Last chapter before school stars up again for me!
Defender31415 - Yup! Brendan may get a Cradily, he may not. You'll have to see. ;) Actually, the detail that they're both Norman's kids is one I made up - in the Manga, it's just Ruby who's Norman's kid - Sapphire is Professor Birch's daughter in the manga. However, I made them both kids of Norman so that I could have May and Brendan show up, too - only, as Birch's kids.
Okay, here's the chapter!
Chapter 53
Crystal looked up at the Gym, her team standing behind her in the morning sunlight and the Pokemon Egg tucked safely away in her backpack.
Crystal closed her eyes, taking in a breath of the fresh morning air. "Our fifth Gym Badge..."
"I hope you're not planning on backing out," Samuel spoke up, giving his Trainer a deadpan look.
Crystal looked back at him with in surprise before frowning. "We need to do this if we're going to be able to keep going through the League like we have been. Norman gave us the challenge back when I started this journey. I'm not about to turn it down."
"Then, why are you standing out here?" Richie sounded concerned. "The Gym's open. we can go ahead and go right in there."
"I know." Crystal paused. "It's just...I don't know what Norman's going to do, after what I'd told him last night. He wasn't very happy with the news about what Ruby and Sapphire were doing in Team Magnus." She let out a sigh and looked up at the building in front of them. "Well, avoiding him isn't going to do us much good...we may as well get this over with."
That said, Crystal walked over to the Gym's front entrance and stepped inside, followed closely by her team. They stopped as they got just inside the entrance in order to take in the Gym's setup.
Crystal blinked in surprise when she saw who was standing in the center of the small room they had entered into. "Norman? Is this all you have in your Gym?"
The man shook his head. "My Gym is set up differently from what you are used to. Instead of one large room with obstacles, it's a selection of small rooms with different Trainers to test your knowledge of various statuses. "The Gym Trainers aren't here today, so it's just you, me, and our Pokemon. You don't have to keep those ears of yours in hiding."
Crystal's ears pulled back a little as her illusion dropped, her tail twitching back and forth. "If the Gym Trainers aren't here, then what kind of challenge are you going to put me through so that I can challenge you to a match?"
Norman shook his head again. "Those challenges were only placed there to see if they were worthy of taking on the leader of the Gym. I can already tell that you're worthy of taking on my team, so taking on the challenge wouldn't do too much for you."
Crystal was surprised at this. "R...really? But...after last night, I'd thought-"
"I don't want what happened last night to affect what we're doing today." Norman's gaze became harsh. "I know that my children are doing things that are against what we taught them when we adopted them. I know that they probably aren't going to return to me as they had left me. But they will return, if Magnus is defeated. And I want to see, as a Gym Leader and a father, that you have the strength you are going to need in the future."
Crystal blinked a couple times at that. Then she gave a determined smile and nodded in agreement. "All right. I'm ready for any challenge you're going to throw at me."
"I should think so." Norman reached for one of the PokeBalls that was on his belt. "For our battle, you need to fight one of my higher-level Pokemon yourself."
Crystal's eyes widened in surprise at that. "What?"
"You might have to face Pokemon in battle yourself, and I want to see that you're capable of taking on Pokemon without assistance from your team." Norman had a hard look in his eyes. "Since my Pokemon are Normal-Types, I won't be able to offer you a chance to have you fight against a Pokemon you have a disadvantage against, but it should prove to be enough of a challenge."
Crystal's ears flicked back a bit at that, but she didn't say anything in response to that.
If Norman noticed, he gave no sign. "But first, I want to be able to settle this as a proper Gym Leader." He held up a PokeBall. "We'll have the Gym Challenge first."
Norman tossed the PokeBall, and it exploded open, releasing a furry, four-legged Pokemon that collapsed on the Gym's wooden floor with a sigh of contentment. Then it noticed Crystal, and the Pokemon stood up lazily, long arms dangling loosely.
"A Trainer? Or a Pokemon?" The Pokemon cocked his head to one side, looking at Crystal through half-lidded eyes.
Crystal frowned at the Pokemon, then whipped out her PokeDex and pointed it at the creature.
"Slakoth, the Slacker Pokemon. It needs to eat only three leaves a day because it spends its time hardly moving and sleeping. Just looking at it can make people drowsy, which is a special ability that it has. While it isn't known to move far from its nest, they are sometimes known to travel accidentally by swimming in rivers. This Pokemon is a pure Normal-Type."
Crystal lowered the PokeDex and frowned at it for a moment before looking back at her team. "Samuel, you're up. And be careful, okay? I don't want you falling asleep in the middle of battle."
Samuel gave nod in response, then jumped in front of Crystal and shifted into an attack stance.
It was that this point that Crystal realized there was something missing. Looking around, she asked, "Are we going to use a referee...?"
"Do you really think we're going to need one, considering how far you've progressed?" Norman raised an eyebrow. "We can judge for ourselves without needing a referee - I highly doubt that Pokemon have them when they fight in the wild."
Crystal's ears flicked up at the statement, and she frowned a bit. "Well, depending on where you are in the world...but I guess I see your point." She looked over at Samuel. "Let's start this off with a Mach Punch!"
Samuel gained a wide grin as he shot forward, one paw shooting out to slam into the Slakoth's side as he dashed around the Normal-Type to come back to where he had been standing a moment ago.
The Normal-Type stumbled for a moment, then somehow managed to right himself with a loud yawn. "Oh, ow. And right when I was getting ready for my nap, too. No fair."
"Hey!" Samuel barked. "We're in the middle of a battle right now, you! Pay atten-" The Breloom suddenly cut himself off by letting out a loud yawn himself, which caused him to blink in surprise.
Crystal's ears twitched as she tried to hold back a yawn herself, and her eyes widened somewhat out of alarm as she slowly came to the realization of what it was that had just happened. That was...he's planning on putting Samuel to sleep! I'd better do something before I'm down a teammate!
Crystal shook her head quickly, then ordered, "Samuel, pull back and switch with Richie!"
"What?" Samuel looked back at Crystal with something of a tired expression. "Why? I've got this fight in the bag." He yawned again.
"Not with that Yawn you don't." Crystal grabbed Samuel's PokeBall and returned him as Richie dashed forward and took the Breloom's place. "Richie, let's start this off with that new move you picked up!"
"Right!" Richie pulled an arm back behind him, the blade extending out and starting to glow a bright purple. A moment later, the Gallade threw his arm forward in a slicing motion, sending a curved slash of Psychic energy flying at his opponent. "Psycho Cut!"
The attack hit the Slakoth square in the chest, sending the Normal-Type skidding back across the floor a short distance. The Pokemon shook his head, gave Richie a lazy look, then collapsed onto the Gym floor and fell asleep. It wasn't too long before the Pokemon started snoring loudly.
Crystal blinked a couple times, then frowned. "Rest...?"
Norman returned the Slakoth. "You defeated him; all of Slakoth's evolutions fall asleep when they're knocked out." He gained a dry smile. "I've had to section off a part of the forest around us so that everyone can have some peace and quiet while my team sleeps off any damage they've taken."
"Oh." Crystal's ears perked up in interest. "I don't think I've seen a defeated Pokemon do that before. I'm really only familiar with Pokemon from Kanto and Jhoto."
Norman clipped Slakoth's PokeBall to his belt and grabbed a second one. "You might want to keep your attention on the battle rather than on the differences between my Pokemon and the ones you have known."
Norman tossed the PokeBall, releasing his second chosen Pokemon with an explosion of sound as a large Pokemon landed on its side on the floor.
Crystal, Richie, Ando, and Trisha stumbled for a moment as the floor trembled; the Mew girl looked at the Pokemon Norman had called out, and her eyes widened in surprise.
"That's a huge Pokemon!" she yelped, scrambling to get her PokeDex again.
"Slaking, the Lazy Pokemon. It is considered the world's laziest Pokemon, only ever seen lying on its side and eating whatever food happens to be within reach. When it's eaten everything, it reluctantly moves to another spot, leaving rings of over a diameter across in the grass. It will also wait under fruit trees for ripe fruit to fall. While it lounges in the middle of battle, it is gathering energy so that it can strike back. This Pokemon is a pure Normal-Type."
Crystal put away the PokeDex, nodding absently. "Okay then." She took in a breath, closing her eyes for a moment before a determined expression crossed her face. "Richie, Psycho Cut!"
"Focus Punch!" Norman barked.
Slaking drew back a fist while Richie drew back his arm for only a moment before dashing forward, his blade-like arm covered in Psychic energy as it slashed into the larger Normal-Type. The Lazy Pokemon winced in response to the attack slashing into him, then dropped his fist on Richie's head.
"Ow!" Richie scrambled back, rubbing his head and glaring at Slaking while the other Pokemon yawned loudly. "That hurt!"
Samuel's PokeBall exploded open, releasing an alert Breloom who instantly started jumping from one foot to the other next to Crystal. "Hey! Switch me in there! I can take him!"
"Are you sure?" Crystal responded, looking over at the Breloom somewhat nervously. "I don't want you to end up almost falling asleep again."
"I'll be able to stay awake," Samuel replied quickly. "Trust me."
Crystal frowned, then nodded. "All right. Richie, pull back! Samuel, go in there with a Mach Punch!"
Samuel grinned as he got into a crouch before shooting forward, bringing back a hoof and slamming it into Slaking's face as Richie moved back to stand next to Crystal, Ando, and Trisha.
The Normal-Type winced as Samuel pulled back, a wide grin on his face as he bounced from one foot to the other.
"That's not nice of you, hitting a Pokemon in the face," Slaking growled. He started to bring back another fist, clearly intent on taking Samuel down, but the Breloom would have none of it. He zipped out of the way and jabbed at Slaking again - this time hitting him in the chest with both hooves.
The resulting zap of electricity caught Norman and Crystal by surprise.
Samuel jumped back a bit, grinning triumphantly. "Force Palm."
Crystal's eyes widened, and she grinned widely. "All right! Nice one, Samuel!"
Norman grinned, as well, but it didn't look like a very nice grin. "Slaking, Facade."
The Slaking grinned, as well, and he rose his arms despite the paralysis that was zapping along his muscles. With a loud roar, he ran forward and slammed into Samuel, sending the Breloom flying back.
Crystal was forced to scramble out of the way as Samuel went flying past and hit the back wall of the Gym. "Samuel!"
"What was that?" Richie asked in surprise. "I haven't seen a move that strong before!"
Crystal ran back over to Samuel as he collapsed down from the wall. "Are you all right?"
Samuel groaned in response, and lifted up his head limply and gave Crystal a shaky smile. "I'm okay."
"Not after that hit, you're not." Crystal shook her head. "You're going to sit out for the rest of the fight - I don't want you to get hit like that again."
Samuel frowned, and he tried to rise to his feet, but then he collapsed into a sitting position under the dent in the wall he had made. "Okay, fine. I'll stay here and watch."
Crystal nodded, then turned and walked back towards her three other team members. "Okay, Richie. Do you think you can finish off the Slaking?"
The Gallade looked over at the large Normal-Type, frowning. After a moment, he nodded and moved to stand in front of his Trainer.
Norman eyed the Gallade while Slaking sat down, looking rather smug. However, a soft green glow soon covered the Slaking, and the large Pokemon flinched as what looked like green light streamed from him to Richie.
Crystal blinked in surprise. "What-"
Slaking fell over and started snoring. Loudly. As he lay there, Crystal noticed that it looked like there was a small spiral of green vines wrapped around the area that Samuel had slammed his Force Palm into.
"Leech Seed!" Crystal exclaimed. She looked back at Samuel. "Nice job! Not even I was expecting that!"
"That was the point," Samuel replied weakly, giving a tired but confident smile.
Norman returned Slaking, frowning. "Your Breloom's not bad. I don't think that I've seen very many pull a trick off like that - normally, the Leech Seed would get destroyed by the other attack. He must have done just enough damage to cause paralysis and plant the seed without crushing it." Norman attached Slaking's PokeBall back to his belt and he grabbed his third, final PokeBall.
Richie brought up his blades. "Who's next?"
Norman held up the PokeBall. "Crystal."
"Huh?" Crystal frowned.
"You will be fighting this Pokemon; not any other member of your team."
Crystal's ears stiffened, while Richie, Trisha, and Ando looked between the Gym Leader and their Trainer.
"I said that I wanted to test your skills in a fight on your own," Norman continued. "Vigoroth should prove to be more than a challenge for you."
He tossed the PokeBall, releasing a white, furry blur with a red tuft of fur on its head. Crystal quickly whipped out her PokeDex and moved in order to follow the white blur as it bounced around Norman.
"Vigoroth, the Wild Monkey Pokemon, and the evolved form of Slakoth and pre-evolved form of Slaking. It is always itching and agitated to go on a wild rampage, because its heart beats at ten times the average rate of other Pokemon and its blood is boiling with energy. As a result, it is unable to sleep for long, and it cannot remain still for even a second, or else it will quickly feel stressed and become sick. This Pokemon is pure-Normal-Type."
"How can something so fast be a part of a line that's so slow?" Crystal asked in surprise.
Norman shrugged one shoulder. "Birch told me he thinks that they reserve energy as Slakoth and run out of it so that they can evolve. Are you ready?"
Crystal slipped her backpack off her shoulders and placed it next to Ando and Trisha. She moved forward to stand next to Richie.
"Crystal, are you sure about this?" Richie asked worriedly.
Crystal gave him a nod. "Yeah. You'd better head back to Samuel and give him a heal Pulse. I don't want him to accidentally get hit with something while I'm going after the Vigoroth."
Richie hesitated for a moment, then turned and ran back to Samuel. As he reached the Breloom, Crystal turned to look back at Norman and the white blur that was still moving around him.
"All right." Crystal shifted her feet for a moment, then did a little hop and rose up into the air. "I'm ready."
"Vigoroth, Focus Blast!"
The white blur moved instantly towards Crystal, a sphere of familiar orange energy forming between what looked like a pair of claws. Crystal started to move to use Protect to keep the attack away, but Vigoroth was on her in an instant, slamming the attack directly into her middle.
"Crystal!" Richie and Samuel exclaimed at once.
Ando let out a shrieking noise.
Crystal went flying backwards instantly, gripping around her stomach as she gritted her teeth. "OW! R-recover!"
She tried to float higher as she gathered the energy she needed in order to heal the area where Vigoroth had hit her, but that ability faltered, and she landed on the ground, wincing.
The Normal-Type was nearly on her again, but this time Crystal knew he was coming.
"Barrier!"
Crystal glared at the Vigoroth as Focus Blast hit her defense and bounced back, nearly hitting the Pokemon but missing at the last second.
Crystal took in a deep breath, closing her eyes and using another Recover as the pain in her stomach faded to a dull throb. She knew that the Barrier would help keep her safe for a few more moments, but she didn't know if the Vigoroth knew Brick Break, like Brawly's Machamp.
I need an attack that will take that Pokemon out in one hit, and won't miss him even when he's moving at high speeds like that.
Crystal paused, and a small smile crossed her face. Oh, yeah. Right.
"Vigoroth, Brick Break!"
Crystal's eyes snapped open at Norman's exclamation, and she saw the Normal-Type practically flying at her. She quickly dropped into a half-crouch and held her hands a short distance apart from each other. Blue energy started to gather between her hands.
As Vigoroth slammed into Crystal's Barrier, she slammed an Aura Sphere right into his middle.
"Take this!" Crystal pushed, pouring in an extra burst of energy as she hit the Normal-Type.
The resulting explosion sent Vigoroth and Crystal both skidding back, Crystal leaning forward in order to keep herself from falling over backwards. Vigoroth, on the other hand, was sent tumbling head over heels before he landed on his stomach, arms and legs splayed.
Vigoroth tried to get up, a snarl forming on the Pokemon's face as he started to pull his arms and legs under his body in order to rise up. "Hey! That hurt, you stupid kid!"
"Well, that Focus Blast wasn't fun, either!" Crystal barked back. She started to form another Aura Sphere between her hands. "My body is mostly human! I can't take attacks like you can!" She threw the Aura Sphere at the Pokemon, managing to get him before he could rise fully to his feet. The second attack caused Vigoroth to fall limply to the Gym floor. "So there!"
Norman quickly returned the Pokemon to the PokeBall; at the same time, Crystal collapsed kneeling to the floor.
"Crystal!" Richie ran over, followed closely by Samuel, who was looking a little better than he had been. "Are you okay?"
"Well, I'll live..." Crystal fell back onto the floor, sighing. "But I don't like how I'm feeling right now. That Focus Blast might have done more damage than I thought."
Norman appeared in the Trainer's line of vision. "You were able to handle that pretty well, considering Vigoroth was able to get the first move in."
"Well, it's not going to be considered a 'win' if I get major damage from internal bleeding," Crystal replied. "Could you get Nurse Joy? Please?"
Norman nodded, then turned and ran out of the Gym without another word.
Time Break
It took a few hours before Crystal was let out of the Pokemon Center with bandages wrapped around her middle to keep her innards from be jostled around too much. Nurse Joy and her Chansey had been reluctant to let her go; it had only been because Crystal had promised not to do anything too stressful that the were allowing her to walk around Petalburg for a while, with the promise that she would come back in the evening.
"Oh! Norman!" Crystal blinked in surprise as she stepped out of the Pokemon Center and nearly ran into the Gym Leader. "Have you been waiting out here?"
Norman nodded in response, looking grim. "I wanted to apologize. I didn't realize that you didn't have as much built-in defensive power as the Pokemon do. Your attacks do seem to make up for that, at least."
"My Barrier has always been my go-to instead of Protect," Crystal replied as her Pokemon slipped out of the Pokemon Center behind her. "It's just been stronger for me. It helps that I know Pokemon who are willing to help me learn new moves if I want to."
"Well, it's good that you have a balance in that way, at least." Norman dug into a pocket of his pants and pulled out a small medal that looked like a bar with circles on the ends. "The Balance Badge. It's yours."
Crystal's eyes widened, and she looked between the Badge and Norman's face before giving him a bright smile. She practically jumped forward and hugged him tightly. "Thank you!"
Norman stiffened in the hug for a moment, then relaxed and wrapped his arms around Crystal gently, placing his hands on her back. "You don't have to thank me. You're the one who earned it."
"But you're the one who decided that I had." Crystal looked up at Norman, smiling. "So thank you."
Norman stared at Crystal for a moment, then smiled and chuckled. "You remind me so much of Sapphire when she was younger." He ruffled Crystal's hair between her ears, causing them to flick about wildly. "You'd better get them back safe and sound."
"I will." Crystal nodded as she and Norman released each other from the hug.
Norman handed over the Badge, which Crystal promptly took. "I've got a couple other things for you, too."
Crystal's ears twitched. "Really? Is one of them a TM?"
Norman nodded, and he pulled out not one, but two disks. "One of these is for Facade. It's a move that doubles in power if the user is affected by a status condition."
"So that's why it was so powerful..." Richie cocked his head to one side as he adjusted the position of Crystal's backpack on his back.
"And the other one?" Crystal pointed at the blue disk that Norman was holding in in the same hand that Facade was in.
"This is a Hidden Machine."
Crystal's eyes widened at the Gym Leader's words. "A Hidden Machine? No way! How did you manage to get your hands on one of those?"
"What is it?" Samuel looked at the blue disk, frowning. "It looks just like the other ones. Why does it have a different name?"
"Hidden Machines are like TMs, but they can be used multiple times over instead of just once," Crystal explained to her Pokemon. "Trainers use Hidden Machines to get past some obstacles - like Rock Smash, the one Zuzu and Brendan used when we were going up to Fallarbor and Lavaridge. They're supposed to be extremely hard to find, though, because they're so expensive to make. TMs are cheaper because they're designed to be only used once, but they're still expensive to buy."
"The nice thing about Hidden Machines is that you can buy one for an entire family," Norman spoke up with a knowing smile. "This is one my father bought me when I was going on my own journey." His smile faded. "Since Sapphire and Ruby had both disappeared and are working for Magnus, I can't pass this on to either one of them. So I want you to hold onto it for a little while and make use of it, and if you run into May or Brendan, make sure that they can use it, as well. You're going to need it if you're going to be making your way to the next Gym."
"Really?" Crystal turned and motioned to Richie. "Hang on - I don't have a map of Hoenn memorized, but I know there is one on my PokeNav..."
Richie slid the backpack off his shoulder and placed it gently on the ground, allowing Crystal to dig into its pockets and put away the TM, HM, and Badge that Norman handed over to her. Then she pulled out the PokeNav.
"Okay, I think that Mr. Stone said it was...2?" Crystal pressed down on the button on the number pad and waited a few seconds before the map appeared. "Okay. Where's the next Gym?"
"It's here, in Fortree." Norman touched a red dot that was to the far north and east of Petalburg. "The only way you're going to be able to get there is if you cross the channel to the west of Mauvile." He motioned to the stretch of blue. "You, May, and Brendan are all going to need to cross there if you're going to be able to reach the next Gym."
"Oh!" Crystal's eyes widened instantly. "Okay; I see. I should be able to cross just fine by flying, but I see your point about that." She frowned. "And there is a lot of water all over the region, isn't there..."
Norman nodded. "Surf is a pretty important HM around here. I know you can fly, if what I saw in my Gym was any indication, but you're not a Flying-Type; I doubt that you're going to be able to keep that up for very long, especially considering that there are Trainers who swim along these routes daily." He motioned to the water surrounding the islands to the far west. "And there are Gyms out in that direction, as well."
"Okay. So I'm definitely going to need a Water-Type before I can go out in that direction." Crystal nodded, and started to put the PokeNav away, but then a flash of yellow caught her eye. "Hmm?"
"It would be wise if we exchanged numbers." Norman held out his own PokeNav. "Especially since you are going after my son and daughter."
Crystal ducked her head, feeling a little embarrassed that she had forgotten. "Yeah, that would be a good idea."
After they had exchanged numbers, Norman asked, "Are you planning on moving out as soon as possible?"
Crystal shook her head as Richie picked up her backpack again. "No; not with what happened in the Gym today. I'd rather have one Nurse Joy keep an eye on me rather than having to check in at every town I go to. I'll just wait until she says I don't need to worry so much, and then I'll head out." She smiled and added, "Besides, Brendan's going to be coming around here, anyway. I may as well wait for him so that he can use Surf on Zuzu."
Norman nodded. "All right, then. It wouldn't be too much if I asked you to join us for dinner again?"
"I don't think so." Crystal smiled brightly. "So long as I'm back in the Pokemon Center later, it shouldn't be a problem."
Whoo! Okay, that's that. Just to let you know, I may or may not post a chapter next week - I am getting back into school, so I'm going to want to adjust back into the swing of things before I start posting again.
So, I'll see you next time!
