Thanks to mirrorkinomoto for reviewing the previous chapter
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Chapter Eighteen: A Noble Choice
Crossing the ocean had been a short, but gruelling trip. It had also been a very wet journey, having unfortunately fallen into the ocean a few times thanks to a couple of Tentacruel. Thankfully, she hadn't suffered any injuries. It had taken a couple of hours to reach the island from Olivine. Lyra was thankful for such a short journey after having just recovered from the month long trek between Ecruteak and Olivine.
Croconaw swam to the shoreline and climbed onto the beach. Lyra jumped off her Croconaw's back, shivering. Cianwood City wasn't really that much to look at – it was a bit like Azalea Town only situated right next to the sea. A cool breeze blew through the city from the ocean, sending another cold chill down her spine. She did her best to dry herself off then marched over towards Poke Mart to top up on some more supplies. Hyper potions and revives were now available to her, as well as lots of other cool things like great balls and ultra balls. There were even a few fancy looking envelopes to purchase.
Lyra took the lot then stepped outside, heading towards the Pokemon Centre when she suddenly came to an abrupt stop. Her backpack was shaking so violently, Lyra had wondered if a wild Pokemon had accidentally gotten inside. She quickly took it off and placed the bag on the ground zipping it open immediately. The mysterious egg she had received was beginning to show cracks!
She picked it up, cradling it carefully. It took again, much harder this time. Lyra almost dropped it out of shock. Two little arms appeared from the upper half as two stubby legs emerged from the bottom of the shell. The head appeared shortly afterwards which strongly resembled a crown. "Aw, aren't you adorable?" Lyra cooed, scratching the Pokemon's face. "I wonder what you are?"
There was a quick and easy way to find the answer to that question. She pulled out her Pokedex and held it before the bizarre looking Pokemon.
Togepi. The shell seems to be filled with joy. It is said that it will share good luck when treated kindly.
Togepi, what a cute sounding name, she thought. Cuteness, however, wasn't going to earn the Pokemon a spot on her team. Besides, her final team had been decided upon.
It was time to drop off a Pokemon in the Pokemon storage box area again. She ducked inside the Pokemon Centre and logged onto the nearby computer. She entered in her details and moved to the storage box. To deposit a Pokemon, all she had to do was place the pokeball inside the tube besides it and her Pokemon would be stored in a safe place for later use. "Goodbye, Togepi. I'll see you later."
She felt a little guilty for depositing the Togepi, especially since she had received it as a gift. But Professor Elm didn't need to know about that now – she'd tell him all about it later. Right now she had to go and pick up the potion from the pharmacy. She didn't get very far when she caught a dash of blue rushing past. Could it be?
Turning around, she spotted the legendary feline, Suicine looking at her. Calm but intelligent eyes looked back into Lyra's own eyes. It was as if the Suicine was waiting for Lyra's next move. Lyra stepped forward. The Suicine did not flinch at all. It's thick, purple mane blew in the gentle breeze looking like a flowing river. She could see why Eusine was infatuated with such a Pokemon. It was truly spectacular to look at.
Before Lyra could even move closer, Suicine suddenly sprinted away, running across the water. Mystified, Lyra just stared at the spot Suicine had been moments ago. "Lyra! Wasn't that Suicine just not?" She didn't even have to turn around to know who that voice belonged to. Eusine. He ran up to join her, notepad in his hands. "I only caught a quick glimpse, but I thought I saw Suicine running on the waves. Suicine is beautiful and grand. And it races through towns and roads at simply awesome speeds. It's wonderful… I want to see Suicine up close…" He fixed his gaze on Lyra.
"Hi Eusine," Lyra greeted politely. She didn't feel comfortable around the guy since he hadn't left a good impression on her in Ecruteak City.
He studied her face as if she had grown an extra nose. "What does Suicine see in you that I do not? There must be something I have failed to see… Perhaps if we battle I might find out the truth and earn Suicine's respect." He raised a hand, pointing a finger at Lyra, gaze lingering on her face. "I have decided. You and I must have a battle."
Well, I suppose I could do with a warm-up match before taking on the Cianwood Gym, Lyra thought to herself. Eusine rubbed his hands gingerly, as Lyra called out her first Pokemon. Croconaw. Eusine summoned a big round Pokemon that really just looked like an upside down oversized pokeball with eyes and a mouth. She referred to her Pokedex for some additional information.
Electrode. The evolved form of Voltorb. It is dangerous. If it has too much electricity and has nothing to do, it amuses itself by exploding.
How was causing itself to faint amusing, Lyra thought, frowning at the Pokemon before her. Having an Electrode sounded like a lot of maintenance. Lyra recalled her Croconaw, swapping it out for her Gabite. "Gabite, use Dig!" Ground-type moves did well against Electric-types.
"Electrode, use Thunder!" A mighty bolt of lightning plummeted to the ground, striking the spot where Gabite was standing. Fortunately, Gabite was already hiding underground. Gabite moved fast, and emerged from his hiding spot, inflicting serious damage on the Electrode's vulnerable belly. The Electrode fainted.
"Ah, I think I'm beginning to see why Suicine has such an interest in you…" Eusine said. "You are stronger than you look… but I too am strong… there must be something else about you that makes you unique…" He recalled his fainted Electrode. "I will find out what that is. I will never stop my quest to make Suicine mine. You and I will meet again, Lyra." He hurried off towards a nearby cave.
Strange man, Lyra thought. Before heading to the gym though, Lyra made sure to pick up the secret potion from the pharmacy.
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Chuck was never at home; he preferred to spend his days at the gym instead of being with his family which annoyed his wife, Sharlenne, greatly. The only time he returned home was when he wanted something to eat since he didn't know how to cook himself. She loved her husband, but there were times she was frustrated with him.
She stood outside, tapping her foot impatiently, waiting for the brute of a man to come outside. At least ten minutes had passed when the man finally decided to show himself. "Sharlenne! I'm glad you could make it!" Chuck said, opening his arms to give the wife a hug. She snorted, crossed her arms and shook her head.
"I don't want to hear it."
Chuck frowned. "I'm a gym leader! This is my job."
"You're never at home!"
"Of course I am. I visit during the day."
"Only when you want something to eat! The children never see you anymore."
His expression softened. "How are they?"
She glared. "They miss you. It's been over a month."
"Ah, I didn't realize that much time has passed."
Sharlenne's glare remained. "You once told me that you were going to spend more time at home."
"I haven't lost to a challenger in a long time, dear."
"Promise me you will spend more time at home when you do otherwise I'm taking the kids and we're moving to Kanto." Their marriage was suffering because he was barely there. Sometimes she wondered if he was married to his job instead.
He took her hand. "I promise. Please don't go."
She took in a deep breath, studying his face carefully. He seemed sincere enough. Her posture relaxed. "Fine. I'll wait." She removed her hands and headed back home as Chuck returned to the gym.
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A couple of weeks had now passed since Lance found himself living under Pryce's roof. Each day, he became a little more restless. Although there had been nothing to indicate Team Rocket had succeeded, he couldn't help but think the day would soon be upon them. Lyra still hadn't shown up. Where was the girl? He wanted to see her again to see how much she had improved since they last met.
"Lance." A young female voice called his name. He turned to look. Standing at his doorway was one of the grand children. Her name was Lisa and she was due to commence her journey as a Pokemon trainer today. For the past few months, Lance had been showing her various methods to get the best out of your Pokemon. The girl was a fast learner – that was to be expected though because she was the granddaughter of a veteran trainer.
He sat up on his bed, briefly glancing at the time. Five am. Just another normal day. "What's the matter?"
She entered his room and sat down on the far end of his bed. "I'm scared."
Today was Lisa's big day. "About today? There's nothing to be worried about." Aside from Team Rocket of course. He didn't want to scare though; she was already terrified about starting her journey.
She nodded. "When I was growing up as a kid, I always wanted to be a trainer… but now that the day has come… I don't know if I want to be a trainer anymore." She stood up and looked out the window. The sky was red. A troubling sign.
"Why not?" Lance replied, frowning. The girl had showed promising signs of being a good trainer from what he had seen from their lessons.
"I want to be a breeder, not a trainer."
"Well, battling isn't for everyone."
She looked at him again with curious brown eyes. "Everyone is expected to be a trainer in our family."
"You can't force yourself to be someone you don't want to be." He frowned again. That sounded like something Pryce's wife would say. Was her influence beginning to rub off on him? She looked at him blankly. He sighed. "What I'm saying is, don't become a trainer if you don't want to be one. Just because everyone else in your family was one, doesn't mean you have to follow that path either." Yup. Sheila was definitely having an influence in his way of thinking. Clair would probably laugh at him if she were here.
"I don't want to be a disappointment though. They're all expecting me to do great things just because my grandfather is a great trainer." She cast her eyes downwards. "People expect me to follow in his footsteps. I expect myself to do the same… but my heart just isn't in it."
He wasn't sure how to respond to that. Her words struck him deeper than he thought. It reminded him of his own personal conflict regarding being a Champion people could be proud of. He had to say something though; she was waiting for comforting words. "You shouldn't feel like you must act a certain way to meet people's expectations," he said, recalling the words Sheila had given him.
"How do you deal with it all? You're the Champion. People must expect a lot of great things from you especially after what Red had done." For a ten year old, she certainly knew a fair bit. Perhaps children were smarter than what he gave then credit for.
He had to think hard about this one. "I just… do?" Great response Lance, he scolded himself. Real deep that was. "When I was your age, I wanted to be the finest Champion the world had ever seen. It was my life's purpose to be the best dragon tamer no matter what sacrifices I had to make along the way. Every day I trained hard to improve my technique, sometimes even to the brink of exhaustion." It was weird to think he had started his journey exactly ten years ago. It felt like he had been doing this for decades now. "I imagined myself in a different role – being the hero. It's been my driving force over these past ten years."
And it hadn't done him a lot of good either. He pretended to be like a heroic Champion, but he certainly didn't feel it. To this date he still hadn't done anything that could be considered heroic and he was starting to believe that day would never come. Being the one to defeat Team Rocket… was it just a foolish dream? A child's hope? Clair would definitely be having a good chuckle now if she was hearing this. He snorted. His grandfather saw it. Sheila had seen it as well. Even a ten year old child had a better understanding of it than he did. Let go of the chains that bind you. To let go of the doubts and fears holding you back from seeing a different perspective.
"Lance?" Lisa said.
He looked at her. "You just made me realize something." He was talking more to himself now than to the child. He didn't have to be the type of Champion Red had been – the type to vanquish evil and uphold justice. He could be a different type of Champion, a one that went out of their way to help other people improve and bring them closer to fulfilling their dreams. "You should tell your grandparents what you just told me. I'm sure they'd understand." He stood up.
"Will you come with me?"
"Sure."
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The other gyms she had visited had all been designed to reflect the type of Pokemon the gym leader used. Falkner battled high above the grounds. Bugsy's gym had cobwebs, trees and bug-karts. Whitney's gym was very feminine and cute. Morty's gym captured a haunting atmosphere. But Chuck's gym? She couldn't see the connection between an artificial waterfall and Fighting-type Pokemon.
The gym advisor waved out to her. "Welcome to Cianwood City gym! This is the Fighting-type gym. Chuck is the man you want to beat. He spends all day meditating under the waterfall with his Pokemon to improve concentration levels so all his Pokemon hit their target every time. Fighting-type Pokemon are super weak to flying-types and psychic-types, so make sure you got one of those moves in your team! Chuck won't even notice you're here until your turn off the waterfall. Here's a hint – look for a giant red button. Good luck trainer!" He waved again, flashing giving her a wide toothy grin.
Lyra gazed up. There were four trainers in total; two on the left and two on the right. The two trainers on the left were guarding the giant red button while the two on the right weren't guarding anything. She decided to deal with the ones on the left first. She climbed up the first flight of stairs and prepared to face off against Black Belt Yoshi.
"Chuck taught me everything I know! There's no way you'll get past me!"
Lyra sent out her Staravia, while Yoshi summoned a brown humanoid Pokemon with an ovoid body. It had large almond shaped eyes, but appeared to lack a mouth and nose. How did it eat? Lyra wondered. She held up her Pokedex wondering if it could answer that question for her.
Hitmonlee. The evolved form of Tyrogue. This amazing Pokemon has an awesome sense of balance. It can kick in succession from any position.
"Hitmonlee, use Jump Kick!" Hitmonlee moved first, jumping up high into the air to kick out at the Staravia. He missed, much to the trainer's frustration. The Pokemon did a round-house kick and accidentally kicked himself instead.
"Staravia, use Wing Attack!" The two mini funnels of feathers struck the Hitmonlee directly in his chest. He howled with pain, clutching at the wounded spot. "Now use Quick Attack!" While the Hitmonlee was busy trying to recover, Staravia swooped down and hit the Hitmonlee in the chest again. It didn't take long for the Hitmonlee to faint.
Black Belt Yoshi hung his head in shame. "It seems I still have much to learn."
Lyra climbed up the next flight of stairs to face the next trainer, Black Belt Nob. He summoned a humanoid grey skinned bipedal Pokemon. The Pokemon's red eyes fixed on Lyra, as it flexed its bulging muscles. Once again, she turned to her Pokedex for information.
Machop. Always brimming with power, it passes time by lifting boulders. Doing so makes it even stronger.
"Staravia, use Wing Attack!" The twin funnels of feathers hit the Machop hard. It staggered backwards, its flat face scrunched up in pain.
"Machop, use Revenge!" The Machop picked up a rock and hurled it at the Staravia, knocking it out of the air. He then delivered a powerful blow to the avian but fortunately the move didn't do too much damage.
"Use Wing Attack, Staravia then finish him off with Quick Attack!" Lyra wasn't sure why she hadn't thought of this combination of attacks earlier." Staravia attacked again, sending forth the two funnels. She followed up with a deadly swoop, delivering the final blow making the Machop faint. Black Belt Nob summoned his next Pokemon. This one looked like a more mature version of the Machop, only its muscles were far larger than its predecessor and its skin was purple.
Machoke. The evolved form of Machop. It always goes at its full power, but this very tough and durable Pokemon never gets tired.
Instead of using Staravia again, Lyra traded the avian out for her Espeon. The gym advisor had said psychic-types were also super effective against fighting-types. "Espeon, use Confusion!" Espeon shot forth a beam of purple, hitting the Machoke in the chest.
"Machoke, use Low Sweep!" The Machoke charged forward, crouched down and swung its legs, tripping the slender Espeon over. Fortunately, the psychic fox was able to get back onto her feet again just as quickly as it had fallen.
"Use Confusion again!" Another beam. This one dealt a critical blow ending the battle within a few short seconds. Black Belt Nob kicked the ground, upset. She ignored his complaints and looked at the red button. She turned the winch and watched as the waterfall stopped flowing. She now had a choice. Face the gym leader now, or fight the other two trainers. It was a pretty obvious choice. Fight the other two trainers for more experience.
She walked across the bridge on the third level and climbed up the steps to the top level to face the next trainer, Black Belt Lung. "You might have turned off the waterfall, but it's not going to make your battle against me any easier! It's triple battle time! Go my three fighting apes!" Three monkeys with white, shaggy fur appeared. The third monkey was slightly larger than the other two, and had a much meaner expression.
Mankey. It is extremely ill-tempered. Groups of them will attack any handy target for no reason.
She turned her Pokedex to the older more mature looking monkey.
Primape. The evolved form of Mankey. If approached while asleep, it may awaken and angrily give chase in a groggy state of semi-sleep.
To join her Staravia and Espeon, Lyra summoned her Bagon to aid in the fight.
"Mankeys, use Karate Chop!" The two Mankeys jumped forward, lunging at Espeon and Bagon, using their hands in a fast fluid downward motion to inflict damage. Espeon and Bagon both uttered a gasp of pain. "Now Primeape, use Karate Chop as well!" Espeon took some damage again.
"Espeon, use Confusion! Bagon, use Bite! Staravia, Wing Attack!"
Espeon's confusion beam struck the first Mankey hard, causing the ape to faint. Bagon's attack did some damage but not enough to take the other Mankey down. Primeape suffered a critical blow to its health from Staravia's Wing Attack. "Grr, you're really making me mad," Lung said, through gritted teeth. "Mankey, Primeape – use Karate Chop again!" The monkeys lunged.
Both Espeon and Staravia managed to avoid the attack, but Bagon did not. The dragon endured both Karate Chops but was now barely unable to stand. "Hang in there Bagon," Lyra whispered. "Okay, Use Wing Attack, Staravia. Espeon, use Confusion again! Bagon, use Headbutt!" Her trio attacked the remaining apes and succeeded in taking them both down. One more trainer to go and she'd face Chuck for her fifth badge.
She moved down the steps until she reached the final trainer. His name was Black Belt Lao. "I've been training in this gym for a few years know, practicing my fighting technique! There's no way you'll be able to get past me! Hitmonchan!" A tan, humanoid Pokemon wearing red boxing gloves and a light purple tunic appeared.
Hitmonchan. The final evolved form of Tyrogue. Its punches slice the air. However, it seems to need a short break after fighting for three minutes.
A short break every three minutes? That sounded like the perfect time to hit hard. "Go for it, Toto!" Croconaw appeared from his pokeball.
"Hitmonchan, use Mach Punch!" Hitmonchan rushed forward, driving his fist right into Croconaw's face. Croconaw was thrown backwards upon the impact, but recovered.
"Wash him away with Surf!" Although there was no large mass of water around, Croconaw still managed to summon a wave. It wasn't a wave of water though, but rather a wave consisting of the rocks from inside the gym. The massive rock wave moved forward, taking out everything in its path including Hitmonchan and Lao. They were pushed a few feet back when the wave died down.
"Use another Mach Punch, Hitmonchan!"
"Use Ice Fang, Toto!"
Hitmonchan drove his fist forward, punching Toto in the face again. Toto grunted then retaliated by sinking his teeth into the Hitmonchan's arm. Hitmonchan screamed, and tried to wriggle free, but Toto's hold was unrelenting. "Free yourself with Mach Punch!"
"Don't let him touch you, Toto! Push him away with Surf!"
Hitmonchan rushed forward to strike Toto again, but this time Toto managed to summon a tidal wave of rocks much quicker than before. The tidal wave pushed the Hitmonchan a couple of metres away again, but this time the Hitmonchan did not stand. Victory! "Well done, Toto!" Lyra said, rushing over to give her mascot Pokemon a hug. Croconaw gave a happy grunt. Black Belt Lao kicked the ground, annoyed by his loss.
Lyra moved down to the ground level where Chuck was standing. His eyes were open now, and he looked mad. She could even see a vein sticking out of the left side of his forehead. The closer she moved in, the more intimidated she felt. Chuck was a big guy. A really big guy. A man mountain, basically.
"Oomph! The pounding waterfall right onto my head… Arggh!" he bellowed, hands grabbing at his hair. He fixed his annoyed gaze on Lyra. "Why did you stop the waterfall from pouring on me! You just spoiled my training, trainer!" he said, gobs of spit flying in her face. "I have to warn you that I am a strong trainer training every day under this waterfall!"
Lyra wiped the spit of her face with her right hand. "Um… I don't really see the connection."
The flame in his eyes sparked. "What?! You say this has nothing to do with Pokemon?!"
She raised her hands defensively. "I'm sorry."
"… Well… what you say is true," Chuck said. "My wife says the same thing you know. Anyway, I don't want to talk about my wife. Come, we shall do battle!" he roared.
Lyra took in a deep breath. This time, she would not forfeit the match.
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Lance and Lisa sat down at the dinner table along with Pryce. It was still early in the morning so Pryce wasn't at the gym yet. Gym battles never happened before sunrise nor sunset. Gym leaders needed a life outside of the gym as well. He searched for Sheila and found she was busy in the kitchen cooking breakfast and making tea. Pryce acknowledged Lance with a nod then turned to Lisa. "Today is your big today."
Lisa shuffled uncomfortably in her seat, twiddling her thumbs. Her eyes met with Lance's and he nodded. She sighed, took in a deep breath and faced her grandfather. "I… don't want to be a trainer, grandfather."
"You don't want to be a trainer?" Pryce repeated.
"Please don't be mad! It's just… I want to be a Pokemon breeder instead!" she blurted out, sinking lower in her chair. "I don't want to follow in your footsteps – I want to make my own path."
Pryce looked rather surprised, turning to his wife for some support. This wasn't how he expected to start the day. "Did you hear that? Lisa doesn't want to be a trainer anymore."
Sheila stopped cleaning a plate and looked in their direction. "I heard perfectly fine, Pryce. Having a Pokemon breeder in the family sounds wonderful! She could get a job at the day care centre."
"I'm not mad, Lisa… just surprised, that's all," Pryce said. Lisa looked relieved. "What made you change your mind?" Lisa looked at Lance again. Pryce's eyes followed. "Did you tell my granddaughter to give up becoming a trainer?" He didn't sound angry, and he didn't look it either, but he was an ice-type master and therefore a professional at keeping his cool.
"Uh, not exactly. I just said she should do what she wants to do, not what others expect her to do." In the corner of his eye, he caught Sheila's smile.
"It wasn't his fault, grandfather!" Lisa exclaimed. "If you want me to become a trainer, I will become one if that's what you want," she added, in a defeated tone.
Pryce shook his head. "No, no, not at all. If you want to become a breeder, you may. I will call the Day Care people later to see if they're interested in taking on an apprentice part-time." Her face brightened. "But you will still have to go to school. Since you're not going to become a trainer, you will finish your studies," he added sternly.
Lisa smiled. "Of course I will! Thank you, papa!" She stood up from the table and ran up to her room. Lance suspected she was going to call her friends and tell them the good news. Now with Lisa gone, Pryce's expression morphed into a sombre one. Lance could tell by that expression something was terribly wrong.
"What's the problem?"
An uncomfortable silence hung in the air. Pryce took in a deep breath and spoke again. "It's about Team Rocket. The experiment has begun to happen." He studied Lance's reaction, carefully. "The Magikarp are evolving one by one. They will begin to fight each other and that does not bode well for the surrounding Pokemon or for the species itself."
Lance was half-tempted to storm out of the house right now and hunt down Team Rocket. But that's exactly what Pryce was expecting him to. That's what he would've expected of himself before the conversation with Sheila. "It's a risk we'll have to take. You told me to wait for Lyra before acting. I intend to do just that." Lyra was the one destined to be the hero, and he'd be there to assist. Not the other way around.
"I thought you were keen on taking out Team Rocket?"
"I am keen… but that's not the type of Champion I want to be any longer," he replied. "I'm not the same Champion Red was."
Pryce gave one of his rare smiles. "I'm impressed. It seems like you have learned something here after all. Your grandfather will be proud."
Now it was his turn to feel surprised. "My grandfather?"
Pryce nodded. "He asked me to keep you back and I promised I would. He'll be glad to know that you've shifted your goals." He glanced down at the time. "Well, would you like at the time? I will be off to the gym now for my meditation session. I'll see you at dinner. Oh, would you mind dropping my granddaughter off at the school in Violet City?"
"Not a problem."
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Things weren't looking too good on Lyra's end. Although Chuck's Primeape had finally fallen, half her team were unable to fight. The monkey had taken out her two weapons – Espeon and Staravia – and her Growlithe. Now she was left with her three reptilian Pokemon all of whom had no attacks that were super-effective against Chuck's Poliwrath.
Poliwrath was a true menace. The Pokemon hit extremely hard and was fully capable of taking out one of her Pokemon with one mighty hit. Water-based moves wouldn't work on the Pokemon at all, and her other moves did little damage. Her Pokemon spent the majority of the battle avoiding Poliwrath's Hypnosis and Focus Punch attacks.
"Gabite, use Dig again!" For what seemed like the tenth time during the battle, Gabite hid underground, just managing to avoid another beam of Hypnosis. If that move hit, it would spell the end of her battle. She had seen how powerful Focus Punch was during the battle with his Primeape when Staravia had failed to land a hit. It seemed the move only worked when one of Lyra's Pokemon missed its target. Poliwrath couldn't be out sped, or out powered but he could be out smarted. But why? Simply avoid his attacks until he ran out of steam?
Wait.
That could actually work. She still had a couple of revives in her bag as well. All she had to do was continue hiding underground until Poliwrath had no moves left, then she could exploit his weaknesses. It seemed so simple. But would her strategy actually work? Poliwrath didn't seem to be showing any physical signs of exhaustion.
"Okay, Gabite. Keep hiding underground!"
Chuck frowned. "What are you playing at? Stop running away and fight!"
"I am fighting… but not just in the way you want me to. There's more to battling than just pure power," Lyra said. She smiled. "I'm about to show you the importance of having a strategy in place. Gabite, use Dig again!"
"You're not even attacking me. How are you supposed to win?"
"Your Pokemon will run out of steam eventually the way it keeps hitting like that." Now the Poliwrath was starting to show the typical exhaustion signs. His moves were becoming rather sluggish and his accuracy a little less than perfect. He was definitely running out of steam… but so was Gabite. Fortunately, she still had a couple of Revives left. "Okay, Gabite. You did well. Finish him off, Staravia!" Gabite returned and the revived Staravia took his place. "Use Wing Attack!"
Poliwrath was struck hard, but the Pokemon remained on his feet. Lyra bit her lip. Okay, so he wasn't quite close to fainting yet. Chuck rushed over to his Pokemon and gave it a Super Potion, restoring a fair amount of health. By Arceus' light, Lyra thought. The battle wasn't over yet. "Poliwrath, use Hypnosis!"
"Dodge it, Staravia!"
But Staravia failed to avoid the move and was sent to sleep. The bird rested on the floor, head tucked under her feathers. "Poliwrath, now use Focus Punch!"
Unfortunately, the move hit and Staravia fainted again. Hypnosis – the most annoying attack in the history of Pokemon battling. She summoned her revived Espeon. "Espeon, use Confusion!" Surely, that had to do some form of damage against the bulky Poliwrath. Thankfully, Poliwrath failed to avoid the attack. The move hit hard. Poliwrath slumped over, panting. She had to be close to winning now, surely!
"No… not… yet…" Chuck bent beside his Pokemon and handed the Poliwrath a berry. It was yellow with a few coloured spots on its skin. The Pokemon gobbled it up eagerly and seemed to recover some health. Healing berries? "It's a Sitrus Berry. They heal a fair percentage of the Pokemon's health."
Look on the bright side, Lyra told herself. At least it can't heal itself. Unlike Whitney's Miltank. That battle had been a nightmare. "We haven't lost yet. Espeon, use Confusion!" Poliwrath suffered another mighty blow, throwing the Pokemon a few feet. He fell forwards onto his knees, using his hands to support his weight. So close. Anytime now. Just one more hit, she thought. "Use Quick Attack! Finish him off!" Espeon dashed forwards at such high speeds it was just a blur. She crashed headfirst into the Poliwrath. Poliwrath grunted. The Pokemon was now so exhausted from using multiple Focus Punches it could barely support his own weight.
"Use Surf!" A rock tidal wave rushed towards Espeon. Espeon had nowhere to run and was hit. Espeon fainted.
Lyra still had a few options left though – although she had now run out of potions, super potions and revives, she still had Croconaw with full health available. She summoned him now. "Toto, finish Poliwrath off with Ice Fang!" The move wouldn't inflict too much damage against the Poliwrath, but hopefully it would be enough. Croconaw charged and clamped his jaws around the exhausted Poliwrath. Poliwrath tried to fight him off, but he was far too weak now to do anything. Lyra sighed with relief, as the Poliwrath's eyes rolled back into his head. Victory!
Chuck seemed surprised. "Hmm… I lost? How about that!" He threw his head back and laughed. "All right, you're worthy of the Storm Badge." He pulled out the badge and handed it to Lyra. The Storm Badge was designed in the shape of a human fist. She wasn't quite sure what a fist had to do with a storm, but she gladly accepted it. "The Storm Badge lets you Pokemon fly to any city or town you've already been to. Here, take this too!" He handed her a dark red potion.
"Thanks."
"That is Focus Punch! It doesn't land if the foe you're attacking this you first, but it's very powerful if it manages to hit!" He laughed again. "I enjoyed battling you! But a loss is a loss! From now on, I'm going to train twenty-four hours a day! See you later, trainer!"
Lyra waved goodbye and walked outside, laughing. Chuck was quite the character. Stepping outside the gym, she found a woman standing nearby, holding a sky blue potion in her hand. Chuck's wife, Lyra presumed. The woman approached Lyra a potion in her left hand. "I see you defeated my husband. Take this, you deserve it. That's a max revive." She bowed her head, smiling. "Well, I should probably go and see him now and see what he wants for dinner. Good luck, trainer!"