No offense, but are you ever going to consider evolving any of Cody's Pokemon?

I DO TAKE OFFENSE! Lol, jk. As I've said before, there will be no super Pikachu in this story. I have plans for when they'll evolve, so sit tight.

I didn't know Bishop was Cynthia's last name!

I looked to see if she had one, but nothing was mentioned on Bulbapedia, so I just gave her one. It's not official or canon, but since she doesn't have one, I decided to fill in the blank.

So yeah, school is going to hinder my work a lot, but here's chapter 17. Oh, and it's mostly battle sequence, so strap in and enjoy.

Thanks to Magikarp Master for editing.

Cody: Bastion(Squirtle), Mars (Diglett), Colossal (Larvitar), Antonia (Skarmory), Elesa (Blitzle)

Heather: Somnos (Poliwhirl), Feathers (Pidgeotto), Nadine (Nidoran [F]), Bella (Oddish)

Jared: Charmeleon, Servine, Croconaw, Nidorino, Onix, Jolteon

Chapter 17: Fast Forward (Part 1)

It was the night before Cody's second gym battle, and his day had been completely stacked. After a night outside with Antonia, he got a quick morning nap before taking his pokemon out for some easy practice battles. Afterwards, he took his pokemon to the fitness center below the pokemon center to help them work on their strength and cardio.

Teaching pokemon how to use exercise equipment was no easy feat, but it paid off nicely over the passing months as Cody noticed his partners getting stronger by the day. Most of the equipment in the center was made for human use (since trainers often worked out as well) but simple adjustments could be made for pokemon usage. Currently, Bastion was swimming laps in the pool, Colossal was doing push-ups with his stubby arms, Mars was pulling a large weight, Antonia was lifting weights by her wings (which were attached to her wings by straps) and Elesa was running on a treadmill next to Cody. Naturally, she was running at a much faster pace than him, but oddly enough, she seemed to be sweating more than him.

"You still down here?" Heather asked from behind him. She had to shout it so Cody could hear her over the roar of the treadmill. When he realized that somebody was speaking, he turned off the treadmill and greeted his friend.

"You were saying something?"

"You've been down here for hours," Heather commented. "Shouldn't you get some rest? You have to take Antonia outside soon and-"

"My battle isn't till seven tomorrow, so I have some time to rest then. A warm up the night before is the best way to prepare."

"Oh, I see…" Heather looked over at Elesa and noticed that the Blitzle was having a difficult time running. "Why's she struggling? I've never seen her get tired of running."

"She's literally recharging her batteries," he explained. "I doused her down with some water, which if done enough, can put out the electricity in an electric pokemon's body, sort of like what happens if you were to throw a Gameboy into a pool."

"Oh… Why did you do that?" Heather asked.

"Elesa powers everything she does with electricity, including her running. When you take that away from her, she has to rely more on her physical strength like the rest of us. Not only does this improve her physical prowess, but it's also good practice for her to recharge her energy through running, since she always runs the risk of being doused to the point of no voltage when she faces water pokemon."

"Wow, you really thought this through, haven't you?" Heather said. "You'll do well tomorrow. Not so sure about myself though. I don't think Bella will be able to hold her own yet in a second tier battle, and Feathers and Somnos have an elemental disadvantage. Looks like it's going to be up to Nadine to carry us to victory, but I don't know if we can…"

"Well not with that attitude," Cody assured her. He glanced over at his Blitzle, who was beginning to get her stride back as the electricity was beginning to accumulate in her body. "By the way," he whispered, "you didn't see Frank upstairs, did you?"

"No, he's not there," she replied. "What do you think he's planning? He could have confronted either of us before now if he wanted to."

"I still don't know," he said. "I don't want to think about it right now with the badge battle tomorrow. Let's just keep our eyes open and try not to start anything."

"Yes, I guess that's all we can do," she agreed. "You want to go get dinner?"

"Okay, sure. Just give me a few more minutes down here. I'll see you in the food court."

"Okay," she said cheerily before heading back upstairs. Cody found it hard to be that happy when he felt like he was being stalked. But as the days rolled on, it seemed harder and harder to believe that Frank's presence was a coincidence.

Nineteen year old Ian Powell seemed to be the exact opposite of Eagle in his appearance. He was a lanky redhead with short hair and thick rimmed rectangular glasses. However, this took nothing away from his battling ability. He was an electric pokemon trainer who had made the top 16 in the 2010 Diamond Beach Tournament, and had been working on his craft as a gym leader since. Lucky for Cody and Heather, Ian was using his second tier pokemon instead of his top leveled ones, but that didn't stop him from soundly defeating Heather with one pokemon to spare.

After Heather lost, Jared was up next against Viktor. The two had an epic six vs. six battle, in which Jared managed to just barely pull out a win, therefore, receiving his 6th badge: the Voltage badge.

"Good job bro," Cody congratulated as Jared rejoined Heather and him in the stands.

"Thanks, good luck to you," he replied.

"Thanks," Cody said, "but I don't need luck."

"Arrogance," Jared reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah. Hey Heather, remember to catch my good side," he said as he passed her the camcorder. As he descended the steps, he got a good look at Frank, who had been watching from the other side of the arena since Heather's match. How did he know when they were scheduled to fight? It doesn't matter. I'm going to win this badge and show him that I'm not to be fucked with.

"So you're next, huh?" Ian asked, disinterested. "Do you know the standard rules?"

"Yes," Cody answered with confidence.

"Okay then," he continued. "For a second tier battle, we'll use four pokemon each. Good luck to you, kid."

"Thanks, but I don't need lu-" This time, Cody stopped himself from finishing the sentence, since saying it to a respected gm leader would be rude. I better keep a cap on my ego. "Err… thanks."

"Don't mention it," Ian replied with an irritated expression. He knew what Cody was about to say, and now he was giving the challenger a "who does this noob think he is?" look.

The two trainers walked to opposite sides of the plot, faced each other, and the referee began his routine.

"This is a second tier battle for the Voltage badge! Challenger Cody Storm vs. Kito Grove Gym Leader Ian Powell! This battle will follow standard rules, and each trainer is allowed four participants! Trainers! Ready your pokemon!"

Cody reached for Mars's pokeball, and dramatically held it up in front of him at arm's length. He heard some of the audience members giggle at him as he was trying to look stylish and dramatic. Oh well, I'll work on my draw later.

"Begin!"

"Let's rock the house, Mars!" The Diglett burst from the pokeball and looked up at his opponent: a tiny floating eel thing with an electric pattern on its side. "Mud Slap!" The mole grabbed a clod of earth and threw it at the eel, but the eel effortlessly avoided the dirt.

"Tynamo! Thunder Wave!" The Tynamo sent out several bluish waves of electricity at the mole. The first few waves were easily dodged, but the last one hit Mars and he was stopped temporarily (but since he was a ground element pokemon, the paralysis would wear off shortly.) "Now Charge Beam!" The elefish began sending out miniature electric beams at Mars. The first one hit, though it didn't do much damage. After the initial blast, Mars began to evade these electrical bursts with ease. However, it wasn't the electrical bursts themselves that were causing the Diglett problems, but the damage the Tynamo was causing to the ground they were fighting on. Every time a Charge Beam hit the ground, a small explosion of electricity and dirt was born, which was another hazard that Mars had to deal with.

"Don't let him get you! Mud Bomb!" Mars began shooting balls of moist dirt bombs at the floating eel while it fired back with charged blasts, both pokemon missing their targets by miles. It soon became apparent that this match-up was a stalemate. Neither of the pokemon would be able to subdue the other in their battling styles, and even if they did over a long period of time, the victor would be too exhausted to be of any use after the match-up was won. Cody figured that he would be better off using his switch to send out a different pokemon, increasing his chances of beating the Tynamo, as well as saving Mars for a fight in which he would prove to be more useful. Cody held Mars's pokeball in the air to signal his switch. The ref nodded, and Cody returned his pokemon. He had a better pick in mind for fighting the flying elefish.

"Do your thing, Colossal! Sandstorm!" The Larvitar emerged on the battlefield and immediately started up a mass of twisting sandy winds. This was definitely his best bet to take on the Tynamo, since it wouldn't be able to evade as many attacks in the air when it was full of sand. "Now Rock Throw!"

"Dodge it and use Tackle!" Ian blurted in panic. The Tynamo dodged the first rock that Colossal threw at it, but before it could make contact, it was hit by the second rock, which pinned it against the ground.

"Body Slam!" The Larvitar ran towards the trapped eel and hurled its body at it. But before contact, the Tynamo slipped out from under the rock and avoided the attack before slamming into the Larvitar with a Spark, which didn't hurt the target all that much.

"Aim for the horn!" Ian shouted. The eel shot a Charge Beam at the lizard's horn, which actually seemed to have a significant effect on the pokemon, as he stumbled and fell over. "Now Tackle it again!"

"Get up and hit back!" Cody yelled. Colossal managed to strike the oncoming eel with its horn and knocked it to the ground again. However, before it could raise itself back up in the air, the Larvitar stomped a cluster of rocks up to the ground and charged the Tynamo, bowling it over. The eel had failed.

"Tynamo is unable to battle! Larvitar is the winner!" the ref shouted.

"Enjoy it while it lasts," Ian told the challenger. "You still have three of my pokemon to go."

"Well show me what you got," Cody retorted, flashing a cocky grin. Ian scowled and sent out his second pokemon. Cody's smile faded when he saw which pokemon it was: a tiny yellow mouse pokemon with red cheeks and a tail shaped like a thunderbolt stood confidently on the dirt plot. He remembered this Pikachu being the destructive force that took out Heather's Poliwhirl in her gym battle. Since Pikachu weren't native to Skitrex, he had never battled one before, so he would have to work with the knowledge that he had gained from watching Heather's fight. "Colossal, keep the sandstorm up and use Horn Attack!"

"Split!" Ian shouted. Before Cody could figure out what that command meant, the Pikachu's body crackled with electricity, and with a loud squeak, it appeared to split into two Pikachu by the use of Double Team. Both the illusion and the physical Pikachu charged at Colossal, who tried to strike the rodent with his horn, but ended up going after the wrong Pikachu. The real Pikachu then slammed its entire body into the Larvitar's side, knocking it off its feet. "Now Headbutt!" The mouse turned around in its Quick Attack and sprang off the ground in order to smash its skull into the Larvitar's chest. Colossal managed to roll out of the way at the last second. After shaking off the miss, the Pikachu was about to split into two images again, but Colossal let out a loud screech that caused the rodent to lose focus. The lizard then stomped the earth to summon a rock, but instead of a rock popping out in front of him, the rock popped out of the earth where the Pikachu was standing, launching it off the ground. Cody was impressed. He had never taught Colossal to hit enemies via rock stomping, so this was a nice sign of improvement.

"Colossal, that was really good! Rock Throw!" After rock stomping again, he threw several more stones at the mouse, but only scored one hit. The mouse began to circle Colossal at lightning speed. The Larvitar tried to rock stomp the mouse again, but it was too fast. It leapt into the air and smacked the lizard with a silvery glowing tail. An Iron Tail.

The metallic tail made a cracking sound as it sliced against the Larvitar's neck. Colossal let out a scream of pain and grabbed at the gash that was made. Bits and pieces of his rocky skin were lying on the ground, but the lizard was not done yet.

"Chip Away!" Cody shouted. As the Pikachu tried to smack the Larvitar with another Iron Tail, but Cody's pokemon thrashed his fists and horn at the oncoming mouse and managed to knock it out of the way.

"Tail Whip!" Ian shouted.

"Don't fall for it!" Cody shouted, but his Larvitar was to frustrated too hear this command. He recklessly charged the taunting Pikachu, only for the electric rodent to hurdle his horn and smack him on the back with another Iron Tail. Colossal let out another yelp as he fell on his stomach and reeled in pain. As he did so, the sandstorm began to subside.

"Now's your chance! Rain Dance!" Ian shouted. While Colossal was still down, the Pikachu began to do some sort of ritualistic sort of dance. Cody bit his lip as shivers ran down his back. He wasn't sure how the Rain Dance technique worked, but it seemed to transcend scientific explanation, though the ritual was connected with a pokemon's tie to nature. Slowly, small dark clouds began to form above the arena, and small rain drops began to fall onto the field. By this time Colossal had risen to his feet again, dripping wet from the drizzle. The Pikachu's body was now crackling with electricity in excitement from the miniature storm clouds. This sizzling electricity was also keeping the rodent dry, which explained why it wasn't losing electricity from the rain clouds.

"Rock Slide!" Cody shouted. Colossal summoned a bunch of stones, and he chased down the Pikachu, who quickly dodged the assault, and let out an intensified Thunder Shock at the Lizard, who was effected more than he would have been, since his body was covered in water. Dropping the rocks, Colossal went into desperation mode, trying one last time to gore the enemy, but the Pikachu jumped on top of his head and wouldn't let go.

"Thunderbolt!"

"Bigga bagga!" the rodent squeaked loudly. A bolt of lightning fell from the little storm clouds and hit the mouse, transferring to the lizard. Colossal let out one last scream before falling unconscious.

"Larvitar is unable to battle! Pikachu is the winner!"

"Good effort Colossal!" Cody called out as he returned the fallen Larvitar to its ball. He didn't know who to send out next. Mars was a good option, but he wanted to save him for a later match-up, for whoever Ian's final electric pokemon would be. Elesa would be a good neutral option, but this Pikachu was tough, and could most likely outclass her in an electric versus electric match. Then there was Bastion. The Squirtle had the advantage of the rain clouds that the Pikachu set up, which could add to his power, plus his water attacks could make the mouse's electricity fizzle out. However, the risk of being electrocuted was an obvious one. But it was one he was willing to take.

"Time to play, Bastion!" The Squirtle emerged and looked over fearlessly at its opponent. "Don't let it get to close to you! Water Gun!" The turtle shot a blast of water at the Pikachu, which seemed to be bigger due to the rain's empowerment. The mouse dodged the blast, and on his trainers command, used Double Team once again to split its image into two Pikachu. Bastion shot a second blast of water on the charging mice, but missed both of them. The mice then rammed into Bastion with Quick Attacks, but it was hard to tell which one hit him and which one just "phased through." Letting out another squeak, the Pikachu split two more copies of itself, and they all surrounded Bastion, their cheeks crackling with electricity. Luckily, a light bulb turned on in Cody's head. "Rapid Spin and use Water Gun!" Withdrawing into his shell, Bastion spun around and shot water out of the holes in his fortress. Each Pikachu was hit, dissolving the copies, and hitting the original in the chest.

"Alright, no more games!" Ian shouted. "Thundershock!" The Pikachu began shooting shots of electricity at Bastion, who fell to all fours so he could out maneuver the lightning strikes, but eventually, he was hit. But before he could regain his composure to escape again, the Pikachu smashed into his shell with a Spark. Cody looked in horror as his final pokemon was brought to his knees by two simple electric moves.

"Defend yourself!" he screamed in fear. Both pokemon used Iron Tail at the same time, making a clanging sound as their appendages hit. But after the collision, the Pikachu brought its tail around at lightning speed to smack Bastion in the chest, knocking him over. The Pikachu stood on top of the turtle's chest and its cheeks crackled with excitement. Cody knew what was going to happen next, but he couldn't utter a single word. The words he shouted earlier kept ringing in his head. Defend yourself.

"Bigga bagga!" the Pikachu shrieked, as lighting fell from the clouds and electrocuted the Squirtle… or so it seemed. When the lightning had ended its strike, everybody in the room looked in shock as Bastion's body, which was protected by a bluish-green bubble. Cody beamed at his pokemon with pride, as it had just used Protect for the first time.

"Iron Tail!" Bastion flung the bewildered Pikachu off of his chest and doing a flip, struck the Pikachu in the face with an Iron Tail before letting out another blast of water at the Pikachu, pushing it back several yards. However, this water blast seemed different then a normal Water Gun, since the blast was formed like rings. Another first: Bastion had just used Water Pulse.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Ian shouted, but the mouse didn't respond. It seemed to have been made dizzy from the water attack, and its cheeks no longer sparked. Its electricity must have been doused.

"Now's your chance! Aqua Jet!" Bastion pulled into his shell and shot across the field by water propulsion, hitting his target in the stomach, knocking out the mouse's wind, and its consciousness. The miniature rain clouds began to disappear.

"Pikachu is unable to battle! Squirtle is the winner!"

Ian still was wearing a look of disbelief, unable to believe that his pokemon had lost to a water type. Bastion looked quite proud of himself, though his skin was covered in electricity burns. It didn't look like he'd be able to do much more, but he probably wouldn't get enough rest to recover if he was switched in, so Cody decided to leave him in battle.

"Keep it up Bastion! You're doing great!" Cody encouraged.

"Not for long," Ian responded, now that he had regained his cool. He took another ball off his belt and sent out his third pokemon. It was a strange looking pokemon that Cody could only describe as being "geometrical:" a Porygon. But as he looked at the weird blue and pinked colored monster that levitated a few inches above the battle plot, he began to ask himself why Ian even used a Porygon on a gym team. Weren't Porygon normal type pokemon? Maybe it was allowed because it was an artificial pokemon made for computer work? He didn't know for sure.

"PORYGON SOLDIER SIMULATOR PROGRAM READY FOR DEPLOYMENT!" blared a loud, robotic sounding voice that emitted from the virtual pokemon's head. "TARGET POKEMON RECOGNIZED AS A SQUIRTLE. PROJECTILE ASSAULT SYSTEMS ARE ACTIVATED!"

"Don't let it intimidate you! Tackle him!" Cody commanded.

"Agility!" Ian shouted.

"AGILITY PROGRAM ENGAGED!" Suddenly, the Porygon zoomed away before the Squirtle even got close. Like a hovercraft, it was floating above the ground as it made a wide circle around the turtle before shooting a Psybeam. Bastion just barely dodged this, and shot a Water Gun at the Porygon, which hit its tail, barely having any real effect on the opponent's performance.

"Discharge!" The Porygon shot a flare of electricity from its entire body at the Squirtle. Bastion quickly withdrew into his shell and endured the hit, though it wasn't likely that he'd be able to take any more shots after that.

"Aqua Jet!" Bastion launched his shell at the Porygon, but the virtual pokemon effortlessly moved out of the way before turning towards its target once again.

"Conversion!" Ian shouted.

What the-

"CONVERSION PROGRAM ENGAGED! SET TO ELECTRIC TYPE!" With that, the pokemon's body glowed as the pink in its body changed to yellow.

"Now Discharge again!" The now yellow and blue pokemon sent out another electric blast, this one being much bigger than the Discharge before it due to its elemental change. Bastion evaded this, but his movements were slowing.

"Iron Tail!" Cody ordered in a last ditch effort to cripple the foe. Using all of his strength, the Squirtle propelled its body into the air and tried to strike the program pokemon with an Iron Tail, but the Porygon let out another Discharge, hitting Bastion directly and knocking him out cold.

"Squirtle is unable to battle! Porygon is the winner!"

"Good work Bastion!" Cody called out as he returned his pokemon. Now he only had Mars and Elesa left, but who to use? Both would be a good choice for Porygon under the electric element, but again, he figured that Mars would be better suited for what Ian's final pokemon was. Elesa it was then.

"Time to strike, Elesa!" The Blitzle appeared, letting out a happy whinny before observing her foe. She cocked her head in confusion, since the Porygon was unlike anything she had ever seen. But she decided to attack anyway. The Porygon shot a Psybeam, but Elesa leapt over the beam and crashed her body into the virtual pokemon's frame. After leveling itself from the collision, the Porygon zoomed away and shot another Psybeam from a distance, but Elesa began her pursuit once more.

"You can't outrun that Blitzle! Get in the air with a Magnet Rise!"
"AGILITY PROGRAM DISENGAGED! MAGNET RISE PROGRAM ENGAGED!" The Porygon rose into the air at a rapid speed.

"Jump a Spark on it!" Elesa made another jump to hit the Porygon, but only the tip of her mane hit the virtual pokemon's foot. However, this tiny shock was enough for Ian to work with.

"Conversion 2!"

"CONVERSION PROGRAM DISENGAGED! CONVERSION PROGRAM 2.0 ENGAGED! SET TO GRASS TYPE!" The yellow color that covered most of the Porygon's head and body turned to a dark green. Both Elesa and Cody now realized that the Porygon was taking on a new strategy of sniping from above, but why did it switch to grass type? Wasn't being an electric type enough to be resistant to Elesa's attacks?

"Solarbeam!" Ian shouted.

Oh shit, there it is. The Porygon began to charge an attack as it took in light from the light bulbs above. Cody panicked. Even though Elesa could attack Porygon, who was now a sitting duck, she probably would have ended up being hit. Even if she could survive a hit of a Solar Beam, she would probably be extremely damaged by it, so changing up the game plan and having her avoid the attack seemed like a better idea. Unfortunately, he was out of switches, but he had a plan nevertheless.

"Elesa, get close to the Porygon, but don't attack. Hold until I say so!" He crossed his fingers and hoped that she would even understand to hold her attacks, since it wasn't a command he enforced a whole lot. She did listen to him, but she seemed extremely antsy about standing in place while the Porygon charged up its Solar Beam.

"I don't know what you're trying to pull, but I'm not going to fall for any mind games. Keep charging, Porygon!"

Elesa turned her head back to her trainer and gave a nervous neigh, as if to say "Now?"
"Not yet. Hold your place!" He waited as the beam continued to charge. He also noticed that the people in the audience were now looking concerned. All except Frank, who looked intrigued at what Cody was planning. Almost… almost… almost… NOW! "Volt Switch!"

"The moment she heard the name of the attack, she thrust herself into the air and her body hit the Porygon in an electrical smash before her body turned into a flash of light and returning to her pokeball. Just then the Porygon released its Solarbeam, but there was no target. It had just wasted all that time and took damage from the Volt Switch for nothing.

"What the fu- IS THAT EVEN-" Ian began to shout, but he bit his tongue halfway through since he knew that what Cody did was in fact legal.

"Okay, don't get hit Mars!" The Mole made his second appearance in the battle and looked on intensely at his airborne foe. Luckily for him, the Porygon didn't seem like it was able to run the Magnet Rise and Agility programs simultaneously, so even though it was floating like the Tynamo that was earlier in the battle, it wouldn't be moving nearly as fast. But if it were to switch to the agility program, it would be in range for Mars, who would be able to keep up with a fast opponent. "Mud Bomb!"

The Diglett shot a Mud Ball at the program pokemon, but it disintegrated the flying mud with a Psybeam. It shot a second beam at the mole, who dodged it and got underground where he thought he would be safe… but Ian had other plans.

"Lock On and charge another Solar Beam!"

"LOCK ON PROGRAM ENGAGED! ENEMY POKEMON HAS BEEN TARGETED! CURRENT POSITION: TEN METERS FORWARD AND THREE METERS UNDER GROUND LEVEL WITH CONTINUAL MOVEMENT! PREPARING TO FIRE!"

Fuck, what now? That Solar Beam can probably penetrate through the ground to where Mars is, and one hit would probably take him out. Crap, time to take another dumb ass risk. Better breaking even if I can. "Mars, Astonish!" For a few seconds, Mars didn't react, but that was the point. If he popped up the moment the attack was ordered, there would be nothing astonishing about it. But in a puff of dirt and dust, Mars shot out of the ground like a bullet and smacked into the Porygon's face as it continued to charge the Solar Beam.

"ERROR! ERROR! MAGNET RISE FAILING! EXTERIOR PREPARING FOR CRASH LANDING!" The Porygon hit the ground with a loud thud, still charging its Solar Beam, and Mars landed several feet away on his feet.

"Bulldoze!" Re-entering the ground, Mars made a rolling earth charge at the fallen virtual pokemon, but as he was hitting it, the Porygon shot out its charged Solar Beam. A flash of green light flashed for a millisecond before both trainers could see that their pokemon had both fainted from the traded attacks.

"Both Porygon and Diglett are unable to battle! This match-up has resulted in a draw!" the referee declared.

"You did good Mars. Return," Cody said as he called his third pokemon back. The confidence had vanished from his mood now that he only had one pokemon left to face off against Ian's best at the second tier level. Elesa was good, no doubt, but next to Antonia, she was his least experienced battler. Was it even possible that she would be able to defeat Ian's final pokemon? "Go Elesa!"

"End this, Manectric!" Ian's final pokemon burst onto the field and Cody felt his blood run cold. The electric dog stood at nearly five feet tall from his feet to the tip of his mane. He glared at Elesa with his crimson eyes, and let out a loud howl. Elesa wasn't fazed though, as she answered this howl with a whinny, though it didn't sound nearly as intimidating.

"Quick Attack!" both trainers yelled at the same time. The tiny horse and the large dog charged each other at roughly the same speed, but it was the Manectric's weight that helped the hound win the exchange. Elesa was knocked quite a distance backwards, but she hopped back to her feet and started running towards the hound again. But Cody knew that there was no way that she would be able to attack the Manectric efficiently this way.

"Flash and strike!" Cody commanded. As both opponents closed in on each other, she used Flash. The Manetric was blinded for a second, but when it regained its vision, Elesa was coming from the side instead of the front. She rammed her head into the dog's side, making a sickening crunch sound. The hound quickly shook off the strike though and began to chase the tiny horse, who he was able to outrun. But before it could hit her, Cody called for her to use Flash again. Once the spots were out of the Manetric's eyes, it saw Elesa running straight towards him. Instead of ramming into him though, she leapt over his main and delivered her two back hooves to the back of the dog's head. Any normal pokemon would have gotten a concussion from this, but the hound stood strong.

"Odor Sleuth!" Ian shouted. The Manectric ran close enough to Elesa that it could get a whiff of her scent. Upon its closing in, Elesa used Flash again, but this time, the dog could smell where the filly was, and he struck her with a Headbutt before she could land another Quick Attack on him. Elesa fell into a heap, and before she could get up, the Manaectric shot her with a Shock Wave.

What? This guy is an expert on electric pokemon. Shouldn't he know that electricity literally improves Elesa's performance? Whatever, the more, the merrier. "Quick Attack!" At a faster pace, the force slapped her body into the hound's side, and at the same time, it hit her with a Spark attack. Though the physical aspect of his attack hurt the filly, she was still getting more electricity into her system, effectively making her even faster.

"Stomp!"

"Shock Wave!"

"Quick Attack!"

"Thunder Wave!"

As the battle raged on, Ian kept ordering for his Manectric to pump electricity into the Blitzle's body, and Elesa kept getting faster and faster. The faster she was, the more damage she managed to land on the opponent, even though the hound seemed to have energy to spare. But why was Ian doing this to himself?

"Spark!" both trainers ordered. Once again, both pokemon ran their electrified frames into each other, but after this collision, Elesa let out a shriek of pure pain.

"What's wrong girl?" Cody asked, but the tiny horse kept whimpering. She fell to her knees and started using Flash over and over again for no real reason. It's as if she's trying to get rid of excess electricity… oh shit, wait… He understood what was happening now. The Manectric had done to Elesa what she had done to the Elekid they battled the week before. By using continuous electric attacks on the Blitzle, it had essentially overloaded her system, and now she was overheating.

"Thunder Fang!" Ian commanded. The Manectric ran up to the fallen horse and sunk its fangs into her side, plugging even more electricity into her body.

"Elesa!" Cody shouted in terror over his horse's screams of pain, "Use Flash! Just keep using Flash! Try to drain that electricity out of your body!" But this was a desperate move. Cody knew for a fact that all the flashing in the world couldn't release more electricity than the Manectric was putting in. Nevertheless, Elesa's body began a continuous Flash, though this did not deter the hound's actions at all. Cody blocked his eyes with his hands so he wouldn't go blind, but managed to peek out at the bright light that emanated from the center of the battle plot. Well, we tried our best. Maybe next week… But suddenly, the body of Manectric flew from the ball of light, and he landed on the other side of the plot. What the…

"NEEEAAAAIIIGHH!" The light faded a few seconds, Cody saw Elesa standing up again. However, she was no longer a Blitzle. Instead, a much taller horse stood in her place. Its mane and white stripes were much more dramatic looking, and her sapphire eyes blazed with intensity.

"A Zebstrika…" somebody in the audience muttered in awe.

Ian looked just as shocked as Cody, but he tried to get back to the battling. "Manectric, no more electric attacks! Take Down!" The dog fearlessly ran at the larger opponent, but something strange happened with Elesa. She began to charge her opponent too, but as she ran, a light cloak of fire engulfed her body. She smashed into the hound in a flaming blitz, and ran in a circular path to hit it again at a faster speed. Cody remembered reading about this attack in his guide book. Apparently, this "Flame Charge" attack was typically use by fire pokemon, but Zebstrika was one of the few electric pokemon that could convert its electric energy into fire to use the technique as well. And the longer Elesa kept using this attack, the faster she would become. Again and again, she trampled the Manectric with her Flame Charge, and the damage from earlier in the battle and the current attacks it was absorbing now were beginning to pile up.

"That pokemon is physically dominating you!" Ian shouted. "Blast her off her feet with a Shock Wave to the knees!" The Manectric shout a wave of electricity at Elesa's knees, which ended her fiery run. However, this pissed her off more than it actually hurt her. She snorted at the dog as if to challenge him, and the Manetric accepted. It ran up and bit her on the neck with a Fire Fang, but she let out another screech and concentrated all of her electricity to the skin where the hound was chomping down on. The dog yelped and fell on the ground.

"Before it gets up, Thunder Stomp!" Cody shouted out. The attack was obviously an improvised idea that he randomly thought up, but Elesa seemed to understand him completely. Like she did with the Elekid, she pinned the Manectric down with her hooves, and forced every bit of electricity into its body. The blue and yellow dog howled in agony as his body was being pumped with electricity, but his pained yell ended as his eyes rolled up in their sockets.

"Manectric is unable to battle! Zebstrika is the winner! Therefore, victory goes to challenger Cody Storm!"

"YES!" Cody shouted as he fell to his knees and threw his hands up in the air. He was acting a little bit overdramatic, but he didn't care. When it looked as though all hope was lost, his pokemon and him had found a way to win the day. Gleefully, he ran up to Elesa, whose demeanor had switched from rage back to playfulness. She nuzzled her head against his chest, and he ran a hand down her neck, only to get it smeared in blood from the bite holes that the Manectric had left on her. "You did great, girl! Hold on, let me help you." He was about to spray the bite wounds with a super potion when Ian walked up to him. The red headed trainer looked furious, but he was holding back his rage.

"Good job Eddy-"

"Thanks, but it's Co-"

"Yeah, whatever. Here's your badge, here's your TM. Thank you for putting up a great fight, yada yada yada, have a nice trip."

"Um… you're welcome?" Cody said in a confused tone, but Ian just gave him a dirty look.

"Ian, how dare you!" Viktor roared as the old Russian entered the battle plot and stormed up to his protégé. "I am ashamed of your behavior! You have never acted this way in defeat, and now you give this child no respect for defeating you in battle!"

"He got lucky! If his Blitzle didn't evolve in the heat of the moment-"

"Luck has nothing to do with it, and even if it did, the error is not his, but yours!" Viktor shouted. "As an electric specialist, you should have known that mature Blitzle evolve into Zebstrika when their bodies are exposed to enough foreign electricity! Young Comrade Storm took advantage of your error and defeated you. Now, for the sake of your honor and dignity as a trainer, apologize to him!"

"But-"

"Now, or I will suspend you from this gym!"

Ian looked over at Cody, who just looked freaked out by the whole situation, and grimaced. "I'm sorry I was rude to you," he muttered. "Good luck on your journey, fellow trainer." With that, he left the arena in a huff.

"I'm sorry for my apprentice's words. He can get very serious about battling. But you have done well. Maybe someday when you are stronger, you and I shall do battle," Viktor stated.

"Thank you sir, it would be an honor," Cody replied. The two trainers shook hands, and Viktor went back to his gym quarters.

"Wow, you were great!" Heather cheered as she joined Cody and Elesa on the battle plot. "I hope I can win like you did next week."

"You did get lucky, but it was still a great fight," Jared admitted.

"Yeah, but when luck is a factor, I make it mine," Cody said.

"But I thought you said you didn't need luck," Jared reminded him.

"Well, I don't need it, but I'll use it when it's available," Cody chuckled as he sprayed Elesa's wounds. While doing so, he looked back up at Frank, who was still in the audience, watching them. He looked impressed, but it only made Cody more nervous. Why are you here? What the hell do you want with me?

"Two badges," Cody said to his Skarmory chick as he stroked her back, which was growing a slightly thicker layer of metal now. "Ten more to go, but two badges. So many trainers don't make it this far, but already…" With his other hand, he was holding his badge case, looking at the Tornado and Lightning Bolt shaped badges he had won, smiling in the darkness of the room.

The Pokemon Center sleeping rooms were surprisingly empty, so the trio of trainers weren't forced into getting a motel room. Right now, it was just Cody laying on the top of one of the bunks, wearing nothing but a pair of jeans, while Antonia rested her head on his abdominal region. His other pokemon were being treated, and the night wasn't a freeze out night, so he was taking it easy by going to bed early.

It felt so weird now to think that Elesa was now a Zebstrika, since Cody always thought of her as being a cute little Blitzle. What was even more odd to him was that she was the first of his pokemon to evolve, though she was the last one he caught. Obviously, he would need to find two more Diglett for Mars to evolve, but why hadn't Bastion and Colossal changed form yet?

But for the time being, he no longer cared about trivial details, or Frank, or the nightmares he was having, or the conflict with his parents. Just victory. "I really feel like I have a shot at making it in this game," he whispered to Antonia. "We will be champions someday. All of us." Maybe he was being a little bit big headed for winning his second badge by the skin of his teeth, but he didn't care. "Watch out world. The Storm is coming."

To be continued…