Nothing hurts your pride quite like getting kicked out of a gym you didn't even get to challenge.
"Sorry Celeste. I would have loved to have seen the look on Orgueil's stupid face when Angie mopped the floor with his team." I said, still wincing as we made our way across Route 8, Tundra padding along beside me.
"I know, but guys like that burn me up. I wasn't going to challenge him on principle." Celeste said, crossing her arms and looking annoyed.
The Gym for Ambrette was inside the town's only other attraction, it's massive aquarium. Naturally, this meant it was a Water type Gym, but its leader was everything you thought of when you thought about the stereotype for the people of Kalos. Orgueil was loud, rude, and very full of himself, and he all but outright laughed us out of the aquarium when he saw that most of my team was hilariously weak to his Water pokemon. I mean, he was right in that it would have been an uphill battle, but I mean he was only badge 2! We were only going to use two pokemon anyway!
Mercifully, Route 8 was relatively short though, and we were in Cyllage City before we knew it. Tundra's frills swam in yellows and pinks as she looked around, her and Cobalt making amazed noises at all the things around them. I chuckled as I patted Tundra's head.
"I'm sorry you didn't get a chance to really look at the aquarium, but this is still pretty impressive for you guys huh?" I said as I looked around to see if I could find the gym. The city had a close, almost claustrophobic feel to it as I realized it was built INTO a cliff. A small, freshwater stream flowed into the ocean on the northern side of the city in front of the mound that the city was built in. I had to reach out and gently pull Celeste back as she gravitated towards a clothing shop that was next to the stream, though I didn't stop my search for the gym.
"Hey Aldith, look! That guy's hair is awesome!" Celeste said, pointing to someone who was walking across a bridge that stretched over the stream. The man was dark-skinned and wearing a harness, the clips that were scattered all over it telling me he was a rock climber. His hair was styled straight up, with various colors of beads nestled in different places, though there were three prominent beads colored blue, red and yellow resting on the front. I smiled as he walked through, and I pulled Celeste towards him.
"That guy is who we need. Hey Grant! We're here to challenge you!" I called. Grant turned to me and smiled, nodding at us as he jogged over.
"Hey awesome! I look forward to it, though I hope you don't mind I don't have any Gym Trainers for you to fight right now." He said, reaching up to rub the back of his head as he chuckled awkwardly. I smiled as I let Celeste go, looking back to see Tundra and Cobalt running to us.
"Bumping up security on Xerneas?" I asked. Grant sighed and nodded as he started walking, beckoning us to follow him.
"Yeah, old man Wulfric wouldn't leave me and Korrina alone until we promised to put more trainers up. He seems to think these reaver guys are going to try and pick a fight with Xerneas." He said. Celeste and I breathed in sharply, and looking to the side I saw Celeste pick up Cobalt, the Tyrunt making a confused noise as she hugged him tightly.
"He's not wrong. The ReaPers are not a joke. We've seen firsthand the sort of horrible things they can do. They almost completely wiped out a glade near Parfum Palace. It...was awful." I said, emphasizing the P and reaching out to pet Tundra. Grant slowed down and looked at us, a guilty look appearing on his face when he saw our reactions.
"I'm sorry. Let me make it up to you, I'll let you skip my puzzle and you can both fight me at once, deal?" He asked as we walked up a path on the cliff. Celeste snapped out of her depression briefly as we looked at each other in confusion.
"Really? But, why?" I asked. We came up to a cave on the side of the cliff, the top of which had the symbol for the Kalos League carved into it.
"Well, there's a couple of reasons. First of all, my puzzle involves rock climbing to the battlefield. Rock climbing is a fun activity, and my gym uses it to challenge your strength and endurance. You need to be tough and unwavering as a rock to get through my gym." He said as he stopped in front of the cave.
"But?" I asked. Grant turned around and crossed his arms, beaming at us.
"Who do you think I am, Skyla DeMistralton? I want you to learn, but not at the expense of your safety. It's dangerous to go rock climbing without backup or proper training. My Gym Trainers are supposed to be spotters so that if our challengers slip, they can catch them." He said, and I couldn't help but chuckle as Celeste made a confused noise.
"Skyla is a Gym Leader in Unova, and she's infamous for having really dangerous gym puzzles. When Carina fought her, she had to climb into cannons that shot you around the gym. When Vixen fought her, she had to fight against really strong winds produced by giant fans that would literally blow you out of the gym if you didn't take cover." I explained. Celeste gulped and hugged Cobalt tighter as Grant laughed.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure Diantha would feed me to Yveltal if I ever tried something like that. Now, the other reason for this special battle is because I need to rebalance the gym for challengers since I don't have Gym Trainers to help you get stronger, at least for now. I have two signature pokemon who are the strongest Fossils in Kalos. And their children aren't far behind." He said as he pulled out a radio, mumbling into it. François walked out from the gym and walked over to the side, standing in between us and Grant.
"This is unconventional, but here we go, Monsieur. The Gym Battle between Grant and his challengers is about to begin. Tell me, Mademoiselles, what badge will this be?" He asked. I smiled as Celeste put down Cobalt.
"This is our second, hey Grant? You're not gonna turn us down because most of my pokemon are Fire types, right?" I asked.
"You tried to fight Orgueil, didn't you? I swear, that guy is gonna get his gym shut down if he keeps doing that. Don't worry girls, type is only half the battle. I value skill more." He responded with a shake of his head as he grabbed a pair of pokeballs, summoning another Amaura and a normal-colored Tyrunt. I tilted my head as François cleared his throat.
"So we shall use an amended battle format for this match. The Gym Leader will use two pokemon at once while both challengers may use only one each. The match is over when both pokemon on one side are defeated. Challengers, please summon your pokemon!" He declared. I hummed as I thought about my options, and I grabbed Cammie's pokeball. It was risky, using a brand new pokemon whose abilities I wasn't too sure of yet, but I felt safe picking a water type.
"Let's go, Cammie!" I called, summoning the little seahorse. She squeaked in surprise at first, startled that I'd call her to battle out of water. She looked at me uncertainly, but only briefly as she turned back to the pokemon in front of her, making high-pitched grunting noises as she balanced on her tail. I turned to Celeste, who seemed excited about the battle ahead as she grabbed a pokeball.
"Okay then, Fay, it's showtime!" She cried, her Floette floating next to Cammie. The two pokemon greeted each other as I looked at Tundra, whose frills swirled in light blues and yellows.
"Just watch, you'll get your chance to try this yourself." I told her. The blue was replaced by pink as she smiled, laying down to watch. Cobalt looked like he wanted to cry at first, but Tundra trilled at him and convinced him to sit with her instead as I turned to the battle.
"Begin!"
"Both of you use Rock Tomb!" Grant commanded. His Amaura and Tyrunt growled as their eyes glowed, The pair lifted a leg and slammed their feet on the ground, causing it to shake as a line of rocks made their way towards our pokemon. Cammie braced herself as she waited for my command.
"Use Acid Armor!"
"Protect yourself with Magical Leaf!"
We called. Cammie made a gurgling sound as her body became coated in something slick, the sunlight reflecting off her skin. Cammie herself looked like she was melting as the line of rocks reached her, four flat slabs of stone emerging from the ground to encase her. As they fell away, Cammie looked bored, her body seemingly unscathed as her Acid Armor faded.
Fay, meanwhile, spun her fairy flower wildly as the Magical Leaf launched from it at the rock line. When it got to her and began to raise up, Fay changed tactics and spun herself, making the Magical Leaf circle her in a shield as the Rock Tomb began to encase her. The stones were diced as they made contact with the leaves,, and Fay looked smug as she stopped.
"Not bad girls, but you'll need to do better than that. Amaura, use Aurora Beam on Floette! Tyrunt, Bite the Skrelp!" Grant commanded. His Amaura's frills wildly spun in various shades of yellow as it fired off a rainbow beam towards Fay, while Tyrunt charged full speed at Cammie.
"Cammie, Water Pulse" I called. Cammie made a large bubble of water in front of her and spat it out at Tyrunt, who dodged it as he jumped up at Cammie, clamping his mouth around her body as Fay took on the full hit from Aurora Beam.
"Fay, pull yourself up with Vine Whip and grab that Amaura!" Celeste called. Fay grunted as she tightened her grip on her flower, a pair of small, thin vines emerging from the bottom of the bloom. She threw herself towards Amaura and wrapped the vines around it.
A cry from Tyrunt brought my attention back to Cammie as she glowed a bright purple, the color slowly washing over Tyrunt as he began to flash purple slowly. With a snort, Cammie fired another Water Pulse point blank into Tyrunt, forcing the little dragon away from her. Fay took this opportunity to force Amaura to move, shifting the dinosaur just enough that Tyrunt smacked into it, knocking both pokemon down at their trainers feet. Fay floated back to us and positioned herself beside Cammie, giving her a grateful nod as Cammie's Poison Point faded away.
"Amaura, use Thunder Wave, we need to stop that Floette!" Grant cried. Amaura growled as it stood up, electricity crackling around it.
"Quick, Cammie use Smokescreen!" I commanded. Amaura launched its attack as Cammie made a raspy exhale, black smoke launching from her mouth. The Thunder Wave passed through the smoke and hit the ground near my feet, but a lack of cries from our pokemon told us it missed.
"Good job Aldith, my turn! Fay, use Fairy Wind on Tyrunt!" Celeste called. Fay flew up from the smoke and pointed her flower at Tyrunt as it was standing, and she spun her flower again. A wave of sparkles flew from the petals of the flower towards Tyrunt, but Amaura quickly charged over and stood in front of Tyrunt protectively, grunting as the Fairy Wind pummeled it.
"Nice work Amaura, Tyrunt, use Amaura to get close and use Poison Fang!" Grant cried. Celeste gasped as Tyrunt jumped off of Amauras back, its fangs glowing a bright, angry purple as it opened its mouth wide. Fay was caught off guard from the attack and seemed to freeze.
"Cammie, protect her with Acid!" I called. A pale, greenish yellow liquid surged from the smokescreen, pushing into Tyrunt and breaking its stride.
"Amaura, Take Down!" Grant called out. His Amaura charged into the smokescreen, and Cammie's grunt confirmed it hit her as they flew out of the smoke. Though it was injured from the Acid, Tyrunt pushed through the pain and used its head to throw itself back towards Fay. It opened its mouth again and bit down on Fay's body, completely obscuring her point from view. The small fairy cried as Tyrunt flipped, slamming her onto the battlefield. She slid over to Cammie and released her flower, temporarily stunned, as Cammie struggled to get back up.
All four pokemon were tired as Tyrunt clumsily crashed onto the ground, Amaura sauntering over to it. It leaned against Tyrunt and pushed it up, helping it to its feet as a wave of purple sparks crackled along Tyrunt's body. Fay snapped out of her stupor and sat up as Cammie leaned down, grabbing the stem of Fay's Fairy Flower and pulling it over to her. Fay smiled as she took the flower from my Skrelp, and she gripped it tightly. Fay raised her flower high above her head and quickly stabbed the ground with the stem, a wave of green energy rushing out from the spot and spreading.
"Alright, Grassy Terrain! Aldith, we need to get Amaura and Tyrunt airborne. We don't wanna help our opponents, after all." Celeste said excitedly. I nodded and turned to Cammie, who was ready to act at my command.
"You heard her, Cammie. Use Water pulse on Amaura!" I commanded as the field began to glow a bright, pulsating green. Cammie gurgled as she made another Water Pulse bubble, launching the attack at Amaura.
"Quick, protect him with Bite!" Grant called. Tyrunt tried to intercept the attack, only to yelp when the poison crackled again.
"Fay, don't let it with Vine Whip!" Celeste cried as Tyrunt recovered. Fay screeched as she forced vines out from her flower, wrapping around Tyrunts legs and forcing it back to the ground as the Water Pulse slammed into Amaura, throwing him into the air.
"Use Magical Leaf!"
"One more Water Pulse!" Celeste and I commanded. Fay let go of Tyrunt as she whipped her flower in front of her, the Magical Leaf launching towards Amaura as Cammie spat out another Water Pulse. Amaura cried out as the two attacks collided, and he slammed down onto the ground in front of Grant. His frills gently swam into various shades of purple, and not too far away Tyrunt collapsed as well, overwhelmed by the attacks and the Poison Point. François raised up an arm as Cammie and Fay panted.
"Amaura and Tyrunt are unable to battle, Skrelp and Floette win! The victory goes to the challengers!" He called. I grinned and turned to Celeste as she ran over to our pokemon, scooping Fay up and hugging her.
"You did it Fay! Good job!" She said as she snuggled her pokemon. I chuckled as I followed her onto the field, stopping when I got to Cammie. My pokemon looked up at me and blinked, seeming passive. I knelt down and reached a hand out, and she breathed audibly as she leaned into my hand.
"Good work, Cammie. Sorry for making you battle on land." I told her. Cammie said nothing as I stroked her, and I was content to keep petting her when I looked up to see Grant walking over to us.
"Nicely done, girls. That Tyrunt and Amaura are brothers, and are the best of my Aurorus and Tyrantrum's offspring. They are super defensive of each other, and you managed to overcome their natural teamwork. The Cliff Badge is yours." He said, holding his hands out with the badge glittering in each palm. I smiled as I recalled Cammie, standing up to pluck the badge from Grant. I looked at the small pendent and smiled at it, brushing my finger along the smooth, brown metal. I heard a click beside me and looked up to see that Celeste had already packed her badge in her case, the petal closing as she patted the badge case on her arm. I smiled and twisted my arm until my own badge case was visible, clicking it open to put my new Cliff Badge alongside the Bug Badge.
"Thanks for the battle, Grant. I enjoy battling with Celeste." I said as Tundra and Cobalt padded up behind us.
"Yep yep yep! It's always fun to practice battling together without any added stress." Celeste said, bending down to pick up her shiny Tyrunt. Grant chuckled as he crossed his arms.
"Well if you want, you guys can stay here for a few days to act as honorary Gym Trainers. You have the Rock types for it, and you could relax and train for a bit." Grant offered. I looked over at Celeste to see her reaction, though it was hard to gauge because of her excitement over our victory. I looked down at Tundra and smiled as she pushed her head into me, asking for pets.
'What do you recommend? Are we safe here?' I asked my guide.
'You are, but you are going to be safe for quite a while. You are close enough.' It replied, being uncharacteristically cryptic.
'Close to what?' I asked. The voice said nothing, and I inhaled deeply as I turned to Grant.
"You know what? That sounds nice. You have to teach me how to rock climb though. I've got the flexibility for it and I think it'll come in handy." I said. Grant smiled as he twisted his body, gesturing to the gym.
"You got it. All I ask is three days, and until then you can have all the normal benefits of Gym Trainers." He said as Celeste hummed in pleasure.
"This is gonna be fun! I can't wait to work with Cobalt! Let's go Aldith!" Celeste said as she ran in. I chuckled and turned to Tundra, smiling at her as we followed Celeste, Grant close behind us.
It took a long time to get my second badge, but I was able to do so with very little trouble thanks to Celeste. Even though we no longer had Genny to help us, she did help me give Celeste the confidence boost she needed. With our new pokemon by our side and some extra training from Grant, I had little doubt we were ready for the next big showdown with whoever it was that wanted to pick a fight with us.
It's time to get to it.
TBC
Today I learned that there actually is a French word for Hubris. Sometimes I forget that English is a cut and paste language that gets lazy and randomly decides "fuck it, this word sounds nothing like our language but we're gonna use it we're not making a new word." Ma and I had a good chuckle about this.
This chapter felt kinda weird. I know I said I was gonna speed things up but this felt almost too fast. I'll find a happy medium somewhere though. On a side note, yes I cheated with a double battle. I am happy with how the battle turned out. I regret nothing :) .
So be prepared for another chapter dump. I've got an idea for the 50th chapter combo, and unlike Lola where it came out of nowhere, I'm more prepared for it this time. We have to get there first though. Also I was amused by the review of last chapter lol. I'm not opposed to the idea, Hanasong, I just haven't been in the right frame of mind for it. I'd like to at some point though.
See you guys in 41!
POST EDIT: That is really weird. For some reason after I uploaded the chapter, FF decided to make a huge chunk of it italicized. I fixed it but sheesh, weird bug.
POST EDIT #2: wtf the italics bug was scattered through in addition to the chunk I had to fix. it seemed to happen every time I mentioned François. That's so freaking weird.
