Ch.28
Judgement
Pokemon is the property of its respective owners
"Oh my…what did you do?!" the brown haired girl atop Reshiram shrieked at Stephanie who simply stared back at her with a blank expression and gestured to the makeshift grave off to the side.
Stephanie watched the girl hop off Reshiram and rush over to the grave where she hurriedly dug up the dirt with her bare hands and stumbled backwards with wide eyes when she found Cobalion's dead body underneath the soft dirt. The girl rushed up to Stephanie and stared up at her with narrowed eyes that indicated she wanted an explanation, but she would get none from Stephanie.
"(Reshiram, tell your hero that this is none of her or your business. That goes the same for Zekrom and his hero too,)" Stephanie gruffly stated as she turned her back to the girl and began slithering away, but the girl ran in front of her and outstretched her arms in an attempt to stop her from leaving.
"Why, why would you kill your brethren?" the green haired boy shakily questioned Stephanie who stoically stared back at the teenager and interlocked her vines together as if she were folding her arms if she had any as the girl looked sympathetically at N before shifting her suspicious glare back to the grass snake.
"(She attempted to kill my best friend whom I consider a sister and she threatened to kill any trainer she comes across just because my team and I proved her views of the world wrong. I didn't want to do it; I tried to make her see reason, but she left me no choice,)" Stephanie spat out bitterly, not wanting to remember the battle between she just had with Cobalion.
"(Just in case you're wondering, I…I killed Virizion for trying to kill my friend as well and Terrakion was reluctantly killed by my teammate just moments ago, but I spared Keldeo,)" Stephanie informed the group gathered around her causing the green haired teenager to collapse on his knees with his face staring down at the ground causing the brown haired girl to rush over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.
"N, take deep, slow breathes okay?" the brown haired girl advised her friend who put a hand on his chest and slowly took a deep breathe in and then let it back out while Stephanie continued to stare down Reshiram and Zekrom.
"(Well?)" Stephanie barked as Reshiram stared blankly at the grass snake and ruffled his gigantic, white wings.
"(Careful child, my brother and I have gotten more powerful than the last time you fought and defeated us. If you choose conflict, you will be no match,)" Reshiram boasted confidently as Stephanie furrowed her brow and shot a piercing, harsh glare at the two legendaries.
"(That's a fucking lie and you know it; you can't get more powerful, you only unlock more of the dormant power that's still stored inside you from the days of old. What do you think I've been doing since that day? Lazing around and letting my power decrease? I may have slacked off a little when there was nothing to do, but I still kept up my training and now that I may be getting a challenge in the future I have to work twice as hard so don't you think that you can brush me aside so easily,)" Stephanie retorted deathly calm causing Zekrom to pat Reshiram on the shoulder and stepped in front of the massive, white dragon and glared down at Stephanie.
"(It doesn't matter how strong you've become; you may have beaten some lesser legendaries like the Swords of Justice, but they don't even come close to the likes of us,)" Zekrom countered coolly causing the grass snake to snort and narrow her eyes at the legends.
"(It doesn't matter how much of your dormant power you unlock; I'll admit that you two are stronger than me with all of your power unlocked, but that doesn't make you invincible. I defeated you back then and I can defeat you now. So, do you two choose conflict or can we all come to a peaceful compromise like adults?)" Stephanie questioned the two legendaries as Victini and Meleotta left the scene since they sensed why she killed Cobalion and found it to be a just cause.
"(We can attempt to come to a peaceful solution if you tell us why you killed the leader of the Swords of Justice. I may not have been fond of her and her human hating ways, but she's still a legendary and as such it's our duty to punish those who have killed our brethren with no reason whatsoever,)" Reshiram growled causing the floral serpent to tense up in preparation for another grueling battle.
"(Look, I killed Cobalion because she attempted to kill my trainer and best friend whom I consider a sister because I killed Virizion beforehand in the forest when he attempted to unfairly decide the fate of another pokemon and when he attempted to kill my friend. I didn't want it to come to that, but he left me no choice,)" Stephanie told the two dragons who looked to one another and grunted before gesturing for Stephanie to continue.
"(Cobalion then brought the rest of the Swords of Justice to the school I work at and demanded that my friend be sent out so she could be killed to get even. My friends and I wouldn't allow this to happen so we fought back against the Swords of Justice and the other legends who aided them and we drove them back. Cobalion, angered at our defiance of her will, grimly swore she would go back to the way she was in the days of old and kill any trainer she comes across and free their pokemon,)" Stephanie spat out angrily, but quickly calmed herself as the two legendary dragons let out a soft grunt and nodded at Stephanie who took this as a cue to continue her story.
"(Karen, my best friend and sister, was hesitant at first, but ultimately she decided to go after the Swords of Justice in order to protect trainers everywhere. We were given these orders: attempt to reason with the Swords of Justice to make them see that what they're doing will not only harm humans, but pokemon as well. If they still intend on attacking humans, then do what's necessary to bring them down,)" Stephanie breathed out softly as memories of Virizion's and Cobalion's dead bodies flashed through her head causing her to shut her eyes tightly and vigorously shake her head to make the images go away before looking up at the dragon's with a cool and collected demeanor until the green haired boy suddenly spoke to her.
"I remember now; you were one of Karen Long's pokemon she used during our battle and you nearly beat my entire team until she decided to switch you out with a strange, foreign pokemon I've never seen before. She stopped me from my previous goal of making a world where pokemon would be separated from humans-"
"(Do you know how much harm that would have caused this world if you succeeded in your goal? None of the things we use today could have been possible if humans and pokemon didn't interact with one another and our two species may have never been able to mend our relationships between one another if we were forcibly torn apart because of your ignorance,)" Stephanie angrily ranted at the boy who hung his head down in shame causing the brown haired to sympathetically pat him on the shoulder and then rounded on the floral serpent with a glare that would have culled even the rowdiest pokemon into submission, but having faced Cobalion's glare, Stephanie was unfazed by this girls attempt to intimidate her.
"Leave him alone; N has made mistakes in the past, but he's changed from since then and he's trying to make up for what he did so it's not fair that you're treating him like this! I remember you now to; Karen told me to go back and not face N and when I said no she challenged me to a battle and I lost," the brown haired girl snarled at Stephanie who snorted and frowned at the girl who put her hands on her hips and leaned her face closer to Stephanie's.
"(N, how can this girl understand me?)"
"She can summarize the gist of what pokemon are saying from their tone of voice and body language."
"(I see; I guess this is why Reshiram chose her to be his hero since she makes up for not literally understanding what pokemon say by reading the movements of the body and hearing the tone of voice one uses,)" Stephanie mused without breaking eye contact with the girl until the bushes rustled causing the imposing python to turn her head to the source of the noise and let a smirk come to her face when she saw who it was.
"(Hope, you could have called ahead you know,)" Stephanie quipped playfully causing the psychiatrist to chuckle softly and rub the back of his head while taking notice of the two legendary dragons and the two young adults next to them.
"The heroes of truth and ideals; it's very nice to meet you. I am known as Hope and I'm a friend of Karen's whose simply come to pick Stephanie up and bring her back home," Hope stated calmly as he noticed little droplets of blood on Stephanie causing her to gesture to the grave causing Hope to nod solemnly in response and turn his attention back to the young adults.
"I'm still against what Stephanie did, killing another one of her brethren even if it was to save someone she cared about," N admitted causing Hope to grunt and fold his arms as he focused his calculating gray eyes upon the former King of Team Plasma.
"Are you saying she should have let the person whom she cares deeply about be killed by Virizion because that's exactly what you're implying," Hope surmised causing N to shake his head and raise his hands in front of him.
"No, I'm just saying she should have thought this situation though more thoroughly instead of killing Virizion and Cobalion," the former king countered causing Hope to roll his eyes and run a hand through his snow white hair while watching Stephanie throw mounds of dirt on top of Cobalion's corpse and when she finished she spat on the grave and slithered over to Hope's side.
"(Stephanie, we must hear more about this incident so I'm requesting that we speak to the pokemon that Virizion tried to pass judgement upon and we would like to speak to this Karen you seem so fond of so we can verify if what you say is true,)" Reshiram boomed in an authoritative tone causing Stephanie to snort and contemplate what the dragon of truth asked before hesitantly nodding and told them to follow her.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Hope whispered to her concernedly causing the imposing python to tilt her head and purse her lips causing Hope to sigh and hook his hands into his pockets and grip the cloth tightly.
The walk back to Karen's house was a quiet one as neither party spoke to one another and constantly would avert their eyes when they accidently made eye contact with each other. Stephanie felt uncomfortable leading potential aggressors to where Karen lives, but maybe, just maybe, they would go away peacefully once Karen verifies what she said. When the awkward group arrived at the former champion's house, Karen raised a brow and gave a questioning look to Stephanie causing the grass snake to mouth some words to her and gesture to the two legendary dragons and the young adults.
"N, Touko, it's not very often that the heroes of truth and ideals visit me. So, I'm assuming that Reshiram and Zekrom want to hear why Stephanie killed two members of the Swords of Justice and want to talk to the pokemon that Virizion tried to pass judgement upon?" Karen stated bluntly causing the two young adults to nod causing Karen to sigh and call her son and when he answered, she requested that Kiera be put on the line.
When a bored click answered her on the other line, she extended the device closely to the two legendary dragons who let out loud roars and hisses in response to Kiera's excited clicks and grunts while the former champion watched the exchange intently.
"(Alright, we've heard enough, what you say about Virizion trying to decide the fate of another pokemon is true; now we must hear from you champion of the people,)" Zekrom roared causing Karen to nod and hang up the phone and tell the dragons as much as she remembered from the incident from the forest while the two heroes conversed amongst each other.
"Touko, a pokemon killing another pokemon, I…I still can't believe that such a thing is possible."
"N, it's okay; these incidents rarely happen so you won't ever hear of pokemon killing another pokemon," Touko comforted her friend until Stephanie laughed rudely causing the two young adults to turn their heads to her as Touko glared at her darkly while N just stared at her with innocent, puppy dog eyes.
"(Your friend can't be that ignorant can she? The Swords of Justice, Kyurem, Genesect, hell, even your precious dragons have all killed pokemon before. How many people and pokemon died during the brother's petty war that completely destroyed the region about whether truth and ideals is the true way and how many pokemon did the Swords of Justice kill when they came to the defense of their human friends? Don't even get me started on that cannibal Kyurem and that warmonger Genesect,)" Stephanie smugly stated to the two young adults causing Touko to march up to the grass snake and roughly smack her across the face causing everyone's eyes to widen in shock at the audacity this girl showed.
Stephanie clenched her teeth and nodded slowly while turning her head towards Touko and stared at her with blank eyes that narrowed into slits and smirked.
"(Touko, a friend of Karen's son has a Lucario named Luka that killed before as well, and the first three times it wasn't out of the need to protect, but it was for revenge. You think that pokemon can never do any wrong, but Catherine Wayne's former team was full of brutish, cowardly thugs who bullied Yoko's team and killed two of her teammates out of spite and guess what Luka did? She killed those fuckers out of revenge for what they did to Yoko and her teammates and while I think that it's wrong she killed out of revenge and not out of necessity, it's something I can understand why she did,)" Stephanie hissed fiercely at Touko who looked shock at this revelation and stared down at the ground.
"Reshiram and Zekrom, what is you final say in this matter?" Karen asked of the two dragons curiously as she ignored Stephanie continuing to destroy Touko's views of the world while N translated what she didn't understand through tone and body language alone.
"(After hearing the full story, we decide that although you're intentions we're good, you still killed a legendary and thus you must be punished,)" Zekrom answered causing Stephanie to glare at the two dragons while Hope, who had remained entirely silent throughout the exchange, sent out his entire team once more who already knew what had to be done.
Karen responded in kind and sent out the rest of her team who were ready to come to the defense of their trainer and friend while the two dragons were astonished that this many pokemon had come to oppose them while N and Touko exchanged glances and warily fingered the pokeballs on their belts.
"Zekrom, maybe we should leave; these pokemon obviously support Karen's position on the matter and I'd rather not have any of my friends get hurt," N pleaded with his dragon who gazed at him sympathetically while Touko seemed to share the sentiment and gave Reshiram a sad look causing the dragon of truth to sigh.
"(Very well N; since you feel so adamantly about not hurting pokemon, we'll leave in peace,)" Zekrom huffed hesitantly as he scooped up his hero in his giant claws and placed him onto his back while Stephanie and Touko glowered at one another darkly until the brown haired girl was picked up and placed onto the giant white dragon's back.
Zekrom and Reshiram bolted into the sky at high speeds which caused Hope and Karen to stand strong despite the fierce increase in wind that wanted to knock them back as Karen shook her head and ran a hand through her hair as the two adults watched the dragon's ascend into the air until they were completely out of sight.
"Damn it, Dmitri's going to have a target on his back now because I know that Reshiram and Zekrom are going to tell Arceus about us," Karen mumbled angrily as she smashed her fist into her palm forcefully while Hope chewed on his cheek and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I think they'll be fine; while Dmitri and his friend's teams are weaker than ours, they more than make up for it with their teamwork and willpower if what Roark and Cynthia have been telling you is true," Hope reassured her causing Karen to smile slightly at him and nod.
Meanwhile
"Okay guys, let's go and challenge the gym leader for that badge. Win or lose, I'm proud of all the hard work you've all done," Dmitri shouted to his pokemon causing Maris to smirk and pound her fists together, Sparkplug to crouch down and radiate electricity off of her body, and Kiera…to stare blankly at him, but rolled back and forth quickly.
Calmly opening the door, he walked up to the attendant who was standing near a hedge and waved at him causing the old attendant to grin back and wave at him as he gestured to the hedge maze. Nodding, Dmitri walked into it with Maris as Sparkplug and Kiera chose to go back into their pokeballs as Maris looked at him with her lips curled to the side and then placed her paws behind her head and followed wherever Dmitri decided to go. After getting lost a few times and battling a few of Gardenia's trainees which annoyed Maris as she saw it as a way for Gardenia to tire out her challengers and then finish off her exhausted foes which the martial arts pokemon saw as dishonorable, the duo eventually managed to reach the gym leader who seemed pumped up to face another challenger while Maris snorted and looked away from the upbeat woman.
"Ah, so you're the friend of those two girls who challenged me a while back. I must say, I'm surprised such a nice young boy is friends with that that thuggish looking dragon tamer," Gardenia voiced out causing Dmitri to take a slow breathe in and let it back out as he coolly gazed at the gym leader.
"While I won't lose my cool, I must request that you don't refer to Delia as a thug or any other rude names from what little time you spent with her. She uses questionable tactics to win battles sure, but that doesn't give you the right to refer as a common thug when you don't even know her. I know you may have heard rumors of us being bullies; I can assure you they aren't true and are merely the lies of a pathetic boy who can't take a loss," Dmitri responded with collectedly causing Maris to nod in affirmation and pat him on the shoulder while Gardenia seemed astonished at what the young trainer had told her before smiling and taking a pokeball off of her belt.
"Very well, I apologize for what I said and I won't judge you guys based on the rumors I have heard about you three, but now you must face me in battle!" Gardenia shouted full of vim and vigor as she sent out her first pokemon which looked oddly like a plant bud.
Dmitri took his place at the opposite end of the field and sent out Kiera who looked upon her opponent and let out a bored grunt which her opponent responded with a tired sigh.
"(Remember what Delia and Catherine told you about Gardenia,)" Maris whispered to him causing Dmitri to grin and nod at her as Maris sat down crossed-legged and began to meditate; awaiting her chance for combat if she was needed.
"I've never seen a pokemon like that before; tell me, what type is it?" Gardenia asked curiously as Dmitri was about to answer, but Delia's advice about battling rang through his head.
"If you know something your opponent doesn't, don't speak a word; you have to hold as many advantages over your opponent as possible," Delia had advised him when he causing him to sigh and put his hands in his pockets.
"Tell you what Gardenia, I'll tell you what type Kiera is after the battle, but I know you can figure it out during the battle when you see what kind of moves she can use," Dmitri yelled back to Gardenia who inwardly cursed and prepared to do battle against the unknown pokemon as the referee got into the referee box and announced the rules to the two battlers.
"This will be a three-on-three battle with no time limit and only the challenger is allowed to make substitutions! The battle will end when either side is unable to continue or forfeits the match; begin!"
"Cherrim, start things off with sunny day!" Gardenia shouted to her pokemon who let out a sigh and shot a white orb of energy up near the ceiling which increased the intensity of the sunlight and caused a happier pokemon to emerge from the bud who merrily hopped in place causing Kiera to narrow her eyes at the display.
"Kiera, iron defense!" Dmitri yelled to the bug type who clicked in response as her shell shined a brilliant silver until the effect subsided which left Kiera's shell shining a silver, metallic glow.
"Cherrim, magical leaf!" Gardenia ordered causing the merry pokemon to shoot multitudes of sharp leaves at the stalwart bug type who matched the onslaught with spades of poisonous, sharp needles which caused both of their attacks to clash in the middle and cancel each other out.
Kiera repeated the process of toughening her shell while Gardenia called out for a leech seed, but it was negated when the bug type brought up a green dome of energy which blocked the attack causing the gym leader to grit her teeth as Kiera continued to harden her shell. Gardenia wasn't used to being the one on offense as her battle style consisted of waiting for her opponents to attack first while her pokemon would use their speed to dodge and then counter attack, but this strategy couldn't be implemented when both trainers were waiting for the other to strike.
"What's the matter? Too scared to fight back?" Gardenia taunted hoping this would upset her foe into striking back against her so he would fall right into her trap, but to her dismay Dmitri just shook his head and watched Kiera strengthen her shell to its absolute limit which worried the gym leader.
"Kiera, screech!" Dmitri called out causing the tire like bug to let out a terrifying, inhuman yell which caused both Gardenia and Cherrim to clench their teeth while Maris simply furrowed her brow and continued to meditate as Kiera let out another ear wrenching scream.
"Good Kiera; return for now," Dmitri said as Kiera allowed herself to be sucked back into the pokeball as Dmitri threw another pokeball onto the field to reveal Sparkplug who had a scowl on her face.
"Sparkplug, brace yourself," Dmitri said calmly as the electric lioness growled and started charging bolts of lightning around which dangerously sparked around her erratically as she suddenly charged toward her foe recklessly causing Gardenia to smirk.
"Cherrim, leech seed!" Gardenia yelled causing her foe to shoot a spiny, sickly looking plant bud at the approaching lioness who rolled to the side to avoid it, but was suddenly struck by a powerful pillar of green light that caused her to skid backwards, but she remained on her feet and with great effort, she jumped over it and descended upon her foe with her steel like tail.
Cherrim let out a little laugh and speedily zipped to the side, avoiding the blow, and continued to do this for a while as Sparkplug would try to hit it, but her foe was just too fast. Gardenia let out a sigh of relief as the battle was back in her control and ordered for Cherrim to use another leech seed.
"Sparkplug, to your right!" Dmitri yelled causing the big cat to roll forward to avoid the blow and then jump to the side as another powerful laser of solar energy nearly struck her causing Sparkplug to let out a yelp of surprise.
"Cherrim, circle around your foe and use magical leaf!" Gardenia ordered causing the happy-go-lucky pokemon to quickly speed around the stationary cat who attuned her senses to her surroundings and waited for the right moment to strike as she endured the hail of razor sharp leaves assaulting her body and just as Cherrim prepared another attack, Sparkplug leaped in front of her and smashed her head right into her tiny frame.
Cherrim let out surprised squeal of pain as it tumbled backwards and painfully came to a stop on its belly only to be slugged across the face with a powerful, heavy tail which caused her to stumble off to the side and jump backwards to its original position in battle while Sparkplug glared at her determinedly.
Sparkplug suddenly shot a quick jolt of lightning at her foe which caused it to grit its teeth as it endured the stream of electricity, but Sparkplug closed the gap between them and chomped down onto Cherrim's head and swung her head to and fro as if she were trying to tear off her foes head. Gardenia watched on in horror as Sparkplug bite down harder on her foe's head and slammed her down onto the ground repeatedly until Gardenia finally had enough.
"Cherrim, if you can manage, use petal dance!" Gardenia desperately shouted as Sparkplug was suddenly lifted into the air by a tornado of leaves and cut on all sides causing her to hiss pain and release her grip on Cherrim who massaged her head with her tiny hands and watched her opponent try to fight out of the tornado.
"Sparkplug, focus!" Dmitri shouted as loud as he could causing his partner to grit her teeth cover her entire body in electricity and spin with the momentum of the tornado that enveloped her causing the attack to break off shocking both Gardenia and Cherrim.
Sparkplug landed on the ground and clenched her teeth as she blocked out the stinging pain she was feeling from the many cuts on her body and stared determinedly at her foe as Dmitri grinned at his friend's commitment.
"Sparkplug, move in carefully!" Dmitri advised his friend who nodded slowly and advanced upon her foe who held a defiant glint in her eyes as she prepared herself for her foe's approach and just as the grass type was about to prepare an attack, Sparkplug gazed at her menacingly as if she were a demon causing Gardenia to clench her teeth tightly and curl her hands into fists.
"Damn it, not this move again. Cherrim, look away!" Gardenia shouted to her pokemon who complied with the command and looked away only to be forcefully dropkicked which caused the grass type to stagger around tipsily until she collapsed in a heap onto the ground breathing heavily.
"Cherrim is unable to battle which makes Kiera the winner! Gardenia please send out your next pokemon!" the referee yelled causing the orange haired woman to congratulate her pokemon for its efforts and return it to its pokeball as Dmitri sprayed a super potion on Sparkplug's wounds causing the big cat to grit her teeth as her friend finished spraying the contents of the bottle on her wounds.
"Grotle, let's go!" Gardenia shouted as a massive, dinosaur looking pokemon with a small tree growing on its back materialized on the field while Dmitri petted Sparkplug's head as she allowed herself to be sucked back into the ball while Dmitri sent out Kiera once more.
"Grotle, use tackle! Gardenia commanded as her pokemon let out a determined shout and stormed towards Kiera who remain unfazed at her approaching foe while Dmitri raised a brow in confusion.
Delia and Catherine had told him that Gardenia's pokemon were very fast and agile and these two attributes were bolstered by the sun, but to him Grotle seemed to be struggling to stay on its feet with each bounding step and this proved to be true as Grotle's feet tangled up which caused it to catapult forward and skid along the ground on its face.
"Kiera, defense curl followed by rollout," Dmitri said reluctantly as Kiera's features softened before flexing the muscles around her shell and bowling towards Grotle at a fast pace, but Dmitri could see that she was nowhere near her top speed.
Again and again Kiera crashed into Grotle who let out a pained gasp with each successive hit causing Gardenia to sigh and switch up her strategy as she tried to find a pattern in Kiera's movements, but Kiera saw this out of the corner of her eye and started rolling erratically along the ground to throw her off only to collided with Grotle once more when the gym leader thought she saw a pattern.
"Grotle leaf storm around yourself!" Gardenia cried out causing the battered grass type to disperse a hurricane of leaves which caused Kiera's eyes to widen in shock before she was blown away by the attack which caused her to crash into the wall next to Dmitri harshly, but it merely felt like she was tickled as she slowly rolled onto the battlefield ready for more.
Kiera once again rolled toward Grotle and smashed into him like a runaway train which caused the grass type to cough violently as he staggered backwards and attempted to regain his footing only for Kiera to crash into him once more which finally caused him to collapse on the ground and not get up.
"Grotle is unable to battle which makes the challenger the winner of this round!" the referee shouted as Dmitri petted Kiera and praised her for her win which caused her to blush briefly before going back to her bored, blank stare until she was covered with white, ethereal light which completely overtook her.
Everyone watched on with awe as the light seemed to get bigger and when it subsided a giant, centipede like creature stood in Kiera's place causing Dmitri to grin and pat her on the belly; congratulating her for evolving. Kiera examined her new body as she took a practice run around the field and found that her speed hadn't diminished despite her massive frame, but rather she seemed to be moving a lot faster than she was previously able to.
Allowing herself to be sucked back into her pokeball, Kiera inwardly screamed like an excited child for achieving her new form, but kept a bored look on her face to hide this away as Sparkplug grinned and sent her a respectful nod while preparing herself for battle once more as Gardenia sent out Roserade who fully intended on turning the tide in this battle.
"Roserade, weather ball," Gardenia commanded as the elegant grass type shot a fiery orb at the surprised big cat who sent out a quick stream of electricity to counter it, but to her shock it plowed right through her attack which caused Sparkplug to jump to the side a little too late as she was still nicked in the side by the attack.
Sparkplug grimaced and forced down the pain just as sharp, piercing leaves cut into her skin causing her to hiss angrily as she kept her head down and endured the attacks until she spun around like ballerina and repeatedly knocked away the leaves with her heavy, iron like tail causing Gardenia to gasp in awe at the beautiful showing.
"Tell me Dmitri, did you or Sparkplug come up with that move on her own?" Gardenia asked with great interest as Dmitri pondered Delia's advice and stuck to it which saddened the gym leader until she saw Sparkplug point to Dmitri's head and then to herself and spun around with her tail converted to heavy iron once more.
Gardenia seemed to smile and nod in approval of this before ordering Roserade to use grass knot causing sturdy, steel cable like vines to emerge from the earth and wrap around the lioness's legs causing her to grit her teeth and try to free herself to no avail and as a precaution the vines tied down Sparkplug's tail causing Dmitri to grit his teeth and clench his fists; the first sign of worry that had come across his face since the start of the battle.
"(Don't you dare think of forfeiting this round,)" Maris threatened him causing Dmitri to cast her a worried, yet annoyed look before returning his attention back to the battle where Sparkplug continued to try to pull herself free to no avail.
"Roserade, end this with weather ball once more!" Gardenia shouted confidently as the hope of victory started slowly coming back to her while Dmitri opened his mouth, but Maris's harsh glare quickly shut it until something came to mind.
"Spawl!" Dmitri yelled hurriedly causing the lioness do plop down onto her belly and it seemed as if time had slowed down as she watched with wide eyes the powerful, fiery projectile to fly over her head and singe the fur atop her scalp, but other than that she was fine.
"Spark full power!" Dmitri shouted causing his partner to crouch down and let out a determined roar as blue electricity danced dangerously around her while Dmitri jolted and jumped back when a bolt of lightning nearly struck him while Maris remained unfazed, but smirked as she felt the waves of power flowing off of her teammate.
Gardenia ordered magical leaf followed by weather ball and Roserade fired these off in succession, but the Sparkplug didn't even flinch when the attacks made contact with her as she continued to roar and charge electricity into her being as the vines restraining her suddenly caught fire causing Dmitri to grin. Sparkplug smirked as she leaped forward and charged toward Roserade like a rampaging Tauros only for her foe to leap to the side to avoid her and fired off a point blank weather ball which caused Dmitri to widen his eyes in shock as the attack exploded and sent Sparkplug flying backwards with an agonizing yell until she violently collided with the wall with bone crunching thud where she lie limp.
Dmitri returned his partner and congratulated for a job well done as Maris suddenly stood up and stretched her muscles a bit before walking onto the battlefield with a neutral gaze.
"(Sparkplug shouldn't have been so reckless and Kiera needs time to adjust to her new form so that leaves everything up to me,)" Maris whispered as she settled into a fighting stance and prepared herself for battle while Dmitri watched on in anticipation.
Maris struck out with her whips causing Roserade to gasp and duck under it and fire off a multitude of shuriken like leaves at her causing Maris to grin nostalgically and thrust her open palm forward causing sharp stars to shoot out and clash with the leaves in the middle. The attacks collided in a burst of yellow and green dust causing Dmitri to purse his lips and nod in approval while Gardenia groaned in frustration; eyeing her challenger angrily.
"Maris, how?"
"(I didn't think it'd work, hell, I nearly forgot that move when I evolved, but I'm glad I didn't, yet it took me a while how to use it. I haven't swift since I evolved after all,)" Maris replied incredulously as she stared at her paws and clenched and unclenched them until a powerful sphere was sent flying towards her causing Maris to lean her head to the side while keeping cool, focused gaze on her face.
"(I'm ending this,)" Maris told Dmitri through aura causing Dmitri to nod as he watched his girlfriend speed toward Roserade with her paws up as she batted away any attacks that were sent her way and when she saw Roserade speedily zip over her to get away, she spun around and kicked her foe straight in the chin causing Dmitri to grimace as he subconsciously gripped his chin.
"Roserade is unable to battle which makes the challenger the winner!" the ref yelled causing Dmitri to race onto the field and hug Maris causing her to blush and lift him up into the air while spinning him around in victory as Kiera and Sparkplug came out of their pokeballs and watched this go on.
Sparkplug leaned against Kiera's massive frame for support as Maris put Dmitri down and watched him congratulate his two other partners with a hug and pat on the head for Sparkplug and an awkward hug for Kiera who blushed and looked away. Gardenia coughed to get his attention causing the young man to slowly turn around and politely bow to the gym leader who grinned and bowed back in return as she held out the Forest Badge to him which caused Dmitri grin elatedly. Taking it out of her hand, he showed it to his team who let out cheers of triumph for their accomplishment as Dmitri took out his badge case and place his newly won badge into it.
"Gardenia?"
"Yes?"
"I noticed that Grotle seems to be struggling to keep up with your style of battle so I suggest you help him adapt to a new one that's suited for a big pokemon like him," Dmitri advised the gym leader who seemed a bit surprised at being the one being offered advice, but nevertheless she grinned and nodded at him.
Waving goodbye to Gardenia, he walked out of the gym and to his surprise he found Delia, Catherine, and Luka waiting for him, itching to get to the next city to win their badge, but he needed to heal his team first so they all waited in the lobby of the Pokemon Center restelessly; wanting to get to Veistone as soon as possible. After a while, his team was returned to him at full health and with that he exited the pokemon center excitedly, ready to move onto the next city as Maris kept up with him and smiled; happy to see him so excited for his accomplishment.
"Maris, the next gym specializes in fighting types; you think you can handle them?" Dmitri playfully asked his girlfriend who smirked and pounded her knuckles together forcefully causing Dmitri to chuckle and turn to Delia who had Buneary riding atop her head.
"Delia, I forgot to ask, how did your practice battles with Buneary go?" Dmitri inquired curiously causing Delia to stare at him blankly and shove her hands into her pockets.
"I lost both times and this blond haired kid touted himself as the future champion after beating me and said he'd fine me if Buneary and I didn't get stronger the next time we fought," Delia responded casually as Buneary's face fell and wrapped her tiny arms around Delia's head.
"(Delia, I'm sorry, if only-)"
"Buneary, you don't have to apologize for anything. We did somethings right and we did somethings wrong; let's keep what we did right and let's improve upon what we did wrong okay?" Delia consoled her newest teammate who smiled brightly and nodded her head vigorously causing a small smile to come to her face as she reached backwards and patted Buneary's head.
"Let's go guys, to victory!" Dmitri yelled happily and pumped his fist into the air causing Maris and Catherine to grin at one another and thrust their fists into the air as well causing Delia and Luka to roll their eyes, but they grinned warmly at their friend's antics as they followed them down the trail towards Veilstone City where their next gym badge awaited.
Random fun facts for you guys:
1) Maris was originally supposed to be blind.
2) The other rankings at the Battle Academy were originally supposed to be battle sergeant and battle prodigy.
3) Delia's original team was supposed to be only Haxorus, Hydreigon, and Garchomp.