Chapter 21: The Final Gym
Soon enough, Sapphire had claimed her Dark Badge from Marnie.
She'd had an easier time than Emerald due to her heavy emphasis on strategy and not brute force like her sister usually did. As usual, she'd set up a Toxic Spikes trap with Spike to soften Marnie's Pokémon up with poison damage and then she'd used Celestia to effortlessly sweep through most of her Pokémon. Even the strength of Grimmsnarl had barely slowed Sapphire down for she simply brought out Spike to finish the job. Spike's Poison-typing made Grimmsnarl's attacks mostly useless and gave him a type-advantage that swung the fight in his favour. Ashley had been impressed with Sapphire, noticing she'd grown a lot since the first time they'd fought back in the Budew Drop Inn. She seemed totally in sync with her Pokémon and seemed to plan her moves ahead in advance before executing them. She had to admit that the newbie was going to be a genuine threat for her and she had to admire how quickly she'd grown and matured in such a short amount of time. Cheren and Bianca had become skilled trainers very quickly too, though not as much as her, and she thought of them now while watching Sapphire in action. They'd probably like to meet her one day.
Marnie handed Sapphire her Dark Badge, unable to resist making a snarky comment on how all three of the Silverlock sisters had defeated her and she now had a whole family to surpass, much to Sapphire's amusement. She bid farewell to Marnie and the twins finally set off again for Hammerlocke City to challenge Raihan for the final badge. They could hardly believe that it was really going to be over soon. How were they on their way to challenge the final Gym and claim the final Gym Badge already? It felt like minutes ago that they were obtaining their first badge back in Turffield! The last time they'd been in Hammerlocke City, they'd been helping Ruby set a trap for Team Royal and had somehow ended up with a bomb threat to deal with. At least this time would be much more pleasant with no bombs to worry about. As they arrived back in the city, Emerald and Sapphire were discussing tactics they would use against Raihan when their time came.
"I'm naturally going to bring Celestia out." Sapphire explained, "I mean I'm in a Dragon Gym, it's practically mandatory to bring a Fairy-type to one! She'll be able to deal with Flygon, though Duraludon is a different beast altogether with its Steel-typing so I should bring a Fighting or Ground type into action to handle it."
"Absolutely." Emerald agreed, "And make sure to bring James Pond to deal with those Pokémon he uses to cause Sandstorms. He'll deal with them easily. As for me, I'll definitely bring Kerchak and Steelclaw into my battle." she thought, "And I'd love to bring Razer in too to let my own Dragon go up against Raihan's, but she still needs to evolve so I might have to train her up a bit." she murmured.
"I have some EXP candies spare if you need em'." Ashley offered, rummaging through her bag to fish some out, "I collected a few of them in the Wild Area but I don't really use them as I prefer to train with my Pokémon the traditional way. Just feeding them these candies is kinda cheating in my opinion."
She handed Emerald a few candies. These ones were the kind of EXP candies that boosted a Pokémon up by a large amount. Emerald was sure these would be enough to get Razer to evolve into a Haxorus. While some trainers may see using these candies as a way of training Pokémon by taking the easy option, it was handy if they wanted to evolve them in a hurry to be ready for a Gym Battle. Emerald brought Razer out of her Pokéball. Upon seeing her, Ashley stared in horror at her scarred face and back. The Fraxure could see what she was looking at and her face fell solemnly.
"I know, I must look a sight to you." Razer said grimly.
"Too right!" Ashley shrieked, "What the hell happened to you?! I doubt Emerald's been training you that harshly!"
"Of course I haven't!" Emerald protested, "I found her like that when she was still an Axew! She was very lucky I found her, otherwise she could've died."
She quickly filled Ashley in on Razer's past and her abusive trainer that caused the terrible scars and how she'd managed to get away from him. Ashley nodded and patted Razer softly on the head.
"I'm so sorry you had to suffer such awful abuse." the Unovan girl said sympathetically, "No Pokémon, or person even, should have to go through that. Man, if N saw this, he'd have a heart attack…" she muttered.
"Who's N?" asked Sapphire curiously.
"Long story." Ashley said quickly, "Maybe I'll tell you about him later. For now, Emerald should get this little Fraxure fully evolved. Let me tell ya, as someone who knows a Gym Leader with a Haxorus back home, you are in for one hell of a powerhouse to use in your battle!" she said excitedly.
"No kidding!" Emerald agreed, holding out the candies for Razer to eat, "I'm always hearing about how powerful Haxorus are. Even our former Champion used one in his team. I'm thrilled I'll have one of my own very soon!"
She waited for Razer to eat the candies. The Fraxure looked down at the candies in Emerald's hand and sniffed at them. She'd never seen food like this before and had no idea what they would taste like. The smell wasn't off-putting so she imagined they were good enough to eat. She gobbled up the candies, glad that they tasted as good as they smelt. Ever since escaping from her abusive trainer's camp, food of any kind just seemed to taste amazing to Razer as she'd been fed on a very poor diet back then. As soon as she ate every last candy in Emerald's hands, she instantly started to glow. Emerald, Sapphire and Ashley watched excitedly as the little Fraxure began to change into a huge Haxorus.
Her body grew in size, her skin became gold and black in colour, her legs thickened and her tail grew longer. But most striking of all were the changes to her tusks. They became huge curved axe-blades on either side of her head, hence her species name "Haxorus". Haxorus looked more like a dinosaur than a Dragon despite being a Dragon-type, but that didn't matter to Emerald. Razer had fully evolved and she seemed just as happy as everyone else was to see her this way. She looked herself over and admired her strong new body. Her scars from before still remained but they ended up complimenting her look rather than subtracting from it. Anyone looking at Razer now would see her as this powerful Pokémon that had won many battles and had the scars to prove it.
"Oh yeah! This I like!" Razer growled excitedly, her voice deeper and more raspy than before, "I feel like a whole new Pokémon in this form! If I was still with my old trainer, I could've chopped him to pieces with these tusks!" she added, looking down the sides of her face to admire them.
"You look incredible Razer! I bet you'll be great when we battle Raihan and his Pokémon!" Emerald squealed ecstatically, throwing her arms around Razer and hugging her tightly.
"I bet Iris would've loved this if she was here now." Ashley commented, awed at Emerald and Razer's tender hug with each other.
"And with that, I think that's all of Emerald's Pokémon fully evolved now." Sapphire commented, "I myself have two more that need evolving but I haven't found anyone to trade with yet to trigger those evolutions…" she lamented.
"Well ya got ME if ya need one of those." Ashley purred, winking at the Galarian girl.
Sapphire mentally face-palmed. Of course! Why hadn't SHE thought of that?! Ashley was with them so she could just ask her for help in that regard!
"Well, if you don't mind…" Sapphire said shyly.
"Don't sweat it! I'd always trade with Bianca or Cheren back home if I or they needed to trade-evolve a Pokémon so I'm OK with that." Ashley insisted.
"You two have your moment together." Emerald teased, "I'll just be making my way into Hammerlocke Stadium to get my badge now."
Sapphire and Ashley both blushed at Emerald's rather dirty comment. The girl in green returned Razer to her Pokéball and went into the stadium while Sapphire and Ashley went into the Pokémon Centre nearby to carry out the trade evolutions. They'd have their turns later and Emerald didn't have anything else to do at the minute so she may as well go first.
Upon entering, Emerald wondered if Paul had already finished here. He had set off ahead after his fight with Ashley so he'd have been here the whole time she and Ashley had spent watching Sapphire's battle with Marnie. He was probably gone now and had already won his Dragon Badge. If so then the next time they met, Emerald imagined it would be over in Wyndon City to battle in the semi-finals. Would it be her who got to fight him then? It all depended if she could clear this final Gym.
Later on, Emerald had changed into her Gym Uniform and was now walking into the centre of the arena with Raihan waiting for her. To think she'd only seen him the other day when he was helping carry out Ruby's plan and now there they were, ready to battle each other in a matter of minutes. After being away from the crowds for a while, it felt overwhelming to be hit with the tremendous noise of many fans chanting and cheering for both Gym Challenger and Gym Leader. Compared to the cheering of Team Yell back in Spikemuth, this crowd sounded practically gigantic by comparison. Emerald took a moment to look over Raihan. She often agreed with Ruby that Raihan was a very handsome Gym Leader and seeing him up close made Emerald feel a bit hot under the collar. His selfies didn't do him justice! Raihan could see what Emerald was thinking and he chuckled jovially.
"You're not the first girl to feel flushed at the sight of me." he joked, "Don't worry, I'm used to it. But don't get too distracted by my good looks, OK? Let's you and me have a battle that'll please even the Champion herself!" the Dragon Gym Leader cried enthusiastically.
"Oh y-yes! D-definitely!" Emerald said shyly.
The two took up their positions as the arena announcer's voice boomed out across the stadium to introduce the two to the audience, not that any of them needed one. Everyone here today knew who Raihan was and Emerald had fast appeared in the public's eye before she'd even won her first Gym Badge. Just being the Champion's sister was enough for anyone to know who she was.
"From Postwick Town: Emerald Silverlock. Her opponent: Gym Leader Raihan."
Both names fought for attention as the crowd screamed and shouted for Emerald and Raihan. This was always the most exciting Gym Battle for many people to watch as this was no ordinary Gym Battle. This was the battle that had the biggest stakes for all Gym Challenger as Raihan was the one ticket that grant them entrance to Wyndon Stadium or a ticket for their train ride home in defeat. Many Gym Challenger's hopes had been crushed in this one Gym. Only very few ever defeated Raihan, Ruby herself being among them. Emerald remembered just how heart-pounding it had been to watch the battle. She'd even thought Ruby was going to lose when Raihan took out half of her team almost single-handedly. The fact she'd won was a miracle in and of itself! Would she perform the same way or would she get soundly defeated? Emerald swallowed hard, her throat dry from nervousness. No Gym Leader had her quaking in her shoes as much as Raihan did. Maybe the fact he was the last one made all the difference? She tried her best to keep herself calm. She could win this! She WOULD win this battle!
"Pokémon Trainers: Standby."
The audience fell silent, respectfully and patiently awaiting the signal to go. Emerald swore that with the crowd no longer shouting, she could hear a pin drop somewhere. Raihan stood where he was, looking as cool and casual as he usually did. Deep inside, he was pretty excited at the fact he was facing the sister of the very girl that had defeated him twice last year. Ruby had been an amazing opponent so he was stoked to see if her skills passed on to Emerald. The other Gym Leaders had indicated as such with their own reports on her performance so she was clearly going to be a tough opponent. Would he be the one to break her winning streak? It would make a fine selfie to snap, he admitted.
"Three…two…one…BEGIN!" barked the announcer.
"Get ready Emerald for this is where the Gym Challenge ends for you!" Raihan cried excitedly, drawing out two Ultra Balls, "Come on out Flygon and Gigalith!"
Emerald had expected he'd start with those two. He'd done the same last year when fighting Ruby. Flygon and Gigalith were a strong pair to start with. Flygon was a powerful Dragon/Ground type Pokémon that packed quite a punch and could use a lot of powerful moves while Gigalith was a bulky Pokémon with strong defences and made a good supporting player to aid Flygon. Its Sand Stream ability was also troublesome for opponents as it could damage Pokémon that weren't Ground or Steel-types and soften them up a bit for Flygon to finish off. The sand storm kicked up as soon as Gigalith entered, sand blowing around Emerald and Raihan. Emerald squinted, trying to keep the sand out of her eyes while Raihan didn't even flinch. How he could stand that without batting an eye was a mystery to her.
"My Gym Challenge will end Raihan…with me claiming my eighth badge!" Emerald declared confidently, "Kerchak and Razer, let the fun begin!"
She threw her two Pokéballs and summoned her chosen battle pair. Because she'd anticipated Raihan would choose Flygon and Gigalith first, she'd decided Kerchak and Razer would be her starting duo for Kerchak could deal with Gigalith and Razer would hopefully deal with Flygon. It was risky for Dragon-types were super-effective against each other so it would all depend on which Pokémon was stronger. Emerald was confident that Razer would be enough to win over Flygon. With the sandstorm blowing over them and both opponents having chosen their Pokémon, Emerald's final Gym Battle had finally begun…
Meanwhile, Sapphire and Ashley had completed the trade and now Sapphire had a fully evolved team of Pokémon.
Her last two that had needed evolving were Matilda the Machoke and Phantom the Duskull. Luckily for Phantom, Sapphire had found a Reaper Cloth on her travels and had kept it with her for such an occasion. Duskull couldn't evolve unless it was traded while holding this item. Upon trading Matilda and Phantom over to Ashley, the two evolved into a Machamp and a Dusknoir respectively. As soon as they evolved, Ashley traded them back over for she'd only wanted to help Sapphire evolve them, not keep them for herself. She did like the look of Machamp and Dusknoir but was a trainer that preferred to use Pokémon native to her region as it was what she was used to. Also Sapphire had only wanted to evolve them, not give them away. After the trade back was complete, Sapphire put Matilda and Phantom's Pokéballs back in her backpack and she shook Ashley's hand gratefully.
"Thank you so much, Ashley. With these two fully evolved, I feel like I'm ready to take on the final Gym and the Champion Cup, should I actually qualify for it." she thanked.
"Don't mention it! I'm always happy to help a friend." Ashley said cheerfully, "I bet you'll use Matilda and Phantom if we end up battling each other again."
"Oh I intend to." Sapphire confirmed, "I have a few surprises in mind that both of them can carry out."
"I can't wait to see them." Ashley said eagerly.
Now they'd done in the Pokémon Centre, the two girls decided to go into Hammerlocke Stadium so they could watch Emerald's battle. They entered the lobby and took their seat to watch the wall-mounted TV screen. They could see that the battle had already started and Raihan was making the first move.
"Flygon, use Breaking Swipe and Gigalith, use Stealth Rock!" Raihan barked.
"Oooh, that's a good move to start with." Ashley commented, "Breaking Swipe can lower an opponent's attack so Emerald might be in trouble…"
She and Sapphire watched as Flygon's tail glowed purple in colour and it lashed out at its opponents. Breaking Swipe was an attack that hit all opponents on the opposite side of the arena and as Ashley said, it could lower an opponent's attack too. Flygon hit both Kerchak and Razer, making them recoil from the powerful blow. It hurt Razer more than Kerchak due to the attack being super-effective on her. But Razer didn't seem badly hurt, taking the attack with little problem. Both opponents flashed blue to signify a lowered Attack stat. After Flygon had finished, Gigalith set up a Stealth Rock to give Emerald additional problems. Pointed rocks now floated around Emerald's side of the arena and would slice into her Pokémon whenever she brought out a new one. Emerald wasn't deterred by this. She'd just watched Ashley try that with her own Gigalith when fighting Paul and that hadn't stopped him so Stealth Rock wouldn't stop her either!
"We can do better than that!" Emerald boasted, "Razer, use Outrage on Flygon and Kerchak, use Drum Beating on Gigalith!"
Both Pokémon attacked at the same time. Kerchak pounded furiously on his drum to summon the huge roots that he used to attack with while Razer surrounded herself with blue and orange draconian energy that made her look as if she was about to blast somebody to smithereens. The roots snaked their way towards Gigalith while Razer jumped over them to launch herself towards Flygon, looking very much like a bladed missile about to lay waste to an entire country. Razer slammed straight into Flygon, knocking the antlion like Pokémon down onto the floor while Kerchak's Drum Beating walloped Gigalith several times, almost knocking it off its feet. Every slam from the root felt like a sledgehammer coming down on Gigalith. Flygon on the other hand didn't get to feel much of anything…for Razer had knocked it out cold. It lay on its back in defeat and didn't move again. Raihan stared incredulously at his downed Pokémon while Razer flexed her small arms in triumph. Emerald knew that Haxorus were strong Pokémon with obscenely high attack but even she was surprised at how easily Razer had knocked Flygon out. Flygon were not weak Pokémon by any means so it was impressive that Razer had won so quickly.
"Oh yeah, I'm so glad I fully evolved now! This is amazing!" Razer cried excitedly, "I had no idea that we Axew became so strong when we become Haxorus!"
"You're not kidding!" Emerald laughed, "I bet you could give Leon's Haxorus some stiff competition with that kind of power!"
"I have to agree." Raihan said as he returned Flygon to its Pokéball, "Leon's Haxorus was a powerhouse on par with his Charizard. It was always giving me a tough time so I'm not too surprised your own Haxorus is already proving powerful. Let's see if she's powerful enough to handle my Sandaconda!"
He threw the ball and summoned forth his Sandaconda, another Pokémon he often paired up with his dragons to set up a dragon and sandstorm combo. Emerald supposed that he was saving Duraludon for last and wanted his Gigalith and Sandaconda to soften Kerchak and Razer up so Duraludon could finish them off. She'd show him why that plan was destined to fail!
Sapphire and Ashley watched on. It seemed that despite Raihan being the strongest Gym Leader and a trainer who had the power to be Champion of another region if he hadn't been so fixated on defeating Leon in the past, he was going to be the one that was fighting for survival. Gigalith and Sandaconda were both easy prey for Kerchak and Razer had enough raw strength to take any of them out if she needed to. Sapphire doubted even Duraludon could help Raihan out now. Her sister was going to win this! As much as she wanted to watch Emerald battle, she thought about how she and Ashley were alone together. Maybe while Emerald was having her Gym Battle, she could take this moment to get to know her crush some more. Sapphire gulped and tried to ignore the pounding in her chest. Why did she have to feel so shy around this girl? She'd never get anywhere if she kept being nervous around Ashley! She shifted a little closer. Ashley didn't notice. Her eyes were fixed on the TV screen as if trying to study Emerald and commit her tactics to memory. Sapphire imagined she was filing away whatever information she could gain from Emerald's battle in her brain so she could plan ahead to try and overwhelm her with counter-strategies. Sapphire once again took a moment to admire Ashley. She really was beautiful to her with the kind of body that combined sexy and strong. A perfect combination, she always thought. How many admirers back home did Ashley have? Knowing her luck, she probably already had a boyfriend or a girlfriend already and Sapphire was just fooling herself into thinking she'd ever win her heart. But she thought it wouldn't hurt to at least get to know her some more. Coughing nervously, Sapphire forced herself to ask a question.
"So, um…what inspired you to become a trainer?" she asked.
It was the first thing that came out of her head and she felt pleased to have picked a good subject to begin the conversation with. Ashley turned to the blue-haired teenager as if she'd forgotten she was sitting next to her.
"Why do you ask?" she asked with polite curiosity.
"N-no r-reason, really." Sapphire said bashfully, "Just that, you know, we're friends and all and we haven't r-really had a m-moment like this to r-really get to know each other. Y-you don't mind, d-do you?"
"Not at all." Ashley said jovially, "I'm always happy to know my friends more! We can talk about whatever ya like while we wait for Emerald ta win her Gym Badge, and we'll start with yer first question."
The two girls faced one another as Ashley began her story.
"My interest in Pokémon all started when I was just a baby." the Champion explained, "My grandpa was the Pokémon enthusiast in the family and while my mom and dad never shared his passion, they didn't mind him sharing it with me to see if I would pick it up. Grandpa had been a trainer since he was a kid and, believe it or not, had actually been a Champion of Unova back in his day! He'd lost his title to the man I would later succeed as Champion so sadly, I never got to see him as a Champion. Still, I would see his trophy whenever I visited his house and would marvel at how beautiful it looked. His one wish was to see me carry that trophy myself one day…" she concluded.
"That sounds lovely." Sapphire said with awe, "So your grandpa got you into Pokémon and it's led to this. What was the first Pokémon you ever saw?"
"His Samurott." Ashley answered, "Before you ask, it's the fully evolved form of Oshawott, the Water-type starter in Unova. Oshawott had been his first Pokémon and he'd carried her with him all the way to the Unova League, evolving her into Samurott after many hard fought battles. His Samurott was apparently the Pokémon that landed the final blow that sealed his Championship victory. When I was two, he showed me Samurott's Pokéball and brought her out for me to see. At first I was a little scared as I didn't know what a Pokémon was at the time. But when I saw how friendly and gentle Samurott was, I fell in love with her and wanted to know more about Pokémon. And thus a lifelong bond with grandpa was born as we grew close from his teachings about Pokémon and battling. Mom always said that I made him the happiest he'd ever been since he lost his Championship title." she added, smiling at the fond memories she had.
"Aww, how sweet!" Sapphire cried delightedly, "How's your grandpa now? Was he there when you became the Champion?"
Ashley's face fell and her eyes lowered down to her feet. Sapphire's heart sank. Clearly she'd asked the wrong questions for things were about to turn sad in this conversation.
"No…I'm so sorry to say Sapph, but he didn't." Ashley said grimly, "He was killed by Ghetsis, a horrible monster that had no right to call himself a human being. He led a criminal organization called Team Plasma and wanted to manipulate the hearts of mankind into releasing their Pokémon so that he could have all Pokémon for himself and rule the world. Grandpa caught wind of this and tried to stop him when Team Plasma was still in its infancy. Instead, he wound up fed to his Hydreigon. Ghetsis took great pleasure in gloating about that to my face, especially as he was gonna subject me to the same fate at the time…" she added, her eyes welling up with tears.
"Oh my god!" Sapphire gasped in horror, "That's awful! Oh Ashley, I'm so sorry that happened to him! And this Ghetsis bloke tried to feed you to his Hydreigon too?! I can't imagine how terrifying that must've been!"
"I'm just amazed my heart didn't stop when it came outta the shadows to eat me and my friends…" Ashley said with a grimace, "Every time I see that damn Pokémon now, I get triggered and I can't look at a Hydreigon without thinking of what Ghetsis did to grandpa and tried to do to me…I…I miss him so much! I wish I could've somehow prevented this from happening!" she wailed.
Her head fell into her hands and she sobbed heavily. Sapphire was dismayed to see her love looking so upset. She'd never seen Ashley so upset before. She felt guilty for asking her about her grandfather and bringing back those painful memories for her. But Sapphire didn't blame herself. It wasn't her fault, she didn't know that would happen and Ashley wouldn't hold it against her. Sapphire pulled Ashley close and hugged her to give her a shoulder to cry on. Ashley seemed to appreciate the gesture for her wrapped her arms around the Galarian girl in return and wept into her shoulder. Her tears stained Sapphire's hoodie but the black teen didn't care. She ran her hand softly down Ashley's back to comfort her. After a minute, Ashley regained herself and wiped her eyes. She looked embarrassed at crying in front of her friend like that.
"S-sorry…I g-get so emotional when I recap those events…" the Unovan girl said, snivelling.
"Don't be. You can't help it." Sapphire said sympathetically, "You were very close to your granddad and his death will make you sad. It's only natural to get upset. I'm sorry I asked about him. If I'd know about this and how much it upset you, I wouldn't have asked."
"You weren't to know if you didn't ask." Ashley said understandingly, "I don't mind talking about grandpa anyway. Mom always tells me that talking about someone you've lost is the best way to keep them alive. As long as I have the memories of grandpa…he's never truly gone, you know?"
"That's a nice sentiment to live by." Sapphire agreed, "So what happened to Ghetsis after he tried to kill you? Did you defeat him? Is he in jail or dead?"
"He's locked up and given his fragile mind snapped in two after I kicked his ass, he's pretty much dead anyway, so kinda both." Ashley growled, "He's rotting away in some mental asylum where he'll never terrorize anyone again. I'm glad you and your sisters will never meet him. He'd have given you all nightmares with what an insane freak he was…"
"No kidding! He feeds people to his Pokémon! That's pretty messed up!" Sapphire cried, grimacing in disgust, "So after you beat Ghetsis, was that the end of Team Plasma? And then you became the Champion after that?"
"Oh yes." Ashley said, sounding much happier now she could talk about something good, "Team Plasma fell apart like a bridge with no supports when Ghetsis lost his mind. It was easy rounding them up and arresting them all afterwards. With their plans destroyed, I was able to challenge the then Champion, Alder, and succeed him as the current Champion of Unova. Alder was very gracious with his defeat, especially since I'd stopped Team Plasma so he felt I more than deserved to take his place. I like to think grandpa was looking down on me when I entered the Hall of Fame and took my place as the new Champion…" she sighed happily.
Sapphire beamed. She liked to think her grandfather was there too. There was just one more question she had on her mind.
"Who was N? You mentioned him earlier." she inquired, "Is he a friend of yours or…"
"Sorta." Ashley cut in, "N was actually part of Team Plasma and was viewed as their "king", acting like the boss when it was really Ghetsis who was running the show. Despite that, N wasn't really a "bad guy", just heavily sheltered and grossly misled in life. Ghetsis took him in when he was just a kid and manipulated him all his life into thinking humans were bad and Pokémon were mistreated and oppressed under their rule. I helped him see that Ghetsis had lied to him the whole time and he came to see that the world wasn't so black and white. I felt so sorry for him when Ghetsis confessed to his face that he was just a pawn in his wicked scheme and his life had been a lie." she said solemnly.
"Oh that poor lad!" Sapphire said sympathetically, "That must've been horrible for him…I hope he's doing OK now."
"Last I heard, he's been enjoying his new life outside of Team Plasma's influences." the teen trainer answered, "He even asked how I was before I left for Galar. He spends his time rescuing Pokémon from abusive humans and watching over Unova with his faithful Pokémon, the Legendary Reshiram, from time to time. He's looking after the region while I'm gone along with my friends, Bianca and Cheren."
"That's wonderful." the blue-haired girl said happily, "It must be great to have friends you can rely on. Speaking of friends, do you have any…boyfriends or girlfriends? In fact, are N, Bianca or Ashley people you like romantically or…"
"Oh gosh no! No, no, no! We're all just friends! Nothing more!" Ashley exclaimed with a slight chuckle, "Ha, ha, I can't see myself ever liking Bianca or Cheren romantically! They're more like siblings to me! Besides, they're in a relationship with each other. I'll admit that we did once joke about being in a threesome together, but it was just that, a joke. As for N, he DID have a crush on me but due to his sheltered upbringing, he came off as creepy to me, but that wasn't his fault. Ghetsis didn't bring him up right so he didn't know that his behaviour was creepy. Now he knows, he's more respectful to me and doesn't act that way anymore. As is, he's just an enemy turned friend to me. I could never love him romantically. I've been hoping to find the right person for a while now…"
She looked over at Sapphire with a soft smile.
"…and maybe I might find that person while I'm here." she said, winking slyly.
Sapphire blushed. She liked how Ashley seemed to be implying that she might be into her like she was into her. She was glad that Ashley wasn't taken already as it would've been pretty sad to know her crush had been for nothing. She placed her hand over Ashley's, gazing into her eyes longingly.
"M-m-maybe y-you will." she stammered, "In the meantime, thank you for sharing those stories with me. It's been interesting to know what got you into Pokémon and how you got where you are now."
"Anytime." Ashley said graciously, "And thank you for comforting me when I broke down earlier."
"You're welcome." Sapphire replied.
She felt warm and good inside to see that this was going well. Maybe it was possible that the two could become a couple after all. But Sapphire had a feeling that it wasn't to be. Ashley would probably go home to Unova if she lost the Championship Tournament. How would they be able to have a relationship when Ashley lived so far away? Sapphire didn't want to think about it for now as it would give her some unneeded stress that could interfere with her Pokémon battles that were upcoming. Besides, they weren't official yet so it was pointless to worry about it. It was best to see how things went from here. At least for now, she could be glad that Ashley liked her and they could be good friends for the moment…
Meanwhile, the battle was still going in Emerald's favour.
After Raihan had brought Sandaconda out to substitute for his fallen Flygon, Emerald ordered Kerchak to use Drum Beating on the Ground-type Pokémon. She had wanted Razer to finish off Gigalith while it was still weak but a side-effect of Outrage was that the user couldn't always control who they were aiming for in battle so Razer ended up hitting Sandaconda. With both of her Pokémon ganging up on Sandaconda like this, it was no surprise that it ended up being knocked clean out and leaving Raihan with another Pokémon less to use. Gigalith had retaliated by using Body Press on Razer but it didn't make a bit of difference. Razer took the blow easily and Sandaconda was still knocked out and unable to battle so Gigalith may as well have not done anything at all. The crowd screamed and cheered in amazement. They hadn't expected Emerald to be doing as well as she was. It had been a long time before any Pokémon trainer had come to Raihan's Gym and taken out two of his Pokémon with relative ease. Even Emerald couldn't believe what was happening. She'd expected that like Ruby before her, she'd lose a Pokémon or two but for the moment, Raihan was down to two and she hadn't last anyone yet! Maybe it was luck and she had just chosen the right Pokémon to start with. But it was early days yet. The battle was far from over.
And now will come his mighty Duraludon. Emerald thought, Stay cool Emerald! This is where the real battle begins…
She watched Raihan with baited breath as he returned Sandaconda to its ball and drew out his next one. The Dragon master flashed a toothy grin of confidence that showed he was far from done yet.
"You're really showing that Ruby's skills as a Pokémon trainer have carried from sister to sister." Raihan complimented, "It's easy to see how you've got this far in the Gym Challenge. But mark my words, this is far as you get for my Duraludon will bring your Gym Challenge to its end!"
He threw his Ultra Ball and out came his personal ace and strongest Pokémon. Emerald's stomach tingled as Duraludon threw its head back and roared, a harsh metallic sound that fitted its mechanical appearance. She remembered all too well from watching it in battle against Ruby last year. Her eyes had been glued to the screen when Duraludon had Gigantamaxed and taken out both Gene the Obstagoon and Bugs the Cinderace at the same time. It had taken the mighty Vesuvius the Coalossal to finally defeat it and even that hadn't been easy due to Duraludon's bulky defences. This was the Pokémon that could turn everything around for Emerald.
"This is it Kerchak and Razer! The very Pokémon that we have to watch out for!" Emerald warned, "Now we get to see if we have the strength to take it down!"
"I bet with my new body, I can floor that Duraludon no problem!" Razer said hotly.
"Maybe, it's too risky." Emerald noted, "Duraludon doesn't have a weakness to other Dragon-types due to being half-Steel so I need two Pokémon that can land super-effective hits."
"I know a Fighting move so can I stay out and fight?" asked Kerchak.
"Of course! I was going to use you against Duraludon anyway!" Emerald said brightly, "As for who to bring out in place of Razer, I think I have just the partner for you…"
She returned Razer to her Pokéball, the Haxorus looking a little disappointed she was being recalled. Emerald remembered Ruby's teachings on Duraludon's weaknesses, Ground and Fighting attacks, so she'd made sure to bring a Ground-type Pokémon with her for this one. She threw her next Pokéball, summoning out Steelclaw the Excadrill. Steelclaw clashed his claws together to create a few sparks to try and intimidate his opponents. He winced a little as the Stealth Rock trap cut into him but due to his typing, he barely felt anything from it. Raihan could see that Emerald was banking on a Ground-type like Steelclaw to give his Duraludon some trouble. He'd show how his ace wasn't so easily defeated.
Emerald and Raihan then held out their Pokéballs and returned Kerchak and Duraludon to them. The audience cheered for they knew what was coming next. For many, Dynamaxing was the best part of any battle and it never got boring to watch. The excitement in the audience grew immensely as Dynamax energy swirled around Emerald and Raihan's wrists and expanded their Pokéballs to huge sizes. As usual, Raihan paused in the middle of his Dynamax process so his Rotom phone could snap a selfie of him holding his extra-sized Pokéball. Emerald just giggled. She'd always found his love of selfies strangely adorable. Then the two trainers threw their Pokéballs and their Pokémon emerged out of them. Kerchak and Duraludon grew to towering heights with Kerchak looking not different as he was only capable of Dynamaxing while Duraludon could Gigantamax. Gigantamax Duraludon always looked unusual to Emerald, looking like a giant skyscraper with arms, legs and a head to her. This battle would be like a giant gorilla fighting a sentient building and it made the audience go wild with excitement to see it happen. Steelclaw gulped at seeing the Dynamaxed Pokémon. He was already a very small Pokémon and seeing these colossal behemoths towering over him made him feel even smaller, like an ant surrounded by elephants.
"Blimey, I suddenly feel very puny and insignificant compared to Kerchak and that Duraludon right now…" he muttered to himself.
"No worries Steelclaw! Size isn't everything!" Emerald said brightly, "You'll be fine out there! Now Kerchak, let's get the battle going with Max Knuckle!"
Kerchak obeyed. He conjured up a huge red fist made up of energy that loomed just above his head and then he sent it slamming down towards Duraludon as if he'd launched his own personal missile at it. The metal dragon, skyscraper creature cried out as it was punched by the attack. Despite being Gigantamaxed, it did nothing to stop the attack from doing a lot of damage to it. Duraludon stumbled backwards from the punch, looking dangerously like a tower about to be knocked down by an earthquake. The towering Pokémon managed to regain its balance and retaliated by using Max Knuckle on Kerchak. The Dynamaxed gorilla Pokémon braced himself for impact as the giant fist of energy came shooting down towards him. The attack hit but Kerchak wasn't weak to Fighting attacks so he wasn't as hurt by the blow as Duraludon had been when he had used Max Knuckle earlier. Kerchak shook off the attack as if nothing had happened. After both had used Max Knuckle on each other, the side-effect of the Max move kicked in and gave both of them an Attack boost. Now when Kerchak and Duraludon attacked again, they would hit even harder than before, as would their partners as Max Knuckle boosted an ally's Attack too.
Meanwhile, Gigalith was ordered to use Body Press on Steelclaw. Raihan was hoping to take the mole Pokémon out before he could be a threat to Duraludon and help Kerchak in defeating it. Gigalith jumped up into the air, making Emerald gasp in astonishment at the sight of this bulky rock creature somehow jumping high up off the floor, and it came crashing down on top of Steelclaw. Steelclaw did have a Fighting-type weakness but Excadrills were tough Pokémon to damage. Even a super-effective hit wasn't guaranteed to knock it out in a single hit. Steelclaw grunted as the heavy Gigalith crashed down on him but he was quickly back on his feet seconds later and brushing himself off. Raihan was disappointed. He'd hoped Gigalith could've taken Steelclaw out to try evening the odds. Emerald was delighted to see that despite Raihan's best efforts, her Pokémon were far from down and clearly ready to keep going.
"You're doing great out there! Now let's see if we can wrap things up!" Emerald cheered, "Steelclaw, use Drill Run on Duraludon and Kerchak, you use Max Knuckle on Duraludon too!"
Steelclaw was the first to hit due to being much faster than Kerchak. Despite being intimidated by the colossal size of the Gigantamaxed Duraludon, Steelclaw forced himself to remain calm and carried out Emerald's command. He spun through the air in a drill formation and zoomed towards Duraludon. At his puny size, he looked like a bullet firing towards his opponent from a hidden gun somewhere in the arena. But Emerald had been right to say that size didn't matter for Steelclaw hit Duraludon straight on…and that was all he'd needed to do. The single Drill Run had been enough for him to finish the fight. Duraludon cried out as the remainder of its health was sapped away and its Dynamax energy was drained away, returning it to its normal size and appearance. Duraludon swayed on its feet for a moment, and then it collapsed onto its side. Everyone was speechless. How did this tiny, un-Dynamaxed Pokémon knock a Gigantamaxed Duraludon out cold? It was probably thanks to Kerchak's Max Knuckle boosting his and Steelclaw's Attack both at the same time so that might've given Steelclaw enough of a boost to finish the fight. Now Duraludon was down, Kerchak had no choice but to aim his Max Knuckle at Gigalith. To no one's surprise, that single attack was all he needed to finish off Gigalith. It had been weakened sufficiently by Kerchak's earlier Drum Beating and now it was being bombarded by a Max Move. It had no chance of staying in the fight after that. Raihan was left speechless as both his Pokémon lay together on the arena floor, completely unable to fight anymore. The audience fell silent as they took in what had happened. And then the cheering began.
This had been the first time in history that ANY Gym Challenger had defeated Raihan's Pokémon without losing any Pokémon themselves. Emerald had unintentionally made history here at the Hammerlocke City Gym. The Postwick girl was just as speechless as Raihan was. How had she, a trainer nowhere near as powerful as Ruby, managed to clean-sweep the strongest Gym Leader in Galar while her sister hadn't been able to?! Either beginner's luck was being very generous to her or she was much stronger than she thought she was! Even Marnie had given her a tougher battle than Raihan had and he was supposed to be the strongest! She stood for a moment with her eyes wide in shock as Kerchak returned to his normal size and the audience cheered for her and her Pokémon.
"Duraludon and Gigalith are unable to battle! Rillaboom and Excadrill are the winners!" the announcer boomed, "The winner of the Hammerlocke Gym Challenge is Emerald Silverlock of Postwick Town! She has completed the Gym Challenge and now progresses to the semi-finals over at Wyndon Stadium!"
"You…you mean it's over? I've completed the Gym Challenge? I really did it?" Emerald gasped.
It seemed impossible to her that she'd managed to clear the Gym Challenge as easily as she'd done and with only Kabu and Marnie taking any of her Pokémon out in the entire Challenge. Even Ruby's track record hadn't been this amazing! She'd had harder battles against her own sister and Paul than with any of the Gym Leaders! Raihan returned his Pokémon and approached Emerald. The teenager hadn't move at all so he decided he'd come to her. She was still in shock from her clearing the Gym Challenge as easily as she'd done so she couldn't move for the moment.
"I see you're surprised at the fact you've earned a place in the semi-finals." Raihan said casually, "Well you better believe it, Emerald. You've won and you're gonna be on your way to Wyndon City! I can't imagine how happy Ruby must be to see you making it to the next stage of the tournament!"
Emerald looked up at Raihan as if she'd only just realized he was talking to her. Her face broke into a broad grin of excitement as she finally snapped out of her surprised state and jumped about a foot in the air with triumph.
"YAAAAAAAAAAAY! I actually beat the Gym Challenge! I really did it! I can't believe it! I won, I won, I won!"
"Ha, ha! You sure did!" Raihan chuckled, "And as your reward, here's your Dragon Badge."
He handed Emerald her final Gym Badge. Emerald admired the badge with pride, amazed to see that she was actually holding it in her hand. She'd done it at last! She'd started off as a newcomer from a quaint farming town like Ruby before her and she'd completed the Gym Challenge on her first try. She was so entranced by her victory and what she'd achieved that she'd completely zoned out. The cheering of the crown seemed distant to her like it was far away. She would be going to Wyndon City for the semi-final battles in which she'd hopefully get a chance to qualify for the Champion's Cup. Then she'd hopefully get a chance to battle Ruby herself. Emerald didn't expect to win of course but she was going to show her sister how far she'd come since being given her first Pokémon for her birthday so many days ago…
Pokemon evolved: Razer the Fraxure, now Razer the Haxorus
The twins have all eight badges! The Gym Challenge has been completed and they're off to Wyndon City to take part in the semi-finals! Who else will be going too? We'll find out soon enough, but first, Ruby has to deal with Sordward and Shielbert so she may have to work on "Drawing the Enemy Out" next time...
Trivia: I bet Ruby is feeling so jealous of Emerald right now. She gets to clear Raihan's Gym without losing a single Pokemon while Raihan takes out half of Ruby's team in her story. Poor Ruby. XD It seriously went like this in the game and I have no idea how. I guess Rillaboom and Haxorus is a good match-up to Raihan's team. XD Switching Haxorus out for Steelclaw was part of the plan during that match as I knew Duraludon would've given Razer some trouble so sending a Ground type out to fill in was the best option for me. :)
The talk between Sapphire and Ashley also exists to further develop their relationship and to set up plot points and details for me to work with in the future prequel story based on Black and White I have planned that'll be focused on Ashley. ;)