Luvdisc, another Blizzard attack!" Luvdisc sent off another blast of ice and snow towards Tropius just before the Magical Leaf attack hit Luvdisc. The leaves slashed Luvdisc, causing the pokemon to squeal in pain as it was shoved below the surface of the water. It re-emerged shortly with a few scratches on its body.
Tropius, meanwhile, didn't handle the Blizzard attack too well. This time it scored a direct hit, and Tropius was sent crashing down into the ice-covered ground below. The impact cracked the ice on the island, as well as removing the small amount of ice that had formed on Tropius. Tropius was hurt pretty badly by the attack, but managed to get back on its feet despite being in a lot of pain.
"Ice attacks hurt Tropius just as much as they would Altaria..." May thought to herself. "That Luvdisc doesn't look very tough but that one attack almost brought Tropius down for good! I'll have to be more careful...maybe I shouldn't have brought so many grass pokemon!"
"Luvdisc, finish this with Surf!" Juan called out. Luvdisc began to rise up on top of a wave as the water bulged beneath it. It rode atop the wave, heading towards Tropius.
"He's not taking any chances!" May thought. "Tropius, counter with Gust!" Tropius began flapping its broad wings, creating powerful gusts of wind. At first this only seemed to slow Luvdisc's progress, but eventually the small pokemon was knocked off and the wave crashed harmlessly in the middle of the water.
"Now, follow up with another Magical Leaf!" Tropius gave another flap of its wings, sending a barrage of sharp leaves that quickly honed in on Luvdisc. The leaves slashed at Luvdisc as they flew into the heart-shaped fish, causing it to cry out in pain again as it was pushed back through the water. Luvdisc seemed to be in as bad a shape as Tropius now.
"Looks like this matchup could go either way now..." May noted, smiling slightly. "Alright, lets finish this off with another Magical Leaf attack Tropius!"
"Luvdisc, one more Blizzard will do." Juan said to his pokemon. The two pokemon launched their attacks, Luvdisc sending out a shower of snow and ice while Tropius fired sharp magical leaves to hone in on its opponent. As the attacks crossed, the leaves Tropius fired became frozen and dropped into the water before reaching their target.
Tropius collapsed almost as soon as the Blizzard attack reached it, falling on its side as its body was slowly becoming encased in ice. May quickly recalled her fainted Tropius.
"I thought perhaps May's Tropius would have won." Winona commented as May's Tropius fell. "Her Tropius managed to overcome my own, though I suppose that doesn't amount to much against Juan."
"Oh no! May's losing!" Angela cried out.
"Yes, but Luvdisc is weakened." Roxanne replied. "May's next pokemon should be able to make up for the loss easily enough. The battle can still go either way."
"Tropius couldn't stand up to Luvdisc's ice attacks..." May thought to herself. "Using another grass pokemon would be a bad idea right now then, but Luvdisc probably won't be able to do much to Ludicolo!" May placed Tropius's pokeball on her belt, then took Ludicolo's in hand.
"Ludicolo, go!" May called out, releasing Ludicolo onto the nearby ice-covered island. Ludicolo began dancing around as soon as it appeared, but slipped on the ice and fell on its face. It quickly got back to its feet and rubbed the back of its head in embarassment.
"No offense to May..." Brawly thought, watching the battle from atop someone's house. "But her Ludicolo doesn't look like a serious battler. Even if it managed to hold off Kyogre, that was only because of its speed..."
"Interesting choice for a pokemon." Juan thought to himself. "My pokemon will have to resort to ice attacks to hit it unresisted, while Ludicolo can strike back with grass attacks."
"Luvdisc, attack with Blizzard!"
"Ludicolo, into the water behind you!" Luvdisc unleashed a barrage of snow and ice toward Ludicolo. Ludicolo easily avoided the attack, however, by stepping back and falling into the water behind the small island it was standing on. The island froze over, taking any of the ice that could reach Ludicolo in the water.
"Ludicolo, use Rain Dance!" Ludicolo began happily spinning around in the water as if dancing and rain clouds began to gather over the area where the pokemon were battling. In only a matter of seconds it was raining as hard as it had been when Kyogre was there, however the trainers were all spared getting soaked by the downpour.
"That'll give Ludicolo a speed boost." May thought, smiling to herself. "Now one quick attack to finish off Juan's Luvdisc!"
"Now, finish Luvdisc with Mega Drain!" May called out. Ludicolo quickly swam out around the island to attack Luvdisc, bringing its hands together in preparation for its attack.
"Luvdisc, circle around it!" Juan called out, not ready to let his Luvdisc sit idly as it was attacked. Luvdisc began moving rapidly through the water, then started going in quick circles around Ludicolo. The grass pokemon couldn't keep up with Luvdisc's movements to use its attack, and eventually gave up.
"How is it moving so fast?" May wondered, then it hit her. "Luvdisc must have the same ability as Ludicolo! Even though Ludicolo's faster with the rain, Luvdisc is faster too! I'll just have to bide my time until Juan attacks then..."
May continued to watch Luvdisc circle around Ludicolo over and over, waiting for it to attack so she could launch a counterattack. Ludicolo wouldn't be able to hit it very easily with it moving so fast and would need to wait until it slowed down to attack. More than a minute passed by without Luvdisc attacking, however.
"Why isn't Juan attacking?" May wondered. "Does he realize my strategy? Is he waiting to make the counter attack?" May continued to think about it for a moment, then it hit her. "Luvdisc must not be able to attack! Its water attacks wouldn't really do any damage to Ludicolo that Mega Drain wouldn't restore, and it can't reliably hit with Blizzard either. It can't do anything to Ludicolo unless it gets an opening to attack! Well in that case..."
"Ludicolo, use Uproar!" Ludicolo began flailing about wildly in the water and shouting loudly, creating an ear-piercing noise. The soundwaves went out in all directions, and the shock from the sound burst was enough to knock out the weakened Luvdisc. The unconcious pokemon slowly came to a stop, floating on its side. Juan recalled Luvdisc and applauded May, but his applause was scarce heard admist Ludicolo's Uproar.
Likewise, no one can hear Juan as he calls out his next pokemon. They can all see it, however, as the blue furred seal pokemon Sealeo appears in the water near Juan.
"Sealeo...I wonder if its an ice type pokemon?" May thought to herself. She was convinced it was, and that Juan was planning to attack Ludicolo with ice attacks from an ice pokemon. Unfortunately for May she couldn't do much about it as Ludicolo was temporarily stuck using Uproar until it stopped of its own accord.
"Yay! May won!" Angela cried out happily while keeping her ears covered with her hands. No one really took notice though, especially Wattson and Norman. Both gym leaders were quick to put in a pair of earplugs. The rest of the group were not quite so well prepared and had trouble making out Angela's cries, but they knew she was just commenting on the battle anyway.
"Sealeo, we shall take this time to remove Ludicolo's advantage! Hail!" Juan's Sealeo managed to hear its trainer shouting and began concentrating, chilling the air to change the rainstorm overhead into a hailstorm. Both pokemon were pelted by hail, but Sealeo didn't seem to mind it. It was also being hurt by Ludicolo's Uproar attack as well, but not enough for it to bother Sealeo. Ludicolo continued making its loud noise, seemingly ignoring its surroundings.
"Come on, Ludicolo! You need to stop!" May called out desperately to Ludicolo, not wanting to give Juan the upperhand. Ludicolo didn't seem to hear her though and just kept making noise. Being at the center of the noise, it was having the hardest time hearing.
"Sealeo, now! An Aurora Beam if you will!" Juan called out loudly to his pokemon. Sealeo opened its mouth as it floated lazily in the water, then fired a rainbow beam of energy towards Ludicolo. Ludicolo spun around in the water as the beam hit it in a burst of light, eventually coming to a stop facing Sealeo again. It didn't seem much worse off from the attack, but it had stopped causing an uproar.
"Ludicolo, use Mega Drain now!" May called out, louder than she actually had to. Ludicolo stretched out its arms towards Sealeo, a target that wouldn't be able to escape in time like Luvdisc did. Sealeo barked in pain as a green stream of energy flowed from it and into Ludicolo, restoring some of Ludicolo's health in the process.
"Should I do something about that hail?" May wondered. "Maybe I should just let it go away on its own instead of giving Juan's Sealeo a free chance to attack..."
"Sealeo, use Double-Edge!" Sealeo began swimming quickly through the water, setting its sights on May's Ludicolo. May watched Sealeo for a moment, waiting for it to get closer to Ludicolo before finally commanding it.
"Ludicolo, Astonish!" As Sealeo moved in towards Ludicolo, Ludicolo made a sudden movement towards Sealeo while waving its arms and making a face. Sealeo was shocked by this and slowed down, quickly coming to a stop. It was too frightened to continue its attack. The two pokemon were about an arm's length away from each other and hail continued to swirl around them, slowly weakening Ludicolo.
"Now, Ludicolo! Grab it and use Mega Drain!" Ludicolo took hold of the stunned Sealeo, grabbing it by the sides and beginning to drain its energy directly with Mega Drain while restoring Ludicolo fully. Ludicolo kept draining Sealeo's energy though, further weakening it and causing the pokemon to growl in pain.
"Sealeo, you must shake it off! Aurora Beam!" Sealeo slowly opened its mouth slowly, hindered by the pain being inflicted upon it. It fired an Aurora Beam straight into Ludicolo at point-blank range, easily loosening the pokemon's grip and causing it to cry out as it was shot backwards. Sealeo panted heavily, growing considerably exhausted as the battle wore on. Ludicolo was still in good shape though, and the hail storm had finally ceased as well.
"Sealeo isn't holding up as well as I had hoped it would..." Juan realized, sighing quietly. "And its fighting merely to inflict damage on her Ludicolo...what a shame. I could heal with Rest, but its Snore technique is unlikely to aide it much and Ludicolo will more than make up for the health regained in the time it is asleep."
"Ludicolo, use Mega Drain again!" Ludicolo held out its hands towards Sealeo, using another Mega Drain attack to absorb Sealeo's energy from a distance this time and restoring much of the damage inflicted by Sealeo's Aurora Beam attack. At this point Sealeo looked about ready to collapse, and May realized it wouldn't be able to take another hit.
"Sealeo, you fought well, so let us make a big finish! Double Edge!" Sealeo paused for a moment to build up energy, having no distance between itself and Ludicolo to charge, then bolted head-first into Ludicolo and injurying both of them. Ludicolo, of course, was still standing after this last-ditch attack but the recoil was all Sealeo could take. Its own attack knocked Sealeo unconcious, and Juan recalled it.
"Sealeo, you deserve a good rest my friend..." Juan said sympathetically, placing Sealeo's pokeball on his belt and taking another in his hand. "Now it is your turn! Kingdra, come forth!" Juan quickly brought up the pokeball to release the dragon pokemon, Kingdra, into the water for battle. May gasped when she saw Juan's next pokemon.
"Kingdra! I remember that pokemon!" May realized, recalling what she heard about a gym leader in Johto. "Clair, trainer of dragon pokemon...she uses a Kingdra, and she's well known for it because its only weakness is other dragon pokemon! This might be tough to take down, and Ludicolo doesn't have any really strong attacks to use on it!"
"Umm...Roxanne? You know lotsa stuff about pokemon, right?" Angela asked Roxanne, tugging at her skirt.
"Of course I do." Roxanne replied, smiling slightly. "I study everyday. That pokemon Juan's using now is Kingdra, a water and dragon type. It has almost no weaknesses because of its unique type combination."
"Umm...does that mean May's in trouble?" Angela asked curiously. "She looked like my mommy did when I asked where babies come from..." Angela paused for a moment and looked up at Roxanne. "Where do babies come from?"
"Umm..." Roxanne blushed slightly, as did Flannery who was standing next to them. Roxanne thought carefully for a moment. "Well...thats really something your mother should answer for you!" She replied sheepishly.
"Damn...what an annoying kid..." Sidney thought to himself, overhearing the conversation.
"Kingdra, let us begin! Dragonbreath!"
"Ludicolo, dodge it with Dive!" Ludicolo quickly dives down under the water, evading the blue flames of Kingdra's Dragonbreath attack.
"It will come up soon enough..." Juan thought to himself. "Kingdra, ready with an Ice Beam!" Kingdra nodded, mentally preparing itself to attack Ludicolo with Ice Beam when it resurfaced.
Sure enough, after several moments Ludicolo shot upwards from below Kingdra and slammed into it. The attack didn't seem to faze Kingdra much at all, however. Ludicolo resurfaced next to Kingdra, at which point the dragon pokemon delivered an Ice Beam attack at point-blank range. The attack froze Ludicolo in place as the water around it and covering its body froze to ice.
"Now, Kingdra! Hyper Beam!" Kingdra's Ice Beam attack was quickly followed up by a point-blank Hyper Beam. The ice around Ludicolo was instantly shattered as the beam of energy was fired into it. The force of the beam then continued to push Ludicolo back until it was slammed hard into the island nearest May and knocked unconcious instantly.
Although Ludicolo had been holding up fine until then, Kingdra's Hyper Beam was more than it could handle after being hit by an Ice Beam attack as well. May recalled the unconcious Ludicolo into its pokeball, looking a bit nervous.
"It needs to rest for a bit after using Hyper Beam." May realized, already reaching for her next pokemon. "This is something I'll need to take advantage of if I'm going to beat it!"
"Roselia, your turn! Go!" May called out, quickly releasing Roselia from its pokeball. She wasn't letting a second go to waste. "Roselia, use Stun Spore! Now!" The tiny rose pokemon jumped up from the small island it was on and brought its two rose-tipped hands together. Spores began spewing out and floated over to the resting Kingdra, landing on it and inflicting paralysis.
"Now, follow it up with Leech Seed!" May commanded. Keeping its two roses together, Roselia fired a small seed at Kingdra. By now, however, Kingdra was ready to attack again.
"Kingdra, Ice Beam!" Kingdra fired a blue beam at Roselia, catching the incoming seeds as well and freezing them instantly. The Ice Beam continued on to hit Roselia. The small pokemon began to fall backwards as it was hit and became frozen over. The ice soon shattered and Roselia collapsed to the ground. It was very slow to recover, painfully trying to get back to its feet.
"Roselia's almost down after one attack..." May realized, frowning. "I haven't been training it very well...maybe I should have just stuck with my regular pokemon for this battle?"
"Roselia, use Giga Drain!"
"Kingdra, move closer and use Dragonbreath!"
Kingdra moves to swim closer, but winces and stops. Its body is overcome by the paralysis. It then winces in pain as its energy is drained from it. A large, green funnel appears between itself and Roselia as Roselia drains its energy from it and restores itself slightly. Roselia has an easier time staying on its feet now, although its still very weak from the Ice Beam attack.
"Hmm...perhaps we should try stronger attacks again." Juan stated quietly. "Kingdra, use Ice Beam!" A blue ball of energy forms in front of Kingdra's snout as it prepares to fire its Ice Beam, but it quickly fades as Kingdra is overcome by paralysis again.
"Roselia, now's our chance! Leech Seed!" Roselia fires another seed at Kingdra from its roses. This time the seed hits its mark, landing square on the top of Kingdra's head. The seed sprouts tiny vines and begins slowly draining Kingdra's energy and feeding it to Roselia.
"Good!" May thought happily. "Now it doesn't matter how durable Kingdra is, it'll eventually be drained by the Leech Seed if worse comes to worse. Since its slowed down by paralysis maybe I can try evading its attacks." May looked around, and found to her dismay that the closest islands to Roselia were actually fairly far. "Can Roselia jump that far?" May wondered.
The islands were large enough for a pokemon like Groudon to stand on, but they were scattered a fair bit. With the exception of its first bridge, it only created the islands when it needed to raise itself out of the water like it did when Alex's Alakazam attacked. There were a few that were longer where Groudon had been walking a bit, and two with holes in them where Groudon tunneled up.
None of them were particularly close, in fact the distance was enough that it was hard for May to determine whether or not Roselia would be able to make it. The shore was closer, but like in an actual gym match the area behind the trainers was outside the battlefield. Although there were no rules against going out of bounds, a pokemon had to be on the designated battlefield to attack.
"Kingdra, let us try Ice Beam again!" Juan called out.
"Roselia, jump over there!" May commanded Roselia, pointing to the nearest landmass. Roselia looked back to see where May was pointing and nodded. It jumped off the island with all its might, sailing through the air as the Ice Beam attack struck where it just was and refroze the island.
Roselia looked like it was going to make it, but just barely fell short and landed in the water next to the island it was jumping to. Roselia sunk down at first and May felt concerned, but Roselia soon floated to the surface due to its light weight. However, it seemed to have great difficulty swimming.
"Kingdra, now would be a good time!" Kingdra nodded in agreement with its trainer and fired another Ice Beam without a hitch. Roselia was trying in vain to climb up onto the island as the Ice Beam hit it, freezing it against the side of the island. Roselia had no strength left, so the ice held strong. May was quick to recall Roselia and grimaced.
"Seems Juan defeated May's Roselia rather easily." Norman thought to himself. "However, it has managed to leave Kingdra in a bad spot..."
"Oh no! May's losing again!" Angela cried furiously.
"Geez, would someone shut that kid up so we can...YEOWCH!" Before Sidney could finish his sentence, Glacia grabbed his ear and pulled roughly. "Owowow! Let go!"
"You need to learn more tolerance for children, young man." The older, more mature woman scolded him before finally releasing his ear.
"Well at least Roselia's managed to put it in a tight spot..." May said with a sigh, placing Roselia's pokeball back on her belt. "Maybe Bellossom can finish it?" May took Bellossom's pokeball from her belt. "Bellossom, go!" May called out, releasing Bellossom onto the nearest island. Bellossom did a pirouette when it appeared and gave a bow. It managed to keep its balance on the icy surface below its feet.
Meanwhile, near the gaping hole leading out to sea, a serpentine pokemon was entering the city with Wallace riding on its back. The two had stopped for a moment to observe the situation.
"Looks like we're in time to watch the show!" Wallace declared, patting his Milotic's back. "Lets stop on the shore nearby and watch." Milotic nodded and swam over to the nearby shoreline to drop off Wallace.
"Bellossom, use Sleep Powder!"
"Kingdra, evade under the water!"
Bellossom lowered its head to spray out powder from the flowers on top, but the powder landed on the water. Even suffering from paralysis, Kingdra was swift enough to dive under and evade the attack.
"Kingdra, Ice Beam at your leisure." Juan calmly commanded his pokemon. May kept close watch on the water, looking for any sign of Kingdra's attack.
"It can't stay down there forever..." May said quietly to herself. "Even underwater that Leech Seed is slowly weakening it. Bellossom just needs to outlast Kingdra and dodge its attacks. Kinda like what I did in the Lilycove contests." May thought for a moment. "I wonder..."
"Bellossom, try tracking Kingdra with Magical Leaf!" Bellossom nodded and quickly spun around, sending several sharp leaves into the air seemingly from its skirt. The leaves continued to fly up for a moment before turning back around and falling back down towards Bellossom.
Kingdra chose this moment to finally pop up and attack, surfacing behind Bellossom and launching its Ice Beam attack. The attack caught Bellossom completely off guard. The grass pokemon cried out in pain as the beam struck it and was quickly silenced, becoming encased in ice.
It wasn't frozen for long, however, as its own Magical Leaf attack hit it next and shattered the ice. Bellossom was knocked to the ground in pain and stayed low for a moment, trying to regain its strength.
"To do that much with one attack..." May muttered in surprise. "Bellossom, hang in there!" Bellossom nodded as she heard her trainer call out to her. It slowly got back to its feet, aided by the energy being drained from Kingdra and channeled to Bellossom by Leech Seed. Once it got to its feet, it slipped and fell again.
"It is unfortunate you brought so many grass pokemon." Juan commented, pulling at his mustache. "You see, the terrain puts them at a disadvantage. As do the ice attacks known by all but one of my pokemon."
"He's right..." May realized, thinking to herself. "Maybe I should have brought Plusle afterall. Its not like I haven't brought any electric pokemon though, and I think my next pokemon will be a big surprise for Juan!"
"Bellossom, Moonlight!"
"Kingdra, Ice Beam!"
Bellossom quickly drew light energy to itself as Kingdra was preparing to attack. Bellossom made another attempt to get back on its feet again as its strength was restored quite a bit. It didn't last long, Kingdra soon fired its Ice Beam again.
The blue beam of energy struck Bellossom square in the chest and briefly froze it again, then shattering and sending Bellossom to the ground in pain again. It was hanging on, but just barely. Kingdra was starting to look a bit exhausted by now as well due to the constant drain of Leech Seed.
"Kingdra's starting to look pretty weak now." May realized. "Maybe Bellossom can finish it off with a Magical Leaf attack?"
"Bellossom, Magical Leaf! I know you can do it!"
"Kingdra, Dragonbreath should end this now."
Bellossom attempted, with great difficulty, to get back on its feet and launch another attack. It was moving too slowly though, and as it finally stood up it was met by the blue flames of Kingdra's Dragonbreath attack and was instantly knocked out. May paused for a moment before recalling Bellossom.
"I thought for sure Bellossom could get in one last attack..." May said with a sigh.
"Oh no! Now May's way behind!" Angela screamed loudly, causing everyone but Juan and Wallace to wince. Sidney glared at her, but said nothing for fear of retribution from Glacia again.
"Hey, I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve!" May called back, smiling to Angela. "Kinda like this one..." May took another pokeball from her belt, releasing the pokemon inside as she called out its name. "Castform, go!"
Castform, the small white cloud-like pokemon, appeared from its pokeball floating over the water. It peered around curiously, not quite used to being out of its pokeball. It smiled at May when it saw her, remembering her from the weather center. Everyone gathered to watch the battle was shocked to find out May had a Castform. Except, of course, for Angela, who didn't know about most pokemon to begin with.
"Where did May...get that pokemon?" Was the first thought to go through Norman's mind, as well as just about everyone else's. Castform was an extremely rare pokemon and was never seen in the wild for capture, usually only found at weather stations as research pokemon. Even gym leaders didn't know much about Castform or its abilities, which gave May an immediate advantage.
"Alright, Castform! Lets start off with...huh?" Before May could even issue a command, Juan's Kingdra began to wobble unsteadily then fell over on its side in the water. The Leech Seed had finally drained the last of its strength.
"A double KO..." Juan commented as he recalled Kingdra. "Or technically speaking, at least. I will be curious to see what your Castform is capable of." Juan placed Kingdra's pokeball on his belt and quickly took another one in hand. "Crawdaunt, it is now your turn! Go!" Juan called out as he released Crawdaunt into the water. May was immediately reminded of her own Crawdaunt when she saw it.
"A Crawdaunt huh?" May commented with a smirk. "Well I know all about Crawdaunt, because I have one of my own! Castform, get things started with Rain Dance!" Everyone watched with anticipation as Castform began to dance over the water, calling up another rainstorm around the battlefield. Even Juan chose not to attack yet out of curiosity and instead watched as Castform shifted to its water form.
"So its true then..." Juan commented quietly. "Castform can shift forms based on the current weather conditions, placing me in battle against another water type. Fortunately, Crawdaunt can handle a fellow water type. Crawdaunt, demonstrate with Sludge Bomb!"
"Castform, counter with Weatherbal!!" A swirling ball of water formed in front of Castform as Crawdaunt fired a purple ball of sludge from its claws. Castform launched the ball of water to meet up with Crawdaunt's attack. The Weatherball sent the sludge flying in all directions then continued on towards Crawdaunt. It was slowed down enough by the impact, however, that it fell short of its target and landed in the water instead.
"Haha! So Castform's attacks change too? Even more interesting!" Juan chuckled to himself. "Crawdaunt, attack with Crabhammer!"
"Castform, use Thunderbolt!" Castform smiled gleefully, its body charging with electricity as Crawdaunt quickly swam towards it with one claw raised. Castform released a blast of electricity, striking Crawdaunt before it even covered half the distance to Castform. Crawdaunt was stopped in its tracks as electricity coursed through it, inflicting pain upon it and wearing it down.
"Even knows electric attacks. Seems this pokemon is full of surprises, I may be at quite the disadvantage here." Juan grinned widely. "I see why you kept this pokemon in reserve for so long!"
"I knew a water-type pokemon with electric attacks wouldn't be easy for your pokemon to deal with!" May replied, excitement in her voice.
"Well then, we shall see where this pokemon will get you. Crawdaunt, let us give Crabhammer another try!"
"Castform, use Thunderbolt again!" Crawdaunt started on its way towards Castform again, while Castform charged up electricity to attack. Crawdaunt obviously wasn't going to get close enough to land the hit, however Juan had other plans anyway.
"Crawdaunt, now! Dive under the water!" Crawdaunt went down on an angle as it continued moving through the water, evading a blast of lightning from Castform as it soared over Crawdaunt's head. Castform looked on in confusion, but suddenly found itself struck from below by Crawdaunt's claw. Castform was sent straight upwards, but stopped itself in midair and began slowly floating back down to land on Crawdaunt's head.
"Castform, now! Thunderbolt!" May called out again. Castform quickly attacked, releasing bolts of electricity into Crawdaunt's body from atop its head. Crawdaunt quickly dove down into the water to get Castform off it, but it still took most of the attack as it was going down due to the water's conductivity. Crawdaunt continued underwater to resurface a fair distance away. Crawdaunt looked pretty mad, but was also looking fairly weak.
"It does not appear Crawdaunt can take another attack..." Juan thought to himself. "This Castform will indeed cause me quite a bit of trouble, though my next pokemon will be at less of a disadvantage. Let us try one last technique then..."
"You know, when your friend Alex battled me before he was on the brink of defeat." Juan began, his face expressionless. "His Swellow was on its last legs after taking a Hyper Beam from my Kingdra, but Kingdra was largely unharmed. Yet with a special technique, and his Swellow's raw determination, he made a miraculous comeback."
"How could he have done that?" May wondered. "Alex is good, and his Swellow is strong, but what attack would have let him make a comeback like that when he was clearly at a disadvantage?" May thought for a moment. "And why would Juan be telling me this now? Is he..."
"I will show you that very technique! Crawdaunt, make this one count! Endeavour!" A red aura surrounded Crawdaunt. The pokemon got an enraged look as it charged towards Castform.
"Endeavour? But what does...?" May began, but quickly shook her head. She didn't have time to wonder about it. "Castform, Thunderbolt!"
Crawdaunt slammed into Castform with a strong impact before the raindrop pokemon could launch its attack, the force of the impact resulting in exactly enough damage to leave Castform in the same condition as Crawdaunt. Castform shook off the attack, however, and managed to fire off a bolt of electricity into Crawdaunt at point-blank range. The Thunderbolt was more Crawdaunt could handle at this point and it fell backwards into the water, unconcious. Juan was quick to recall it.
"An expected outcome..." Juan stated regretfully. "But Crawdaunt has paved the way for my next pokemon to defeat your Castform." Juan placed Crawdaunt's pokeball on his belt and took another one. "Whiscash, take stage!" Juan called out, releasing a dark blue fish pokemon with long, yellow whiskers into the water before him.
"Whiscash? Whats that?" May wondered, taking out her pokedex to check.
"Whiscash, the whiskers pokemon." The pokedex read out. "Mysteriously, it can foretell earthquakes. In the daytime, it sleeps in mud at the bottom of a pond. When it awakens, it continually feeds throughout the night." May took a moment to think over the pokedex's reading.
"May beat another pokemon! She's going to win now!" Angela cheered happily.
"Aiii...she's even getting on my nerves now..." Phoebe thought, quickly casting a glance around at the rest of the trainers gathered. "The gym leaders all seem relaxed though, are they more used to this sort of thing than the Elite Four?"
"Although she's caught up in terms of pokemon, even a water attack will likely finish her Castform at this point." Roxanne corrected Angela. "That will leave her with only one pokemon against two. For her sake, I hope she still has one grass type left."
"She tried grass types already though, why would they work now?" Flannery asked curiously.
"May's grass types didn't hold up because Juan was using his pokemon that were best capable of dealing with them." Roxanne replied knowingly. "The pokemon he's been holding back, as you may notice, are better for dealing with electric pokemon. I have a feeling May's last pokemon is an electric type, but I hope it isn't. Otherwise this battle may be over now..."
"Judging from its pokedex reading, Whiscash would be a ground type." May thought to herself. "Its obviously a water type as well...so it should really be weak to grass attacks! I can take it down in one hit I bet, and give Juan another surprise!"
"Whiscash, we shall end this quickly! Surf!" The water under Whiscash began to bulge, rising up to form a wave with Whiscash riding on top. May watched for a moment, until Whiscash was halfway towards Castform.
"Castform, quick! Sunny Day!" May called out quickly. Castform's body began to glow orange. Its body emitted energy, which shot up to end the downpour and intensify the sun's rays. Castform was hit by Whiscash's Surf at this point, before it had the chance to change types, and was sent sprawling to the ground on the platform nearest May.
For a few tense seconds Castform seemed to be down, but as its body changed to its fire-type form and it slowly floated off the ground it was clear Castform was still in the game. Although, just barely. Whiscash was settled back into the water, several feet from where Castform landed.
"Hmm...you timed that perfectly so Castform would survive another attack." Juan commented, smiling slightly. "You seem to have quite the grasp of that pokemon's abilities, but how will you follow it up? Afterall, a fire pokemon cannot do much to a water pokemon."
"Like this!" May called back, pointing a finger at Whiscash. "Castform, lets finish this one quick! Solar Beam!"
Castform began to glow as it quickly gathered sunlight. It then fired a pure, white beam of energy straight out from its body and striking Whiscash head-on. Whiscash was driven back through the water until it hit the land bridge Juan was standing on. Its head rested on the ground with a dazed expression, having been knocked out by a powerful grass attack.
"Solar Beam too! Quite the versatile little pokemon you have there!" Juan stated, clapping his hands together to briefly applaud May and Castform before recalling his Whiscash. Castform smiled weakly at the praise, only barely hanging on to continue the battle.
"Then it comes down to this...my final pokemon against your remaining two pokemon." Juan said to them, placing Whiscash's pokeball on his belt then retrieving the pokeball containing his final pokemon.
"If my deducation is correct, then Castform may win it all for her yet with its Solar Beam attack." Roxanne thought to herself. Angela kept quiet this time around, not sure how the battle would go after Roxanne's previous comments.
"Milotic, it is time for your performance!" Juan called out as he released his pokemon. The familiar serpent-like pokemon Milotic was released from its pokeball, materializing in the water before Juan.
"Maybe I was wrong..." Roxanne thought upon seeing Milotic. "I was sure he would have another ground-type to take electric attacks!"
"Milotic, we shall play it safe to start! Remove Castform's advantage with Rain Dance!"
"Castform, use Solar Beam again before the weather changes!" Castform quickly absorbed sunlight as Juan's Milotic danced around in the water, managing to gather enough sunlight to attack just before dark clouds covered over the sun and Castform slowly shifted to its water form again. Castform fired another beam of white light, striking Milotic hard and knocking it back into the land-bridge. Milotic took the attack much better than Whiscash did, however, and immediately got back up and was ready for more.
"I know its not as weak to grass attacks as Whiscash was..." May thought to herself, staring at Milotic in shock. "But it should have left more of a mark than that! Milotics really are durable pokemon thats for sure..."
"Now, Milotic, finish this with Twister!" Milotic began concentrating, and soon after a swirling vortex rose up around Castform and concealed it from view. Inside the vortex, the energy of the twister ripped at Castform. Castform was quickly knocked out, and the Twister lifted as Castform fell to the ground unconcious. May was hardly surprised that the attack knocked Castform out and recalled her pokemon.
"So now we're both down to our last pokemon..." May noted as she placed Castform's pokeball back on her belt, taking the pokeball that now contained her last pokemon as well. "Its all up to you now! Electrike, go!" May released Electrike from its pokeball, the electric pokemon appearing on the same platform as the rest of her pokemon had. The previous battles had removed most of the ice from it, fortunately.
"You had an electric pokemon in reserve." Juan commented. "Interesting. Milotic, attack it with Hydro Pump!"
"Electrike, use Quick Attack and jump to that island over there!" May called out, pointing to the same island Roselia tried jumping to earlier. Electrike took a running start then jumped towards it, using Quick Attack in mid-air to shoot towards the island and came to a screeching halt on the land. In doing all this, Electrike had completely evaded Milotic's Hydro Pump attack which struck where Electrike had been standing previously.
"Now, use Thunderbolt!"
"Milotic, Recover! Quickly!" Milotic concentrated again, its body shimmering as its energy was restored and any visible signs of damage from Castform's Solar Beam vanished. It didn't stay in this state long, however, as Electrike let loose with a lightning bolt from its body. Milotic cried out in pain as electricity coursed through its body, the attack causing almost as much damage as Milotic had recovered.
"-Had enough yet, sea-bitch?-" Electrike taunted Milotic.
"-I've defeated stronger electric pokemon than you...-" Milotic replied in a melodic voice.
"I guess Castform's Solar Beam just isn't as strong as I thought it'd be..." May thought, noting the damage inflicted by Electrike's Thunderbolt. "Still, since Juan's Milotic knows Recover this won't be easy..."
"Electrike, power up with Charge!" Sparks crackled around Electrike's body as it charged up electricity and stored it to power up its next attack.
"Milotic, use Recover again!" Juan called out, prompting Milotic to use Recover again to restore it to full health.
"That rain isn't going to hold up much longer." May thought to herself. "So its time to take advantage of it!"
"Electrike, attack with Thunder!" May called out, pointing to Milotic dramatically. Static electricity began to gather in the clouds above Electrike. The electric pokemon wasn't using its stored power for this attack, however.
"Milotic, Mirror Coat." Juan commanded quietly, feeling now that the battle was over. A reflective barrier formed around Milotic's body as a lightning bolt shot down from the clouds near Electrike, moving through the air in the blink of an eye to strike Milotic. There was a brilliant flash and Milotic cried out in pain as the powerful bolt of electricity flowed through its body.
The attack also triggered Milotic's Mirror Coat, however. The lightning bolt was deflected back towards Electrike with increased power. Electrike howled in pain as the lightning bolt struck it, the power of the attack sending Electrike to its knees. Electrike was still concious, but very badly injured. Overhead, the clouds finally parted and gave way to the night sky above.
"No...Electrike!" May called out to her pokemon, thinking for sure that she was going to lose now. She wasn't expecting a Mirror Coat attack, and Electrike was nearly knocked out in one hit as a result.
"-I'm not...finished...yet...-" Electrike grumbled weakly, slowly standing upright again.
"-You should just stay down.-" Milotic said to him. "-You're out of your league.-"
"-Listen, sea-bitch. I put May through hell...-" Electrike shot back, his body trembling in its weakened state. "-I'll go through whatever torture I have to...I'll do whatever it takes...to win this last badge for her...-" Electrke cast a glare at Milotic and began to shout in determination. "-You hear me?! YOU'RE GOING DOWN!-"
Electrike's body suddenly became surrounded in a white light, evolving as a result of its determination. Its legs grew longer, and its body more lean and toned. Its head was raised as it finally had a neck and a long, pointed mane extended up from the top of it. The light finally began to fade, revealing Electrike's evolved form. Manetric. The newly evolved Manetric gave a triumphant howl, further taunting its opponent and looking completely refreshed. Milotic just rolled its eyes.
"It seems your Electrike is quite determined to win this battle for you..." Juan noted. "Or should I call it Manetric now?"
"Manetric..." May thought, Electrike's determination surprising even her. "If you're going that far for this battle, then we just have to win!"
"Perhaps now would be a good time to demonstrate our weapon of choice for dealing with electric pokemon." Juan said with a slght smirk, pointing his finger out towards Manetric. "Milotic, it is time for the final act, do not hold back! Use Hidden Power!"
"Manetric, counter with Thunderbolt!" Brown orbs of energy slowly formed around Milotic as Manetric's body sparked with electricity, preparing to counter Milotic's attack. The orbs fired off from Milotic, each of them homing in towards Manetric. Manetric fired off several bolts of electricity towards the orbs in an attempt to counter them, but to Manetric and May's surprise the Hidden Power technique completely negated Manetric's Thunderbolt.
"It negated Thunderbolt?! But that means..." May's worries were confirmed as the orbs continued on to strike Manetric, each vanishing as they struck it. Manetric howled in pain as the attack knocked it backwards, but Manetric managed to regain its footing just before sliding into the water.
"A ground-type Hidden Power." Juan informed May. "Perfect for dealing with electric pokemon!"
"Manetric, use Thunderbolt again!" May called out desperately. Manetric's body sparked with electricity as it prepared to launch another attack. Juan was already prepared for this though.
"Milotic, use Hidden Power again." Milotic tapped into its hidden power again, forming four brown spheres around it. Manetric fired off a bolt of electricity towards Milotic, but Milotic blocked it with the ground-oriented spheres then fired them at Manetric. Manetric braced itself against the impact, managing to hold its position at the edge of the island despite the pain it was in.
"Its Hidden Power is effective against Manetric, but it doesn't seem very strong..." May thought to herself, noticing that Manetric was still holding up after taking two. "It makes it difficult to get in an attack though. I think I need to try a more direct approach."
"Manetric, get ready with Spark!" Manetric's body charged with electricity in preparation to attack, but it did nothing more than that.
"Milotic, another Hidden Power if you please!" Juan called out.
"-Gladly...-" Milotic replied, tapping into its hidden abilities to call out its attack. The brown orbs formed around it, then were fired and quickly honed in on Manetric.
"Manetric, roll under it!" May called out as the orbs approached her pokemon. Manetric ducked down and rolled forward, managing to slide under the attack. The orbs ended up striking the ground behind it harmlessly.
"Now, attack Milotic with Quick Attack!" Manetric ran to the edge of the island and jumped, then shot forward in a blur to strike Milotic with its electrically charged body. Milotic flinched at the impact, a shock running through its body as electricity flowed into it. After landing its attack, Manetric fell into the water next to Milotic.
"Milotic, send it away with a Twister!"
"Manetric, use Thunderbolt now!" Milotic concentrated on its attack, but didn't get to go anywhere with it. As Manetric fired off its Thunderbolt attack the electricity was channeled directly into the water instead, shocking both pokemon. Being an electric type, Manetric was able to endure its own attack long enough for Milotic to be dealt the finishing blow. The serpentine pokemon cried out in pain, then collapsed into the water.
"I did not expect you to be so reckless!" Juan said to May. "Milotic, you did your best, but this battle is over..." Juan said regretfully, recalling his unconcious Milotic. "May Maple from Littleroot is the winner of this match!"
"Alright! Way to go Manetric!" May called out, shouting excitedly.
"-He was...a decent opponent, for a water type.-" Manetric stated indifferently.
After the battle, everyone gathered in front of the wreckage of Juan's gym, where May would receive her final badge. Juan actually had to dig through the rubble to find his badges, but he had help from the other trainers gathered.
"In recognition of your victory, I confer upon you the Rain Badge. With this final badge you are now eligible to challenge the Hoenn League!" Juan presented May with the Rain Badge. "Unfortunately, we couldn't retrieve any in-tact TM discs..."
"Well that doesn't matter, as long as I've got the badge!" May received the badge from Juan and placed it on her trainer card, filling in the last empty slot.
"Unfortunately, the Elite Four and myself will be quite busy it seems!" Wallace informed May. "The task of restoring Sootopolis falls upon us now, and Groudon and Kyogre are still out there somewhere..."
"Since you won't be challenging the Elite Four for a while, why don't you come home May?" Norman asked her. "You've hardly spent more than a few days in your own room since arriving in Hoenn!"
"I'll come home...eventually." May replied, smiling sheepishly. "I need to work on training my pokemon though. I want them to be at their best when I challenge the Elite Four and Wallace."
"And we have to make a trip to Lilycove!" Flannery added, tapping Angela on the head. "I'm sure her parents are worried about her."
"Aww do I have to go?" Angela pouted. "I want to watch May battle again!"
"I don't think I'll be battling for a while, but if you're a good girl I'm sure your parents will let you watch when I challenge the league." May said, smiling to her. Just then, one of the helicopters from the evacuation appeared over the edge of the crater.
"Looks like our ride's here." Norman commented.
The helicopter landed as near to the group as it could and all the gym leaders except for Winona and Flannery boarded it. Flannery would be going to Lilycove with May and Winona had her own mode of transportation. While the rest of the gym leaders were boarding the helicopter, May released Tropius from its pokeball.
"Feel up to flying with three passengers?" May asked Tropius. Tropius took a look at the three passengers in question, May, Flannery, and Angela, and nodded in response. The three climbed onto Tropius back, with May sitting in the middle.
"Are you sure its ok for you to just take the day off like this?" May asked Flannery. Flannery and May had planned to spend the night at a hotel in Lilycove, then spend the next day relaxing.
"Of course!" Flannery replied. "I just need to call in a quick favor and the gym will be taken care of for tomorrow. I made sure he won't be messing with my gym this time either..."
"Alright then. Ready Angela?" Angela nodded quickly in response to May. "Tropius, lets go!"
Tropius flapped its wings rapidly, taking several moments to build up enough lift to take off with the extra weight, then slowly flew off out of Sootopolis.
"Well, for disaster relief, this is actually pretty tame." Wallace commented, looking around the city. "Still, its nice to get back to my roots."
"Haha! You've been away from Sootopolis for too long, my friend!" Juan exclaimed, placing a hand on Wallace's shoulder. "Perhaps this is a sign you should stay a while?"
"Maybe it is, Juan, maybe it is..."
Author's Notes: Latest chapter I've had in a while. Next chapter will probably be relatively short though, so with any luck I'll manage to get caught up. Have a small start on it too from working on it a bit in class.
Did this gym battle a bit differently because I wanted to give some of May's lesser-used pokemon a chance to battle in a gym match as well as make it stand out as far as gym matches go. Wynaut, Heracross, Trapinch, Lileep, and Phanphy are May's only pokemon not to get a gym match now I believe.
