Nikki Allaire was scared out of her mind though she didn't want Guzma to know it. He had brought the pink haired female to a rather rocky and ominous area of the island. In the middle of the rocky terrain was a large pool like area. "That's where the Pokémon rests. You have fun over there, kid. Uncle Guzma is just going to sit back here and watch you try to catch it. Welcome to part one of your training.", Guzma hopped onto a smooth rock and sat back. Nikki stared at him like she was going to kill him. He was supposed to be helping her not leaving her alone. "Oh one more thing, kid. I'll take your pokebelt except for one pokeball and that Gible of yours.", Nikki looked horrified. Did Guzma want her to die? Yes, she knew she couldn't use Echo, but to only leave her with one pokeball. This was insane. Especially if the Pokémon Nikki was supposed was as vicious and tough as Guzma and Dexter had said. Of course they could have just been messing with her yet right now she wasn't so sure. She looked at Guzma who was urging her to move forward, "come on kid. You have to go and do this. This is your test remember not mine. So you just go ahead and see if the demon spawn is in that pool thing over there."
Nikki gulped as she grabbed Junior's pokeball. She didn't know why they wanted her to use Junior. She loved the little Gible, but she had never used him in battle. She loved the Gible so much. He had such a unique personality and was so caring. The thought of Junior also caused Nikki to think of her foremen best friend. It was JJ that had gifted Junior to Nikki after his egg had hatched. It was one of the first genuine moments of true friendship that Nikki had ever experienced. But now JJ and her had gotten into another massive fight and the thought of her former best friend still stung Nikki. That was why she had agreed to undergo such intense training. So the pink haired female could forget what had happened between her and JJ. Still Nikki couldn't help, but wonder how JJ was doing. If she even cared that Nikki had essentially disappeared. It was no matter now as JJ had told Nikki that she wished she was dead. Perhaps she would be after this training and that way JJ would be happy. Nikki continued to hold Junior's pokeball in her hand until finally tossing it into the air.
"Gible?", Junior blinked and looked around. He had never seen this area before. It gave him a bad vibe as he ran over to his mother. Nikki got on her knees as she flashed a smile at the Gible. Junior just blinked at his mother and titled his head, "Gib?" He was so confused at what was going on. All he knew was that his mom was looking at him very intently. Junior had known that look when he had been in trouble before, but he couldn't remember what he did. Nikki gently stroked the top of the Gible's head, "you're not in trouble buddy. But I do need you to do something you've never done before. I need you to battle. It's important. I know that you have it in you to win and beat whatever we are up against." Junior gulped, he had never been in battle before, but he couldn't let Nikki down. He hoped his aunt JJ and her cynaquil would be there to watch him. Instead all he saw was a white haired man that was typing away on his phone. There was no sign of aunt JJ. "Gible Gib?", Junior pointed around and threw his arms in the air. Nikki couldn't bear to tell Junior what had happened or that Aunt JJ wouldn't be coming around as much. That JJ had hurt Nikki with her words. Junior loved JJ as much as he loved Nikki. So this upset him that she wouldn't be here, but he just sadly nodded.
Junior and Nikki started to walk towards the watering hole/pool where Guzma had said the creature was. Nikki and Junior started to get even closer and then the ground started to shake underneath them. The former Team Skull leader just started to laugh as Nikki looked back at him, "I told you that this Pokémon was tough. What you thought I was bullshitting?" Guzma had to admit that even this Pokémon would give HIM of all people a hard time. Dexter had been adamant that this girl, and her friend that he had went to track down, had the skills in order to help them find Dexter's sister. So Guzma wanted to see if this pink haired female would live up to the hype. Of course right now she looked terrified as did the Gible that she had in her arms now. Nikki was supposed to be tough and Guzma wanted to see if she truly was. She had stopped which caused him to laugh some more, he motioned for her to walk forward. "Come on Nicole, don't be too afraid. It's not going to bite too hard.", Guzma cracked up at his own joke. Nikki gulped as she took another step forward.
The creature within the pool of water leapt out in front of Nikki and Gible. Nikki was even more scared than before. The creature stood on two legs as it's scaly body glimmered from the water. It was all black except for the silver jaw, silver stomach, and silver spikes that went throughout its body. Junior hid behind Nikki, he was shaking. The horrifying Pokémon stared at Nikki with a scowl on its face. "Gatr!", Nikki pulled out her Pokédex phone as she pointed it at the creature. She had done this with Junior earlier and now knew his attacks, but she wanted to see what she was up against. Nikki's trembling right hand focused on the scary looking Pokémon that had emerged from the pool. "Feraligatr, the scourge of Avantura, while this Pokémon has made their home in Johto this one resides in Avantura. Known to fight humans and Pokémon at a whim, this Pokémon is not to be messed with. This one is a dark and steel type. It is undefeated. It knows the attacks shadow claw, gyro ball, dream eater, fiery wrath, and perish song.", Nikki was even more worried than before. This was the worst possible thing she had expected. She looked over at Junior who was standing in front of the Feral Pokémon. Junior was trying to act tough and strong which caused the scourge pokemon to laugh.
The Feraligatr just swatted Junior away with his tail as the Gible went flying through the air, "Gible!" Junior hit the ground hard as Nikki winced at the sight of her beloved Gible being tossed aside like a ball. "Junior, why don't you...", before Nikki could give a command Junior was chairing right at the much bigger Pokémon. "Junior, stop!", but the little Gible was not listening. All he was concerned about was impressing his mother and not backing down from the challenge. He had never battled before so he didn't understand what he was doing or how he needed to listen to Nikki. Junior just charged again and was once again batted away like a ball. "Junior you need to listen to...", Junior dusted himself off and again charged for a third time at the Feraligatr. This time the Avantura version of the Johto starter sighed. This Gible was stupid. The more experienced Feraligatr started to form a silver ball of energy in his mouth. He fired off the Gyro Ball attack that hit the dragon type head on as Junior was tossed into the air. The Feraligatr's left claw glowed with shadow energy as he slashed at Junior. The Gible being implanted into the ground.
Guzma was not impressed, "I guess Dexter is going blind or has sort of brain tumor. This girl can't even control her Gible. Dexter thinks she can bring down The Righteous and The Institute? He needs to reevaluate his skills of judging talent." Of course Guzma could give her advice and he would get involved if he needed too, but he had promised not to interfere unless Nikki was really in trouble. It wasn't at that point yet, but it was close. Guzma just shook his head as he saw the Feraligatr laughing as Nikki's Gible was struggling to get up. It was too wild and untamed this was why she needed to have used it before. Gusma had always been smart to rotate his Pokémon in and out. This gave them balance and why he was the best trainer Alola had ever seen. Nikki had clearly been too interested in relying on her mega Pokémon to help her out of jams like this. Guzma had easily dispatched of a boy from Kanto who had over relied onto his stupid pikachu when he had challenged Guzma to a battle. Nikki appeared to be one of those type of trainers as well which disappointed Guzma greatly. "Hey kid, I am here if you need help. Not really, but I just thought I would other because ya boi is a great guy.", Guzma had just laughed again.
Nikki wasn't hearing the taunts from Guzma or the fact that the Feraligatr was laughing at Junior. All Nikki cared about was taking care of Junior, he was struggling to get up from the ground. His tiny body was covered in bruises, Nikki ran up to her beloved Gible. "Ok this is enough Junior. You're going to get yourself hurt even more. You might even die. Let me help you up and get you to a Pokémon center. This was too much way too fast. I think that it's time to go and try again once you get more experience.", Nikki reached out her hands to pick Junior up, but the Gible but her hands. It was a love bite and not meant to break the skin. Still it did hurt and Nikki pulled her hands away in shock. Junior had gotten up off the grind and stared at Nikki there were tears in his eyes. "Gible, Gible, Gib, Gible!", Junior flapped his arms up and down as more tears formed in his eyes. Junior wanted to fight and battle, he had watched as everyone else had battled, but he never got the shot. Junior didn't think it was fair! He wanted to fight and Nikki was taking away his chance. He was sick of being babied and treated differently than the other Pokémon! He pleaded with his mother to let him prove himself as a real Pokémon.
The words hit home for Nikki as she understood what he was saying. She had been babying him far to much. He was a powerful dragon type and wanted to prove it. Nikki was a shit trainer at times and she knew that Junior deserved better. But Nikki could relate to her beloved Pokémon more than just that. She knew what it was like to be babied and treated with kid gloves. Have people doubt you and think you couldn't handle yourself. That had been going on ever since they all had found out that she was an Allaire. Everyone had treated her like she was just as fragile as her mega stone was that had upset her greatly. Nikki was tough, she had found the mega stone which was not an easy task. She was the only one in the group that had the mega stone anyways. So they should treat her like she could handle herself just like Junior wanted to do. Ava and JJ were the two biggest sinners out of their group of friends. Nikki had noticed that Ava had taken it so easy on Nikki in terms of training. Arceus, she had let Nikki win some times, which shouldn't have happened. Ava was stronger than Nikki yet had taken it easy on the pink haired female. Nikki hated it. Then there was JJ who didn't let Nikki out of her sights. Every where Nikki went JJ was attached at the hip. Nikki loved JJ so much, but JJ didn't understand that Nikki wasn't as fragile as JJ thought she was. That was why Nikki had been willing to go on this adventure. She wanted to prove to Ava and JJ that she could handle herself.
Nikki patted Junior on his head, "I am sorry Junior that I didn't treat you better. You should be fighting more. That's my fault. But I have learned from my mistake and I am ready to let you fight." Junior nodded his head. He wanted to fight and take down this arrogant Pokémon he was fighting. If his mother was behind him then Junior felt like he could take the Pokémon down. It was going to be tough to take the Avantura Feraligatr down, but now Junior felt like he could do it. "Of course, you need to listen to me. I have your list of moves on my Pokédex here. We actually have a little advantage on this Pokémon do to its typing, but you actually need to follow my commands. You can't run head long into battle. We need to follow my strategy. If we do this then we can actually win this thing.", Junior continued to nod. He was determined to show that he was strong. To prove that he wasn't some wimpy baby Pokémon anymore. Nikki smiles as she turned to face the Feraligatr, there was only one problem as it was walking back to its water hole. It clearly didn't think much of Nikki or Junior. It seemed absolutely bored by the both of them. This just made Nikki and Junior even more pissed off than they were.
"Junior, don't let it get back into its hole! Use earth power to let it know that we are still ready to fight.", Junior lifted his hands up as some pieces of the rocky terrain lifted into the air as well. Junior moved his arms forward as the shards of rock pelted the steel and dark type. The Feraligatr turned around to see what or who had attacked him. What he saw made him laugh: the little Gible it had fought earlier was huffing and puffing, but had apparently delivered the attack. The scourge of Avantura just rolled his eyes, "Gatr." Other Pokémon had been brave and tougher than this little Gible. They had still lost to this powerful Feraligatr before so he figured he would easily take down the Pokémon he had been batting around like a ball earlier. The Feraligatr's left hand started to glow with the dark energy of the shadows again as he charged at Junior which played into the trap that Nikki had laid for the dark and steel type. Nikki waited and waited for the perfect moment to strike with Junior. Then it arrived, "Junior use Fire blast!" The Gible's mouth filled with a ball of fire as the Feraligatr's eyes widened in horror. Junior fired the fire attack right into the middle of the Feraligatr, the fire took a toll on the steel type as the Feraligatr fell to the ground. Still flames shot around him signaling that the Pokémon was indeed burned.
"DOWN GOES FRAISER, DOWN GOES FRAISER!", Guzma always had a sports reference at the ready. There was nothing more fitting that applied to the situation than that iconic call. Guzma gave Nikki and Junior a round of applause now he was seeing what Dexter had been talking about. She did have a very good connection with her Pokémon which as important. That was what Guzma wanted to see: was she just a cute pink haired trainer with a great ass or did she know how to raise and train Pokémon at an elite level? Well he had gotten his answer, she was great. Contrary to popular belief, Guzma actually had a great relationship with his Pokémon. That was what made Dexter actually respect him. So Dexter had sent Guzma over here to make sure that Nikki also had this great connection to her Pokémon. She did indeed have this connection. Guzma had to admit that the female was clever too as she had used the fire blast attack which not even Guzma knew Gibles could learn. He was impressed with her ability as a trainer and a strategist. Guzma sat up as he wanted to see what was going to happen next.
The Feraligatr winced as he started to get to his feet. The burns around him had taken a little toll. Nikki was getting excited as she wanted Junior to win his first battle. But she also knew this was where she could make a mistake. So rather she wanted to be strategic. "Junior stealth rock.", if the Feraligatr tried to escape stone would dig into him. Of course being a steel type, the Feraligatr did not mind the rocks. The creature was starting to really get annoyed by Junior and Nikki. In fact it wanted to end the fight right here and right now. "Gatr...", there was a dark energy starting to form around him like flames. He just stared at Nikki and Junior as his anger was building up. Nikki knew that it was going to be some sort of powerful attack from the creature so she had to counter it somehow. "Junior prepare another fire blast.", the Gible nodded as fire and flames started to form in his mouth again. The Feraligatr continued to build up anger and hatred as the dark energy formed around his body. This was its Fiery Wrath move that had knocked so many other Pokémon out. The infamous creature roared as it charged at Junior with its dark energy. Junior fired off the fire blast which struck perfectly, but the Feraligatr ignored this as he released all his wrath and dark energy as he crashed into Junior. The little Gible screamed as he flew through the air and landed hard on the ground. The Feraligatr roared as he thought he was victorious.
"Junior!", Nikki started to run over to her beloved Gible's side. He looked like he had just been killed by the vicious Pokémon. That was a nasty attack. Tears started to form in Nikki's eyes as she reached his side, but then she saw something that shocked everyone even Guzma. "Gib...le", Junior started to pull himself up off the ground. No other Pokémon had been able to get up after that move had been used. It was the ultimate sign that Junior was tough. The little Gible pulled himself up as he swayed for a moment before steadying himself. He couldn't let his mom down, he was going to fight even if he was to die. Junior wanted to show he was tough and strong just like Nikki's other Pokémon. He had tremendous amount of heart and determination. Any other Pokémon would have given up, but not Junior. Nikki was so blown away by the Gible, she had been wrong to baby him. He was really strong and powerful. Nikki wished her former best friend could have been here to see him fight. But Nikki shook off the thoughts of JJ to concentrate on battle. Nikki knew that Junior was on his last legs and she needed to do something to end this battle. She had a plan, but it would be risky.
"Junior, do what uncle Royce's Kingdra and Uncle Alex's Dragalge showed you.", Junior nodded. He knew exactly what his mom was talking about. "Gible!", Junior looked to the sky as he lifted his tiny arms. Guzma and the Feraligatr were curious as to what was happening as they both looked at Junior. Suddenly the sky started to crack and roar as little meteors of fire started to pour down onto the terrain. "HOLY SHIT ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US!", Guzma jumped behind a bunch of rocks to hide from the meteors, ya boi didn't want to get killed. This was a powerful attack and Guzma was stunned that the little Gible had learned it. Again he was very impressed by what he was seeing. The Feraligatr was stunned as some meteors started to head towards him. The powerful Pokémon tried to bat some of the meteors away, but this wasn't a smart idea as the Pokémon started to get burned again by the fire coming from the meteors. The defiant Pokémon braced himself as he was pelted by a few of the meteors that struck him. This kicked up a few bits of dust and debris kicked up obscuring everyone's vision of what was going on. No one knew if the attack had been successful in finally taking down the extremely powerful Pokémon.
The dust finally cleared and much to Junior, Nikki's and Guzma's shock the Feraligatr was still standing. Yes, the Pokémon was in quite bad shape as it was covered in bruises and damage. The silver metallic parts of its body had been caved in and the Pokémon was breathing heavily, but he was still standing. It let out a roar that echoed as it dropped to his knee, but was still conscious. Junior, meanwhile, swayed and collapsed. He had done everything possible he could, but it wasn't enough. His body gave out on himself Nikki caught him. She knew that she had lost, but was so proud of her Pokémon. "Junior, you did so great out there. You were so amazing. I am so sorry that I never gave you the opportunity to show off what you had. But now I know how strong you are. Go get some rest my love. I'll tell aunt JJ about how great you did. She and Amber will be so happy for you."., Nikki took her Gible's pokeball and recalled him. She looked over at the Feraligatr who was watching the scene. It hadn't returned to his little home, Nikki gave him a nod. He was just as advertised, "you really are tough. But Junior and I will get you next time." The creature started to walk towards the pink haired female as Guzma got a pokeball ready just in case.
"Feraligatr.", the dark and steel type pointed towards Junior's pokeball. Nikki looked at the creature, it seemed to be complimenting Junior? Nikki was still concerned about what this Pokémon wanted from her and Junior. The Feraligatr continued to point to Junior's pokeball and nodded. "Gatr, Gatr.", it respected how tough Junior was. This brought a smile to Nikki's face as she respected how the vicious Pokémon was acting and complimenting Junior. The Gible had given it his all and Nikki was happy that his opponent had seen it. The Feraligatr then did something that not even Guzma expected it to do, the dark and steel Pokémon pointed to the other pokeball on Nikki's belt. The Feraligatr then pointed at himself. He was telling Nikki that he wanted to go with the pink haired female. Nikki's jaw nearly hit the floor, the strong ass Pokémon was so impressed with Nikki that it was willing to go with her. Nikki looked over at Guzma who nodded and gave her a thumbs up. Nikki took out her pokeball and tossed it at the Avantura version of the Johto starter. The Feraligatr did not resist as the Pokémon was caught.
Guzma gave her a very big round of applause. He then took out his phone and called Dexter. Guzma was excited to tell Dex about what he had just witnessed and that he was correct in his assessment of the female. "Yo Dex, yeah it went well. She actually caught the thing...yeah I couldn't believe it either. You were right she is strong.", Nikki was too obsessed with staring at the new Pokémon she had caught. She had proved herself to be a great trainer and Junior had shown that he could battle. Nikki was so very happy after the fight with JJ. Nikki wanted to go back to the hotel and find JJ. To tell her best friend all about what had happened. Yes, they had gotten into a fight, but that didn't matter now. All Nikki wanted to do was find JJ and tell her what had happened. Nikki looked over at Guzma who had turned very pale as he was on the phone, "yeah I'll bring her so she can say good bye. Yeah Dex..." that didn't sound good. Nikki didn't want it to be about who she thought it was. No, it couldn't be JJ, what had happened that Nikki had to say good bye?
Guzma put a hand on Nikki's shoulder, "kid something happened to one of your friends. It's not good." Nikki shook as she thought the worst.
Ooc: Feraligatr is one of my favorite starters if not my favorite starter. I wanted to to have a Avantura version of this Pokémon, but wondered who to give it to. Then this came to my head so it fit perfectly. As for the next chapter, get tissues.