A/N: Did one of those funny things where I think I've got a handle on where the chapter should go and then suddenly the whole thing balloons to almost 7,000 words. I really had fun describing Ballonlea, and of course Opal is such a joy to write, especially when she's in the heat of battle, as I'm sure you'll see. Enjoy the chapter - it was one of my favorites to write so far!
I had seen pictures of Ballonlea before, and a fair amount of Ballonlea gym battles on television, so I knew I was in for a visual treat upon arrival, but as the three of us stepped into the town, it was almost like stepping into a completely separate world. The entire town was still under the cover of the trees, which arched over everything from a dizzying height, but the town itself was bright and vibrant, covered in those strange mushrooms left and right. Unlike the ones that populated Glimwood Tangle, however, these mushrooms were every color of the rainbow and then some – blue, green, violet, pink, yellow, all scattered around the town that was both haphazard and intentional. I was reminded of a trip I had taken with my mum and Victor across the ocean to Unova and the night the three of us spent in Nimbasa City where even after midnight, the lights still flashed and glowed and lit the city like it was midday. The only difference was that the lights here glowed without any electricity, or at least any I could see. It was magical, at least upon first glance.
That magic extended into the buildings of the town itself. There were only a few dozen of them, but each building in the town looked like it was pulled right out of a storybook. Houses were only a couple stories long, their walls made with thick white daub slabs that rested between dark wooden beams, each sitting under a gable roof and red brick chimneys. Smoke rose from some of the chimneys, but it was quickly gobbled up by a wild Weezing, and then released again through the hatlike smokestacks on their heads. With nowhere to escape, the entire sky had become a thick mist that dropped all the way from under the canopy to the air around us. I inhaled deeply. The mist felt clean, with a hint of softness that inexplicably reminded me of home.
Small groups of people walked lazily between store and home, and like their buildings, they too seemed to be lost in time. All sorts of strange Pokémon accompanied them. Chinchou, a Pokémon I had only seen in aquariums, floated around in the mist, with carefree expressions. A couple Hatenna hustled between buildings, tripping over their own comically large hats. A couple children played in the streets, looking up for only a brief moment in time to watch us pass by. We all looked incredibly out of place, Marnie especially with her jet black hair and dangerous-looking leather jacket and boots, but as we headed toward the town square and saw some more familiar sights, such as the Pokémon Center and a small hotel, we started to see some more people from our necks of the woods, and standing right in front of the doors was…
"Hop!" Victor cried, breaking rank from us and running up to our friend. Hop looked up from his phone in surprise and smiled warmly.
"Was wondering when you lot would finally get here," Hop said with a laugh. "I tried to get ahold of you, but service is shite around this whole forest. They've got Wi-Fi somehow in the Pokémon Center and the Gym, but I don't think anyone here's heard of the internet."
Marnie and I pulled out our phones, and sure enough, there was still no service. I sighed, happy that our worry about Hop didn't seem to be much more than an overreaction.
"Wait, you've been to the gym already?" Victor asked.
"Well, yeah, just to scout around though," Hop said. "Wanted to make sure you guys were here to see me pull out of my slump before I signed up for a time."
"Alright, we're here, let's see you do it," Marnie said, raising an eyebrow. Her voice was cold, even if her words were encouraging. At least I hoped her words were encouraging.
"Well, I'm sure you three want to heal up your teams first," Hop said quickly, gesturing inside the Pokémon Center with his thumb. "Maybe we can rent our room for the night while we're at it, too?"
"Did you talk to Leon?" Victor asked.
Hop winced. "…No," he admitted with a guilty smile, "but it's on my to-do list! I did some good training, and I think I've got a good answer for Opal's fairies! You'll see."
"Well, Sonia said you should give him a call anyway," I said. "Besides, I need to talk to you."
"About what?"
I glanced nervously at Marnie and Victor. How much should I say about my dreams and the wolves while they were around? Victor would probably think I sounded ridiculous, and I certainly wouldn't want Marnie joining the ranks there. "Uhh," I said, "it's nothing important, just something about that time we went into the Weald?"
Hop blinked in confusion, and then must have remembered something important, because his usually dark skin turned noticeably pale. "Right…we probably should talk about that. But that can wait after the gym battles, too! Come on!"
Marnie gave the two of us an accusatory look, and then led the way into the Pokémon Center. Victor followed, oblivious to all of that, and Hop held the door out for me to walk through in front of him. As I made my way through the door, he grabbed onto my wrist.
"So, Marnie's still around, eh?" he said with a slight frown.
"Yeah," I replied. "Is…is that a bad thing?"
"No, no, not a bit, I just didn't think she liked us all that much."
"You'd be surprised," I said, the beginnings of a blush forming. I shook my arm free of him and stepped inside.
The Pokémon Center was clean and free of any sort of fairytale nonsense that was going on outside, instead looking akin to almost every other Pokémon Center we had been at on our journey, as if this Pokémon Center was in complete defiance of everything the town of Ballonlea stood for, but once we dropped our Pokémon off and checked out our sleeping area, any sort of confusion at the jarring vibe shift was lost at the prospect of getting a good nap in. Marnie and Victor quickly passed out in their respective bunks, but I realized I wasn't that tired at all. Instead, I grabbed at Hop's arm and jerked my head toward the door.
"It's time we had a little talk about our wolf friends," I said. He gulped and nodded, then followed me out of the sleeping room.
Back outside in the strangeness of Ballonlea, we stopped at a strange tea shop, ordered a cup and a pastry, and slipped off to a dark corner.
"So first off, they talk," I said. "One of them talked to me last night."
"They what?" Hop asked, dumbfounded. "They never said nothing to me, blimey."
"Yeah, when Bede was breaking down the wall, it was like something un—"
"Wait, hold on," Hop interrupted, scrunching up his face. "Bede did what?"
I frowned, and as our waitress dropped our teas off at the table, I went over almost everything that happened the night before, up to seeing the two wolves emerge from the hole. Hop's face went from confusion, to excitement, to downright horror.
"You're not going to believe it, but that's exactly what happened in a dream I had not two days ago," he said. "I mean, none of them talked to me or anything, but you remember that first morning we were in Stow-on-Side? You met me out front of the Pokémon Center? Literally had just woken up from that dream."
I reached over and pounded Hop's arm with my fist. "Why didn't you tell me? I have been hoping you've been having dreams about them again this whole time!"
"I dunno, it all just sounded…ridiculous?"
"I mean, yeah," I admitted. "But I've told you about almost every one of those weird dreams I had! I was starting to think I was going crazy or something for having all those dreams."
"I'm sorry," Hop said with a sigh and a sip of his tea. "it's just…this is all too much for me right now. I've got enough on my plate with the gym challenge and—"
"Hop." I said sternly. I grabbed his wrist and held it tight in my hands.
He stopped mumbling and looked at me. "What, Gloria?"
"She told me to find 'my companion' and meet her at the spot we met 'when the time comes.' I have no idea what that means or…" I trailed off, as I watched his face go white yet again.
"The Weald," he muttered.
"What? Yeah, I guess that would be where we met, but what about the 'when the time comes?' What's coming? What are we even expected to do once we get there?" I asked.
"I…I don't think I have an answer for you, Gloria," he said with a weak smile, finishing his tea and setting the cup down on the table softly.
I frowned. "Well yeah, but I was hoping we could at least shoot some ideas around or something…"
"You sure I'm this 'companion?' Look, maybe they were talking about Victor, or maybe they were even talking about Marnie…"
I blinked. "No, Hop. They were talking about you," I said slowly.
"Well, if they were, they could have just told me," Hop replied with a shrug, standing up from the table and pulling a couple bills out of his wallet. "Because they apparently talk to you now."
"What, do you not believe me?" I said, standing up. I could feel my blood pressure rising, but I managed to keep my voice low.
"You kidding? I just told you I've been seeing this weird shit the past couple months too," Hop said defensively. "'Course I believe you, it's just—"
"Just what?"
"I just—I—look, I can't really explain it, but this all feels like, 'the hero's call to action' or something. I dunno, something out of an old fantasy novel or a video game."
"Heroes exist in the real world! Heroes exist all over the place!"
"Yeah, but am I even one of them?" he asked. His words were accompanied with that sadness in his eyes that had been all too common recently. "I don't even think I can throw a Pokéball right, at this point. Look, if she told you to 'find your companion,' I really don't think it's me."
"Hop, who else can I talk to about this? It has to be you!" I said, my voice cracking.
"Well, they've already got a link right here," he said, jabbing a finger into his coarse hair. "Haven't heard a peep. They probably know I'd be rubbish at whatever it is they're asking you to do anyway. C'mon, let's get back to the Pokémon Center."
As he left the tea shop, I opened my mouth, but no words came. There was nothing I could say.
Victor and Marnie were waiting at the door to the Pokémon Center when we returned. Hop handed Hop his Pokéballs, and Marnie handed me mine, accompanied by a strange stare, like she was studying me.
"A…alright?" I asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she said with a half-smile, before quickly turning and heading up the street to the gym.
"Is she fine?" I whispered to Victor once she was a few feet away.
"Why, is there trouble in paradise?" he said with a smirk.
"I hate you," I replied, chasing after her. The four of us then made our way through Ballonlea until we stopped outside an old brick theatre building that was about two-thirds the size of the other gyms we had been to so far. On its walls were large posters advertising an upcoming season of plays, the first of which was scheduled about a month after the Pokémon League Championships. Upon closer inspection, I saw that Opal herself was directing each of these plays.
"Always weird to see the gym leaders have lives during the off-season," Hop said, looking at the same poster I was.
"Really isn't," Marnie pointed out. "Just 'cos Leon has champion duties all year long don't mean the rest of 'em do."
"I guess…" he replied, looking back at the poster.
"So, where is Opal's gym, anyway?" I asked.
"We're here," Marnie said. "Now come on, let's get this over with, then."
"Wait, this is the gym?" I asked, backing up. Sure enough, atop the door in big, faded block letters it read BALLONLEA GYM.
"Yeah, this is the old gym," Hop said slowly as he slowly remembered it himself. "The gyms used to be a lot less uniform than they are now. Lee's told me that Rose has been trying to get a building permit for a new gym here for ages, but Opal refuses to let him build one."
"Talk about being stuck in your old ways," Marnie huffed.
"Oh, when you're much older, you'll learn to appreciate the simple things from your youth, young lady," Opal said. All of us jumped at the sound of her voice, as she had once again appeared as if out of nowhere. She cackled at our shared surprise and pushed open one of the theatre doors for us, beckoning us to follow.
"How did you even get here from Stow-on-Side so quickly?" Victor asked, incredulous.
"Oh, I've still got a reliable set of tricks," Opal replied with a wink, gesturing again for us to follow her inside.
Inside was a small but gorgeously decorated lobby, with thick burgundy carpet leading up to a gilded ticket booth with a sign that had flipped to "closed." On the other end of the ticket booth were two grand staircases that snaked up and out to the left and right, and a small carpeted ramp that led to a pair of thick wooden doors that had reliefs of various fairy-type Pokémon on it – I could make out a Togekiss and a Gardevoir, but there were a few that I didn't recognize, including one that seemed to be a giant bouquet of flowers with a face. There was a high vaulted ceiling above us, and in the center a beautiful golden chandelier hung, glowing ethereally, as if instead of lightbulbs it was lit by some of the mushrooms that dotted Ballonlea's streets. The lobby was almost completely empty of people, save for a Macros Cosmos employee sitting at a cheap folding table, looking annoyed as he typed furiously into a laptop. He glanced up and looked at us, then quickly typed something else as the five of us approached.
"I hope you don't mind us doing this challenge the old-fashioned way," Opal apologised, though she sounded insincere. "I never was fond of these newer gyms. Balderdash, if you ask me. You. Gloria. I think I'd like to see you first. Follow me to the stage, please."
"Me?" I stepped back in surprise.
"Of course, dear!" Opal smiled. "I don't think there's a single challenger this year I've been more excited to battle. Quickly now, before these old bones turn to dust!"
"M-miss Opal," the Macro Cosmos employee said, standing up and bumping his knee on the low table with a dull thud.
"Please, no hats in the theatre, where are your manners?" she snapped, not slowing her pace.
"I-yes," he said, quickly removing his cap and revealing a messy orange head of hair. "We just need to register each of the challengers and—"
"You bureaucracy types are such a bore," she sighed, waving her hand in dismissal and continuing toward the door. "You know who each of these trainers are, sign them in already and let's get on with it!"
"Do you not want me to change…?" I asked.
"Into those hideous challenger uniforms? No dear, unless you want me to take ill before the battle starts. Your street clothes…well they're hardly pink either, but they'll do. Come along now, my dear. And you three!" She pointed at everyone else. "These are closed auditions, so you'll have to wait your turn!"
Closed audition? I looked back to everyone else. Marnie rolled her eyes at the whole show, while Hop and Victor both shrugged. The Macros Cosmos employee furiously sat back down and started typing away again. I quickly walked over to his table.
"Gloria Dixon, number one-ninety-seven, Cinderace, Bewear, Boltund, Vibrava—oh, and Ponyta. She's new."
"Right, cheers," the employee said with just a slight hint of relief before I jogged after Opal.
The two of us headed to the big double doors, and with surprisingly little effort on her part, Opal managed to swing one of them open, and gesture for me to go through. She followed and the door shut with a heavy slam. I got a good look at the main house of the theatre. There were dozens of rows of chairs, each precariously placed in a way that reminded me of dominoes standing in a line, ready to fall at the slightest touch. The rows gradually descended until reaching an orchestra pit, which had only a small platform in the center where a young woman wearing plain all-black clothes and a headset sat, She was surrounded by three Rotom-Cameras, who buzzed eagerly at the sight of a challenger approaching them. Behind them was a massive black stage with a proscenium arch that rose impossibly high, maybe thirty feet. At the sides of each arch was a thick red velvet curtain, pulled aside as far as it could go, and behind the curtain the stage continued into a massive open arena where, marked in thin yellow tape, were the bounds of a battle pitch. If there was a ceiling over this section of the theatre, I could not see it behind the arch of the theatre, and as we drew closer to it, I still couldn't see, as it was hidden in shadow. Six massive spotlights shown down on the pitch, lighting the entire stage in a cold white light.
"Now, my dear, today will be a little different than the gym battles you're usually used to, and in more ways than one," Opal explained as she led me to a small staircase on the side of the stage. "You see, before this challenge became a whole to-do, us gym leaders had a little more say in how we did our challenges."
"I remember my mum and dad sayin' things like that when I was younger," I said, nodding along and climbing up the stairs after her.
"'Course they did. Dixon, you said your last name was? I remember battling your father. Good battler, he was. Had a Cinderace just like you do."
"He also told me you ended his championship hopes."
"I said he was good, not that he was great," she snickered with a twinkle in her eye. "How is little Johnny, anyway?"
"He's…he passed away a few years ago." I said, looking down.
"My dear," Opal sighed. "I'm terribly sorry, it's never easy to lose a family member."
"It's alright," I replied with a weak smile. "He was sick, and I like to think he'd be proud of how far I've gotten so far. I also think he'd be happy to know you still do things the old-fashioned way here; he was never fond of the big stadium battles."
Opal smiled. "Smart man, him. You have Rose's dad to thank for the way they do it now – bought a bunch of money into the Pokémon League and took out all the magic. Not very pink at all. I've had to fight to keep this ol' gym running the way it has this whole time. Exhausting time. Of course, and this may come as a wee bit of a surprise to you, dear, but my time as a gym leader is coming to an end…"
"Really?" I joked. "But you don't look a day over sixteen!"
She flashed a smile at me and replied, "my dear, I know I look good for my age, but flattery won't quite get you everywhere with me. But that's besides the point. I haven't said anything to the league yet, but I have a feeling that this will be my final season. So, this gym battle will be an audition as much as anything else."
"An audition?"
"Try-out, interview, whatever you wish to call it. 'Audition' seemed a bit more thematically appropriate, and as I'm sure you can guess, that sort of thing just tickles me pink!"
"And then you'll see if I have 'pink?'"
"You catch on fast," she replied happily as we reached one end of the pitch. "Now if you don't mind walking to the other side of the pitch? I'm afraid my legs don't want to walk as far as they used to these days."
"No, not at all!" I replied. The three Rotom-Cameras whizzed past us excitedly and the woman in black jogged behind them.
"Buzzards, you'd think they would respect the 'no filming a live performance' rule, but alas, apparently, we all have to show the world everything, where's the respect…" Opal grumbled quietly. She continued to grumble until after I was well out of earshot, but when I turned around at my end of the pitch, she was quiet, standing at her end of the pitch and watching me through shrewd eyes. In her hand was her first Pokéball.
I reached down to my belt and brushed my hand against my five Pokéballs, thinking about my options. Opal was a fairy-type leader, so Vibrava wouldn't stand a chance now that it had evolved into a dragon type. Bewear would also be in a pinch, for the same reasons. I hadn't even used Ponyta in a battle, so it was anyone's guess as to how she would fare. Boltund and Cinderace would have to do a lot of heavy lifting in this battle, but I didn't want them to get too tired out before the end of the battle either.
"The battle is about to begin!" the lady in black shouted. "First to eliminate four Pokémon will be declared the victor! Challenger Gloria! Are you ready?"
"No time like the present to try out the new girl," I muttered, grabbing Ponyta's Pokéball. I looked at the woman and nodded, raising the ball to shoulder level.
"Leader Opal! Are you ready?"
"Yes, dearie," she said calmly, spinning the Pokéball in her hand.
"BEGIN!"
Opal tossed her ball out lazily and out popped a Weezing. It was the first one I had really seen up close before, and I almost laughed at the absurdity of it. Unlike its purple Kanto alternative, its body was a smokey grey, with green smoke popping out of two small spikes on each of its two heads and out of a couple pores on its face, looking as if it had a very fancy moustache. Ponyta, meanwhile, popped out on my end of the pitch and whinnied excitedly, her yellow mane glowing like the mushrooms outside the building.
"Strange Steam!" Opal cried with surprising volume for someone so frail.
I grinned, feeling like I had made a smart choice with my first Pokémon. "Psybeam!"
Ponyta was much faster than Weezing, and as the strange floating thing breathed in to complete its fairy wind attack, her horn glowed brightly, and a powerful beam of psychic energy shout out of it. The beam sped toward Weezing, getting a direct hit and pushing the Pokémon back a few feet in the air. But Weezing was undeterred, and exhaled with a sickly groan, sending wafts of green and purple smoke snaking toward Ponyta, engulfing her and causing her to sputter and cough as she ran out of the cloud.
"Another Psybeam!" I ordered.
"Sludge!" Opal cried again. Weezing geared up for another attack but was once again beaten to the punch as Ponyta launched another beam of energy directly at it. Weezing once again held on, and still didn't look too worse for wear as it belched out purple sludge that covered the ground of the gym. Ponyta managed to gracefully dodge each outburst but slipped on some excess sludge and lost her footing for a quick moment.
"Damn," I said. Any of my Pokémon would have to be careful navigating the sludge until this battle ended.
"Sludge again!" Opal roared in delight.
"Come on, I gotta clean all this up!" the woman in black whined.
I growled. "Stomp!" I called out in exasperation, hoping that Ponyta's powerful kick would be able to finally take down. Ponyta sped forward as Weezing inhaled again, and for the third time, she landed her attack before it could release anything else from its mouths, this time sending a powerful kick just to the side of its jaws. Weezing spun around quickly, little bits of sludge falling from its mouth, before it finally fell to the ground, unconscious.
"Weezing is unable to battle!" the woman in black yelled.
Ponyta, now covered in residual sludge from her close contact with Weezing, whinnied excitedly, but her celebration was short-lived, as she lurched forward and heaved, looking like she was about to hack up her lunch. I winced – poisoning opponents was an all-too common tactic of Weezing, regardless of which region it came from. The longer I kept Ponyta out, the worse for wear she'd be.
Opal returned Weezing and smiled brightly. "Excellent work, my dear, now try this!"
Her second Pokémon appeared, and I gasped in shock. It was a tiny gremlin of a Pokémon, with soft, frilly yellow fur that draped down it like a dress, but that was secondary to the large gaping black jaw that it held out in front of itself. I couldn't do much with Ponyta, that's for sure. She wobbled on her feet and still looked ready to battle, so I took a deep breath and called out an attack.
"Stomp!" I cried.
"Mawile, give that poor sick pony a Sweet Kiss!" Opal cackled.
Even while Poisoned, Ponyta moved far more quickly than Mawile and soon delivered another powerful kick to the open jaw of the Mawile, but instead of reeling back, the Pokémon let the force of the kick spin its body 180 degrees, so its true face was toward us. It then hopped up and pecked Ponyta right on the nose, and as it kissed her, I could almost see the energy flow from Pokémon to Pokémon. Ponyta quickly crumpled, while Mawile looked like she hadn't even taken a scratch.
"Ponyta is unable to battle!" the woman in black cried, while Opal cackled wildly. Suddenly it was one on one. I quickly returned Ponyta to her ball and kissed the button of it. For a first battle, she did remarkably well. But I knew it was time to bring the heat.
"Cinderace, I choose you! Pyro ball!" I yelled. Cinderace burst from his ball and gave a great and excited cry. He was ready to scrap, and he quickly found a disgustingly solid pile of sludge left over from Weezing and kicked it into the air, igniting it. He took a step back to properly kick the fireball at Mawile…only to immediately slip on another puddle of sludge and fall on his back. The fireball dropped next to him ineffectively, and quickly extinguished.
"Oh, poor baby," Opal cooed. "Mawile, why don't you give him a Sweet Kiss as well?" I growled with frustration as Mawile repeated the same move twice but was happy to see that this did not do nearly as much damage as it had done to Ponyta.
"Alright Cinderace, mind your footing and try again!" I cried.
"Iron defense!" Opal quickly said, but her tone of voice gave away that she regretted playing too aggressively. This time, Cinderace hopped to a still dry section of the stage, kicked up another thick ball of sludge, ignited it, and kicked it directly at Mawile, who was unable to raise its defenses in time.
"Mawile is unable to battle!" the woman in black yelled before the smoke had even cleared. Sure enough, Mawile lie in a heap on the stage floor, unmoving. Opal recalled it, clicking her tongue but still looking confident. I sighed in relief. Two down, and Cinderace, aside from being embarrassed at his first slip-up, still looked like he had plenty of fight in him. Only two more to go, I told myself. I can do this.
"You seem to be looking confident, dearie. Very pink of you," Opal said, cackling again.
"Maybe I'll pass your audition!" I shot back bravely.
"We shall see," she replied. "Come on out, Togekiss! Why don't us geezers show our challenger what a little Ancient Power can do?"
"Huh?" I said. As I said it, her third Pokémon burst into the air above the field – a bright white, egg-shaped bird with a spritely smile and red and blue spots on its belly. It circled Cinderace slowly. I hadn't seen many Togekiss before, but I knew from Hop's stories that a well-trained Togekiss would be the end of the line for an unprepared trainer.
"Don't give them the chance!" I shouted. "Pyro Ball!" Just as Togekiss's eyes started to glow, Cinderace launched yet another powerful fireball at the Pokémon, but Togekiss merely rolled over in the air and the ball of fire shot past harmlessly, hitting a wall of the theatre and extinguishing with a disappointing puff of grey smoke. I turned back just in time to see strange sapphire orbs glowing around the Togekiss and launching towards Cinderace with devastating speed, crashing into him and sending him sprawling to the floor.
"NO!" I cried, fumbling for Cinderace's Pokéball. Of course, Opal had taught it a super-effective Rock-type move, and fortunately, I managed to return Cinderace before it could lob another one his way. Admittedly, this was a tough position. Vibrava could handle a rock-type attack, but any fairy move would knock it out in an instant, I was sure of it. Bewear could take a hit, but would he have anything for Togekiss? No, it had to be Boltund. I grabbed at her Pokéball and threw it forward with all my might.
"Boltund! Use Nuzzle!"
"Fly up high," Opal said. Boltund appeared in the air and hit the ground running. Togekiss leaned back and started to fly up, but at the critical moment, Boltund lept into the air, fur buzzing with static electricity, and making contact with Togekiss, sending sparks coursing around its body and making it drop back down to the ground as paralysis took over its body.
"Spark!" I cried, and Boltund quickly turned, slipped on the sludge, but managed to keep her footing and barrel into Togekiss again. I knew this attack would do great damage, but much like Weezing before it, it didn't seem too fazed at the super-effective hit.
"Let's give 'em the ol' razzle dazzle, then!" Opal cried, and with a quick spin of its wings, Togekiss sent a glowing surge of energy in every direction, engulfing Boltund entirely before fading away. When we could all see again, we could see both Pokémon panting, each about halfway to exhaustion.
"Use Spark again! Hit it with everything you've got, girl!" I cried, pumping my fist. Boltund barked and shot back towards Togekiss.
"Ancient Power!" Opal said with a laugh, and the mysterious blue sapphires started to circle around Togekiss again. Boltund managed to hit her mark, and when the bolts of electricity faded it was clear that Togekiss was much worse for wear, but it just didn't do enough damage. The blue orbs fired directly into Boltund, and at point blank range, she never stood a chance.
"Boltund is unable to battle!"
I winced again. In just a couple moves, the entire tide of this battle had shifted. Bewear was at a disadvantage, and Cinderace didn't have much in him after such a powerful attack, and as I mulled over my options, I noticed that Togekiss started to glow the same soft blue as the stones it was throwing about with reckless abandon.
"Nothing like a boost to your strengths to give you a second wind, wouldn't you say?" Opal cried in joy, cackling all the while. Togekiss chittered, and its usual graceful tone sounded downright severe to me instead.
"Here goes nothing. Let's go, Bewear!" I called as I threw his Pokéball out. Bewear popped out and roared in his comforting low voice.
"Dazzling Gleam again!" Opal cried.
"Zen Headbutt!" I cried. Bewear lumbered forward, managing to hop over the leftover sludge. His head started to glow purple, but he was quickly lost in yet another powerful wave of white light. I closed my eyes, almost afraid at what I would see when I opened them.
"Togekiss is unable to battle!"
My eyes snapped open, and I looked over to see Bewear limping towards me, looking to be in rough shape. Togekiss lie on a pile of sludge, completely dazed. I rushed up to Bewear and gave him a big hug. He hugged back, but his haggard breathing reminded me that even if Opal was down to her last Pokémon, it would be far from an easy victory. I saw a light flash from behind Bewear's thick pink hide, and the two of us looked to face her final Pokémon.
Up until now, every gym leader I had battled had saved their scariest Pokémon as the ace up their sleeve, but looking at Opal's Pokémon, I was surprised that she had even considered. It was tiny – only rising up to Bewear's knee and looked to be little more than a dollop of whipped cream with a face. Two candies poked out of the sides of its head like hairclips, seemingly holding some of the whipped cream as it dangled off the sides of its head.
"I can't tell if we should be relieved or terrified," I whispered to Bewear.
"Oh, my dear, you should be terrified!" Opal cackled. "Alcremie may not look like much, but us old theatre ladies love to have a showstopper for the grand finale!" She instantly recalled Alcremie and tapped the Pokéball on her brooch. At the exact moment, my Dynamax Band buzzed to life. I could see the pink aura slip out through corners of the stage. With surprising athleticism, Opal threw out the now-enlarged Pokéball, and Alcremie returned to the field, growing exponentially, almost five feet a second.
"Of course, she heard tha—are you serious?!" I yelled. Bewear and I both took three steps back as Alcremie reached its zenith, and in a flash of Dynamax energy, we got to see it in its most powerful form – a seven layered cake the size of a zeppelin. Bewear looked back over to me, with an expression of pure exhaustion and contempt at what he now had to fight, and then stepped forward again, ready to throw down with the oversized confection.
"Alright buddy, I know you won't be able to take it down, but I also know you won't go down without a fight! Zen Headbutt! Give it everything you've got!" I cried.
"Max Psystorm!" Opal screamed in delight. She seemed to get more animated with each exchange of blows.
Bewear rushed Alcremie, his head glowing with powerful psychic energy as the cake began to glow with haunting psychic aura, sugary layer by sugary layer. As Bewear jumped forward in a dive towards the bottom layer, Alcremie fired off a bright violet beam of energy, and when the two collided, the light was unbearable – just as bright as Togekiss's dazzling gleam. I could just make out the top layers of Alcremie lurch forward as Bewear made contact, but as I feared, the tower did not fall, and when the dust finally cleared, Bewear lay next to Alcremie, covered in frosting and fondant.
"Bewear is unable to battle!"
I sighed and tried to shake the despair out of my system as I recalled Bewear, but my choices were bleak. Either send in a Vibrava who wouldn't make it through one fairy attack or send in a weakened Cinderace and likely go down to one attack as well. I shook the nerves out of each limb of my body and made my choice, grabbing Cinderace's Pokéball and tapping it to my Dynamax Bracelet. Dynamax Energy swirled around me and into Cinderace's Pokéball, and it started to swell in my hands.
"Come on, Cinderace, I believe in you! Max Flare!" I shouted, hurling the giant Pokéball forward as hard as I could.
"Alcremie, I think it's time for the Finale! So…G-Max Finale!" Opal chortled. The frosting flew off of the tops of each layer and started whipping about the Pokémon as Cinderace exploded back onto the stage in his Dynamaxed form. He roared with purpose, and though he had only been out of the battle for a few short minutes, he did look a little rested. Immediately, fire began to spin around Cinderace, much like the frosting around Alcremie, and soon it congealed into a mighty inferno. With a swift kicking motion, Cinderace launched the fire directly at Alcremie, just as Alcremie started shooting daggers of frosting at Cinderace. Both Pokémon scored direct hits, and the Dynamax energy exploded around the two, casting the brightest flash of white light yet, one that felt like it was searing the edges of my eyebrows. I had to hold my arms up to cover my face from the light and heat, but eventually that light too began to dim. At first, I couldn't see anything but shapes, but as my vision cleared, I came to see the harsh truth just as the woman in black made the call.
"Cinderace is unable to battle. Gym Leader Opal wins!"
"No…" I muttered. I felt my knees start to buckle as I shakily jogged to the center stage. "No no no no no no…"
Alcremie quickly started to shrink, wobbly on its sugary feet as well. In my peripheral vision I saw it dissipate into red particles as Opal recalled it, but I was much more focused on the Pokémon lying in front of me. I hopped over remnants of sludge and frosting before skidding to a halt next to Cinderace.
"Cinderace, buddy, are you alright? I'm so sorry," I said. I could feel tears welling in my eyes and I forced them back. Sure, Cinderace had been knocked out of battle before, but he looked to be in very rough shape this time. I knelt next to him and rolled him around, so he was on his back. He opened his eyes and looked at me, giving me a chirp to signify that he'd be alright, and the waterworks finally started to flow. I pulled him in next to me and allowed myself to cry, while Cinderace meekly patted me on the back. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," I repeated to him. "I knew you were weak from battling Togekiss; I should've let Vibrava try, I'm so sorry…"
"My dear," I heard Opal say. "He'll be quite alright. He's a very strong Pokémon." She reached out a hand to me and helped me up.
I returned Cinderace to his Pokéball and sniffed. "Sorry, I…I don't know what came over me," I said apologetically, wiping my eyes.
"My dear, you should never apologise for loving your partner Pokémon. It was a fine battle, and your whole team fought valiantly."
"Th-thanks," I said, wiping the last of my tears away. "You were incredible, Opal."
"There's a reason this old bat has been in the director's seat for so long," she said with a chuckle. "Now, your friends are outside waiting to see you, and I'm sure they'll still support you even though you lost to little old me. Kristy here will clean up the best she can—"
"Could you please use a little less sludge for once?" the woman in black yelled, already heading toward a mop bucket at the edge of the theatre.
"—and then I will call in the next of your friends to destroy in battle. Perhaps our friend Marnie. She could be knocked down a peg or two, wouldn't you think?"
I laughed. "Don't get used to this, Opal. Next time it's going to be me consoling you."
"Already preparing for the callback, hm?" Opal asked. "Very pink of you, my dear. Your father said the same thing many years ago. Of course, he was wrong three times in a row, but you, I think you may be different."
"You think so?"
"I know so. And I know he'd be proud to see you battle the way you do and will be even when I beat you next time." With that, Opal winked, and gestured toward the stairs. I'd be walking back out alone. I took a deep breath and walked to the back of the house; head held high.
A/N: Fun fact about Gigantamax Alcremie...I had no idea what it looked like until I played through the game and spent an entire minute just laughing at the absurdity of battling a massive cake. A+ Gym all around, Game Freak, one of my favorites purely for the absurdity of it all.
So I had always planned to have Gloria lose one of her later gym battles, and I decided on her losing to Opal early on so the next few chapters could be [REASONS REDACTED]. Part of this was previously mentioned and redacted plot reasons, part because I wanted to have some extra time writing Opal from the very beginning, but mostly I knew I needed to show just how much harder these future battles would be - Gloria's been on a massive winning streak and even the best lose sometimes (well, not Leon...yet). I also really wanted to play with the idea of Opal being a true old-school gym leader, and modeled her gym battle off of the classic Pokemon gym style (minus gym trainers because they don't really work as well in writing as they do in video games). I think I did ok here! Better than Gloria at any rate...but don't worry, she's got her second chance coming up, but first...
NEXT WEEK: THE CALM BEFORE