Thanks to mirrorkinomoto for reviewing the previous chapter
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Chapter Twenty One: Fire and Ice
As soon as Lyra entered the Mahogany Gym, she really wished she had brought a jacket with her. And some jeans. Maybe some ski gear even. In light of the events at the Lake of Rage, Lyra had forgotten all about Morty's advice about wearing warm clothing. The cold in here was ridiculous; how could it be so cold in here when it was so warm outside? It was like being in some giant freezer. Her teeth chattered. Wrapping her arms around her body, she moved towards the first gym when she was stopped by the gym advisor.
She was pleased to know he too was shivering. "Welcome to Mahogany Gym," he said through chattering teeth. "This will be your coldest battle yet, no pun intended. Trainers here all use ice-type Pokemon so you can melt them with a Fire-type or beat them down with Fighting-type or ground-type moves. Your opponent Pryce waits in the third room. To reach there, you'll have to put these ice skates on," he said, pointing to some flashy new ice skates. They were orange coloured. "Good luck, trainer!"
Lyra picked up the skates. She removed her shoes and put them on. She had never skated before so this was going to be an interesting experience. Treat it like rollerblading. She heard a voice in the back of her head say, which sounded much like her mother. That would be easy if she had rollerbladed as well.
She took a cautious step forward and tried to steady herself, keeping her arms outstretched like she was a bird about to take off into the air. This was going to be the most physically challenging gym. It was easy to understand why not many people made it this far with gym designs like these. Awkwardly, she stepped onto the ice.
She took another step forward and fell down. Falling on ice felt much worse than falling on the grass or sand. Her backside was throbbing; hurting from the pain, and numb from the cold. It was even worse because she wasn't dressed in the appropriate clothing. Fortunately, with persistence, she managed to get to the other side, after sustaining multiple injuries in the process.
Now she was in the second room. There were two trainers here. A boy and a girl both dressed in ski gear. The guy had a snowboard, and the girl was standing on a pair of skis. Lyra slowly made her over to the girl. Her name was Diana. Diana looked her up and down. "Aren't you feeling just a little bit cold? Never mind, a battle should warm you up. Go Jynx!"
Lyra had seen many strange looking Pokemon throughout her journey, but Jynx was certainly the strangest of them all. It appeared to look like a bulky woman. The Pokemon had long, sleek blond hair, and thick pink lips that would make all the women at Goldenrod Gym jealous. The Jynx wore a red dress… at least it looked that way.
Jynx. It rocks its body rhythmically. It appears to alter the rhythm depending on how it is feeling.
Yup, definitely a Pokemon Whitney and her fellow gym trainers would love. "Okay, this is your fight, Growlithe!" Growlithe faced the Jynx, eager to battle. "Growlithe, use Flamethrower!" Growlithe's latest move hit the Jynx hard, encasing it in flame. The stench of burnt hair filled the hair.
"Jynx," Diana called, pointing a pole at Growlithe. Use Heart Stamp!" The Jynx puckered its lips, and placed her hands over the golden circles on her dress. Lyra frowned. The Jynx thrust her hands sending forth a floating pink heart. The heart hit Growlithe, knocking her over onto her side. Fortunately, it appeared to do little damage.
Growlithe picked herself back up again, wagging her puffy tail. "Take that Jynx down! Use Flamethrower!" Another burst of fire exited Growlithe's mouth. Jynx was covered in flames once again. This time, she struggled to beat the flames out. The Jynx fainted. Victory number one.
She awkwardly moved over to the male snowboarder. His name was Patton. "It's double-battle time! Do you have what it takes to defeat my Swinub duo? Let's see it!" He summoned his two Pokemon.
Ice-type Pokemon were certainly strange, Lyra thought. Two Pokemon that looked a bit like a pig appeared before her. But unlike common pigs, these two were covered in shaggy, brown hair.
Swinub. It rubs its snout on the ground to find and dig up food. It sometimes discovers hot springs.
Lyra wished she was standing near a hot spring right now. She was freezing. Judging by the Swinub's colour, she assumed it was also part-Ground. She returned her Growlithe, and brought out Feraligatr and Espeon.
"Swinub's, use Mud Bomb!"
"Toto, use Surf! Espeon, use Shadow Claw!"
The Swinub's vomited sticky brown stuff onto the floor, and kicked it in the direction of Espeon. Gross, Lyra thought. Fortunately, Espeon was fast enough to avoid the blow and easily evaded it. Feraligatr wasn't so fortunate, but barely took any damage. Espeon counter-attacked, and struck the Swinub on the left with her paw, while Feraligatr mustered up a powerful wave, by shattering the ice with his tail. The tidal wave swept the two Swinub away, including the snowboarder. Another battle won.
Getting from room to room was proving to be more difficult than the actual battling. She fell down a few more times before finally reaching the other side. Her skin was red, thanks to the frequent contact she had made with the ice. "I hope I win the battle the first round..." she said aloud. Having to redo this did not sound appealing at all.
She stepped through into the third room. There were three trainers here – one female skier and two male snowboarders. She also spotted Pryce on the far end of the room. To get to him, she had to bypass all three trainers. She clumsily walked over to the male on the far left, almost tripping over in the process.
His name was Deandre. "Pryce taught me everything there is to know about ice-types. You'll never get past me!" He threw three pokeballs out. Triple battle time. Lyra was beginning to like these battles a lot more now, having fought in a few. They were more difficult because it required better strategy, but also more exciting.
Three white seals appeared. Two of them had round chubby faces, while the largest of the three lacked the fat around its face. Aside from that distinguishable sight, the seals looked very similar to each other. It was like Mankey and Primeape all over again. She examined the small seals first with her Pokedex.
Seel. Although it can't walk well on land, it is a graceful swimmer. It especially loves being in frigid seas.
She then identified the mature looking seal.
Dewgong. The evolved form of Seel. Its streamlined body has little drag in water. The colder the temperature, the friskier it gets.
Sounded nasty, she thought. An ice and water-type hybrid. That could be troubling, because the water part would render any fire-base move useless. Ice-type attacks would obliterate her two dragons and newly evolved Staraptor. But she needed three Pokemon to battle. "Espeon, Feraligatr and Staraptor!"
"All of you use Ice Shard!" The three seals hurled large chunks of ice at Lyra's Staraptor. Staraptor fainted.
Lyra cursed. Now she had to replace Staravia with another Pokemon who was super weak against them. She brought out Gabite, with the sole intention of keeping him underground for the duration of the battle. "Espeon, use Psybeam! Toto, use Crunch! Gabite, hide underground with Dig!" Her Pokemon obeyed. Gabite dug a wide hole, while the other two Pokemon jumped into the fray. Espeon struck a Seel while Toto took care of the other Seel.
"Seels, use Headbutt! Dewgong, do the same!"
The three sea lions charged forward, ramming their horned heads into Toto and Espeon. Espeon let out a cry of pain as she was rammed in her left flank, while Feraligatr held his own ground, forcing the Dewgong back. "Use Shadow Claw, Espeon! Toto, take down that Seel with Crunch! Gabite, now is the time to attack!" It was a risk, but it needed to be done. Gabite jumped out from beneath the ground, headbutting the Seel, causing it to faint. Toto and Espeon worked together to take out the other Seel leaving the Dewgong the last Pokemon standing.
"You burn hot!" Deandre exclaimed. "But the battle ain't over yet! Dewgong, use Ice Shard on the dragon!"
Uh-oh, Lyra thought. Gabite was struck hard by the attack, causing him to faint. Two Pokemon down now. She really hoped Pryce didn't have a Dewgong on his team. "Espeon, Psybeam! Toto, use Crunch!" The combination of her Pokemon's moves was too much for the Dewgong to handle and it fainted.
Lyra moved onto the next trainer, Skier Jill. "You've done pretty good to reach me, but your journey ends here! Go, Dewgong!"
Not another one, Lyra inwardly groaned. She brought out Espeon, hoping the feline's immense special attack would take the Dewgong down hard and fast. "Espeon, use Psybeam!"
"Dewgong, use Aurora Beam!" A colourful beam left the seal's mouth, colliding with Espeon's own special beam. Thankfully, Espeon was a few levels stronger than the Dewgong, and managed to force the other attack back.
"Espeon, use Shadow Claw!" With a glowing purple claw, Espeon pounced, swatting the Dewgong squarely in the eyes. Dewgong hissed, and retaliated, swinging its tail. Espeon jumped out of the way, rolling over onto her side.
"Use Aurora Beam again, Dewgong!"
Espeon was hit again. The feline wobbled on her legs. Potion time, Lyra thought, hurrying over to give her cat a much-needed hyper potion. Espeon immediately felt better, standing on four sturdy legs. "Finish him off with Psybeam!" This time, her move dealt a critical blow resulting in a loss for Skier Jill.
Onto the final trainer now. She wondered what Pokemon this guy would have. Three Dewgongs? She certainly hoped not. "If you want to get to Pryce, you have to get through me! It is triple battle time!" said Gerardo. He summoned three Pokemon to the battlefield. A Seel and two purple pearl-like Pokemon.
Lyra turned her Pokedex to the small shell Pokemon. An enormous pink tongue hung out of its shell.
Shellder. It swims facing backward by opening and closing its two-piece shell. It is surprisingly fast.
She then turned the Pokedex to the floating shell Pokemon. This one had two layers of shell – the face was encased inside a light grey one, while the outer shell was a jagged, blue-violet case.
Cloyster. The evolved form of Shellder. Once it slams its shell shut, it is impossible to open, even by those with superior strength.
She put her pokedex away. Lyra revived her Gabite and brought him back to the battlefield. Dragon Rage looked to be the only move that could inflict some serious damage on the Cloyster. To support Gabite, she brought out Espeon and Feraligatr again. "Gabite, use Dragon Rage on Cloyster! Feraligatr, use Crunch on Seel! Espeon, use Psybeam!"
Fortunately Shellder went down in one hit. Seel endured Espeon's Psybeam while Cloyster shrugged off Feraligatr's attack. Dragon Rage hit the shell-creature hard though. The Cloyster shuddered. "Seel, use Ice Shard on Gabite! Cloyster, Aurora Beam on the dragon as well!" Gabite fainted again, but at least he managed to get some damage in, making the battle easier for her other two Pokemon.
Seel was taken down with a Shadow Claw. Now only Cloyster remained. Lyra didn't have any super effective moves to break through the hard shell. All she could rely on here was skill… and a large amount of luck. "Use Crunch, Toto!" Feraligtr lunged forward, clamping his powerful jaws on the Cloyster's shell. It didn't do much damage; the Cloyster's armour was virtually impenetrable. If she wanted to do some damage, she'd have to strike it in the face.
"Espeon, direct your Psybeam towards the Cloyster's face!" Espeon charged forward and threw herself into the space between the Cloyster's inner shell directing a beam in its eyes. The Cloyster howled, and fell to the ground, struggling to close its shell. "Now use Quick Attack!" Espeon dashed forward again, swatting the Pokemon in the eyes, delivering the final blow. The Cloyster fainted. All that remained was the Seel.
"You're tough! You might actually stand a chance against Pryce!" the trainer exclaimed. "Seel, use Ice Shard!"
"Dodge it, Espeon and use Quick Attack! Toto, use Crunch!" Espeon attacked first, speeding past the slower Feraligatr, slashing at the Seel's face. Toto finished the battle by clamping his jaws around the Seel's waistline. Seel fainted. Another victory won. Now it was time to face Pryce and obtain her seventh badge.
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Archer paced back and forth, fingers drumming on his chin. Victory was so close, he could almost taste it. "Now Director Stanley, you will not scream, is that understood?" Archer said, looking down at the pitiful man cowering before him. The man had a thick tape over his mouth, preventing him from forming any coherent sentence.
Stanley nodded. Archer bent down and removed the tape off the man's mouth, casting it aside onto the ground. "Why are you doing this?" he blurted, sweat beads running down the sides of his face.
"To fulfil Giovanni's wishes… and to defeat Red for putting us in this situation in the first place," Archer explained, grabbing a chair to sit besides Stanley. Stanley flinched, afraid. Archer chuckled. "Now Stanley, don't make me mad. My patience is wearing thinner than usual today. My grunts have failed to their tasks well. This is our last stand. I will not tolerate failure."
"You will never succeed!"
Archer brought his face close to Stanley's, his breath washing over the director's face. "Even if I do lose today… my deeds will be remembered. My actions will inspire other organizations to rise up from Team Rocket's ashes. I will be remembered." He grinned. "But you, dear director, will not be remembered. You have achieved nothing of importance. But I give you the chance to be remembered for something. What do you say, old man?"
The man spat. "I will not… submit myself to you."
The leader of Team Rocket shrugged. "Your loss then. I guess I'll just give people another reason to remember me for." He strode over to the radio broadcasting system, and grabbed the microphone. "Everything has come down to this very moment. The Slowpoke tails were used to infuriate the Magikarp at the Lake of Rage, to force them to evolve. The tails we didn't use we sold to make profit to create the machine. The Electrode we stole allowed us to power our machine in Mahogany Town to speed up the evolution process. And now, the wonders of radio will allow me to spread our message across all of Johto. All that is missing now is the girl. She holds the key to our success."
"You… are mad!"
Archer chuckled. "Ah director, you amuse me. You will sit there in that chair bound, while you watch as I conquer the rest of Johto. After Johto, I will move onto conquer Kanto. I will find Red. I will crush him and every other trainer that seeks to defy me. And if… by some miracle I fail, at least my name will be remembered."
The director tried to break free from the rope binding him to the chair, but he failed to untie himself. Archer watched the old man struggle, amusement etched onto his features. Stanley glowered at him. "Evil never triumphs! Giovanni is long gone!"
He received a slap. Archer's hand left a stinging red mark on Stanley's face. The man flinched, biting hard down on his lip. "Don't test me, old man." Archer moved away from the chair and walked over to the windowsill, gazing down at the streets below. His grunts were stationed around the city, blocking off main streets, keeping the locals imprisoned in their own houses. He was expecting Lyra, and hoped she had been following the trail of breadcrumbs he had left. "And soon, it begins."
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Her arms and legs were sore now; every move sent a shudder of pain throughout her body, but she persisted. She was so close. "I knew you would pass the test. The people of our town are in your debt, Lyra." Pryce bowed. "But allow me to formally introduce myself." He cleared his throat. "Pokemon have many experiences in their lives, just like we do. I, too, have seen and suffered much in my life. Since I am your elder, let me show you what I mean. I have been training Pokemon since before you were born. I do not lose easily. I, Pryce – the Winter Trainer – shall demonstrate my power!"
Lyra felt a chill run down her spine hearing those words. She was going up against decades of experience – could she overcome that with pure heart? Or would Pryce show that experience triumphed? Before the battle started, Lyra revived and healed all her Pokemon. Pryce summoned his first Pokemon, a Seel. Another one of those wretched things, Lyra thought. She didn't have anything that worked against it well. She summoned Staraptor.
"Seel, use Hail!"
Hailstones started to fall from the ceiling, striking everything caught in its path. Lyra yelped as a couple of the stones landed on her head. Fortunately, the stones didn't fall from a great height so it didn't hurt as much as they normally would. Still, it was a nuisance. "Staraptor, use Aerial Ace!" Staraptor took to the air, swooped down, hitting the Seel with a wing. Hail continued to fall, pelting Staraptor and herself.
Seel whined as it was struck, but recovered well enough. "Seel, use Icy Wind!" The Seel whipped up a powerful breeze. The falling hailstones struck the avian hard, causing the bird to plummet to the ground, landing with a thud. Staraptor weakly picked herself up and shook her wings, squawking as another couple of hailstones fell.
"Staraptor, use Take Down!"
Staraptor threw her entire weight against the Seel, toppling it over with her talons. Some of the damage rebounded though, throwing Staraptor over onto her back. More hailstones fell. Staraptor fainted. "Dammit," Lyra cursed, recalling her fallen avian back. She summoned Espeon. "Use Psybeam, Espeon!"
Seel had taken enough damage from Staraptor that it easily fell to Espeon's attack. Pryce was down to two Pokemon now. He summoned his next Pokemon, a Dewgong. This was going to difficult, she thought.
"Use Rest, Dewgong!"
That move caused Lyra to raise her eyebrows. Dewgong hadn't taken any damage. So why use Rest to recover? "Espeon, use Psybeam!"
"Dewgong, use Sleep Talk!"
Although the Dewgong was fast asleep, it was still able to attack. Colourful rays left the Dewgong's mouth striking Espeon. Hail was still falling. Lyra's head started to hurt. Damn hailstones, she thought. Can't these gym leaders fight fairly? "Espeon, use Shadow Claw!"
Dewgong woke up, but he nimbly avoided Espeon's attack, sliding across the ice flooring. "Use Rest!"
Lyra suppressed a frustrated growl. Such moves really ought to be banned; it just wasn't fair. But that was probably the idea – use annoying status moves to frustrate the opposition into making rookie mistakes. Lyra willed herself to calm down. She needed to be patient and focused to win this. Dewgong recovered its health again, and fought back with another Sleep Talk. Once again it used Aurora Beam.
"Psybeam!"
Espeon's attack hit. Dewgong woke up again, and the same cycle repeated. It went back to sleep, used Sleep Talk, and struck Espeon with an Ice Shard. Espeon was running low on health now, so Lyra gave her a hyper potion.
"Dewgong, use Rest!"
This was like fighting Whitney and that damned Miltank all over again. Rest. Recover. Inflict damage. Rest. Recover. Inflict more damage. It was torture. "Use Shadow Claw!" Espeon swatted the Dewgong. Dewgong used Rest again. Lyra was ready to tear her hair out at this point. Time to bring out the heavy artillery. She recalled her Espeon and brought out her Gabite. Dewgong didn't immediately wake up this time, allowing Lyra to get an attack in before Gabite fainted again. "Use Dragon Claw!" Gabite rushed forward, and slashed at the Dewgong with a glowing purple claw.
"You must be desperate to use a dragon against me. Dewgong, Sleep Talk!" Gabite was hit by critical Aurora Beam. He fainted.
Lyra summoned her Feraligatr to the battlefield. At least Dewgong's moves would be unable to inflict any serious damage against hers. "Feraligatr, use Crunch!" Toto sunk hits razor sharp fangs into the Dewgong's hide. Dewgong woke up and used Rest again restoring all its health. She held back a bitter outburst. No time to act like a petulant bratty teenager.
"You remind me of someone else who battled against me a number of years ago. I think it might be seven or eight years now," Pryce said. "He too tried to use a dragon against me… and he failed miserably. Your team might not consist wholly of dragons, but you are showing the same level of determination he did."
Was Pryce deliberately trying to start a conversation to throw her off? "I'm not giving up. Not now, not ever."
Pryce smirked. "That's what I like to hear. I believe he said the exact same words as well. Too many of you young folk give up far too easily. But you – Lance – Red – you are the reason I still battle today even in my old age. Trainers such as yourself are a sheer delight to battle. Why do you think I sent you and Lance to the Lake of Rage to tackle Team Rocket?"
Lance had battled against Pryce as well? "I thought you did it to test all challengers seeking for their seventh badge."
He shook his head. "No. I sent you specifically because I heard about your prowess in battle from Whitney. I was curious to see if you could take that skill to the next level – did you have the courage to face the Gyarados at the Lake of Rage? Did you have the strength to face it? And most importantly, could you make a difficult decision? Did you capture the Gyarados or did you put it down?"
"I kept it. He's at the Pokemon Centre sitting in the storage at the moment. I'm going to use him when I feel the time is right."
Pryce smiled. "You made the right decision. Most trainers would just put it out of its misery, but you chose to show love and forgiveness instead. I knew I was right sending you to the Lake of Rage. You will go a long way in this world, Lyra." He turned to his Dewgong. "Use Aurora Beam!"
Feraligatr endured the attack. "Use Crunch!"
This time, Dewgong did not use Rest. Perhaps the Pokemon had used up all its recovery moves. Thank Arceus for that. "Use Ice Shard, Dewgong!"
"Keep using Crunch!"
Feraligatr's jaws crushed through the ice shards. He charged forward, jumped and landed on the Dewgong and sunk his fangs into the thick fat of the seal. Dewgong hissed, uttering a cry of pain. Feraligatr roared, and struck again, slamming his tail against the opponent. After what seemed like a long battle, the Dewgong finally fainted.
But the battle was not over yet. Pryce had one Pokemon left. He brought it to the field. A large mammoth-like Pokemon appeared. It had shaggy brown hair like a Swinub, and large tusks on either side of its snout. Its facial features were covered completely by the long hair.
Piloswine. The evolved form of Swinub. Because the long hair all over its body obscures its sight, it just keeps charging repeatedly.
"This is it. The final round. Show me your skill as a trainer, Lyra."
"Are you ready, Toto?" Lyra asked, glancing at her reptilian friend. The crocodile nodded, wagging his tail. "Then let's finish this! Use Surf!" Feraligatr lifted his tail up and slammed the ground, creating a crack. The ice split, and a large volume of water gushed out. Toto mustered up a giant tidal wave and directed it towards the Piloswine. The wave smashed into the mammoth-pig hybrid, drenching it with water.
"Blizzard!"
A fearsome snowstorm whipped up, inflicting mass amounts of damage to the room. Lyra shuddered, her body trembling from the cold. She could hardly see through the vicious roaring snowstorm, but Feraligatr seemed to be able to sense where the Piloswine was. Lyra dropped to her knees, her teeth chattering. It almost felt like the blood running through her veins had turned into freezing cold liquid. "Not now… not giving up…" She forced herself to stand.
Hailstones and ice struck her in the face, leaving stinging red marks. It was as if the ice itself had ripped the skin off her face. "Willow is my middle name. Willow is flexible and not easily broken. I'm not giving up yet," she heard Pryce say over the howling wind. Lyra brought her chin to her chest, squeezing her eyes shut.
"Use Surf again, Toto!"
She heard her loyal companion roar again. Another tidal wave appeared, moving fast through the blizzard. There was no escape from the wave, and Piloswine was washed away. The blizzard died down, revealing only one Pokemon left standing. Feraligatr. Lyra sighed with relief. She had won the battle.
"Hmm, seems as if my luck has finally run out." He walked over to assist Lyra to her feet, extending a hand. Lyra grabbed it and lifted herself up. Pryce smiled down at her. "I am impressed by your prowess. With your strong will, I know you will overcome all life's obstacles. You are worthy of this badge!" He gave her a hexagon-shaped badge which had an image of a snowflake engraved on a aqua coloured background. "That's the Glacier Badge. And this, this is a gift from me!" He reached down into his coat again, this time pulling out a tiny vial of white liquid. "That bottle contains Hail. It summons a hailstorm which damages all types except Ice. When the ice and snow melt, spring arrives. You and your Pokemon will be together for many years to come. Cherish your time together!"
"Thank you," Lyra said, taking the badge.
"Your next stop will be Blackthorn City. There you will face your toughest battle yet – Blackthorn is home to the dragons, and home to the Champion of Johto and Kanto. You may have dragons yourself, Lyra, but this will still be a tough fight. Take what you have learned over the past few years and use that to your advantage." He bowed again. "It's been a real honour battling you. Please stop by before you face the Elite Four."
Blackthorn City. Sounded like a rather scary place to visit. "Thanks for the advice. I'll be sure to keep it in mind."
"To reach Blackthorn, you'll have to cross the Ice Path. You'll find it to the east of here. But before you go, you should drop by Goldenrod City. Sources tell me Team Rocket have taken over the Radio Tower. Go now and forge a legend that will forever be remembered."