Red's team:
Pikachu – Zeus
Munchlax – Atlas
Leaf's team:
Alolan Vulpix – Luna
Trapinch – Melody
Chapter 8
"Both trainers, please release your first Pokemon!"
Red didn't hesitate and motioned Zeus to take the stage, while Brock released his own Pokemon; an Aron.
'That's perfect!'
That was the best-case scenario.
While they had prepared for a ground type – to many rock Pokemon had that dual typing, a Pokemon vulnerable to electric type attacks made it all so much easier.
"Begin!"
Zeus instantly charged up a [Thunder Shock], while Red kept his eyes focused on Brock and Aron.
"He's gonna [Protect]." Red warned calmly and Zeus released his attack early, sacrificing additional power to let the attack out early. Furthermore, with speed that showed his excessive training, Zeus released a [Thunder Wave] before [Thunder Shock] even reached the Aron.
As Red predicted, the Aron use [Protect] and defended against his first attack. but the [Thunder Wave] hit it, paralysing Brock's first Pokemon.
Not giving their opponent the chance to react, Zeus closed the distance between them, baiting another [Protect] before following it up with a close-range [Discharge], electing a pained grunt from the small steel type Pokemon.
That was the strategy Red and his team decided on; they would fight mostly independently, while Red uses his aura vision to predict and warn them of their opponents moves while rarely giving them a command.
The problem was, Red hasn't reached the point where he was able to determine every attack before it was created yet.
So, it was a surprise to both of them when, after Red failed to determine what normal type moves the Aron was planning to use, a terrifying [Roar] emerged from the small Pokemon.
And, seemingly unable to control his fight-or-flight instincts, Zeus shot away from the Aron, only regaining his cool head when he already stood behind Red.
"The Gym leader's Pokemon used [Roar], so the challenger's Pokemon was forcefully returned."
"What…?"
"Challenger, please release your second Pokemon."
"What Taurosshit is this?!" Zeus exclaimed, his cheeks sparkling with his anger. "They can't do this!"
"They can." Red said with a sour face. "That's how 'force-return' move work, in professional Pokemon battles at least."
He was similarly irritated, but rules were rules… and he was kinda impressed on how Brock instantly destroyed his momentum.
Was that how Leaf felt when he so effortlessly pulled apart her strategies?
"That's ain't fair!"
"It isn't." Red answered, already pulling out Atlas Pokeball. "But let Atlas take this for now, you can fight later."
Still grumbling, Zeus sat down beside him while scowling at Brock and his Aron.
"Destroy them!" Zeus shouted the moment Atlas appeared on the arena, already vibrating in excitement.
"Begin!"
Similar to Zeus, Atlas didn't need any orders to begin his usual strategy; boost himself up with [Curse] and hit hard at every chance.
Similarly, to his behaviour from his fight against Leaf, Brock didn't interrupt instantly.
'That's his problem.' Red shrugged. 'He's gonna regret that soon enough.'
After allowing Atlas to boost himself up completely, Brock finally gave his Aron an order and it made its first move in the form of a [Mud-Slap].
Unimpressed, Atlas used [Protect] and started to slowly advance forward.
Trying to rely on [Protect's] bad stability – which made creating it multiple times within a short time frame nearly impossible, Aron quickly followed up with a second [Mud-Slap], while simultaneously moving in the opposite direction of Atlas.
Which was a hopeless endeavour; Aron shuddered nearly every second step from Zeus paralysis.
It was only a matter of time before Atlas came close enough to knock him out.
"Protect yourself with [Hyper Voice]." Red reminded after Atlas blocked the second [Mud-Slap] with [Protect]; on the previous day, Atlas had learned [Hyper Voice] within minutes.
Which was a really impressive achievement, but with the short amount of time between learning the move and the gym fight, Red was unsure if he had the move on the forefront of his mind.
But there hadn't been a need to be worried.
With the third [Mud-Slap] about to hit Atlas; which wouldn't have hurt, but the secondary effect of being covered in mud – something he learned to avoid after his fight with Melody, was enough for him to do something against it.
So, Atlas took a deep breath.
"HAA!"
And released a painfully loud shout, creating a sphere-like sound bubble that shoot forwards, not only blocked the [Mud-Slap], but also flying true and hitting the Aron.
Which… didn't do much, at all.
But it did its job; for the next few minutes, the rodeo repeated itself.
With only one glaring difference; Atlas was slowly but surely forcing the Aron towards the wall.
Until finally, the Aron wasn't able to move away anymore.
With a smile that most would have considered crazy, Atlas jumped the remaining distance, and threw his entire bodyweight onto the Aron in the form of a [Body Slam].
For a moment, the Aron looked like it wanted to meet the attack with one of its own, but before it was able to form the required aura, a shock went through it.
"Keep going!" Red shouted after Atlas attack hit; even fully boosted, [Body Slam] was still resisted by both the Aron's typing.
Atlas didn't need the reminder and used his spot on the Aron to prevent it from running, while also pummelled at it using [Mega Punch] again and again and again.
After the third strike, the Aron, still not unconscious, regained its bearing and finally retaliated, using their close proximity to hit Atlas head-on with an [Iron Head]. For just a moment, Atlas flinched back and the Aron used the chance to escape from under him.
Still, it was greatly weakened and Brock knew that.
In a last-ditch effort, the Aron recklessly charged Atlas, [Iron Head] ready to do as much damage as possible, while Atlas meet the attack head-on with a [Mega Kick].
"Aron is unconscious! Gym leader Brock, please return your Pokemon!"
Atlas won the exchange.
Meanwhile, Leaf had just handed in her Pokemon to the local nurse and was impatiently waiting for them to heal up.
'Maybe I should go back to the gym?' She mused. 'I should be able to catch the last part of the match…'
She shook her head.
Instead, she went over her battle with Brock.
Truthfully, she had archived something amazing today.
Even for an extremely talented trainer, it usually took three to four weeks before they beat their first gym. After all, it took time to train a Pokemon to not only be battle ready, but also responsive to their trainer's commands and strategies.
Lance, for example, took three months before all his Pokemon – a very temperamental Charmander, a Dratini and a Bagon, fully listened to him. But after that, he destroyed five gyms withing one week; dragons were thick-headed and powerful like that.
As far as she could remember, the only trainer who also managed to beat their first gym within two weeks was Cynthia, the current Champion of Sinnoh and, debatably, the strongest trainer in the world – she managed to complete all eight badges within 5 months, a record that no one was even close to beating.
Even Steven Stone and Leon took nearly seven months to complete their respective gym challenges!
But, despite her achievement, Leaf didn't feel pride or satisfaction.
She may have shown potential (currently) comparable to Cynthia's, but compared to Red?
He could easily beat her.
'I don't want to be left behind…'
She felt her temper flare up; it always did when she felt unsure or weak, emotions that became much more prominent within the last two weeks.
Because, despite her will to become stronger and her talent which previously made her stand above Red and Blue, she didn't have the one thing that made Red's team grown so disgustingly fast.
She didn't have aura, and the longer she took to unlock it – if she manage to at all – the farther the distance between her and Red would grow.
Leaf wasn't stupid, she had observed Red while he was experimenting with the aura she was unable to see; she had listened to Red's muttering while he contemplated about things he discovered.
She long since considered asking him to try the same thing he did with his Pokemon; to infuse some of his aura into her.
A method that could (maybe) awaken her aura, or at least allow her to get a feel for how aura felt. But it was also an untested theory, which could end badly for her, or even both of them.
Because, if awakening aura simply required another aura user to infuse some of his into another person, wouldn't it be a common resource by now?
Why did not even one aura user make the power widely available?
What stopped them?
But after this truthfully lucky win against Brock, she didn't care anymore.
Hesitating because of possible dangers would result in her mediocrity; it would mean staying in Red's shadow forever.
'I won't be an afterthought!'
"Begin!" The referee shouted after Brock released his second Pokemon; an Onix.
And damn, was it big.
It easily dwarfed everyone else in its vicinity, and if Red hadn't known of its absolutely pathetic stats when compared to its actual size, he would have been worried.
After all, while Onix was big, it 'only' weighed around two-hundred kilogram and had an attack stat comparable to a Bidoof!
And while its defence was pretty damn good, Atlas should be able to beat it easily-
Red's cockiness slapped him in the face when the gigantic Pokemon started to glow in a familiar purple glow.
"Atlas! Attack it!" He shouted; that wasn't good! If he allowed it to [Curse] up to the same level as Atlas, then there was no chance for either Atlas or Pikachu to beat it!
Zeus's [Iron Tail], his only viable move against the Onix, would be useless!
But, with Atlas especially slow from his own [Curse] boosts, he didn't reach it until it was too late.
The Onix had just turned into an offensive and defensive monster.
Red was drawing a blank; the only solution his mind came up with was to land a critical hit… but how did critical hits work in reality? Was that even an option? Should he withdraw Atlas?
While he was brainstorming for a winning strategy, Atlas kept moving towards the rock type, determined to hit it with all of his strength.
But before he could, its tail began to glow in another familiar light; and with a swing using the strength from its entire body, the Onix hit Atlas with an overpowered [Iron Tail], hurling Atlas against a Wall.
With a thud, Atlas hit the wall before falling to the ground. Still, in a typical Atlas fashion, he instantly got up with an exited and innocent psycho smirk (that was a thing now) still etched on his face.
"Fuck." Zeus said, torn between excitement and dread, a shaky but still anticipating grin on his face.
After all, the moment Atlas was down, he would have to face an opponent where but a grazing blow would mean the end of the fight.
The Onix didn't stop attacking and curled its body around Atlas; trapping him in[Bind].
Worse still, Atlas small limbs were pressed against his body, not allowing him to retaliate by punching or kicking.
"[Hyper Voice]!" Red said, determined to, at least, chip some of the Onix health away.
Every last bit of damage would make a difference now!
But instead of using [Hyper Voice], Atlas stopped trying to escape the [Bind] and his eyes seemed to grow hazy for a moment.
Only for his eyes to clear again, but with a glaring difference; his ever-present grin grew unhinged.
With a slow turn of his head, Atlas directly stared the Onix in the eyes. And, after releasing a short but weirdly chilling laugh, Atlas uttered a word that somehow managed to reach Red, even from the distance between them.
"Boom."
And 'Boom' he did.
A powerful explosion shook the room; the roof above Atlas collapsed.
The only reason why no one (except for the Onix) was hit by the explosion, was because Onix blocked most of the blast, preventing it from reaching them.
Still, with an explosion powerful enough to shake the entire building, if not part of the town, Atlas's [Self-Destruct] released a worryingly amount of normal type aura, definitely depleting all of his aura.
Red, despite of his own surprise at the sudden move, didn't hesitate to send a huge chunk of his aura through his connection to Atlas before instantly returning him.
After all, while [Self-Destruct] didn't directly damage the user, it still depleted all of the body's aura and its resources, leaving them extremely vulnerable and fragile.
So vulnerable in fact, that a simple touch could leave a bruise on the level of a [Giga Impact]!
"… Challenger." The referee, shaken up from the sudden explosion, finally seemed to find his voice. "Please release your next Pokemon."
And indeed, despite Atlas best efforts, the Onix was still standing, and it took Red only a second to realize why.
Sturdy.
Red clicked his tongue before turning to his starter.
"Take it down."
"Got it."
Zeus entered the arena, his earlier excitement non-existent. Instead, he was pissed off.
While yes, Atlas's usage [Self-Destruct] was entirely his own decision, the simple fact the Onix had the nerve to stay conscious instead of staying down?
That irritated every part of Zeus's protective and overly vain side.
"Begin!"
Which translated in a battle that didn't even last a second.
With a simple [Quick Attack] to cross the distance, followed by a savage [Iron Tail] to the head, the gigantic rock type was down before anyone could react.
"Onix is unconscious, the challenger wins!"
With a snort, Zeus turned away from the Onix.
"That win is on Atlas." Zeus decided. "And that's what we're going to tell him."
"Agree," Red nodded. "Also, I'll make him a cake before he wakes up."
"Make that at least two." Brock, who had just returned his Pokemon, cut in. "In the rare cases were my Golem uses [Explosion], he demands many times his usual food intake afterwards."
"Good to know."
They looked at each other for a moment, before Brock sighed and handed him the Boulder Badge.
"It was a good fight, too good actually. A battle on this level is usually reserved for the second gym." He narrowed his eyes, deliberately making himself taller. "While your Pokemon seem healthy and lucid, I am obligated to say this; don't trust in shady ways to increase your Pokemon's strength."
Red looked at him questioningly, not liking what he was implying.
"I have seen too many naïve trainers use RC's to strengthen their Pokemon without knowing the possible consequences. It's not strictly illegal, but do not risk your Pokemon's wellbeing for an increase in strength."
With a warning look, Brock turned around and left.
"… Did he just accuse me of drugging my Pokemon?" Red asked out loud, too bewildered to be offended.
"Does it matter?" Zeus shot back and gave him an impatient look. "Let's get Atlas checked out, that [Self-Destruct] can't have been good for him."
"Yea, your right."
Red shook his head and pushed Brock's accusation away for now; it was time to celebrate!
A simple look at the Boulder Badge renewed his cheerfulness and he made his way to the Pokemon Center, already thinking about the food he was going to prepare.
The victory cake-, no.
The victory feast was going to be great!
For the next few hours, while Atlas was sleeping away his exhaustion – Nurse Joy had declared that there was surprisingly little issue with his health considering he just used [Self-Destruct] – Red busied himself in the kitchen.
And, with the help of Leaf – who was unusually tense and kept sneaking glances at him, they created a feast worthy of their first big victory!
Five big cakes, all covered with especially sweet chocolate for Atlas.
A huge number of fries with spicy tomato sauce for Zeus.
Dried and bitter berries for Melody (she was weird like that).
Self-made ice-cream of mostly sweet and sour flavours for Luna.
Two absolutely gigantic burgers for Leaf and Red.
And finally, a respectable number of cookies.
It was great.
"Hey." Leaf said hesitantly while Red was happily devouring his burger. "I have been meaning to ask your something."
"… Sure, what's up?" He replied after chewing, nearly moaning from the taste.
It was great to be a good cook.
"Can you directly infuse me with your aura?"
"Sure!" Red replied easily, throwing Leaf for a loop. "Been thinking about it actually, and I feel pretty comfortable to try it if you want; my control should be good enough for me to react should anything go wrong."
The fact that he only felt that way because of the Rattata incident went unsaid; no reason to make Leaf worry.
"… That is wonderful!" Leaf loosened up, her stress seemingly evaporating into the air and a brilliant smile appeared on her face. "I am ready when you are, we can even do it now if you like- "
She was interrupted by a bright light that illuminated the entire room.
Atlas was happy.
Happier than he ever was!
There were three things in his life that he enjoyed over anything else.
Sleeping.
Fighting.
Eating.
And getting better at fighting – which was the fourth one he discovered while with Red.
While he was with his ma and his siblings, he couldn't really do fighting (except in the rare cases where he sneaked away and made some of the bigger guys angry).
And every time he did fight?
His ma made him eat less that day.
But with Red?
After that super cool fight with the iron armor Pokemon and the rock snake?
After blowing himself up (which felt funny but really satisfying!)?
He got cakes!
Chocolate cakes!
Completely stuffed with his new favourite food, the in 'food coma' falling Atlas smiled his goofiest grin yet.
And for the first time in his short life, he was completely and utterly accepted for who he was.
He was truly happy… and started to glow as a result.
Red quickly turning to the source of the light, and could hardly believe his eyes.
Atlas, who had finished his five cakes by himself, was glowing.
Furthermore, the aura inside his body was going wild… but not in a bad way.
Instead, his aura was seemingly stimulating itself, growing rapidly while getting fuelled by something hidden within his aura.
But the aura wasn't the only breathtaking part; Atlas started to visibly grow, both in height and width, only stopping after easily exceeding two meters.
And when the glow died down, Atlas wasn't a Munchlax anymore.
He was a Snorlax now.
"… Don't Munchlax evolve from happiness?" Leaf asked in confusion, looking at the peacefully sleeping Atlas.
"Yep." He said, popping the 'p' with a smile.
"Leave it to Atlas to evolve because he is happy eating." Zeus snickered, jumping on Atlas's massive belly, bouncing a few times. "Looks, he's all comfy now!"
Red barely held himself back from joining his starter, but he didn't want to wake Atlas; he deserved a good rest.
His team plan consisted of purely massive (except for Zeus) and Atlas had reached that level!
"I don't think you hold the titles of the strongest anymore." Red teased, making Zeus look up in alarm. "Imagine him using [Curse] now; I wouldn't be surprised if he could punch through metal now!"
Zeus, now looking at Atlas with a completely different gaze, turned to Red with a sharp look in his eyes. "Up my training, I'm gonna be this team's ace and that's final!"
"Sure, sure. Tell yourself that."
While Red continued to banter with Zeus, Leaf excused herself for the day. While she desperately wanted to have her aura unlocked, and as soon as possible at that, it was simple courtesy to give a trainer and their team privacy after one of their Pokemon evolve… even when said Pokemon is sleeping and unlikely to wake up anytime soon.
But Atlas's evolution made her think about her own team, or more specifically, the team she originally planned to have… and how that plan was probably going to fail like it did for her first two Pokemon.
And, more importantly, she needed to look into buying an Ice Stone for Luna… which will cost a fortune.
'At least we can fight other trainers for money now…'
"I feel weeeeird…" Atlas whined, carefully walking one step after the other. "I want to go into my Pokebaaall!"
"Stop complaining." Zeus said from his new favourite seat on Atlas's shoulder. "The quicker you get used to your new body, the quicker you can fight again."
Atlas pouted.
Really, Atlas was such a child. He had been complaining nonstop since they started their journey to Mt. Moon.
Nonstop.
"… Can I do this later?" He tried again, looking at Red who, instead of answering, just retrieved a snack from his newly brought food container and threw it at him.
It was the only tactic that seemed to work in shutting him up.
With a Snorlax now permanently traveling with them, Red bit into the sour apple and spend all the money he got from the gym – proud 2000 pokedollar, to not only buy a new food container, which had vastly more space and different compartments for different temperatures; he also brough literal tons of food.
Tons that were going to last only a week or two, since Snorlax need to eat around 400kg of food daily.
'Thank god- or Arceus now, that food is so cheap here.' Thanks to grass, ground and water type Pokemon, the agriculture of the Pokemon world was completely different.
Not only were Pokemon able to grew healthy trees and crops within hours or even minutes, but berries were inherently healthier than any food back on earth. That was probably also a reason why everyone was so unbelievably healthy and fit; food just wasn't a problem for humanity anymore.
Which was good, as Snorlax would otherwise bankrupt him within a few days.
"… Maybe we can set up a camp early?" Leaf said suddenly. "If Atlas feels so bad from only walking for three hours, how do you think it will be in six?"
True, that could be a problem. And returning him wasn't a good option either; it was recommended to keep newly evolved Pokemon outside their Pokeballs for at least a day or two.
It had something to do with the flood of hormones after evolving that made recreating old muscle memories easier, a process that would otherwise take weeks.
So, no returning Atlas.
But…
"You just want me to awaken your aura as soon as possible, don't you?"
Leaf blushed and looked away; could you blame her? She desperately wanted aura and the longer she waited…
"Whatever, let's stop for today." Red grinned when both Leaf and Atlas perked up. "But you're focusing on training your movements today, Atlas!"
"OH, I can help!" Zeus exclaimed with a devious grin. "Just a shock every now and then to make sure he stays motivated!"
Red turned away from his team and looked at Leaf with a smile.
"Let's give you that sweet aura, should we?"
After all, she was his traveling companion, a rival and – possibly – his love interest as well.
Everyone just hates the useless tag-along and while she wasn't at that point yet, with his advancement speed that was only a matter of time.
And a Protagonist without a worthy rival was just destined to stagnate at some point.
And that marks the end of this week's chapter.
Red got his first gym badge, Brock suspects that Red uses 'RC' to bolster his Pokemon's growth, Atlas evolved and Leaf decided to throw caution to the wind and take a calculated risk to keep up with Red.
Real talk, fighting scenes are hard. It isn't even the planning; they just don't write themselves as 'easily' as the rest of the story.
But they are getting easier, so that's something.
Next week is either a normal chapter, or an Interlude I've been itching to write; let's just say that the 'Casanova' will be more important that you would think ;P
Anyways, thank you for reading and feel free to leave a review. They greatly motivate me to keep writing.
Till next week!