A/N: Hey guys, DrPhill26 back here with another chapter of Evolution for you all to enjoy. Hope you guys have been well and all that stuff so let's start the month of May with some fun right?
Tyler: Oh yeah fun, yeah I'm totally looking forward to this chapter.
DrPhill26: What's the matter sport? Aren't you looking forward to another tournament match.
Tyler: Well yeah, but considering where it's being held... not so much.
DrPhill26: Well hey, think of it this way. The sooner we get this chapter started, the sooner you'll be done with it.
Tyler: The sooner we start, the sooner I have to start dealing with them too.
DrPhill26: Oh yeah... guess that argument is kind of a moot point then huh.
Tyler: *shivers nervously*
DrPhill26: Well I'm sure you'll do fine. Just uh... you know, try to think of the positives and whatnot and you'll do fine right?
Tyler: I guess?
DrPhill26: Good enough. So let's get the chapter started then and hopefully Ty here can get rid of his nerves over the course of it... maybe. Anyway enjoy!
"So… that's the Hearthome Gym." Tyler's face paled slightly as he looked up at the building, seeing the large statue of a Drifblim appearing to float over the roof. He could already start to feel the anxiety building up in the pit of his stomach. If the Gym had statues of Ghosts above its roof, how bad was it going to be in the actual building then?
"Dude, it's just a building." Jason stated rather bluntly, a bit of a frown on his lips. "And that's just a statue on the roof. It's not an actual Ghost Pokémon."
"Yeah I know that, but it's not about that. It's what they represent." Tyler shook his head again. "I mean, look at her Gym. What do you see when you look at it?"
"I see a building." Jason narrowed his eyes, sounding slightly annoyed.
"Yeah but what kind of building?" Tyler continued despite Jason's sigh.
"I don't know… maybe a café of some kind?"
"It's a haunted house!" Jason rolled his eyes again as Tyler's voice took a panicked tone. "Look at it! You've got all those windows on the front, the balcony on the third story, the ornate wood door. It totally looks like one of those old haunted houses from the movies!"
"It's not a goddamn! … Look, Tyler," Jason began after taking a calming breath. "I'm gonna go into the Gym, not get attacked by Ghosts, and sign us in for our match. Can you promise me that while I'm gone you'll at least try to calm yourself down a bit?"
"I dunno…" Jason shook his head once again, unsure of how to proceed. He then snapped his fingers, his eyes flashing with clarity as he reached into the pocket of his red-orange vest and pulled out a case. He held it before Tyler, opening it and revealing a series of pins with Tyler recognizing two of them. One of them, the rightmost one looked like a blue iceberg. The one in the middle of the group of seven, a small green and silver forest.
"You know what these are right?" Jason asked.
"Gym Badges." Tyler answered, his eyes focusing on the familiar Forest Badge that he'd won earlier that month. Jason then reached into the case and pulled out the one to the right of the Forest Badge. This one was made up of circular shapes, a gray and silver center circle surrounded by three smaller purple and silver circles.
"Right, well can you guess which one this is?" Jason continued, looking fondly at the badge.
"It's from here isn't it?"
"Right, this is the Relic Badge." Jason said calmly, putting the badge back in its case. "I've been here before, a little over a year ago or so. I've fought inside this Gym against Fantina and her Ghosts. You don't have to worry about either today. Which means this is just a stadium that just so happens to have a bit of an eerie theme to it."
"Well…"
"You probably aren't even going to run into a Ghost type today." Jason continued. "Think of it just like… did you ever train at some sort of arena before you came here?"
"Yeah." Tyler nodded as he thought of the Pre Center back home.
"So try to think of this like battling there." Jason slapped his partner on the shoulder. "Trust me, it's really not even that eerie in the first place. There's like some stained glass windows looking over the battlefield, but aside from that there's nothing that should really creep you out or anything. Just put the fact that this specific Gym is for Ghost type Pokémon and you'll do fine."
"Yeah…" Tyler nodded, looking around and seeing a tree by itself on the opposite side of the street from the Gym. "I'm gonna get my head together over there while you're registering us or whatever."
"There's my partner, nice of you to finally show up." Jason teased as he lightly punched Tyler's chest. "Alright, I'll be quick."
"Kay." Tyler walked over towards the tree, seeing the shade it caused on the beautiful day. He was probably the only one who could see clouds of gray over his head today, hoping that he could push the imaginary storm away and enjoy the day like everyone else. He sat down at the base of the tree trunk, stretching his arms above his head as a breeze blew across his face.
"I'm getting really bad at keeping up with this." Tyler thought aloud closing his eyes and resting against the tree. His thoughts began flowing inward, trying to focus down on his breathing, wanting to get himself into a relaxed state. He heard the birds flying overhead, imagining himself flying above his worries with them. Meditation always helped Tyler relax, and it was a wonder to him why he hadn't thought of doing some this morning to take the edge of the anxiety off from his pending battle. He could already feel the earlier anxiety bubbling away in his stomach begin to disappear, instead being replaced by an energized rumbling that sounded like hunger. Tyler chuckled to himself as he opened his eyes again, a little bit startled to see someone standing above him, even if that someone was a friendly giant.
"Will?" Tyler smiled as his startled nerves calmed. His friend meanwhile chuckled himself.
"You finally noticed me did you? I thought you'd fallen asleep." Will continued chuckling as he looked around. "Not that I blame you though, it's very peaceful here."
"Wait, finally noticed you?" Will nodded. "How long have you been here?"
"Like five minutes." Will explained as he too took a seat against the tree. "But I didn't want to bother you. You looked like you were enjoying yourself."
"I was, then my stomach started growling at me." Both Tyler and Will enjoyed a laugh together, watching a pair of Starly fly over them. "So don't keep me waiting, how'd your match go? You guys were at the Contest Hall this morning right?"
"Yeah, and we picked up another win and another four-zero at that."
"Nice." Tyler held his hand out and Will gave it a high-five.
"Yeah, they were a pair of cheerleaders named Lana and Layla. And they were actually kicking our butts pretty good for a bit." Will's chuckling grew a bit louder as he turned to Tyler. "But then Eric sent Nymphia out and started literally seducing their team."
"What?!" Tyler scoffed in laughter.
"Yeah, she used Attract, and seduced Layla's Dragonair." Will's laughter grew louder still, splitting up his words as he spoke. "I was trying so hard not to laugh, but watching a Dragonair pine after a Sylveon only to get blasted in the face with a Hyper Beam? Oh man you should have been there, it was great."
"Speaking of him, where is the guy?" Tyler said scanning the crowd of people filing into the Gym for Will's partner."
"Poor bastard's got a term paper due Monday morning." Will sighed, Tyler joining in with the displeasure of the dreaded p-word. "Ten pages on some disease that harms Poison type Pokémon with a name I couldn't pronounce if you spelled it out for me."
"How does a Poison type Pokémon get sick anyway?" Tyler raised a curious eyebrow. "Aren't they like walking, breathing viruses anyway?"
"Beats the hell out of me." Will shook his head. "But that's why it's just me here."
"Yeah, that kinda sucks. Wendy really wanted to be here today for me because of the whole Ghost phobia thing I have." Tyler sighed inwardly as he looked across the road and saw the Drifblim statue again. "But that's what happens when you've got a tournament that sends people all over the city. We can't always be at the same spot like yesterday."
"Well you look like you're handling yourself pretty good regardless." Will said picking up a fallen maple leaf and looking at it.
"Yeah well, Jason gave me a bit of a pep talk a few minutes ago. That and then I've been meditating until you showed up."
"Hold up, Jason gave you a pep talk?" Will looked surprised.
"Um… yeah?"
"Yeah Will, is it that hard to believe I can give someone a pep talk?" Jason called out as he walked up to the two by the tree.
"Yeah but you're usually such a hardass that I forget you do have a soft spot or two left in you Ranger Ivy." Will teased as he stood up, Tyler doing so as well and remembering that Jason's outfit was different to the olive jacket getup he'd seen on him before.
"Oh, yeah, I felt like wearing the ranger red today." Jason said as he looked at what was apparently his ranger's uniform. He wore a dark blue, almost black colored shirt and pants beneath that red-orange vest that Tyler saw earlier. His pants were tucked into his boots, which were the same color as his vest, as was the hat which Tyler had only just noticed himself.
"Well it still looks good on you." Will gave his friend a half-smile. "Though you might need to get your haircut. It's a bit on the longside."
"Bah, who cares, it's just a haircut." Jason brushed the remark aside with a wave of his hand, turning to his tournament partner instead. "So, we're all signed in. You ready to get started?"
"Yeah, I think so." Will helped Tyler up to his feet, the boy dusting his pants as he stepped forward. "Let's do this."
"Told you I could give a good pep talk." Jason elbowed Will in the ribs as he walked past, the three of them entering the Gym together. But they only could stay together for a short moment as Ty and Jason both were whisked away towards one of the Gym's waiting rooms. Both of them briefly reminisced with each other about their Gym experiences, Jason telling Tyler about his time here in the Gym to further try and get him relaxed. Their conversation went on for a few minutes until an aid came and got the two of them, bringing them down a hallway towards the entrance out onto the battlefield.
And as soon as Tyler stepped onto the field, the butterflies in his stomach from before returned despite his best attempts at keeping them at bay. Everything that Jason had said was still true. The battlefield itself looked tame being a fairly standard arena inlaid around blue bricks. And there weren't any overt nods to the fact that this was a Ghost type trainer's Gym with one small and unfortunately eerie feature that Jason had neglected to mention. The lighting, more specifically the eerie blue lighting of the candle like lights hanging from the ceiling. They looked like Will-o-Wisps, dozens of them floating and appearing to even dance with mysticism above him. As soon as he felt the presence of these lights, the atmosphere of what battled here in this building soon began to seep into him and began draining the color from his cheeks.
"It's just a stadium. That's all it is, it's just a stadium." Tyler began muttering to himself as he and Jason took their place what would be the challenger's box. He looked around the Gym, hoping not to see more of the Will-o-Wisps, but it seemed like every other light was one of these blue orbs. They flickered against the wall, casting small dancing shadows that overlapped with each other, creating a spine-tingling sensation in Tyler's body. But as he looked at Jason, he didn't see him reacting at all. "It's just a stadium… just ignore the lights. Close your eyes and think of the Pre Center."
Tyler closed his eyes, visualizing the familiar desert stadium he'd grown up with and its simplistic design. The raised platform of the slightly elevated battlefield, its basic Poké ball design in the center of the field. The steel gray color of the floor, the yellow outlines and markings, even the smell of the stagnant sand was coming back to him. He could almost see Justy watching from his little computer hub center off to the right of the battlefield from the entrance. His purple haired teacher would sit up there and analyze the battles of his students on computers, looking for recurring patterns or areas of improvement that the trainers themselves could sometimes miss. It felt reassuring to have his teacher sitting in his mind's eye again. He opened them once again, only to see that he was by himself in the box and that Jason was in the center of the field with his two opponents, all three of them looking at him curiously.
"You coming or what?" Jason waved his arm over at Tyler, beckoning him to come.
"Sorry!" Tyler quickly apologized as he jogged out towards his two foes for the day. The one on Tyler's right and across from Jason was a girl, a pretty one at that who had a lily sitting in her hair above her left eye. Her attire matched the flower, being a flowing skirt with a pattern of lily blossoms across its length and a simple shirt colored powder blue with another sapphire pin above her heart shaped like a pair of wings. Her partner stood with his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants, pulling them free as Tyler approached and folded them behind his head. Tyler saw a thick red glove on one of the hands, matching the color of the sleeveless vest on the man's chest. Curiously though, he too had a pin above his heart shaped like the lily that was all over the girl's clothing.
"Even when we show up on time, you find a way to be late." Jason rolled his eyes as Tyler finally caught up to the rest of the battlers. "Seriously need to work on that man."
"Well excuse me for not being Mr. Punctuality." Tyler shook his head at his partner, turning back to the other two. "Hey, sorry about spacing out. I uh… this place is a little uncomfortable for me."
"Oh I understand." The guy replied with a smile. "I don't do the best in front of crowds myself. But as long as I have my Abigail by my side here, I think I'll do alright." The man continued, wrapping his arm around the girl and giving her a quick kiss of the cheek, surprising both Tyler and Jason in the process.
"Damn, this tournament must have been a great hook up for you two then." Jason chuckled before the other two joined in with him.
"Oh heavens no." The girl, Abigail responded this time. "Chris and I have been together for a while already. We were able to just beat the odds and get paired together in the tournament." She fell into her apparently literal partner's shoulder, resting her head against his shoulder with a loving glint dotting her eyes.
"Lucky, I didn't get to be with my girlfriend." Tyler briefly frowned as he remembered Wendy's infectious smile.
"What, you saying I'm not good enough for you?" Jason teasingly, but roughly elbowed Tyler's stomach, knocking the wind out of him for a split second.
"Well I think you'd make a good couple… You know, if you two were inclined that way." The man, Chris said with a joking tone of voice that made Tyler blush in response.
"I'm gonna guess the redhead would be the bottom since he's blushing so much." Abigail added onto the joke and thickened Tyler's blush, the red-haired boy shaking his head vividly. "No? You're the top? Sorry, I just assumed that a such a strapping beefcake like the ranger here would be a top."
"Did you miss the part where I said I had a girlfriend earlier?!" Tyler squeaked out, his voice cracking slightly as he spoke making everyone join in united laughter.
"Well hey, this is good. You're not scared silly by being in the Gym." Tyler sighed at Jason's remark, drawing the attention of their opponents. "This guy's not exactly a fan of Ghost types."
"Oh, sorry to hear that." Abigail chimed in, Chris nodding in sympathy as well.
"Meh, he'll be fine." Jason answered for Tyler. "If you two can put some pressure on us early, you can probably scare him straight and get a good battle from both of us."
"Well, I think we can arrange that." Chris replied boastfully. "We did manage to win our match yesterday."
"So did we." Jason grinned a response, the two locking eyes. "I think I'm gonna enjoy this."
"As am I. Let's get going Abigail, I believe our judge is waiting for us." Tyler looked around the field and saw a familiar looking face already standing on the platform on the side of the arena. Black hair, green polo shirt with a Gym symbol on his chest, khaki shorts? That was definitely Marshall again… or was it Judge? Or was it one of the other octuplets.
"His name is Arby." Jason said as he caught Tyler's confusion, bringing the boy back to attention.
"You can tell the difference? Marsh- I mean Judge told me they were identical octuplets."
"I battled here before remember?" Jason reminded Tyler as he jogged back to their square. "Now come on, I'm itching to get started, aren't you?"
"Yeah, definitely." Tyler trotted off himself, his thoughts lingering on the trainers, trying to figure out some sort of element he could use to his advantage. "Abigail had that flowery, foresty pattern to her. Smelled like the outdoors, like Gardenia's Gym too… Grass type trainer? Possibly, that would explain the smell. Chris though, a bit more-"
"Dude, quite mumbling to yourself." Tyler was interrupted by another of Jason's light thumps, something that apparently was quickly becoming a habit of his.
"You told me to put the Ghosts out of my head, so I'm doing that!" Tyler quickly whispered a response. Jason shook his head, wanting to give a retort but the judge Arby raised a flag to signal an announcement.
"Alright ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Hearthome City Gym for this round one match of the Hearthome Tag Battle Tournament!" A tepid response, but applause nonetheless was heard from the hundreds of people in attendance. "Same rules as yesterday you four. Two Pokémon per trainer for a team of four and the battle continues until one team is fully defeated. Understood?" The four all responded with a unanimous yes. Arby then turned towards Chris and Abigail.
"Chris Henway, Abiail Straif! Are you two ready to battle?" Again, they both responded with a unanimous yes, smiling at each other. "Jason Ivy, Tyler Lawson! Are you two ready to battle?"
"Ranger ready Sir!" Jason replied with a salute as he snapped to attention. Tyler looked at him curiously, wondering whether or not he'd be a different battler in the uniform than not like yesterday.
"Uh yeah, I'm ready!" Tyler replied as he grabbed his first ball and looked at it. "Hope you're ready to bring it today buddy, because I'm counting on you."
"Then let the battle begin!" Abigail and Chris both drew their first Pokémon and tossed them skyward.
"Let's plant the seeds of victory Lombre!"
"Ride the North Wind Altaria!" Abigail's and Chris' Pokémon both take their appearance on the battlefield. The former, a curious looking blue and green Pokémon that looked like a frog in a monkey's body with a sombrero of a lilypad growing on its head. His partner looked like a bird with a body made almost entirely of clouds, who gracefully descended down from the ball as if being blown in on a breeze.
"Let's go Cloyster!" Jason went next, tossing his shellfish Pokémon out onto the battlefield with a heavy clank of its shell hitting the arena. It opened up to reveal the black body and a mischievous grin of its own, sneering at its opponents. Tyler was last, looking at Magnus' Poké ball and was about to toss it, but stopped. He looked at their opponents, then at the Cloyster and noticed that his partner had a huge advantage over its opponents by itself. He didn't need to use Magnus straight away, even if one of his opponents was seemingly a Grass user.
"You know what, this should be good experience for you instead." Tyler said as he put Magnus' ball back and grabbed another. "Show off your smile Felix!"
"Gligar!" Tyler's newest addition to the team pops out of his ball, his toothy grin already prominently displayed on his face as he lazily swirled down to the ground next to his shelled partner. He looked around and gave everyone a salute, one that Jason even returned with a second of his own making the flying scorpion's smile even brighter.
"Let's have some fun today shall we?" Tyler asked the battlers, his apparent nerves seeming to be subsided for the time being. Both Chris and Abigail nodded in agreement.
"Agreed mate, so let's go! Altaria, use Cotton Guard!"
"Lombre, you use Razor Leaf!" Chris and Abigail made the first moves, the Grass type raising its hands and shooting a volley of leaves from it. The Altaria meanwhile began glowing with a faint white glow before a series of cotton spores began growing around its body, its wings becoming even poofier and fluffier in appearance.
"Use Icicle Spear Cloyster! Shoot down the leaves!" The spikes atop the Cloyster's shell began spinning, glowing an arctic blue as a barrage of icicles shoot from them and knocking the oncoming leaves out of the sky.
"Here we go Felix, use Sand Attack on Lombre!" With a strong jump, Felix takes flight, flying low along the ground and dragging one of his claws against the ground. He threw it up as he flew past the Lombre, raising a cloud of dust that got into the Pokémon's eyes. "Nice! Now tag Altaria with one too!" Felix continued his pursuit, turning right towards the pile of fluff.
"Oh no you don't, fight him off with Dragon Breath!" Chris' Altaria pokes its head out of the clouds on its body and fires a thick green beam of energy at the Gligar. The attack connects, knocking Felix back off the course of his pursuit and allowing the Dragon type to take off itself, flying after the stunned Gligar.
"Guess it's you and me mister ranger." Abigail smiled as she eyed up her opponent. "Rain Dance Lombre!"
"Fine with me, Ice Beam Cloyster!" As the Lombre's body began glowing with a blue outline, Cloyster quickly fired a jagged beam of ice that hit the Pokémon square in the chest. The attack's impact pushes it back a short distance, but he stays strong and its glow intensifies again. As it did, a group of storm clouds formed above the battlefield and a light rain began to fall down.
"Dragon Breath again Altaria!"
"Dodge it and hit him with Acrobatics!" Felix nodded as another green blast was fired form the Altaria's maw, piercing the growing clouds. But Felix quickly pulled up and looped back around towards the Dragon type, hitting it with the side of his body before rolling off the Pokémon's side and looping around for another swift attack.
"Shake him off Altaria, use Twister!" The Altaria began flying around in circles itself, creating a whirlwind vortex that trapped Felix in it before eventually throwing him across the sky.
"Alright Cloyster, use Ice Beam again!"
"Counter that with Energy Ball!" Another jagged beam of ice from the Cloyster's mouth was blocked by a sparkling ball of green energy thrown at it as the attacks canceled out in an explosion of dust. "Now Giga Drain!" But just as quickly through the clouds came a reaching group of vines that snared themselves around the Cloyster who clamped himself shut on instinct. But the vines wrapped tightly around anyway, glowing with a green color as translucent beads began traveling back towards the Lombre through the vines.
"Cloyster! You gotta open up and battle back! Use Ice Beam again!" But despite his trainer's call, the Cloyster couldn't open its shell back up. It just sat there defenseless, a slight groan of pain eking through the closed shell. "Damn, I need a hand here Ty."
"I gotcha Jason. Felix, use Fury Cutter and slash through the vines!" Having recovered from the dizziness of the Twister a moment ago, Felix folded his gliding wings in and fell out of the sky towards the Cloyster.
"Don't let him get there, use Dragon Breath!" Another green blast of energy flew from the Altaria's maw towards Felix as he got closer to freeing his ally.
"Use Cloyster as a shield!" Felix threw his right claw out, veering to the right of the incoming attack as it collided with Cloyster's outer shell. Felix meanwhile looped around the Pokémon's body, his claws glowing a light red and slashing into them, cutting them as they drop off the Cloyster's body.
"Yup, you got your head in the battle again alright." Jason shook his head as Cloyster opened back up. "Using me as a damage sponge? Nice job."
"Hey it worked didn't it? Aren't you free now?" Tyler countered defensively.
"Yeah but weakened too. Lombre, use Drain Punch on Cloyster!"
"Add onto it Altaria, Steel Wing!" Both Abigail and Chris' Pokémon both charged the Bivalve Pokémon, both of them with a glowing yellow and glowing yellow wings respectively as the bore down on him.
"Now Iron Defense!" Cloyster clamped shut in an instant, his shell taking on a metallic glow as both the attacks bounced off the shell harmlessly.
"Nice, now let's turn it around Felix! Fury Cutter on Lombre!" Felix looped back around at a low angle, his claw now glowing a more vibrant crimson hue as he slashed at the Lombre. The attack knocked the Water/Grass type down to a knee as Felix soared back up to the storm clouds above.
"Take him down Altaria, use Blizzard!"
"Oh shit." Tyler's expression turned sour as Altaria looked back towards where Felix had disappeared in the clouds and spat a blast of frozen wind up into the clouds. The clouds briefly parted, showing a missed attack as Felix somehow remained up in the sky.
"Damn, chase after him Altaria!" Chris' Pokémon took off into the sky as well, wanting to finish the job it had started. As soon as the Altaria dove into the clouds, Felix dove back out of the clouds himself. "He's beneath the clouds again! Get down there and use Blizzard again!"
"Felix quick! Use U-turn!" Again Felix threw his claws wide and caught an updraft, looping back up over another incoming stormy blast of cold. But when he crashed into the Altaria, his body became outlined in a faint red glow before he disappeared in a pulse of red to the ball on Tyler's belt.
"Um… wait what?" Tyler quickly took Felix's ball back off his belt and looked at it with confusion. "Why'd he do that?"
"I don't know." Jason looked just as confused. "He's your Pokémon man, shouldn't you know?"
"Maybe? I mean I haven't used that move in battle before so I'm not sure."
"That counts as a swap." The judge announced from his platform. "You need to replace your second Pokémon now in order to continue the battle." Tyler frowned slightly as he put Felix's ball back on his belt.
"Alright, guess it's your turn now." Tyler grabbed Magnus' ball and tossed it skyward. "Let's light them up Magnus!" With that, Tyler's first choice for the battle made his way out onto the battlefield, blowing away the lingering frost as his back flames ignited.
"Fire type now huh? Alright Lombre, let's use Water Pulse on Quilava!" Abigail called out as her Lombre quickly molded a ball of water in its hands and threw it at Magnus.
"Counter that with Flamethrower!" The flame on Magnus' head lit up as well before he fired a powerful blast of flames from his mouth, hitting the attack and making it explode in a ball of superheated mist that shrouded the battlefield.
"Altaria, use Hyper Voice!"
"Show off a real Blizzard Cloyster!" Chris and Jason's two Pokémon reared back, firing their attacks towards each other as a blast of frigid air fazed through the rippling shockwaves of Altaria's sharp voice.
"Oh no, use Protect quick!" Chris' Altaria quickly threw up a defensive barrier as a green aura surrounded its body with the ice collecting around the barrier in chunks. Cloyster meanwhile took the full brunt of Altaris's shriek, having his horns spin wildly around on top of his head in disorientation. *Phew* "That was too close." Chris ran his hand through his head with a relieved sigh as the ice began falling off the barrier and crashing in a pile beneath the Altaria. At the same time, the rain began letting up as the clouds began parting above.
"Let's go Magnus, use Flame Wheel on Lombre!"
"Thunder Punch Lombre!" Magnus tucked himself into a wheel of flames, rolling forward towards the Lomre as its body formed electric energy around its fist and slammed it into Magnus, both sides exchanging blows with each other and charging back towards each other for another attack. The two again passed each other, Lombre appearing a bit weaker having dropped to a knee after it returned to its side of the battle.
"Okay Magnus, hit him with Flamethrower!" Magnus jumped out of his ball and landed on all fours, spitting another pillar of fire towards his foe. The Lombre tries to get out of the way, but the accumulated damage is too much for him and he's forced to take the attack as the flames wash around him.
"Push back the flames, use Hydro Pump!" Showing its endurance, Lombre battle back against the flames, spitting a blast of water that began extinguishing the flames around it and pushing back Magnus' attack until the watery attack began completely washing out his flames.
"Don't fight it Magnus, let it push you back away where it's weaker and use Quick Attack!" Despite the clear pain on his face, Magnus obeyed his trainer's call and let the water consume him, knocking him back towards his trainer before finally rushing away from it with a winded look.
"Altaria, use Sky Attack on the Cloyster!" The Altaria's body exploded into a cloud of crimson red flames, before falling towards the shelled Pokémon.
"Iron Defense again Cloyster!" As the Altaria flew towards the Cloyster, it clamped shut again, glowing silver as the attack slammed into his side. Despite taking the attacks defensively, Cloyster was still pushed back from the sheer force of the attack as the Altaria soared beyond him.
"Damn, that shell is too tough. Use Dragon Dance Altaria!" As Chris' Altaria soared back towards its side of the battlefield, it began glowing with a magenta aura as it spiraled up towards the ceiling.
"Hey I won't complain if you're flying away. Shift focus Cloyster! Use Ice Beam on Lombre!"
"Join in the fun Magnus, use Flamethrower!" Both Cloyster and Magnus aimed their attacks at the Lombre, the beam of ice spiraling around the fire as they combined together into one ferocious attack.
"Quick, use Protect!" In an instant, a defensive barrier of green surrounded the Lombre's body as the combined attack blasted against it. The Water/Grass Pokémon was pushed back by the attack's impact, but remained unharmed from this assault.
"Draco Meteor Altaria!" Meanwhile back up in the sky, a bright orange glow caught Tyler's attention as he looked up and saw a small sphere in the Altaria's stomach.
"Oh this won't be good." Jason and Tyler said together as Altaria spat the orange ball from its mouth and it broke apart into multiple smaller orbs that began raining down on the battlefield beneath them.
"Magnus, use Quick Attack on Lombre!" Thinking quickly, Magnus darted forward towards the Lombre as the orbs began falling around him on. He weaved through the burning explosions, stumbling from a pair of close calls but threw himself into the Lombre as the bombardment of meteors continued around his partner. Once the dust settled and Altaria descended back towards the battlefield, all four Pokémon were now showing signs of exhaustion.
"Let's take the lead Lombre, use Water Pulse on Quilava!"
"Dodge with Quick Attack!" Responding to his trainer's call, Magnus jumped forward again, letting the attack sail past him as he raced ahead and slammed into the Lombre, knocking him off his feet and flipping back towards his trainer.
"Payback Altaria, use Earthquake!"
"Don't let him get there, use Blizzard Cloyster!" As the Altaria folded its fluffy wings into its body, the Cloyster spat out a fierce cloud of icy wind from its mouth. Everything across the field began feeling the frigid cold, especially Altaria who already had ice collecting around its body as it fell. But despite the ice, it crashed into the ground hard, generating a rippling shockwave that rolled across the arena and each Pokémon shake as the ground trembled beneath them. Even Cloyster with its impressive defensive shells found itself sinking into the ground as it cratered around him, knocking him over as well. Only after the rumbling ceased could Tyler and everyone get a clear look at the battlefield, which showed all four Pokémon unresponsively lying in a heap with ice clinging to each of their bodies.
"Um… well that's a new one." The judge blankly said into his microphone before realizing he needed to do his job. "I mean uh… all four Pokémon are unable to battle! Each trainer is down to their final Pokémon!"
"Wow… that happened." Tyler blinked in disbelief at the carnage of the recently finished battle.
"You're telling me." Jason added as he grabbed Cloyster's ball and retreated him. "I didn't think Cloyster was that beaten up."
"Yeah, lucky hit I guess… maybe." Tyler agreed as he returned Magnus to his ball along with their two opponents.
"Wow, that was really surprising huh guys?" Abigail smiled as she grabbed her next Pokémon. "Think we can repeat that performance?"
"I'd rather not, kind of want to win this battle instead of force a tie." Tyler laughed as he grabbed Felix's ball and tossed it. "Finish what you started Felix!"
"Gligar!" The flying scorpion once again returned to the battlefield with his smile still intact, lazily swooping down in a spiral before landing on the ground.
"Race through the sky Swellow!" Chris' released his Pokémon next, sending out the swift looking sparrow Pokémon to a shrieking call.
"Blossom with grace Roserade!" Abigail's second Pokémon made its appearance, doing a pirouette as it twirled its bouquet covered hands around in a dance.
"Tyler… I want to use him." Jason smirked as he grabbed a ball off his waist. "Can I use him?"
"Dude, use whoever you want. We need to win this battle to keep pace with Will and Eric." Tyler quickly replied.
"Alright then." Jason tossed his ball skyward. "Scare them Gengar!"
"What the FUCK!" Tyler screamed as the Ghost type popped out of his ball, floating lowly above the ground with his Cheshire grin. He turned his grin towards Tyler, making the redhead's spine shiver as he backed away from the Pokémon. "Why'd you send him out?!"
"What do you mean, he made the most sense to send in." Jason replied quickly.
"It's a Grass type and a Flying type, I know your Manectric can handle both."
"So can Gengar." Jason shook his head. "Besides, it's not like I have a choice now. We only get two Pokémon each. I can't send in Manectric now."
"You did this on purpose." Tyler growled bitterly, but Jason just rolled his eyes.
"If you can't keep your composure now Tyler, how on Earth are you gonna fight Fantina in the future?" Tyler raised his finger to emphasize his brewing retort, but stopped himself with as the truthfulness of Jason's statement. Even if he was going about doing this in a dickish way, and in probably the worst possible time, he was still trying to help Tyler… maybe. The grin on the Gengar's face made Tyler suspicious that this was just his partner trying to mess with him.
"Let's just get this over with." Tyler spat as he looked at his two opponents again. "Felix, use Acrobatics on the Roserade!"
"Nope, you're fighting me this time. Swellow, use Wing Attack on Gligar!" Chris' bird quickly soared in front of the slower Gligar with his wings glowing white and slashed them into Felix's body.
"Alright, change your focus to Swellow Felix!" The Gligar wobbled in his flight path but managed to curl around and make a pass at the Swellow. But with the speed advantage, Chris' Pokémon effortlessly dodged the attack and soared away, dragging him away from the other two Pokémon.
"Gengar, use Shadow Ball on Roserade!" The Ghost type's grin curled maliciously as he charged up a black orb between his stubby hands.
"Blast it back with Sludge Bomb!" As Gengar threw his attack, the Roserade held up one of its blooms and launched a blob of purple at the incoming attack. The attacks collided together, exploding against each other and splashing the arena with splotches of purple sludge. "Now use Sunny Day!"
"Dark Pulse and quick!" Another orb appeared in Gengar's hands, pulsing purple and black as a white one formed at the tip of Roserade's blooms. The Boquet Pokémon offered its orb to the sky as Gengar threw a spiraling beam of black and purple towards it. The attack connected, knocking the Roserade back a short distance before a blinding pulse of light flashed over the arena as the sunlight intensified above the field.
"Let's go with Steel Wing now Swellow!" The Flying type responded with a quick caw, the glow of his wings becoming thicker as he again slammed them into Felix's side, knocking him closer to the ground.
"Keep flying low Felix!" Tyler called as Felix threw his claws out and re-stabilized, flying low to the ground as he eyed up the Roserade with a pursuit. "I agree Felix, let's keep going after Roserade!"
"I thought I told you, this was one on one for us." Chris roared back. "Steel Wing again!" The Swellow fell back towards the ground like a bullet as he soared towards the Gligar.
"Gotcha, use Sand Attack Felix!" With that, Felix rolled over and dragged his claw in the ground, flinging a cloud of sand back up at the pursuing Swellow as the bird flew past its target. "Nice job Felix, now let's go back to Swellow!" Again the Gligar caught up to his opponent and hit the bird with one of his claws as he flew past.
"Not bad but here comes the hurt, Double-Edge Swellow!" The Swellow takes a looping wind up as it flies around in a circle, growing a vivid white cone around its body as it shoots back towards Felix with exceptional speed.
"Sucker Punch Gengar!" But before he can connect a shadowy fist appears above the Swellow's body, punching it in the back as it is sent crash landing straight into the ground beneath it with a powerful thud. Both Tyler and Chris groaned for different reasons as the rest of Gengar's body joined with his fist.
"Now shift your focus back to Roserade with Dark Pulse!"
"Counter him with Weather Ball!" Gengar fired off another spiraling helix of purple and black, Roserade molded a ball of sparkling white light between its blooms. As she fired the attack off, it caught fire in the rays of the sun, exploding violently against the Gengar's attack as a thick cloud of dust briefly covered the entire field.
"Let's go get them Felix! Acrobatics on Roserade!" The nimble Gligar rolled over again, making a charge at the Roserade through the lingering dust and managed to score a glancing glow with one of his claws. Another quick loop back scored a more powerful hit, but one that the Roserade took, holding the Gligar in place.
"There you go Roserade, now Giga Drain!" A green aura surrounded both the Roserade and the Gligar's bodies. Then a group of vines shot out from the flowering Pokémon's roses and snared around him, tying the flying scorpion up and dropped him to the ground. Felix struggled against the snared vines, beginning to cry out in pain as Roserade's body began to faintly sparkle.
"Gengar, get down there and help Felix. Use Shadow Punch!" The Gengar that had been floating up above the field for a moment, fell towards the ground throwing a shadowy punch that shot forward towards the Grass type.
"Knock him out of the sky Swellow, use Aerial Ace!" Rising back up from the dust, Chris' Swellow again rocketed out towards the Gengar, a thick contrail of air forming around him as he knocked the Gengar away from the Roserade and preventing his barrage of punches from multiplying. "Don't think we're done without a fight, right Swellow?"
"Swellow!" The bird cawed as it swiftly rolled back over and eyed up his foe again.
"Use Heat Wave Swellow!" With another shrill caw, Swellow began flapping its wings as the sun above them intensified again, creating a series of burning hot waves of air all around the battlefield.
"Use Sludge Bomb Gengar!" This time Gengar molded a blobby purple and black ball in its hands, throwing it into the oncoming waves of burning air as the attack hits him. The blob itself was struck by some of the waves, but held together and crashed into its target, stunning the bird as it tried to shake off the sludge dripping from its body. The rest of the burning wisps however soared across the field, beyond the Gengar and a few of them struck Felix, igniting the vines that had wrapped around him.
"Free yourself with Fury Cutter Felix!" With the extra wiggle room, Felix starts slowly slashing at the vines.
"Sorry hun, but that's not happening. Keep him restrained with Extrasensory Roserade!" Now a golden aura surrounds Felix's body, slowing his attempts at cutting free as well as snuffing out the flames that had been burning away at the vines.
"Now Brave Bird on Gligar!" Chris' Swellow threw its wings out as a blue flame surrounded its body as it raced towards the Gligar.
"Get down there and use Protect Gengar!" But with the same speed, Gengar soon appeared before his partner, holding his arms out with a blue barrier forming around his body. The Swellow slammed into the Ghost type with a ferocious hit, knocking the shadowy Pokémon into the ground completely as he took the force of the attack. But it proved effective enough as the Gligar the attack was aimed for was spared the crushing blow.
"Come on Felix, get out of those vines! Keep using Fury Cutter!" With the extra time bought by his partner, Felix began hacking away at the vines with his claws, each hit making them glow a brighter shade of red before he finally managed to free himself and glide a safe distance away from his foe.
"Really wish you hadn't freed yourself." Abigail shook her head slightly. "But, that just means I can finish you with this, Roserade use Solarbeam!"
"Use Quick Attack Felix, fly towards the sun above!" With quick thinking, Felix soared towards the brightness of the sun that was now being channeled doubly into both of the Roserade's blooms. But with the intensity of the sun above, Roserade's attack charged up much faster than Tyler had anticipated and aimed just before the sun itself.
"Fire!"
"Sucker Punch Gengar!" As Roserade began to launch its attack, another shadowy fist knocked it off course, sending the beam wildly off to the side and blasting a hole clean through one of the stained glass windows above the arena. The shattering sound of glass behind them made Tyler flinch, then doubly so as he saw the Gengar standing off to the side of the Roserade with that same sinister smile as always.
"Fucking hell, I hate that thing!" Tyler screamed in fear, but the Gengar just appeared to take it as praise, beginning to laugh himself.
"How's it feel to have a Ghost that's got your back Ty?" Jason laughed at his partner's discomfort.
"You are enjoying this way more than you should be." Tyler grumbled back.
"You're right, I am. But I still think we need to wrap this up before we destroy more of the Gym."
"Agrered, that's why we're betting it all on this attack Swellow. Use Brave Bird on Gengar!" Once again Chris' Swellow exploded into a ball of blue flames and soared up to the level of the sun, casting a burning shadow on his opponent before rocketing towards him with an aerial contrail forming in front of him as well.
"I agree Chris. So let's end it Gengar, use Thunderbolt!" Revealing his trump card, the Gengar's sneer warped further as his body cackled with electric energy and blasted a bolt of lightning at the Swellow, hitting the bird clean and frying him to a crisp. Gengar's lightning soon overtook the burning flames on its back, extinguishing the blue glow as the Swellow fell helplessly to the ground below with a thud, lying unresponsive after the dust of its crash settled.
"Swellow is unable to battle! Chris is out of usable Pokémon for the battle!" The judge announced as the crowd of onlookers gave their applause.
"Hell yeah! That's what I'm talking about Gengar!" Jason loudly roared in triumph, pumping his fist as his Gengar drifted back across the battlefield.
"Damn, sorry honey. Looks like it's down to you." Chris apologized as he retreated his Swellow to its ball. "You did good today though. Nice job."
"We haven't lost yet though Chris." Abigail smiled at her boyfriend, then at her Roserade. "Use Extrasensory on Gengar!" Roserade aimed its blooms at the Gengar and fired off a beam of golden energy towards the Ghost type.
"Dark Pulse Gengar, quick!" The Gengar quickly molded another black and purple ball of energy, barely getting it up in time to prevent the attack from hitting him. But the attacks remained inches from Gengar's body with him holding the beam practically next to his body.
"Jump in and help Felix, use Fury Cutter on Roserade!" With Tyler's command, Felix swooped down again and made a slash at the Roserade, a faint pink slash as the attack glanced across it. At the same time, the beam began to get pushed slightly back away from the Gengar, but still was held too close to him for comfort.
"Come on Roserade! I need you to give it your all here!"
"Don't give up another inch Gengar! Keep fighting back!" Abigail and Jason both yelled encouragingly to their Pokémon as Felix looped lowly along the battlefield.
"Just keep using Fury Cutter Felix, we got this!" Another more vibrant pink slash from the Gligar's claw made Roserade flinch and push its own attack back towards it. A second pass from the Gligar, this time a more menacing red slash dropped the Roserade to its knee, and the tides began to turn towards the Gengar's favor as his beam now reached farther.
"Protect Roserade!" Suddenly the Roserade's beam ceased and the full brunt of the Dark Pulse attack hit its body, but it was washed away by a defensive barrier of green energy. However when it dropped, so did Roserade, struggling to keep itself upright.
"Now Synthesis!" Abigail's Roserade cast its blooms upward, aiming them at the false sun above it as its entire body began sparkling with a soft white glow. But as it did, the sun above began to disappear, giving the last ounces of its energy to the Pokémon in the process.
"We need to finish this now Felix, use Acrobatics!"
"Shadow Ball Gengar, let's go!" With Felix beginning another low flying pursuit, Jason's Gengar charged up another black ball of darkness between its hands, throwing it at the Roserade and hitting it before quickly charging a second. As he threw the second, Felix slammed into the Roserade's side, spinning it around as the second Shadow Ball collided with it before he came back around and looped past for a second hit, knocking the Roserade off its feet. The battle worn Pokémon tried to get back to its feet, but the damage it'd taken was now too much to bear and remained on the ground in defeat.
"Roserade is unable to battle!" The judge yelled, pointing his arm at Tyler and Jason. "Therefore the winners are Jason Ivy and Tyler Lawson!"
"Hey, we did it Felix!" Tyler laughed cheerily as he jogged out, watching his Gligar lazily loop down and land on top of his hair with a smile. "Not bad for a first victory huh?"
"Gli – Gligar!" Felix gave his trademark salute, making him and Tyler laugh together as Abigail sorrowfully retreated her Roserade.
"Sorry dear, you tried your best." She put her ball back on her belt, looking at her boyfriend with the same upset expression. "Sorry to you as well honey, I let us down."
"Bah, don't worry about it. You lasted longer than me didn't you?" Chris smiled, wrapping his arm around Abigail anyway as the two walked towards Tyler. "Not bad today mate, not bad at all."
"Yeah, I guess what your partner said about you being a top might not be so wrong after all." Abigail teased, making Tyler's expression turn sour.
"Do I really have to say it again? I have a girlfriend. Her name is Wendy and we're very happy-"
"Okay okay okay, jeez, we heard you the first time." Abigail said interrupting him. "I'm sure you're a cute couple. Just not as cute as us right?"
"Right." Chris turned to Abigail and gave her a few Eskimo kisses, making her giggle in response.
"Told you he'd be fine if you gave us a fight." Jason laughed as he caught up to the group. However, Tyler turned to his partner with a furious stare. "Um… something wrong champ?"
"The only thing wrong is whatever is in your head that told you to use Gengar in this battle!" Tyler roared at his partner, venting the pent up stress from his ghastly anxiety at him. "I told you probably a dozen times already that I'm scared of Ghost types. You even knew that about me when we met in the opening ceremony for crying out loud! You couldn't have at least given me some sort of warning first before you-"
"Oh my God will you just can it!" Jason glared back at Tyler, mirroring his partner's annoyance perfectly. "I get you're iffy around Ghosts. But if you can't even handle one as your partner, how the hell are you gonna come back here in a couple months and take on Fantina huh? She'll sweep a scardycat like you under the rug in no time flat!"
"I'd have been fine if you hadn't just sprung Gengar on me outta nowhere! That's exactly the part that scares me the most!"
"That's exactly what Ghost types do! They're freaking Ghosts! They just float around and appear in places! It's nothing worse than a boring jump scare in a video game! Grow a pair and grow up already!"
"You sure you two aren't meant to be together?" Chris laughed to himself, interrupting the growing argument. "I mean you're both arguing like an old married couple."
"We're not a damn couple!" Tyler and Jason hollered in unison, silence remaining between the group of four for a moment before an awkward laugh developed and help calm the atmosphere once again.
"So, we should probably get out of your hair then. I think you two have earned some alone time." Abigail's teasing laugh made both Tyler and Jason roll their eyes together. "Good luck on the rest of the tournament you two. But don't let your guard down okay?"
"Yeah, take care you guys." Tyler and Felix both waved as Chris and Abigail turned and headed towards an exit.
"So… we won." Jason said as he and Tyler began walking back towards their own exit. "Two down one to go."
"Yeah. One more to the second round." Tyler nodded as did Felix.
"So uh… you know, considering I put you through hell so to speak with Gengar, how about I make it up to you quick, buy you lunch or something? Maybe some pizza?"
"Actually that sounds great. I haven't had a slice in forever."
"Great, my treat then. But you'll need to drive us."
"Of course I will." Tyler rolled his eyes, a smile on his lips as the two stepped off the battlefield, one step closer towards their next challenge in the tournament.
A/N: Alright guys, that makes 37 chapters of this story in the books. Now I get the feeling I know what some of you are thinking and or going to want to ask me so I'll address it straight up. No, we are not going to go through every single battle that takes place involving the introduced characters in the tournament on this day as well or the third day. In fact, next chapter I promise you will be the last chapter we have to put up with Pokemon battling for a good chunk of time. I understand that reading Pokemon battles, especially the ones that I crank out are extensively lengthy and can be a burden to read for some of you. It's sometimes equally taxing to write them myself, so I have to give a huge shoutout once again to my mate Okenuthanos for being a huge help in planning these last few battles with me so I don't completely burn myself out trying to do everything solo so cheers to you mate. But, like I said, the first round will come to a close next chapter and then we'll take a nice long break from battling... maybe even drop a Nomel Berry in there or two since it's been a while since we did one of those... those are fun to write after all :P But I think that's all I got to say, if you have any questions drop me a PM or a review. So with that, this is DrPhill26 signing out, I hope you guys have a nice day and I'll see you next time after I take a well deserved power nap.