Chapter 67:
A Shocking Finale at the Sunyshore Gym
I had Beautifly in my stomach, but could you really blame me? Was I really going to let Volkner throw away what he had worked towards? No I wasn't. I was however still concerned by the fact that I received very little training yesterday.
"Stop doubting yourself!" Ethan told me. "At least this isn't Whitney you're having to deal with. My goodness I hate that stupid Miltank, and I'm not the only one."
"And hey, we'll be watching!" Lyra said. "Julia to!"
"Don't forget me!" Flint said. "Err, you guys mind if we have a private conversation?"
"Sure thing Fred!" Lyra replied as the two started making their way over to the solar powered Gym.
Flint knelt down to me level again.
"Lucas. I know you're nervous, but you can't lose. Once upon a time, Volkner was the most passionate battler I knew. You are the bridge between him and his lost ambition. Give it everything you've got. Don't think about the Badge, think about the Gym."
I gulped. Usually if you lose a Gym battle, you can come back in a couple of days time to train and try again. Here though, I'm not sure how long I, as well as many others, would have to wait if Volkner gives up his post.
"Okay Flint, Volkner is going down!"
Inside Sunyshore Gym was multiple platforms with gears underneath. Each time you step on a large green button, the platforms would move giving access to some areas but restricting paths to others. On the different areas were Trainers.
I pressed a button on a platform, and a pathway spun round 180 degrees. This allowed me to get to the other side of the room. I could get into the next room, but not after beating a Trainer.
"Please, show Mr Volkner who's boss" said School Kid Tiera. "I want to see your potential!"
"Go Blissey!" I yelled.
"I choose Pachirisu!" Tiera replied, sending out the small white Electric Type.
"Blissey, Focus Blast!" Blissey shot a ball of energy at Pachirisu, who got hit hard.
"Pachirisu, Super Fang!" Pachirisu's tooth started to grow. It then bit down on Blissey, taking away half of its health which, for Blissey, was a lot.
"Blissey! Don't worry, we can do this. Use Grass Knot!" Blissey made a blade of grass from underneath Pachirisu's feet, forcing it to trip. Pachirisu fainted upon falling.
"Good luck Mr Lucas" Tiera said as she ran to get Pachirisu to the Center. Well, she tried at least. The Gym Guide forgot to reset the puzzle so she was stuck.
Oops.
Upon entering the next Gym, I flipped some switches, rotated some platforms and came to my next Trainer; School Kid Forrest
I decided to give Mamoswine a go; it would be my ace for this Gym.
"Go Mamoswine!" I shouted.
"I choose Magneton!" Forrest shouted.
Mamoswine suddenly sent a cloud of Mist all around the Gym. Was it learning a move that Empoleon used once and never again?
"Magneton, Metal Sound!" Magneton made a loud sound which hurt my ears. Mamoswine however wasn't affected. I had seen Mist in action at Veilstone, but this is what is does in battle; prevents stat lowering!
"Mamoswine, Earthquake!" Mamoswine made the entire Ground Type, shattering the trio of sentient magnets instantly.
My team's levels were raising greatly as we battled even more Trainers. The Gym puzzle was hard, but I managed to get to the end.
I'm sure you want to hear about THE match. Well, I will tell you. After a lot of Trainers, I reached Volkner. Flint, Ethan, Lyra and Jasmine were watching me from the side. Lyra was in complete red cheer leader attire; she clearly wanted me to succeed and save the Gym.
"Good luck Lenny!" Lyra yelled excitedly, waving her pom poms about wildly. "Lenny, Lenny, he's our man…"
"If she won't get my name right someone will" I said to myself. Opposite me, Volker was there, Pokéball in hand.
"Listen" he said, clearly bored out of his mind. This is the complete opposite of how a Gym Leader should act. "You better give me a challenge. Because I have grown tired of victory after victory. I'm fed up of pushovers; give it all you got."
"Go go Lorcan!" Lyra cheered as the battle began.
"Go Jolteon." Volkner said, sending out a quadruped yellow spiky Pokémon.
Jolteon
165
Electric Type
Lightning Pokémon
Region of origin: Kanto
2'07" (0.8 m)
54 lbs (24.5 kg)
If agitated, it uses electricity to straighten out its fur and launch in small bunches.
Eevee -Thunder Stone- Jolteon
I didn't want to use Mamoswine too early and Empoleon didn't seem like the right bet. So I would be using…
"Drifblim!" I yelled, sending out the haunted balloon.
"Oh great. I battle the Trainer that will apparently use a Revive on my ambition and he uses a Flying Type in an Electric Type Gym? What the heck? This balloon is gonna deflate. Jolteon, Charge Beam!" Jolteon shot a small beam of electricity at Drifblim for Super Effective damage.
"Drifblim, Shadow Ball!" Drifblim hit Jolteon for quite a bit of damage back. Jolteon got back up easily.
"Jolteon, Shadow Ball!" Jolteon fired a shadowy black ball at Drifblim. Drifblim was down. "Unbelievable" Volkner said. "That's your first one?"
"Not so fast!" I replied, just as Drifblim exploded, taking away a bit more health from Jolteon.
"There are more to Pokémon than just Types. Allow me to demonstrate. Empoleon, use Aqua Jet!" Out came Empoleon who charged into Jolteon first, knocking it out.
Volkner was, surprised. "Okay, I will admit. That was clever, but it was only my first Pokémon. I choose Raichu." Volkner sent out a Pokémon that looked like Pikachu but was large, orange and had a white belly.
Raichu
105
Electric Type
Mouse Pokémon
Region of origin: Kanto
2'07" (0.8 m)
66.1 lbs (30 kg)
It can lose 100,000-bolt bursts of electricity, instantly downing foes several times its size.
Pichu (Baby Pokémon) -Happiness- Pikachu -Thunder Stone- Raichu
"Empoleon, Aqua Jet!" Empoleon once again darted into the target, though this did little damage.
"Raichu, Volt Tackle." Raichu started charging forward. Sparks started flying off it and is bolted into Empoleon at breakneck speed. Empoleon was down in one. Raichu however felt a lot of recoil damage.
"Great job Empoleon" I told it sending it back to the comfort of its Pokéball. "Okay. I choose Mamoswine!" Out came my giant brown Ice Type. This was a risk in and of itself.
"Raichu, Focus Blast!"
I wasn't expecting that. Well, I guess I was because I'm facing a Gym Leader. Raichu got it's ball of energy ready. It fired it at Mamoswine…
It missed! Thank goodness!
"Mamoswine, Earthquake!" Mamoswine made the ground shake; this was enough to say bye bye to the Rai.
"Return" Volkner said as I recalled Mamoswine; fainting too early would be a bad idea. "Go Luxray!" he yelled, throwing the Ball with all his might.
"I choose Luxray!" I replied. I was fighting Fire with- well okay not the best comparison.
"Luxray, Fire Fang!" Luxray bit my Luxray with fiery jaws, but thankfully no burning.
"Luxray, Scary Face!" Luxray made, big shock, a horrifying face at Luxray, making its Speed fall. Now we would be going first! Use Crunch!" Luxray chomped down on Luxray; its Defense fell.
"Luxray, Ice Fang!" Luxray bit down on Luxray with a cold fang. Luxray shook it off though.
"Another Crunch!" Luxray once again used Crunch on Luxray. Critical Hit! Luxray was down.
Volkner out of the blue, started laughing. He was laughing like a little kid who was having fun at a theme park.
"Flint" Ethan asked. "He's losing. Why is he so happy?"
"Because" Flint replied. "He's passion for battling is starting to spark again. Lucas just needs to beat his last Pokémon and the Volkner I knew will be back."
"It's one against four!" Jasmine said. "He can do it!"
"Yes but you don't know Volkner. His Ace can wipe through many Pokémon…"
"Go, ELECTIVIRE!" Volkner shouted. From the ball came a large yellow and black Pokémon. It had two black wire-like tails and large hands.
Electivire
199
Electric Type
Thunderbolt Pokémon
Region of origin: Sinnoh
5'11" (1.8 m)
305.6 lbs (138.6 kg)
Heedless of enemy attacks, it closes in, shoves its tails onto the foes, then loses high voltage.
Elekid (Baby Pokémon) -Lv 30- Electabuzz -Trade with Electirizer- Electivire
"Its massive!" Ethan yelled. "I had no idea there was a form beyond Electabuzz!"
"It's a strong one alright" Flint said. "I caught it for Volkner back when it was an Elekid, then we traded after it evolved into Electabuzz to get his ace; Electivire."
"Electivire, Fire Punch!" Electivire's hand turned to flames as it punched Luxray, dealing the final blow.
"Luxray!" I shouted, then recalled it. No, I wasn't going to use Mamoswine. "Toxicroak, go!" Out came my Poison Type, completely forgetting about Dry Skin. Uh-oh.
"Electivire, Fire Punch!" Electivire punched Toxicroak with a fiery fist, finishing it off in one.
I had two Pokémon left, and I wasn't going to let Volkner quit.
"I choose Blissey!" I shouted.
"Electivire, Giga Impact!"
"WHAT DID HE SAY?!" Jasmine shouted. Electivire started gathering up lots of energy. With all its might, it charged into Blissey, almost finishing it.
"What was that move?" Lyra asked.
"Giga Impact" Flint said. "A very powerful move. It's essentially Hyper Beam but Physical. It's also essentially Hyper Beam because now Electivire won't be able to attack next turn. Lucas has an opening."
"Blissey, Focus Blast!" Blissey created a ball of energy and shot it at Electivire. It took it. "And again!" Another Focus Blast, but this one missed.
"Electivire, Thunder Punch!" With a sparking fist, Electivire punched Blissey. It was finished leaving me with just one Pokémon.
"Mamoswine, we need to do this!" Out came my final Pokémon. I was shaking.
"Electivire, Fire Punch!" Electivire punched Mamoswine, its fist ablaze. Mamoswine took multiple steps back from the impact, but it kept standing.
"YES!" everyone shouted, applauding.
"Do it Lucas!" Lyra shouted, dancing about.
"Mamoswine, let's get our final Badge! Use Earthquake!" With one stop, Mamoswine made the whole Gym shake. Everyone had trouble standing up. This Earthquake was so strong that a light on the Gym ceiling fell to the floor and smashed onto the ground.
Electivire fell to the floor.
I had won.
"My goodness, that was brilliant!" Volkner shouted. "For the first time in a while, I've been faced with a challenge that I couldn't win against!"
Flint went onto the field. "So, will you continue to be Gym Leader?"
"I will" Volkner said. "Lucas. I present to you the final Badge you need, the Beacon Badge!" He gave me the Badge that I had seen the day before. I took it from him and put it in my Badge Case, which filled in the final gap. "That's not all. You also get TM57 for Charge Beam. It's not strong but it can raise Sp. Attack. Next, Pokémon traded to you at any level with now obey you. Waterfall can also be used outside of battle, which brings me to the final thing; you now have all the Badges of the Sinnoh region! This means that you can take on the Pokémon League!"
Was I dreaming? I really didn't know.
"Volkner, thank you" I responded.
"No, thank you. You made me remember how fun battles can be. I will continue to fulfill my role as Gym Leader and not turn down anyone!"
"Ha ha, nice one!" Barry told me later than evening as we stood on the walkway.
I showed him my Badge case with the 8 pieces of metal shining orange in the setting sun.
"So Barry" Ethan said. "Would you like to take him on next? I'm sure your Torterra will put up a fight and a half."
Barry was up for it.
"Then we can have a battle!" I told him.
Barry stopped a minute. He looked down, not the fast optimistic friend that I had known since day one. He looked at the ground, blank expression but clearly trying to be happy.
"Barry?" I asked.
"Oh, sure" he responded. "But… why don't we do it at the Pokémon League? I still need to get my final Badge and I think it would be a great finale."
"Sounds like a plan!" I said.
The Pokémon League was waiting.
