"So... this is it."
"Yep."
Outside the gym (literally about a meter besides the door, in fact) the two plotted and scheme. Gardenia came to check up on them a bit ago, but "H-hey! You can't peek in on our plans!"
"Well, then why did you choose to discuss it right outside my gym~?"
"So we can challenge you right after!"
The bemused gym leader left them to their own devices, but not before giving them a good once-over. She probably figured out that they're carrying Ice Beam - that's one of the TMs Lucy bought. What else? Wait, no, that's spoilers!
In any case, they once again push their way into the gym. Wait, huh, it's dark? Not too dark to see, but it almost feels like night in here – Gohan glances back out the door just before it closes to confirm that, no, it's still well in the afternoon. The trees rustle with artificial wind, and... well, what else is there to do but trudge forwards?
"... Do you see anything?"
"Yeah," he says as he looks around. He really hasn't had to exercise super senses here – or actually, for a while in anything. Most fights back home were pretty damn loud. "Over there is a few pokémon that look like roses?"
"Roserade? Or roselia, probably. They were her signature pokémon."
"And way at the back of the gym," he points through the trees, "is... uh, pretty much everyone from last time. Even the guide!"
"How can you see that... uh... never mind. What're they doing?"
"Hm..."
It looks like she's waiting for them. Do they not have to fight their way to her, again? Maybe the first time was enough and they can just walk in. Er, okay, just gotta push through the last few branches in the way...
"ROOOOSE!"
Roserade used Field Flash!
The area lights up! They've reached the arena... and oh boy, is it an arena. It... well, it's the same fenced off spot as the previous match. But it just feels so different in the dark like this! Even the two glowing pokémon to the sides just add to the atmosphere – the small crowd of gym trainers (and oh hey, the Gym Guide) off to the sides, with Gardenia towards the back and middle.
"Well well well!" she laughs, putting a hand over her face. "It seems you've come for a rematch!"
"Uh, we were sitting outside. You came to talk with us." As he points this out the faces in the crowd drop slightly- "I mean YES!" he shouts, "I have returned with new power and strength! A most unexpected rematch!" Lucy snorts at how hard he's trying; hey, the only experience he's had with showfighting was that buffoon Mr. Satan! ... Though come to think of it, he really had damn near everyone on Earth going despite evidence to the contrary. Maybe he could learn more from his performance that he'd care to admit. "AND," he says, flourishing a gesture towards Lucy, "I've brought my lovely assistant as backup! Hoohah!"
"That's good! I'm glad you've improved, and brought company!" Gardenia's smile droops into a slightly scary grin. "'Cause I'm not holding back this time, Mr. Gohan."
Leader Gardenia wants to battle! [Tag Battle
Jelly Bean was sent out!
The foe sent out Roserade!
"Rosé~! Fuhuhuhu!" The Bouquet Pokémon puts a flower over its face, mocking the level five squirtle before it. She squares her stance...
It's dark and eerie... Move accuracy reduced by two stages!
"W-whoah..."
"Toxic Spikes!"
"F-fake out!"
Roserade's cackles suddenly cut off as the squirtle barrels into it! The world goes black for a second (The foe's Roserade flinched! It can't move!) as the few spikes it managed to generate spill onto the ground. That didn't do a lot of damage... but it was a stain against her pride! It lashes out with a "Power Whip!", the squirtle barely scurrying out of the way... tch! Priority moves...
"Jelly Bean, use Muddy Water!"
"SQUIIIIIIIRT!"
The Tiny Turtle Pokémon unleashes a deluge of muddy water! The stunned roserade braces itself as The foe's Roserade avoided the attack! Wait, uh, oh no. Her face grows a rictus of a grin as Jelly Bean blanches.
This... this is the heat of battle. The trainers are there, but they're secondary now. Mere advisers in the background as the monsters engage on glorious combat! Roserade cackles as she lashes out with a Power Whip, only to miss again. Eyes widen in surprise as Jelly Bean used Muddy Water! It's not very effective... but it lowered her accuracy even further! She chitters in frustration as the gritty water blurs her vision. She was supposed to have the advantage! This ISN'T FAIR!
Oh, right, Toxic Spikes. That's the whole reason she's on the team. She can feel the squirtle whaling on her – is that Dragon Pulse? – but its level is too low to matter. Just line up and focus...
The foe's Roserade used Toxic Spikes! Poisoned spikes were scattered around the feet of your team!
He continues to pound away at Roserade.
Jelly Bean used Aura Sphere! It's not very effective...
Jelly Bean used Dragon Pulse!
Jelly Bean used—
The foe's Roserade used Power Whip! It's super effective! Jelly Bean fainted!
The stunned squirtle stands stock still for a moment, the sheer force of the blow not registering until wait no yup there it goes. The poor pokémon's eyes roll up into its head as it leeeeans forwards and falls flat on its face. Brutal. Gohan takes a second to stare before he slowly raises the Poké Ball and returns him.
"Hey," Lucy whispers to him. "I think it's my turn." He steps into the shadows as she takes his place, and once Chimecho was sent out! the fight starts to build up again.
"Chimecho. Well, hello."
"Rooose. Tch. A levitator." The plant pokémon pounds its hand-equivalents together. "Erade. I'm going to strip you down to the bone, you know that?"
"Chime. Not the warmest welcome you could have given to someone in their first official battle."
Chimecho dodges the first attack and hits Roserade with a wrap – the pokémon curses, is Natural Cure really that useful for a Poison-type? Roserade was hurt by Wrap! She gags as the pokémon's long, paper-like body flows around her and tightens, binding her. It feels like she's trying to crush her! Roserade flails and tries to use Power Whip, but the chimecho's small head twists out of the way and leaves it hitting air.
Her eyes widen when Chimecho glows with a pink power, and she cries out. "Rose! Gah!"
The world isn't quite going black, but it's very distorted – pain, the feeling like she's being crushed spreads all across her body! And... and her mind? It's an Extrasensory attack!
It's super effective!
The foe's Roserade was hurt by wrap!
She growls – this battle has been humiliating! Even this psychic windchime is a good chunk of levels lower than her and, er, wait, she can just tough this out. Roserade calms her mind, and lets the din of battle dim.
Hurt by wrap again. Her HP is rather low at this point, but not too concerning. Focus, focus...
There!
Chimecho used—
The foe's Roserade used Shadow Ball!
Having been wrapped around Roserade, there's little Chimecho can do to avoid the attack. The phantom orb flickers into existence literally right in front of her face, and... well, she's only able to widen her eyes in panic as the blob of ectoplasm drenches her in a super effective barrage ("Chimechime! Gah! Gah, it's on me!"). The foe's Roserade was released from Wrap! Chimecho lashes out with Extrasensory, but the bouqet is able to twirl and fire back with another ball of phantasmal shadow.
... Which misses, of course, because it was never a good idea to fire a projectile on the tail end of a pirouette. Chimecho's yellow eyes glow with inner fire as Roserade steps back, already knowing exactly what's coming—
Chimecho used Extrasensory!
It's super effective!
The foe's Roserade fainted!
"Nice! I didn't expect you to actually beat her," Gardenia says as Roserade dissolves into a red stream of data before flowing back up into her Poké Ball. "You guys really did prepare!"
"T-thank you?" Gohan mutters as Lucy glares. You can't talk! This is a SUPER SERIOUS battle!
The foe sent out Torterra!
"Oh no," Lucy's composure breaks as Gardenia laughs. The gargantuan tortoise laughs with her – it's level 63. Which it rather loudly lets the entire city know when it starts to charge.
The foe's Torterra used Crunch!
It's super effective! Chimecho fainted!
"Not good not good NOT GOOD"
"Ch-chimecho, return," she mumbles. Torterra guffaws (a strange sound reminiscent of a car starting, crossed with a laser beam) as Gohan steps back up to the plate. Gardenia puts a hand to her face.
"Oh, a Water-type? I don't think that's the best idea."
Gohan doesn't bother responding. He chucks the Poké Ball–
Sighduck was sent out...! Sighduck was Poisoned!
The duck winces as he stares his opponent down – that's a big turtle. Being Poisoned definitely won't help.
The torterra stares down at Sighduck – that's a tiny duck.
The two start to circle each other. They can both tell that the other is an opponent that is... rather a challenge. The trainers let it happen, watching for a moment, the moment to turn into a perfect advantage.
"TOR. So. You are this 'super-duck' I have heard about. I must say, other than your Level, you don't look like much."
"PsyDUCK. Same to you. I've gotten better since my last time here." Sighduck used Calm Mind! His aura barely noticebly brightens; he immediately flinches again, much more noticeably, as the poison gnaws off a chunk of his HP.
"Torrrrterrrrraaaa... I see Rosie has already set her trap." The turtle's jaw rises into a light smile. "Torterra. Ter. Your loss here won't be your fault, don't feel bad. You never had a chance."
Gohan smiles too as he watches the stand-off, a bit wryly. Torterra has the STAB type advantage here. By a lot. But if he just lets this go on for a little longer...
Sighduck used Calm Mind!
He grins. The next time he sees that–
The foe's Torterra used Wood Hammer!
Sighduck avoided the attack!
Sighduck took damage from Poison!
Oh, uh, crap.
"VHVHVHRUM!" The foe's Torterra used Crunch! Sighduck avoided the attack! Sighduck used Calm Mind! The poor platypus wheezes frantically as it runs around the arena, causing the spectators to have small laughing fits. What kind of battle pokémon runs around in such an undignified manner? Well, if they actually had brains, they'd realize that it was smarter than just waiting for the enemy to attack. Torterra's roars as it barrels its way around the honestly too small for it arena, smashing fence posts to splinters and gouging out the dirt and grass from the floor.
Sighduck backs up against a fence post towards the left side of the arena – any further and he'd be out of bounds. The Continent Pokémon shifts its weight and turns to face the duck. Heaving, coughing, growling.
"Tor. Stop. Running. Around."
"Psyduck?! So you can pound me into the ground?!"
Sighduck took damage from Poison!
With one last roar, Torterra charges with all its might. Sighduck... foolishly, perhaps, takes a stand. He waits, eyes on the prize, oh crap Torterra just hopped and is now sliding towards him at full speed! Woooooood Hammer! The grass and dirt spew out from behind him like a lawnmower was shredding a lawn.
Sighduck opens his eyes as wide as he can.
And pushes off the ground just as Torterra's body comes within a foot, close enough for the dirt to be spraying onto him.
Sighduck used... ordinary, non-Move jump? "OWRD OWRD OWRD OWRD!" he shrieks in alarm, realising at the last second that this might be more risky than rewarding. Sighduck grabbed onto Torterra's plantlike growths and is hanging on for dear life as the tortoise careens around, having jumped back to his feet and now desperately trying to shake the duck off?!
"TORTERRA! GITOFFA ME!"
This is Sighduck's first rodeo. He is bad at it. The duck screams as Torterra uses Wood Hammer against the ground – the force rips him off the tree and slams him into the dirt! Damn, that actually took off some HP.
Sighduck took damage from Poison!
"VHRRRM. TOR. TEAR. Gh! STAY. DOWN." Torterra grumbles at the prone duck pushing itself onto its... arms. Glaring defiantly at the bulky tortoise. "Torterra. Torraterrato– The level difference is too damn high. None of the Moves you used last time can put a DENT into–"
Sighduck used Ice Beam!
"VRRHRMRMGMRUUUM!"
It's super effective! DOUBLY! Torterra's knees collapse under him, and he falls to the ground!
"Psy?! You're still up after that?!"
"Tor... torterra... I ain't going down that easy."
Sighduck used Ice Beam!
Torterra goes down. Gardenia whistles as the struggling pokémon plummets into unconsciousness and returns him. Sighduck wheezes; he may have gotten to the point where he could defeat the more powerful pokémon, and had a doubly effective attack – but it was hard just surviving long enough to use it! Even not taking a hit, the damn Poison has worn him down to less than half of his full HP...
"Man, that was clever! Most trainers don't think of telling their pokémon to do stuff on their own – heck, a lot would call it insubordination! Most people end up relying on their opponent's commands as tells. I didn't notice your psyduck's boosted stats until it was too late!"
"Sigh... you know, this is really hard on the vocal cords." He thinks of the battles back in his world, with the constant kiai. "Not as hard as the old fights, but still."
"Suck it up, buttercup~."
Sighduck took damage from Poison!
The foe sent out Sudowoodo! Whipping her hand around, she points! "Sudowoodo, use Psych Up!" The woody-looking pokémon stares off into space, its eyes going kind of blank. Sighduck rushes forwards and uses Surf, entirely without command – the wave of water knocks Sudowoodo down, and grinds its HP to over half gone.
The foe's Sudowoodo copied the opponent's stat changes!
"Lucy, what just happened?" he asks as the pokémon retaliates with Slam, barely missing his. "Why did Sighduck use Surf?"
"Sudowoodo... uh, it's called Pseudo-woodo," she explains with visible air quotes. "It's not actually a Grass-type."
"Oh, huh! Sighduck must've known that somehow."
Gardenia grins as the two pokémon duke it out, exchanging small blows. She sees Sighduck lose another chunk of HP to Poison. A snap of the fingers as it prepares another Surf attack, and The foe's Sudowoodo used Sucker Punch! The sudden burst of speed and aura of causes Sighduck to squawk in alarm before Sudowoodo's "hands" slam into it! The bits of water generated splatter across the battlefield harmlessly as Sighduck is slapped into the ground.
Sighduck took damage from Poison!
Sighduck fainted!
"What... what just...?"
Gardenia taps her head. "Priority move, eh? They go first. Nuh-matter what." He grumbles, but returns the belly-up duck to its Poké Ball. Sudowoodo tenses – even with Psych Up giving it enough Special Defense to survive that blow, it still has an uncomfortably low amount of HP left. Christ, is that psyduck perfectly IVd in Special Attack or something? He has no way of knowing, but it has perfect IVs in Speed, Defense, and Special Attack.
Gohan for his part, just sighs. Damn. Her team is just too strong, huh? He moves back and lets Lucy take the stage...
Yamper was sent out! Gardenia and Lucy waste no time – they point and shout! Move, people, Moves! Yamper was Poisoned!
Yamper used Quick Attack (It's not very effective...)! The foe's Sudowoodo used Slam...! The foe's Sudowoodo fainted!
"Huh? Heheh, man, you two learn quick!"
Sudowoodo's Slam was stopped in its tracks when Yamper rocketed into his chest and knocked him over. The last thing the mimic pokémon sees before fading into unconsciousness is a slobbery tongue. "Oh sweet Heatran no..." he thinks, as the dog pants and sprays spittle. How humiliating! Beaten by a single-digit level pokémon!
Yamper took damage from Poison!
"Sudowoodo, return!" *whiiiine!* "Heheheh, you guys are lucky! You know how I said I wasn't holding back against you?" Gohan and Lucy nod. Is this going to be good or bad news, for them? "Weeeell... while I'm fighting with everything I have right now, I might, might have underestimated you guys in prepping for this. And also only have four Poké Balls on me." Oooohohoho! The pair glances at each other and, well, eheheh~! That means... if they can take out this last pokémon...!
The foe sent out Tangrowth!
"Yamp! Wowie! You're terrifying!"
"BHRMPH."
"Tangrowth, use Earthquake!"
"GROOOOOWTH! Perish!"
The Vine Pokémon raises a foot – and glowing with white energy, slams it back into the ground. The resulting shockwave shreds through the ground, ripping up the dirt and causing! Well, you know. Yamper's out before he even knows what hit him. Lucy winces as the dog slams against a fence post behind her. Oooooow, that's gonna leave a mark.
"Well... I guess you're up, Gohan." Lucy sighs. "Have fun with your dang badge or whatever." He doesn't respond, at least yet. Eyes on the prize, baby, no distractions.
Core-fish was sent out! Core-fish was Poisoned!
"Corphish?! What in infierno de Giratina are you?!"
"Tangrowth. Tangrowth."
"Corephi. Phish. Ah, that explains it. I think."
The trainers fading into the background once more, the two pokémon rush! Sighduck may have been strong, but Core-fish was weak and stupid. He got the biggest pep-talk outside, and Gohan is hoping, hoping that it sunk in.
"Now, Core-fish, what do you do when the enemy is attacking you...? From far away, dodge. If you can't... use your bubble-thingie on their eyeballs!"
Core-fish used Bubble Beam! A critical hit! It's not very effective...
Ooh, minimal damage. Unused to an opponent using a long range attack from like two feet in front of him, the Power Whip he was charging fades into nothing as he tries to shield his face. Gah! Ow! Frick! Core-fish used Knock Off! Dangit, the berry! Core-fish took damage from Poison! Good thing Poison damage doesn't cause flinching or the like.
Tangrowth roars and slams the ground with a Power Whip, only to find that Core-fish has already scuttled out of the way. Where is he?! Real, manly pokémon don't hide in a fight! The totemic vinebundle swivels around until GAH! The foot! He used Crunch! The foe's Tangrowth used Power Whip! But it's too late, Core-fish is already huddled up against the fence posts on the border of the arena...
"TAN. GROWTH. Tangrowth! YOU. PUNY CRAB. Fight like a man!"
"Cooooreeephish. ... Eh, no thank you, mi amigo."
The foe's Tangrowth used Ancient Power! Core-fish, already on his metaphorical toes to flee (unlike an ordinary pokémon which would be trying to set up an ill-fated attack) manages to evade the barrage of rocks and barely avoids becoming sushi. The opponent roars in frustration. The foe's Tangrowth used Sludge Bomb! Core-fish used Sludge Bomb!
...
Core-fish avoided the attack! Core-fish took damage from Poison!
It's super effective! The foe's Tangrowth was Poisoned!
"Tan... Tan...! You... you...!"
Core-fish risked itself to use Knock Off with precise punching form, launching itself from a stand-still! ... A vital hit!
Tangrowth staggers back, stunned. What... what was that? A quick check behind him shows that the corphish didn't come out of that brazen assault unscathed – even having been untouched this entire battle, it's wearing low on stamina and that last attack did serious recoil. But what did he do?!
Gohan grins, knowing exactly what he just did. He used proper martial arts techniques to boost the power of his attack. Focus all your energy into a single point... and the damage you can deal is incalculable!
The foe's Tangrowth used Earthquake!
Core-fish fainted!
... Oh.
Symbiont: the Parasite Pokémon
Class: Xeno
National Pokédex Number: Unconfirmed
Ability: Moxie analogue
Egg Group: Undiscovered
Transformations: Symbiotic Fusions
Type: Poison/Psychic, or Poison/Rock
Height: 1.2 m
Weight: 55.5 kg
While officially known as the Symbiont, the rumours of this pokémon have spread far and wide. Usually called Nihilego in Unown-speaking regions, its popularity as a cryptid belies how little information we truly have on it. The only real support we have of it (and similar cryptid's) existence is the paper by Professor Mohn from the remote Alola region, on wormholes to other dimensional planes and possible pokémon inhabitants: however, Nihilego has shown up in Alolan mythology that far predates it. At least, this is the common knowledge. Similar interdimensional pokémon have been known for some time now, and the Interpol is equipped to deal with them under a technically-not-secret but very much kept-quiet division called the UB Task Force. While classified as a Xeno under cryptid categories, it and related pokémon are officially termed 'Ultra Beasts'.
While it can function as an independent pokémon it greatly prefers parasitism, targeting humanoids. The potent neurotoxin causes the host to go mad with power they do not really wield, and will ultimately lead to their death if they aren't pried apart. Nihilego itself resembles a jellyfish, in the shape of a young girl. Its tentacles flow downwards from the wavy rim of the bell in an assymetrical pattern – ones fused together in the back they end at about 'waist-height' to mimic hair, while more independent branched tentacles imitate bangs, arms, and legs respectively. The empty space in the center gives the impression of the 'silhouette' of a young girl; likely the intended spot for a host.