Hello everyone! 087-B here with another new chapter! I think it's time Dipper, Mabel, and Soos take on the gym of Eterna City, don't you?

Oh, I did some research after I posted the previous chapter, and it turns out that Burmy can't use Bullet Seed, and it wasn't a Grass/Bug-Type like I previously thought… then I again, I DID make Dipper's Magikarp know Water Gun, so… to hell with it.

Now, on with the show!

-Chapter 16: The Fabulous Fantastic Fun Forest Fighting Frenzy!-

Dipper and Soos exited the police station and made their way towards the Eterna City gym, ready to take on the challenge for their second gym badges. However, what they did not know was that Mabel was already one step ahead of them, entering the gym to take on her challenge.

As soon as she entered, Mabel found herself in a large, forest looking room with trees acting as walls. It was a maze. She navigated most of it and managed to get to a corner of the large maze-like room. It was honestly confusing to get around.

"Where the flip-flap am I going…?" Mabel called out Mothim. "Mothim, fly above the trees and try to find the Gym Leader!" Mothim gave a smile and flew above the trees into the canopy of the maze. It flew out of sight, and after a minute or so, returned back to Mabel.

"Find the leader?" Mothim nodded and beckoned for Mabel to follow him. Mothim flew down a few paths with Mabel following suite, and at a fairly quick pace no less. At the back of the room was a large arena in the dirt. In the center was a woman with orange hair and a green suit. Mabel recalled Mothim into its Pokeball.

"Ah, a challenger!" The woman said. "Welcome to the Eterna City gym! I'm Gardenia!"

"Hello miss Gardenia!" Mabel said with a smile. "I'm Mabel, Mabel Pines! And I challenge you to a battle!" Gardenia smiled.

"Well, I'll be happy to battle!" She said. "You arrived just in time, too! I have another challenger coming!"

"Who?" Mabel asked. She heard heavy breathing behind her. She turned around to see Pacifica.

"No… way…!" Pacifica panted. She took a breath. "You can't be here already, Mabel!" Mabel smirked.

"It looks like I beat you again, Pacifica!" She said. Pacifica growled. "Why don't you sit on the sidelines and await the master to complete this battle?" She pointed to herself with her thumb upon saying "the master".

Pacifica muttered something under her breath, then stormed off towards the sideline bleachers, which were made of logs. She took out a small towel and set it over a part of the logs and sat on it. She shivered, obviously disgusted by all of the dirty nature.

"Alright, you ready?" Mabel asked Gardenia.

"I'm ready when you are!" Gardenia took out a Pokeball. Mabel took out a Pokeball and tossed it.

"Go! Bibarel!" The Pokeball Mabel tossed opened, revealing her Bibarel. Bibarel got into a fighting stance.

"Oh? A dual Normal-Water Type? Interesting choice." Gardenia said. "Now for my Pokemon! Go Turtwig!" She tossed her Pokeball, and a Turtwig popped out.

"Bibarel, use a Headbutt attack!" Mabel commanded. Bibarel dashed forward toward Turtwig, it's head outstretched and ready to land a blow.

"Dodge it and use Razor Leaf!" Gardenia commanded. Turtwig jumped out of the way and shot multiple leaves toward Bibarel. Bibarel darted out of the way at a rapid pace.

:::::

Dipper and Soos raced towards the Eterna City gym, both of them filled with determination for their battles against the gym leader. As they turned a corner, Soos asked Dipper a question.

"Hey, Dipper, what type of Pokemon does this leader use?" He asked. Dipper slowed to a halt and pulled out a book on the Sinnoh Region. He flipped to the Eterna City section and looked underneath the header 'Gym Challenge'.

"Says here that the Gym Leader of Eterna City is named Gardenia, and she uses Grass-Type Pokemon." Dipper explained. "Fire, Flying, Poison, Ice or Bug Type Pokemon would work greatly in a battle against her."

"Does Piplup knowing Peck count as an advantage?" Soos asked.

"It most likely is." Dipper answered. "Peck is a Flying-Type move, so it's super effective against Grass-Types."

"Which Pokemon does she use?" Soos asked Dipper yet another question.

"Lemme see…" Dipper skimmed through the page. "Ah, here we go. She uses a Turtwig, a Cherrim, and a Roserade."

"Three Pokemon, just like Roark." Soos pointed out.

"Yeah, you're right." Dipper said. "The Turtwig has a wide-ranged moveset, and the Cherrim and Roserade are both fully evolved Pokemon, so they're strong enough already."

"And Roserade is a Grass-Type and a Poison-Type." Soos said, looking over Dipper's shoulder to read the book.

"Talk about a dangerous dual-type." Dipper said. "Well, we can manage. Let's hurry up." Soos nodded, and the two ran toward the gym once more.

:::::

"Return, Turtwig!" Gardenia recalled her Turtwig after it was knocked out by Bibarel's Headbutt.

"Aw yeah! Nice one, Bibarel!" Mabel cheered. Bibarel smiled and ran over, and the two shared a high five. Gardenia put her Pokeball away and took out a new Pokeball.

"I've still got two more Pokemon." Gardenia said. "Go, Cherrim!" Gardenia tossed the Pokeball, and out popped what appeared to be an upside-down purple tulip sprout with a small green stem on top and two little maroon colored legs poking out from the bottom.

"A Cherrim?" Mabel pulled out her Pokedex to identify the new Pokemon before her.

Cherrim, the Blossom Pokemon

Grass Type

Ability: Flower Gift

If it senses strong sunlight, it opens its folded petals to absorb the sun's rays with its whole body.

"So Cherrim is a pure Grass-Type? Should be easy!" Mabel put her Pokedex away in the side pocket of her backpack. "Ready, Bibarel?" Bibarel nodded to Mabel confidently.

"Don't think you've won just yet!" Gardenia said. "Cherrim! Magical Leaf!" Cherrim jumped up and shot multiple multi-colored leaves toward Bibarel. Bibarel tried to run, but the leaves homed in on it. The force of the attack sent Bibarel flying into a nearby tree, creating a large cloud of dust. When it cleared, Bibarel had already slid to the ground and had swirls in its eyes, indicating it was knocked out.

"Darn it! Good job, Bibarel!" Mabel recalled Bibarel. She kissed the Pokeball, smiled, and put it away. "I forgot that Bibarel was weak to Grass-Types!"

"It was still very strong, you did a good job of raising it!" Gardenia said with a smile.

"Now for my next Pokemon!" Mabel pulled out another Pokeball. "Go get'em, Mothim!" She tossed the Pokeball and out popped Mothim, excited for some action. "Now I have the advantage!"

"Remember, the advantage isn't everything!" Gardenia said. "Cherrim, use Grass Knot and hold that Mothim in place!" Cherrim created little knots in the grass that shot up and grabbed Mothim, pinning it down on the ground.

"Come on, Mothim!" Mabel called out. "Use Gust to free yourself!" It was no use, the knots were too strong and tight. Mothim couldn't break free in time to avoid Cherrim's next attack.

"Cherrim, use Leech Seed!" Gardenia commanded. Cherrim shot out tiny little seeds that landed on Mothim. They sprouted into vines and sprouts and entangled Mothim. They pricked Mothim a bit, before sending multiple orbs of energy into Cherrim.

"Leech Seed is a move where the user can drain the opposing Pokemon's hit points perpetually over time and replenish their own using that drained energy!" Gardenia said. "Now what are you gonna do?" Mabel was silent for a moment, trying to think. What was she gonna do?

:::::

Dipper and Soos arrived in front of the Eterna City Pokemon Gym. The exterior was that of a normal Pokemon Gym but it had a green roof and was surrounded by flowers and covered in vines.

"Well, here we are!" Dipper said proudly. "Time to earn another badge!"

"It's been a while since our last gym battle." Soos said. "Like, 3 days, right?"

"Yeah, you're right. It kind of has been a while." Dipper agreed. "Hopefully, after earning this badge, it won't take too long for us to earn our third badges."

"Before we go in, where do we go to get the third badge anyway?" Soos asked. Dipper pulled out his book again and opened it.

"Apparently, there are two places you can challenge for your third badge." Dipper said. "You can challenge the Veilstone City Gym, or the Hearthome City Gym."

"Which city's closer?" Soos asked. Dipper looked over the map at the bottom of the page.

"Hearthome City is on the way to Veilstone City, so that's the most logical stop." Dipper said. "I say we fight for the third badge there."

"Sounds like a plan, dude." Soos said. "Now come on, let's go get that badge!"

They smiled and nodded at each other, then pushed open the doors to the gym. They easily made their way through the maze thanks to Dipper's Starly guiding the way above the tree line. Once they arrived at the back of the gym, the two were surprised to see Mabel awake and energetic, fighting with her new team member, Mothim.

"Sweet, Mabel has a new Pokemon!" Soos said. The two walked over to the sidelines and sat down to watch the battle.

"Mothim, break free with Gust!" Mabel commanded. Mothim flapped its wings around and managed to blow off the effects of Leech Seed and Grass Knot. "Now finish off that Cherrim with a Bug Bite!" Mothim latched itself onto Cherrim and bit hard into it in rapid succession, causing massive damage to Cherrim. When Mothim detached itself, Cherrim was knocked out.

"Nice job, Cherrim!" Gardenia recalled Cherrim into its Pokeball and put it away. She took out her third and final Pokeball. "Now this is your final challenge! Go, Roserade!" She tossed the Pokeball and out popped a humanoid looking stem with a white rose on top to serve as a hairdo, and its hands were red and blue bouquets.

"Mabel might fail here." Nobody noticed Gideon and Deuce arrive at the scene.

"What do you mean?" Dipper asked.

"I already tried battling Gardenia, but I couldn't get past that darn Roserade." Gideon said. "It's got a nasty Toxic attack and its Magical Leaf isn't pretty either. Boy, that Gardenia is one tough nut to crack, that's for sure."

"Since it's part Poison-Type, it should be weak to Psychic-Type moves, right?" Deuce asked. "I mean, does Mothim know any psychic attacks?"

"Hmm…" Gideon checked his Pokedex. "Says here Mothim can learn Confusion, and with that Bug Bite and Gust… Mabel has this all plotted out like a mine field." He watched the battle progress. "She put a basic yet complicated move set on her Mothim just so she could work around that Roserade. How clever."

They watched the battle continue, with Mabel landing multiple Confusion attacks and Bug Bite attacks, and it all came down to each of the Pokemon having a sliver of hit points left.

"The next move determines this battle!" Gardenia said. "Roserade, Magical Leaf!" Roserade shot multiple leaves towards Mothim.

"Mothim, counter with Gust!" Mabel commanded. Mothim summoned multiple little tornadoes and sent them toward Roserade. Both moves made contact, creating a large cloud of dust. When it cleared…

…both Pokemon were knocked out.

"A draw?!" Everyone in the gym cried in unison.

:::::

Mabel recalled her Mothim and Gardenia recalled her Roserade. They met outside the gym along with Dipper, Soos, Pacifica, Gideon, and Deuce.

"So I guess I have to battle you again since it was a draw?" Mabel asked.

"Maybe it was a draw, but…" Gardenia held out a tray. Mabel looked on it and gasped. It was the Forest Badge. "You've proved your strength and technically you did knock out all of my Pokemon. You've earned it."

Mabel took it and smiled. She jumped up in to the air.

"I got the Forest Badge!" She said, then she placed the badge in her badge case.

"You're a strong trainer, stay that way." Gardenia said. Mabel nodded. "And later on, I have a battle with at least 5 other trainers. I can't wait!" And with that, the 6 kids waved goodbye and returned to the Pokemon Center.

-(End Of Chapter)-

This chapter ended on page 100! Woo-hoo! 100 page milestone! So now Mabel is ahead of everyone, even Gideon! What will happen next? Well, next chapter, Dipper will battle for his badge, but Mabel and Soos will be taking care of something different… *cough*Galactic Building*cough*. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, reviews are highly appreciated, and as always…

Stay Tuned!

~087-B