So, as it turns out, I've been spelling Clemont's name wrong the whole time. Whoops!
Lumiose tTower was absolutely huge! Not a single spot in Alola, besides Mount Lanakila, was as tall as it! "That's where Lumiose Gym is," Mom pointed to the top of the tower. Outside of the bottom floor was Ash shaking Clemont's hand, who quickly turned around to celebrate his new Badge, "oh! Hey Davaid!" He and his friends ran up to greet me. I'm honestly surprised he still remembered my name, "who's this?" he asked, pointing at Mom, "I'm his mother, are you a friend of his?" Ash nodded. He jumped back, "wait... So you trained that Ninetales right there?" he pointed over at Snowy.
I nodded, "I did, why do you ask?" Davaid's friend grinned, "I figured you must've been a strong trainer if you did," there was a language that was universal to all trainers. No matter your background, no matter what it was something trainers knew. He wanted to battle me! I nodded, "hey Rush, how do you feel about stretching your legs?" he barked, jumping multiple times in the air.
We both walked out into the open, took several paces away from each other. My son was practically shaking with excitement. I looked down into Rush's eyes, we both nodded, then he stepped out onto the battlefield, "let's go Ash!" said one of my opponent's travel buddies. His Pikachu took to the field, it looked pretty tough… I needed to play my cards right, "Pikachu, let's hit them with an Electro Ball!" Rush easily avoided the Pikachu's attack, "Rush used a Quick Attack!" he ran in at blistering speeds, Ash also told his Pokemon to use Quick Attack.
"Now, Stone Edge!" right before Rush and PIkachu collided, he had stopped, and quickly crushed Pikachu in a Stone Edge. Game Over, the pillars dissipated to the ground, and Pikachu was out cold, Ash and I ran in to check retrieve hisPikachu, "Pikachu!" he called, stopping before his unconscious friend, "when he wakes up, hand him this," I gave Ash a Sitrus Berry, he smiled, and took the berry out of my hands.
"That was awesome Rush!" Snowy ran in to congratulate me, and licked my face, "thanks Snowy," Elizabeth knelt down in front of me, "didyou get hurt pal?" I shook my head, but she offered me a Sitrus Berry anyways, which I gladdy took a bite out of, "you did awesome work, Rush!" the three of us turned to face the Lumiose Gym, "now, let's get down to business," Snowy and I nodded, then stepped forward.
I sat down in the Gym's bleachers Ruby and Volpsei sat down on both of my sides, Ash and his friends were also watching the show. On one end was Mom and Snowy, on the other was Clemont and a Heliolisk. Rush sat in my lap, he started howling like crazy! Both Snowy and Rush loved watching the other battle for some reason. I couldn't guess the reason myself, maybe I'll ask Snowy after the battle is done.
I joined in on Rush howling, my friend was down there, the room was filled with our voices. After we had stopped, a robot proceeded to introduce Clemont, the Gym Leader, and the Challenger. Clement sent in the Heliolisk by his side. Mom reached down, then told Snowy something nobody in the Gym could hear, then pulled out a Pokeball. Out came Gladi, and Mom handed him a Ground Memory, making his colors change. Mom was taking full advantage of the fact that Pokemon that were native Alola, especially Silvally were never seen before by these people. Gladi's RKS System kicked into gear, and he turned into a ground type. Both Ash and Serna's Pokedexes scanned him, which didn't yield much information.
After moments of staring, Mom was the first to make a move, "use Multi Attack!" Gladi charged in, "Parabolic Charge!" yelled Clemont. It had no effect, but it caused the Silvally to slow down a bit. He was very quick to pick up what Gladi's type was now, "use Solar Beam!" the Heliolisk started charging up, Mom and Gladi looked each other in the eyes, "Hyper Beam!" both Pokemon on the field fired, the attacks collided, and filled the room with smoke.
The smoke began to clear, Silvally was standing with a few scratches and burn marks from the Solar Beam, but was mostly unharmed. Clemont's Heliolisk, on the other hand, was knocked out cold. That was one down, "good work Gladi!" I looked down at Snowy, "now get some rest!" I returned him to his Pokeball. I patted Snowy on the head, "the floor is yours," she nodded, "just like old times," she told me, and stepped forward.
Now things would get interesting, I've seen Snowy fight multiple times in the past, once with Davaid, an inexperienced trainer, another on her own against a Mega Lucario. I figured she only knew four moves.Protect, Ice Beam, Moon Blast, and Blizzard. Which meant her move set wasn't very versatile if that's all she did know. The only issue was, she is insanely strong for a Pokemon not trained by an Elite Four member, and backing Snowy was the very person that trained her. All I had left was Luxray, while my opponent had both pokemon left! I gritted my teeth, and threw my last Pokemon's Pokeball.
I was glad I never used more than four moves, it was a stylistic choice. It meant I would have less attacks, but they were much more refined. But I was fighting beside Elizabeth, so I'd have to use more than just those four moves. "Luxray use Wild Charge!" I quickly used Nasty Plot before Elizabeth could tell me to do anything, "use protect Snowy!" as Luxray collided with the barrier, I set up another Nasty Plot, "Dark Pulse!"
Since this series is loosely based on the anime, where Pokemon can learn more than four moves, I don't know why the show is like that, but I might as well roll with it.
That caught me off guard, my strategy was based entirely off of Snowy only knowing the four moves, but she potentially knew far more than I thought. Luxray took the hit with no problem, or it appeared like it didn't do much. I couldn't tell just how much it did to him, that Ninetales was pulling tricks, and I didn't like what she was pulling, "Luxray use Thunder!"
Snowy had managed to use multiple Nasty Plots, having just set up her fourth one. Next attack she uses would probably finish the battle if it lands. She didn't have enough time to react to Luxray's Thunder, Snowy took the hit hard, but was still standing. She held her head low, her eyes were closed, but it's like she refused to just fall over, "Snowy don't push yourself!" she turned back and looked at me, "I'm fine, just got a little shocked is all," she giggled at her own joke before getting serious again, "Lock On!" Snowy then quickly shot a Moonblast, knocking out Luxray… we just won our fifth Gym Battle!
The three of us jumped out of the bleachers, Mom ran to thank Snowy for her performance. Mom sent out Gladi to thank him for his helo as well. I grabbed. Snowy and pulled her into a bear huge bear hug. It was an awesome battle to watch. The only thing was, that Thunder probably took a lot out of her than she let on, or she was just sleepy from being up all night. She fell asleep the moment I hugged her. Clemont handed Mom the Lumiose Gym Badge, and congratulated her on her victory. Mom had the momentum going for her, and she wasn't slowing down…
The elevator ride down was absolutely stunning, the sunsetting off in the distance, all the city lights, and the view made it perfect. In my arms was Snowy sleeping, "so Davaid, how was that battle?" I smiled, "it was awesome!" I looked over and saw Ash and his friends staring at the sights. Volpsei looked like he was ready to run a marathon, "that's something you don't see often, a hyper NInetales," she joked, petting the top of his head. Clemont was constantly peeking over at me, or he was peeking at Snowy.
He was probably checking if I had killed her, Clemont still saw me as a killer, "Mrs. Hyles, you've seen the news from the last couple of weeks?" he asked, "yes I have, why do you ask?" he pointed his thumb at me, "why do you trust Davaid so much with your Pokemon then?" I stopped paying attention and tended to the sleeping Pokemon in my arms. If Mom watched the news from a few weeks ago, then she'd know about the Malamar.
"Why wouldn't I trust him with my Pokemon?" I knew exactly why Clemont asked that question, "Clemont, just drop it already. The past is the past, you don't see my son finding joy in killing Pokemon do you?" Davaid was just sitting in the corner of the lobby now, brushing Snowy, who had just woken up again. Clemont shook his head, "there's always a chance he could snap," at this point I didn't want to argue, so I went to see how Davaid was doing.
I sighed, this was the very reason why I stopped travelling with Ash and his friends. I'd consider them friends if it weren't for that lack of trust, "hey Davaid," said Mom, she reached over, took my hat, and dusted it off. She placed it back on my head before pointing at Snowy, she was asleep again, "do you know what it means when a Pokemon is willing to sleep that close to you?" she asked, before I could say anything she did, "it means that you're doing something right, that means you're a good trainer. Not because you're strong, but because your Pokemon trusts you," that got him smiling again.
I looked over at Rush, he also had fallen asleep, and was using Davaid as a pillow too. My son was definitely doing something right, even if people held the Malamar's death against him until the day he dies. I patted my Lycanroc on the head, then remembered a loophole, if you had more than six Pokemon, the seventh you'd catch would be sent to your region's professor, but you can have a seventh Pokemon with you, if it wasn't yours. I poked Davaid to grab his attention again, "how'd you like it if Rush travelled with you for a bit?"