Chapter 6
Magmar, at Tom's command, took his position. "Fire blast!" The blazing symbol flew forward at a blinding speed, and crashed into... *the mountainside*. *Huh?* Shadow reappeared behind magmar, an indigo sphere forming between its stubby arms. "Magmar! Dodge left!" Without hesitation, magmar heaved himself sideways, and took a glancing hit from the ghost attack. He spun, hitting the rocky ground on his right elbow.
Magmar pushed himself up again, right into a crackling mass of psychic energy. The attack pushed magmar into the mountain, where he groaned, and collapsed in a heap. Tom winced at the magmar impression that was left on the wall, and returned magmar. *That was quick...*
"Skarmory! I choose you!" The steel bird took to the air, using its agility attack, appearing only as a grey blur in the sky. *Swift attack would just pass through shadow... Unless... Skarmory! Swift attack the rocks above shadow! Aim there, but send the stars out towards shadow!* Tom had to strain to get the last command to skarmory telepathically. Aloud, he commanded, "Steel wing! As quickly as you can!" Skarmory sent a dozen stars flying right at shadow, then flew towards shadow, preparing its steel wing. Tom had originally intended the second command only as a distraction, but skarmory improvised.
The stars curved up just a few metres from shadow, and as shadow glanced up to see where they were headed, skarmory crashed, wing first into shadow, scoring a direct hit. Unfortunately, skarmory did not manage to escape the avalanche of rocks and boulders. Both pokemon were buried beneath the rockslide.
Tom peered anxiously at the pile, looking for any signs of skarmory, or shadow. A few moments later, all the stones flew away, propelled by an unseen force. Shadow emerged, not visibly affected. Skarmory however, had fainted. *Darn...* Tom returned skarmory, sending out his electric type. Electabuzz stepped up, and the battle continued.
***
With shocking ease, shadow had defeated all of Tom's pokemon, leaving only kadabra standing. Tom had not intended to even send out kadabra, knowing that his most powerful attacks were psychic-based, and would not affect shadow in the least. However, in a dazzling display of teleports, reflected attacks and a couple of recovers, kadabra had turned out to fare the best against shadow.
Presently, both pokemon faced each other, chests heaving. Shadow, however was at a severe disadvantage, having fought five pokemon already, and being paralysed by electabuzz. Even its recover had not cured its paralysis. Tom had long since given up giving his pokemon commands. The battle was far too fast-paced for him to keep up with. Shadow was an accomplished fighter, attacking at a furious velocity, sometimes launching half-a-dozen psybeams *at once*.
The match resumed, with kadabra teleporting behind shadow and using an fire punch. It connected, yet leaving no trace on shadow's light-absorbing skin. Shadow slammed its head backwards, knocking kadabra back, leaving him stunned. With a gargantuan effort, shadow turned around and fired a full dozen shadow balls at almost point-blank-range, right into... *the ground*. Kadabra materialised right behind shadow once again, and gave it a final duo fire punch. Shadow collapsed.
Kadabra, summoning energy from reserves he didn't know he had, utilised the recover technique one last time, and slumped down into the ground, head drooping with fatigue. Tom hurriedly withdrew both pokemon, and sprinted to the pokecentre.
***
The next day, Tom resumed his journey, now with only one pokemon shy of a full team, heading for the ground gym. He pondered on the last slot, contemplating the possibilities. {What are you going to catch for the last slot?} Tom kept shadow out of its ultraball nowadays. After all, he didn't need to carry it; shadow got around by levitation.
"I'm not sure. Probably a normal, bug, fighting or ice type." {Will a snorlax do?} "I suppose, but those are really rare... Why?" {Because you're about to crash into one} "Huh? Oof!" Tom, not looking where he was going, slammed into the black, rubbery side of a snorlax. The snorlax was **huge**, and it was blocking the road. There was space on the sides to squeeze through, but Tom was annoyed. *Why do snorlaxes *always* have to block a road or something...*
Reading his thoughts, shadow asked, {Aren't you going to catch it?} "I don't know. I have a couple of heavy balls in my backpack, but a snorlax is really troublesome. Not only does it eat a lot, it also sleeps most of the time; when its not eating. I'm just not sure I can get it to wake up in a battle." {Don't worry about it. After all, a snorlax can still attack while sleeping. And, one of its more powerful moves, sleep talk, can only be utilised when its asleep...}
"Fine, fine... I'll give it a shot. Kadabra, GO! Psybeam!" Kadabra held its spoons together, creating five lavender beams, each lancing towards the giant sleeping pokemon. The shafts of psychic energy hit, dead on, without the slightest effect on it. Well, not exactly; snorlax let out a thunderous snore, making kadabra and Tom cover their eyes in agony. Shadow, however wasn't affected in the least, and burst out laughing.
"Snorlax return!" The mammoth pokemon dematerialised, revealing an aggravated teen, holding a heavyball. "Just what do you think you are doing to my snorlax?!" "Uh..." Glaring, the boy stormed off. Tom looking at shadow, who was struggling to hold back a giggling fit, nevertheless emitting a series of loud snorts. "You knew..." It was not a question; shadow just grinned. Tom gave out a sigh of exasperation. Shadow was very much like the other four ghost pokemon at heart, playing tricks and pranks on people.
Tom walked on, thinking about the last slot, chatting with his two psychic pokemon.
***
Tom glanced around, frustrated. He had been looking for the gym for days. True, finding the other gyms had taken considerably longer, but in this case, he didn't have a single idea where the gym could be. The pokegear was no help; neither was nurse Joy or the pokemart service people.
The area was flat, unlike the majority of the Azure Mountain Range. The ground, for the most part, was filled with coarse sand, making every step a minor challenge; it was easy to become unbalanced. Only shadow was not affected.
Frustrated, Tom settled down to train.
***
Tom strolled into the pokemart, slightly disappointed. It had been months since he had arrived here, and yet he still had no clue as to where the gym is. A tough looking man, wearing an official Azure League cap, stepped out of the storeroom. Tom frowned; he had never seen the guy before.
The man however was quite friendly, although he looked surprised to see Tom. "Aren't you the trainer that arrived here months ago? How come you're still here? Haven't you beaten the gym leader yet?" Downcast, Tom replied, "No... I can't find him. But never mind; I'll stay here until I do. After all, this time isn't wasted; my pokemon are getting stronger."
"How 'bout a battle then?"
"Alright... What's the wager?"
"This" The man held up a small oval, riddled with cracks. Tom gawked. *A badge... But what is *he* doing with one? Did he beat the gym leader? No... If he did, he wouldn't be offering it as a wager... He...* Abruptly, it hit Tom. "Are you the gym leader?" The man raised his eyebrows in a silent 'what makes you think *that*?'. Tom just looked at him levelly.
The man grinned at Tom's reaction. "Yup, I guess I am. Name's AJ; ground gym leader. Follow me." Tom walked with the sturdy bloke, going down a flight of stairs located at the far end of the immense storeroom. Soon after, the stairs opened up to a huge cavern, much like the previous gym, except without the carvings; the only special feature of the arena was the lack of it.
Tom sighed, as they took their positions. "Alright. Two vs. two. No time limit."
In total silence, they threw their pokeballs, or rather, Tom did. AJ just called out: "Sandslash! Come on out!" Kingdra materialized in the empty battlefield, and glanced around, bewildered. She looked back at Tom, perplexed. Tom just shrugged, feeling the same way.
It was at this moment that the dirt in front of kingdra burst erupted, and a bronze pokemon sprang out. AJ looked unworried at Tom's choice of pokemon, and signalled for the match to begin.
Without commands, the sandslash rolled up, quils poking out defensively. Kingdra, well trained by now, sent a tidal wave at sandslash, following up without hesitation with a dragonbreath. The two attacks obscured Tom's sight for a few instants, but as the attacks subsided, sandslash was gone, a hole in its place.
*Damn!* "Kingdra! Use blizzard on yourself! Then agility away!" "Sandslash! Forget that attack, earthquake!" Tom swore, as the ground itself seemed to crack apart. *An *really* upgraded version of earthquake...* "Kingdra! Tornado!" With a grunt, Kingdra started spinning, floating in midair. The tempest, a variation of twister, formed under Kingdra's influence, burrowing into the ground.
Tom's eyes widened in surprise, as what seemed like hundreds of glittering stars headed right into the cyclone, lancing out from one of the cracks in the ground. "Watch out! Agility!" *Too late* The stars slammed into kingdra, eliciting a groan of agony from her. "Kingdra! Give it a final hydro pump! Quick!" Summoning every last bit of energy, kingdra drew a deep breath, and expelled a huge amount of water at the now visible sandslash.
The sandslash rolled up into a ball, and headed straight into the stream of water. *It... can't be... That sandslash is not weakened *at all* by the water.* The waterflow died, revealing to kingdra a spinning orb heading towards her. The attack connected at her midsection, with sandslash immediately rolling off. "Return!" *Shadow... its all up to you...* The newest addition to the team emerged, and nodded at Tom.
AJ looked at the gengar-like pokemon, not knowing what to make of it; as did sandslash. Shadow started off with a volley of shadow balls, then teleporting behind sandslash, using its hypnosis. Putting its razor sharp claws together, sandslash unleashed its swift attack, intercepting the shadow balls, and turned around. AJ almost screamed, "No! Turn around!"
But the damage was done. Sandslash fell asleep, instinctively rolling up. Tom swore. *Darn! Shadow cannot use dream eater without touching those quills... No matter... Shadow has other attacks.* "Nightmare!" Shadow laughed evilly, a horrible sound that Tom could never get used to. Shadow's eyes glimmered from a second, concentrating on sandslash.
Sandslash started to thrash on the ground, letting out whimpers of pain. AJ watched these proceedings with horror evident on his face. "Sandslash! Wake up!" Miraculously, sandslash opened its eyes at these words, the nightmare attack immediately fading. With a somewhat irritated glower, shadow teleported around, literally spraying psybeams and shadow balls at sandslash, inevitably raising a dust cloud.
The cloud cleared, revealing a battered sandslash, barely hanging on to consciousness. Obviously not thinking clearly, it released a final swift attack, and fainted. The stars passed right through shadow, not doing a single thing. Shadow rolled its eyes and laughed; the haunting laugh that can turning a brave man into a shivering mass of jelly.
There was a period of stunned silence, as sandslash disappeared into a thin red beam, eventually sucked across the battlefield into a tiny sphere. With a whispered "Good Job!", AJ sent out his next pokemon -- a fresh pokemon to battle the rather tired shadow.
Surprisingly, what emerged started gliding around, instead of staying on the ground like most ground types. Tom and shadow looked up, fighting the flare of the large spotlights. The violet pokemon had tiny, claw like hands, and for all intents and purposes looked like a crobat without wings. *A gligar...* Tom grimaced, for it was a weird choice. *AJ obviously thinks that shadow is a gengar... Why is he using a gligar, of all pokemon? True, it is the only flying ground type, and that gives it an edge, but its main attacks are normal and poison based... Maybe he wants to try faint attack, which shadow can't dodge... at least not easily…*
"Alright, finish that gengar with a faint attack!" Tom wondered at AJ's choice of words. A faint attack, although very accurate, is not very strong, used mainly to weaken and stun enemies long enough to finish them with something more powerful.
Gligar appeared only as a shadow, as it tracked down the teleporting shadow, eventually catching shadow. However, the triumph and elation AJ felt when the attack hit was short-lived. Shadow merely shook off gligar like an annoying pest, and gave it a thunderbolt. Not grounded, gligar took the full force of the electric attack, suddenly pummelling towards the ground. *Ha! Another few things a pokemon tech student will never understand... A battle without the trainers shouting commands, and pokemon taking damage from attacks that they are theoretically immune to...*
Gligar fell to the ground, immediately struggling to get up. It succeeded, but would have been better off staying on the ground. A full-fledged psychic torn into it, making it cry out from the anguish. AJ frowned, obviously unsure as to the best possible course of action. The psychic energy did not die out, continuously fuelled by shadow. Without warning, shadow stopped, concentrating. An indigo globe of vast proportions formed, easily larger than shadow itself. AJ's eyes widened, knowing what was to come. Gritting his teeth, AJ almost seemed to force the words out, "I forfeit. Congratulations on your victory." Returning gligar, AJ turned to shadow, who was obviously straining to contain the immense energy of the shadow ball. With a groan, shadow hurled the massive attack upwards, letting it dissipate in a spectacular explosion.
AJ shuddered at what would have happened to gligar, or what's left of gligar, if he had not forfeited. The two trainers walked to the centre of the field, AJ looking grim. "Congratulations once again on..." "Don't feel so bad about it. Shadow *isn't* a gengar. It doesn't have any weakness to ground attacks." At this, AJ seemed to brighten up, and his following actions to be easier for him.
"Well, nice battle. As promised, the badge. And... a souvenir." With that, AJ passed the two items to Tom. One was the badge that AJ had shown to Tom previously, and the other... "What is this?"
AJ laughed. "Like I said, a little something to remember this gym by." Tom glared at AJ, not amused in the least. "Alright, fine. That's a gadget that I invented myself. I'm sure you know that some pokemon are of a high enough level to evolve, but cannot. For example, a pokemon that has somehow swallowed an everstone cannot evolve, even if it is of a very high level. This will make it evolve, overriding the everstone. But it can only be used once, and the process, obviously cannot be reversed. Also, if the pokemon's level is not high enough to evolve naturally, this will not work."
Tom nodded, in a daze. *Kadabra...* "Thanks, for everything. Don't be so hard on yourself. You did great. AJ snorted. A trainer didn't usually give a gym leader advice. "Anyway, the next gym is the electric gym. Better bring some paralyse heals." AJ winked.
Tom rolled his eyes, waved, and walked towards the stairs.
***
Outside the pokecentre, Tom released all his pokemon, standing in front of kadabra, explaining what the little TM like thing did. *Of course I want to evolve! Quick! Give it to me!* Tom laughed at kadabra's eagerness, but he understood. After all, kadabra was the only pokemon in Tom's team that wasn't fully evolved, and kadabra had joined Tom in the first place because it had wanted to evolve.
Silence reigned, as Tom gently placed the device on kadabra's forehead. The device started to pulse, emitting slight warmth. Kadabra glowed, and the changes took hold. The star on his forehead faded, his moustache lengthened. But the most obvious change was that alakazam, much like kingdra, now looked more ancient and wise somehow; he almost looked like a sage, complete with moustache and small, beady eyes. The device dropped to the ground, a useless piece of metal.
Alakazam looked up at Tom, mentally thanking him for granting his wish, at last.
Magmar, at Tom's command, took his position. "Fire blast!" The blazing symbol flew forward at a blinding speed, and crashed into... *the mountainside*. *Huh?* Shadow reappeared behind magmar, an indigo sphere forming between its stubby arms. "Magmar! Dodge left!" Without hesitation, magmar heaved himself sideways, and took a glancing hit from the ghost attack. He spun, hitting the rocky ground on his right elbow.
Magmar pushed himself up again, right into a crackling mass of psychic energy. The attack pushed magmar into the mountain, where he groaned, and collapsed in a heap. Tom winced at the magmar impression that was left on the wall, and returned magmar. *That was quick...*
"Skarmory! I choose you!" The steel bird took to the air, using its agility attack, appearing only as a grey blur in the sky. *Swift attack would just pass through shadow... Unless... Skarmory! Swift attack the rocks above shadow! Aim there, but send the stars out towards shadow!* Tom had to strain to get the last command to skarmory telepathically. Aloud, he commanded, "Steel wing! As quickly as you can!" Skarmory sent a dozen stars flying right at shadow, then flew towards shadow, preparing its steel wing. Tom had originally intended the second command only as a distraction, but skarmory improvised.
The stars curved up just a few metres from shadow, and as shadow glanced up to see where they were headed, skarmory crashed, wing first into shadow, scoring a direct hit. Unfortunately, skarmory did not manage to escape the avalanche of rocks and boulders. Both pokemon were buried beneath the rockslide.
Tom peered anxiously at the pile, looking for any signs of skarmory, or shadow. A few moments later, all the stones flew away, propelled by an unseen force. Shadow emerged, not visibly affected. Skarmory however, had fainted. *Darn...* Tom returned skarmory, sending out his electric type. Electabuzz stepped up, and the battle continued.
***
With shocking ease, shadow had defeated all of Tom's pokemon, leaving only kadabra standing. Tom had not intended to even send out kadabra, knowing that his most powerful attacks were psychic-based, and would not affect shadow in the least. However, in a dazzling display of teleports, reflected attacks and a couple of recovers, kadabra had turned out to fare the best against shadow.
Presently, both pokemon faced each other, chests heaving. Shadow, however was at a severe disadvantage, having fought five pokemon already, and being paralysed by electabuzz. Even its recover had not cured its paralysis. Tom had long since given up giving his pokemon commands. The battle was far too fast-paced for him to keep up with. Shadow was an accomplished fighter, attacking at a furious velocity, sometimes launching half-a-dozen psybeams *at once*.
The match resumed, with kadabra teleporting behind shadow and using an fire punch. It connected, yet leaving no trace on shadow's light-absorbing skin. Shadow slammed its head backwards, knocking kadabra back, leaving him stunned. With a gargantuan effort, shadow turned around and fired a full dozen shadow balls at almost point-blank-range, right into... *the ground*. Kadabra materialised right behind shadow once again, and gave it a final duo fire punch. Shadow collapsed.
Kadabra, summoning energy from reserves he didn't know he had, utilised the recover technique one last time, and slumped down into the ground, head drooping with fatigue. Tom hurriedly withdrew both pokemon, and sprinted to the pokecentre.
***
The next day, Tom resumed his journey, now with only one pokemon shy of a full team, heading for the ground gym. He pondered on the last slot, contemplating the possibilities. {What are you going to catch for the last slot?} Tom kept shadow out of its ultraball nowadays. After all, he didn't need to carry it; shadow got around by levitation.
"I'm not sure. Probably a normal, bug, fighting or ice type." {Will a snorlax do?} "I suppose, but those are really rare... Why?" {Because you're about to crash into one} "Huh? Oof!" Tom, not looking where he was going, slammed into the black, rubbery side of a snorlax. The snorlax was **huge**, and it was blocking the road. There was space on the sides to squeeze through, but Tom was annoyed. *Why do snorlaxes *always* have to block a road or something...*
Reading his thoughts, shadow asked, {Aren't you going to catch it?} "I don't know. I have a couple of heavy balls in my backpack, but a snorlax is really troublesome. Not only does it eat a lot, it also sleeps most of the time; when its not eating. I'm just not sure I can get it to wake up in a battle." {Don't worry about it. After all, a snorlax can still attack while sleeping. And, one of its more powerful moves, sleep talk, can only be utilised when its asleep...}
"Fine, fine... I'll give it a shot. Kadabra, GO! Psybeam!" Kadabra held its spoons together, creating five lavender beams, each lancing towards the giant sleeping pokemon. The shafts of psychic energy hit, dead on, without the slightest effect on it. Well, not exactly; snorlax let out a thunderous snore, making kadabra and Tom cover their eyes in agony. Shadow, however wasn't affected in the least, and burst out laughing.
"Snorlax return!" The mammoth pokemon dematerialised, revealing an aggravated teen, holding a heavyball. "Just what do you think you are doing to my snorlax?!" "Uh..." Glaring, the boy stormed off. Tom looking at shadow, who was struggling to hold back a giggling fit, nevertheless emitting a series of loud snorts. "You knew..." It was not a question; shadow just grinned. Tom gave out a sigh of exasperation. Shadow was very much like the other four ghost pokemon at heart, playing tricks and pranks on people.
Tom walked on, thinking about the last slot, chatting with his two psychic pokemon.
***
Tom glanced around, frustrated. He had been looking for the gym for days. True, finding the other gyms had taken considerably longer, but in this case, he didn't have a single idea where the gym could be. The pokegear was no help; neither was nurse Joy or the pokemart service people.
The area was flat, unlike the majority of the Azure Mountain Range. The ground, for the most part, was filled with coarse sand, making every step a minor challenge; it was easy to become unbalanced. Only shadow was not affected.
Frustrated, Tom settled down to train.
***
Tom strolled into the pokemart, slightly disappointed. It had been months since he had arrived here, and yet he still had no clue as to where the gym is. A tough looking man, wearing an official Azure League cap, stepped out of the storeroom. Tom frowned; he had never seen the guy before.
The man however was quite friendly, although he looked surprised to see Tom. "Aren't you the trainer that arrived here months ago? How come you're still here? Haven't you beaten the gym leader yet?" Downcast, Tom replied, "No... I can't find him. But never mind; I'll stay here until I do. After all, this time isn't wasted; my pokemon are getting stronger."
"How 'bout a battle then?"
"Alright... What's the wager?"
"This" The man held up a small oval, riddled with cracks. Tom gawked. *A badge... But what is *he* doing with one? Did he beat the gym leader? No... If he did, he wouldn't be offering it as a wager... He...* Abruptly, it hit Tom. "Are you the gym leader?" The man raised his eyebrows in a silent 'what makes you think *that*?'. Tom just looked at him levelly.
The man grinned at Tom's reaction. "Yup, I guess I am. Name's AJ; ground gym leader. Follow me." Tom walked with the sturdy bloke, going down a flight of stairs located at the far end of the immense storeroom. Soon after, the stairs opened up to a huge cavern, much like the previous gym, except without the carvings; the only special feature of the arena was the lack of it.
Tom sighed, as they took their positions. "Alright. Two vs. two. No time limit."
In total silence, they threw their pokeballs, or rather, Tom did. AJ just called out: "Sandslash! Come on out!" Kingdra materialized in the empty battlefield, and glanced around, bewildered. She looked back at Tom, perplexed. Tom just shrugged, feeling the same way.
It was at this moment that the dirt in front of kingdra burst erupted, and a bronze pokemon sprang out. AJ looked unworried at Tom's choice of pokemon, and signalled for the match to begin.
Without commands, the sandslash rolled up, quils poking out defensively. Kingdra, well trained by now, sent a tidal wave at sandslash, following up without hesitation with a dragonbreath. The two attacks obscured Tom's sight for a few instants, but as the attacks subsided, sandslash was gone, a hole in its place.
*Damn!* "Kingdra! Use blizzard on yourself! Then agility away!" "Sandslash! Forget that attack, earthquake!" Tom swore, as the ground itself seemed to crack apart. *An *really* upgraded version of earthquake...* "Kingdra! Tornado!" With a grunt, Kingdra started spinning, floating in midair. The tempest, a variation of twister, formed under Kingdra's influence, burrowing into the ground.
Tom's eyes widened in surprise, as what seemed like hundreds of glittering stars headed right into the cyclone, lancing out from one of the cracks in the ground. "Watch out! Agility!" *Too late* The stars slammed into kingdra, eliciting a groan of agony from her. "Kingdra! Give it a final hydro pump! Quick!" Summoning every last bit of energy, kingdra drew a deep breath, and expelled a huge amount of water at the now visible sandslash.
The sandslash rolled up into a ball, and headed straight into the stream of water. *It... can't be... That sandslash is not weakened *at all* by the water.* The waterflow died, revealing to kingdra a spinning orb heading towards her. The attack connected at her midsection, with sandslash immediately rolling off. "Return!" *Shadow... its all up to you...* The newest addition to the team emerged, and nodded at Tom.
AJ looked at the gengar-like pokemon, not knowing what to make of it; as did sandslash. Shadow started off with a volley of shadow balls, then teleporting behind sandslash, using its hypnosis. Putting its razor sharp claws together, sandslash unleashed its swift attack, intercepting the shadow balls, and turned around. AJ almost screamed, "No! Turn around!"
But the damage was done. Sandslash fell asleep, instinctively rolling up. Tom swore. *Darn! Shadow cannot use dream eater without touching those quills... No matter... Shadow has other attacks.* "Nightmare!" Shadow laughed evilly, a horrible sound that Tom could never get used to. Shadow's eyes glimmered from a second, concentrating on sandslash.
Sandslash started to thrash on the ground, letting out whimpers of pain. AJ watched these proceedings with horror evident on his face. "Sandslash! Wake up!" Miraculously, sandslash opened its eyes at these words, the nightmare attack immediately fading. With a somewhat irritated glower, shadow teleported around, literally spraying psybeams and shadow balls at sandslash, inevitably raising a dust cloud.
The cloud cleared, revealing a battered sandslash, barely hanging on to consciousness. Obviously not thinking clearly, it released a final swift attack, and fainted. The stars passed right through shadow, not doing a single thing. Shadow rolled its eyes and laughed; the haunting laugh that can turning a brave man into a shivering mass of jelly.
There was a period of stunned silence, as sandslash disappeared into a thin red beam, eventually sucked across the battlefield into a tiny sphere. With a whispered "Good Job!", AJ sent out his next pokemon -- a fresh pokemon to battle the rather tired shadow.
Surprisingly, what emerged started gliding around, instead of staying on the ground like most ground types. Tom and shadow looked up, fighting the flare of the large spotlights. The violet pokemon had tiny, claw like hands, and for all intents and purposes looked like a crobat without wings. *A gligar...* Tom grimaced, for it was a weird choice. *AJ obviously thinks that shadow is a gengar... Why is he using a gligar, of all pokemon? True, it is the only flying ground type, and that gives it an edge, but its main attacks are normal and poison based... Maybe he wants to try faint attack, which shadow can't dodge... at least not easily…*
"Alright, finish that gengar with a faint attack!" Tom wondered at AJ's choice of words. A faint attack, although very accurate, is not very strong, used mainly to weaken and stun enemies long enough to finish them with something more powerful.
Gligar appeared only as a shadow, as it tracked down the teleporting shadow, eventually catching shadow. However, the triumph and elation AJ felt when the attack hit was short-lived. Shadow merely shook off gligar like an annoying pest, and gave it a thunderbolt. Not grounded, gligar took the full force of the electric attack, suddenly pummelling towards the ground. *Ha! Another few things a pokemon tech student will never understand... A battle without the trainers shouting commands, and pokemon taking damage from attacks that they are theoretically immune to...*
Gligar fell to the ground, immediately struggling to get up. It succeeded, but would have been better off staying on the ground. A full-fledged psychic torn into it, making it cry out from the anguish. AJ frowned, obviously unsure as to the best possible course of action. The psychic energy did not die out, continuously fuelled by shadow. Without warning, shadow stopped, concentrating. An indigo globe of vast proportions formed, easily larger than shadow itself. AJ's eyes widened, knowing what was to come. Gritting his teeth, AJ almost seemed to force the words out, "I forfeit. Congratulations on your victory." Returning gligar, AJ turned to shadow, who was obviously straining to contain the immense energy of the shadow ball. With a groan, shadow hurled the massive attack upwards, letting it dissipate in a spectacular explosion.
AJ shuddered at what would have happened to gligar, or what's left of gligar, if he had not forfeited. The two trainers walked to the centre of the field, AJ looking grim. "Congratulations once again on..." "Don't feel so bad about it. Shadow *isn't* a gengar. It doesn't have any weakness to ground attacks." At this, AJ seemed to brighten up, and his following actions to be easier for him.
"Well, nice battle. As promised, the badge. And... a souvenir." With that, AJ passed the two items to Tom. One was the badge that AJ had shown to Tom previously, and the other... "What is this?"
AJ laughed. "Like I said, a little something to remember this gym by." Tom glared at AJ, not amused in the least. "Alright, fine. That's a gadget that I invented myself. I'm sure you know that some pokemon are of a high enough level to evolve, but cannot. For example, a pokemon that has somehow swallowed an everstone cannot evolve, even if it is of a very high level. This will make it evolve, overriding the everstone. But it can only be used once, and the process, obviously cannot be reversed. Also, if the pokemon's level is not high enough to evolve naturally, this will not work."
Tom nodded, in a daze. *Kadabra...* "Thanks, for everything. Don't be so hard on yourself. You did great. AJ snorted. A trainer didn't usually give a gym leader advice. "Anyway, the next gym is the electric gym. Better bring some paralyse heals." AJ winked.
Tom rolled his eyes, waved, and walked towards the stairs.
***
Outside the pokecentre, Tom released all his pokemon, standing in front of kadabra, explaining what the little TM like thing did. *Of course I want to evolve! Quick! Give it to me!* Tom laughed at kadabra's eagerness, but he understood. After all, kadabra was the only pokemon in Tom's team that wasn't fully evolved, and kadabra had joined Tom in the first place because it had wanted to evolve.
Silence reigned, as Tom gently placed the device on kadabra's forehead. The device started to pulse, emitting slight warmth. Kadabra glowed, and the changes took hold. The star on his forehead faded, his moustache lengthened. But the most obvious change was that alakazam, much like kingdra, now looked more ancient and wise somehow; he almost looked like a sage, complete with moustache and small, beady eyes. The device dropped to the ground, a useless piece of metal.
Alakazam looked up at Tom, mentally thanking him for granting his wish, at last.