A/N: Hey guys. It's been a while but its your friendly neighborhood doctor DrPhill26 with another chapter for you all to enjoy. Now I know what you're thinking...
Tyler: Can I have my Gym Battle already?
Wendy: I need a massage...
DrPhill26: Okay clearly we're not all on the same wavelength here, but I'm going to pretend like we were. You might be wondering 'Where have you been and why hasn't there been much activity from you?'
Tyler: Well you haven't moved out of that chair since yesterday.
Wendy: Yeah, you even fell asleep in it.
DrPhill26: Look, I'm tired alright. Not of writing of course, I can always do some writing. The issue with me is finding time to write this summer. For those of you who don't know, I work at a summer camp in the summer months, so an average day gives me only one hour of me-time each day, which usually goes to decompressing from being a glorified babysitter of screaming and whining little brats all day long.
Tyler: That doesn't sound fun... like at all.
DrPhill26: It has its own rewards but they come at the expense of writing time. So don't hold your breath on updates over the next month. Depending on my work assignments I may get more time if I get deployed on a day camp instead, which would greatly accelerate the progress of any chapter I'm working on. But unless that happens, I'm stuck at camp all day every day in one of the few internet dead zones left on the planet. So sorry if you're expecting more of me this summer. You'll have to wait until August before I can get consistent quality time to write. Now that my griping is out of the way, here's your chapter to enjoy reader! Just like last chapter, Team rosters are available at the very bottom of the chapter so yeah, go have fun.
Tyler didn't even remember climbing into bed last night, but he found himself waking up with the sun shining on his face through the window and a blanket over him. He sat up in the bed, the covers loosely falling to his waist as he stretched his arms above his head and yawned. After cracking his neck, Tyler looked over at the nightstand where the clock was, with it reading 7:30.
"How about that…" Tyler's voice cracked into a yawn. This morning felt the exact same as it did that first morning in Phenac City when he left home. Though the sun may not have been as intense as it was in the deserts back home, it still had that nostalgic warmness that soaked through his body and held him gently. He stood out of bed and walked to the window, throwing the blinds open and completely enveloping himself in the warm feeling light.
Once he felt himself awake on that dose of nostalgia, Tyler took a quick shower and dressed himself. Since he was feeling nostalgic, it only made sense for him to wear the same clothes he'd worn on that first day he'd left home. He grabbed his orange shirt with a black and white silhouette of a Poké ball in the center and a pair of black sport shorts with gold and white stripes down the legs and put them on. Everything just felt right this morning as Tyler stretched himself a second time. As he was about to go downstairs to get his Pokémon, Tyler heard the bathroom door crack open and saw Wendy half-dressed. Tyler told her that he was running down to get his Pokémon and grab some breakfast, to which she said she'd join him once she'd gotten dressed herself.
The nostalgic morning continued with the same breakfast that Tyler had with his family on the day he left, pancakes smothered in berries and a small dollop of whipped cream on top of it. As he finished a cup of coffee, Tyler saw Wendy join him with yet another piece of nostalgia in her outfit, that ever familiar purple and black striped sweater of hers. She quickly eyed Tyler's coffee, fake complained that he didn't get her one yet and he laughed as he went to get one for both of them. When he returned, he complained again as he saw Wendy had just shoveled half of his pancakes in her mouth. With a sigh, Tyler placed the drinks down, giving her a half serious scolding about taking his food to which she only stuck her tongue out at him innocently. He grabbed yet another stack of pancakes, giving one to Wendy for her to not steal from and they enjoyed breakfast in laughter and merriment together.
Just before 9:00, the nurse working the shift that morning found Tyler and told him that his Pokémon were ready to go with him. He finished off what little food was left and went back to the reception desk where his team was waiting for him. They each went up to him and got a hug before Tyler took them to another area to get some breakfast of their own. With his team happy and in good spirits like he was, Tyler returned them to their balls and stepped outside into the sun.
"Man, this is just glorious!" Tyler called out to no one in particular as he ran his hand through his hair. "I can't believe how perfect a day it is today."
"It's not that special today." Wendy commented as she walked past Tyler on their way to the Gym. "This is pretty average for the Sinnoh Region."
"Shit, I could get used to this." Tyler said as he caught up to Wendy's stride. "We get days like this once a year back home where it's bright and sunny but not overwhelmingly warm at first light. Seriously, a typical day back home it's already 85 at 8am. Sure you get used to it after a while, but every day is just constant heat with hardly no relief.
"Ugh, don't remind me. Pyrite Town was an absolute nightmare for me. How does a whole town not have air conditioning?"
"Because Pyrite Town is a joke." Tyler rolled his eyes. "Sure it's got the Under City beneath it and that's got some modern perks, but the whole area is practically a slum. I feel bad that your only impression of Orre is that dump."
"There's a town beneath Pyrite Town?" Wendy asked sounding legitimately surprised.
"You never heard about it?" Wendy shook her head. "I'm not surprised; most of Orre likes to pretend it doesn't exist anymore after the first Shadow Uprising. You remember where that canyon was in the middle of town." Wendy nodded. "It's in the base of the canyon. Used to be a popular spot for battling with two coliseums, which are basically Orre's equivalent to Gyms, but they were run by Team Cipher and as such were very corrupt. About ten years ago though a guy named Wes, a former member of Team Snagem, basically a subdivision of Cipher came through and conquered both coliseums and stopped the flow of Shadow Pokémon in the town, therefore shutting down its power. With Under City shutdown, Pyrite Town kind of suffered the same fate; that's why it looks like crap pretty much everywhere."
"I see…" Wendy's voice trailed off as she thought about what Tyler had said. "So what ever happened to this Wes guy? Is he anything like the Michael I've heard you talk about before?"
"Wes was and still is antisocial from what I know of him." Tyler continued. "So much so that he's practically dropped off the face of the Earth. Last I heard he lives somewhere east of Phenac City in the Wastelands. Michael on the other hand is much more sociable, more willing to be in the spotlight than Wes. Think of them as two sides to the same coin: Wes was the brooding anti-hero on a quest for revenge with Michael being the more traditional good triumphs over evil type."
"You mean like you?" Tyler let out a weak laugh.
"Yeah right, I'm nothing compared to him. Dude's an absolute beast." Tyler clenched his fist in excitement as a memory came back to him. "I had the pleasure of seeing him in person when he became the Orre Coliseum champion when I was fifteen. He fought this guy named Eldes and destroyed him four-zero in the championship match. Hell, I bet if he wanted to, Michael could become league champion of any region he decided to challenge. That's how good he is."
"Well, even if he's as good as you say he is, there's no way he'd beat Lady Cynthia. She's the winningest champion in Sinnoh history. In fact, her current title reign is approaching four years now and she's beaten all 50 opponents she's faced in that time.
"Fifty challengers huh?" Wendy nodded and folded her arms looking proud at that stat, but Tyler only scoffed at her. "Please, Michael won 100 matches in a row to conquer Mt. Battle. He's one of only four people to ever do that in the history of the Orre region."
"Oh don't throw that stat in my face." Wendy rolled her eyes. "I've heard of the Mt. Battle challenge when I was in Orre and I know that about the first half of the trainers are all novices with teams at your level or worse. Try fighting Gym Leader and Elite Four caliber opponents for four years and then we'll talk about whose better."
"Michael took care of the Second Shadow Uprising almost single-handedly!" Tyler growled back with a vein bulging above his eye. "It takes a ridiculously powerful trainer to shut down an entire criminal syndicate by himself."
"And Cynthia closed the rift to the Distortion World in the Red Chain Saga by herself. Not to mention, ever hear of a guy named Red? He did the same thing in Kanto by beating Team Rocket by himself, at a younger age too." Wendy fired back, which made Tyler's clenched fist shake. "Besides, how can someone be so good when they don't have a Gym Badge to their name?"
"Okay, that's a low blow and you know it." Tyler complained, looking scornfully at Wendy. "You know Orre doesn't have an official Gym system."
"So you admit he doesn't have a Gym Badge?"
"I'm saying he would have all of them if we had a league. Hell, he'd be the champion if we had an official league."
"But you don't." Wendy teased then laughed to herself as she saw Tyler's face contort even further in anger.
"Even if he doesn't have a Gym Badge-"
"So you admit he doesn't have one?" Wendy interrupted, earning a death glare from Tyler who waited a moment before he spoke.
"Yes, Michael has zero Gym Badges. But if he-"
"And how many will you have after today Tyler?" Wendy interrupted again, but this time left Tyler looking stupefied for a moment before an evil sneer curled Tyler's lips.
"I'll have one badge." Tyler cackled as he punched his fist into his hand. "Oh I can't fucking wait for this battle. Now that I'm this fired up, there's no way I'm going to lose! I'm gonna beat the pants off Gardenia today!"
"You know, I don't think I've ever seen Gardenia in pants before…" Wendy commented absentmindedly as Tyler ground his fist into his hand again.
"I don't care what she's wearing. Pants, shorts, skirt; whatever it is, I'm beating it off her." Wendy started snickering to herself at Tyler's excitement.
"Then what are you gonna do? You gonna spank her after that?"
"Oh she's about to get spanked alright." Wendy snorted in laughter this time but Tyler didn't notice. He'd already gotten himself too heated up to notice that Wendy had been feeding him innuendos. "Yuki, Magnus and Caelum are just going to destroy her."
"You have fun with that Tyler. I'll just be filming the action from the sidelines." Wendy quietly laughed to herself as she continued to let her imagination run wild.
"That actually reminds me…" Tyler grabbed the Felix's ball from his belt and handed it to Wendy. "Keep an eye on this guy today okay? I want him to get an idea of his coming potential by watching the rest of us fight."
"Sure thing Ty." Wendy winked as she released Felix from his ball then placed it on her belt.
"Gligar!" Felix glided lazily above both humans as they could finally see the Gym on the horizon.
"Looks like you're spending the day with me Felix." Wendy smiled at the flying scorpion. "Let's cheer loud okay?"
"Gli-gar!" Felix looped around above them again before landing lightly on Wendy's head with a salute on his claw.
"I don't mind you being there, but try not to mess up my hair okay?" Tyler rolled his eyes as both Felix and Wendy started laughing together. The Gym lay before him and now nothing else mattered except going in there and proving that Orre's best were just as competent as any trainer in the world. Sure they didn't fight Gyms, but honing your skills on the Coliseum circuit had to be just as difficult. He also knew that some of the best members of the circuit did branch out to other regions and attempt Gym challenges. If he could win the Forest badge today, he'd be able to join a club of pretty elite trainers back home to say he'd won an actual Gym badge.
With the extra fuel added to his already burning fire, Tyler felt another heat join him on the path. To his surprise, Magnus had released himself from his Poké ball, his back flames already ignited. It was obvious that the Quilava felt just as excited as his trainer did, which only made Tyler laugh as together they turned down the path that went to the Gym.
Gardenia's Gym clearly spoke that it was a Grass type Gym as the large building sat covered in moss in the center of a park on the south side of town. Along both sides of the path was a very impressive looking flower garden that had roses, tulips, daisies and many different flowers in every color possible. It was like walking through a rainbow that out of respect, Magnus cooled himself off just enough so his energy wouldn't make any of the flowers wilt, or worse yet ignite.
This flower garden and the park in general looked to be home to a variety of wild Pokémon as well, with a wide variety of Grass types happily frolicking in the flowers and the fields around them, with Bug and Flying types soaring around above. It was picturesque, but that only made Tyler feel more fired up as he thought about how he and Magnus were coming in with flames already roaring and disrupting the peaceful atmosphere. That's exactly what he wanted to do today: come in like a wildfire and quickly burn Gardenia's defenses down to zero and get that badge. Tyler took a deep breath as he reached out for the door and opened it. Magnus' flames petered out but his confidence still shown in his and Tyler's step as they confidently strode up to the receptionist.
"Welcome to the Eterna City Pokémon Gym." The man behind the counter spoke as he pressed his glasses up to his eyes. "I'll assume that you're here for a Gym battle today no?"
"You know it." Tyler grinned as he folded his arms. "Been waiting my whole life for today."
"Have you now?" The man grinned as he started typing away at the computer in front of him. "You look a little older than a typical challenger at our Gym."
"Well I'm not exactly a typical challenger." Tyler joked with the man. "I mean, when was the last time you've had a challenger from Orre?"
"Where?"
"Exactly." The man's low chuckle brought out a friendly smile to Tyler's face. He pushed the keyboard towards Tyler and turned it around for him.
"So I'm assuming this is your first Gym battle yes?" Tyler nodded. "In that case I'll need to register you for the Sinnoh League."
"I'm already registered." Tyler said reaching into his pocket and handing the man his P*DA. "The nurse in Snowpoint City took care of it for me when I was there."
"Well that makes my job easier." The man smiled as he placed Tyler's P*DA beneath a scanner. But after ten seconds nothing was happening on the screen. "Um… is this device on right now?"
"It should be." Tyler pressed the white button on the center and the P*DA unfolded to its full size. A single beep was heard on the computer which made the man look at it, showing that now the scanning was beginning. "There we go."
"This is an interesting Pokédex. I don't think I've ever seen one like this." The man commented.
"Well, we do things pretty differently in the Orre region than most. Guess that includes our tech."
"Well as long as it works…" The computer beeped again saying that it had registered Tyler's information. "Looks like it did Mr. Lawson. Now since you don't know, I'll fill you in on what this does. You're officially scanned into the Sinnoh League system now. All Gyms in the region now recognize you as a challenger, so allow me to wish you good luck on your future endeavors."
"Thanks dude." Tyler smiled as he took back his P*DA. The man reached beneath his desk and pulled out a tray with three Poké ball slots and plugged it into his computer.
"Now I saw on your Pokédex thing that you have four Pokémon on your person right now. Unfortunately you can only use three in the battle against Gardenia, so I'm going to ask you to place the three you want to use in this tray. All this will do is scan them into our local system so their information can be displayed on our video board during the battle."
"Wow, that's a step up from the Pre Center." Tyler quickly placed Yuki's and Caelum's balls on the tray. He then returned Magnus for a moment and placed him on the tray as well.
"One moment…" The man clicked away with the mouse and then typed a few things into the keyboard before the tray itself glowed green. "Scan complete, you can take your Pokémon back now." He said as the device stopped glowing.
"Thanks." Tyler replied as he released Magnus once again. "I'd keep him in his ball like the other two, but this guy is just as fired up as me today."
"Lava-va!" Magnus jumped back from the group and made a small Flame Wheel before walking back to his trainer's side.
"I'll say. I think Gardenia is in for quite a fight against this guy." The man laughed as he pointed towards a hallway behind him on his left. "Okay, everything's all set Mr. Lawson. The third door on the left down that hallway is our waiting room. Miss Gardenia is currently in the middle of a match, so Judge will come get you when the current battle finishes. And good luck." The man extended his hand and Tyler grasped it firmly.
"Thanks dude. Let's go Magnus!" With that confident step Tyler and his Quilava walked down the hallway once again.
"So how can I help you ma'am?" The man asked Wendy this time but Tyler didn't stop to listen. He instead reached into his other pocket and pulled out his phone and a pair of headphones, wanting to tune out all other distractions and just lose himself in the music. If nothing else, a good song could quell the feeling of nervousness that was growing in his stomach. He plugged the jack into his phone and made sure his headphones were comfortable.
"Alright DJ, give me a beat." Tyler pressed the shuffle button and turned the volume up as loud as he could. He could tell the song had started as he heard the striking of a match in his ear that traveled through the back of his head to the other speaker before an explosion blew up inside his brain. "This really is a perfect day…" Tyler pumped his arms in celebration as the beginning of his favorite song and the one his friends back home joked was his theme song started playing. Even if he couldn't dance, this song's beat quickly consumed him and his step fell in tune with the beat, his arms weaving snake like s-shapes through the air just further adding to the song's indoctrination. By the time he reached the door, the first verse was only moments away. So Tyler spun on his feet before reaching for the door handle and pulling it open as the song resonated through him.
"I go BOOM… if I think you're an enemy. Strike the match and let loose my catastrophe! It's a dangerous game to stay close to my flame; even five miles away you'll be feeling the pain! So I'm telling you now, get your ass on the ground. Duck and cover, pray to mother and wait for the sound. 'Cause I'm violent, I ain't silent. I roar with the voice of a thunderous tyrant. And if you see me ignite then mother fucker good night, 'cause I explode with a force of a ton o' dynamite. BOOM!"
Tyler fell to his knees, threw his arms out wide and started laughing manically as the bass dropped and pulsated wildly in his ears. If he ever needed himself to get fired up over something, anything really, this was his go to song. And considering how flawless the entirety of this morning had been so far, it only further built Tyler's confidence up. All of his practice, both recently and over the years was now building up to this first real test of his strength in Sinnoh. Sure Justy was always a good measuring stick for Tyler, but Tyler was on his own against a brand new opponent at or possibly beyond his mentor's skill level.
With his song well into the second verse at this point, Tyler stood back up and started bouncing around, trying to expel some of the excess energy that filled his core. Too much energy was a very bad thing for Tyler and he knew it. It made him restless and unable to think straight and was part of the reason he started meditation. But to Tyler, meditation stored energy instead of released it, which was what he needed more right now. So he threw a punch, then another and started throwing a few more, alternating between rights and lefts as he jabbed at the open space. This more aggressive form of active meditation still had the same overall effect, focusing Tyler's mind on the path he needed to take to lead his team to victory. If he could match the intensity he knew they were all capable of, especially Magnus, he would walk out of this Gym with is first badge.
A rather loud knock broke Tyler out of his trance as he saw the shadow of a figure standing on the other side of the door. Tyler felt the heat in his palm as he opened the door, revealing a very familiar looking man. He looked exactly like the man that he'd met at Candice's Gym with his short black hair that parted slightly to the right and his green eyes that matched the color of his shirt. What was his name again?
"Marshall, was it?" Tyler asked as he addressed the man in the door. "It's been a while. You still remember me?" The man rolled his eye and shook his head, but a friendly smile came to his face.
"So you've met my brother have you?" The man responded in even the same voice as Marshall, who this man apparently was not. Tyler's expression quickly changed to one of embarrassment, though the blood already in his face from his short workout hid the blush beneath it.
"Oh, my mistake. You guys look so similar I guess I didn't notice." The man just shook his hand at Tyler in a 'don't worry about it' kind of way.
"My brothers and I get that a lot. We are octuplets after all."
"Oc – Octuplets?!" Tyler stammered in complete astonishment. "Holy… So you work at a Gym too?"
"All of us do." The man stated as Tyler's jaw fell loose. "If you've met Marshall, he's the second eldest up in Snowpoint City's Gym. Coincidentally, I'm Judge, the second youngest and I work here at Eterna's Gym."
"So all eight of you work at the various Gyms in Sinnoh? Is that just a coincidence or did one of you get the idea to be like 'Hey, let's mess with everybody's heads a little bit when they challenge the league.'?"
"I wouldn't go that far, Arby might but I wouldn't." Tyler ran his hand through his hair partly to get some sweat out of his eyes, but also because he still couldn't believe this guy and his brothers were all octuplets. He had to wonder if even their mother struggled with telling all her children apart. "But we can talk about my family tree another time. You ready for your Gym battle?"
"Uh, yes sir!" Tyler saluted as he snapped to attention.
"At ease soldier." Judge laughed as he motioned for Tyler to follow him. Here it was, the actual battle was just mere moments away. Every one of his strategies floated around in his head at once becoming a jumbled mess of voices in his head. And with the strategies came the questions: Who order should he use? Should he try to prioritize one-on-one matchups or push for try to take two with one if possible? What was the arena like and how could he use it to his advantage? Who would Gardenia use? There were simply too many questions and not enough time to focus one of them. Instead, Tyler took both Yuki's and Caelum's balls and put them in his hands.
"Lava!" Magnus called out confidently to his trainer as he walked stride for stride with him. Magnus was right; all Tyler needed to do was trust in himself and his team. He could take down any challenge that Gardenia could throw at him. They all stood united together as one team, as partners and as a family. And with that in mind, Tyler took a few deep breaths, feeling Yuki's presence as his body began to cool down and he saw the light at the entrance to the battlefield.
Although in Tyler's eye, maybe battlefield wasn't the most accurate word to use. Gardenia's field looked more like a miniature forest than a battle arena like he was used to. From shrubbery and low bushes to trees standing at least fifty feet high, the Eterna Gym once again screamed that it was home to a Grass type challenge. Not to mention if there was a roof, it must have been open as Tyler could see the sun shining above the clouds with a pair of bird Pokémon flying overhead. There was at least an outline of a field however for Tyler to notice.
"Alright, your box is over there. Wait there a moment and I'll grab Miss Gardenia to tell her you're ready." Judge spun around and pointed at the squared off box of earth at the edge of the field. As Tyler stepped inside it, he spun on his heel again and jogged across the field to the other door. Magnus took a spot beside Tyler as well, looking around at all the grass and excitedly sparking his flame at each new piece of foliage he saw.
"You're not going to burn this place to the ground are you now Magnus?" Tyler joked as he knelt beside his longest partner.
"Laaa ~ va…" Magnus drawled out the sound with an impish grin on his face.
"Because as far as I'm concerned it's Gardenia's fault for having such a naturally flammable Gym. If I set you loose, you have full permission to burn this building to the ground… figuratively speaking of course." Both Tyler and Magnus winked at each other.
"Hey! Can you guys see me?!" Wendy's voice called out from the side of the field. Tyler looked up at her, seeing that she, Felix and all three of her Pokémon were next to her waiting for the fight to begin along with a handful of other people who were also waiting for the fight to start. "Good luck Tyler! We're all rooting for you!"
"We don't need luck, right Magnus?" Tyler rolled his eyes as he pointed back at Wendy with his thumb.
"Quil-va." Magnus shared in his trainer's dismissal by spitting out a black huff of smoke.
"Exactly, we got this. Now we just need our opponent." Luckily for Tyler, he didn't have to wait much longer as the door opposite him opened with Judge and Gardenia stepping out on the arena floor.
"Good morning Tyler!" Gardenia waved as she confidently strode into her box on the opposite side of the field. "I didn't keep you waiting too long did I? The last challenger a moment ago was a bit tougher than I thought."
"I hope you at least won." Gardenia struck a victory pose, flashing a v-shape with her fingers at Tyler's words.
"Of course! I'm Gardenia, the Grass type Master of the Sinnoh region! I'm not some pushover sapling; I'm strong like the mighty oak tree. It takes a real tough challenger to defeat me!"
"Good thing that's exactly what I am." Tyler boasted right back. "I hope you've got my Forest badge on standby Gardenia, because I'm more than ready to claim it as my own."
"Looks like my hunch about you was right on the money. I could tell when we met that you had this winning aura about you; something about you just said that when we fought it'd be a really fun battle."
"Then let's not keep the fun waiting and get this battle started already!" Tyler took a combative pose as Magnus' flames ignited beside him for the umpteenth time already today.
"I couldn't agree more. Judge, if you'd be so kind!" Gardenia took her own ready stance and waited for Judge to take his spot on a slightly raised platform at the center of the field.
"Very well…" Judge cleared his throat with a cough before his booming voice echoed off the arena walls. "The following battle is an official challenge to the Eterna City Gym. Our challenger hails from Phenac City in the Orre region and is making his first challenge in the Sinnoh region. Introducing… Tyler Lawson!" Polite applause showered down on Tyler as he shot his fist up in the air as he did before every major battle of his.
"Really? That's all the applause I'm getting?" Tyler frowned as he fell back to the same stance as before. "Guess I'm really not back home am I?"
"And his opponent is the Eterna City Gym Leader… Gardenia!" Judge announced as the Gym Leader made a flourish of her own beneath the same level of applause, which made Tyler at least feel a bit more relieved that he wasn't going against a home-town advantage. "Each trainer will be allowed the use of three Pokémon in this fight. The battle will continue until all three of either trainer's Pokémon are unable to continue the fight. Only the challenger Tyler will be allowed to substitute his Pokémon during the battle. Now I assume both of you are ready to fight?"
"Damn right!"
"Of course we are!" Tyler and Gardenia said at the same time. Judge grinned as he touched a button on a small display before him, bringing the video screen behind him to life. A picture of both Tyler and Gardenia appeared on the screen with three Poké ball symbols beneath their names to represent their teams.
"Then let the battle begin!" On hearing Judge's voice, Tyler let out a calming breath, his hand reaching for his first ball.
"Okay Leafeon, let's go!" Gardenia detached a ball from her belt and released her Eevee-lution to the battlefield much to Wendy's immediate delight.
"Leafeon huh? That's certainly not who I was expecting to see start this battle." Tyler grinned as Wendy's excited and almost inaudible squeals bounced off the walls.
"A rather loudly chirping bird told me that you've been a trainer for about four years already despite this being your first challenge." Gardenia spoke as she looked up at Wendy. "Plus given the scent of a strong trainer that I detected when we first met, I knew that I had to bring my best to give you a real challenge today."
"Lee-fee-on! Lee-fee-on!" Wendy's excitement now settled into a three part chant that clearly showed where her support was in this Gym battle.
"Of course she did." Tyler frowned at the fully grown child who was screaming her lungs out above them. "Well fine, if you're bringing you're A-game then so shall I. Take flight Caelum!" Tyler grabbed his Staraptor's ball and released it, the bird quickly landing in a nearby tree. He looked down at the Leafeon and let out a shrill caw that made the Leafeon flinch in place."
"Hey! Bad Caelum! Be nice to Leafeon!" Wendy's voice yelled over the field again, forcing Tyler to cover his head in his hands to prevent himself from exploding at her. Gardenia on the other hand could be heard laughing on the opposite end of the arena.
"This is already a fun battle, but let's makes it even more fun." Gardenia's expression dropped from joyful to serious. "Leafeon use Razor Leaf!" Leafeon hopped forward a few feet and spun its body around in a circle, shooting leaves out of its body and towards Caelum in the tree.
"Dodge and stick to the outside Caelum. I want you to find the gaps in this tree cover before we begin!" Caelum took off, the leaves slicing through the branch he was on and it fell to the ground below while the Staraptor began flying at the edge of the battlefield. His head swiveled back and forth as he scanned the field from the air while also keeping an eye on the Leafeon that was glaring back at him from center stage.
"You're not going to attack? Fine by us, Leafeon use Swords Dance!" Both Leafeon's tail leaf and the one in its forehead started glowing a light green color as he made a series of rising slashes with its forehead leaf before the glowing stopped. "Now Razor Leaf again!" Leafeon jumped towards Caelum and flipped through the air, releasing a larger volume of leaves from both of his blades.
"Soar higher to dodge!" Caelum immediately pulled up above the treetops as the attack missed him for a second time.
"Climb the trees and try again Leafeon!" Gardenia's Leafeon nodded as he ran forward towards one of the larger trees and ran along the trunk up to a low hanging branch. He then climbed up the next branch in the same way, then again and again until he was near the top of the tree. He ran out on a branch and jumped off towards Caelum as he fired another round of Razor Leaves. This one managed to hit with Caelum's altitude lowering as Leafeon landed delicately on the hardened dirt.
"Alright Caelum, let's give her one twice as hard back. Use Aerial Ace!" Tyler announced as he shifted to an offensive approach.
"Star!" Caelum rolled around over and plummeted to the ground level, the white contrails surrounding his body as he pulled up and shot over a low lying bush. His talons glanced across the brush and the dirt as he charged forward and hit the Leafeon's side.
"That's it Caelum. Now use the trees as cover and come back for another blow!" Caelum acknowledged his trainer with a caw before soaring up, over and then back down the tree towards the Eeveelution.
"Fight him off with Leaf Blade!"
"Fee-on!" Leafeon's forehead leaf began glowing light green and stiffened like a sword's blade as Caelum approached. He brought it down like a hammer as the two collided, both of them trading damage as the bird continued to fly away and back around for another attack. Leafeon's gaze kept up with the speedy bird as he weaved through the trees and the shrubbery before settling on an attack pattern. Again he charged forward, this time Leafeon swung his tail towards Caelum with the two exchanging simultaneous blows again.
"So we're fighting like that now? Caelum shift into Close Combat!" Now when Caelum made his attack, he came around still cloaked in the white contrails but as Leafeon rose with his head to make a cut, Caelum threw his wings out wide to slow himself enough to barely miss the Leaf Blade and then slash his own wing against Lefeon's body. Again the two gladiators hacked and slashed at each other, Leafeon using his glowing swords and Caelum fighting with his entire body. Neither of the two of them wanted to give an inch as they continued to cut, slash, punch and peck away at their opponent's defenses. Caelum leaned in for another peck, but Leafeon ducked beneath it and spun around, hitting him with his tail and pushing him backwards.
"Nice try Tyler, but you can't beat Leafeon and me in a Close quarter fight, that's our specialty!" Gardenia taunted as Leafeon shook some of the damage off his body.
"Fine, then well go back to ours. Set up a Tailwind and let's show these two how we really fly Caelum"
"Quick Attack before he gets away!" Leafeon exploded out of his stance, glowing white as he raced towards the bird from behind. He managed to catch Caelum, but his hit was more of a push forward than a tackling blow as the Staraptor quickly caught himself again and used his wings to summon the ring of air around the ring he loved so much. He let out a proud caw as he entered the ring, his speed being boosted in an instant as he quickly flew laps around the field in a blackish blur. "Now show off a real Aerial Ace!"
"Tor!" Caelum cawed loudly as he disappeared from sight in the ring to reappear already on the ground before Leafeon surrounded in the familiar whitish glow. He crashed into the side of the Verdant Pokémon, kicking him back into the trunk of a tree with the force of his attack.
"Leafeon you okay?" Gardenia asked worriedly as her Pokémon's knees started to wobble.
"Strike while you can! Aerial Ace again!" Caelum rocketed back out of the Tailwind to the struggling Leafeon with another hit to his exposed side leaving Leafeon in a crumpled heap beside a bush.
"Get up Leafeon!" Gardenia desperately called for her Pokémon as he again struggled to get to his feet. He wore a noticeably pained grimace and his teeth were bared, but there was still a fire in his eyes as Leafeon barked back to his trainer.
"Use Sunny Day and hurry!" Leafeon's body trembled, but he stood firm as a gold-orange light overcame his body. He then shouted at the sky above as the energy evaporated off him and the sunlight almost instantly became unbearable for Tyler to look at. He had to shield his eyes, losing sight of the battlefield and his Staraptor for a moment. When he did, he found him continuing to fly around in his ring of air going only slightly slower than before.
"Distraction's over Caelum, he didn't move at all. Go finish him off with Return!" Caelum fell out of the sky like a falling arrow as he raced towards his stunned Pokemon. But just as he was about to make contact, Leafeon's body began sparkling in a way that reminded Tyler of Yuki's diamond dust aura. Then in an instant, Leafeon looked to his right, jumped up and over Caelum's attack at the last possible moment.
"The hell was that?!" Tyler looked at the sparkling Leafeon in disbelief as he landed. "How did you just dodge that?"
"Chase after him and use Leaf Blade!" Gardenia called, ignoring her challenger's question.
"Leafeon!" Once more, Leafeon's two leaves glowed bright green before he too disappeared in a blur of white and green light. He was racing towards the trees again, effortlessly climbing up one in mere moments and leaping off a branch that was above Caelum before Tyler had time to react. He tucked his body in to form a wheel shape and spun around, landing squarely between Caelum's wings and sending the bird hurtling into the ground below with a sickening thud.
"Caelum!"
"Star…" Caelum sounded like he was in a lot of pain as he squirmed back to his side before trying to stand.
"I just love a nice Sunny Day like today, don't you Tyler?" Gardenia taunted as Leafeon finally dropped off the tree branch it was on. "I know my Leafeon does with his Chlorophyll ability which keeps his speed on par with your Staraptor's in the sunlight, even if he has a speed boost of his own."
"Come on man get up! We just need one more chance and we can end this!"
"Only if you can hit us first! Leafeon end this with one more Leaf Blade!" Again Leafeon disappeared and reappeared already a few strides from Caelum's body with his forehead sword ready to slash and end this battle."
"Endeavor!" At his trainer's wild call, Caelum quickly took off and threw his body into Leafeon's front legs, making the Leafeon fall onto his side as Caelum flapped his wings a few more times and created some space between them. "Now kick it up to full speed with Brave Bird!"
"Rap TOR!" The second Caelum entered the air currents his body became shrouded in blue colored flames and he raced around half the arena in the blink of an eye. He found his lane of attack and plunged, a straight line out of the sky before rocketing towards the not yet recovered Leafeon. Gardenia's Pokémon looked up in time to see an angry scowl of blue flames inches from his face before crashing into him with a fiery explosion. Caelum landed on the ground roughly, blue sparks running the length of his back but he was at least okay still. Leafeon on the other hand was lying sprawled out on his side on top of the dirt with a vacant look on his eyes.
"Leafeon is unable to battle! Staraptor is the winner!" The Judge announced to a fair set of applause.
"Let's go Caelum! That was-"
"Booooo! How could you do that to poor Leafeon! You should be ashamed of yourself! Booooo!" Wendy's annoyed catcalls bounced off the walls.
"Just fucking ignore her Caelum, we both know that was fantastic." Caelum nodded, picking at his wings with his beak as Gardenia returned her Leafeon.
"Well then, that was quite an exciting start no? And congratulations Tyler, you've defeated your first Pokémon belonging to a Gym Leader." Gardenia shortly applauded before grabbing a second ball. "Can you make it two? Torterra, Let's go!"
"Oh… shit." Tyler weakly replied as he saw the behemoth of a turtle take form on Gardenia's side of the field. They didn't call this guy the Continent Pokémon for nothing as he practically took up all the movable space on Gardenia's side of the arena. Heck his tree on his back was taller than some of the trees on the field. "Oh shit this is bad."
"Quil…"
"Star…" Both of Tyler's boys sounded just as nervous as Tyler did at the moment. This was clearly a major obstacle to overcome if they were going to emerge victorious today. Bur right now, that if seemed really far off.
"Well, let's try to get some health back while we can. Use Roost Caelum!" The Staraptor tucked his wings into his body as he began glowing a faint white light, but Gardenia only smiled as she gave her first command.
"Torterra use Earthquake!"
"Terra!" The Continent Pokémon stood up on his hind legs and crashed back down on the ground with two white rings of energy forming and disappearing at the point of impact. A moment later the whole field shook with the force of the attack and the ground cracked open with a fissure opening up straight towards Caelum.
"Shit! Caelum get off the ground now!" Tyler called out in desperation and although Caelum threw his wings out to catch flight, the attack still managed to hit him enough to prevent him from climbing much higher off the ground from where he was.
"You sure are a persistent Staraptor…" Gardenia said praising Caelum's tenacity.
"It's all we got left Caelum, just hit him as hard as you can. Brave Bird!" Yet again, the Staraptor's body glowed in the bluish and black flame as he charged straight towards the stationary Torterra.
"But persistence only goes so far." Gardenia finished her thought from earlier. "Bury him with Stone Edge!" Torterra's eyes glowed green as rings of blue energy surrounded his body. They quickly broke apart, taking on rock shapes and he quickly fired them into the oncoming bird's path. Caelum was defenseless as he hit the first wave, being tossed around like a ragdoll but still managed to crash land onto Torterra's back where he lay exhausted and motionless.
"Staraptor is unable to battle! Torterra is the winner. Both trainers now have two Pokémon left!" Tyler looked over at where Caelum lay on the top of Torterra's back. There was a mark a bit lower than where he was laying which told him that some amount of damage had been done in Caelum's suicidal attack. But he had no idea how much.
"Damn fine job Caelum." Tyler said as he returned him to his ball and clipped him to the belt. He then put both hands behind his head and sighed. "What do I do about you?" Tyler asked the Torterra that looked back at him.
"Va. Lava-va!" Magnus poked Tyler's ankle with is paw before looking back up at the sun. Tyler's gaze followed him briefly before shielding himself from the rays again, though he did get what Magnus was implying. He wanted a chance while the sun was still there to throw his own weight around.
"You sure Magnus? He just obliterated Caelum without even breaking a sweat with two moves that you're weak to."
"Va-va." Magnus ignored his trainer's concern and ran ahead onto the field.
"Alright dude, this is your fight as much as mine." Tyler conceded as he grabbed Magnus' Poké ball and enlarged it. "But you get one shot, that's it so make it count!"
"You sure Tyler?" Gardenia asked sounding sure of herself. "Torterra and I won't hold back any if you make a mistake."
"Then we won't make a mistake. Put everything you've got into this Magnus! Use Flamethrower!"
"Lava!" Flames lapped out of the Quilava's mouth as his body began glowing in the same gold-orange energy as Leafeon had before as the trademark crimson pillar of flames roared across the field. Even with Torterra's sheer size, the flames still began cooking him from all sides up front and he closed his eyes in a grimace of pain.
"Quick Torterra, use Earthquake again to stop him!" Torterra did as he was told, trying to stand on his hind legs but didn't get nearly as high this time as the heat became more focused on his weaker underside. Still, he threw all his weight on the top of his front legs with another fissure cracking and opening up a massive pit in the center of the arena. Clouds of dirt and smoke engulfed the field as rumbling noises filled the arena. Both Pokémon let out cries of pain inside the clouds before the dust ultimately settled to show both Pokémon had been trapped beneath a pile of branches and what used to be trees.
"Are you okay Torterra?"
"Magnus! Can you move?!" Both trainers called for their Pokémon at the same time. Torterra's body rumbled as he shook himself back to a standing position, a layer of dark soot falling off him as well although he looked like he was moments away from being cooked through. Magnus' front paws began squirming at the same time as he tried to get himself free but the weight was being too much and he couldn't make progress.
"Burn it to ash Magnus, it's just a tree." Tyler yelled as Magnus took as deep a breath as he could manage. His eyes turned a fiery red color as his whole body ignited in an explosive fireball that set the floor of the arena around him aflame. It took a moment, but the Quilava's intense flames quickly made their mark on the fallen logs as they burnt black and fell apart around him, finally allowing him to be free. "Alright, one shot like I said. Take a break mate; you did just what we needed."
"La-va." Magnus huffed as he became consumed in the red pulse of energy. Tyler shrunk his ball before reaching for Yuki's Poké ball. He enlarged the ball in his hand before bringing it to his lips and kissing the red half of the ball.
"Time to shine Yuki!" Tyler tossed her Poké ball out over the field with his Glaceon materializing in a silver snow shower of energy.
"Glaceon!" Yuki happily mewed her name, but only then took notice of her surroundings and seeing the fallen trees everywhere. "G-Glae…"
"You'll be fine Yuki, it's just a little diffen-."
"Let's go Yuki let's go! Wendy clapped twice before yelling again. "Let's go Yuki let's go!"
"I swear to God she does this every time…" Tyler frowned deeper than the last time as he bit the inside of his lip to avoid lashing out. "Well she's right Yuki. Both of us believe in you. Caelum and Magnus have been fighting really hard against this guy but it's up to you to finish him off. If you trust me like I trust you, we'll slay him together!"
"Glaceon." Yuki nodded as she turned stood beside one of the fissures in the field.
"Let's show Gardenia our kiai Yuki!"
"Glaceon!" Gardenia smiled as she recognized her fellow Gym Leader's catchphrase. And if this Glaceon had been trained by Candice, even if for only a little bit, she might be in for some trouble. She looked up and noticed that the sun her Leafeon had summoned was still just as bright, so she decided to take advantage.
"Torterra, use Synthesis to heal!" Torterra lowered himself to the ground as the tree on his back began glowing green with white small white orbs seeming to be drawn into it. Tyler recognized it as a definite healing move and needed to act quickly to stop her.
"Just like we practiced Yuki, set up a Hailstorm!"
"Glae-Glaceon!" Gardenia's smile curled to a frown as Yuki's body glowed with an icy blue outline as she mirrored her Leafeon's pose from earlier and shouted at the sky. As the colder energy rose up a rapid chill fell over the arena as clouds began to form and blanket the sky. Before long these clouds rumbled and began raining hailstones the size of coins that struck all over the field. Torterra, who had been enjoying the sunlight for a brief moment quickly began grumbling in annoyance as the hail struck him and his tree light began fading to nothing.
"Yes! He still looks wounded. Great job with that Yuki! Now use Double Team!" A number of clones began occupying Tyler's fractured side of the field as they all seemed to enjoy being in the now colder field.
"I was really hoping you wouldn't do that." Gardenia admitted with a sigh. "No matter, I can still fight in the cold. Torterra use Stone Edge!" With another mighty roar, blue rings morphed into rocks that Torterra fired towards the growing number of clones. Half of them were quickly shot apart and faded away, but Yuki was still hiding somewhere among the other group of clones.
"Let's keep him guessing with Swift!" All of Yuki's clones opened their mouths and shot out a blanketing yellow wave of shooting stars that crashed into Torterra's side along with the colliding hailstones.
"Stay strong Torterra, we need to take the fight to them. Use Wood Hammer and plow through them!" Torterra roared to life as the outline of his tree began to glow green and he charged forward with surprising speed. The clones scattered as he approached them, with Torterra selecting one of them and launching his body into it. To Tyler's astonishment he was correct in finding Yuki, and the turtle's impressive girth slammed into his Glaceon, knocking her across the field and beside a nearby bush.
"Yuki! Hang in there!" Tyler called with concern as he saw the clones all the remaining clones disappear at once. He saw rustling in the bush as Yuki hopped out of the bush looking somewhat hurt but she shook herself back to alertness again. "Use Double Team again!"
"Earthquake!" Just as more clones took the field, Torterra landed down on the field, this time completely leveling what little coverage was left on the field in the form of trees. The majority of the clones were swallowed up in the attack, falling into a cracked fissure and disappearing, leaving only three Glaceon left standing on opposite sides of each other. "Now Stone Edge on the two that are left!"
"Keep using Double Team!" Tyler called out as an explosion of dust rocked the area where his Glaceon clones were grouped up. But emerging through the smoke came an additional group of clones. Yuki had to be in there somewhere, but Tyler still couldn't figure out which, nor did he have time to. He needed to end this battle quickly or Torterra could overcome his evasion support. He had to trust in Yuki here.
"They're behind you Torterra, use Earthquake!"
"Race across the field with Quick Attack!" Tyler quickly responded as the turtle rose on his hind legs and all the clones in front of him raced forward. "Now all of you jump up and use Swift!" As Torterra slammed his legs on the ground, each of the clones jumped airborne and fired a shooting star volley at the Torterra's face before landing and disappearing beneath the mound of rubble. Another large dust cloud blanketed the field and neither Gardenia nor Tyler could tell where anything or anyone was. Torterra was still standing; Tyler could at least see that much from his big shadow in the middle of the cloud. But he couldn't tell if Yuki was there. Still, he needed to make his call now on the chance she was still able to fight.
"Use Ice Fang and latch onto him!" Tyler waited a moment and didn't hear anything at first as the dust began to settle and he could see. Yuki wasn't anywhere to be found. "Dammit." Tyler cursed as his plan had failed him. He reached for Yuki's ball and detached it from his belt to return her when he heard Torterra cry out in pain. To his and everyone else's shock, Yuki was standing on Torterra's back, hidden from Tyler by the hump in the middle and had bitten onto the tree growing out of his back.
"Torterra!"
"Yes! Way now don't let go Yuki!" Tyler heard Yuki growling as her fangs sunk deeper and deeper into the branch. Torterra shook his body from side to side trying to fling the Glaceon off him, but met no success. The cold had already punched through him too quickly and with a major weakness to Ice, he was done the moment Yuki bit his tree branches. The mighty behemoth crashed down to the ground sprawled out and unconscious.
"Torterra is unable to battle. Glaceon is the winner! The challenger now leads two Pokémon to one!" Tyler wanted to scream out in celebration, but he honestly was in disbelief that Yuki had survived against such an overwhelming opponent. Sure she had the type advantage, but the sheer force of Torterra's offensive might was making it nearly impossible to get any offense for her going. Even Wendy in the peanut gallery was speechless which at least made Tyler a little happier as she probably would have ruined the moment in some way. This was just for Yuki to enjoy. She landed on all fours and jogged over to Tyler's side as Gardenia returned her colossal Pokémon.
"Wow… I'm stunned." She said in disbelief. "But I'm afraid that as impressive of a team effort that was to take down Torterra, this isn't the end of our battle." Gardenia grabbed and enlarged her final Pokémon, tossing the ball out over the field. "Time for you to bloom again Roserade!"
"Roserade…" The Pokémon land in a bowing pose before rising and readying itself for battle. Its red and blue bouquet-like arms both were swaying quietly back and forth by its sides as it waited for an order. If Tyler wasn't supposed to fight it, he'd admit the Pokémon looked quite elegant with its white rose styled hair and the grass green cape it seemed to be wearing. But considering that this Pokémon stood in the way of him earning his first badge, he didn't have time to praise it.
"Roserade, let's start with a Magical Leaf!" Roserade nodded as it began to spin around in a tight circle. It shot its bouquets up as light green wisps of energy poured out of them and flew towards Yuki, striking her repeatedly.
"Brush it off Yuki, get in there and use Return!" Yuki's diamond dusted aura surrounded her body as she ran towards her foe.
"Dodge that and use Energy Ball!" Almost rhythmically, Roserade jumped above Yuki as she approached, pointing the bouquets at her as she stopped. A ball of deep green energy formed in the center of both arms before being fired towards Yuki, who took the attack and was knocked off her feet.
"Come on Yuki. You can keep going can't you?" Yuki shook herself back to alertness, although there was a slight wobble in her step as she stood back up. Tyler looked around the field and also noticed that the Hail was now gone. He couldn't afford to set up another Hailstorm with Magnus waiting in the wings and the damage he'd taken already. He had to trust in Yuki's ability once more. "Run towards them and use Swift!"
"Glacie!" Yuki followed her trainer's command perfectly, shooting stars straight at the Roserade as she approached him. "Now hit her with Return!" This time Gardenia's Pokémon was sent flying back, however it looked like Yuki was the one worse for wear. After she crashed into the Roserade, her limp got worse. And it looked like with each step she took she was getting slower and slower.
"Come on Yuki, just a little bit more."
"Roserade, I think we should end this with another Energy Ball." Roserade quietly obeyed as the green ball was once again formed and fired at Yuki. She wanted to dodge, but her legs gave out as she jumped and she fell to the ground prey to the attack. Try as she might, she wasn't going to get up anytime soon.
"Glaceon is unable to battle! Roserade is the winner. Both trainers are down to their last Pokémon!"
"NOOOOO!" Wendy's heartbroken sob fell through the arena as Tyler returned her to her ball. "She was so close! I'm so sad now…"
"I'm super proud of you today. You did great, just take a long rest alright?" Tyler frowned as he replaced Yuki's ball with Magnus'. Even if he had the type matchup, Magnus was still quite beat up from that single Earthquake from earlier. And Roserade still looked strong. Tyler knew he needed to be at least somewhat cautious as Roserade may have had a trick tucked away in its rose petals.
"Quilava-va!" Magnus growled as he arrived on the battlefield once again. His flames were already viciously burning along his body, still saying that his Blaze ability was active. Tyler was thankful for that fact as it was probably the only way he'd still have a chance in this battle at the moment.
"So much for using any Grass moves against that fire." Gardenia commented which further gave Tyler some hope. If her Grass arsenal was slashed against this intense heat then he could focus on a smaller amount of moves to react to. "But that doesn't mean we can't use Sludge Bomb!"
"Rose!" Roserade put its rose petals together and formed a new ball between them. This one was a sickening looking color of purple and brown that was soon fired towards Magnus.
"Counter with Quick Attack!" Magnus raced ahead under the ball as his body took on a whitish blur and he crashed into the Roserade's body. But Tyler's memory flashed to Yuki as she looked sluggish after touching Roserade last time. "Now get out of there with Quick Attack!" Tyler could feel Magnus' confusion but he ran back to his trainer's side of the field, being careful to avoid the puddle of sludge that was dripping into the fissures.
"Damn, I was hoping you wouldn't notice our Poison Point ability." Gardenia sighed as Roserade stood itself back up again. So that was what made Yuki's movements slow down so quickly after they fought. Roserade was also a Poison type and could inhibit its opponent in that way.
"Magnus use Flamethrower!"
"Counter with Sludge Bomb!" As Magnus launched another pillar of flames that scorched the earth beneath them, Roserade launched another ball of sludge towards the flames. The ball seemed to expand in the heat before exploding and sending superheated sludge splashing around the field with some of it landing on both the Quilava and the Roserade where it clung to them like glue.
"Don't worry about the sludge!" Both trainers called to their Pokémon at the same time. Roserade responded rather quickly to Gardenia's call, but Magnus continued to sniff at the sludge on the back of his paw He even spat an ember at it to see what it might do and a small explosion occurred on his arm. "Hey, be careful Magnus!" Tyler scolded his inattentive Pokémon
"Roserade use Shadow Ball!" Roserade brought together its bouquets once again with a third ball forming in the center of them, blacker than the other two and taking on a purplish tint before it was fired towards Magnus.
"Magnus look out!" As Magnus looked up, a peculiar dark orange color surrounded his body as the flames on his back seemed to become clouded in their color. The Shadow Ball managed to connect, pushing Magnus back towards his trainer but the glow continued to intensify until he opened his mouth. Out of it spat forth what Tyler could only hope to describe was a burning cloud of smoke that looked like he'd set a Smokescreen on fire. But as the attack landed in front of Roserade it stayed there like the sludge for a moment until it reached a puddle of the sludge that was nearer the Roserade and it ignited with an explosive reaction.
"Roserade!" Gardenia screamed in shock as her Pokémon was propelled back to her side. Her once pristine bouquets were now looking damaged and had burn marks on their side. But she was nowhere near the full force of the attack.
"What's going on?" Tyler audibly asked the question Gardenia was thinking as he looked at Magnus. The smoky flames on his body had receded into their normal flame once again when he felt a vibration in his pocket where he'd put his P*DA. As he pulled it out of his pocket to look at it, he looked up and noticed that Gardenia and her Pokémon were still stunned from what had happened.. Instinct took over with him dropping the device on the ground and pointing at the Roserade. "Let's win this Magnus with a Flamethrower!"
"Lava – Quil!" Magnus' body ignited once again as he shot out another fiery column of pain that raced across the field. This time, Roserade looked up and tried to jump away from the approaching heat but failed to in time. Magnus adjusted his attack and the Roserade became trapped in the burning prison. Even as the attack was going, Judge began raising his hand on the side of the field, getting Tyler's and Magnus' attention as the latter stopped his attack immediately, allowing both of them to watch their foe drop to its knees and fall over in defeat.
"Roserade is unable to battle! Quilava is the winner! Which means the victor of the battle is the challenger Tyler Lawson!" Tyler fell to his knees in disbelief. He'd won; he'd actually won a Gym badge! A flood of emotion overcame Tyler as he stayed on his knees in absolute shock. Magnus came over and literally tackled Tyler in his excitement which was finally what had gotten Tyler back to alertness. He looked down at his partner of four years and could only smile as he lightly pet the top of his head.
"We did it buddy." Tyler laughed weakly, feeling just as exhausted as his Pokémon had to have been. But if Magnus still had enough adrenaline in him to move, Tyler had to as well. So he stood back up, carrying Magnus in his arms as he made started making his way towards Judge's platform where Gardenia was already walking briskly towards. But another loud beep from the dirt reminded Tyler that he'd dropped his P*DA and that it had an alert for him. He pulled it up, highlighting Magnus' slide this time and noticing that he'd learned a new attack in the battle.
"Lava Plume?" Tyler thought back to the burning cloud that Magnus had spat out at Roserade but shrugged his shoulders. "We'll work on that move a bit more another day. I don't think it's finished yet.
"Va…" Magnus coughed up a little smoke cloud at Tyler's face that made him cough as he ran through it.
"Touché… now let's go say hi." Tyler kept his slow jog as he made his way over to where Gardenia and Judge were standing on the raised platform.
"We sure made a mess of the place didn't we?" Gardenia joked as Tyler finally joined her.
"Yeah we did…"
"That's it?" Gardenia asked in disbelief. "No 'hooray I won?' or 'I'm the best'? Aren't you excited that you won your first badge?"
"I am." Tyler said with the same tone of voice. "Don't get me wrong I'm ecstatic right now, but I'm also so tired. That battle took a lot out of me than I expected it to."
"Then how about we make this quick so you can get back home and rest up." She turned to Judge who pulled a brown case out of his pocket with a glass cover that Tyler could see five similarly shaped pins made up of three emerald squares arranged in a v-shape with a silver border. Each square also had a narrow silver spike at the bottom that shot up into the center of the emerald sea, which only now did Tyler notice kind of looked like a tree with leaves branching off the silver trunks. Gardenia grabbed the center one of the five and held it in her hand.
"On behalf of your accomplishments here today Tyler, I present you with this Forest Badge. Congratulations on your victory!" She placed the badge in Tyler's outstretched hand and folded his hand over it. Slowly, Tyler opened his hand and examined the badge closer.
"It's beautiful." Were the only words out of Tyler's mouth as he stared at the badge in awe.
"Looks like somebody needs a badge case, or are you going to just pin them to your shirt?" Gardenia joked as she led Tyler off the platform.
"I'll worry about that another time." Tyler replied, his eyes still glued to the badge. "I just can't believe we won."
"I can't believe how badly we wrecked the Gym today. I'll have to close down for the afternoon to rebuild and replant." Gardenia sighed, not looking forward to the amount of work she now had to do. "Judge, could I get you to take my Pokémon to the Center for me to get them healed?"
"Of course Gardenia." Judge politely accepted as he took all three of Gardenia's balls and her license.
"Thanks. You should get going too Tyler. The sooner your team is healed up, the sooner you can celebrate!"
"And let me handle everything cutie-Ty!" Wendy's voice squeaked in excitement as she wrapped herself around Tyler's back. "Congratulations Tyler! That was a really exciting match."
"Gligar!" Felix jumped off Wendy's head and landed on Tyler's trying to cheer up his tired looking trainer. "Gli-Gli Gligar!"
"We did it mate." Tyler yawned less than enthusiastically as he held up a raised fist for Felix to bump.
"Seriously Tyler that was intense! I just loved watching the fight from start to finish. I don't think I ever sat on my seat!" Wendy continued, oblivious to Tyler's lack of response.
"I bet you just wish you could have seen more of Glaceon and Leafeon though, right Wendy?" Gardenia laughed as Wendy faked like she didn't know what was being talked about.
"Look, I like parties too." Tyler said as he finally put words back in his mouth. "But can I just go home and take a nap first? Heal my Pokémon? We'll party tomorrow."
"Great! Now I have time to make it really special!" Wendy squeaked as she grabbed Tyler's arm and dragged him back towards the door. "Of course you're invited too Gardenia!"
"Now why would I go to the party of someone who beat me?"
"Because I'm planning it, duh!" Wendy quipped back to more laughter. "Come on Tyler, try to keep up with me." At this point, Tyler didn't even have the strength left in him to care. He just followed his hyperactive girlfriend by the arm as the two of them with Magnus in his arms and Felix sitting on top of his head as she led all of them back to the Pokémon Center.
A/N: And there we go, Chapter 26 is finally in the books and Tyler has finally earned his first Gym Badge. Now because I'm still dead tired and have a full day of work ahead of me, I'm going to keep this really short and just say that this is DrPhill26 signing out and I hope I'll get to see you next time.
Tyler's Team: Magnus (Quilava, male) Caelum (Staraptor, male) Felix (Gligar, male) Yuki (Glaceon, female)
Wendy's Team: Pulse (Lucario, male) Tess (Ampharos, female) Yuri (Lilligant, female)