A Goldenrod Opportunity, Lyra vs Whitney!

"So what exactly makes this Whitney girl so challenging? She specializes in Normal type Pokemon so couldn't you just go in with a Fighting type or Pokemon with Fighting type attacks and be done with it?" Zach questioned as he and Dawn followed Lyra through the Goldenrod streets.

"Well it's not exactly that simple, Fighting type Pokemon aren't as common in the Johto region as they are in the other regions." Lyra explained. "The Tyrogue line is quite difficult to find and the simplest one of obtaining one is proving yourself against a karate master but even that's not easy as the karate masters usually live up high in the mountains or within dark deep caverns so finding them is essentially up to chance unless you encounter somebody who knows where they live. And there's also the fact that one of her Pokemon is a Fairy type so Fighting types aren't as effective against her!"

"Huh? But you said she specializes in Normal types, why is she using a Fairy type?" Dawn questioned while tilting her head lightly.

"Well it's actually quite simple, she forgot that Clefairy was discovered to be a Fairy type about ten years ago. She was using an outdated field guide which listed Clefairy as a Normal type but since they grew close she didn't have it in her to kick Clefairy off of the team." Lyra explained.

"That's still pretty strange." Dawn commented.

"Eh, probably somebody wanting to remain faithful to what came before." Zach shrugged as they approached the Gym doors.

Upon stepping inside Zach and Dawn couldn't help but sweat at the sight as the walls were painted pink with purple polka dots going across the walls, the Gym's flooring was even more peculiar in design as it was a cream color with multiple large pink dots scattered across it! The two lovebirds shared a glance with another as they couldn't help but wonder who chose to design the Gym that way. They'd soon have their answer though as a much younger girl stepped into view, she didn't look to be much older than ten which helped explain both the design choice and her confusion when it came to Clefairy's typing. A bright excitable smile formed across her face as her pink eye shined brightly, her pink pigtails bounced as she skipped across the Gym to meet them.

"Oh my gosh, challengers! I must say that it's an honor to meet you all, I'm Whitney the Gym Leader of Goldenrod City! So who am I facing first?!" Whitney's eyes excitedly flickered between the three.

"That's Whitney?" Zach tilted his head before shrugging. It was surprising that the Gym Leader giving so many Johto League challengers trouble was somebody much younger than him but it wasn't too out there as the Unova League Champion Alder had become champion of the region when he was merely ten years old!

"Oh no, we're just here to watch! I'm Dawn and that's Zach, my boyfriend!" Dawn introduced the two. "We're just tourists taking a brief break from our respective goals."

"You'll be facing me, the future Johto League Champion Lyra!" Lyra boasted as she thumbed towards her chest.

"Yeah yeah so let's get this battle underway, I can't wait to crush you!" Whitney waved Dawn and Zach away with a look of disinterest as her gaze remained locked on Lyra.

"Don't have to ask me twice, I'm eager to get started and earn my third badge!" Lyra grinned as the two eagerly made their way towards the battlefield. Dawn gave Zach a smile and took his hand as they took their place on the side of the field, Lucario stood close by them with Scorbunny in his arms as the four along with Piplup watched the battle unfold.

Whitney's Gym assistant came out the back and lifted an arm as she took position on the opposite side of the field from the others. "The Gym battle between Gym Leader Whitney and Lyra of New Bark Town will now begin, the battle will consist of a two against two matchup and as soon as a side is no longer able to continue, the match will come to an end!"

"Two against two? I thought your next match would be three against three?" Dawn turned towards Zach with a quizzical expression.

"It is, Gym battles just have different rule sets in other regions. The only consistent factor between every region is the rule stating that only the challenger can switch out Pokemon." Zach explained.

"Battle begin!"

"Clefairy let's show them just how cute you are!" Whitney cried as she threw a Pokeball out in the air releasing the cute pink Fairy type known as Clefairy!

"Clefairy!" Clefairy cried.

"Ekans let's show them what we've got!" Lyra cried as she threw a Pokeball forward which burst open to showcase the purple snake Pokemon.

"Ekans!" Ekans hissed out.

"Oh no, a mean nasty Poison type!" Whitney gasped as a frightened look crossed her face. "Clefairy use Sweet Kiss!"

"Fairy!" Clefairy leaped forward and kissed Ekans right on the lips causing hearts to appear in the snake's eyes before his body swayed back and forth as a dazed look formed in his eye.

"Kans..."

"Ekans use Acid Spray!" Ekans shook itself before firing a spray of purple acid from his mouth, pelting Clefairy who let out a cry of pain before promptly collapsing onto her side as swirls filled her eyes.

Zach and Dawn raised their eyebrows as they shared a look of confusion. Clefairy seemed to go down pretty fast was it possible Lyra was mistaken when it came to Whitney's strength?

"Clefairy is unable to battle, this round goes to Ekans!"

"Aw poor Clefairy, return!" Whitney frowned as she returned Clefairy to it's Pokeball. The frown didn't last long however as once she reached a different Pokeball her frown immediately turned to a gleeful smirk!

"Miltank let's roll!"

"Milktank!"

"Okay, that one looks pretty strong." Zach admitted as the pink cow Pokemon certainly looked stronger and more experienced than Clefairy.

"Ekans return for now," Lyra returned Ekans to his Pokeball before reaching for a different ball. "Alright Girafarig I'm counting on you!"

"Gira!" The giraffe Pokemon burst out and raised itself onto it's hind legs for a brief moment before focusing it's attention upon it's opponent!

"Defense Curl!" Whitney cried out.

Miltank curled into a ball as her Defensive stat rose!

"Psybeam!" Lyra shouted with a throw of her arm.

"Gira!" A multicolored beam of energy flew from Girafarig's mouth before exploding as it made contact with Miltank's body!

Whitney didn't appear the least bit concerned though as the smirk remained across her face. "Rollout!"

"Mil!" Miltank curled back into a ball and began rapidly spinning before shooting off like a rocket towards her opponent!

"Stop her with Confusion!" Girafarig's eyes glowed bright blue as a similar blue outline formed around Miltank, Girafarig gritted his teeth as he tried pushing Miltank back but the attack was just too overwhelming! Miltank pushed on through and blasted Girafarig into the air upon slamming against him! Girafarig flew through the air before collapsing on his stomach, he slowly rose back to his feet with a look of determination. A huff escaped from his mouth as he made eye contact with his opponent once more.

"Gira..."

"Alright Girafarig, that's the spirit don't give up!" Lyra pumped her fists as determination shined brightly within her eyes. "Use Assurance!"

Girafarig turned around and lashed out with his hind legs, bashing Miltank with them and knocking her back in the process! Miltank groaned out and shook herself before turning back into a ball as she resumed her Rollout attack, shooting off like a rocket only her movement was much faster than last time and more powerful too from the look of things as Girafarig was sent flying up much farther than he had been before! He let out a cry before he'd come crashing down against the ground, eyes reduced to swirls as he laid in defeat.

"Of course, Rollout! That must be why challengers have a hard time beating her!" Zach quickly deduced.

"That's the attack that locks you in until you miss right?" Dawn asked.

"Right but each consecutive hit is stronger than the last so unless you've come something fast or with wings you'll have a hard time avoiding Rollout. I can see now why plenty of trainers have trouble with this Gym."

Lyra returned Girafarig and thanked him for his assistance as she placed the ball back upon her belt. She looked back up at Miltank as she tried thinking up a strategy before sending Ekans back out.

"Ekans let's finish this!"

"Ekans!" Ekans hissed out as he reemerged from his Pokeball!

Whitney let out a gleeful cry as she raised up her arm. "We'll finish this first, Miltank use Rollout!"

"Ekans use Dig! Create a trench to block her path!" Lyra cried as she recalled how Zach ordered his Rockruff to dig a similar tranch in order to avoid Slowking's Surf attack!

"Ekans!" Ekans hissed before burrowing into the ground as he made his way across the field, a trench began forming and separating the two side of the battlefield resulting in Miltank blasting right into it and falling into a trap as she began rolling back and forth without coming to an end as the curved slopes sent her back and forth across the trench!

"What?!" Whitney gasped as her smirk quickly vanished as fear flashed across her face.

"Acid Spray!" Ekans fired a spray of purple acid into the trench, covering Miltank's body as she remained trapped in her Rollout state! "Now use Mud Bomb!"

"Ekans!" Ekans fired a large blob of mud from his mouth, launching it into the trench where it splattered across Miltank's face and blinded her! Miltank let out a cry of panic resulting in her speeding up and rocketing right out of the hole, sending her blasting towards the roof! Clang! A loud metallic clang echoed across the Gym as Miltank's head bashed against the ceiling, her eyes went cross before gravity took hold of her and dragged her back to earth where she landed with a loud and heavy thud as dust formed across the battlefield and obscured the view. Everyone leaned forward with a look of interest as the dust began clearing up to review the defeated form of Miltank!

"Alright, I won!" Lyra cheered as she leaped into the air in celebration!

"Chika!" Chikorita cried out alongside her trainer.

"Way to go, Lyra!" Dawn cheered as her and Zach clapped for their friend. Zach's eyes flickered to Whitney however as the young girl was tearing up before the tears quickly turned into an outburst as waterfalls flowed from her eyes!

"I-I lost! Y-You're a big meanie hurting my precious Miltank, she's my friend! No need to be so serious!" Whitney sobbed out.

"...has she lost before?" Zach asked Whitney's Gym assistant.

"No actually, this is the first time she's lost since she took over from the previous Gym Leader." The assistant spoke while giving her boss a look of concern.

"Bad time to ask for my badge?" Lyra questioned lightly.

"Probably yeah," Dawn spoke as she watched Zach approach Whitney.

"Hey now no need to be so sad, it's not the end of the world! Everyone loses now and then, even powerful trainers like Cynthia may seem unbeatable but even she recently lost her World Championship title to a different trainer, the Champion of your region." Zach placed his hand on Whitney's shoulder as he offered her a friendly smile. "Heck I was in a similar boat to you the first time I lost, it went pretty bad and I was in a bad place... I almost gave up on my dream to become a champion but thanks to May, a close friend of mine, saying some kind words to me I was able to put myself back together and just in time too as I was able to save my girlfriend's Pokemon along with the rest of the town's Pokemon as Team Rocket attempted to make their escape!"

"Y-You lost?" Whitney flickered a quick glance towards Lucario. "But he looks so strong..."

"He wasn't always that way, we worked and trained hard to get where we are and we're still training! You only stop getting stronger if you stop training and working for it, don't let this loss get to you, embrace it and learn from it so that you'll be even stronger next time!"

Whitney sniffled as she wiped away her tears, an appreciative smile formed across her face as she gave him a bow of thanks. "T-Thank you, I-I'll do that." Her gaze turned towards Lyra before tensing up as she realized she'd neglected to give the older girl her badge. Whitney quickly fished in her pocket before racing towards Lyra, quickly placing a rather plain yellow diamond shaped badge into Lyra's hand. "I almost forgot, sorry! T-This is the P-Plain Badge... you've earned it."

"No worries, I'm glad you're feeling better now." Lyra bowed lightly before lifting up the badge as an eager expression spread across her face. "Alright we just got the Plain Badge!"

"Chika!" The Pokemon and trainer posed as they celebrated their victory.

Zach and Dawn looked at each other as the pose looked rather familiar.

"Seem familiar?" Dawn questioned.

"Yeah it does," Though it escaped him where he knew that pose from.

"We've had these eggs for a week now and they show no sign of hatching..." Dawn frowned as she turned her attention towards Lyra. "I thought you said that they'd hatch fast?"

"Huh? O-Oh right, I forgot an important step!" Lyra sweated as she swiftly reached for a Pokeball. "Slugma let's heat things up!"

"Slugma!" The lava slug Pokemon's yellow eyes looked towards the Pokemon eggs as Lyra beckoned for Zach and Dawn to hold them above Slugma.

"Go on, Slugma's Flame Body ability will help those eggs hatch in no time!"

"Hm?" Zach and Dawn gave each other quizzical looks before doing as Lyra said and sure enough her words rang true as the eggs began to crack! Sharps fangs burst from Zach's eggs before Totodile's head broke through the top, the egg shell fell around him while Cyndaquil's egg literally melted away to reveal the Fire mouse!

"Cyndaquil!"

"Totodile!" The two Johto starters gazed up at their trainers before reaching out to hug them, however they didn't merely just hug their trainer as Totodile left Zach's side to hug Dawn while Cyndaquil left Dawn's side to hug Zach.

"Quil!"

"Totodile!"

Lucario covered his mouth with his paw as he snickered. "Car..."

"Really? No way..."

"What's up?" Dawn tilted her head as she couldn't understand Lucario like he could.

"Apparently they see us as their mom and dad." Zach laughed while Dawn blushed heavily before smiling down at the two Pokemon.

"Hello Totodile it's an honor to finally meet you, my name's Zach and these are my best buddies Lucario and Scorbunny."

"Car!"

"Scor!" Scorbunny smirked as she gave Totodile a wave.

"We aim to become champions someday and well we'd be honored if you joined us on our adventure. What do you say Totodile, wanna join our family?" Zach held out an empty Dive Ball, Totodile's gaze fixated upon it before he uttered a happy cry as he tapped the ball with his paw. A beam of red light shot from the ball and engulfed him, the ball then began shaking back and forth for a brief while before chiming out to announce the capture complete!

"Totodile the Big Jaw Pokemon, it has the habit of biting anything with its developed jaws. Even its Trainer needs to be careful!"

"Heh, well I'll certainly keep that in mind!" Zach laughed.

"Pleasure to meet you Cyndaquil, I'm Dawn and this is my partner Pokemon Piplup!"

"Piplup!" Piplup tapped his chest as he introduced himself.

"We aim to become Grand Coordinators, it's a bit more challenging to pull off than Pokemon battles but we'd be happy to have you on our team if you'll join us!" Dawn exclaimed while offering an empty Pokeball to the Fire type. Cyndaquil's eyes focused on the ball before he quickly gave it a tap, the familiar beam of red light surrounded him as he was absorbed into the ball which chimed almost instantly to signal the capture!

"Cyndaquil the Fire Mouse Pokemon, it has a timid nature. If it is startled, the flames on its back burn more vigorously!"

Zach and Dawn shared a warm look with one another and Lyra decided to keep quiet for a moment before looking away as the two shared a kiss. Lyra glanced back to see if they were finished with their moment before speaking up. "Alright so next is the Wallace Cup right? Where is that again?"

"Olivine City!" Dawn quickly answered.

Zach pulled out his Rotom Phone in order to check the map app. "That's quite far, it'll probably take us a week to get there."

"Or a few hours..." Lyra smirked as she thumbed towards the bullet train. Zach's eyes shot full of excitement at the idea before eagerly nodding in response.

"Y-Yeah that sounds perfect, we'll take the bullet train!" Dawn giggled at her boyfriend's reaction, finding it rather cute however this would be the first time they'd be seeing May since the two of them hooked up. It wasn't exactly a secret that Zach and May loved each other and she knew that Zach would never ditch her for May but she was slightly concerned for how May would take the news. She looked rather thoughtful as she followed Zach and Lyra towards the bullet train.

Another chapter is done, hope you all enjoyed it! Clefairy honestly never gave me much problems so that's why I had Lyra just breeze past that point! Next up is the Wallace Cup then the special Ho-oh chapter will follow it before they head back to Sinnoh!

Anyways let me know what you all think and if there's anything that you'd like to see in the future rather it be related to characters or Pokemon! :)