Castelia Arc: A New Challenge
Gabite and Luxio got ready. "Discharge!" Jacky shouted. Luxio discharged a wave of electricity into the ranks of the bugs. "Dragon Rage!" Mari commanded. Her voice was still two octaves too high. The dragon spewed blue fire. "Fighting through is the only option we have!" Jacky yelled at her.
"I'm aware of that... Earthquake, Gabite!",
"Jump, Luxio!" Luxio jumped off before the earth shook and the ground partially cracked open. From above, Luxio sent off another Discharge. "Rock Tomb!" Rocks hit the ground mercilessly and the bugs dodged to the side. "This is our chance! Run!" Jacky screamed. Mari nodded and they ran.
They ran haphazardly in a random direction, leaping over fallen trees and ducking away under low-hanging branches. Luxio dashed after them and Gabite flew. "Where are we running?!" Mari asked, gasping for breath.
"I don't know... Ahh!" Jacky put on the brakes as the river crossed their path, rushing a few feet below her. Mari came to a stop beside her. "A dead end! Oh no!" Loud cracking of branched breaking echoed out to them.
"We don't have a choice. We have to jump.",
"Are you crazy?! The current will sweep us into the ocean!",
"I don't feel like being nibbled on by bug-type Pokémon gone mad!" Jacky withdrew Luxio and Mari did the same with Gabite. The former didn't hesitate for a moment and jumped. Splashing loudly, she landed in the water. Mari looked down and then behind her. She saw the first bugs coming her way. "Ugh... No! Skarmory, come out!" Skarmory screeched as it landed next to Mari. She pulled herself onto its back. "Fly!",
"Kyaaaaah!" Skarmory cried out and pushed off.
Jacky struggled in the river and held on to a rock sticking out of the water with all her might. When Mari saw that, she pointed down. "Get her, quickly!" The steel bird shot down and grabbed her with one of its claws, lifting her out of the water. The girl held onto it convulsively, shaking all over. She was completely soaked and stared down in bewilderment. Skarmory carefully carried her away and over the tree tops.
It landed in front of Castelia's gate. "Thank you, Skarmory..." Mari nodded to the bird and put her jacket around Jacky. She sniffled and wrapped her arms around her own body. She was bitterly cold. "I-I'm n-never doing that again! S-stupid fear of heights...",
"But making fun of my Entomophobia is fair, right?" Mari grumbled in frustration. "This one was literally the dumbest idea you've ever had!",
"S-sorry... L-let's go b-back again, I n-need a bath... badly..."
Mari waited in her room until Jacky came out of the bathroom freshly dressed, coughing softly. "I felt like a cold steak thrown into a frying pan... And I think I caught a cold..." She sneezed loudly.
"...I don't just think that, I know it." Mari replied. "I guess you'll have to postpone your gym battle, sneezing and coughing and with a voice that sounds like a rusty chainsaw, you can't fight Burgh.",
"But you can. I can still cheer you on.",
"You better not, or you'll end up with no voice at all and your Pokémon will have to read your lips.",
"I'll conquer thuis gym once I...", Jacky sneezed again, "... am fit again."
Mari held out a pack of tissues to her and Jacky accepted it gratefully. "That Skarmory thing was an amazing idea though... I wish I had a flying-type Pokémon that could carry me...", "Well." Mari stood up. "I'll take the liberty and call it karma."
Jacky sneezed.
"Bless you.",
"Thank you...",
"Are we going? To the gym, I mean.",
"Yes..."
When they arrived at the gym, Burgh wasn't there. Only an older gentleman came to meet them. "Are you looking for the gym leader?" he asked. Mari nodded. "He went to Pinwheel Forest some time ago. The bug-type Pokémon there are upset and he wants to appease them.",
"Oh..." Mari exchanged a subtle look with Jacky. "Um... it's okay, we can come back later", she then said.
"That's not necessary," a second voice said. Burgh entered the gym and put his flute in his bag. "Thank you, Guido, you can go now." He smiled at the older gentleman, who nodded gratefully and left. "This is Guido, he fills in for me in the gym when I'm not present and instructs the challengers who come here during that time period to come back for me at a later time. I know your faces, don't I?" He crossed his arms. "We met the other day on Castelia Street, if I'm not mistaken,"
"That's right. But that was only briefly, I'm amazed you still remember that", Mari commented.
"I have a distinct memory for faces." Burgh was still smiling. "So... I suppose since you've found your way into my gym, you're going to claim the Insect Badge, aren't you?",
"Well... Me, specifically", Mari said. "Jacky will be back later, when she's feeling better. She's a little banged up.",
"I see." Burgh nodded and walked over to a painting on the wall. He pushed it aside and pressed a button that was underneath it. The wall slid aside to reveal a huge battle zone with flowers around the edges. "I'm very nature-affine." he said with a smile. "That's why I built myself a little paradise in the middle of the metropolis." He walked onto the field. Mari and Jacky followed him, visibly impressed. Burgh stopped on one side of the field. "Now then." He turned to Mari. "When you're ready, take your position on the other side of the field." Mari nodded and Jacky nudged her. "Good luck!",
"Thanks." Mari smiled gratefully and then walked to the other side of the field.
"This will be a two-on-two match", the gym leader announced. "You already know the procedure of an gym battle, I'm guessing, so I'll save all the preliminaries." He pulled out a Pokéball. "Now then, challenger! I have a reputation to defend as a gym leader. My job is to show you the elegance and strength of bug-type Pokémon. Show yourself, Durant!" He threw the Pokéball forward and the opposing Pokémon appeared on the field. Mari gulped and tried with all her might to stay calm. This Durant is a trainer's Pokémon, it won't hurt you, she told herself. "Let's go, Gabite! Fight with me!" she then shouted, freeing the dragon from its Pokéball.