I think it's about time for our heroes to get their last gym badge.
That's all they have to do before they can go to the Pokemon League.
They've come a long way, haven't they? Do you remember when they started off in New Bark Town?
But before the Pokemon League comes one last challenge.
You think our heroes are up for that? As I said, they've come this far.
This Gym Leader is the strongest of them all.
Chapter 40: The Final Badge
Lucy and Jake entered the gym.
The first thing that they noticed was that the gym was filled with lava. Bubbling lava.
"Why so much lava?" asked Lucy.
Clefairy wasn't sure either. She knew that her race wouldn't live on a planet that was filled with lava. They were not fire types.
It seemed a little unnecessary...and excessive, too.
Well, her fire Pokemon would like it there. It would be heaven to a Slugma or a Magcargo.
Maybe rock Pokemon too.
Her grass Pokemon definitely wouldn't though.
The thought of a volcanic eruption terrified them. Luckily, most of them did not live near volcanoes. They preferred peaceful meadows.
Chris heard that Clair was related to Lance.
If so, chances are she was going to be tough.
Seemed Lance's family had a natural talent for Pokemon battling.
Much like Lance, Clair chose to wear a cape.
She wasn't sure what was with Lance's family and capes.
For her first Pokemon, Clair sent out Gyarados.
Sarah decided to fight Clair with her own Gyarados.
"It feels like I'm seeing double..." remarked Clair.
Oh wait. One of them was red.
"Wait, you have a shiny Gyarados?!" exclaimed the gym leader.
After her Gyarados fainted, Clair sent out Dragonair.
Sarah decided to use Swinub.
This worked well.
Dragonair simply could not withstand the chill of Swinub's attacks.
"Swinub!" cheered the swine Pokemon.
Dragonair fainted.
Unfortunately, Swinub had a type disadvantage against Kingdra.
Inevitably, the swine Pokemon ended up fainting.
Still, he had done well.
And he had gotten good experience out of it.
Sarah decided to fight Kingdra with Totodile.
Why? Because he was also a water type.
She figured it would even the playing field.
Then again, Kingdra was also part dragon type.
However, she had taught Totodile an ice technique.
Her Sandshrew knew how to counter his weaknesses, so why not teach Totodile how?
Totodile sank his teeth into Kingdra.
Kingdra fired a Hyper Beam at Totodile.
It just barely missed.
Totodile sank his teeth into Kingdra.
It was a critical hit.
Unfortunately, Kingdra was still recharging, so Totodile could perform another attack.
He bit into Kingdra again.
Kingdra fainted.
"What?!" shouted Clair.
She had lost to a trainer who had only started collecting badges recently? She couldn't believe it.
"Totodile!" exclaimed the water Pokemon.
He did a little dance.
Togepi was happy at her trainer's success.
Maybe some day she would be called for battle.
But for now, she would remain as a spectator.
It looked as if she would be getting her final gym badge.
Unfortunately, Clair was still not convinced Sarah had what it took in the Pokemon League, even if she did manage to defeat her in a gym battle.
She hadn't been in the competition for long.
There was a way to persuade Clair though.
If she went to the Dragon's Den and passed a test, she would be given her badge.
Totodile could Surf, so it probably wouldn't be too difficult.
Chris decided she would face Clair next.
The two were similar in personality.
For her first Pokemon, Clair sent out Dragonair.
"Dragonair!" exclaimed the dragon snake Pokemon.
Though it resembled a snake, it was not a poison type.
Chris thought about what Pokemon she should use.
Unfortunately, dragon Pokemon had several resistances.
Not as many as steel Pokemon did, but they were the bane of several type specialists.
She was going to want to make her choice carefully.
She chose Onix.
"Onix!" exclaimed the snake Pokemon.
Unfortunately, Onix fainted not long after he was sent out. Dragonair hit him with a Dragon Pulse.
He was down for the count.
It was time to switch Pokemon.
She sent out Beedrill.
It seemed she hadn't used him for a while.
Beedrill was happy to help his trainer.
And helped her she did, by poisoning her opponent.
Beedrill easily poisoned Dragonair with her hand drills.
Dragonair fainted. It was a nasty poison.
But Clair then sent out Gyarados.
Gyarados used Twister.
Beedrill was sucked into a draconic vortex.
Beedrill fainted.
Chris sent out Jigglypuff, who successfully put Dragonair to sleep.
This easily allowed Jigglypuff to wail at her opponent.
Dragonair fainted.
Kingdra fired a Hyper Beam at Jigglypuff.
Her eyes widened with shock.
Unfortunately, it was a direct hit.
Jigglypuff fainted.
It seemed a Hyper Beam fired from Kingdra was a bit much for her.
Hyper Beam was powerful stuff.
"Jigglypuff..." murmured the balloon Pokemon.
She had stars swirling around her head.
"Aw man!" exclaimed Chris.
It seemed she was going to have to try again.
Still, given how close she was getting to eight badges, it would be a shame if she gave up.
Meanwhile, Sarah went to the Dragon's Den shrine.
It was surrounded by water, but that wasn't exactly an issue when you had a Gyarados.
There, she found an old man waiting for her.
"Clair made you take her test too, didn't she?" asked the man.
Sarah nodded.
He shook his head.
Apparently, this wasn't the first time somebody had been sent here. Though there didn't seem to be a line of Pokemon trainers at the moment.
It seemed Clair was stingy about her badges. Even though she had quite a few of them.
"I don't know what's gotten into that girl..." remarked the old man.
Everyone else seemed to be more generous with their gym badges. Especially Jasmine from Olivine.
Well, it was time to give her the test.
"What do you think about Pokemon?" asked the man.
Personally he didn't know how he would live without them.
He sure hoped that Sarah thought highly of them.
Of course, it would be weird for her to be a Pokemon trainer if she didn't.
"I like making friends with them." explained Sarah.
She had made a lot of friends throughout her journey through Johto.
Some of which weren't Pokemon. But many were.
"Very good!" exclaimed the man in the Dragon's Den. That was the right answer.
"Do you treat Pokemon with love?" questioned the man.
"I sure do!" exclaimed the Pokemon trainer.
She figured she would give an honest answer.
"A lot more than Morgiana ever showed me, that's for sure." answered Murkrow.
Hopefully she wouldn't ever be seeing her again.
"If you encounter a weak Pokemon, would you still train them?" asked the man.
Sarah nodded. Chances are she would make it stronger.
Of course, her Totodile wasn't strong when she first got it. But look where he was now.
"Let's review your answers, shall we?" asked the quiz man.
Sarah waited patiently.
Hopefully she got a good score.
If not, she wasn't getting her Rising Badge.
And no Rising Badge meant no Pokemon league.
Though to be fair, she could probably try again later.
Totodile waited patiently as well.
"Well well well. It looks like you've aced the test!" remarked the man.
He was so proud of her. Nobody had gotten such a good score for a while.
"Woohoo!" cheered the girl.
"Let's see what you've won..." spoke the quizzer.
"Is it a dragon Pokemon?" asked Sarah.
It would make sense given the location.
Dratini seemed to be rare though.
"It's a dragonfly Pokemon, actually." answered the man.
"How ironic..." remarked the girl.
It was a Yanma.
The dragonfly Pokemon flew around.
Suddenly, Clair showed up.
It seemed she had stopped by to check how Sarah had done.
"What? You passed the test?!" exclaimed Clair, her eyes widening with shock.
The man nodded.
As a matter of fact, she got every question right.
In other words, she had passed with flying colors.
Speaking of flying colors, he heard that Ho-Oh had returned to the Tin Tower recently.
Seemed she felt that she had been away from home long enough.
Perhaps she was going to lay eggs.
Rainbow-colored eggs.
Clair let out a sigh.
Perhaps Sarah was ready to go to the Silver Cup, despite what she had previously thought.
"Fine. Have your Rising Badge. Have fun in the Pokemon League." remarked the Gym Leader.
She handed Sarah her eighth and final gym badge.
Perhaps Sarah was a better Pokemon trainer than she thought she was.
And a compassionate one too. Unlike Jerry.
It seemed she would do well in the Pokemon League.
She certainly hoped so.
"I guess we should head to the Indigo Plateau next." noted Sarah.
Murkrow nodded.
She didn't expect she would be going all the way to Kanto.
But then again, she wasn't expecting Morgiana to be arrested.
She always seemed one step ahead of the police. Nobody expected her of being the leader of a criminal organization.
But in the end, she had gotten busted.
One could thank Sarah for that.
A short while later, Clair returned to the gym.
"So, are you ready to challenge me?" asked Clair.
Lucy nodded.
She was excited for obtaining her last badge.
Her Pokemon were ready for this.
For her first Pokemon, Clair sent out Gyarados.
The water Pokemon let out a roar.
It was scary.
But Clair could be scary herself sometimes.
Luckily, Lucy had just the Pokemon for the situation.
She sent out Ampharos.
Clair realized she might be in trouble.
She knew what type of Pokemon Gyarados was.
Sure enough, Ampharos devastated Gyarados with Thunderbolt.
"Gyarados!" exclaimed the water Pokemon. That was a nasty bolt. Ampharos packed a lot of power.
Lucy remembered having Ampharos when she was still a Mareep.
She sure had gotten strong.
Gyarados ended up being paralyzed.
Ampharos cheered. It looked like she had the upper hand.
She then followed with a Thunderpunch to the face.
"Ampharos!" exclaimed the Pokemon that used to be a sheep but was now something slightly different.
Gyarados collapsed to the floor and fainted.
"Gyarados..." murmured the water Pokemon.
It looked as if Lucy was off to a good start.
However, she had not won yet.
It was time to switch to a different Pokemon.
Clair sent out Dragonair.
"Dragonair!" exclaimed the snake Pokemon.
Unfortunately, Dragonair resisted Ampharos's attacks.
She was dragon type, after all.
This put Ampharos at a disadvantage.
Eventually, she ended up fainting after being struck with a Dragon Pulse.
But at least she managed to paralyze Dragonair.
It was time to switch out.
She chose Natu.
Dragonair attempted to wrap around her, but she saw it coming and teleported away.
Dragonair groaned.
Natu then used Future Sight.
For a while, nothing happened.
But then Dragonair was hit by a powerful attack.
Dragonair fainted.
But then Clair sent out Kingdra.
Natu felt nervous.
She foresaw herself losing the fight.
"What's wrong?" asked Lucy.
Natu explained the situation.
"Oh. Well, in that case..." explained Lucy.
She withdrew Natu and sent out Clefairy.
Kingdra fired a Hyper Beam...
...but Clefairy used Reflect and sent the Hyper Beam right back at Kingdra.
And yes, Clefairies could learn that.
Kingdra fainted in a dramatic twist of irony.
Clefairy cheered. It looked like she won.
Her hard work had paid off.
Additionally, it seemed the future was not set in stone.
It was an interesting prospect.
"My Kingdra lost, to a Clefairy?" asked Clair.
She scratched her head.
It seemed kind of...unbelievable.
Clefairy was almost a third of Kingdra's size.
Still, she could tell that Lucy was a master Pokemon trainer.
She imagined she would do well in the Pokemon League.
So, Clair decided that she would give her her gym badge.
She would watch TV to see who would make it the farthest.
You never knew who was going to win.
Last year the winner was a preschooler...with exceptional luck.
One thing was for sure, Johto was excited to watch the show.
Thankfully, Morgiana hadn't taken over the country, so the tournament was still on.
Sarah went to Indigo Plateau.
"So...are you here for the Silver Cup?" asked Nurse Joy.
Sarah nodded.
Her Totodile was rather excited about it.
She could tell because he was jumping up and down.
They had worked hard to make it here.
How far they would make it was anyone's guess.
Battles could be rather unpredictable.
Sarah wondered who her first opponent was going to be.
It seemed like it could be anyone.
So it was hard to prepare for a fight.
Still, she would want to train her Pokemon until a match could be scheduled.
Perhaps she would be able to evolve a Pokemon or two.
That way they would be stronger and better.
Suddenly, she had an idea.
Maybe she could try training her Togepi.
Perhaps she would enjoy combat. All her other Pokemon liked that.
It would be a while before she could take on trainer's Pokemon though.
She got the feeling that Togepi could evolve into something.
But she wasn't sure what.
Although, she imagined that it would evolve into something that had wings.
She showed Togepi a punching bag.
Togepi decided to try headbutting it.
"Togepi!" exclaimed the baby Pokemon.
After a while, she seemed to get the hang of it.
But she probably wasn't ready for battle yet.
"By the way, you think I should call you Toto?" asked Sarah.
She had Totodile for a while, so it might be worthwhile to nickname Totodile.
As it turned out, Totodile liked the sound of that.
Of course, the two thought a lot alike.
"Alright, I'll call you Toto!" exclaimed Sarah.
Toto nodded happily.
Lucy stepped in afterwards.
She registered herself for the Pokemon League.
She decided to train her Dratini.
Dratini was happy to do so.
I hope you liked this chapter. Clair sure was a challenge, wasn't she? Of course, she was the final gym leader.
Well, Sarah now has her last gym badge. She probably set a record for most badges collected in the shortest amount of time. I figured I would have take the test as a reference to the games.
Now she can compete in the Pokemon League.
It's certainly going to be exciting.
How far do you think Sarah will go?
Who knows who she'll get matched up against?
Well, Lucy is a possible opponent, I can tell you that much.
As a side note, I decided to give Totodile a nickname. I read a fanfic where the trainers gave all their Pokemon nicknames so I figured I would do that myself. It will take some time for me to come up with nicknames for all the Pokemon my trainer OCs have caught though.