"You cannot be serious," Moira said as she saw Oliver looking between all his Pokéballs, laid out on his bed in the hotel room. Ralts and Joltik were sitting nearby, eating some scrambled eggs. "After everything that happened the past couple of days, you're STILL only going to use 3 Pokémon for the fight?"
"Yep," Oliver said bluntly.
"You know that even in an official battle, you're still allowed to use more than your opponent, right?" Moira continued, exasperated.
"Well, here's the thing," Oliver said. "Even if I did bring in my entire team, two of them are Bug-types. And they generally don't do well with Rock-types. They'd be crushed immediately."
Moira started to respond, then paused. "I guess you got a point… but still, Joltik's fast enough to dodge pretty much anything, and Karrablast can probably power through their defenses better than Hoodlet can."
Oliver thought a bit, turning towards Joltik, who was looking at him expectantly. "That's true. You know what? Joltik might be a big help."
Joltik perked up as his trainer continued. "Besides, you were my first Pokémon. It wouldn't be fair to leave you out of my first Gym battle."
Moira smiled. "Now that that's settled, I'm gonna get my own team ready." She turned to leave, gently closing the door. Before she closed it all the way, though, she peeked back in.
"Hey, I know I'm gonna tell you this right before the fight anyway, but… good luck," she said, smiling warmly.
Oliver blushed slightly. "Y-you too."
Moira, still smiling, shut the door behind her and began walking down the hallway before Oliver's voice came from his room.
"But I'm switching Hoodlet out. I'm still only gonna use three."
"OLIVER I SWEAR TO ARCEUS-"
"Oliver Clairmont? You're up next. Make sure your team is ready," the League staff member said.
"All right," Oliver said absently, watching the current battle unfolding on the TV screen, sitting next to Moira. He would've loved to be in the audience, but he had to stay in the lobby while he waited his turn.
Scarlet and Spencer had tickets though. Despite Spencer ostensibly taking the challenge too, he had no interest in actually battling the Gym Leaders. In addition, Moira was going to be watching the battle from the seats herself, she just wanted to wish Oliver luck before his own fight.
In any event, his eyes were glued to the action unfolding on the TV screen. He couldn't help but be invested, as the trainer battling Ricky was none other than the trainer from Neoshine, Crosly.
Oliver only managed to catch the tail end of it, but he watched intently. He reached into his bag and pulled out a small notepad, then began to write.
Moira glanced over at him. "...what are you doing?"
The boy looked back over to her. "Taking notes on Crosly's team, his moves, his-"
"Crosly's?" Moira interrupted. "Why him? Why not worry about the guy you're actually gonna fight?"
Oliver leaned back, arms resting behind his head. "Well, this guy was endorsed by the champion-"
"Former champion, aye," Moira reminded him.
"-which means he must have serious potential as a trainer," Oliver continued. "He's definitely going to make it to the finals, and that makes him a rival for me to have to beat. I want to figure him out before then."
Moira nodded. I guess that makes sense. She turned back to the screen to watch the fight herself.
"Sudowoodo, use Rock Tomb!" Ricky shouted, the Gym Leader pointing ahead through his fingerless boxing gloves. Sudowoodo obliged, sweeping its branchlike arm along the ground, causing several boulders to erupt into the air, arcing towards its target.
Crosly held his ground. "Sawbit," he commanded. "Use Rapid Spin!"
The armored crawler that Oliver's team had fought once began to roll in place at a high speed, its pointy, sturdy armor shredding the boulders that came near.
"Now use Aqua Jet!"
Sawbit, still spinning, surrounded itself with a spinning vortex of water and began to charge towards Sudowoodo.
"Hit it with Rock Throw before it gets close!" Ricky shouted. Sudowoodo began to throw rocks at Sawbit, who avoided each and every one of them, the watery trail it left behind curving and twisting and circling around the arena.
Finally Sawbit had a clear shot for Sudowoodo. Ricky grinned. "There's still one thing… Sudowoodo, stand your ground, just like we practiced!"
Sudowoodo braced itself, crossing its arms in front of it. Sawbit collided into the Rock-type, the swirling water drilling into it. A giant splash of water obscured the two Pokémon as the impact rocked the stadium.
When the water dissipated, Sudowoodo was still standing, sturdy as ever. As Ricky grinned, Sudowoodo uncrossed its arms, striking Sawbit clear across the arena.
The Water/Bug-type flew past Crosly and slammed into the wall, bouncing off of it onto the gravel-covered floor of the arena. Crosly sighed and withdrew his Pokémon, before reaching to his belt and pulling off another Pokéball.
"Go, Kinderbil!"
He threw the ball and out popped what appeared to be a circular cage made out of a tumbleweed. Inside the yellowish sphere was a small, hamster-like rodent with deep red fur lined with yellow markings, yellow eyes scowling.
KINDERBIL
Tinder Pokémon
Fire/Grass
This desert rodent is too slow to evade predators on its own, so it rolls across the desert in a tumbleweed-like structure. This is then used as kindling for Fire-type moves.
Crosly pointed at the Sudowoodo facing his new Pokémon down. "Kinderbil, use Tumble Wheel!"
The tumbleweed ball containing the rodent began to rev up before it rolled towards Sudowoodo at blinding speed. Ricky, and Sudowoodo for that matter, barely had any time to react before the ball crashed into the fake tree, causing it to collapse almost immediately. It may have toughed out Sawbit's onslaught, but Kinderbil were known for being incredibly fast and powerful, if somewhat fragile.
Sudowoodo tried to lift itself up again, but it seemed to have had the wind knocked out of it and couldn't, in the end staying on the ground, lying on its back, finally falling unconscious.
"Ricky is out of usable Pokémon!" The announcer cried excitedly. "The winner is Crosly!"
The crowd of the stadium erupted into cheers. Ricky sighed, withdrawing Sudowoodo and silently bolstering the ball back on his belt before approaching Crosly, beaming.
"You did a good job," he told Crosly, offering his hand. Crosly shook it, looking rather pleased with himself as the Gym Leader handed him his rightfully-earned Geode Badge.
Oliver took a few deep breaths to calm his nerves. One Ricky's Pokémon were fully healed, it would be Oliver's turn to fight.
He began racking his brain for strategies, and with his team set up, he believed he had one.
He'd lead with Joltik, who would lead with String Shot to slow down the opposing Pokémon. He wouldn't actually attack, though, as a pretty good chunk of Rock Pokémon were also of the Ground-type.
Once they were slowed down enough, Oliver would switch Joltik out and send out Ralts. Ralts had access to Magical Leaf, and while it wasn't the strongest Grass move around, it would hopefully deal with them while they were slowed down. Tryote was his second attacker in case Ralts wound up being incapacitated or ineffective, since as a Ground-type he would have a type advantage.
Though Oliver did need to find a way to deal with that Sudowoodo. He must have trained Sudowoodo so he'd be able to use that last move without having it be called, he thought. Which means if the opponent knew what it was they'd be able to counter it easily.
"You ready?" Moira asked.
Jolted from his thoughts. Oliver smiled at her. "As I'll ever be."
Moira slapped him on the back, making him yelp slightly. Giggling at his startled reaction she looked him in the eyes. "Go show 'im what for," she said softly, lightly hitting him on the shoulder before turning to rejoin the others in their seats.
Oliver watched her leave, smiling fondly before he sighed. Don't get distracted, Oliver. You need to focus.
He turned to face Ralts and Joltik, who were busy psyching themselves up. "All right guys… let's give 'em a show."
"Ladies and gentlemen," the voice of the announcer echoed through the arena. "We've got another Gym battle that'll no doubt knock your socks off!"
"In the north corner, we've got our own Gym Leader, a rough, rugged fighter who boxes with his own Rock-type Pokémon, training both himself and his team- Ricky!"
A wild cheer roared from the crowd as Ricky entered the ring, waving to the crowd, flexing his muscles as he did so, causing more than one woman to squeal in delight.
("Well I mean, he's not THAT cute," Moira muttered, rolling her eyes at Scarlet, who looked a little embarrassed that Moira noticed her own enthusiasm for Ricky's musculature.
"What exactly do you find attractive, Moira?" Spencer asked from the seat next to her.
"Why do you ask?" Moira asked in response, an eyebrow raised.
"Oh, no reason. I got you some snacks, by the way," he said casually, handing her a massive bucket of popcorn with a bag of candy haphazardly thrown in there.
"Oh hey, thanks!")
"And in the south corner, our challenger, a rookie trainer from Shorevul… Oliver!"
The crowd wasn't quite as enthusiastic as it was for Ricky, but Oliver couldn't help but feel heartened as he strode onto the field to the sound of cheering.
Even more so as he heard one voice pierce the general din of the crowd.
"YE GOT THIS, OLIVER!" Oliver suppressed a grin as Moira's voice reached his ears.
His posture gradually straightened as he walked to the center of the stadium, with Ralts in his arms and Joltik riding atop his head. He stopped in front of Ricky, who simply grinned down at him, standing a full foot taller than him, his arms crossed.
"You think you got what it takes?" he asked, flashing a toothy grin.
Compared to a criminal organization using illegally modified Pokémon? "Pretty sure," Oliver said casually.
Ricky nodded. "You sound pretty sure. Let's see if you can walk the walk."
The two trainers turned and took their respective spots. Oliver set Ralts down on the ground. "All right, I'm sending Joltik in first. You stay there and wait for me to call you, all right?"
Ralts grinned and offered a thumbs-up.
Oliver turned back to face Ricky, Joltik crawling down to his right hand while he adjusted his glasses with his left.
"The competitors have taken their places!" The announcer shouted enthusiastically. "LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!"
"Go, Joltik!" Oliver swung his hand forward, effectively tossing Joltik out in lieu of a Pokéball.
"Go, Rhyhorn!" Ricky's Pokéball exploded into a bright light, the stony rhino causing the ground to shake as it landed.
"It looks like Oliver's opening with a Pokémon with a severe type disadvantage!" The announcer's voice once again rang out. "Is there a method to his madness?"
Ricky grinned. "Too easy. Rhyhorn, use Smack Down!"
"Dodge it and use String Shot!"
Joltik leapt into the air, easily dodging the small stone that Rhyhorn had just sent flying, releasing a web of silk that wrapped around Rhyhorn. The Rock/Ground-type roared as it struggled against its sticky restraint.
Oliver pumped his fist. "Perfect! Now all I need to do is-"
SNAP!
Rhyhorn burst from its restraint, the broken strings falling to the ground harmlessly. Rhyhorn let out another roar as it charged forward to use Horn Attack.
"Joltik! Get out of the way!"
Joltik leapt on top of Rhyhorn, then immediately jumped over it. Rhyhorn tried to turn around, but fell over and slid on the ground, upturning a ton of dirt. Oliver's eyes widened as he realized it was sliding right towards him.
"Oh geez-" he ducked out of the way just in time to avoid a collision with the massive Pokémon as is ground to a halt. It got up began to turn around slowly.
"Joltik!" Oliver shouted as he put a wide berth between himself and the Rhyhorn. "Keep using String Shot! Maybe if there's enough string built up, it won't be able to break out!"
"Not on my watch," Ricky said, cracking his knuckles. "Rhyhorn, keep up with Smack Down!"
Joltik sprung into action and began leaping around the arena, deftly dodging every stone hurled its way. The Bug-type fired a string of silk at Rhyhorn, then began dashing around it, tying it up as it went.
Rhyhorn let out another furious roar as its thrashing was having less and less effect on the string. Joltik detached himself from the web and flung itself into the air, landing in front of Oliver.
"Good work, little guy. Ralts! You're up!"
Ralts nodded, dashing out onto the field and passing Joltik as it returned to its usual perch on Oliver's head.
"It looks like Oliver's switching out his active Pokémon! Joltik hasn't been able to do any noticeable damage, but maybe his new Pokémon can pick up the slack!"
"Rhyhorn, you can do it, you can break out of there!" Ricky shouted to his immobilized Pokémon, who simply whined in response.
"Ralts, use Magical Leaf!"
Ralts's horn began glowing as wind began to swirl around her, glowing leaves forming around her. Rhyhorn's thrashing increased as some of the silk began to tear.
Before it could free itself though, Ralts held out her hand and the leaves all darted at the unfortunate Rhyhorn, slicing easily through its rocky exterior. The webbing was cut, but it didn't matter, as the severe type advantage meant that Rhyhorn was taken down almost instantly. It rolled over unconscious and slammed into the ground.
"Incredible! Wrapped up by Joltik's silk, Rhyhorn was taken down in one shot by Ralts! Let's see if that trick works a second time!"
As Ricky withdrew his downed Pokémon, Ralts went rigid.
"Huh? What's wrong, girl?"
Ralts, in reply, began to make her horn glow, lifting one of the torn bits of string over to her telekinetically. Then she pointed at it, then towards Joltik, then shook her head.
Oliver blinked, trying to process this. Then his eyes widened. "Does that mean…? Joltik," he began, letting the Bug-type crawl down onto his hand, "is she saying you've used String Shot too much and you're spent?"
Joltik hesitantly rocked forward and back- the closest thing he had to a nod, as its head was basically its entire body.
Oliver sighed. "I'm sorry… I'm gonna have to bench you for a bit." Again, Joltik nodded, returning to Oliver's haid. "Ralts, can you handle his next one?" Ralts simply smiled, mimicking Ricky's cracking of his knuckles with her own. The trainer smiled. "Knew I could count on you."
Ralts turned her attention back to Ricky just as the Gym Leader sent out his second Pokémon. "Go, Aron!" He shouted, throwing a Pokéball that released the small armored quadruped onto the field.
Oliver shuddered. Aron was part Steel-type, meaning not only would Ralts's Psychic and Fairy attacks be less effective, but Magical Leaf would also have its type advantage revoked, and Ralts would likely be taken out in one hit by any good Steel attack.
"Looks like we've got another type disadvantage on the part of the challenger," the announcer said, echoing Oliver's own observation. "Let's see how he handles this one."
"Look, Ralts, I have a plan. But first…" he pointed at Aron. "We need to soften it up a little."
Ricky clenched his fist. "Aron, use Iron Head!"
Aron reared its head and charged at Ralts, its head seeming to shine brighter than normal as it prepared to attack her head-on.
Oliver glared, but realized what he had to do. This worked when I fought Scarlet for the exam, he thought, adjusting his glasses. Let's see if this helps again. "Ralts, use Charm!"
As Aron closed the gap between the two, Ralts posed sweetly, a charming smile coming to her face. Aron slowed slightly, its metal head seeming to blush, but it still struck Ralts. The little Psychic Pokémon was flung a good distance from the impact, but she got up shortly after.
All right, at least now Ralts has some time to get this to land. "All right Ralts, now use Hypnosis!"
Ralts's horn began to glow as rings of psychic energy began to float towards Aron.
"Use Headbutt! Shut your eyes so it doesn't put you to sleep!" Shouted Ricky. Aron began once again to charge forward, shutting its eyes to resist the hypnosis. Because the distance between the two was much smaller, it was still on the right track to hit Ralts a second time. Ralts jumped out of the way, narrowly avoiding another direct hit.
"Keep your distance, Ralts! Use Hypnosis again!"
Ralts quickly put some space between her and Aron, who halted once it realized it really should've hit her by now. It opened its eyes and turned to face Ralts.
"Wait, Aron, don't-!"
Ralts's horn was already glowing, rings of light floating lazily towards Aron, who didn't manage to look away in time. The rings put Aron into a trance as it began to wobble and lose its balance, finally shutting its eyes and falling asleep where it stood.
"Good work, Ralts, come on back!"
Ralts quickly ran back to Oliver's side as Ricky began frantically trying to wake up his sleeping Pokémon. Oliver took out a Pokéball and threw it out. "Your turn, Tryote!"
Tryote burst out of the ball and faced Aron, growling. Oliver clenched a fist. "Use Mud-Slap!"
Tryote swiped at the ground, causing a hunk of moist dirt to slam into Aron's armored head at top speed. The impact jolted it awake but its eyes were in pain and it couldn't see anything. It began to rush towards Tryote but its eyes were blinded by the mud and missed completely, Tryote lazily stepping out of the way.
As Aron crashed to the ground, Oliver grinned. "Use Sand Tomb!" he shouted. Tryote nodded, then let out a loud, echoing growl as sand and dust swirled angrily around Aron, enveloping it in a swirl of yellowish-brown that obscured everything inside it.
After a few seconds of this the sand dispersed, leaving Aron unconscious and scratched up where the tornado had used to be.
"Incredible! Once again he's pulled off some great teamwork and taken Aron down!"
Two down, one to go, thought Oliver as Ricky withdrew his second downed Pokémon. I've yet to lose one of my own, though Ralts is pretty banged up and probably can't take another solid hit, and Joltik's String Shot is spent, which means Electroweb probably won't work either. "Guess it's up to you, Tryote."
Tryote looked back and nodded in understanding. He turned his attention back to Ricky as he threw out his third and final Pokéball. "Go! Sudowoodo!"
As the fake tree Pokémon emerged from the flash of light, the crowd watched in anticipation as the announcer did his thing.
"It's time for the Gym Leader's ace in the hole, Sudowoodo! Will Oliver and his team overcome this last obstacle? Or can Ricky's best Pokémon turn this around?"
Ricky thrust his hand out towards the arena. "Sudowoodo, use Rock Tomb!"
Sudowoodo scraped the ground with its arm and flung boulders into the air, rocketing towards Tryote. The Ground-type dodged the boulders but as they began to land around the arena, Oliver understood what he was doing.
The rocks won't be much of an issue to a Ground-type but it's going to affect his mobility if they're all just lying around the arena like that.
He adjusted his glasses and pointed towards the rocks. "Tryote, get up on the rocks and use Bite from the air!"
Tryote leapt onto one of the rocks and began hopping from rock to rock as it got closer to Sudowoodo.
As it grew closer to Sudowoodo, Ricky smiled. Tryote has almost touched down on the rock closest to Sudowoodo when he suddenly yelled out, "Use Low Kick!"
Sudowoodo suddenly kicked the boulder, shattering it beneath Tryote's feet. Startled, Tryote fell to the ground with a thud, disoriented.
"Hit it with Slam!"
Sudowoodo raised its right arm, about to bring it down onto the dazed Tryote below it.
"Tryote! Get out of the way!" But it was too late- the impact struck Tryote directly, creating a small crater below them. The crowd was split halfway between wincing in sympathy and cheering for the Gym Leader as Tryote struggled to its feet.
Oliver was about to withdraw Tryote when Ricky was what he was doing and smirked. "Sudowoodo, use Block!" Sudowoodo opened its branches wide, causing a small wall of rocks to form around the two of them. It wasn't too tall but it gave off some sort of interference that prevented the Pokéball from withdrawing Tryote properly.
"Sorry, but your Pokémon is stuck in there with mine," Ricky said. "Just gotta deal with it."
Luckily, using Block prevented Sudowoodo from following up its attack, allowing Tryote to regain its footing.
"It looks like Tryote's still got some fight left! But will it be enough to take down Sudowoodo?"
Oliver readjusted his glasses, noticing Tryote seemed to be shaking in…fear? No, anticipation. Anticipation of what exactly? He didn't know. "Tryote, try to use Bite again!"
Tryote leapt up towards Sudowoodo, jaws wide open. Ricky once again smiled assuredly, something he seemed to be in the habit of doing when he had a plan. "Sudowoodo, stand your ground!"
Sudowoodo crosses its arms as Tryote leapt at it, his fangs crunching into the branches as Oliver swore under his breath.
I know exactly what move he's using- it's Bide! If I let it let loose the power it's building up, Tryote's toast!
Oliver blinked as he noticed Tryote seeming to shake with potential energy, as the Ground-type flipped back off of the Sudowoodo, who was building its power, fueled by the pain inflicted by Bite.
I-s e-v-l-in-
Oliver blinked. Where did that come from?!
He- b-co-in- a -y-t-
Us- G—r- C-tc-
The noise of the crowd didn't even register as the thoughts began to pulse through his mind unbidden. Oliver knew what he was thinking, but he didn't know where it came from or why.
He hoped his instincts were on the money.
"Use Guard Catch!" The heck am I doing?! He thought as Tryote began to rush forward at his command, reality setting back in. Tryote doesn't learn that move until it-
His eyes widened as Tryote began to glow blue, becoming a blur of light as he rushed towards the defending Sudowoodo.
...until it evolves!
The blue light faded as it finally made contact with Sudowoodo. The Pokémon within was revealed- Tryote was much larger and standing on two legs, the front two becoming clawed arms. His fur was a darker shade of brown, with the top of his (now longer than before) tail red in color, as was a tuft of fur around his neck that gave off the impression of a bandana. His eyes weren't as wide and curious, instead becoming hardened, wild.
LYOTE
Vindictive Pokémon
Dark/Ground
It is fast enough to catch its prey, but acts like its old clumsy self. When bird Pokemon fly close in an attempt to toy with it, they usually don't survive to learn from their mistake.
Clutching Sudowoodo tightly with his claws, Lyote pried its crossed arms off its chest and picked the Rock-type up before slamming it into the ground.
Oliver couldn't contain himself. His Pokémon evolved mid-battle! And yet I knew it was about to happen somehow…
"Incredible! Tryote has evolved into Lyote and it's turned this entire fight back around in Oliver's favor!"
Putting aside his pondering for later, Oliver focused himself again. "All right Tr- I mean, Lyote! Use Sand Tomb!"
Lyote raised its hand and slammed it into the ground, causing it to shake. Oliver blinked. "That's odd, didn't it create a dust devil before?"
Instead, when Lyote used Sand Tomb this time, the ground beneath Sudowoodo gave way, swallowing the fake tree, who began frantically clawing to escape its sandy prison.
Before it was completely covered in sand, the pit of sand erupted into a vortex of furious sand, forcing Oliver and Ricky to both cover their faces as the sand blew over them.
Oh boy, it's gonna take forever to clean my glasses of after this… Oliver lamented. However, despite the sandy buildup on his glasses, he was clearly able to see the end result-
Sudowoodo collapses onto the ground, knocked out cold, as Lyote stood above it, a foot planted on his fallen opponent.
"Sudowoodo has been taken down! The winner is Oliver!"
The crowd went absolutely nuts as the fact Oliver actually won finally sank in. He smiled broadly as the cheers began to finally reach his brain- the loudest, of course being Moira. She was shouting something he couldn't quite understand, as she was slipping back into her thick native Galarian accent but he could feel the enthusiasm nonetheless. Tc
Regaining his composure, he walked up to Lyote, who despite the increase in size, was still a couple inches shorter than Oliver.
"Great work, boy," Oliver said as he began scratching Lyote's head behind his ears. His menacing, predatory demeanor vanished instantaneously as he melted in pleasure as Oliver's petting.
After a moment of this, Oliver withdrew Lyote back into his Pokéball before approaching Ricky, who had just recalled his Sudowoodo.
Ricky smiled again, though it wasn't the same cocky, self-assured one he'd given throughout the fight. This one was warmer, more genuine.
"Oliver, I have to say- while that wasn't the closest fight I've ever been in, it was definitely up there. Actually, you didn't lose a single Pokémon the entire time so I guess it wasn't close at all, was it?"
Oliver blinked. Oh wow, he's right, I didn't! "Well, I mean, Joltik was basically spent…"
"But it wasn't actually knocked out. Oliver, you've earned this." Ricky held out his hand, and in his palm was the octagonal, black and white Geode Badge.
Oliver took in and pinned it to his jacket, standing up straight, the badge making him feel stronger, stand taller, feel lighter somehow. The two trainers shook hands as their battle officially concluded.
One down, seven to go.
And yet in spite of his victory, he couldn't stop wondering about those strange thoughts that entered his mind, that weren't his own...
Sorry this chapter was late, I've just been kind of busy with class lately. Hopefully I'm not as horribly late next time.
So in addition to a couple new Pokémon we've got some original moves!
Tumble Wheel isn't that special, essentially just a Grass-type version of Flame Wheel. Guard Catch, Tryote's signature move, is more interesting. You know how Sucker Punch goes first if the opponent is going to use an attacking move? Guard Catch is the opposite- it only works on non-damaging moves, or startups for attacks that need to charge, like Fly, Solar Beam or, indeed, Bide. It even overrides Protect!
My original idea for Kinderbil was called Kinsage, which was basically a sentient burning tumbleweed. However I thought the idea was kinda basic and more like a Ghost-type, and I eventually came up with the idea of the tumbleweed being a hamster wheel.
