But before we start, here's another list of Pokemon!
Midnight (Galarian Ponyta, our shining star! Maybe.)
Theodore (Stufful, famous for cuteness and cuddles!)
Xena (Machop, tough and master of exercise!)
Isaac (Applin, infamously eccentric)
Faye (Vulpix, fierce and fiery!)
Mica (Roggenrola, sweet and good at finding treasure!)
Eldegoss (Don't worry, she'll get a name soon enough!)
Lavender (Shiny Lapras, loves songs and friends!)
Let's get this chapter started! (-o-)
After we got some lunch at the seafood restaurant (although I had refrained from eating any fish), Pearl and I had started walking through Hulbury, looking for a good place to try and train a bit before challenging the gym.
However, we hadn't had much luck so far, and I couldn't be any help because I did not remember seeing any sort of training area in the games. Plus, Hulbury was much larger than it was in them anyways, seeing as it was a real city here.
As we looked around, though, we ran into some familiar faces.
"Hey, look, it's Pearl!" I saw Hop running towards us, followed by Gloria. He was grinning like a maniac.
Pearl waved at them. "Hi guys!"
The two Trainers reached us, both looking excited to hang out again.
"We must've narrowly missed you back in Turffield, but now we've finally caught up with you!", declared Hop, "Grats on your win! Now all three of us have our first badge!"
Gloria nodded, before asking, "So, what are you planning on doing right now?"
Pearl answered, "I'm looking for somewhere I can train my Pokemon a bit before I challenge Nessa. However, I don't know where I can do that."
Hop grinned. "I know what you can do! We can have a battle!"
Gloria rose an eyebrow. "I know you love battles, Hop, but you fought literally every Trainer we came across on the way here. Shouldn't you give your team a rest for now?"
"Ah.", Hop smiled sheepishly, "Yeah, I probably should."
Gloria smiled at Pearl. "However, I'm willing to battle you, three-on-three! You up for it?"
Pearl grinned. "Sure!"
Oh dear. We get to fight against the lady with plot armor.
Welp, I guess I've got to prepare to get my face stomped. But I would do my best to take as many of Gloria's Pokemon down with me as I could!
Hop beamed. "Woo, Gloria v.s. Pearl? This is gonna be awesome!"
Well, at least he was excited.
Gloria led us to a sparsely crowded part of the street, and readied her first Pokemon. "Alright, Pearl. Let's test how strong we've both gotten! Go, Bolt!"
Her Yamper appeared with a bright flash, yipping excitedly.
Pearl readied her own Pokemon. "Go, Bella!"
Her new Eldegoss appeared with a delighted twirl, shooting a smile in my direction. I blushed slightly. It appeared she still was extra happy that I was the one who saved her.
"Alright, Bolt, we can handle this!", Gloria shouted, "Run in and use Nuzzle!"
"Bella, Sweet Scent!", Pearl replied.
As the Yamper charged in, Bella started exuding a sweet smell, which caused the Yamper to slow down as he took a nice whiff of it. The scent filled me with a warm calm feeling, and I did not see the need to fight. I just wanted to sit down and relax...
Bolt clearly felt the same way, and when he nuzzled up to Bella, his lightning wasn't very strong. Bella absorbed it quite easily, and was not even Paralyzed.
However, it did dislodge some cotton, which stuck to Bolt's paws and slowed his movements. Bella smiled cheerfully, knowing that this would make things easier for her.
"Now, Razor Leaf!", Pearl shouted.
"Watch out, Bolt!", Gloria cried.
Bella unleashed a flurry of sharp leaves, which raced right for the Yamper. He tried to dodge, but his movements were hampered by the cotton on his paws. He yelped in pain as the leaves cut into his fur, and Gloria flinched.
But that did not mean they were out for the count.
"Bolt, we're going to have to go for power! Get in close and use your Bite attack!", Gloria commanded.
Bolt nodded, and lunged for Bella. She started using Rapid Spin, attempting to get away, but even impaired Bolt's speed was greater than hers. He chomped onto her cotton ball hard, wrestling with it like a chew toy. He ignored how the cotton stuck to his face and paws, but I knew he was going to have even more trouble moving around because of it.
"Keep spinning, Bella!", shouted Pearl, "Throw him off of you!"
The Eldegoss listened, and spun even faster. Bolt lost his grip and was sent skidding across the street, whimpering. Bella whirled towards him, more razor leaves answering her call.
Bolt climbed back onto his paws, but was promptly greeted by a bunch of leaves to the face. He was knocked back down, and fainted.
Gloria returned him, saying, "I guess I need to train him more. What with the Grass Gym and the mines, there wasn't much places where I could battle with him. But my other Pokemon are more than capable of handling that Eldegoss of yours! Go, Liza!"
Appearing in front of her was a Salandit, one which I could tell would be able to evolve one day. She hissed excitedly, and Gloria shouted, "Quickly, before she can pull any special tricks! Ember!"
Liza spat a small fireball, which slammed into Bella and lit her ablaze. She wailed in pain, and Liza grinned devilishly before firing off several more fireballs. Bella wasn't strong enough to resist them yet, and ended up fainting instead.
"You did great, Bella! Now get some rest.", Pearl declared. She readied another Pokemon. "Alright Lavender, it's your turn!"
She sent out her other new Pokemon, who glared angrily at the Pokemon whi'd knocked out her new friend.
"Wow, I've never seen a Lapras that was that color before!", exclaimed Gloria, "But that won't stop us! Use Poison Fang, Liza!"
The Salandit lunged, her teeth biting into Lavender's fin. The Lapras cried out, and shivered as the wound infected her with poison.
"Stay strong, Lavender! Hit her with a Water Pulse!", Pearl commanded.
Lavender sent out a powerful pulse of water, which slammed into Liza and washed her away from the Lapras. Before the Salandit could charge back in, though, Lavender began to sing.
I immediately started feeling sleepy, and Liza, who was caught directly in the sound waves, slumped over and began snoring cutely. It was frankly quite adorable.
Pearl grinned. "Good job, Lavender! Now she won't be able to fight back! Water Pulse again!"
Lavender sent out several more waves, which battered the unfortunate Salandit relentlessly. By the time Liza woke up, she was almost down for the count. But it was quickly proven that she still had plenty of fight in her.
With a fierce snarl, Liza lunged, clamping her jaws down on Lavender's neck. The Lapras wailed in pain, and I could tell instantly that Liza had landed a critical hit.
Because of course, plot armor.
Lavender struggled to fling the Salandit off her neck, but she did not have the benefit of a Rapid Spin here. She finally managed to get Liza off by bashing the Pokemon against her shell, but the damage had been done. Lavender wasn't going to last much longer, especially with the poison acting against her.
With a final Water Pulse, the Salandit was down, and Gloria sent out her last Pokemon.
"Let's do this, James!", she shouted, and her starter came to play.
He was no longer a Sobble though. It appeared that he had evolved on the way here, and was now a large Drizzile, a chill grin on his face. He started things off by growling at Lavender, but Pearl had a solution for that.
"Lavender, use Mist! No stat conditions are going to impair us!", Pearl shouted.
Lavender exhaled an icy cloud of white soothing mist, preventing her from losing any attack to James. She then shot off another Water Pulse, but James shrugged that off. He instead charged for Lavender, swinging his fist around and pounding the bit mark on Lavender's neck.
With a final desperate cry, Lavender slumped over, and Pearl returned her. Now it was just one-to-one.
"Midnight!", Pearl called, "You've got this!"
I ran into the mist, ready to prove myself worthy of being Pearl's signature Pokemon.
Hop declared, "Looks like it all comes down to a battle of starter against starter! This is getting me all fired up! I can't wait to see who wins!"
I was excited too. I prepared a Confusion attack, knowing that if I could successfully pull off the status condition, this battle would be in the bag.
But right as I was about to fire it off, James leaped through the mist and rammed his fist up into my jaw.
I yelped and stumbled back, my Confusion attack fizzling out. That attack had hurt a lot more than I expected...
Oh, darn. He knew Sucker Punch. A Dark-type move.
I saw James preparing to come at me again. I quickly summoned a Fairy Wind, which caught the Drizzile by surprise. But James wasn't blown very far, and he came right for me again.
However, this gave me the opportunity to finally pull off a Confusion. James cried out as my psychic attack hit him, but unfortunately it did not confuse him. He retaliated by unleashing a Water Pulse, which I narrowly dodged.
But it turned out that was just a set-up for another Sucker Punch, which slammed my head to the side and nearly knocked me over. I yelled defiantly and kicked my hooves into his torso, but they simply slid off his rubbery skin. With a fierce glare, he shot a Water Pulse right into my face.
I stumbled back, coughing from the force of the attack. My ears were ringing, and I felt very dizzy and nauseous. I tottered to the side, trying to regain my bearings. I spotted a hint of blue, and I immediately fired off another Confusion. But for some reason all that happened was that I felt a spike of pain in my head.
It was about now that I realized he must have managed to confuse ME.
I shook my head, trying to snap out of it. But I got another punch to the face, and I felt my knees buckle. One more strike, and I was down, hints of black at the edge of my vision.
By now, my mind and hearing had started clearing up, replaced by pain and fatigue. I saw Pearl running over to me, and trying to give me a soothing hug. I knew that I had lost, and hung my head with shame.
"That was a good battle.", Gloria stated, "But it appears that I managed to win this time. Don't give up, though! I think you're training your Pokemon fantastically, and you can only grow stronger from a loss!"
Pearl smiled, running a hand through my mane. "That's right. I won't let this get me down! I'll only have to get stronger, and next time I'll beat you!"
Gloria smiled. "I'm looking forward to it."
I didn't have the heart (or the energy) to say otherwise.
Pearl stood up, and I struggled to do the same. "Well, thanks for the battle.", she said, "Now I've got to get to the Pokemon Center."
Hop replied, "Yeah! I'm coming too!"
"So will I.", added Gloria, "You still managed to take out two of my Pokemon, after all."
So the three of them, as well as I, set off to the Pokemon Center. (-o-)
AN: Another chapter done, and another completed battle! But this is only the beginning of the fights, because next chapter we're starting Nessa's Gym Challenge! How will Pearl and her Pokemon fare? We'll just have to find out next time!
See ya!
