Chapter 80: Lucas vs. Diablo

After weeks on the road, having adventure after adventure in capturing Pokemon and facing off against Team Cosmic, Lucas finally returned to the reason why he came to Hoenn in the first place: to get the region's eight badges so that he could face their Elite Four and Champion. He finally arrived in Mossdeep City, home of the League's seventh Gym. After getting some advice from Steven Stone, Lucas now stood in front of the Mossdeep's Gym Leaders in combat, and in spite of all the challenges he faced and the experience he had, things were not looking good. Run by a pair of twins, Lucas was forced into a double Pokemon Battle against their Claydol and Chimecho. The two twins, Liza and Tate couldn't be more different, the sister animated, girly and reckless while her brother acted more reserved and traditionally, and was far more stuck up. Before the match the two couldn't stop bickering and seemed as compatible as oil and water. Yet their differences they used as an asset, each sibling's style complementing each other in battle, and leaving Lucas struggling to find a way to victory.

He couldn't help but be impressed, "You two are incredible. You are both so different yet you work together so well! How do you do it?"

The twins chimed at the same time, "Because we're family!"

"Liza may make fun of me all the time and seems shallow, but she's also one of the kindest, most open people I know, and she's always pushing me to try new things, even if it's something I'm uncomfortable with,"

"And Tater-tot may act and talk like he's ready for retirement, but I can't name anyone smarter or more well read. We might argue all the time, but I know he'd protect me from anything, and I couldn't ask for a better Big Brother,"

Lucas smiled sadly, "I wish I could get along with my brother like that. We're also really different, but even if we're family we just can't seem to find any common ground. All he's ever been interested in is himself, and I don't want to be anything like him,"

The twins nodded sympathetically, but soon everyone's attention was back on the battle. Tate's Chimecho had just healed itself while Liza's Claydol once again unleashed a brutal Earthquake attack. Both Lucas' Wailord and Diablo survived the hit, they were hanging by a thread, and the teen Trainer only had two more Pokemon in perfect health. In a regular Gym match that was more than enough to fall back on, but in a double battle that was as good as only having one Pokemon left.

Lucas knew he had to streamline and coordinate his two Pokemon together if he had any chance of winning his seventh badge, "Blobby Bob, use Hydropump again, but this time on the Claydol! And Diablo, use Crunch on the Chimecho!"

"Claydol, Protect!"

"Chimecho! Psywave!"

Lucas thought he was on the right track, targeting both of his opponents' Pokemon at once instead of trying to focus on one at a time like he had been. One thing he didn't count on, however, was his Pokemon's personalities sabotaging him.

Blobby Bob's attack bounced harmlessly off of the Claydol's psychic shield, but when the Wailord shifted its colossal girth to aim at the smaller ground type, it bumped into its partner. Diablo snarled, furious at being touched by his partner and having his attack fail again. Lucas prepared to get his Pokemon to attack again, knowing he had to do some serious damage before his Wailord would get hit once more and most likely get knocked out. But before he could, Diablo snapped. The dark type lashed out at the massive water type, biting and scratching his partner Pokemon. Blobby Bob yelped in surprise and recoiled, the large Pokemon slamming itself into a wall in pain and surprise. The Gym shook and plaster fell from the ceiling, and when the dust cleared, the water type was unconscious. All but Lucas' jaws dropped. Never never had they seen partner Pokemon attack each other in battle.

"Blobby Bob, return!" Lucas tried to figure out what to do. Diablo wasn't confused, the Psywave attack harmless to a dark type such as itself, and he didn't disobey per se, since Lucas had not called out a command when the Mightyena lashed out. The Pokemon simply acted on his own and attacked Lucas' own Wailord. Diablo had shown in the past his intense dislike of anyone that cared for Lucas, acting out of possessiveness and jealousy. The Trainer had worried something like this would happen, but had hoped that in a Gym battle of this importance, the Pokemon's loyalty would win over its jealousy. He could recall the Mightyena and send out his last two Pokemon, but the dark type still had the best advantage against two psychic types. He only hoped this behavior was a fluke, and may have presented the best opportunity to finalize his strategy without wasting a turn. Gizmo tensed on his Trainer's shoulder, ready to be sent into battle, but Lucas held off on using his most faithful Pokemon. Instead he reached into his belt, "Go Beautifly!"

The Beautifly would be as safe from the dangerous Earthquake attacks and barely harmed by the team's psychic moves, while Diablo would be immune, limiting what Liza and Tate could do to him.

"Beautifly, Silver Wind! Use Crunch Diablo!" Lucas responded.

"Protect, Claydol!"

"Chimecho, Heal Bell!"

Once more the twins' response foiled his Pokemon's attacks and healed damages from previous turns. Lucas gritted his teeth but kept calm. If he could just keep it together, the tide would soon turn.

As annoying as Protect was, its defenses were limited. It was one of the few Pokemon moves that could only be used a few times in battle, and the more often it was used, the more likely it was to fail. He knew what moves Liza and Tate could and couldn't use. But before things could start going his way, Diablo needed to cooperate for it to work out.

"Try again! Beautifly, Silver Wind, Diablo Crunch!"

"Claydol, Protect!"

"Chimecho, Safeguard!"

Finally what Lucas was hoping for worked out. This time the ground Pokemon's psychic shield failed, and his Pokemon hit their marks. The Chimecho would prevent status effects again, but at this point Lucas knew he only had one attack he had to seriously worry about. The attacks did serious, super effective damage, and if he could get it to work again, the Gym Match would be his. But Diablo was still refusing to work in tandem with a partner.

In the next round the Claydol used the attack Lucas was concerned about, its Double-edge move. While the Chimecho healed the damage from the last turn, the ground type aimed for the Mightyena. Diablo didn't just dodge out of its opponent's way, instead, he did something much worse. As the idol-looking Pokemon careened towards him, Diablo somersaulted out of the way, snatching the Beautifly out of the sky and throwing it in front of the other Pokemon, using his partner as a shield who got hit with the damage instead of himself.

"Diablo, what the hell are you doing?!" Lucas shrieked in spite of himself. Diablo was injured in a previous round, but his Beautifly was previously unharmed. Now both of his Pokemon had damage. In the next turn it would come down to whose moves hit first. If Lucas was lucky, he would win the battle. If he wasn't, he'd have another two Pokemon knocked out. The Trainer couldn't understand what was running through his Pokemon's mind. Gizmo, on the other hand, did.

The tiny Eevee leapt off of Lucas' shoulder and stood in front of him, barking a series of sharp, irritated 'vii' sounds at the Mightyena. None of the humans in the Gym could understand what the Pokemon were communicating to one and other, but their meaning was clear.

"Diablo! You stupid, selfish fool! You're going to cost Lucas the match!" Gizmo growled.

"No I'm not. I can handle these two on my own," the Mightyena huffed back.

Gizmo spun around in a frustrated circle, pacing back and forth because he couldn't actually join the match without Lucas' command, "No you can't! If Lucas believed you could he'd have sent you out on your own. You claim you love Lucas, that you love him more than anyone else does. If that's true, why aren't you listening to him?!"

"I've obeyed every command he's given me!"

"Maybe the letter, but not the spirit. First you attacked Blobby Bob and now this. He has Beautifly with you because her attacks can help beat psychic Pokemon just like your moves can. If you don't work together with her, Lucas can't win!"

"Yes he can!"

Gizmo had as much as he could take, and gave the dark type a hard dose of truth, "You claim you love Lucas so much but that isn't remotely true. If you did, you'd actually trust him. You'd trust that having him put you two together is the right thing to do. But you don't. You think you know better about everything, including what Lucas needs. Love means putting your faith in the other person. Anything else is just control!"

The Mightyena simply shorted and turned away from the Eevee, back to the Gym Match before him. The normal type sighed in defeat and slinked back to Lucas. During the argument the humans in the Gym had looked at the Pokemon in silent amazement, but now that the spat was over, Liza couldn't help but comment about what she had just seen, "Wow, is it actually true that you're a Champion? I mean, how could a person get this far in any League with a Pokemon that doesn't obey them?"

"Liza!" Tate hissed at his sister's rudeness.

But Lucas simply slumped his shoulders in embarrassment, "No, she's right. The way he's been acting in this match, right now I look like a rank amateur,"

Mightyena's ears pricked up in shock and it finally hit the Pokemon what he had been doing. The tiny Eevee was right, he had been selfish. His stubborn determination to prove his superior feelings for his Trainer was causing Lucas to become humiliated. Seeing Lucas lace his fingers behind his head and pace at his side of the battlefield in worry and frustration ripped right through Diablo's heart. He was the one that was making Lucas feel that bad, and if they lost the match he would be responsible for dishonoring his Trainer. He would not let Lucas down anymore, or give that lapdog Gizmo any more ammunition against him.

The dark type gently booped the flying Pokemon as an apology, and flattened his ears in submission to his Trainer. Lucas looked at his Pokemon in confusion, but as Diablo hung his head sheepishly, the teen thought he understood that finally the battle would turn around, and victory would still be possible.

His focus back on the battle, he called out a final attack against his twin opponents, knowing they would use one of two sets of moves against him. He was not psychic but as damaged as all four Pokemon in battle were there were only two practical options. The first was once more the Claydol would protect its team while the Chimecho would use Heal Bell on his partner, so that in one more round after the larger stone-like ground type would clobber Lucas' Pokemon. The second, the Gym Leaders would simply finish off both Pokemon at once, leaving Gizmo to face two powerful combatants at once, and most likely lose the match. Regardless of what they did, he only had one choice, "Beautifly, Silver Wind! Diablo, Crunch!"

"Psywave Chimecho!"

"Earthquake, Claydol!"

Lucas held his breath as he hoped the tide of battle finally turned his way. The Gym rumbled threateningly as the Claydol shook the ground once more. The tinier wind chime-like Pokemon aimed waves of psychic energy at the severely damaged bug-type, type disadvantage no longer an issue. Diablo once more leapt at his partner Pokemon, Lucas' heart in his throat as he feared once more Diablo's possessiveness outweighing his loyalty.

But this time, Diablo had learned his lesson. Instead of harming his partner, the two teammates worked together, the wolf-like dark type using the Beautifly as a launching board to avoid the tremors rocking the Gym, and instead lunged at the Chimecho that was aiming at the flying Pokemon. With a terrified squeal from the smaller psychic type, Diablo snatched his opponent in his jaws and bit down, the dark move instantly knocking out the Chimecho and keeping the Beautifly safe. Using the momentum of Diablo's leap, the bug type rushed the much larger, and much slower Claydol, her wings filling with air and the fine, dust-like scales on her wings becoming a gale that knocked the other Pokemon back, skidding across the Gym floor and becoming jostled by its own tremors.

As the earthquake ceased and the dust cleared, the Gym Leaders' Pokemon remained motionless on the ground, a stunned silence filling the entire room.

Peppy Liza was the first to respond, "Holy cow! What a turnaround!"

Tate scooped up his fallen Chimecho and gave a stiff bow towards Lucas, "The stories of your battle prowess are well deserved. This battle was an honor to participate in,"

Lucas could barely register that he won, this being one of the closest Gym matches he had been in since his earliest days as a rookie Trainer, "Holy hell, that was close,"

Skyler gave his boyfriend a smile and a bat on the back as his Beautifly landed cheerfully on his shoulder, chittering and flapping her wings as Gizmo barked happy compliments in reply. Diablo remained in the middle of the Gym floor, his ears once more drooped submissively and reluctant to approach the beloved Trainer he nearly sabotaged. Lucas smiled at his Pokemon, and patted his thigh to summon him. Diablo's ears pricked up and he trotted over, rubbing his face against the teen's hand as a further apology for his behavior.

Liza and Tate recalled their unconscious Pokemon and again addressed their opponent, "Even though we only use two Pokemon, we're considered one of the hardest Gyms in the Region," said Tate.

"Double battles are tough enough, but when it's two people against one challenger, it's that much harder," Liza added.

"So it's not unusual to see even a seasoned Trainer stumble in that kind of disadvantage,"

"So while you sucked at first, you still managed to beat us both in the end, so it's our great pleasure..."

"To present you with the Mind Badge," both twins finished together.

Lucas accepted the badge, cash prize and customary TM graciously and wished the twins good luck in the future. As he and Skyler left he could hear the brother and sister go back to what they were doing, Tate reading and Liza calling her friend on her cellphone, gently teasing each other as they did.

Seeing the two siblings together made Lucas think about his own older brother. Though they were adversaries for all long as the teen could remember, their last fight the final push Lucas needed to start his Journey in the first place, he knew that deep down, they still loved each other. He wished that maybe one day, even if they never really had that much in common, that they could at least get along like Liza and Tate did. As he and Skyler sat in the Pokemon Center, resting for the day and getting ready for the next leg of their journey, Lucas pulled out his Pokevice and on a whim, dialed John.

"Hey Little Lulu, been a while since I heard from you," Lucas gritted his teeth upon hearing John's insulting nickname for him, "How's your Journey going? Ready to give up yet?"

"Hell no. In fact I just got my seventh Hoenn badge," Lucas barked back.

"Hoenn's a wimp League anyway. Like ninety percent of the Pokemon there are water types. I could beat that Region with a short circuiting toaster. Why I never went there. So if you aren't quitting, what is it you want?"

Lucas tried his best to keep his temper, but his older brother wasn't making it easy, "I just wanted to see how you were doing. Not like I heard from you recently either,"

"I'm not the one with the open warrants. I don't need to check in,"

"Jesus Christ John! I just wanted to know how you are! Sue me for giving a shit about my only brother. Unlike some assholes I know,"

"Oh. Well. I'm fine, the Battle Facility in Eterna is almost done. Been seeing a nice girl. Saw mom and dad a few weeks back. Other than that nothing new. I'm about to go out now so I'm going to cut this conversation short. Call me again when you're ready to come crying back,"

"Choke on a sex toy and die, John," Lucas snarled as he hung up the Pokevice and shoved it in Skyler's hand to avoid chucking it against a wall. It wasn't going to be any time soon that they'd get along like Liza and Tate. Clearly, he was going to have to knock John down a few pegs first.