"Piplup, I choose you!" Alexis called out as the form of her small bird Pokémon appeared from out of the red glow.
"Geodude," Roark said, "you know what time it is."
The Pokémon that appeared out in front of Piplup on the opposite side of the arena was the same size as Piplup, but was clearly a sturdy being. A cratered rock in the shape of a sphere, two strong arms out of the sides to aid its movement.
Alexis knew that her Pokémon had the advantage with his water-based abilities, but the Geodude looked unbreakable. She only hoped that she hadn't walked her team into an unwinnable situation.
"Piplup," Alexis called out, "use Pound!"
Almost as soon as the words had left her lips, Alexis knew she had given the wrong command. It was so instinctual. Ever since she had gotten Piplup, her main strategy was to have him pummel the opposing Pokémon. Unfortunately, as she was about to watch unfold before her eyes- Geodude was far too dense for him to make an impact.
Piplup rushed in, lowered into a crouch so that he could ram its shoulder into the immovable rock. Piplup's momentum was halted immediately, the impact echoing out as Piplup reeled back holding his shoulder, apparently more hurt than the Geodude from the attack.
"Rollout, now!" Roark shouted and the Geodude smiled, eyeing up the stumbling Piplup. Pushing itself forward at an impossible speed, the Geodude rolled towards Piplup and barreled right through the bird, sending him skidding along the ground. Geodude rolled to a stop shortly after, aiming up another spin at the Piplup before the Pokémon was able to get to his feet.
Piplup, to his credit, did shakily rise to stand, right as the Geodude connected for a second time. This time, however, the Geodude pivoted on one arm and grabbed Piplup hurling it into the air, only to jump up and meet the bird at the peak of his flight, to spike Piplup right back down towards the rocky arena floor.
Alexis could hear each impact, dull thuds hiding subtle cracks that were surely breaking bones. She had to get her mind in the battle or else Piplup could be permanently injured.
As Piplup rolled away from yet another attempted attack from the relentless Geodude, Alexis tried to calm herself and steady her thoughts.
"Use Water Gun!" She shouted out, hoping the already beaten up bird could hear the instructions.
Piplup, instead of trying to dodge the next attack, spewed a torrent of water towards the oncoming Geodude. The water collided, splashing over the Geodude and painfully forcing its way into the various rocky cracks in the Pokémon's form. Skidding on the now wet floor, the Geodude lost control of its rolling and overshot its attack, flying past the Piplup.
Now on the attack, Piplup advanced towards the Geodude shooting blast after blast of water at the Pokémon as it tried to steel itself against the onslaught. Roark commanded it to Defense Curl as much as it could, but with each new brace, the Water Gun shots came closer to forcing the Geodude to buckle. Tiny bits of gravel were flaking off under the pressure of the barrage and Alexis respected the effort of the Geodude to try and fight back against it.
With one final effort, the Piplup grabbed a hold of Geodude's arms, weak after the continuous attack, and pulled them out of the way. Then, charging up the most powerful Water Gun he could muster, the Piplup shot down at close range, a point-blank spray of water that kept the Geodude from being able to breathe. Once the water finally dripped away, the Geodude's arms fell limp by its sides. The Geodude was defeated.
Piplup limped back towards Alexis, clearly severely injured by the encounter, and turned to face up against whatever was next.
Roark cursed under his breath before putting on his smile once again.
"Congratulations," he shouted to Alexis, "you have beaten my Geodude. A feat not many trainers can claim. Perhaps this next Pokémon will be more up to the task."
Roark thrust out a new Pokéball, after returning his unconscious Geodude, and released a red glow that continued to grow higher and higher, above all who stood upon the arena floor.
Alexis could see why the gym was so big as a huge snake made of rocks appeared before her and her small Piplup. Piplup looked as nervous as she felt.
"You've got this Piplup," Alexis urged, her voice shaking slightly, "it's made of the same stuff that Geodude was. Use Water Gun as much as you can."
Piplup nodded, not taking his eyes off of the Onix.
Piplup was faster. Piplup was smaller. He was injured, but still had the maneuverability advantage against this behemoth. The size of the Onix also helped to shoot at it. It was a huge target.
Piplup sped towards the Onix as the Onix rushed in from its own end. Piplup fired Water Gun blast after Water Gun blast as the two closed in on each other. Not each attack hit, as the Onix swayed left and right as it covered the arena floor.
"Onix," Roark shouted over the rumble of the Onix's movement, "use Slam!"
Piplup heard this just as much as the titanic creature did. Piplup lurched forward as the Onix whipped its tail around, attempting to bat the smaller Pokémon off of the arena entirely.
Piplup jumped upwards, firing off his Water Gun as the Onix's tail thundered beneath it in the area that Piplup had just been occupying. Piplup continued to run, still shooting blasts up at the rock monster. Each impact clearly stung it, the water pressure flaying chunks of rock off of the Onix as they dancing around the stage.
Alexis watched from the distance, trying to keep an eye on her Pokémon as the dust gradually built up around the two of them. The consistent battering the ground was taking from Onix's movements was forming a low cloud, obscuring the Piplup from sight. The only thing that made sure that she knew the Pokémon was still holding his own was the occasional jet of water that shot up towards the Onix's face.
Finally, one spout of water connected with the Onix's eye, enraging the larger beast.
"Oh no," Alexis said quietly, seeing the anger and knowing that nothing good would come of it.
The Onix ducked down into the obscured area. Alexis was certain that Piplup was fighting blind at this point as the Onix kicked up even more dust and grit into the air. Then the triumphant head of the snake rose back up, with the struggling Pokémon within its jaws. The Onix spun and threw the Piplup down against the ground. Hard.
Before the Piplup could properly rise and attempt a counterattack, the Onix span again, with deadly speed, and connected its tail with the frail Pokémon.
Alexis could hear the connection. Piplup didn't have time to cry out in pain as the impact alone knocked him out cold. The small Pokémon sailed across the arena and landed like a ragdoll, rolling awkwardly across the floor and scraping his skin off along the ground. He lay still as Alexis quickly returned him to his ball, hoping that he could be healed in time.
Alexis hoped that the Marshadow could prove more effective against such a beast. He was a ghost after all, surely he would have some tricks up his sleeve? He definitely seemed to be hiding things from her, if Pokémon were even capable of doing such a thing.
Alexis plucked off her Pokéball and let out the Marshadow, hoping he was ready for a fight.
Marshadow appeared out of the red glow and looked around. Alexis noticed he looked immediately petrified. The poor thing was shaking like a leaf. His tremors were sending ripples down the tendrils that came off of his ankles. What was the cause of such blatant fear?
"Marshadow," Alexis called, "use Shadow Sneak, like you did the other day. This sort of dark chamber is perfect for that."
Alexis only hoped that Marshadow could get his head in the game fast, or that hulking rock monstrosity would be crashing down on the both of them really quickly. She knew that Starly had no realistic shot at harming such a big Pokémon, but Marshadow potentially had skills she'd never heard of. He was the only chance they had of winning this.
Espir opened his eyes to the light of the arena. He hated the darkness that dwelled within his Pokéball, but knowing what he now had to face- he wanted to be back in that ball more than ever.
He wondered what had happened to Piplup, knowing that the Pokémon was made to fight battles against these types of Pokémon. Then, he saw the streak of blood pasted across the arena in front of him.
Alexis was saying something to him. Likely words of encouragement. Fat lot of good those words were going to do for him now. He had been in a horrid situation last time he was standing atop this arena and now he was in the line of fire from the Pokémon that were going to cave him in like they had done to his previous party.
However, he also knew he couldn't run from this. He needed to go in as hard as he could, or it would only end up worse for him afterwards. Who knows, maybe he could get lucky?
Espir knew, inherently, what he could do in this form. He had the memories of his new exploration testing out the parameters of this Pokémon's body. He could see that he had the advantage in this sort of arena, even though that would seem against everything that the setting made apparent. He was already engulfed in darkness. He was more powerful than that Onix would be able to comprehend, as long as he could get close enough to strike it.
He shook his head, trying to get himself ready to battle. The Onix began to charge him and Alexis down, impatient and restless. Espir could see that the Piplup had taken a good portion of the Onix with him in their fight, so Espir wasn't working with utterly hopeless odds. Simply… unlikely ones.
Before the Onix could completely close the distance, Espir started to run towards it. He knew his plan of attack, he just had to get close. The Onix raised its tail at the small Pokémon, gleeful at the prospect of battering down yet another speck in comparison to its own size.
Espir didn't even try to make an attempt to avoid the tail. The tail collided into the floor of the arena where Onix last had eyes on the wispy Pokémon, but the Espir kept on running, seemingly unaffected from the attempt.
Now, much closer to the main body of the Onix, Espir aimed a punch, slicing through the shadows. Shadow sneak and the ability to ignore much of Onix's main strengths helped Espir significantly. Melting through the shadows and appearing simply to strike again and again, aiming for the already weakened portions of the Onix that Piplup had attacked, Espir was making far more headway against this foe than he expected.
The Onix roared in pain, the agony of the volume forcing Espir to drop down to the ground and grab at his head. He had such strong senses now that the screeching from the Onix crippled him momentarily. That moment was enough for the Onix to get retribution for the cuts that Espir had inflicted.
Rocks spun through the air like daggers, scattered around Espir's hunched over form and peppering him with stabbing pains as they dug in on impact. Espir was now painfully aware that he wasn't completely impervious. He might be a ghost, but he could still feel and could still be harmed. Thankfully, he learnt this lesson early in the fight and on a non-fatal attack. More rocks whistled through the air as the Onix pressed its advantage and Espir instinctively punched out at them, in an effort to block them. His arm flared up with flames and burst through the rocks, sending smoking chunks at his feet instead of through his body.
Before the Onix could react, as the Pokémon was still slower than he was, Espir charged it once again and, instead of attacking subtly with the shadows, he punched it. Espir landed blow after blow on the larger beast, his arms aflame and cooking the rocks that he hit. This small portion of the Onix that Espir was laying into began to glow red under the heat and pressure.
The Onix began to curl up in pain, lowering its head instinctively and Espir took that opportunity to shoot through the shadows, planting one final devastating fire punch to its skull, caving the rocks in slightly as the Onix dropped to the floor, unconscious.
Espir was shocked at himself. He had done it. He had defeated a Pokémon that he knew was more powerful than he was. If he could remember things properly then next was…
"Cranidos," Roark called out after taking back his Onix into a Pokéball, "let's finish this."
Espir looked over. He was already in the center of the arena. Before him, the red glow retreated to show a Pokémon slightly taller than him, reminiscent of a dinosaur. Espir was at least a little relieved looking at the Cranidos. Considering the size that the Onix was, it felt like a downgrade.
The Cranidos must have almost felt Espir's calmer demeanor and started charging in his direction, determined to prove him wrong. Espir wasn't worried in the slightest. He had what amounted to superpowers in his home world, he could take on an angry dinosaur.
The Cranidos lowered its head as it neared Espir, trying to slam into the ghost Pokémon, but Espir allowed the shadows to help him simply avoid the headbutt. Espir knew that as a ghost Pokémon, Headbutt shouldn't actually affect him, but he certainly didn't want to take a chance on it. As the Cranidos rushed by, Espir lit up his fist and slammed it into the dinosaur's back. He expected to smell burning skin, but instead the Cranidos barely flinched. Instead, it stopped running, impressively quickly, and stared daggers at Espir. The Cranidos then opened its mouth and unleashed a torrent of flame down upon the shadowy being. Espir was fortunate enough to dodge the Flamethrower attack and his confidence in turn began to rise.
"Interesting that this Cranidos even knows Flamethrower," Espir thought. "I mean, it's probably a TM or something, but this world keeps gets less and less predictable every fucking day regardless."
The Cranidos, to end the flames, rammed its domed skull back at Espir. Espir, against his earlier statement, decided to not dodge the Headbutt. He knew that the Headbutt shouldn't do anything to him anyways, so why worry? Unfortunately, this time the skull was lined with an almost imperceivably purple film, swirling just above it. The Headbutt impacted Espir with full force. Espir was flung backwards as whatever had empowered the Headbutt slammed into him. He felt whatever passed for bones within his body break, and it certainly felt like he had shattered at least one rib. He was happy that he didn't need to breathe, otherwise that rib would most likely be piercing through a lung at the moment. Nevertheless, the pain was excruciating.
Espir shakily pulled himself to his feet.
"Gaah! Fuck!" he grunted at the pain, though he knew nobody would hear him. He would need to keep focused now, to avoid the fight slipping out of his hands. The Cranidos shrugged off his Fire Punch and could strike him even though he was a ghost. He had to keep this in mind and change up his approach.
The Cranidos prepared itself to charge once again, emboldened by the successful strike. Espir felt weak. The single hit had been enough to almost knock him unconscious and he had barely scratched the other Pokémon.
Espir tried to stay light on his feet as the Cranidos sprinted towards him. Just as the slightly purple shimmer of yet another oddly effective Headbutt was about to impact, Espir fell to the side, sinking into the shadows. He then propelled himself as fast as he could upwards, striking the underside of the Cranidos with a Shadow Sneak and hoping it would do the trick. He felt something give way under his closed fist and the Cranidos stumbled, a clear dent resting in its chest as it fell down. The perfect strike knocking it unconscious.
"What in the hell!" Roark said out loud. His shock forcing stronger language to slip out of his mouth. He raised an arm and waved Alexis over as he returned the Cranidos to its Pokéball.
"Congratulations," Roark said once Alexis had closed the distance to Espir and Roark, "I think you've more than earned this." Roark rummaged around in a pocket and pulled out a small, shining object. Espir knew from his many times playing the games and watching the shows that Alexis had just earned her first gym badge.
"Thank you," Alexis said, breathless. The shock of actually winning the battle appeared to be settling in as she stared at the badge in her hand.
"Look," Roark said, "I have no idea what sort of Pokémon you got there, but it's impressive. If you keep this up, you just might go all the way."
Espir looked up at Alexis, his trainer, and could see something in her eyes as she stared at the badge. Behind the shimmering of unbroken tears, there was something else. A drive. A hunger.
Espir couldn't help but agree with Roark in his slightly dazed state. She really could win it all...
Hopefully...