An hour later, dad (aka the fifth gym leader, Norman Maple) and I stood at opposite sides of the gym. My determined expression replaced the sniffling/ pouty one I wore earlier. All the anxiety that nearly suffocated me melted away as a pokeball was readied in my hand. On the other side, my father stood perfectly still with an arm firmly behind his back and the other gripping his Pokémon ball.

"As you are aware of so far, the gym leaders you have or will encounter fight at the level according to their opponent. Mostly an even fight that makes a balanced system in which every region has adapted to forge a better relationship between a trainer and their Pokémon whether they win or lose," while keeping his gaze trained on me. The atmosphere of the gym started to feel heavy. This is the part where he would turn ruthless in every battle I watched him participate in.

"However, I will do no such thing,"

...Uh, what?

It took me a second to take in that statement before a shocked reaction occurred. "Hang on! That's not fair! What about the rules?!" I protested with my sorta angry face out again. From that question, a grim chuckle came out of my dad.

"To that May Maple, I say: Screw the rules; I'm a gym leader,"

He turned around for a moment to stare out at the window and let out a sigh. "How long has it been since that gang of atrocious scum in Johto dissolved? Eight, maybe nine years ago? And before that time, how many people opposed them?"

"...Am I supposed t-"

"One. One person did. Just a single person alongside the Pokémon defied those animals and chased them out of the region. But if that single person never existed, things would certainly be different for us wouldn't they?"

Man, had dad really been fixated on that part of our lives that whole time? Of course, it was because of Team Rocket that I held a special hatred for thugs like them, but he carried something that over to his job. For him, it was a very unpleasant time. Mom and I certainly experienced it, but not as much as he did.

Dad turned around to face me again with a stern look. "I have no desire to let those unwilling to fight with all their spirit earn their rite of passage! In this gym, I will do everything in my power to break you as a real threat would! Dare to defy me, May Maple! And dare to overthrow your obstacle!"

With that, he threw his pokeball with enormous ferocity. I in turn followed suit. "Go skitty!" I shouted as the ball bounced on the floor. Out came my cat Pokémon as my dad's slakoth manifested.

Wait, did he just put out a slakoth?

I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but after rubbing them several times, he indeed sent out the lazy animal on the battlefield. The thing looked like it was about to fall asleep. Way to let me down after a cool speech, dad. This was going to be a clean-up job. "Skitty, use play rough," I said in an almost dull voice.

It took her a moment to figure out that she wasn't even at a Contest Spectacular and in the middle of a battle upon seeing the thing. Skitty went ahead and unleashed her playful fury on the foe with a torrent of scratches and bites. As expected, the slakoth couldn't handle the adorable, cute power and fainted. In the end, my father (Norman Maple) had turned out to be disappointingly easy.

At least, that's what I would have said if it turned out that way.

Instead, there was a terrible silence for a moment when his gaze suddenly felt like it pierced right into my soul as he studied me. *shudders* Why does he always have to act so creepy and scary?

He withdrew slakoth while skitty licked her paws and took out another pokeball. "Go vigoroth!" He shouted and threw the device. Before it even touched the ground,a bright light poured out and took shape. The second Pokémon my father summoned towered over the small kitten with a face that was a ferocious as my father's when in his fury. The beast was covered with snow white fur with a red tuft of hair sitting on top of his head. This guy also had sturdy looking arms that had very sharp claws attached to them. From guessing the name, vigoroth was the next form from slakoth. Yeah, I should have seen this coming.

"Vigoroth! Retaliate!"

Skitty heard the other trainer's command, but had no time to dodge. The vigoroth quickly swiped its claws against my pink cat; basically slapping it to the left side wall of the gym. The speed and impact of it cracked the wooden wall boards. Good arceus! Skitty!

I ripped off my socks and high-tailed it towards my injured battle partner. However, the sudden movement must had spooked the opposing Pokémon, because it flinched, then got angry and came at me with its sharp claws. Caught by surprise, the only response I could answer back with, was a deer-in-the-headlights expression while being frozen in place.

Just as I was about to be shredded to ribbons, a slim, wooden object whizzed past me to block the vicious normal-type's assault. I stumbled back from the close brush with death and regained my focus to see the object turn out to be my dad's kendo sword now stuck in the wall. I quickly scrambled back on my feet and backed away when my father's voice shouted with much frustration.

"Foolish girl! Think before you do something that idiotic again! Haven't I taught you anything?!"

Very obviously, my father's words had stung my chest, but he was right. Who knows what could have happened if he didn't interfere. Reluctantly, I nodded my head in understanding.

Back to the battle, skitty fell weakly from the wall with a trembling body and sad mewl; trying to recover from the attack. It was my turn, but what should I do?! I had a couple of soda bottles and lemonades to use, but what good would that do if it hits like that again? The decision was hard to make, but I chose to press on and get in as much damage as possible. Forgive me skitty!

"Use your disarming voice!"

My pink, little cat shook her head and let out a piercing shout that echoed off the walls; amplifying the noise of her voice to hurt the vigoroth. The strange creature screeched angrily and aimed to swipe at skitty once more. This time, she flattened herself on the floor to duck. Instead of hitting its target, the vigoroth only got the unseen atoms that made up the air while landing in front of my battle partner.

"Now skitty! Jump on his back!"

"Behind you vigoroth! Get out of the way!"

Hah! Too late dad!

Skitty was too quick as she latched onto the animal with her sharp claws acting as a grip. Without waiting for my command, skitty bit into the opponent's back where the shoulder bone was. The vigoroth screamed in pain and tried to grab he small cat and pull her off. Unfortunately for him, his arms weren't long enough.

Alright! Looks like I had the upper hand now! While it was very enjoyable to see the tables turned, it was better if the fight ended as soon as possible. "Okay skitty, use your disarming voice once again! Let's finish this!" I shouted with barely contained excitement.

The small cat Pokémon mewled in understanding and clung on tighter to unleash her powerful voice; right when the vigoroth suddenly fell on its back...did that just happen?

"...GOOD ARCEUS! SKITTY!"

When my brain realized what just happened, I completely bursted out with that comment and clutched my hair. That...THAT STUPID WHATEVER-IT-WAS! When the vigoroth got back up, my skitty was lying on the floor; out cold. There was nothing more I could do but withdraw her. And so, that's just what I did and got out dustox's ball. No more nice Maple!

"Go dustox!"

I threw the ball out in the air and brought out the lovable moth. Vigoroth readied himself to face the flying opponent. Alright, lets see how much of a warmonger you are after I poison you.

"Okay dustox, poison the monkey!"

The bug-type let out a cry in confirmation and started to beat his wings faster that it normally would. From the action, purple dust began to fall over the normal-type. Unaware of the danger, it inhaled the dust and started to look sick. I took a quick glance at my dad to see what kind of reaction he would give. Despite to my anticipation, he remained glued to the fight with more intensity than required. Occasionally, though, he would meet his gaze with mine; having the same, burning expression.

"Vigoroth! Slash your opponent down!"

The strange mammal started to jump up furiously with its claws taking the air. The toxic that had been inflicted on the vigoroth began to take its toll, but my moth couldn't stay in flight forever. Already she was losing steam after using that attack that ate up most of her flight stamina. No to mention, dustox was maneuvering around very quickly to avoid getting-"Guuuu!"

My poor battle partner cried put in pain as one of the vigoroth's swiped hit her underbelly. It wasn't as worse as it could have been, but it was enough to make her fall with the shock of pain. That was her limit and she collapsed forward in defeat. Dam it! Already?! I hoped that she'd stay active a little longer, but it was clear that she was still inexperienced.

As I pulled her back into the ball, my mind began to turn the wheels inside in an effort to out who I would send out next. Well, it was a trying task because my dad always saved his best for last. After standing there for a minute, I picked out another pokeball and through it out into the wooden arena.

"Go Mightyena!"

My large, wolf-like creature came out showing a mouthful of teeth and ready to take a bite out of anything that resembled any targets or a shoe. She saw the vigoroth straight ahead, but wisely kept her distance."Alright mightyena, take a bite outta him!" I commanded while pointing to the foe. That was all that had to be said as she understood the order and dashed up to the weakening vigoroth. Naturally, it strode to keep my dark-type at bay with its claws and intimidating demeanor. Thankfully, it was to little effect as mightyena jumped forward and clamped onto vigoroth's leg; forcing it to fall on its back.

The Pokémon impacted head first roughly on the ground and made the floor crack in the process. With mightyena's assault combined with dustox's poison, the foe's energy was finally starting to give out. Sweet! Time to deliver the finishing blow: Team Maple style! "Mightyena! Hit him with all you've got with your rock smashing technique!"

"Vigoroth! Get up! Stop your opponent!"

My dad's Pokémon tried to repel mine, but it was simply inevitable. She unlatched her jaw from his leg and got up on the strange animal's torso. Without any hesitation, mightyena rammed her skull into his forehead with as much power as she could muster into it. At that second, the struggling stopped and the strange monkey animal laid there in fainted defeat.

The heart that took residence in my chest heated feverently from the second victory being won. I was shaking from the adrenaline being pumped into my bloodstream. Only two more Pokémon to fight. Just two more and that badge was as good as mine.

Dad wordlessly withdrew his fainted vigoroth and traded it for another ball in his belt.

"Go swellow!"

He threw the pokeball and it exploded to reveal a great bird of red and blue. Its wings stretched out to a long, huge length that nearly matched how tall I was. The beak was magnificently polished with a razor sharp point. The talons on its feet were wickedly curved for obvious reasons.

While it had alot of dangerous features, the scariest were its eyes. The seemingly calm gaze that reflected everything in the room hid a hazardous intellect. From personal experience in my travels, I knew birds were clever creatures. Pelipper somehow found ways to distract me while she snuck large portions of of my food. While most of my party was guilty for commuting such a crime, the blue and white bird had been the most stealthiest. Chirpie used another tactic; and it was despicable.

When the two of us walked past a shop and saw something he liked, Chirpie squawked/chirped loudly to get my attention. When that was accomplished, he would gesture at the item and then the price tag (which half the time wasn't worth the expense). If I denied the request, he would make this downcast look, glance at me briefly to see if I was looking and squawk/chirp sullenly. He would keep this up even after we left the shop! I would normally keep my resistance for about an hour or two before I caved and promised him something better when we got to the next town or city. Its a wonder I'm not broke yet.

Back to the battle, the large swellow gracefully landed on the field and waited patiently for its foe to make its first move. It was hard to hold back a shiver as the bird's gaze was akin to my father's; this Pokémon really suited him. But no matter what I felt, putting mightyena in battle turned out to be a good thing after all. My dark-type had a special move that held a great advantage over flying-types.

"Use your ice fangs, mightyena! Don't let up until its down!

The beast barked in agreement and leaped into a run. Her breath started to become visible as she prepared for the assault. This is when I looked up to the swellow as it stretched up its head a little. It would seem that my dad trained it to have little command like vigoroth; if not at all.

Mightyena was now close enough and jumped again to take a bite out of the normal/flying-type's wing, when the swellow effortlessly moved out of the way and drove its beak straight down into my battle partner's head. I cringed and held my own, for there was no doubt that the pain must have been excruciating beyond measure. My poor girl let out a yelp and fell to the floor beneath the large bird. Shit, shit, shit! That wasn't supposed to happen! That scenario in my head played out completely different to what I just witnessed!

As my Pokémon was still on the floor trying to recover, dad's swellow went ahead to take the initiative to sink its talons into her and stretch out its wings. "Come on girl! Get up!" I exclaimed as swellow started to flap up into the air. Unfortunately, it was useless to try and use any pep talk. I couldn't even call her back to restore stamina!

When the two were high enough, the terrifying fowl flew straight at me with mightyena in tow. I was trying to hold out my arms in a desperate attempt to catch her, but it sped past me and dropped her against the heavy wood of the entrance doors.

And that was the end of that battle. My anxiety spiked back up again; worse than before. My fingers trembled while getting a good grip on my pokeball with a sweaty hold. What was I gonna do now?! I'm down by three and there was only one with an effective type match up! That vigoroth took down two of my Pokémon and my father's swellow finished off one with just two attacks! Think May! Think!...uh...metang! I'll go with metang!

My hand shook violently as I withdrew mightyena and pulled out my fourth Pokémon.

"Come out metang!"

In an instant, the ball opened up in my hand and out came a concentration of light that formed the metal being. The reason why I chose it was because of the fact that was part steel. That and the fact that it would be too heavy to carry off. Thankfully, there were enough badges to prove my superiority over the creature of metal; commanding it would be a cinch. "Alright metang! Use your confusion against that swellow!" I commanded with urgency.

Metang immediately understood the order and put its arms together in concentration. Swellow swiftly flew out of the way; letting the attack hit and maim the wood off the wall. In the meanwhile, my father furrowed his brows in thought for a minute before issuing a command to his bird.

"Use your wing attack!"

The large fowl screeched loudly and swooped over to the machine. With a heavy swipe of its wings, swellow unleashed a massive torrent of air that knocked metang back into one of the already damaged walls. How the hell did that work?! My Pokémon was bonified steel! There was no way that shou-oh my giratira, I just realized my mistake. While metang was a steel-type, it was also part esper; a type that was weak against flying ones. Ultimately, it had been a stupid mistake to send out.

AUUUUUUUGH! What do I do now?! I could switch it out, but then a turn would be lost and that could spell my downfall! Probably the most effective thing to do would be to stick with steel-type attacks. "Metang!" I exclaimed while my voice dripped with anxiety. "Get close to your target and use your head to hit him as much as you can!"

Though my Pokémon took a bad hit, it shook itself briefly and speedily hovered over to the normal/flying-type. The swellow moved, but not as quick as it wanted when metang slammed its head into the bird's body. He lost his focus on controlling his wings and was rammed back into yet another wall in what seemed as an act of vengeance. YEAH! That's right! Fear the wrath of Team Maple!

Despite that comeback, I didn't let the victory go to my head; he wasn't down yet! Back over by the wall, dad and I could see metang hitting his hard head against a now furious, struggling swellow. His great wings were flapping wildly trying to escape the released body punching made from the steel/esper-type's head.

"It's all you metang! Keep it up!"

Thankfully, it didn't spend a second to look back and nod in understanding; it only started to pick up the pace and put in more effort to it's head-banging. Meanwhile, the wall behind swellow splintered and broke into pieces as he sunk more into it. I felt like crying from seeing how far metang came from first meeting me. While there was no end to the annoyance from whenever it ignored my orders, it was finally understood that it did it out of its love for me and assumed that it had a better course of action.

Suddenly, the swellow's talons seized both of metang's arms and split them apart. Before I could realize what was happening, dad's swellow drove it's beak onto it's head the second it was caught in bewilderment and exposed. Seeing as how pecking was a flying-type move, it didn't come as a surprise when I saw my battle partner jerk back in pain. As a result, swellow was able to get some breathing room; which the bird quickly took advantage of. He forced himself out of the wall and pushed metang into the ground. Now that it was stuck, swellow pecked at it relentlessly.

I wanted so badly to shoo away that bird and rescue my poor metang. To rub its head and tell it that everything was gonna be okay. My face was flushed with tears that threatened to come out. The only thing that prevented them from starting to get wet was my battle with Maxie. If that shallow nerd wasn't going to give me pity, then I'd doubt dad would treat me any different.

"HYUUUUUN!"

I put my focus back on the battle just in time to see metang let out a defeated sound and faint. The swellow finally let go and flew back while eyeing me with a terrible sense of pride from his accomplishment. Not this time! I wasn't going to get discouraged again! "Come back metang!" I shouted and withdrew my Pokémon.

Hm, two battle patterns left. Well, Chirpie was gonna be my trumph card, so that leaves...

"Go pelipper!"

With a hard throw of my arm, the pokeball was released from my hand and sailed into the air. Within moments, it opened up with a familiar blue and white pelican-like bird touching down on the floor. I also thought it would be fitting to see who's bird was better. Swellow may be swift and scary, but pelipper was sturdy and...super!

My father was probably getting the same idea upon seeing the water/flying-type, for an evil smile (he constantly fails at making non-threatening facial expressions) spread across his face. My water bird in question groomed her feathers for a second before laying her focus on her normal, disciplined counterpart. Time for a bird fight!

"Pelipper! Go get em'!"

Upon hearing what I commanded, she started flapping her wings and lifted her great body from the floor to make her way towards the large swellow. This time, her opponent didn't wait; he immediately went straight for the target with sharp talons eagerly stretched out. Gotta make sure I don't screw this up. Steady...steady...NOW!

"USE YOUR AERIAL ACE!"

Pelipper narrowed her eyes and heavily swiped her wing against swellow's face. The target's head was flung back from the hit and wildly flapped its wings to stay in mid flight. "Now hit em' hard with your hurricane!" I exclaimed to take advantage of the situation. Immediately, the water fowl of mine heeded my words and started to circle the opponent. As she did this, wind began to whirl around within the spinning radius. The swellow eventually recovered, but by the time that happened, he was already trapped inside an inescapable vortex of wind. Meanwhile, the glass of the large window couldn't take the strong suctioning power and broke before (along with other pieces of debris) getting sucked in. As for dad and I:

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Well dad was fine as he managed to use one of the window's now empty decorate squares to hang onto. I even found something as well: Dad's kendo sword that was still wedged into the wall while screaming uncontrollably. Not one of my proudest moments while coming up with a cool plan.

When the hurricane was at its peak, swellow was shot up only to bang against the ceiling before the attack lost its form and let the normal/ flying-type crash into the ground. OOOH YEAH! Who's Bad?! She's bad! You just got pelipper'd! Where's your fancy talons and sharp beak no-oh shit he's getting up.

Although significantly weakened and bruised it seemed that he still had a little willpower left; let's fix that. Pelipper swooped down at her foe. Dad's swellow shot up with all his might and pointed his beak towards my bird. As the two flew closer towards each other, something went off in my brain with epiphany.

"Pelipper...hold him in your mouth!"

"Swellow, stay back!" My father shouted after hearing my order, but it was too late. Pelipper opened her large bill and engulfed the fearsome bird. Of course, he fought the new prison and caused discomfort for my Pokémon, but she kept a tight lid as best as she could.

"Good job! Now spit em' out with your water gun!"

Dad and I watched as the large pelican's gular* inflated with water. In seconds, launched a forceful spray out and through the shattered window; making swellow slam against the Sakura tree. That attack certainly did the trick as the mighty bird slid down in defeat.

Dad suddenly had a frustrated / puzzling look crossing his features and turned away to retrieve his Pokémon. While he was a gym leader, it would be a lie to say that he didn't want to make his team grow too. Its easy to forget that people with this kind title are also just like regular trainers; hate experiencing losses, calculated which strategy was better and over all did what was best for the team. Other than the fact that gym leaders had a bunch of minion trainers and a fancy domain, they were just like us.

Pelipper flew towards me and nuzzled the side of her head before staring at me with her old fashion cartoony eyes. Naturally, I couldn't resist such adorableness and bent down to her so I could bestow a head ruffle on her feathery noggin. My bird let out a strange, relaxed sound in return while moving her head around to make sure I got every spot. A few minutes in, my dad came back to the battlefield with his last pokeball in hand.

"You have done well to make it this far, but how long before you run out of strength to continue?! This is your final test! Come out slaking!"

With that, he flung the last pokeball into the field, where it landed to open and manifested a large, lax looking beast. It was laying on its side in a comfortable position while giving out a small yawn. This Pokémon had a furry white head with a slightly fuzzy tan face and belly with its limbs and back having a warm chocolate-colored fur. Strangely enough, its big, pink nose and bored looking face had made it out to be more lazy than intimidating. While I was tempted to voice how anti-climactic it felt, I had to keep in mind that this was dad who owned that strange Pokémon. Otherwise, the beast would have caused me to spasm on the floor with laughter.

"Pelipper lets finish this in one go! Use your aerial ace!"

The water /flying-type flew right at the slaking's huge stomach and hit it as hard as she could with her right wing. The attack most certainly connected, but wasn't very effective. Slaking merely dusted off the barely affected area and remained where it was. My brows tensed at the giant's aloofness. Pelipper aimed for the same area but went a little further back before launching the assault to gain more traction. Sadly the boost only affected the giant ape by only a little. Even pelipper was becoming annoyed with the situation. Speaking of which, slaking suddenly laid down on the broken floor. Good arceus! Was dad trying to annoy me into defeat?! Losing my patience, I shouted out another command.

"Hit that thing with all you've got!"

My water fowl came down upon the soaking and released multiple sprays of water at the foe. Just like all the attacks however, it did little next to nothing besides make it all squeaky clean. Pelipper then got bold and landed on top of the creature so she could look for weak spots. This was when the normal-type let out a great yawn. For some reason, seeing him do that incited me to yawn myself. Pelipper had also done the same and began to look drowsy. It took several seconds to widen my eyes in realization: That was an attack! Shit! The flute! Get the flute!

I fumbled with my things while fighting sleep. Several minutes of desperate rummaging yielded me to feel the familiar object against my fingers. Awesome! Time for a little Wake up-wait, wrong flute. My tired features furrowed upon finding that it wasn't the desired item.

But by the time the blue flute was found, pelipper was already tipping forward in a deep sleep. This was the part where I was unpleasantly surprised again. Before I could blow a sharp note into the thing, my father acted first.

"Slaking! Retaliate!"

The seemingly lazy beast was about to fall asleep, when it heard the command. It slowly raised up a beefy fist and slugged pelipper with a large amount of force. My Pokémon was hit back at a high speed and went right through the wall that held the outside beyond it. "PELIPPER!" I screamed with my heart nearly stopping. My instincts alerted me to move my legs in a run towards the injured battle partner, but a mental reminder of a few battles ago told me otherwise.

When the dust cleared, all we could see was a blue and white pelican-like creature in a knocked out daze. She was down for sure. Now the only Pokémon I had left was Chirpie. The fact that I was down by all but one got me nervous; and yet, there was also this shaky feeling of excitement. This was the final battle. Which ones of our strongest would come out victorious?

I quickly withdrew pelipper and put her back on my belt so I could take out my last Pokémon.

Alright, here we go.

"Goooooo Chirpie! I know you can do it!"

The device was thrown from my hand and landed perfectly in the battlefield. Light poured out and took shape of the tall firebird. When he finished forming, Chirpie immediately took an offensive stance and prepared for battle.

I stood behind my battle partner with my eyes on dad just as his eyes were on me. His intimidation was daunting, but he won't tower over me this time! "Okay Chirpie, beat him hard with your sky uppercut! Don't let it have any room to think!" I commanded at the top of my lungs. Chirpie himself didn't need to nod to acknowledge my demand; we both had a mutual understanding of the situation and how we were going to fix it. The fire-fighter pushed off with his powerful legs and lunged for slaking.

"Slaking! Stop him with your hammer arm!"

The large normal-type shifted slightly to raise his powerful fist as Chirpie sped forward. When they were in a close enough proximity; it brought the appendage down with every intention to crush its foe. Oh no!

"Chirpie- GRAAAAAAOOOOOH!"

Those last few seconds were too quick for my brain to process, but when I became aware of it, the scene revealed itself with my firebird holding up the giant ape's fist with one taloned hand and the other formed into a three-taloned fist of his own as it buried itself into the slaking's chin. Just as ordered, Chirpie cocked back his arm before landing in another uppercut with more force than the previous one. When the third one hit, the slaking was rolling back and went right through the shattered window; breaking the thing entirely.

Dust with the combination of debris kicked up in the air and filled the broken gym. I squinted my eyes ahead of me where the beast was sent. It was silent for a minute or two when I started to hear movement. When my sight started to see the air clear, a huge silhouette started to rise behind my father. If I didn't know what it was, I would have been creeped the fuck out.

Sure enough, when everything settled, dad's enormous slaking was now standing upright with its eyes alight with rage. There was no way we going to stand around to see those negative emotions unleashed. Chirpie sprinted towards his opponent and aimed to give it another sky uppercut. When he got closer, slaking's hands immediately came together to slap both sides of Chirpie's head.

Oh Shit!

There was no doubt in my mind that it hurt like hell; I was holding my face from just seeing it. "Keep it together Chirpie!" I shouted while trying to keep cool myself. However, no amount of screaming or shouting would prepare me for what came next.

After that terrible hit, the normal-type leaned forward and crushed my fire-fighter underneath it's massive, fleshy body. My eyes widened with absolute terror. W-what just happened?! This can't be right! Chirpie's a fighter! There's no way he could be done in by something as simple as that!

I fell to my knees as my brain tried to comprehend a large slaking flattening my Pokémon as a symbol of Team Maple's defeat. No! I don't want to accept this!

"COME ON CHIRPIE! GET UP! YOU GOTTA!"

"Enough. You fought well, but it seems that you're not ready to face me yet,"

Fucking easy for him to say! He's not the one filled with hopes and dreams! I could feel my chest tighten with suffocating pain. I knew it wasn't mature to get all broken up about it, but this was a battle with my father. Its kind of a big deal when you lose to someone you've been training especially hard to surpass.

My dad took out his pokeball and aimed it at the now sleepy slaking. " Slaking, return!" He shouted as the red light shot out to surround the beast.

The animal started to merge with the light, but then it suddenly stopped and dissipated. Dad furrowed his brows in confusion and examined the ball for a moment before trying again. Once again, the light surrounded it, but broke off and dissolved. Did his pokeball break or something?

Suddenly, slaking's body started to slowly rise off the ground. I could hardly believe what I was seeing but my heart swelled with hope and gladness as Chirpie was now staring at me with a determined look while holding the giant ape above his head. He was also jerking his head to the side for some reas-oh, time to move!

I quickly got out of the way to give Chripie some space. Within seconds, he gathered up his strength and threw the slaking as hard as he could. The normal-type sailed through the air and broke the heavy wooden doors in the process. While that was a flawlessly awesome attack, Chirpie wasn't done yet.

In the next instant, Chirpie's leg bursted into a glowing orange flame. Wow, he looked so cool; which made me look cool at the same time. Then he broke into a run that left small flames for every step he took using his left leg. My eyes were super big at this point to capture every little detail. Almost like if you were walking on a trapeze wire and hoped that the tiniest thing wouldn't screw you over.

Once Chirpie got close enough, he leapt into the air. When he got high enough and gravity started to push him down, the fire-fighter thrusted out his flaming leg to aim for it's stomach. In the next second, part of the gym exploded into flames and huge chunks of debris along with dad and I were sent flying back from the force of impact. Outside, part of the gym's roof combusted with a stream of fire shooting several feet up into the sky.

*Continued in chapter 24*

*Gular: is of or pertaining to the throat, and may more specifically refer to:

-Gular skin, or gular sac, in birds and some gibbons and fictional species.