Chapter Six: Challenge of the Eterna City Gym
The next morning Lucas left the Pokemon Center as early as he could. He still wasn't used to waking up before midday, but he was a man on a mission. When he returned to the center after his first battle with the Youngster, he used his Pokevice's Trainer Guide to look up all the rules about training, battles and most important for his purposes, fees and reward money. What the mouthy little squirt had said was right, winning in a Pokemon battle guaranteed 10% of the opponent's case. This information meant that the teen would not be forced to go back to his brother's home, and his rules, so long as he could keep winning, and keep getting money to support his journey.
He scoured the areas outside of Eterna City for trainers, challenging anyone he came across. By the middle of the day he had enough cash to not only restock his supplies, he could also get a decent cache of Pokeballs, and his first cheeseburger since leaving Cherrygrove City. Restocked, he was able to reinvest his efforts in catching more Pokemon, both filling in his Pokedex and rounding out his team. In addition to Gizmo, Franky and Hotrod, Lucas now had a Wurmple, a Budew a Chingling and a Bidoof in his Pokemon Storage system. Battling other trainers had a second benefit, however, his Pokemon were growing much faster now and after dinner, Lucas decided to try his skills against the Eterna City Gym.
Lucas was not familiar with the Gym Leaders and high level Trainers of the Sinnoh region. Before his parents had shipped him off he had never been here before. Standing in front of a large building marked 'Gym' next to a construction site, Lucas read the sign in front of it. He glanced at the list of previous winning trainers: some girl named Dawn, another boy called Lucas and of course, John's name. Then he looked at the important information he was looking for.
Eterna City Gym
Leader: Gardenia, the Master of Vivid Plant Pokemon
"I take it that means the leader here uses Grass-type," Lucas mentioned to Gizmo who nodded 'Vi vi' in agreement. The young man considered his team. Hotrod was almost level 16 now, and the Wurmple he caught earlier in the afternoon had already evolved into Silcoon and would soon evolve again. He wasn't sure how strong Gardenia would be, but he figured he wouldn't know unless he took the challenge. Taking a breath and smiling to Gizmo, Lucas walked up to the massive doors, heaved them open and marched determinedly inside.
The gym itself looked exactly like what Lucas would imagine a Grass Gym to be: lots of plants and flowers and AstroTurf carpet and very bright. The only thing that surprised him was how small the Gym was, especially how large the building appeared to be from the outside. Three girls were chatting nonchalantly near what appeared to be a small doorway when they suddenly stopped and looked at Lucas.
"Wow, that guy is really creepy looking," the one in a plaid skirt quipped.
"He looks like a troublemaker, look at those tattoos on his arm," said the one in a long dress.
"And his hair! Ugh!" sniffed the third who looked like a girl-scout.
Bitches. Lucas thought silently as he ground his teeth, "I'm here to challenge Gardenia, where is she?"
The one in the plaid skirt walked towards Lucas, "Gardenia is in the back room, the real gym. In order to get to her you have to solve the puzzle of the Gym. And you have to face all three of us,"
"Fine by me, beauty queen. I'll take you all on right now, all at the same time if you want. I don't like to be insulted. Especially by a bunch of stuck-up bitches like you who pretend I'm not even here when they do it, instead of at least telling me right in my face," Lucas snarled. He crossed his arms and glared at the trainer viciously.
The girl merely smiled, "Oh no, it's not going to be that easy. It's true that we're gorgeous, but it doesn't mean we aren't tough. So I wouldn't get so cocky just yet, Pin Cushion,"
The three girls walked through the doorway without another word and disappeared, shutting the door behind him. Lucas stood and growled angrily. The people of Eterna may have been kind to him so far, but these three girls were exactly like the kind of people he hated. He cooled himself down when a thought entered his head. These were the kinds of people he hated most all right, making it all the more fun once he would beat them. With a triumphant smile he headed towards the door and tried to open it.
It was locked.
Lucas turned the knob again and it clicked stubbornly in his hand. He tried to shove the door open with his shoulder, but it was heavier than it looked. With in impatient grumble he kicked it and heard some strange noises from the wall, like gears shifting. He kicked the door again, and he noticed that a flower pot right next to the wall was now half a foot away. Suddenly Lucas realized while the door wasn't going to open, to entire wall seemed to move. Finding a clear spot in the wall, the teen placed both hands on the surface, and preparing to strain his muscles, pushed forward as hard as he could. The wall moved easily and turned like a revolving door at a fancy hotel. Lucas kept pushing until a second doorway appeared to his right. Unlike the other doorway, this one was unblocked.
"Oh, so you figured it out. You might look like a criminal but at least you're not stupid," It was the girl in the scout uniform. She was standing above him on a white platform, looking down her nose at him. Lucas just glared at her, "But you're not going to get further than me. Go Budew!"
"Go Franky!" Lucas summoned his Magikarp, the orange fish flopping helplessly on the grass of the Gym.
"Oh, this won't take long at all," the girl giggled.
Lucas just smiled at her, "Franky return! Go Chingling!" the bell-like Pokemon hopped out of its ball with a gentle chime and the girl looked at it fearfully.
"Budew use Mega Drain!" the girl said frantically. The tiny plant chirped obediently and used its attack. Chingling sat helplessly as its energy was drained away. Though it was unable to fight the attack, Chingling's strength was still high, "Use Mega Drain again!"
"Chingling Confusion!" Lucas ordered. The girl had every right to act as frantically as she had, Budew was part poison-type, and before the grass Pokemon could use its second attack, the psychic wave hit full force and knocked it out with one hit. The battle was over.
The girl slumped to her knees and groaned.
"No smart comments to say to the 'criminal' now, huh?" Lucas said smugly. The girl just looked up at him with a glare and pressed a button on the side of the platform where she had been standing. The moving wall clicked and whirled and when Lucas glanced back the doorway he had entered, he could see a new doorway appear.
Next up was the woman in the long dress. Like the girl-scout, she was standing on a high platform, her appearance condescending and confident, "You may have gotten past Melissa but I'm a much more experienced Trainer. You're ages away from ever seeing Gardenia. You will learn to respect the grace and power of grass-types. Go Budew!"
"Grass-types I respect, it's people like you I don't. And at the end of this battle you'll learn to respect me! Go Chingling!" Lucas tossed out his Pokeball and his small psychic-type appeared again. It was not as chipper as it was in the previous battle, but it still had plenty of energy left, "Use Confusion!"
"Megadrain!" Like the previous battle, the seed Pokemon was just too slow and disadvantaged to survive. The wave of psychic energy made direct contact first, and the Budew was knocked out instantly. The woman seemed unfazed, "Go Roselia! Razor Leaf!"
Budew's evolution appeared before Lucas and his Pokemon in a flourish of petals and movement. Though beautiful, the teen knew that this larger Pokemon would be more dangerous than it's smaller, unevolved counterpart, "Chingling use Confusion again!"
Chingling did not have the speed advantage in this round. It's attack was unable to hit first as the Roselia's sharp leaves collided with it, leaving a devastating blow. For this round Lucas would not win. Lucas recalled his hardworking creature and sent out the next of his team, his Silcoon. The elegant lady looked cautiously at the bug-type, "Roselia, Poison Sting,"
One of the flowers on Roselia's arm opened slightly, and dozens of toxic barbs flew and hit the Silcoon. The immobile Pokemon twitched in pain, and began to glow. As it glowed her shape morphed and a pair of graceful wings began flapping. Lucas pumped his fist in the air, "Welcome to the world Beautifly! Now use Gust!"
The bug Pokemon rose gently towards the ceiling before flapping its wings dramatically. Like the Starly in yesterday's battle, a small tornado formed from the Pokemon's powerful moments and rushed forward toward the Rose Pokemon. Roselia was caught up in the mini-storm and dropped painfully on the ground. The woman was not about to quit, "Poison Sting again. If you poison it, it's history!"
"Not today! Beautifly, Silver Wind this time!" Lucas commanded. Beautfly drifted upwards, out of the range of the Roselia's attack before flapping its wings again. This time, rather than a small storm, a cloud of silver dust flaked off of the Pokemon's wings and engulfed the Roselia. The Roselia coughed and tried to motion the dust away, but it keeled over with a thud. The woman recalled Roselia and crossed her arms and pouted. The teen grinned triumphantly at the woman, and held out his arm for his Pokemon to land. Beautifly landed on his arm and hopped happily to the boy's shoulder. He nuzzled it with his cheek, "I've never seen a Beautifly up close before. Where we come from we only have Butterfree. But I'm happy to have you, you're really pretty and I'm really proud of you,"
The Beautifly nuzzled affectionately back with Gizmo climbing to Lucas's other shoulder to meet his new teammate. The woman stared at the scene and smiled. She pressed the button on her platform and confronted Lucas, "I'm very sorry I was so rude to you. We've had Trainers who look like you come through in the past, and they've all been terrible Trainers who were cruel to their Pokemon. It was wrong of me to assume the same. Good luck with your next battle and against Gardenia,"
Lucas was shocked by the apology. He sent back Beautifly and bowed his head towards the woman, "Thanks,"
The wall whirled again and a third passageway was revealed. Inside, the final Junior Trainer, the girl with the plaid skirt, waited for Lucas. As the mohawk-bearing teen stepped through the door, she put her hands on her hips and frowned, "Darn, this means you beat the others. Oh well, this means I get to beat you myself, Pin Cushion,"
"You see, it's this approach that prevented me from showing mercy on the other two of your friends back there. I was in a pretty good mood after the last battle," Lucas sneered, "But now you've gone and pissed me off. Now I'm not going to be Mr. Nice Guy. Have fun losing,"
"Go Cherubi!"
"Go Beautifly!"
"Cherubi use Magical Leaf," though Cherubi was a tiny Pokemon, Magical Leaf is an attack that can never miss. Though Beautifly rose high towards the ceiling, the attack hit her at full force. Beautifly replied with Silver Wind. The two exchanged blows over and over. Magical Leaf and Silver Wind. Magical Leaf and Silver Wind. Beautifly was becoming exhausted, but just when it looked like she only needed one more hit to take the grass-type out the girl commanded, "Cherubi, Synthesis!"
"You bitch! What a cheap move!" Lucas snarled. Almost instantly, the Pokemon that was about to be knocked out, healed to almost full strength. Lucas' bug-type was exhausted. With no other choice, Lucas called her back, "Guess this means I have to rely on my trump card. Go Hotrod!"
The boy's Charmander came to the battle in peak shape. Any resemblance of confidence in the Junior Trainer vanished. Even with Cherubi using Synthesis over and over again, in less than three turns, Lucas was once again victorious. The girl looked furious, but she didn't speak.
"Well, would you look at that, I beat all three of you. Guess this means I have the right to see Gardenia now, huh?" Lucas walked up to the girl, "And it's Mr. Pin Cushion to you, Maybelline,"
"Fine, you might be able to beat us, but we're still in training. It's a whole different game against Gardenia. Good luck, dude, because you're going to need it," with a forced smile, the final Trainer pressed the button on her platform and all the walls disappeared. The two other Junior Trainers became visible, and the entirety of the Gym was revealed. Straight ahead Lucas could see the Gym Leader, her back turned towards him as she worked on a small garden. The moving walls didn't disturb her as she focused on her work. She had copper red hair and a curvy body, as well as dark green cape Lucas knew he had seen before. Without thinking he began to run towards her, any animosity with the Junior Trainer now forgotten.
A twinge of shock and amazement went through Lucas' body as headed towards the Eterna City's leader. When he finally got to her, he gripped her shoulder to spin her around, hand touching the familiar green cape. Gardenia's mild surprise from the sudden handling transformed into equal shock and recognition. At the same time, the two trainers exclaimed, "It's you!"