Erika's first choice was Weepinbell. The Grass-type stared at Free. Surprising the Butterfree, Darken had decided to lead with him, instead of sending out first another Pokémon. His multiple eyes glanced at both the Pokémon and the trainer. Erika was smiling, commenting something on how beautiful it was to see a Butterfree, a Pokémon so important for her plants to grow healthy. The Weepinbell, on the other hand, was not losing a single movement of the Butterfly Pokémon.
'Let's focus on her.' He thought with a grin. He had fought a couple Weepinbell before, and he knew he had all the advantages in the fight. With a cocky grin, he waited. And at the signal, two attacks fired. Confusion collided with Acid, the wave of telekinetic power expanding from Free and stopping the poisonous liquid on its tracks. Weepinbell however did not stop there, getting out of range thanks to the recoil of her shot.
Free dove in, and Weepinbell fired to her left with more Acid, dodging the Butterfree's Confusion. 'So she can change her position by firing Acid without holding herself. I have to keep in mind she is more agile than she should.' The Butterfree thought. As if to prove that, the Weepinbell threw herself upward with Acid, flying off above Butterfree. Stunned, the Butterfly Pokémon was hit by a second wave of the attack. He felt his body hit by the liquid, and immediately did a barrel roll to shake it off.
The Weepinbell landed surprisingly gracefully, using Acid at the end of the fall to stop her falling. 'Fine, a rocket-like Weepinbell with an Acid-based propulsion, that's fine.' Butterfree thought, glancing at Darken "Come on man, give me something".
The trainer answered at about the same time, and the butterfly Pokémon could not help but show a slight surprise, even though he knew it was a coincidence "Use the Drowzee tactic!" He shouted, and Butterfree grinned, flying in and preparing for a Confusion, his eyes shining as the kinetic energy built up. Weepinbell responded throwing herself to her right with Acid… and immediately Butterfree turned his telekinetic wave inward, throwing himself to the right. Before Weepinbell could react, he launched a second wave, and the Poison-type impacted against the Gym's wall.
Weepinbell rolled up, bouncing back on the field, but Butterfree was upon him before he could attack again, a second wave of Confusion hit, launching her upwards and then down, impacting the arena floor.
Erika smiled "I see you have learned from Cosmo."
"He used it with his Drowzee, I figured we could do the same with Free."
"Yes, I've seen Cosmo use that trick. It's impressive you could repeat it so fast. You and your Starter must be quite talented." Erika replied "Unfortunately, you aren't as good at telling if a Pokémon is out. Release."
"Wha…" Darken started, and then Weepinbell, that had looked out completely, seemingly exploded in a cloud of Stun Spore, a wave of powder erupting from his mouth. Free tried to move outside of range, but he ended up breathing the paralyzing substance. Instantly his movement became far more erratic, the wing fluttering unevenly. Of course, Weepinbell wasn't actually out, though he was barely holding on.
"Not a very lady-like move, I must admit." Erika said, still with a smile on her face "But I needed to make sure your Butterfree would stay in range, so Weepinbell pretended to be out. Just waiting long enough to build up the release of Stun Spore to make sure it was a range."
Darken gritted his teeth. He had relaxed thinking Weepinbell was out, and because of it now Butterfree was in a worse shape. Paralysis was not a nice sensation, especially for a Flying-type. Despite this, he ordered Free to unleash a Confusion. Weepinbell used his Acid to escape, but Free knew how to beat him. With a quick Confusion he entered back in range and ended the Grass-type. However, he failed to dodge the last Acid the Pokémon threw, the mild corrosive impacting on him.
Darken chose to recall him, leaving behind an Acid stain. Erika nodded "Good thinking. That will give him time to recover. However, that means you are also admitting you now face basically a one on one." She said, sending out Gloom "I suppose you expected as much."
"I actually expected Vileplume."
"Not for a beginner, if I lead with Weepinbell. Had I chosen Bellsprout or Exeggcute, or maybe even Ivysaur, I would have sent out Vileplume."
Darken evaluated his options. With Free basically out, he had Peat, Guardian or Kitsu to send out. After another moment, he opened the Ball.
Guardian had not expected to be chosen. Since he had decided to follow Darken, the Growlithe had noticed that he slightly favored Pokémon with the ability to fly, or at least to float, like Tuffball or Free. He had expected Peat to be the one. It was nice to be proven wrong, but also quite scary. 'Ok, let's see who I am fighting…' He thought. The Gloom gave him a nod, before she readied herself for combat.
Guardian glanced back at his trainer for a moment, who nodded at him. The Growlithe felt strangely reassured by that. Then the fighting started.
Guardian jumped forward, sliding under a Razor Leaf to jump forward with a Take Down. Gloom rolled back surprised, apparently munching on something, as the Fire-type recoiled, many of his muscles feeling sluggish. Take Down was a full force charge, so the impact was risky even for the user. It was a good opening move, but the Growlithe could only use it four or five times before fainting.
Gloom smiled, and then launched a barrage of Acid from his mouth… that floated, dividing itself in purple bubbles, like a wall between Gloom and Guardian. Both the Pokémon and the trainer remained flabbergasted for a moment.
"Careful Guardian, there is a trick to it." His trainer called, and the Growlithe barked affirmatively. The bubbles begun floating closer, and Guardian decided to try and see what was the strategy of the enemy. He aimed at a far off one, and launched Ember. The acid bubble exploded like a balloon, and Acid flew in every direction, hitting the floor. However, there didn't seem to be any other trick to it.
Guardian smiled. If that was the case, he could just burn them all. He inhaled, and then unleashed a barrage of Ember.
Darken frowned, looking at the Acid bubbles exploding all at once. There were two mysteries there. Why Erika had chosen a tactic like that against a Fire-Type, and how were the Bubble formed. From his position, he could see the Gloom, unlike Growlithe, whose sight was covered by the numerous Acid spheres floating in front of him. The Grass-type was idly munching and releasing more of the objects, most of them being burned by the Growlithe. Sure, it was blocking the Embers, but Darken could not believe Erika was merely stalling.
'If she isn't stalling, this is her counter move against a Fire-type, but what does it do…' That was when Darken noted a few bubbles not bursting on impact. Mostly on the side, they had been slowly accumulating, as Guardian attacked the floating Acid in front of him. And with surprise, he saw two of the bubbles forming a single one. As the bubble was illuminated, he could see something was floating inside.
"Guardian, dodge…" He called, but he was a second too late. The bubbles burst, and this time from them emerged not only a splatter of acid, but also a clearer liquid filled with what looked like powder. Guardian was hit, and immediately he howled as the Poison Powder in the liquid started to take effect. The sudden surprise was the opening Erika was waiting for. Gloom darted forward, ignoring her own creations, and unleashed an Acid stream on the Growlithe.
The Fire-type recoiled, and then twitched as the poison took hold of him. Gloom fired Acid again, this time the pokémon narrowly dodging and responding with Ember. Gloom took the hit, then begun to munch again, before releasing a new stream of Acid bubbles. And that was when Darken realized Guardian had moved too close to the others. He called, and Guardian jumped away, but with a grin the Gloom burst one of the Acid bubbles. With a chain reaction, the others did too, exploding in a puff of stinky liquid and Acid.
When the cloud dissipated, Darken had more or less pieced together what was going on. "Gloom mixes Acid and her own spit to create a bubble, and while she forms it pours Poison Powder into it, right?" He asked, trying to stall and figure out if Guardian was in the condition to continue.
"My, how very bright of you. Yes, Gloom's spit is a very viscous fluid, and it can be blown into a balloon if it is mixed with something equally viscous like Acid. We had to do a lot of trial and error to add the powder in the mix without it bursting immediately, but the result is quite spectacular." She smiled apologetically "I was worried your Pokémon would burn them all, but young trainers are either very cautious or very hot-headed. The former, like you, wait too long allowing the bubbles to slip through, the latter order their Pokémon to charge through."
Darken had noticed Guardian still up, smiling, but frowned when the canine Pokémon showed to be barely holding up. Take Down was out of the question, for now. Sure, it would have made him win, but it was likely the Fire-type would fall too, and Darken didn't want his first Gym Battle to end with a draw. 'He has done well, he deserves a victory.' He thought, thinking of what to do.
"Shall we end this?" Erika asked. Gloom smiled, unleashing a new barrage of bubbles. Darken thought of a way to get out of it. Then nodded. "Odor Sleuth on the bubbles of Acid and close in!" He shouted. Guardian nodded, and his nose perked up smelling the closest orb, whining softly at the foul smell. Then, surprising both Erika and Gloom, he managed to slip through the entire barrage and close the distance, immediately unleashing Ember. Gloom winced, rolling back, and Guardian kept up the offensive.
The world of Guardian had always been divided between what he saw and what he smelled. Everything was always easier to perceive in the latter. And now Darken had given him a way to use it. He could smell the repugnant odor of the bubbles, and thanks to Odor Sleuth, a move that carefully made him memorize the smell of something, his body could instantly tell how a bubble was changing direction as he traversed the wall created by the gloom, even if they only changed course slightly. With his reflexes, he could dodge the spheres.
Of course, it wasn't perfect. When Gloom unleashed another barrage at close range, even his keen sense of smell and reflexes could only get him so far. He winced as multiple Acidic orbs exploded on impact, the poison that had entered his body through his skin adding further pain as he went numb. And yet, Guardian managed to dodge a good amount on pure instinct, and hit with another Ember.
The Gloom was sent back, and reflexively unleashed a wave of Acid in normal form. Guardian had a second to realize this was it. They had thought of the bubbles, but nothing forced Erika to stick to it. He looked at Darken, who reluctantly nodded. 'Well, I almost did it. Thanks for the first fight, boss.' The Fire-type thought with a smile. He used Take Down and charged forward, through the Acid. As he impacted, he felt his entire body finally going numb from both the Acid, the poison in his body and the recoil. The last thing he saw was Gloom flying back, then he fell to the ground.
Erika and Darken both looked at the two Pokémon. Growlithe was clearly out. If Gloom managed to stand back up, Darken would be forced to either forfeit or send out a Paralyzed and damaged Butterfree, with little hope of victory against the well trained Gloom.
However, with a sigh of relief, the trainer realized it was not the case. Erika recalled Gloom and turned to him. "Congratulations!" She said with another smile, this one incredibly wide "I did not expect Take Down. It was a brave choice from your Pokémon. He saw that his opponent outclassed him, and so took her down with him. Truly a fantastic show of loyalty." She took a badge from a pocket and walked forward. "This is the Rainbow Badge. With this as your second badge, you are no longer considered a novice, so to speak. Be prepared to face hard Gym challenges from now on."
Darken nodded, looking at the medal. "Do I really deserve it? We barely won…"
Erika now scoffed, a surprising reaction from her "Now, this is unacceptable, young man. You beat me. Did you hope in a perfect two – zero?"
"No but in the end, Guardian had to sacrifice himself, and if it didn't work…"
"If it didn't work you would have dealt with the consequences. It was a close affair, yes, but you won." She patted him on the shoulder "I will not have any nonsense. Trainers and Pokémon sometime have to give an unpleasant order to make the team win. Guardian clearly knew that. He knew full well that victory required him taking down Gloom, and chose to do so even if it meant not obtaining the glory of a victory but a humble draw. Do not sell him short."
Darken nodded, thoughtful "You are right. Sorry."
Erika smiled again, this time almost motherly, making Darken wonder how many different versions of a smile the Gym Leader had "No problem at all. I have already experience with trainers feeling bummed at victories like this. Remember it, and praise your Pokémon for his bravery, instead of beating yourself over some lack on your or his part." She nodded "And of course, if it makes you feel bad, train and get better." And with that, she left him. The young trainer walked off, looking at the Rainbow badge.
Later that day, Jake stuffed himself in Berries, a grin on his face.
"Called it." He said.
"Ah shut up." Tuffball and Free replied in unison. The Hitmonchan laughed loudly.