With the hospital visit coming to an end. Matthias and I decided to take the old dusty road down to Petalburg town.
The hospital was in the same position you would see the sailor Briney, the one whose Wingull you had to find but it had been extended a bit into the sea. The reason they built it near the sea was that it had proven to curb feelings of anxiety among the patients.
Well they were right. There was a smooth refreshing breeze passing by as the two continued to walk along. Wingull were gliding across the wind, soaring and then diving down to the sea surface.
The fish pokemon that would surface would immediately dive down once they had seen anything approach. Only the magikarp seemed to be the ones that were getting caught.
The Pokemon weren't the only things present there. There were a number of kids running around or building sandcastles.
Some of the kids even had their own Pokemon and seemed to be putting up a great show for the people around. As battles between an Azurill and an Igglybuff took place.
As the battle concluded the Igglybuff was declared the winner.
The ocean waves began to come closer so the sandcastles that were built were withered away.
"This place is far more lively than I expected it to be," Glaze said as he continued to look around.
"You would be surprised. The locals apparently come here a lot. Then again I too would, if I had a beach this close to my house" Matthias replied.
"I see" he turned back to looking forward, "Guess this side trip was worth it"
"It sure was and we haven't even reached the gym yet"
"Yeah I know. I'll probably need to take notes or something in order to be prepared"
"You do you Glaze. I'll rather just enjoy the gym battle that takes place"
...
After a few more minutes of walking they stopped in front of a tall building with a sign outside.
Matthias walked forward and read the sign.
"Yeah this is the place. Come on let's hurry inside"
"So who's the challenger got any ideas?"
"No not really. All I know is they are supposed to be pretty strong."
'Makes sense you tend to need 4 gym badges to even challenge Norman'
"So this is a rare scenario then, I assume?"
"Well it's uncommon for sure, since people consider Norman to be on the stronger side of gym leaders. Unlike Roxanne, Norman doesn't really get that many challengers" he opened a door and stepped inside, "Let's cut the small talk for now, the gym battle seems to be in the midst of beginning"
Following Matthias inside I walked in and closed the door behind.
As he had said there were about 50 people present, give or take a few. The inside was mostly built like a dojo or at least the part he had just seen.
Matthias had already gone to the front and taken a seat so I followed in his stead and did the same.
"Well there is a crowd present so when's this thing going to start?" I asked.
There seemed to be a number of people in front cheering even though the battle hadn't begun. Also surprisingly Norman wasn't the one they were cheering for.
"Avery show him what you got"
"We're all rooting for you"
"Let's get another clean victory"
A bunch of people cheered the challenger on.
I looked on to the arena to see who they were cheering for so enthusiastically.
There was a green haired young woman on the stage opposite to Norman. She definitely looked the part of a strong trainer with the stare she directed at Norman.
'No Idea what all the hype is about her. I don't think I knew her from any of the main series'
"Hey Matthias, do you have any ideas who this mysterious challenger is?"
"No Idea. Why do you ask?"
"No particular reason except the fact that she seems pretty famous"
"Well now that you mention it I guess she is"
Guess Matthias won't be much help here.
"Hey you!"
A boy said as he came up to me.
"Yes?"
"You said you didn't know who Avery was?"
"Well I could guess that was her name from the interactions"
Why is this guy so passionate about this?
"What you already knew? I could swear I heard ya saying that you wanted to know who she was"
"Well I guess I was just curious"
"Well then let me reward your curiosity. Avery is an ace trainer, you hear me, she's come from a long line of powerful trainers. That's part of where her reputation comes from folks say she's been able to defeat every gym leader she's met in her first try"
"Also she's a…." As he continued speaking I turned away and began to focus back on the arena.
"Hey man you got all of that? I can tell you more later if you want" he asked.
"Yeah I did, oh I think it's starting"
"It is- Oh I gotta get back!"
The guy from before walked away in a hurry apparently searching for his seat. I also leaned back in my seat as I prepared for the battle to begin.
"Are both the competitors ready?" The referee asked from the sidelines.
"I'm ready," Avery said, waving a hand towards the crowd.
"So am I" Norman said with a hint of a smirk.
"I'll explain the rules once and only once. The match will take place in single battles, each side will have three pokemon.
If all three Pokemon of either side is declared unable to battle they will have lost. Only the challenger is able to substitute Pokemon and once they substitute they cannot do so again until one of their Pokemon is knocked out"
"Now with all the rules out of the way, Begin!" The referee spoke in a renewed Zeal.
"Slakoth to the field," Norman said, throwing his Pokeball.
A familiar looking sloth came out of the ball though unlike Mathhias's slakoth this one wasn't very energetic. It didn't even make a sound.
"Slakoth huh? Then I choose you" Avery said, throwing hers.
Out of the ball's light a greenish humanoid creature appeared. It was short and resembled a child in some ways if you excluded the lily pad on it's head and it's colour scheme.
"Lombre" the Lombre cried out.
The dual grass/water type looked at Slakoth with an air of superiority seemingly thinking it wasn't even worth considering as an enemy.
"I am interested in seeing how an ace trainer battles so why don't you take the first move"
"Sure thing I'll be sure to put on a show, Lombre begin with fury swipes"
Lombre dived in towards Slakoth as it just waited there.
"Slakoth night slash"
Slakoth instantaneously moved past Lombre dealing a quick slash.
"Lombre mega drain"
Lombre attacked Slakoth once more this time getting its attack and healing a bit.
"I didn't expect a Slakoth to move so fast. As expected of a gym leader"
"You praise me too much, I'd reward the praise to my Pokemon since they're the ones who did the work. Nonetheless I think it's time we get back, Slakoth yawn"
The yawn made its way towards the Lombre.
"Lombre dodge and retaliate with water gun"
The Lombre managed to successfully dodge and make its way to the ground where it shot a stream of water towards Slakoth.
"Slakoth sucker punch"
Slakoth sidestepped the water gun and punched Lombre in the gut launching it into the air.
"Lombre go for mega drain once more"
"That won't be helping much, Slakoth use yawn again"
"Urgh, Lombre return" she said, the red beam of her Pokeball hitting Lombre straight on and pulling it back.
Seeing this the crowd began to calm down.
"You noticed didn't you that this time you have no way of escaping the yawn"
"Yeah losing a Pokemon to sleep wouldn't be nice. Rhyhorn get out there"
She said tossing a Pokeball and revealing a four legged rock beast, with a horn on its head.
"Ryhorn, use horn attack"
"Sucker punch, Slakoth"
The two attacks collided leaving Slakoth pushed back while Rhyhorn continued pushing forward.
"I'm going to finish this right now, Rhyhorn Stone Edge"
"Slakoth dodge"
Coupled with the previous attack and it's inherent ability of being slow, Slakoth couldn't move away in time. The rocks emanating from Rhyhorn hit straight on.
"Slakoth is unable to battle" The referee ruled.
The crowd erupted in cheer almost giving the illusion that Avery had already won the match.
"Slakoth return, you did good"
He returned the Pokeball then took out another one.
"Vigoroth get ready"
…
"The evolution of Slakoth, this is going to be a completely different fight from the one before" I said.
"I think I understand what you mean. When I caught Slakoth I did some research on it's evolutions so I know that Vigoroth is the most active among it's evolutions" Matthias interjected.
"It's just as you say" I replied.
...
"It's time for round two, Vigoroth use focus energy to get prepared"
Vigoroth's muscles began to strengthen as it entered a state not too dissimilar to zen.
"If you're not taking the first hit I will, Rhyhorn horn attack"
Rhyhorn came barreling down towards Vigoroth but Vigoroth sidestepped it without a command and jumped on top of rhyhorn.
"Rhyhorn use bulldoze to make it unable to stay on top"
Rhyhorn began to use bulldoze and it seemed to be taking effect but Vigoroth was barely able to hold on to the Rhyhorn.
"Vigoroth use brick break"
Vigoroth attacked swiftly decently damaging Rhyhorn as it hopped off uneasily to the floor.
"Rhyhorn set up stealth rocks"
Rhyhorn shook its head out of the clouds and summoned a bunch of sharp rocks to the field. Norman looked at the field then looked back at Vigoroth.
"Vigoroth blizzard"
Vigoroth began to bring forth a hailstorm to the arena. It wasn't very powerful since it was used by a non ice type but it was a good way to cause ranged damage.
"Dodge Rhyhorn, and attack with horn attack"
Due to blizzard's low accuracy, Rhyhorn was easily able to dodge it and was on a collision course to Vigoroth.
"Vigoroth brick break"
Vigoroth nodded as it looked down at the sharp rocks and began running on them to reach up to Rhyhorn. Though it's mobility was reduced.
Seeing Vigoroth's reduced mobility Rhyhorn stopped.
"Rhyhorn use rock blast at Vigoroth"
Instead of running further, Rhyhorn began shooting rocks at Vigoroth, not giving it any time to rest. And since Vigoroth was getting damaged by the stealth rocks at the same time. It couldn't really do much.
"Now Rhyhorn Stone edge"
Rhyhorn bellowed out a roar followed by a stone edge that knocked Vigoroth back to the curb. So Vigoroth was done for...or at least that's what we thought.
Out from the smoke Vigoroth stood tall.
"Vigoroth reversal"
With the move declared Vigoroth moved fast as it weaved through the rocks and places there were none all in sight of it's target. When it approached Rhyhorn it's arm burst into bright orange.
A manic smile overtook it and delivered the hit knocking Rhyhorn out in one strike.
"Rhyhorn is unable to battle"
The rush of excitement seemed to die down as all the cheering crowd began to settle down.
"Rhyhorn return, you did really well," she said, holding the pokeball.
"So who's coming next? Is it Lombre again? Or are we going to see your third Pokemon" Norman asked.
"Sadly I don't think you'll get to see it just yet." she said as she took out a pokeball.
"Lombre I just need your help a little while longer" she said, throwing the pokeball.
As the light disappeared Lombre reappeared on the field.
The Vigoroth even after taking all that beating was able to stand up straight. It was definitely injured even I could tell.
As the combatants got ready I watched intently not being keen on missing a single second.
'Gym battles are tough business'
