Previously, Seth and Aaron were able to teach Alex a lesson in Pokémon battling. Let's hope he took their lesson to heart, or else we may be seeing more of him. Meanwhile, Zeke and his group are approaching the flying gym. But that leaves a question, where is Jax?
Jax's Group "Let's see," said Jax. "Both the normal gym and the dark gym are almost equal
distance from us. But we might as well take out the dark gym. I have a feeling that Seth's going to be at the normal gym."
"Didn't we originally plan on going to the normal gym?" asked Mack. "Cause I remember you saying that you wanted to take advantage of super effective damage when things started to get harder."
"That was before we were getting constantly attacked by a flock of Murkrows. Either way, we should all keep a lookout for any new Pokémon. I should probably increase my team a bit."
Camilla looked at him. "You should have said that earlier. I remember seeing an Eelektrik snaking around."
"Good thing he didn't," said Mack. "Eelektrik is an evolved Pokémon. It evolves pretty late too, so Jax's Pokémon would've gotten wiped."
"Either way," said Jax. "We should still look for Pokémon. The pokédex can tell me what Pokémon live around here. If I remember correctly-"
"Why don't you just check?" asked Mack. Jax gave him a look and pulled out his pokédex. "Yep," he said after a pause.
"Shellos live around here, in small pools of water. I'm planning on catching one. Let's go!"
"I thought you said keep a look out for any Pokémon," said Camilla as he ran off.
"There's one!" shouted Jax as he spotted a group of East Sea Shellos. They had been lazing around in a small pond that led to a narrow river. They looked at him in surprise and started swimming away.
"More like there's five," said Mack. "I'll just have to catch one. Go, Virgil!" Jax's Eevee appeared and dove into the water after the Shellos without a second
thought. While four of the Shellos swam for the stream, one of them turned around to face the new threat.
"Virgil, get back on land! You can't fight in the water!" shouted Jax. Virgil however, ignored him and instead started swimming towards the Shellos as
fast as he could. Intent on using Take Down. The Shellos looked at the floundering Eevee and swam around him. Using Water Gun as Virgil uselessly tried turning around.
"You do know Shellos can travel on land! Try using that to your advantage!"
It took two more hits from Water Gun to convince Virgil to get back on land. Virgil swam for shore and turned around, slowly backing away as he tried baiting the Shellos onto land.
The Shellos wasn't falling for it though. It simply stayed floating on the water, shooting Water Gun anytime Virgil got too close.
"This isn't working," said Jax. "You don't say," said Mack. "The Shellos isn't stupid. It knows Virgil can only fight
close up. He has no ranged attacks." "But I know who does!" said Jax. Camilla raised an eyebrow. "You're not going to?" "As long as he can avoid the attacks and deal enough damage, I can throw a
pokéball. Return, Virgil!" Virgil gave a pained look as Jax returned him. Jax took out Valdez's ball and
threw it. "All right Shellos. We can play your game, Ember!" Valdez threw a ball of fire and immediately leapt to the side. The Shellos wasn't
able to use Water Gun fast enough and hit him. "That's right Valdez! Hit and run, leave it guessing!" Valdez ran in a circle, using Ember on the Shellos as it tried hitting him with
Water Gun. Suddenly, the Shellos used Water Pulse right as Valdez was about to use Ember.
Valdez wasn't able to dodge the wide attack and was blown backwards. "Valdez! Are you okay?" Valdez gave a weak nod and shook himself off. Water pulse was a strong move,
but it was only one hit. "All right, we need to finish this! Mach Punch!" Valdez was off like a shot. Before the Shellos could use another move, he
slammed the Shellos with a fast punch and rebounded off into the water. Jax quickly threw a pokéball before the Shellos could take advantage of its superior positioning.
The pokéball vibrated a few times, creating little waves in the water before it flashed. Indicated the Pokémon as caught.
"It's a good thing that pokéballs float," said Jax. "Valdez, can you help me bring my pokéball back?"
Valdez nodded, grabbing the pokéball with his tail before swimming to shore. Aaron's and Seth's groups
"I still can't believe we got to challenge the gym together," said Seth. "Start believing then," said Aaron, slightly irritated. Seth and Aaron were walking through a plain looking room. The room was beige
colored and didn't have anything special about it. They'd been allowed to challenge the gym together in a series of double battles.
"I wonder what's going to happen. Are we going to have to only use a certain amount of Pokémon, or will the gym leader magically have six Pokémon."
Aaron looked at Theo and Connor, giving them a 'does he talk this much' look. They both shrugged and looked at him.
They continued through the plain room, and opened the door to another plain room.
"I get this is a normal gym," said Clara, "but couldn't they spice it up a bit?" "Would I help?" asked a trainer in front of them. Clara rolled her eyes. "Yes whatever, initiate Pokémon battle. You know, this stuff
gets old. Aaron, Seth, go fight him or something." "Does she always have this much of an attitude?" ask Connor. Thomas nodded. "Anyways," said Seth. "Let's battle, no dilly-dallying! I choose you, Arianna!" "Out, Chespin!" The trainer raised an eyebrow at the two Pokémon. "Alright, go. Yungoos and
Zangoose!" "This makes me wonder," said Seth. "Are these two Pokémon related somehow?
That doesn't matter though. Arianna, use Bubble Beam!" "Chespin, Leech Seed!" Arianna blew a stream of bubbles at the two Pokémon, they dodged the attack,
but didn't see the seeds among the bubbles. The Yungoos got stuck as the seeds grew around it, ensnaring it.
"Zangoose, slash the vines with Slash! Yungoos, ready a Thunder Fang!" Zangoose leapt at the Yungoos and slashed away his vines. Yungoos leapt at
Arianna, his fangs crackling with electricity. "Icy Wind!" "Vine Whip!" The Yungoos was slowed down by the frozen wind as Chespin leapt in the air,
sending two vines whipping at the Yungoos. He didn't get too far when the Zangoose leapt into the air, slashing at him with Fury Cutter.
"Yungoos, use Fire Fang!" Yungoos leapt at Chespin, his jaws blazing as Chespin leapt backwards,
avoiding the attack. The Yungoos didn't get a step forward before Arianna blasted it with Bubble Beam.
"Our Pokémon need to work together," said Aaron. "Chespin, get back and use Pin Missile! Keep them together!"
"Arianna, Disarming Voice!" The two Pokémon weren't able to avoid both attacks. Chespin's sharp needles
barraged the Yungoos as it and the Zangoose were thrown backwards by Disarming Voice.
The two Pokémon crashed on top of each other. Chespin quickly sent a stream of seeds on top of both Pokémon, trapping them on the ground while draining their energy.
"Now's our chance," said Seth. "Use Bubble Beam!" "Chespin, use Vine Whip!" Both attacks hit the helpless Pokémon and caused them to faint. The trainer
returned his Pokémon and nodded at them. "Wow, your Pokémon are very good at working together, considering they belong
to two separate trainers." Aaron shrugged. "They've had experience." "Very serious experience," added Seth.
Zeke's Group Zeke walked into the flying gym, and was greeted by the statue from before.
They were in a room with safety harnesses, gloves, goggles, and helmets. "Greetings trainer! This gym challenge is very fun and exciting, but there is a
disclaimer. If you have a fear of heights, or any medical condition, then you shall be exempted from participating and instead take a much simpler route."
"I don't like how you mentioned that," said Cyrus, looking a bit pale. "Anyways, this gym challenge involves you ziplining! In the next room, you'll see
many zipline poles lined up across the room. They'll lead all over the place, making many paths to the gym door. Your safety harnesses have a simple clip on function, allowing you to easily clip onto a new zipline. Any questions?"
"I have one," said Zeke. "Is it possible to get stuck if you choose the wrong zipline?"
"No, but you'll have to battle more trainers. And that can be time consuming, but helpful at the same time."
"Alright then," said Zeke before turning to his team. "Have either of you ziplined before?"
Carolina and Cyrus both nodded. But Cyrus was extremely pale and was sweating a lot.
"Can I actually opt out?" asked Cyrus. "I kind of had a bad experience with ziplines."
Zeke shrugged. "Sure. No one's forcing you to go." Cyrus gave a sigh of relief and seemed to relax. The statue directed him to
another door while Carolina and Zeke rushed to put on their equipment. Once they'd finished, they both stepped out into the next room. They were met
with a web of ziplines and platforms. Zeke looked in amazement as he tried to follow their paths. He looked at the edges of the platforms and saw water there, possibly to make sure you used the ziplines.
"They've fit a lot of ziplines in here. As much as I want to battle the trainers, I think I should head straight to the gym. Come on, I think this one is the first one we need to go," he said, indicating a zipline off to the left.
Carolina nodded and they went together. Zeke clipped his harness to the line and prepared to shove off.
"You know, a few years ago, someone proposed having ziplines as a way to travel in Fortree City. Anyways, you shouldn't stand around here. Because I'm going to zip off without you!"
With that final statement, he pushed off and went flying. He rode down the line for about ten seconds before slowing down and coming to a stop. He unclipped himself and stepped back. Soon, Carolina came zipping in behind him.
"Too bad Cyrus will miss all the fun," said Carolina. "It probably wouldn't be fun for him though. Didn't you see how pale he was?" She shrugged. "I'm guessing we'll have to take the horizontal zipline. But would a
perfectly straight zipline even work?" Zeke clipped his belt onto the line. "If it's less than a hundred meters sure, and if
you get a running start. As to demonstrate." He took a few steps back and ran forward before leaping. He was sent shooting
forward to the other side, and made it there safely. Carolina shrugged and repeated what he did, also making it across safely. A trainer was on the other side of the zipline, waiting there with a pokéball in his
hand. When Carolina landed, Zeke had been looking at the zipline. "Strange, there seems to be a pulley system." "That's in case you get stuck," said the trainer. "Also, what gives. You were
supposed to battle me after I said something epic, not stare at a zipline." Zeke stared at him. "You haven't said anything 'epic'." "I clearly did, you just weren't paying attention. Anyways, I see you've mastered
the ziplines, have you mastered battling?" Carolina rolled her eyes. "This is so choreographed." Zeke held up a hand. "Actually my friend, I've mastered both. Go, Barry!" "Out, Ender!" Zeke's Wingull burst out of its pokéball as the trainer's Fletchinder took to the
skies. "So, you brought a flying type Pokémon to a flying gym." "Actually, all my current team members are flying types. Barry, Water Gun!" "Dodge it, Agility!" Its chest flared as it put on a burst of speed, sweeping past Barry and disrupting
his flight.
"Strange," said Zeke. Pulling out his pokédex. "Barry, match its speed. Quick Attack!"
"Ha, you really think you can match the speed of Ender? Peck!" Zeke looked at his pokédex. "Hmm, I think I have a plan. Barry, fly under it with
Quick Attack!" Barry avoided the peck and tried flying under. The Fletchinder flew away with
Agility and used Ember. Zeke had been watching its movements carefully. "Water Gun!" Right as the burst of water left Barry's beak, Zeke issued another command. "Fly upwards to the right and use Water Gun!" Their balance and agility training had worked out well. BArry quickly executed the
command perfectly, right as Ender had dodged to where Zeke predicted. Barry breathed a stream of water onto its chest.
The effect was immediate. Ender shrieked and flapped its wings as it tried to pull away, its movements slower.
"Think we can match Ender's speed now? Use Quick Attack!" "Agility!" Ender wasn't able to put on Agility fast enough as Barry slammed in it. He then
used Water Gun and sent it flying into the water, where it fainted. "How?" asked the trainer. Zeke pulled out his pokédex. "I noticed your Pokémon's chest flared as it moved
faster. My pokédex confirmed my suspicions. The more heat in the flame sac in its chest, the faster it moves. Fortunately, Barry's Water Gun lets him shoot a stream of conveniently cold water. A pretty cool way don't ya think."
The trainer shrugged. "I guess so, but who says I'm done? Go, Sugar!" Out of his pokéball came a Emolga. Zeke switched out his Wingull and sent in
Abba. "Alright then, electric flying versus electric flying. Let's do this," said Zeke.
Aaron's and Seth's groups Having easily and quickly made their way through the gym, they had just finished
defeating the last trainer after Chespin and Champ knocked out the opposing Eevee with a combo Pin Missile and Horn Attack.
They were finally in the gym leader's area. They walked together into the room, watching as the crowd cheered for the two contestants. The gym leader approached them from the other side.
He wore a black jacket and jeans. He had bluish hair that was starting to gray. He met Aaron and Seth in the middle of the field and shook their hands.
"I'm Norman. The normal type gym leader in Hoenn. Good luck, I hope you two can work together. Because you'll need to know how to if you two wish to beat me."
Aaron and Seth looked at each other and smiled. "Let's do this," said Seth.
They walked to their spaces as a referee came between them. He was holding two different colored flags. One was white, the other was gray.
"White team!" shouted the referee, pointing at Seth and Aaron. "Gray!" he shouted again, pointing at Norman.
"The rules are simple, this is a six versus six! Aaron and Seth collectively have four switches, two for each person! Norman has four switches! Aaron and Seth can only use three Pokémon each. If one of you loses all of your Pokémon, the other is not allowed to send in another one! Are the rules clear?"
All three trainers nodded their heads in confirmation. "Then, send in your first Pokémon and let the battle begin!" "Go, Saigon!" "Out, Hoot Hoot!" "Out, Spinda and Linoone!" All four Pokémon burst onto the field. The Linoone rushed at Aaron and Seth's
Pokémon with no command. "Spinda, use Psybeam! Linoone, use Slash on the Wimpod!" "Dodge it Saigon!" "Hoot Hoot, use Gust!" Saigon ran away from the Linoone as it swiped its claws at him. Surprisingly,
Saigon happened to run faster than the Linoone as it chased after him. Hoot Hoot flew into the air, dodging the Psybeam and using Gust to knock the Linoone off balance.
"Now Saigon, Sand Attack!" Saigon bounced back and sent a stream of sand flying towards the Linoone's
face. The Linoone clawed at its eyes as it tried to shake the sand out. "Now, Struggle Bug!" Saigon shot a stream of bug type energy at the Linoone. Hoot Hoot flew at the
Spinda, dodging a Body Slam as he readied an attack. "Alright Hoot Hoot, use Air Slash!" Hoot Hoot flapped his wings and created sharp blades of air, knocking the
Spinda backwards. He flew at the Linoone and used Wing Attack as the Linoone tried clearing its eyes.
"Use Body Slam!" "Reflect!" shouted Aaron. "Struggle Bug!" commanded Seth. The Linoone slammed against the Reflect barrier as Saigon blasted it with
Struggle Bug. The Spinda came charging forward and used Psybeam, missing both Pokémon.
"Aaron. Let's take out the Linoone first. Saigon will distract it so your Hoot Hoot can take it down," said Seth.
"Sounds like a plan. Hoot Hoot, use Extrasensory!"
Hoot Hoot sent powerful waves of psychic energy at the Linoone, sending it crashing into the Spinda.
"Woah!" shouted Seth. "When did you Hoot Hoot learn stuff like that?" "Move tutor assistance. Hoot Hoots can learn moves like that with training, or in
the wild in rare cases." "Ah. Saigon, Sand Attack!" "Get ready with Air Slash!" "Linoone, Hone Claws! Spinda, Hypnosis!" "Dodge it Saigon!" Saigon's feet scraped the ground as he rapidly switched directions. Hoot Hoot
was up in the air, flapping his wings hard as he created slashing blades of air. "Saigon, use Struggle Bug on the Spinda!" Saigon blasted a stream of energy as the Linoone leapt forward and used Slash,
hitting Saigon and sending him flying. The poor Wimpod transformed into a beam of light and flew into Seth's pokéball.
The referee pointed his white flag at Seth. "Saigon's ability Wimp Out has activated, forcing a switch upon Seth! This doesn't count as one of Seth's two switches! Send in your next Pokémon!"
"Go, Champ!" Champ the Nidorino appeared, rushing towards the Linoone immediately, seeing
it as the bigger threat. "We attack as a team," said Aaron. "Hoot Hoot, use Air Slash!" "Champ, use Double Kick!" The Linoone braced itself as the blades of air slashed at it. Champ ran in and
leapt into the air, slamming his feet twice onto the Linoone and fainting it. The referee pointed his gray flag at Norman. "Linoone is unable to battle. Send in
your next Pokémon!" Norman nodded his head. "Go, Swellow!" Aaron flinched. "Another fully evolved Pokémon? Watch out Hoot Hoot! Use Air
Slash!" "Swellow, use Wing Attack!" "Champ, take out the Spinda! Use Fury attack!" "Psybeam!" Champ avoided the Psybeam and slammed into the Spinda, attacking it multiple
times with its horn. The Swellow flew around the blades of air created by Hoot Hoot and slammed into it with Wing Attack.
"Hoot Hoot! Use Extrasensory!" "Champ, Double Kick!" "Swellow, Quick Attack! Spinda, Psybeam!"
Champ leapt forward and kicked the Spinda, but the Pokémon hit it with Psybeam before he could get the second kick in.
The Swellow flew at Hoot Hoot super fast and slammed into the Pokémon, knocking it slightly off aim. THis however, caused the Extrasensory to hit the Spinda, causing it to faint.
The crowd gasped at the sudden outcome as the referee pointed his gray flag at Norman. "Norman's Spinda has fainted. Send in your next Pokémon."
"Go, Loudred!" "More evolved Pokémon?" asked Seth. "I'm starting to lose faith in this battle." "Come on Seth!" shouted Aaron. "No giving up now! Hoot Hoot, Air Slash!" "Dodge it and use Quick Attack Swellow!" Swellow easily dodged the blades of air and slammed into Hoot Hoot. The
Pokémon went flying and landing onto the ground. "No! Hoot Hoot!" "Swellow, finish it with WIng Attack!" Suddenly, a bright glow filled the stage as Hoot Hoot became pure white. He
rapidly morphed and shifted, becoming a tall, majestic Noctowl as the Swellow charged at him.
"Extrasensory!" Noctowl raised his head at the approaching Swellow. A flash of his eyes sent out
psychic waves, slamming into the Pokémon and sending it off course. He immediately took to the air, following after the Swellow.
"Champ, use Double Kick on the Loudred!" "Use Hyper Voice!" A terrible screech filled the stage as waves of sound washed over Champ,
sending him flying many meters away. Swellow and Noctowl were still dueling it up in the air, Swellow trying to get the advantage with speed and physical moves.
"Damn, the Swellow's still too fast. Switch out Noctowl!" The referee pointed his white flag at Aaron. "Aaron is switching out his Noctowl!
He has one remaining switch! Send in your next Pokémon!" "I choose you, Espurr!" As soon as the Pokémon came out of its ball, it was immediately shut down by
the bright lights and cheering fans. It quietly shrunk down in size, only to look up and see the Swellow flying at it.
"Psybeam!" "Dodge it! Use Brave Bird!" "Leap to the side, Espurr!" Espurr composed herself and leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding the Swellow. It
took to the side as she fired off a powerful Psybeam, unfortunately missing the Pokémon.
On the other side of the field. Champ was running around, trying to get hits into the Loudred while avoiding its devastating sound attacks.
"Champ, use Horn Attack!" "Loudred, use Stomp!" Champ dug his feet into the ground and leapt off to the side to avoid the
Loudred's powerful foot. He then leapt forward again, plowing his horn into the side. "Hyper Voice!" Champ couldn't dodge this time. The powerful sound waves blasted Champ far
away, causing him to faint. The referee pointed his white flag at Seth. "Champ is unable to battle! Send in
your next Pokémon!" "Fine. Go, Arianna!" In a flash of light, Seth's Popplio appeared from its ball. Norman looked at the
Pokémon, knowing that it was a ranged attacker just like Loudred. "Return, Loudred!" The referee pointed his gray flag at Norman. "Norman is switching out his
Loudred! He has three switches left! Send in your next Pokémon!" "Go, Vigoroth!" "Shoot," muttered Seth. "Arianna' use Icy Wind and slow it down!" "Use Facade!" The Viogoth rushed head first at Arianna, something that wasn't smart to do.
Arianna breathed a chilly blast of wind, causing ice to form around the Pokémon as it was severely slowed down.
"Swellow, use Quick Attack!" shouted Norman, turning his attention to where Swellow and Espurr were fighting.
"Espurr, use Thunder Wave!" "Dodge it!" "Psybeam!" The Swellow couldn't avoid two moves at once. It was sent backwards as the
Psybeam slammed directly into it. Espurr's eyes lit up as she fired a jolt of paralytic waves, paralyzing the Swellow.
"Now Swellow! Facade!" Aaron's eyes gave a flash of panic as the Swellow slammed into Espurr. "The move Facade gets boosted by any status conditions, and my Swellow
happens to have the ability Guts. Your Espurr-" The referee interrupted what Norman was saying as he pointed both flags at their
respective trainers. "Espurr and Swellow are unable to fight. Send in your next Pokémon."
"What?" asked Norman, surprised by the outcome.
Aaron smiled. "Paralysis slows you down. Expurr had just enough time to fire off one last Psybeam. Go, Chespin!"
"Smart kid. Go, Zangoose!" Meanwhile, Arianna was having a hard time fighting the Vigoroth. The Pokémon
was simply too fast, and she wasn't very mobile. Seth had to resort to Arianna using Aqua Jet over and over again to escape the Vigoroth.
"Arianna, use Bubble Beam! Aaron, your Chespin's help would be appreciated right now."
"We have our own problems to deal with! We'll just use the old plan, entrap them and hit them with a combo attack. Just have her hold on until Chespin can-"
"Yeet the Zangoose over, got it. Arianna, use Aqua Jet and charge the Vigoroth!" Aaron looked at him. "Did you really say yeet?" Seth slipped his headphones on. Clearly ignoring Aaron's judgment for his choice
of words. "Whatever. Chespin, use Pin Missile!" "Slash!" Chespin lowered his head and fired his quills at the Zangoose. The Pokémon
readied its claws and started slashing away at the quills. "Quick Attack!" Zangoose rushed forward, charging at Chespin. Chespin leapt away, dodging the
Zangoose as it left a cloud of dust where it struck. "Zangoose, use Swords Dance!" "Now Chespin! Leech Seed!" The Zangoose wasn't able to slash at the seeds and got ensnared by the vine
tangle. Chespin leapt into the air and used Pin Missile, but the Zangoose broke free of the entrapments and slashed them away again.
"Try this! Vine Whip!" "Night Slash!" The Zangoose started cleaving away at Chespins vines. No matter how long or
twisted Chespin made them. "New plan Chespin! Attack the Vigoroth and restrain it with Vine Whip. Seth, can
Arianna take care of the Zangoose?" "Sure, Arianna, attack the Zangoose with Aqua Jet! Then use Bubble Beam and
Icy Wind to slow it down!" "Chespin, Leech Seed!" "Zangoose, Slash! Vigoroth, Brick Break!" Arianna rushed at the Zangoose in a torrent of water. She avoided the slash and
fired a stream of bubbles before freezing them around the Zangoose with Icy Wind. Chespin leapt into the air over the Vigoroth, throwing a stream of seeds in an arc. He then used Vine Whip struggling to lock the Vigoroth's arms in place.
"Now, send him to the stratosphere!" Chespin whipped the Vigoroth around his head before exerting enough force to
send the Vigoroth flying into the Zangoose with perfect accuracy. "Now, snare them!" "Arianna, Icy Wind!" The combination of the two moves locked the two Pokémon in place, helplessly
on top of each other. "This part is always fun," said Seth. "Are you ready?" Aaron nodded. "Ready guys?" they shouted. "Combo attack!" Arianna and Chespin rushed forward. Chespin leapt into the air, extending two
vines to come whipping onto the two Pokémon as Arianna blasted a stream of bubbles. Both Pokémon simultaneously burst into white light as they began evolving.
Seth looked at the Pokémon in awe, "I've heard of Pokémon with very special bonds evolving in the heat of battle simultaneously, but I've never seen it happen."
"If you think about it," said Aaron. "These starter Pokémon have probably known each other for a very long time."
The two opposing Pokémon didn't stand a chance. The referee pointed his gray flag at Norman. "Zangoose and Vigoroth are unable to fight. Send in your last Pokémon."
"Last Pokémon. We've won," said Seth. "Don't be so sure," said Norman. "Your Pokémon may have evolved, but that can
affect them negatively. They'll have to recuperate because evolving takes a lot of energy. Look at them now.'
Aaron looked at the two Pokémon. As Norman said, they weren't doing so well. "Shoot, he's right."
"Don't forget, my Loudred has access to Hyper Voice, and hasn't taken much damage. All o your Pokémon have take significant damage."
"I said send in your next Pokémon," said the referee. "We're still going to win this, right Aaron?" "Right!" The referee blew a whistle hanging from his neck. "Norman, send in your next
Pokémon or else you're disqualified." "My apologies. Go, Loudred!" "Alright Arianna. You can do this, along with Chespin," said Seth. Chespin, who was now a Quilladin, gave him a tired but indignant look. "Right, my bad. Bubble Beam!" "Pin Missile!" "Stop the projectiles with Hyper Voice!"
The two attacks were completely stopped by the powerful Hyper Voice, knocking the two Pokémon back in the process. The Loudred immediately follow this attack with another Hyper Voice, fainting the two Pokemon.
The referee pointed his white flag at Aaron and Seth. "Arianna and Quilladin are unable to fight. Send in your last Pokémon."
"Fine then. Go, Saigon!" "Out, Noctowl!" Seth looked at Aaron. "Alright, it's going to be up to your Noctowl to take care of
the Loudred. Saigon will deal as much damage as he can. Saigon, Struggle Bug!" "Loudred, Echoed Voice!" Saigon ran forward, dodging the Echoed Voice as he sent a stream of bug type
energy. He dodged another Echoed Voice and used Struggle Bug again. "It doesn't matter if you keep dodging! Echoed Voice will only get stronger!" "Noctowl, use Hypnosis!" shouted Aaron. "Dodge it and use Echoed Voice!" "Struggle Bug! Then Sand Attack!" The Loudred avoided the attack and used Echoed Voice again, barely missing
the Noctowl as he flew away. Saigon kept at the Loudred, using the only moves he knew to try and distract it.
"Struggle Bug!" "Echoed Voice!" Saigon dodged again, but the Loudred hadn't attacked. Before Saigon could go
in another direction, the Loudred used Stomp and crushed the poor Pokémon. The referee pointed white his flag at Seth. "Saigon is unable to battle. Seth has
now run out of Pokémon, but the match isn't over yet!" "It is now!" shouted Aaron. "Fly in with Air Slash!" "Get ready, Loudred. The Noctowl's weak! Hyper Voice!" The two Pokémon reached each other and fired off their moves. The Loudred
was sent flying back as people struggled to see Noctowl's distorted form in the sound waves.
The crowd suddenly gasped as Noctowl flew at the Loudred, seemingly unharmed. He used Extrasensory and sent the Loudred flying back again.
"How?" asked Norman. "You weren't paying attention," said Aaron. "Struggle Bug is guaranteed to lower
the target's special attack." "I wasn't having Saigon attack in vain," continued Seth. "We knew he wouldn't be
strong enough to defeat it, so we placed our bets on Noctowl and assisted him anyway we could. Your special attacking moves are useless."
"And your physical moves won't reach Noctowl! Air Slash!"
Helpless to do anything. The Loudred struggled to his feet as Noctowl swooped in, blasting blades of air in a seemingly endless barrage until the beaten Pokémon fainted.
The referee pointed his gray flag at Norman with a note of finality. "Norman's last Pokémon has fainted. That means, Seth and Aaron win!"
Norman closed his eyes, a satisfied look on his face. He walked up to the two challengers, patting them on the shoulder.
"You two did very well. Reminds me of my own daughter. I shall confer upon you two, the Balance Badge. You've earned it."
Seth and Aaron were outside the gym, sitting on a park bench by themselves, their teams nearby.
"Man, that battle was fun," said Seth. "Can't believe two of your Pokémon evolved though."
"Now we're pretty much even. We both have three Pokémon, two of them evolved. Weren't we going to fight each other at one point in our journey?" asked Aaron.
Seth stood up. "Yeah, but I feel we need to get stronger first. We almost lost that gym battle."
Aaron stood up and held out his hand. "Let's promise each other that once we defeat our fifth gyms, we'll battle each other in front of the water gym."
Seth looked at his hand and shook it. "You have a deal." He stood back and looked off to the setting sun. Can't wait to defeat you," he said before running off.
Aaron smiled as Clara walked up. "You know, he used to be very arrogant before. It's amazing what battling with someone can do to you."
And that's the end of the chapter. Sorry for taking so long, I know I say this a lot, but I've recently had a very busy schedule. I'm not sure the next time I can post, but I'll try my best. I actually have some important news. Some characters, across both my stories, may have drastic moveset changes because of the updated movesets in Generation 9. I'll probably only implement this for Pokémon with normally trash movesets, like Hoot Hoot.