Author's note: Hiya, a few quick things. One, I'm really sorry for the delay on this chapter, hopefully I can post the compensation chapter within the coming days as my apology. Two, italics once more means it's a flashback, and this chapter will have a lot of on and off italics so be aware of that.
P.S: This would have been posted a few days earlier had it not taken so long to make pokemon battles. It's surprisingly difficult to make up AND write in how a battle works because you know what you want the outcome to be but you have to figure out how you can get to that outcome when people are at a disadvantage. I.E. how to be the very best.
P.P.S This actually would have been published 2 weeks ago but I zoned out of existence, so I don't really have an excuse there, sorry for being lazy!
"Welcome one! Welcome all! Welcome the 16 who will fall!" Boomed Otrera from the otherside of the room, a microphone once more in hand. Otrera continued her introduction and the theme of the gym to the audience while the 16 participants got ready, myself included. "Hey Bahamut, you ready?" I turned to the voice, Ryan was to my right. I shook myself from my stupor. "Yeah, yeah, just surprised by the amount of people here is all." Ryan nodded and quickly bent down to tie his shoes.
I breathed in, looking up at the crowd. We were currently in the Sinope city Gym, occupied by Otrera the gym leader. Last time I was here I was a spectator, so I didn't really notice how big the stadium got, but from inspection it was crazy from this point of view. I tried to not get any nerves but I knew I had a few doubts in the back of my head.
I shook my head and got those thoughts out of my mind, I need to concentrate and focus on the plan instead. "The plan?" Ryan asked, as we sat down in a clearing, back from the pokecenter. "Yeah, I got to watch Otrera perform a day ago so I actually know what to expect here, we can use my knowledge of what she does to our advantage. But first things first, we need to train your pokemon up a bit, and mine as well".
"Are you ready challengers? BEGIN!" Before we had time to react Otrera started the course off. Ryan quickly got up and rushed forward, with me following close behind. Interestingly enough, the one thing I hadn't planned for was the structure of the obby. I had let Ryan know everything I saw during my time here and we went back and forth with coming up with strategies. What we didn't account for however was that the course would stay the same.
To my surprise, the first obstacle was the sandpits. But, as much as it was a surprise I quickly regained my composure and whispered into Ryan's ear what to do, he nodded and ran to the other side of the pit. The other teams were frantically searching through the entire pit to find what they needed ,but Ryan and I remain composed. Once we both got to our ends of the sand pits we started from our ends and proceeded to move up and up closer to one another, sweeping our arms across the pit and moving away the sand so we could find the sports ball.
As much as I didn't know we were having the same courses, I quickly realized that if they were the same, that means they were set up the same way too. Therefore I knew the sand was thin enough for us to just lightly push the sand around with our arms in order to find it. Within seconds Ryan yelled over to me and had the Sports ball in hand. We smirked and ran off the sand pit into the battle arena by the side and waited for opponents. To our surprise though, the team that got there last were the people we were supposed to face, so I quickly gave Ryan a run down of the next course while the others team all fought.
In time they finished and prepared to move on. The second the last team was up, a horn sounded and we all bolted it to the next around. Ryan threw me the ball as he ran over to the wall and prepared to return it. Just like how I caught the Pupitar, I held the ball behind me like a football in one arm, and then pointed outwards to aim with the other. With a quick toss and throw, my ball landed in the hole. Ryan quickly scrambled over and threw it back to me. "Nice work, one more to go for you!" Ryan shouted.
I threw again, this time slightly more confident. But I forgot to properly aim first so it just barely missed the mark. Ryan grabbed the ball and threw it back. "Come on man, hurry up". I breathed in and relaxed, this is just like football, this is just like football... I relaxed and sighed, aiming the ball once more like a football and shooting my arm out to aim. In a flash, I chucked the ball and sent it flying through the hole, skidding a bit farther away. This time since I threw it in the hole twice I had to pick it up and start helping Ryan. I ran over as fast as I could, breathing slightly heavier now... my Asthma was starting to catch up to me. I grabbed the ball and underhand threw it to Ryan, who was already on the line.
This time however Ryan hesitated, looking at the ball and the hole. "Come on Ryan, what's the hold up?" I asked him from afar. "I... I'm not sure if I can do this yet, I still barely have any experience throwing pokeballs" He said a bit nervously. I shook my head, we can't afford to hesitate now. "Just try your best!" Ryan nodded and threw the ball instantly, hitting the wall with a thud and bouncing back straight towards him. He tried once more and this time it didn't even hit the wall, but rather landed right on me. I caught it and threw it back to him.
"I CAN'T do this.. I was right" Ryan said somberly. I looked over at the other teams, one of them was already done... And the other two were close behind... we needed to hurry this up. "Just focus!" I said, without much of an idea of how to motivate him. He clenched his fists and threw the ball, enraged. "Don't you get it Bahamut?! I said I can't DO IT!" But as he threw the ball away in rage, it landed directly into the hole. Both of us were surprised but I quickly shook my head and jumped towards the ball, grabbing it and throwing it back. "Look see, you can do it." Ryan shook his head. "No, not like this". I quickly tapped my foot, thinking of something I can do to make him do better... wait! I got it! "Ryan, when you throw the ball try to imagine the hole is a super cool pokemon!" Ryan looked at me, confused "What do you mean?" he questioned.
"Just, try it out. Imagine the hole is like a super cool and strong Dragon type or something, and you're trying to catch it with the ball". "I don't think that'll work... but I'll give it a try" Ryan retorted back. He breathed in and breathed out, and then suddenly locked the target onto the wall, shouting "YOU'RE MINE!" Before throwing the ball and having it land successfully through the hole. I picked up the ball and we cheered for a brief second before realizing we have to hurry up. We both moved on ahead, I held onto the ball because I wasn't entirely sure where to put it.
We weren't last, but we weren't first either. Sadly, our opponents weren't last either, so we had to fight this round. It was a bit more different now though since this was the only battle going on, meaning everyone else would get to see our strategies. I nodded at Ryan and he threw out his Charmander while I threw out my Rockruff. The opposing duo, two tourists, threw out a minun and plusle.
"Charmander, go for Helping Hands on rockruff!". "Helping Hands? Never heard of that move..." Ryan said as we walked to the clearing. "Yeah well, it's a pretty niche one, not something people usually know when they first start battling." I said back. Ryan looked at me confused, "What does this even do?" He said as he picked it up. "Simple, when you use it on another pokemon in a double battle, which is what we're going to do, the pokemon helps power up the other pokemon it uses helping hands on. The most interesting thing about this move is that it has a thing called 'priority' which allows it to go faster then almost all moves, similar to quick attack and extreme speed. However, Helping hands actually has the highest priority out of any move, since it's super situational. Meaning that whenever you use it you'll be guaranteed to go before any other move in battle." I said back to him. Ryan shook his head and nodded, confused but willing to follow along just to get this over with. "Anyway, I picked this bad boy up from a little tm/tr shop I know while you were healing. I'm gonna need you to put this on your Charmander since this is part 1 of the plan. Replace it with Thunder Punch, I also bought the tm for that so you can relearn it later."
Charmander rushed forward towards my rockruff, Fenrir, and cheered it on boosting rockruff's next attack. Before the other opponents had time to react, I attacked. "Now Fenrir, go for a rock tomb on the plusle!" Fenrir yipped and jumped into the air, concentrating and lifting up boulders from the earth to be hurled at the plusle. The rocks hit and the plusle collapsed under the rocks, fainting. The tourist growled and returned the minun, quickly replacing it with an Alolan Sandslash. "Minun, go for thundershock on the charmander!" The other tourist shouted, shifting out of his surprise. The minun jumped up and sent bolts of lightning into the Charmander, who grunted in pain in response. "Hang in there buddy" Ryan said, making sure Charmander could keep going. Charmander turned back and replied with a "Char, Mander mander!" signaling that it was good to go.
"Fenrir run towards the Sandslash!" Fenrir bolted forward, head first towards the sandslash. "Get ready to dodge it!" The sandslash's owner said, confident in dodging. Just as Fenrir got to Sandslash, I smirked. "NOW, TURN AND USE CRUNCH ON MINUN!" Both the tourists were caught off guard from my sudden change of attack. "Sandslash, use icicle crash on him to stop him!" But it was too late, the sandslash was already preemptively dodging Fenrir's attack and didn't have time to react. Fenrir took a sharp right turn and ran into the minun, grabbing it with its teeth and biting down as it ran with it. "Now, throw it towards charmander!" Fenrir ran and jumped up, Minun in mouth. It turned itself around in mid-air and threw the minun in the direction of Charmander. "Sandslash, save Minun!" The tourist said. The Sandslash ran at full speed towards the minun ready to catch it, just as we planned...
"CHARMANDER, FLARE BLITZ THEM BOTH!" Charmander ran forward and just as the sandslash caught the minun in mid air the Charmander lunged forward and twisted itself like a rocket in mid-air at them, bursting into a blaze of fire and throwing himself at them. The minun and sandslash erupted in a smoky explosion as the charmander kept going and got hurt landing on the ground, taking recoil damage. Both the sandslash and minun were out for good. "Fenrir, return" "Charmander return" We both said, swapping them out for Leonidas and Bagon. "Wait, there's multiple parts to the plan?" Ryan asked, confused. We had just got done training our 4 pokemon up for the battle, having battled endless hordes of forest critters and sparring one another. "Yeah, If you want I can tell you the next step, part 2." I said back. Ryan shook his head. "No thanks, not yet anyway. I'm busy trying to control Bagon here, he's pretty restless." I looked over at bagon, who was smashing his head against a tree over and over. "Y'know, that's a really powerful bagon, I think it might evolve soon..." Ryan looked over, "Well yeah, that's why I wanted to catch it. Anyway, how come you aren't going to use Pupitar in this fight? Since we both supposedly caught pseudo-legendaries wouldn't it make more sense for you to use the pokemon that's not only evolved but naturally stronger?" Ryan questioned.
For once, I didn't really know what to say, he had a good point this time. "Well honestly, I think pupitar is a bit TOO strong, if you catch my drift. Plus, I need Leonidas for this battle and I've spent a lot of time with Fenrir so I feel like he'll not only do good here, but benefit." I said back. Ryan sighed. "I mean, I guess. But if that pupitar is powerful it should be used more because of the fact. I mean power is what makes pokemon strong after all." I looked at him, frowning. "You know that's not true Ryan, sometimes it's about strategy and willpower of character". "Yeah well, I think differently." I sighed, we may be partners but we certainly have our differences...
"Come on out Ninetales!" Said the other tourist, sending out an Alolan ninetales who immediately made the arena cold and started hailing from its ability.
"Leonidas, go for metal claw!" Leo flung forward and extended it's claw similar to the battle with pupitar, twisting his body and slashing down towards the alolan ninetales,
"Ninetales. Go for protect!" Before Leo reached out and hit ninetales, it protected itself and created a barrier around it that Leo's attack bounced into. Leonidas rolled away to safety whilst Ryan took the lead. "Bagon, wait a few seconds and then go for Body Slam." Bagon nodded and waited calmly. Then, right before the shield disappeared Bagon rushed forward and flung itself into the air, directly into where Ninetales is.
"Ninetales, dodge it!" Ninetales prepared to dodge, but it had to lower the barrier first, and that gave Bagon just enough time to slam into ninetales sending it crashing into the ground with him. Both pokemon rolled a bit before stopping. The snow injured both Leo and Bagon a little bit as it sent a shiver down their spines. "Ninetales, go for blizzard!" Ninetales looked at bagon and prepared to release a storm of icy rage. It launched towards the bagon, but just as it was about to hit...
"Leo, push him out of the way and use Endure!" Bagon could hear from far away. Just as the ice got to him he got pushed to the side by Leo and avoided the attack. Leo promptly sat in his position crossing his arms together, allowing him to endure the attack. "Now Bagon, while you have the opportunity, finish it with a Shadow Claw!". "Wait hold on, you also want to give my Bagon this TM for Shadow Claw?" Ryan asked. I shrugged in response. "Nothing wrong with having coverage, y'know?" I said as I tossed him the disk. He caught it and grumbled... "Fine..."
Bagon realized it was saved and shouted "Bag, GON!" as it threw out its hands and extended the claws into a shadowy form, jumping up and slashing down hard into the Ninetales who instantly fainted.
Ryan and I huffed as we returned our pokemon, healed them quickly, and moved on. "Just the first battle and that already was pretty intense... heh, I guess we really can't give these guys the benefit of the doubt here..." Ryan said. We both laughed a little as we made our way to the next course and waited for the horn to sound. At this point we had learned to tune out the crowd and their chanting. That battle was not only difficult, but gave away our strategies, we'd have to be more careful from now on.
The horn sounded and Ryan and I got into position on the 3-legged course. The other team was pacing with us... wait... aren't those the picknicker duo from before? It was! They must have come back for a rematch... we'll have to be extra careful now. Ryan and I got set up and latched shoulders, starting to run. Just like the previous time, the boy picknicker was telling the girl what to do. It seems they didn't change how they interacted from last time... they're sure to lose if they get to Otrera, but we still have a fighting chance.
"One, Two, One, Two, One, Two" Me and Ryan said in unison, keeping pace with one another. So far we were doing good, but my stomach started churning in pain and every time I breathed my throat struggled more and more. My Asthma... it doesn't help that I'm overweight, but now I'm starting to struggle to be able to run because of my lingering Asthma... Christ sakes I've only just realized I don't even have an Inhaler! "Bahamut, come on!" I snapped back to reality.
Ryan had slowly got past our rhythm because I faltered, he was a step ahead in the rhythm which completely ruined it. "S-Sorry, let's just keep going". We moved on and finally hit the finish line. It didn't help that Ryan was a more skinnier person with a decent build, compared to me being a bigger guy with Asthma and a slight overweight issue. We didn't make it first, since the other picknicker couple were frail but luckily this round didn't eliminate us for being last since it was only down to 2 teams. We untied and headed over to the arena, with me slowly behind Ryan.
Right before we started I got Ryan's attention. "Hey, Ryan. These are the guys who challenged Otrera last time and lost, the ones I told you about with the protect strategy." Ryan looked at me seriously and contemplated. "Alright, thanks for letting me know." We turned to the couple. This time the boy spoke up.
"Hey, haven't seen your faces around here you must be new." The boy said casually, pulling out his Nidoking. "Look, you guys did pretty decent against those others and all, but we're the regulars here. Gym's are tough and we've almost cracked the code on this Otrera girl. You can make this easy for us and let us win or we'll just teach you the hard way how we always get to Otrera during these competitions." The boy said, smirking. The girl then replied while taking out her nidoqueen with "Yeah, tell them how it is Danny. You're not getting past us!" I internally frowned, these guys are a lot less cool then I remembered.
Ryan popped out his Bagon. "Yeah well we don't plan to lose to you clowns, do we Bahamut? I didn't get dragged into all of this just to back down now." I looked over at Ryan, frowning once more as I sent out Leo. "That clown comment wasn't really needed, but you're right. We're not backing down just because you want us to make it easy for you. If you want the win you'll have to earn it."
"NIDOKING, EARTHQUAKE!" "Nidoqueen, protect!". Damn, they're going for the same stuff again. "Leo use quick attack to jump onto Nidoking!" "Bagon, protect." Nidoking stomped the ground sending the pact earth flying and shaking all about. Meanwhile both Nidoqueen and Bagon summoned a barrier around themselves to block the hits. Leonidas ran forward in a burst of speed, running to meet up with the earthquake's oncoming attack. Just as the wave of earth got to him, Leonidas jumped up as high as he could and landed on Nidokings back, proceeding to slash him all around his body.
The Nidoking roared as he attempted to reach onto his back and get the Riolu off, but it was all in vain, Leo was too fast.
"So because they used protect you want me to try it out on Bagon?" Ryan questioned, walking away from the area of grass. "No, I want you to have protect on Bagon in case we need it. That pair relied too heavily on a single strategy and lost because of it. We can't and won't fall for the same mistake, because of that, you should use protect as a backup move". Ryan nodded and proceeded to follow me back into town.
"Grrr. you two are annoying to deal with. Nidoking, throw yourself onto the ground and squish the Riolu using thrash!" Nidoking jumped up into the air and fell backwards, his back extended towards the ground. "Leo, use the motion of his fall to throw him down with a metal claw!" Leonidas nodded and grew out his claws into a silver light. Then he quickly made his way to the front of the nidoking and jabbed his claws under the Nidokings body armor, pushing him faster downwards. Nidoking attempted to thrash about in the air and either throw Leonidas off or grab him but his opponent was too quick and nimble. With a final push Leo managed to get on top of the Nidoking, flipping their positions, and smashing him into the ground. The ground erupted as the weight of the purple monster hit the arena, sending a small cloud of dust floating about. When the dust settled, the Nidoking was down for the count. The picknicker quickly recalled his pokemon. "You got lucky there, but this isn't over yet." Before he could send out his second pokemon, the girl picknicker reacted fast.
"Nidoqueen, use Earthquake now that they can't avoid it!" The bluish monster that shared the same features of the Nidoking thrashed the ground similar to the boy's pokemon, forcing the ground to shake and crash and thrust out in a wave of motion.
Leonidas didn't have time to react, nor did I. We couldn't afford to take this hit right now. "Bagon, run towards Riolu and throw him up into the air!" The bagon nodded and rushed forward towards Leo, quickly picking him up and throwing him up.
Both me and Leonidas were confused at the pair's decision. "What was that for Ryan?" Ryan and Bagon smirked at us. "Well, we figure we'd pay you back for saving us in the last battle from that Blizzard attack, consider us even." Ryan finished. The Bagon nodded, agreeing. But because Bagon spent his time saving Riolu he didn't have time to react when the wave caught up to him and thrust him forward into the air, away from the Nidoqueen and towards Ryan. The ground calmed down as the attack ended, all whilst Bagon still was flying towards his trainer. His head smashed into the ground as he hit it face first, slowly coming to a stop. The Bagon groggily got up as he was shaking his head in both anger and pain. Ryan quickly rushed forward. "Hey Bagon bud, you good? Sorry for letting you take the hit there." The Bagon got up, and started chanting "Bag! GON GON!" as he became more angrier than ever and stomped his feet in the direction of Nidoqueen. It seemed he not only was good to go, but that he was pretty mad and wanted some revenge. Ryan smiles "Yeah, I agree."
"Electabuzz, come on out." The boy took out a regular pokeball and released his medium sized yellow Human-like pokemon. The Electabuzz flexed his arms as he shouted his name in anticipation. Ryan acted quickly. "Bagon, use Dragon Claw on Electabuzz!" Bagon rushed forward and lashed out his left arm, having it grow into a giant form and claws extending like that of a large beast. Bagon sidestepped the Electabuzz just as it came out and slashed it on its sides, flinging Electabuzz backwards and into his trainer. The attack shouldn't have normally fainted, but it looked like that specific attack was actually powered up.. Must have been a critical hit! Perfect. The Electabuzz lay faint on his trainer as the trainer groaned in pain.
Ryan and Bagon looked at each other and cheered, jumping up and down. However just as they were cheering, Bagon fell to the ground and keeled over. From afar I could see electricity running through his body and prickling him... he must have gotten paralyzed by Electabuzz's static ability. But bagon got up and hobbled over to Ryan, still ready to go. "Hey Bagon, are you sure you want to continue fighting? I can switch you out if you need.." Bagon shook his head, clearly he wanted to finish what he started. "Heh. I like your attitude little dude. Alright, let's do this then."
The girl trainer looked over at us and screamed. "How DARE you take out my angel! You'll pay for this! Nidoqueen, use Body Slam on Bagon!" The big lug rushed forward at Bagon attempting to throw herself at him. "Bagon, protect once more!" Bagon attempted to build a barrier around himself, but keeled over once more and froze up, he got paralyzed! I winced internally as I witnessed Ryan attempt to make the same mistakes as these two and rely on protect too much. I had to help him out.
The nidoqueen continued to charge down Bagon. Her big stature and slow speed made it take a while to get to him, but she was inches away from glory. Nidoqueen jumped up and spread herself out into the air, ready to fall flat onto the paralyzed dragon type. "BAGON NO!" Ryan screamed as he threw an arm out towards his pokemon.
"LEO, GO FOR QUICK ATTACK!" i shouted, catching everyone off guard. Whilst all of that was going on Leo had safely landed from being thrown and was carefully watching from the sidelines, waiting for the best opportunity to strike. Leonidas appeared behind Nidoqueen out of nowhere and quickly lashed out on her, clawing at her from all angles and throwing off her rhythm. This forced Nidoqueen to land a few feet away from Bagon, Her attack successfully stopped. The girl picknicker was enraged once more. "God you two are annoying. Nidoqueen get up and use Thrash on Riolu instead!" Nidoqueen swiftly turned around and started to wail on Leo. "Leo, ENDURE!" Leonidas held himself firm as he withstood all of the attacks and blows and just barely hung on. "Bagon shake it off and use Dragon claw once more!" Bagon swiftly rushed forward while Nidoqueen was busy attacking Leonidas. Once he reached his target he slashed out towards Nidoqueen, pushing her a few feet away. The Nidoqueen shook itself off and smirked. "Nice try but it'll take a little more than that to take out the Queen." The girl said. "Nidoqueen, run through them with Body Slam!"
Leo was a single hit away from being out for the count... Nidoqueen ran once more at her opponent, except this time she intended to slam them like a football player would. Although I'm sure that wasn't where they got the inspiration from. "BAGON, MEET THEM IN THE MIDDLE AND USE SHADOW CLAW!" Bagon ran to the left in front of Leo, ready to intercept. "RUN THROUGH THEM BOTH, PUSH PAST THE BAGON NIDOQUEEN!" The girl shouted. Both pokemon ran at each other ready to attack. Their hits connected and the air pushed back as they collided. Bagon surprisingly held on well and was pushing the Nidoqueen back. The Nidoqueen in question was struggling to push its weight against the mystical claws the Bagon was jabbing into her. "Come on Nidoqueen, push harder!" The Nidoqueen grunted as it slowly pushed upwards more and more, gaining inch by inch more space. The bagon was losing its grip and everyone could tell.
"Please, Bagon, you can do this. Don't give up on me now!" Ryan shouted desperately, trying anything to get the Bagon to keep going. The bagon grunted as it fell to its knees, being pushed back even harder by the Nidoqueen. The Nidoqueen was a few inches away from Leo now, all she needed to do was just push a little bit more and they got it...
Suddenly though, a white light started to flash out of Bagon, as Bagon screamed at the top of it's lungs "BAGGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!" The white light flashed even brighter as Nidoqueen kept pushing. Bagon's arm started to get bigger and bigger, and the claws started to look thinner and tinier, suddenly it's stubby arms and legs became more stable and Bagon started to convert into a ball shape, a shell could be seen slowly encompassing it as it's strength started to gain form. The light faded and the blue little monster was no more, now standing in Nidoqueen's way was a shell-like creature wrapped in a ball of iron armor. A little hole in the middle could be seen where Bagon's new face was, or rather Shelgon now.
"shelGON!" It said, muffled. Then, suddenly it bashed it's body against Nidoqueen using Body slam, once more sending it a few feet away once more. "YES!" I shouted. "Ryan, your Bagon evolved into a shelgon dude!" Ryan looked over at me, a little confused. "Evolved? But I thought Dragon types didn't evolve easily...?"
I looked over at him, thinking. "Wait a minute, it must have evolved due to all the training you and Pupitar gave it. Remember when we encountered those two fighting in the mountain? All of that training must have been the reason Pupitar evolved, and why Bagon evolved so fast!" Ryan nodded at me, understanding. "Good to know, I guess this means we have the advantage now". "You don't have anything" The girl picknicker interrupted. "Just because your little 'rare' pokemon evolved mid battle doesn't mean you'll still win, my Nidoqueen will make sure of that. Nidoqueen, use earthquake!" The Nidoqueen stood completely still, unmoving. "Nidoqueen? I said use earthquake!" The picknicker sat there confused, utterly in shock to how her pokemon could refuse to obey her.
Then, out of nowhere, the Nidoqueen tumbled backwards and crashed with a small thud. The Nidoqueen must have fainted during the Shelgon's attack. "Oh geez, that's not good..." Commented the girl as she recalled Nidoqueen and took out Magmar. "Well, whatever, you still need to get through my last pokemon!". I looked over at Ryan, who looked confident enough to attack. "Wait hold on Ryan, don't attack yet." "Why not?" Ryan asked back. "I have an idea, just trust me and fake out a hit to get her to use protect." Ryan nodded "Fine, I'm trusting you on this, you better be right." "Magmar, go for Lava Plume!" Magmar blasted itself into a state of intense heat as it willed waves of magma and lava to come splashing towards our pokemon. "Shelgon, PROTECT!" Shelgon huddled into its ball of iron as it created a barrier to appear and protect itself. "Leo, use Quick attack to get out of range of the lava!" Leonidas quickly shot forward and used it's attack as a means of escape, dodging the waves of lava erupting from the ground around it and getting closer to the Magmar.
"Now Shelgon go for Body Slam!" Shelgon ran forward with all 4 legs and sprinted ahead, even though it was a bit slower than before it surprisingly held its weight and was able to catch up to the Magmar fast. Once in front of it the Shelgon revved up and charged at the Magmar. "Magmar, protect!" Magmar shielded himself just as Shelgon ran into him, bouncing the attack off and skidding the Shelgon a foot away. "You'll have to try a little better than that to catch me off guard." The girl said, laughing. "That's exactly what I'm doing!" I shouted as they both looked towards me confused. "LEONIDAS, NOW'S YOUR CHANCE, USE REVERSAL!" The crowd grew silent as they all failed to understand what that move did, the girl was just as confused. "What do you mean Reversal? What does that even do...?" Leonidas rushed forward and jumped in front of the Magmar, spinning in a circle mid-air and punching the Magmar full force, sending it flying instantly into a wall. The Magmar fainted easily. We won!
"W-What? How'd you one shot my Magmar?" The girl asked, aggravated, as she slammed her foot into the ground in annoyance. The boy trainer finally got up and had recalled his pokemon, rubbing his head as he walked up behind her. "I'd like to know the same thing too.. How did you guys beat us without even losing a single pokemon? We're the regulars here, we consistently beat every trainer because of our strategy. I really don't get how upstarts like you just did that.." The boy asked genuinely.
"Simple really, I-" Ryan put his hand over my mouth. "Sorry about him, he likes to say 'simple really' whenever he's about to go over a complicated explanation". I took Ryan's hand away from my mouth. "You ruined my moment... Anyway, we beat you guys because I've seen you fight before and figured out your strategy, plus a bit of luck from the evolution and all." The two picnickers looked at me in confusion. "Huh?" They both said. "But, we've never even seen you in this city, EVER. nor your friend." "Yes" I said, "But I've seen you. I was here a day or so ago, spectating the battle after I helped out at the gym. I noticed your strategy, which may I say is brilliant, and figured out a way to beat it. I told my friend here all I could about you two and we collectively came up with a strategy to beat you two".
"First, by taking out all of someone's pokemon, either one of you really, you can't set up your strategy of supporting the other pokemon while it goes all out. Therefore we stumped your entire strategy by simply taking out your pokemon early. Secondly, I didn't really want to use this strategy on you guys but Reversal is a move that changes power depending on the user's health. It's not very powerful if the user is at high health, but it's VERY powerful if the user is at a single point of health. By using Endure I can survive on one point of health from any attack. Your attack WOULD have made Leo faint, but by using endure I could survive and make Reversal a MASSIVE MASSIVE damaging move. Sadly I was planning to use it on the gym leader here but you guys are good, I had to extend my options."
The picnickers looked at me and sighed. "Yeesh, you're weird. Whatever we'll have payback some other day, but until then good luck trying to get over the titan that's Otrera." I looked at them confused. "Wait a minute, what do you mean by that?" The picknicker's looked at us, confused. "Oh wait, you don't know? Haha, no wonder. You two must not be from around here or something in the region. Our gym leaders are notorious for being extremely difficult, similar to the Galar region we only have a few select numbers of people who can make it through their first sets of 3 gyms or more, let alone all of them. In fact, the average amount it takes to beat a gym leader in the region is 6 months to a full year. We've been going at this one for 10 weeks now, our whole team is based around trying to beat her, each time we've gotten a little closer and made new teams. Anyway, good luck beating her, you'll need it." They said as they started walking away.
"Thanks, but we intend to beat her on our first try." The picnickers wheeled around. "Wait a minute, this is your first gym attempt in Sinope city?!" I looked over at Ryan, who shrugged. "As far as we're both concerned, I'm pretty sure this is the first ever Gym attempt we both have ever had" Ryan said. I nodded in agreement, "Yep, this is my first one too." The picnickers gasped. "What kind of monsters are you? To get this far on your first ever attempt EVER... How could we lose to newbies..." They both grumbled as they shifted away.
We looked at each other questionably as we moved forward to the last obstacle. Otherwise known as the wall. I leaned over to Ryan, "Y'know, this looks a lot bigger when you have to climb over it..." Ryan looked at me and frowned, "Yeah that's cool and all but how are we supposed to climb over this beast? Obviously we need one of us to push the other to the top and have the one at the top pick the one at the bottom. But uh... judging from our weight classes that may prove a tad difficult" I looked down at my stomach, shrugging. "Well, I've got a bit of muscle on me, I used to work out a bit for sports. I can probably push you up and then all you'll have to do is get me just high enough that I can grab the ledge?" We talked about this obstacle beforehand since I told Ryan literally everything I knew about the gym, but because we weren't expecting the same courses we didn't come up with a full proof plan for every single one.
The horn sounded and we ran forward to the wall. I bent down slightly in front of the wall and cupped my hands together around my knee level, Ryan then stepped on my hands and waited for me to adjust to the weight. "Alright, here we go" I grunted, as I slowly pushed his foot upwards. His shoes were surprisingly clean for someone who just threw themselves into a sand pit..
Finally, I got him just high enough that he could grab the ledge, so he wrapped both arms over to the top and shifted his focus there, I helped push him up even more by pushing his feet up higher so he could get leverage. Ryan swung a leg over the wall and rested it for a second before swinging the other side of his body over. Ryan slid down the ramp for a moment as I sat there awkwardly...
"Alright, I'm good, had to take a quick breather, grab my hand" Ryan called out to me from the top of the wall. He had both hands hung over the edge as I grabbed both and planted my foot on the wall. "Grrr, god you're heavy Bahamut, no offense" Ryan said.
"Usually when someone says no offense they really aren't supposed to mean it, but your statement was nothing but offense. It's cool though, I'm used to it" I replied back, inching my way up. Ryan firmly held on as much as possible using his legs as support on the ramp to lift me up more and more. "That's not really something you should be used to... I'd look into that if I were you"."Yeah sure I'll look into it, AFTER we beat this gym. Now's not the best time.."
Pulling with all his might, Ryan kept pulling and pulling to get me to the top. I breathed in and waited a second, before kicking myself off the wall higher up and letting go of one of Ryan's hands, Using my now free hand to quickly grab the ledge with my momentum. Ryan readjusted himself as he helped lift me up so I could throw my leg over the wall. Once the first leg was over I quickly threw the other over the wall as well, finally making it to the ramp. We both slid down the ramp in utter exhaustion as we took a quick breather, sweating. "Dear god I hope that's all we have to do for physical work" Ryan said, gasping. "I uh..." I coughed "I've got a feeling that's not going to be the case. For now it is, but... who knows" I gave up on the sentence, I was too busy resting.
Having forgotten to heal our pokemon, we quickly did so before we both got up, a little fatigued, and walked over to the final area at the edge of the Arena. Otrera stood there with a smile on her face, microphone in hand. Just like last time she stood on a tall pillar with multiple screens behind her showing her face so the audience could see her from afar. "Well, that was quite the entrance you two had. I've gotta say, I'm pretty impressed that you guys eliminated the regulars here so soundly. Keep in mind, I've been spectating your matches this entire time, so you should think twice about how you'll be fighting in this battle. Are you two gentlemen ready?" Otrera asked, getting the attention of the crowd and making them start to cheer.
I looked over at Ryan and mouthed something, before he nodded and turned to Otrera. I pulled out my Luxury ball and released Fenrir who barked excitedly. Ryan then took out his ball and Charmander popped out ready to fight. "Come on out! Meditite and Spritzee!" Otrera threw her pokeballs high into the air, as they both bounced to the ground and satisfyingly popped out her two pokemon.
"Alright Charmander, let's get ready to help out Rockruff!" Charmander nodded and waited. "Tch. You guys really think you're clever don't you? I told you before that won't WORK. MEDITITE, GO FOR FAKE OUT ON ROCKRUFF!". Meditite quickly lashed forward and smacked Rockruff in the face, swiftly jumping back to it's spot and grinning. "Nice try boys, I thought you would have at least picked up the clues I was giving yo"- "Charmander, DRAGON DANCE!" Otrera blinked as she looked and noticed Charmander spinning in circles like a snake, dancing and growing faster and faster in speed. "Rockruff, Crunch Spritzee!" I said, as Rockruff bolted forward and grabbed onto Spritzee's body with his teeth, throwing her about with his mouth. "WHAT?! WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!" Otrera said, incredibly out of the loop. I grinned, all my suspicions were right. "Well Otrera, you fell for your very own trick." I said, grinning.
"Now part 2 is a little trickier, since we have to rely on her messing up." I said to Ryan, as we were strolling through the city. "Okay, what specifically is part 2 though?" He said questionably. I shrugged. "Essentially, we're faking out Otrera during the battle." Ryan nodded in response, replying with "Well, how do we do that?"."Remember the Helping hands I gave you a bit back?". "Yeah, that weird 'priority move' or whatever?" I shook my head. "Correct Ryan. Well basically I need you to use that in one of the battles we have before we fight here, because during her fight you're going to pretend like you will use Helping hands on Rockruff, when in reality you'll set up with Dragon Dance." Ryan chuckled. "That's a crazy plan, you think she'll fall for it?". "Honestly Ryan, I have no clue. But, if my suspicions are right, it should."
Otrera took a step backwards in the stadium and she staggered on her feet, already in confusion. "You're telling me you planned out how to outsmart me?! How did your Rockruff even manage to not flinch in the first place?!" I looked around mindlessly avoiding her eye contact. "Yeah... pretty much. When I watched your battle with the picnickers I realized you abused their tactics to your benefit. This was really all a huge gamble but it certainly paid off." Otrera shook herself awake, "Alright, I'll admit that was clever but you won't get the better of me now that I know!"
"Spritzee, use Trick Room!" Spritzee rose up in the air, ready to reverse the speeds of the pokemon on the field, when it suddenly flinched and fell back onto the ground with a soft thud. "Sweet!" I said out loud. Spritzee must have flinched from Fenrir's crunch, that'll certainly be helpful. "Damn, flinched by luck. You're killing me here Bahamut" Otrera said, no longer using the mic.
"Sorry to interrupt your banter, but I believe it's our turn, isn't it Charmander?" Ryan said, looking at his partner confidently. Charmander jumped around in joy as he had a strong aura around him, powered up from his Dance. "Charmander, use Flare Blitz on Spritzee!" Charmander kicked himself into the air and burst into an arrow of flames, hurtling himself towards the Spritzee still on the ground. He landed directly onto them and proceeded to keep pushing the Spritzee through the dirt in a downward angle. Finally the attack came to a stop and Charmander hopped out of the tiny hole, relatively hurt from the recoil.
Spritzee was very much down for the count, eyes swirling as she couldn't move. "You two really know how to fight huh? I shouldn't have taken your new trainer status for granted. Oh Well, come on out Porygon2!" Otrera returned her Spritzee swiftly and pulled out Porygon2, who hummed quietly as it's duck-like shape took form from the pokeball. "And now, Meditite use Draining Punch on Charmander! No way am I letting your powered up pokemon stay on the field! Meditite sprinted forward raising its arms ready to pummel the charmander.
"Fenrir use Protect in front of Charmander!" Fenrir barked and rolled towards Charmander, enveloping itself in a shield as Meditite punched over and over into the forcefield, trying to break through but to no avail. "Fine then, if I can't get the charmander directly I'll just use a different approach! Porygon2 go for Psychic on Charmander!" Porygon2 shook itself as it focused and lifted up Charmander with ease, who tried to struggle and break free but failed.
Suddenly Porygon2 released his wave of energy and flung Charmander into a wall, leaving a small dent as the air cleared around the charmander and he was out cold. "Grr... Sorry Charmander. Thanks for the effort." Ryan said as he returned his pokemon. "Good effort you two, but I AM a gym leader after all, I'm not going to make this as easy as the other challengers." I had to admit, she was right. She already took out a single pokemon from us which was more than any other opponent could say. "Come on out Shelgon!" Ryan hurled his ball into the battlefield, revealing an even larger ball of steel otherwise known as his Shelgon. "Gon, Gon Shel!" It shouted.
The crowd's cheers were frantic and getting louder and louder as the moments passed. It was getting increasingly harder to concentrate now that we were the full center of attention here. "FENRIR, use Stomping Tantrum!". Both Ryan and Otrera quickly realized what was going on. "SHELGON, PROTECT!" "MEDITITE, PROTECT YOURSELF!" Both pokemon quickly enveloped a wall around themselves to protect from the attack.
Fenrir growled loudly as it smashed it's back paws into the ground causing the ground to stir and shake, then he rocked back and forth between his front and back paws over and over in a rhythm causing the ground to shake violently and lash out in 3 different directions. Luckily Shelgon didn't get hit, but sadly Meditite didn't either. On the plus side, Porygon2 got struck with a large chunk of earth that hurtled towards him, pushing him backwards into the air as he took massive damage. But he was too bulky to go down too fast. Otrera smiled. "Sorry, but that round doesn't count, Porygon2 use Recover!" Porygon2 shook itself and mentally concentrated once more, the scratches on its armor fading away as though it never got hit in the first place. I grinded my teeth a bit, what a waste of a turn!
"Fenrir, use Rock Tomb on Meditite now that it can't protect itself!" "Shelgon, use Dragon Claw on the Rock's and fling them at the Meditite!" Fenrir roared and turned its back towards the enemy pokemon, proceeding to dig up the earth into smaller boulders and fling each one into the air in between Shelgon and Meditite, who were facing one another. Shelgon leaped forward and extended it's claws in response, slashing at the boulders and making them smaller and smaller into tinier versions. Then, before they all fell he swiped all of them towards Meditite. The pebbles crashed against Meditite as it was pelted from all sides.
Just as the boulders were done being hurled, a voice could be heard shouting "Finish him with your Dragon Claw!" Shelgon rushed forward and slashed at Meditite's sides, pushing past him and looking away as Meditite hurled forward and fell to the ground, fainted.
"PORYGON2, RESPOND BY USING PSYCHIC ON ROCKRUFF!" Porygon2 once more floated into the air and lifted the tiny puppy up into the air, slinging it down into the ground with a rough thud. "Fenrir, you good?" I asked, wafting away the small smoke from the fast impact. The air quickly cleared and Fenrir was down for the count.
"A trade for a trade, you take down my pokemon and I take down yours!" Otrera said laughing, she smiled brightly as the battle moved on, clearly she was having a lot of fun. She then quickly returned her Meditite and threw out her final one, Misdreavus. The purple ghost levitated around the battlefield, spinning itself as it floated back into position. Clearly her pokemon were just as much a show off as Otrera was. "Well, at this pace that just means we'll win first!" I replied, quickly thanking Fenrir as I returned him and sent out Leonidas.
"Shelgon, Shadow Claw the Misdreavus!" Ryan shouted, commanding his pokemon. Shelgon enveloped it's claws for the second time but this time with a purple ghostly aura as opposed to regular mystical flame of a dragon. It's claws left marks into the ground as it ran on all 4 legs towards the Misdreavus. "Leonidas, help out Shelgon with Metal Claw! "Misdreavus, quickly use Confuse Ray on Shelgon!"
Misdreavus sent small orbs of energy towards Shelgon, which entered his mind and forced him to not think straight, before he had the chance, Shelgon accidentally tripped on his claws and fell onto the ground, hitting himself in confusion. Leonidas, not targeted, ran forward and formed it's claws into steel before slashing down towards the Misdreavus, which made contact and sent the Ghost a few feet away, but not too badly damaged.
"You two are something else.. For sure." Otrera huffed in excitement, her breathing getting steadier and steadier. "It's been a long time since I've been pushed into a corner like this. But enough about me. PORYGON2, USE PSYCHIC ON SHELGON!" Porygon2 for the third time this match flung a third opponent into the ground, except this time Shelgon wasn't out just yet. The ground cleared and the ball of steel held firm. But.. why didn't it go for Riolu?
I gasped, I knew what was going on, she was purposefully avoiding hitting Leonidas until she knew it was safe in fear of reversal... which means.. I looked over at Ryan and shouted his name, getting his attention as I noticed him standing there with his fists clenched. He looked over puzzled. I quickly mouthed something to him and he blinked and nodded. " Are you two boys done talking over there? I hope you are, because I'm not done just yet!" Otrera exclaimed, taking the mic in her hand and fist pumping into the air, garnering another round of applause from the audience.
"Porygon2, Tri-attack Shelgon, Misdreavus double up with Shadow Ball!" "Shelgon, respond with Protect!" Shelgon quickly shook itself and huddled into it's ball of steel, a thin layer of protection forming around him. Misdrevus reeled back and formed a ball of shadow energy, releasing it from her mouth with a "VUS!". Meanwhile Porygon2 formed 3 small orbs of Fire, Electricity, and Ice and hurled them towards the direction of the shadow ball. The 3 orbs circled the shadow ball in a counter-clockwise motion as all 4 spheres formed into one black mass whilst flying towards Shelgon.
The massive ball of energy bounced into the protective shell and exploded, a large LARGE mist swirling around the arena and fading just as fast as it appeared. Shelgon, luckily, was fine.
"Now while they're busy, Leo use Metal Claw once more on Misdreavus!" Leonidas sprung forward and Slashed at the Misdreavus, flinging the ghost back and hitting the podium Otrera previously sat on. It bounced against the podium and fell to the ground, unconscious.
"Finally backed against the corner, 2 on one. Just the way I like it!" Otrera grinned from ear-to-ear. She was enjoying the battle more than she was upset about losing, no wonder she's the gym leader here. "The last few moments of battle, these next few moves will decide it all!"
Ryan looked at me quickly and I nodded "You better hope this works Bahamut. SHELGON... ATTACK RIOLU WITH DRAGON CLAW!" Shelgon nodded and quickly turned to its left, flying at Riolu with claws extended. Just as he was about to slash down however... "LEO, ENDURE!" Leonidas held firm as Shelgon lunged and Slashed down its body, sending Leonidas flying towards the air and landing roughly against the ground, barely clinging to consciousness. "Hah! Just what I needed to win!" Otrera screamed, "Porygon2, release TRI-ATTACK on Shelgon!" Porygon2 swiftly formed 3 orbs of energy and hurled them at Shelgon, who took the impact and collapsed in a puff of smoke. Both Otrera and Ryan recalled their pokemon.
"A last ditch effort, part 3." I said as we made our way to the stadium, moments from signing up. I looked over at Ryan who was looking at me in interest. "I thought it only went up to part 2?" He said surprised. I sighed. "Honestly, it should only got to part 2. But in the back of my mind I feel like we need something in case all else fails. I think if I have to use Reversal before Otrera she'll catch on like she always does. Which is why if it comes down to it, I need you to hit Leonidas when I say so." Ryan backed away a bit "You're crazy! That's such a dumb plan." I looked over at him. "I think... I think it may be our only option. Just please, trust me here." Ryan paused and thought for a moment. "Fine... but if we lose it's on you." I nodded and smiled. "Sure thing pal"."Will the next in line please step forward to register?" The lady at the desk asked. We both turned towards the stadium clerk as we were ready to sign up for the fight.
The crowd was ecstatic as Ryan looked at me in hope, out of the battle. "Leo... you ready?" Leonidas turned towards me and nodded. He was incredibly injured even from just the one attack, that Shelgon certainly knew how to hit. "I suspect this will be the final round Bahamut. These last moves... will decide the outcome of this battle! Unluckily for you I intend to win." Otrera replied through her microphone.
The air around me softened, the crowd's voices tuned out.. The screaming and rush of the battle fading. I closed my eyes and Leonidas did the same. We breathed, calming ourselves as we prepared for the final clash. At the time I didn't notice this, but are breathing was synced with one another. "LET'S END THIS, PORYGON2 USE TRI-ATTACK FOR THE FINISHING BLOW!" Porygon2 shuddered and flipped around, Concentrating incredibly hard as 3 orbs of power appeared in front of him. One Crackling with electricity, one Searing with intense flames, and the final one cold to the touch with ice. The orbs spun in a counter-clockwise motion slowly gaining traction. Finally, when it hit an extreme speed, he released the orbs towards Leo. "LET'S DO THIS, NOW LEO, AVOID THE ATTACK AND USE REVERSAL!" Leonidas opened it's eyes, running forward straight into the orbs. Seconds before it reached him and he jumped in the air and spun in mid-air, flipping over the attacks with just an inch to spare. He quickly landed and raced towards Porygon2, his Fist getting heavier and heavier with a mystic power.
"NO, I WON'T LET YOU DO IT. PORYGON2 USE TRI-ATTACK AGAIN RIGHT BEFORE HE GETS TO YOU!" Porygon quickly enveloped more orbs, and just as Leonidas got to him released. "LEONIDAS, SIDESTEP AND ATTACK FROM BEHIND!" Leonidas forced all of his energy and sidestepped to the right, his face brushing past the gush of wind the Tri-Attack released. Porygon2 turned as Leonidas was behind him, and before he could react, Leonidas Threw his left hook into Porygon2.
The contact with Leo's fist and Porygon2's body created a small wave of air which thrashed out from all sides, Leo kept pushing into his fist, shifting his whole weight and body into the punch. With one final push, Leonidas arched his Fist and flung the Porygon2 forward. The Porygon2 instantly flew straight backwards, just barely missing myself as it kept going farther and farther onto the other side of the stadium, passing all the previous obstacles, it finally collided with the wall from where we started, the wall itself making a slight hole as Porygon2 crashed against it, the noise echoing through the stadium. A large cloud of smoke and debris waved through the stadium.
The crowd near the wall started to cough and sputter as the air became thicker and thicker. A minute later, the smoke cleared and Porygon2... Was out. The crowd jumped from their seats and in excitement and the stadium tumbled as the sound of many pokemon and people alike stomped the floor beneath them.
"Settle down, Settle down!" Otrera said into the mic, recalling her Porygon as she attempted to make the crowd quiet down. Leo looked at me and jumped up and down screaming "RIOLU, OLU!" As it jumped into my arms and hugged me, to which I returned the favor. "SWEET, WE DID IT BAHA!" Ryan shouted, jumping up and down in excitement just like Leo did. I looked at him and smirked, to which he quickly brushed off his shirt and stopped jumping. "I-I mean, nice work man."
"Nice work indeed Bahamut. Truly, I never expected this outcome to happen, at least not so soon. You truly bested me." Otrera said, as she approached us and shook our hands with a firm grip. "And now, for your prize, your badges! Otrera fished into her pockets and pulled out two small badges. Surprisingly, both were different looking. They were similar of course but had slight differences. I was given the Left badge. The badge itself looked similar to the badge from Hoenn, the one brawly the fighting gym leader handed out. Except the fist looked more like a fist engulfed in fire, or some flame. The badge also had grooves that stood out from the end of the fingers, making it look like the fist had Brass Knuckles. Ryan's badge was similar, except it pointed towards my badge and instead of having grooves sticking out the fist was a little inverted.
"You both get two badges that can be put together like this, see?" Otrera said, as she connected the two badges to make them fist bump and stay in place. She pulled them apart and gave them to us again. "Just a little cool thing to show you guys pulled off a 2v2 win against the Sinope City gym, congrats!"
Both Ryan and I grinned as we put it into our respective pockets. "Wait.." Otrera said, "Where are your badge cases?" She asked, confused. Ryan looked at her confused. "What do you mean badge cases? We don't have one. We were supposed to have one?" Ryan asked, looking at me. Oh... I completely forgot about that... "Hehe... Guess I forgot about it two."
Otrera blinked and grimaced. "I uh.. If you two have pokemon without a badge case that must mean you're unregistered trainers. Therefore.. I can't give you the badges." Ryan and I looked at her and in unison said "REGISTERED?!" As the crowd erupted into a fit of laughter. Ryan and I sunk into the ground as Otrera rubbed her neck awkwardly. Man... how embarrassing...
"Don't worry, you don't have to battle me again or anything, you just need to register yourselves, here follow me I can help you do it." Otrera said, crouching to our level. "Oh, almost forgot.." Otrera took out her mic one last time. "Anyway, that concludes today's pokemon challenges, thank you for coming to watch! Until next time!" Otrera concluded, having the crowd walk out and start to leave the stadium. "Come on, follow me." Otrera said as she walked past us motioning towards the door. Ryan and I sighed as we got up and trudged after Otrera, leaving the stadium and going outside to see the sky turning into an orange hue. I sighed again as I thought about everything I'd have to do from now on... oh well, at least I beat a gym leader.
Author's note: Finally done with this chapter, hopefully I can pump out the apology chapter soon, thanks and have a great day!