A/N Hey everyone, Celestial Here, I'm going to be bringing you a double post tonight, with the edited versions of Chapter 17 and 18, which were previously Chapter 16 and 17. Since I rewrote Chapter 16, the story is perfectly on track, so I have been able to continue. I might write some new stuff for it if I get through this wave of writers block, if not then I'll post the chapters I didn't get to last time...hope you all like this.
Pokemon XY
Legends of Kalos
Chapter 17
Alex vs Grant
It had been a rather long night for Alex. After making it back into town with the injured Sylveon, he didn't exactly do anything. He just sat there waiting for Nurse Joy to give him some news. Musashi stood by him as well, with the rest of his Pokemon. Everyone had been concerned for its well being, especially seeing how injured the Pokemon had been. Finally, after awhile the exhausted nurse came out, letting them know the condition of the Pokemon.
Even with all of his worry, his friends had convinced him to do something to pass the time. Musashi had reminded him about his battle and he decided to take on the gym. It would ease his mind a bit, and would allow Sylveon to heal enough for him to visit it later. So he and his friends left early, heading toward the Gym. He looked on, eyeing the Pokemon League crest above the cavern entrance that served as the gym. Behind him was Zera, along with Yvonne and Musashi who had tagged along with him. He fixed his beanie a bit, and straightened himself up, but he knew he was doing that to distract his nervous self.
"So, are you ready to go in or are you just gonna stand there staring?" Yvonne asked. He chuckled a bit, giving her a nod.
"Don't worry, I'm just steeling my nerves. I think I'm ready." he said firmly.
Taking a deep breath, he started walking toward the entrance, passing through the open doors just after the cavern entrance. His eyes widened when he saw the inside of the gym. True to Musashi's word, there was a large cliff, spanning several hundred feet high. Differently colored rock climbing walls were placed at various points on the large cliff. There was even a natural flowing waterfall behind it. The stands for the gym were high above the waves, level with the battlefield which was at the top of the cliff. Alex looked around, spotting a young man slowly making his way up the cliff side.
He had dark skin, and was wearing a long black sleeve shirt, along with a pair of short gray pants, and brown climbing shoes. He was wearing a harness around his waist, which held a small bucket on it, filled with climbing clamps and ropes. His black hair was styled in a weird upward afro, decorated with a few colored stones. He looked down, a smile on his face.
"A new challenger? Welcome to the Cyllage city Gym, my name is Grant, pleasure to meet you." the man said.
"Hi Grant, remember me?" Zera called out, waving her arms around.
"Ah yes, the girl who beat me with her fiery Fire types, and Musashi as well, welcome back. Couldn't get enough of my climbing wall?" he asked.
"Actually, I had enough of it. I don't want to die." Musashi said.
"It's nice to meet you Grant...my name is Alex. I'll be the challenger today." he said confidently. The man nodded, looking him straight in the eye.
"Alright, I'll accept your challenge. I'll be waiting up on the battlefield, if you make it all the way up here, then we can have our battle." the man said, continuing to climb the wall.
Alex shrugged off his backpack, handing it to Yvonne who gave him a pat on the back.
"Go get him Alex, you got this." she said.
"Wish me luck girls, I'm gonna need it." he said, racing toward the blue climbing wall, it started climbing it shortly after, making his ascent to the field.
"The seats are this way, if you ladies here here to watch the battle." a young man said, leading them toward the stands.
He was actually the referee for the official gym badges. The girls followed after him, beginning their long grueling climb up the stairs, though none of them complained, seeing how much trouble Alex was already having reaching the battlefield.
"Man, this is insane." he muttered, reaching a resting spot.
He looked up, seeing that he only had around five hundred or so feet to go. The tingling in his arms started to go down a bit, but he knew it would come back as soon as he started his climb. After what felt like hours, Alex finally made it to the very top. He panted a bit, resting on his knees, looking back down, he cringed due to the height he was at. Looking back to the field, he saw that it was a generic rock type field, with several large rocks in various places. Grant was waiting at his side of the field, an amused smile on his face.
"Half an hour, that's record time. It took your friends an hour to make it up here." he said, glancing at his previous two challengers. Both of them glared back, making him chuckle nervously.
"Well, Zera and Musashi probably aren't used to climbing walls like this. Neither was I, to be honest with you. But now I'm here and I'm ready to battle." he said, quickly walking toward his box. The referee stood at the sidelines, looking at the two trainers before raising his arm up.
"The battle between Alex Winters, the challenger and the Cyllage city Gym leader Grant will now begin. Each has the use of three pokemon, and the battle will be over when either side cannot continue. Furthermore, only the challenger may substitute Pokemon. Trainers, send out your first Pokemon." the referee said, looking at both trainers.
"Onix, it's battle time." Grant said, releasing his first Pokemon.
The large rock snake pokemon roared loudly, standing tall on it's side of the field. Alex swallowed hard, reaching for his first Pokeball.
"Lily, the field is yours." he cried, releasing the Grass/Fairy type into the field.
"If both trainers are ready...the let the battle begin." the ref said, lowering his arm.
"Alright Lily, start things off with Magical leaf!" Alex cried out.
"Peti." the small pokemon cried, shaking her head vigorously.
Several glowing leaves flew at Onix, striking it's stone body. It groaned in pain from the attack, but was easily able to brush it off.
"Onix, use Slam." Grant cried out.
Onix roared loudly, lifting it's large tail as high as it could before bringing it down on Lily. The small pokemon watched it come down wide eyed, until she heard her trainer's voice.
"Dodge it, and use Stun Spore!" Alex cried.
Lily dashed to the side, completely avoiding the attack. Onix's tail cracked the ground where it had previously stood, and she mentally sighed in relief. Shaking her small body, she let out a wave of bright yellow spores that flew toward Onix's face. The Pokemon breathed them in, only to become paralyzed from the effect.
"Oh no, Onix are you alright?" Grant called out, earning a pained roar from his pokemon. He shook his head, glancing at Alex who had a smirk on his face.
"Good call on that last move, restricting our movement will benefit a pokemon like Lily quite a lot. But we still have a lot of power left in us...Onix use Rock Tomb!" Grant cried.
Onix roared loudly, summoning huge boulders seemingly from thin air, directing them all toward Lily. She cried in pain, as all the rocks ended up encasing her in a small chamber.
"Lily, are you okay?" he asked, receiving a muffled cry.
"Okay, if you can then please use Magical leaf to break free, then follow up with Giga Drain." he said.
"Onix, Iron Tail." Grant called out calmly.
Onix nodded, willing itself to move its tail. It glowed a bright metallic silver, before it plunged it through the rocks, striking the small grass type. When it removed it's tail, the rocks fell apart, revealing the unconscious Lily. Alex grit his teeth, unable to say anything.
"Lily is unable to continue, this match goes to Onix." the ref said, raising his red flag.
Onix cried loudly, celebrating its victory. Alex just looked on, unable to comprehend what had just happened. Shaking himself back to reality, he held up his fallen Pokemon's ball and recalled it, looking at it with a sad smile.
"You gave it your all. Even with all the training we did, Onix was still able to overpower us. I promise to train harder than ever, for now rest." he whispered, placing the ball back in his pocket. He looked up at Onix, who was watching him attentively.
"I'm amazed Grant, Onix is stronger than I imagined. Even with the help of a Grass Type Pokemon I wasn't able to put a dent in it." he said.
"That's the power of my rock types, we're tough to break. Show me what else you got, I promise to keep surprising you." He said. Alex nodded, withdrawing his second Pokeball, the nodded, tossing it into the air.
"Kira, the field is yours." He called out. It snapped open, releasing the Steel/Fairy type to the field. A bright sheen encompassed her body, making her glow briefly.
"A shiny Mawile, that's the second shiny I've seen this week...I think you two planned this, to throw me off a bit." Grant said with smirk, glancing to the stands where Zera was watching. She blushed a bit, looking away from him.
"I promise you, we didn't plan anything. I just got lucky was all...Kira here was abandoned by her old trainer, and I'm working toward earning her trust, and I assure you, we will win this battle." he said.
"Bring it on, and don't hold anything back." Grant said, a challenging look on his face.
Xxx
"Finally, we made it to Cyllage city!" the voice of a young trainer said, excited to finally reach the seaside city.
It had taken him and his friends two weeks to travel all the way from Lumiose city, since they had several stops along the way, but he was finally here, and ready to earn his second badge. His partner Pokemon cheered loudly.
"Pika!"
This young man was named Ash Ketchum, and he hailed from Pallet Town in the Kanto Region. He was a young man of sixteen, with spiky raven hair, hidden under a red baseball cap. He was wearing a bright blue shirt, with white lines running down the sleeves, as well as down the center of the shirt. He wore matching navy blue jeans, as well as a pair of red and white high top sneakers. He had a green, Pokeball themed backpack on his back.
His partner Pokemon, Pikachu, was sitting on his shoulder, enjoying the breeze that was coming off the ocean waves.
"Can we go to the beach big brother? It looks really pretty." a young voice called out.
This belonged to a nine year old girl, with bright lemon yellow hair. She was wearing a sleeveless black shirt, with a pair of biker shorts, with a poofy white skirt over it. She wore a pair of light pink Mary Jane shoes, and had a bright yellow satchel bag slung across her shoulder, within it was a Dedenne, an Electric/Fairy type Pokemon.
"De nene!" the small hamster like creature cried, agreeing with it's caretaker.
"Now now Bonnie, we have other things to do first before we can have fun. Remember, we have to meet up with that trainer Professor Sycamore told us about." a young yet stern voice replied.
It belonged to the girl's older brother, a tall young man, the same age as Ash. He had bright lemon yellow hair, that reached down to the nape of his neck. He was wearing a large pair of glasses, with round lenses that reflected the sunlight, hiding his bright blue eyes. He was wearing a light blue jumpsuit, with two large pockets on the sides, and bright yellow lines on the legs. He wore a pair of black converse, which were a bit worn from the constant walking. He also had a large backpack on his back, with a weird hand like object in the very center.
"Aw, but Clemont...we can at least have a quick swim."
"Later Bonnie, don't worry we'll be spending a lot of time here." Clemont replied, giving his sister a smile.
"Yeah, after all Ash and Grant have a battle scheduled, so we'll be in Cyllage city for a while." the fourth and final member of their little group said.
The voice belonged to a young woman, around fifteen years of age. She was wearing a sleeveless black shirt, with a matching red high waisted skirt, that reached down to her mid thigh. She was wearing a pair of black OTK socks that reached to her thighs, along with a pair of pink high top shoes. She was wearing a pink felt hat on her hair, her long brown hair cascaded down her back, and was kept in place with a pink head band.
"Okay Serena, but you have to promise we'll play a lot in the water." the little girl said, earning a smile from the older trainer.
"Do you think this Alex kid is at the Pokemon center?" Ash asked, looking at Clemont who fiddled with his glasses.
"He might be, Professor Sycamore said he was here to get his third gym badge. He might be around, but in this big city he'll be hard to track. We'll most likely have to wait until he gets back to the Pokemon center." he said.
"What if he already left? Then what do we do?" Serena asked.
"He wouldn't leave, the Professor told him we would be stopping here. Besides it's a special errand from Professor Oak. If I was him, I wouldn't dare turn him down." Ash said with a grin.
"What was it that he asked us to deliver again?" Bonnie asked, scratching her head.
Ash shrugged his backpack off his shoulder and opened it, pulling out a small black case. Once his backpack was back on his shoulder, he flicked it open, showing what was inside to the little girl.
Resting on a black pillow of sorts, was a beautiful Gold and Silver Pokeball, with the two letters GS printed on it. It was nicely polished, making it glow brightly in the mid morning sun. All three of his friends gasped in awe.
"Wow, why didn't you show us this before Ash?" Serena asked, a little mad that he had kept this hidden from them. He was quick to answer.
"The reason why is because this is a precious object. It isn't the first time I've had it, this device was originally being studied by Professor Ivy of the Orange Islands. It's a Pokeball that has never been opened, no one knows who made it, how to open it or if there is anything inside. It also seems to predate the current Pokeball transfer system, so it can't be transferred through the PC."
"Something like that seriously exists?" Serena asked, looking at the Pokeball with curious eyes.
"Yup, I had to hand deliver it to Professor Oak when I traveled through the Orange Islands. After he tried everything he could think of to open it, he decided to send it to a well known Pokeball maker in Azalea Town in the Johto region. We left it with him for several years, and I can only assume he wasn't able to open it." Ash said.
"Something like this must be worth a ton. Imagine the components used to make it, the mechanism, what if there's a Pokemon inside? It must be rare, legendary even...science is a wonderful thing." Clemont said, looking closely at the Pokeball.
"You are such a weirdo big brother." Bonnie said, unamused at her brother's antics.
"It's still fun to imagine what's inside it...imagine something cool, like maybe Xerneas?" Serena said.
"Who knows? Maybe a legendary Pokemon is inside it. Professor Oak spoke to Professor Sycamore about it. When he found out that there was a Pokeball Factory here in Kalos, he thought it would be a great idea to talk to the President." Ash said.
"Even if it predates the current PC system, the Pokeball Factory should have a record of every Pokeball ever created, so if it was made here in Kalos, then there should be a record of it. The Pokeball factory hasn't been around for long though, maybe around 90 years or so, and even then, not many people trusted Pokeballs when they first hit the market." Clemont said.
"Wow Clemont, I didn't think you would know so much about this sort of thing." Serena said, completely amazed with her friend. The boy smirked, a hand on his spectacles.
"Heh heh heh, the future is now thanks to science! The Pokeball factory is a modern marvel, of course I would be familiar with it. I can only imagine what kinds of machines they have there." He said, drooling a bit at the thought of the massive machinery.
"Pika." Pikachu cried, shaking his head.
"If only girls found that attractive." the little girl muttered under her breath.
"Dene?" her partner cried out in curiosity.
She only grinned, placing a finger on her lips, telling him to keep quiet. Ash took the Pokeball back from Clemont and placed it back inside the case, which he gave to Pikachu, who placed it back in his backpack.
"So, why did you keep it secret from us?" Bonnie asked.
"Yeah, don't you trust us?" Serena asked, feigning a hurt tone in her voice.
"It's not that. In the past this Pokeball has fallen into the hands of our current pain in the butt Team Rocket. As well as few other things, including a Quagsire's mouth." he said, a sheepish grin appearing on his face.
"I understand, something that special is something you need to keep under wraps, especially with the likes of Team Rocket behind us." Clemont said.
"How are those guys still employed? They suck at everything they do." Serena said.
"Not true, they build those big robots...sometimes I wonder where they get the funds for that." Ash said.
"Probably from all the jobs they take when they disguise themselves." Bonnie said, a pensive look on her face.
Finally arriving at the Pokemon center, Ash and his friends made their way in, only for the baseball hat wearing trainer to bump into another trainer.
"Oh, I'm sorry." He said, giving the teen a smile. The other teen brushed the wrinkles from his shirt.
"Watch where you are going next time buddy. You don't want to mess with me." he said, shoving the trainer aside. He was gone before any of them could say anything.
"Damn prick." Ash muttered under his breath, making sure their youngest companion didn't hear it. He shook it off, and kept walking toward the front counter.
"Did you see his eye? I think he had a Keystone in his eye socket." Clemont said, glancing back to the double doors, trying to spot the blond trainer they had just met.
"Ow, that must have hurt." Serena said.
She was trying not to imagine how the trainer got the round stone into his eye socket. She couldn't bare to picture something like that happening.
"Hi Nurse Joy, could I ask you a question?" Ash asked, gaining the Nurse's attention. She brushed the wrinkles from her apron, a bright smile on her face.
"Yes of course, how may I help you?" she asked.
"I'm looking for a trainer, his name is Alex. I'm supposed to meet up here with him, would you happen to know where he is?" he asked.
"Ah yes of course...that young man is currently at the Gym having a battle. He left rather early, and seemed to be very nervous. The poor thing had trouble sleeping last night, most likely thinking about the Pokemon he brought in." she said.
"Pokemon?" Bonnie asked curiously.
Nurse Joy had to strain herself a bit to actually see the little girl, since she was barely able to see over the counter.
"Yes, he was out training with a friend and stumbled upon an injured Sylveon. The poor thing was attacked brutally by poison type attacks, and was almost dead when he brought it to me. He and his Floette waited by those doors with his friends until I let them know it would be alright. Even then, he stayed with it all night, only sleeping a few hours." she said.
"Who would do something like that to a Pokemon?" Ash asked firmly. He was entirely sure someone had attacked, especially since he knew no Poison types lived in the area, he had actually researched the native Pokemon in search for a new team member.
"A really messed up person, I've never seeing a Sylveon out in the wild before." Clemont added, a firm look on his face.
"That's what I'm willing to bet, but I can't remember any trainers with a Sylveon in their party. Regardless, if you want to find Alex, he'll be at the gym, if your lucky, you might actually see his gym battle." she said.
"Alright, thanks Nurse Joy. Come on guys, I want to see how Grant battles, maybe I'll formulate a strategy against his pokemon." the raven haired trainer said, racing off toward the doors.
"Wait Ash, you don't even know where the Gym is." Serena cried, running after the boy, with Bonnie close behind.
"Here we go again, thanks Nurse Joy. We'll be back later!" Clemont said, racing after his little sister, huffing a bit due to the weight of his pack.
Xxx
"Aright Onix, use Rock Tomb again!"
"Kira, don't let it use that move. Use Metal Burst!"
The tired looking Mawile cried loudly, forming several silver glowing balls of light around it's body. With a firm shout she sent them forward, they glowed brightly, breaking into small pieces of shrapnel that slammed into Onix's rock body. The pokemon cried in pain before falling down onto the field, clearly unconscious.
"Onix is unable to battle, the match goes to Mawile." the referee said. Kira landed on the ground, panting a bit, almost loosing her balance. Alex smiled, patting her head.
"Nice job Kira. You battled hard out there, but this is only the beginning." Alex said.
"Wile." she replied.
She wanted to bite his hand for touching her, but she was honestly to worn out at the moment to even bother. She saw Onix turn into a red energy, being called back to it's Pokeball. Grant looked at the two, a smile on his face.
"Well, that Mawile of yours is quite strong. She was able to defend against all of our heavy attacks." Grant said.
"Thanks, we trained hard, working mostly on increasing her special defense. It's good to know our efforts are paying off." he said.
"Your training is showing, I can tell you'll get far. But if you want to continue onward, you'll have to defeat my next Pokemon, Tyrunt." he cried, throwing out his second Pokeball.
From it came a small dinosaur like Pokemon, with brownish red skin, and a collar of scales around it's neck. It had sharp looking claws, and a big jaw filled to the brim with teeth.
"Tyrunt!" it cried loudly, the roar echoing through the gyms walls.
Alex nodded to himself, pulling his Pokedex from his pocket using it to scan the new Pokemon for information.
"Tyrunt, the Royal Heir Pokemon. Living in a time 100 million years in the Past, these Pokemon have the strength to crush large objects with their jaws. If something happens that it doesn't like, it will often throw a tantrum."
"A dual Rock/Dragon type huh? Kira would be perfect to battle it." He muttered, looking down at his worn Pokemon.
She was taking deep breaths, focusing on staying standing. The poor thing was tired, especially after taking on a Pokemon as bulky as Onix. She needed to rest, so he pulled out his Pokeball, holding it up.
"Return for now Kira, I'll need you for later." he said, placing the ball back in his Pocket. He pulled a third one out, looking at it confidently.
"This will be your third Pokemon, another Fairy type I'm assuming?" Grant asked, earning a firm nod from Alex.
"Of course it's a Fairy type. Did you forget what type I train already?" he asked in a joking manner, making the man laugh.
"Honestly, I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around it. It's a nice change of pace, I like meeting vibrant trainers like you. Something tells me you would get along with the Lavarre Gym leader." He said.
"You mean Valerie? I met her a few nights ago. She's currently training one of my Pokemon, she even invited me to train under her." he said.
"Did she now? Interesting." the rock trainer said.
He had a curious look on his face. He knew his friend was always accepting apprentices, but this was the first he heard of her asking a boy to join her.
"Ugh...can you guys hurry it up? I want to check out that boutique in town, it's Thursday and their having a flash sale today." Yvonne snapped, crossing her arms in annoyance.
"Yvonne we went yesterday." Zera added.
"I know, but they weren't having a flash sale yesterday weren't they?" the honey blonde snapped, glaring at her friend.
"No need to get your panties in a twist Miss Kalos Princess, It'll be over soon." Alex said.
"Whatever, just pick up the pace." she replied.
"Fleur, the field is yours." Alex cried, sending out his newly evolved Floette. The small Fairy type twirled around in place before turning to her opponent, a firm look on her face.
"A Floette? It's been quite a while since I saw one, and such a rare color too." Grant said, earning a coo of appreciation from the small Pokemon.
"Alright, Tyrunt vs Floette...begin." the referee said.
Alex was about to call out his first move when he heard the sounds of people coming into the gym. He glanced over to the stands, hearing a lot of footsteps on the metal stairs.
"Oh no! Did we miss the start?"
"I don't think so, hurry up so I can see."
"Hold your Horseas, there's only one way up."
"Back hurting...thighs are burning!"
Alex narrowed his eyes, head tilted in curiosity at who they were. His eyes fell to the trainer with the Pikachu, he seemed familiar to him for some reason, but didn't know exactly why. The younger girl he was with almost resembled Yvonne, down to the dress they were wearing. The blond kids were obviously related, and felt really familiar too, but didn't remember from where.
"Hey Grant, hope we're not interrupting anything." the young boy with the Pikachu said.
"Not at all, we were about to start the next match everyone. Good of you to come Ash." the man said.
"Serena? Is that you?" Yvonne suddenly said, the girl wearing the pink felt hat looked up, eyes widening. She raced toward the young woman, embracing her tightly.
"Yvonne, it's been such a long time!" the girl said.
"What the hell?" Alex muttered.
"Care to explain Yvonne?" Zera asked, glancing at her friend curiously, while she was still embracing the younger girl.
"This is my cousin Serena, the one I told you about a few days ago. We haven't seen each other in years." Yvonne said happily.
"Wait...didn't you say you were from Vaniville Town?" Alex asked, glancing at his friend.
"I am."
"I'm assuming you are too right?" he continued, looking at the younger girl, who gave him a nod.
"Okay, so since you two are related and live in the same town, why didn't you...I dunno...visit each other?" he asked.
"Oh, it's a little complicated at the moment...we'll explain later." Serena said, earning a nod from Yvonne.
"Eh, whatever. Not my Mankey not my circus, Grant may we continue?" Alex asked.
"Right! You have the first move once more." the dark skinned man said.
"Fleur, start us off with Sunny Day." he cried.
Fleur cried loudly, raising her flower high above her head. She fired a single glowing gold ball of energy up into the sky, through the hole in the gym ceiling. It burst, the sun's rays becoming that much brighter. Immediately, the entire cavern had brightened up.
"Tyrunt get in close and use Crunch!" Grant cried.
"Runt." the pokemon cried, quickly dashing forward. It's maw was wide open, teeth glowing menacingly. It jumped into the air, snapping it's jaws a few times.
"Dodge it Fleur." Alex cried, urging the small pokemon to move.
With great speed, Fleur was able to move out of the way, with Tyrunt slamming into the ground where it once was. It turned around, still wanting to attack it.
"Keep it up Tyrunt." Grant said.
"Now Fleur, Solar Beam." Alex cried, a grin on his face.
"Floette Flo!" the small pokemon cried.
Holding her flower up high, after a second, she aimed it at Tyrunt, unleashing the hot glowing beam of Solar energy. It was a direct hit, with Tyrunt taking the full brunt of the impact. It cried in pain as it dug it's clawed feet into the field.
"Oh no, Tyrunt quick use Rock Tomb!" Grant said.
"Power through it Fleur, and finish things off with Fairy Wind." Alex cried.
Fleur lifted her flower as high as she could before aiming it at Tyrunt, a bright pink twister of energy being launched right at it. It tried to hang on, but was unable too and was sent flying across the field. It landed in a heap, it's tongue sticking out of its mouth.
"Tyrunt is unable to continue, this match goes to Floette." the referee said.
Alex sighed with relief, a smile on his face. Just as Fleur landed on his hand, the sunlight died down.
"Great job Fleur, it all went according to plan." he said.
"Floette."
"Wow, did you see that Solar Beam? It was awesome." Bonnie cried, eyes not tearing apart from the field.
"I thought Solar beam was an attack that needed to charge energy?" Serena said.
"Under normal circumstances yes, but when combined with the move Sunny Day, it can be launched indefinitely without needing to charge it. It was a great strategy to take out Tyrunt. And since Floette is a Fairy type, Grant was unable to use any of Tyrunt's dragon type moves as they wouldn't be effective against it. It was a bad match up from the start." Clemont said firmly.
"That Floette is strong...so this is the power of the Fairy type huh?" Ash muttered.
"Pika!" his partner added, fascinated by the small pokemon.
"I have to say, I wasn't expecting that one. I'll admit, I wasn't as prepared as I should have, Tyrunt's most powerful moves are with it's Dragon typing, and calling them out would have been useless against you." Grant said.
"Tyrunt gave it it's all, if that Crunch had landed it would have done some serious damage, especially with that Strong Jaw ability. It wouldn't have mattered if Fleur resisted the dark type or not." Alex admitted.
He was glad to have pulled off his strategy, but he didn't want to think about what would have happened should the attack have failed to hit.
"It seems we're at the climax of the battle, from here on out we'll be giving it our all, so watch out, we might just beat you." Grant said with a smile.
"We'll see about that." Alex replied, giving him a smile of his own. Seriousness washed over the gym leader's face, as he withdrew his last Pokeball.
"Amaura, it's time for battle." he called out, releasing his final Pokemon.
Amaura gave a strong cry, staring down its opponents. He could hear Serena and the other little girl fawning over the Ice/Rock types cuteness. Luckily, since he had given Yvonne her own Amaura, he happened to know some of it's possible moves. He gave Fleur a nod, and she headed back into the field.
"Amaura vs Floette...begin." the referee said.
"Fleur, let's shake it up a bit. Use Psychic."
"Flo Flo!" the small pokemon cried, using it's flower as a medium. With a loud cry, it sent a glittering blast of purple energy at the small dinosaur, who nimbly dodged it.
"Now Amaura, use Hail." Grant cried.
A cold steam flowed out of the ice crystals on Amaura's side and with a howl, it shot a grayish white ball of energy into the air. It burst, forming a dark cloud cover, small pieces of ice rained from the clouds, hitting the field. Fleur cried in pain, as the hail started to do some damage.
"Follow up with Take Down."
Amaura cried in acknowledgment and raced forward, a light blue sheen appearing on it's body. It was quickly approaching Fleur, who was eyeing the pokemon carefully.
"Dodge it Fleur, and then use Sunny Day, get rid of this hail." he said.
"Floette flo." the pokemon replied, trying to move out of the way. Amaura changed its course to match her opponent's movement, and was able to land the attack. Fleur cried in pain, as small shards of ice appeared on her skin. She hit the ground, groaning in pain.
"What the? That was a normal type attack, there's no way it did that much damage." Alex said.
"As a matter of fact, that was an ice type attack. You see, Amaura's special ability is called Refrigerate. It strengthens Normal type moves, and then turns them into Ice type moves, and since their powered up in the hail, it did double the damage. I'm surprised your Floette isn't frozen solid." Grant said, glancing at the Fairy type, who was struggling to get back into the air.
"I wasn't expecting that at all...no matter...we'll still pull off the win. Fleur use Fairy Wind." he called out.
Though she was struggling to stay afloat, the small Floette was able to whip up a fierce Fairy Wind, that sent Amaura several meters back, though the dinosaur was able to stop itself from moving by planting it's feet firmly into the ground.
"Perfect, Sunny Day." he called out.
"Amaura don't let him change the weather, use Take Down once more." Grant called out.
"Ama!"
Amaura raced forward, once again being covered in an icy blue sheen. Fleur tried to move out of the way, but was unable too as the dinosaur barreled into her. She cried in pain, slamming into a nearby rock. Due to the attack, she actually ended up freezing to the rock. The referee rose his hand high in the air.
"Floette is unable to continue, this match goes to Amaura." he called out. Alex held out his Pokeball, recalling his fallen friend into it.
"You were amazing out there Fleur, we pulled off the Sunny Day and Solar Beam combination, and you landed an attack so Amaura should be weakened down a bit. Thank you." he said, placing the pokeball back in his pocket.
"So, down to one Pokemon each. How are you liking your time here Alex?" Grant asked.
"It's been interesting, I'm learning step by step that brute strength isn't all there is to a battle, everything even the Pokemon's special abilities comes into play. I should have done more research on Amaura's special ability." he said.
"Excellent, as long as you are learning something about yourself and your Pokemon, then I know I am doing my job. Now, it's time to find out, whether you win the badge? Or you come back for a rematch. Whatever the case may be, make sure to give it your all." Grant said, with an encouraging tone in his voice.
Alex nodded, sending out his final Pokemon. Kira grit her teeth as the hail made contact with her skin, sparing a single glance at the sky, before facing her opponent.
"What pokemon is that big brother?" Bonnie said, looking at her brother.
"That Pokemon is a Mawile, a Steel/Fairy type." he said.
"Why did it glow?" She asked curiously.
"Because, that Mawile is a Shiny Pokemon." Yvonne replied with a smile. Bonnie looked back at the Mawile, not seeing anything particularly shiny about it. She looked back at the older girl, a confused look on her face.
"There's nothing shiny on its skin...it's just a light red in color." she said.
"I'll explain later." the honey blonde replied, patting the girl's head.
"Kira, this is it. Amaura is his last Pokemon, and if we defeat it, we'll gain our third badge. I'm counting on you to give it your all." he said.
"Wile, mawile maw." (Sure, just as long as you give it your all as well)
Alex's eyes widened a bit, surely he had imagined that. For a second, he felt like he had understood what she had said. Kira looked at him oddly, arms crossed. He shook his head, slapping his cheeks.
"Must be the tiredness getting to me."
"Mawile vs Amaura, begin." the referee said.
"Amaura, use Aurora Beam." Grant cried out firmly.
Amaura nodded, opening its mouth to let out a rainbow colored beam of ice. It struck Kira's maw, which she used to block the brunt of the impact. She looked back at her trainer who had a confident look on his face.
"Iron Defense." he called out.
"Wile!" she cried, focusing on the steel energy flowing within her.
Her entire body glowed a bright silver, before it turned orange, her defense stat raising a bit. She effortlessly batted away the Aurora beam, and now faced her opponent, glaring right in its eye. Amaura cried in fear, a downward flow of orange light appearing on her body.
"Looks like Intimidate strikes again." Alex said confidently.
"It seems so, but we aren't going to let that deter us from winning. Amaura, use Rock Throw!" Grant said.
Amaura dug it's tail hard into the nearby rocks, breaking them apart, effortlessly, it was able to launch several large hunks of rock at Kira, who watched them all move toward her.
"Iron Head, break them all apart." Alex cried.
"Mawile."
Kira jumped into the air, swinging her glowing maw into the oncoming rocks, shattering all of them into tiny pieces that rained down onto the field, at that moment, the clouds cleared up and the hail stopped falling. Grant grit his teeth, looking at his Pokemon.
"Amaura use Hail."
"Now Kira, use Flamethrower." Alex cried.
Knowing it was part rock, Alex figured the attack wouldn't do much, but then again it was part ice, so even if it didn't get a super effective hit, it would do some decent damage. His theory was proven wrong with the large swirling mass of fire struck that ice type, making it cry in agony from the intense heat.
Kira closed its maw, dampening the flames allowing the dinosaur to gather it's bearings. Its blue skin was scorched and red in some areas, and scratches littered it's body. The battle was also catching up to Kira, who was rapidly loosing stamina. Both trainers knew that one attack would decide the match.
"Amaura, use Blizzard." Grant cried.
"Amaura!" the ice type cried.
It expelled a large amount of ice and wind from its mouth that only seemed to grow in size. Kira crossed her arms in front of her face, the ice starting to freeze her feet to the ground. Her teeth were chattering, and even though Steel types resisted Ice, she couldn't help but hate the bitter cold.
"Kira use Flash Cannon, I know you can do it!" he cried out.
"Mawile maw wile." she cried.
She pulled her arms back, holding both of them a few inches apart. In the center of her palms, a small glowing metallic sphere started taking shape, becoming bigger and bigger until it was the size of a soft ball. With a loud cry, she brought her arms forward, releasing the attack, which took the shape of a glowing metallic beam of light.
Amaura's eyes widened in shock as it was unable to dodge the attack. It cried in pain as it took it head on, it made contact, causing a small explosion. When the smoke cleared, Amaura was lying on the ground unconscious.
"Amaura is unable to battle, Mawile wins the match. The battle and the badge goes to Alexander Winters from Ecruteak city." the referee said loudly.
Alex sighed with relief, dropping to his knees, as the tiredness and stress of the battle finally caught up to him. He didn't even notice the cheers coming from his friends. Kira walked over to her trainer, a smile on her face.
"Great Job Kira, you did excellent out there. Flash Cannon was on point wasn't it?" he asked.
"Maw." (Yup!) she said with a nod.
He heard it again, this time a little more clearly. The Pokemon in front of him looked at him oddly and shook her head, almost falling over. He put a hand on her head, a smile on his face.
"You deserve a long rest, you earned it." he said.
He held her Pokeball up returning her. He stood up, once Grant had made his way to his side of the battle, the referee was close behind, a small tray in his hands.
"Alex, you have shown me that even without a type advantage you can still pull off a win. You started off slow, but during the middle and end of our battle, you should an exceptional way of handling your Pokemon. You overcame the wall I placed before you and rose above and beyond it, and for that I award you with the Cliff Badge, congratulations." he said.
Alex bowed formally accepting the badge from the referee.
"Thank you Grant, I'll treasure this badge and this moment forever." he said.
He looked at the badge a smile on his face, it was his third one, only five more to go. He pinned it onto his vest, right below his Bug Badge.
"So, I suppose now you'll be heading over to Orseille city correct? It's the place with the nearest Gym after all." Grant said.
"Yeah, one of my friends lives there and I'm sure she wants to see the progress of my research. She asked me to raise Lily and build our bond, so we can try out Mega Evolution with her." he said.
"Hmm, I wasn't aware that Lilligant could Mega Evolve, you learn something new everyday. Fair warning, Juvia isn't a push over, she's a tough cookie to crack." he said, a smirk on his face.
"Thanks for the advice Grant, I'll be sure to train hard and give it my all." he said.
"Good luck on your future endeavors. I have a feeling that you'll make an excellent Fairy trainer, now would you like to climb down or take the fun way down?" he asked.
"Is it a fire pole? Because I don't trust myself on a fire pole." Alex said, making Grant and the referee laugh.
"No no, you get to take a Slide down. Your friends should be waiting downstairs by the exit, have fun." he said with a grin.
A sudden trap door opened up. Alex's scream of shock and terror filled his ears as the referee looked at the hole.
"You know one day the league will get enough complaints and force us to stop this." he said.
"I doubt the league cares, it's perfectly safe after all." Grant said with a shrug of his shoulders.
Alex finally made it downstairs, landing hard on his backside. He groaned in pain, hating every single moment of it. Yvonne appeared above him a grin on her face, her long honey blonde hair hung down, just barely a few inches from his face.
"So Champ in the making, how was the slide?" she asked.
"Screw you!"
"Atta boy, now you are becoming like me." she said happily, helping him onto his feet. He brushed himself off, and looked at his friend.
"Where are the others?"
"Outside waiting...come on, we have to head back to the Pokemon center." she said.
With a nod, he followed the girl out of the Gym and into the sunny Cyllage city. It was past noon now, and the sun was high in the sky as opposed to a few hours ago. Near the road that lead to town, Zera was waiting, along with the trainers that had shown up in the middle of the match. The boy with the Pikachu walked up to him, a smile on his face.
"Hey, congratulations on your win. That was an awesome fight, and your Mawile was amazing." he said.
"Pi Pikachu!" his Pikachu cried out, agreeing with his trainer.
"Uh...thanks. We trained hard really hard, and thankfully her Flash Cannon was on point." he said, a proud smile on his face.
"Before I forget, my name is Ash, and this is my partner Pikachu." he said.
"Pika!" the electric type cried.
"My name is Clemont, a pleasure to meet you." the blond boy said, fixing his glasses.
"I'm Bonnie, and this here is Dedenne." the little girl said, lifting up her bag, the small electric type cried its name in greeting, earning a small hello from Alex.
"I'm Serena, as you know I'm Yvonne's cousin." the girl said.
"It's nice to meet you all, I'm Alex...and this is Zera...I suppose you already spoke to Yvonne. Our last friend here is Musashi." he said, glancing at the white haired girl who gave them all smile.
"Wow, you're a keeper." Bonnie suddenly cried.
She dropped onto her knee in front of Musashi. The girl looked at her curiously, only to see her smile grow bigger.
"Please, take care of my brother...he definitely needs a beautiful girlfriend like you." She said.
"Wha...wha...what?" the girl stammered, a blush appearing on her face.
"Gah...dang it Bonnie, I told you to cut that out!" Clemont exclaimed.
A long arm like appendage came from his backpack, and grabbed the little girl, he scurried off, carrying her with him.
"I hope you think about it, bye." she cried, waving her arms.
"What the hell was that?" Yvonne asked curiously.
"Just our friend's sister trying to hook him up with every pretty girl she sees." Serena replied. Musashi who was still blushing turned to Alex.
"Shouldn't we get to the center? We have to check on Sylveon." she said.
"Oh that's right. Sorry guys, but I have to go. This is really important to me." he said.
"No, we'll go along with you, we heard from Nurse Joy what happened so we don't mind." Ash said.
Alex nodded, and lead the way. Even though he was happy to have won his third badge, he still had more pressing matters to attend to.