Yet Another Straw

Of course, by now, you know what would have happened. Like all humans, Roark was clinging to that string of hope that something would happen despite everything saying against it. And of course he most incredulously failed and now he had to fight a girl he regrettably is in love with. Of course, Gardenia felt the same. Fighting an enemy you regret is just as bad and dangerous a feeling and she already and her fair share of bad relationships. This was the last thing that should set her off.

Then again, both wanted to be gym leaders and they hadn't a clue which cities they were going to be posted to. So it was all fair.

"I choose you! Go Geodude!" Roark called out his rock Pokémon. "Think this is too easy... Go Turtwig!" she exclaimed as the baby turtle, rather tortoise came out. Roark snickered in fear- he was so going to die.

"This is too easy- Turtwig! Razor Leaf!" she screamed. "Dodge, Geodude and Rock Throw!" Roark retaliated. Gardenia winced- in seconds the razor leaf attack missed Geodude and the rock throw landed head first. Roark was pleased- this was a real brightener. Of course, Gardenuia had another trick. "You guys lack speed- Turtwig, Reflect and then Grass Knot!" Roark face palmed- this was a sure shot goner. "Geodude, Rock Throw again!
He yelled. Geodude attempted dodging the large flurry of knots, but failed as he tripped immediately falling flat on his face and looking like a moron.

"Ha ha! You clearly lost on that one, you know!" Gardenia taunted. Cheryl was still cheering. "Go Gradenia! You rule!" Riley sighed and said nothing until he saw Roark and spoke "I believe in you, bud!" which gave him confidence- as it is he was so shaken. Then he had an idea. Grass knot was useless per se as Geodude was rather light, only about 500 grams. Then another plan came up to him. Reflect would only heighten the damage, so he had an idea. "Geodude; levitate and use Rock Throw!" he ordered. Gardenia was confused but still ordered her pokemon to use razor leaf. Geodude went high into the air by hurling itself and then from a high point, used Rock Throw with a heightened accuracy. This kind of aerial vision helped him see the weak points and the increased potential energy would heighten the damage.

Besides, it was a normal effective hit.

This was a good hit and Gardenia was angry. Geodude though, was to pay for all those leaves hit him in seconds and well, unable to take the strain, fainted. Roark was stunned- why was his Pokémon so vulnerable to grass attacks? He would have wallowed, but did nothing at this moment. Then his smile turned crooked. "Not over yet, love. Go Onix!" he yelled as the huge rock snake came out. Gardenia was mildly intimidated by this; it was a huge snake. Still, mustering her courage, she then went and said "Turtwig, Grass Knot!" Roark was quicker "Onix, dodge, use Screech and use Rock Throw!" he yelled. Onix strangely enough was quicker and then after hitting the turtle successfully, Turtwig looked too tired to do anything until Gardenia spoke "Turtwig, Sunny Day!" Roark had to come up with a quick plan. "Alright, Onix- Steath Rock while you're at it!" he commanded. Gardenia had no idea what he was doing; she never saw this move like ever!

"Since when did pointed rock scare me, Roarky?" she taunted making him cringe in anger. "Now, Turtwig; Grass Knot!" she yelled. Roark was gulping until he remembered; screech really pushed the defence low. "Alright Onix; a last resort move; one last Rock Throw!" Onix was faster though and when the rocks hit the turtle, it immediately fainted much to Roark's delight and Gardenia's horror. The crowd was stunned- what the hell just happened? Roark hugged Onix "Good job, Onix!" while the Pokémon nuzzled it back and Flint himself let out a few tears.

"Are you crying, Flint?" Volkner asked surprised. Flint winced. "Nah Volky! Get an eyeglass prescription!" he spoke. Cynthia sighed- boys will be boys. Then it came to the next round where Roark used a potion sneakily and then letting him go, all rested. "Sunny Day isn't over yet! Come on out, Cherrim!" she yelled as Roark saw the strange pokemon who covered itself with that purple bellflower. He knew Gardenia kept grass pokemon of all kinds, but this one was plain creepy. He shuddered seeing it but suddenly when the first ray of sun hit it, its petals opened out and it transformed from a wallflower, literally to a big blossoming pink flower. "Okay." He deduced "That is still creepy." Gardenia smirked- "Either way it isn't over. Cherrim, magical leaf!" she commanded. Roark shivered- magical leaf was extremely critical and could easily take the Mickey out of Onix, but the minute he saw the cherry flower cringe in pain, he smiled; stealth rock did its trick.

"Wow! Roark is good!" Riley deduced while seeing Cheryl mildly disturbed. "Wow, Riley; I never knew Roark was so strong! What would he have done if he had flying type pokemon?" she pondered. "Roark and flying types?" Riley scoffed "He'd rather be a Metapod's lunch!" Riley laughed- he knew how much Roark disliked flying types; he found them plain weird. Although he was impressed with Roark's strategy; he clearly was being tough and not giving any concessions at all. Clever lad he was.

"Honestly Gardenia, do you not know the power of rocks, love?" Roark scoffed while raising his hands in the air "Well, you sure saw the wrong thing. Onix- Rock throw followed by another stealth rock!"Gardenia was no fool. "Cherrim, Grass Knot!" she yelled. This time, Onix had no choice. Stealth rock did work, but not without its prices. It hurt Cherrim with every movement she made, but it still wasn't enough as much as confusion or poisoning. Then he was just about to execute his next move when Cherrim set out the huge trap of knots onto the huge snake and he toppled down in an instant, making him roar, much to Roark's dismay. Now he had such a little chance, especially with a double incentive for this loss.

Of course, Gardenia was still smug about the whole thing until she saw Onix use his last ounce of strength to rise up and both Reflect and Sunny Day faded. Gardenia gulped- she would just be in hot water right now if she didn't execute the right moves and was still furious with Roark for the way he mistreated her as if she were a placebo and not a real person. Then she set off with her final moves. "Cherrim, another Grass Knot!" she yelled.

"Onix, one last attack of Rock Throw!" Roark yelled sweating for now he knew that Onix was totally sunk and his secret weapon was more or less a last resort. Onix used a final ounce of strength and sent a last hurl of tumbling rocks onto the flower that was already weakened by the stealth rocks and lack of barriers, while Cherrim used another bounty of green knots and tripped the Pokémon down, following which both were attacked and fainted. The crowd was amazed- this was a tie!

Cynthia was amazed herself- both the gym leaders were extremely capable and they successfully defeated both the Pokémon, but there were two cities left and she had no clue; what to use now? Both looked intelligent and were capable, but personality was the last thing she wanted to see; that was not prevalent in this event for both were so sardonic and cold. Aaron saw her perplexed face. "Is something wrong, Cyndi?" he asked. "I am in between the devil and the deep sea." She confessed.

Then suddenly Roark had a crooked smile on his face while Riley and Cheryl were still clinging onto each other as they waited for the results with bated breath. "I am so not done yet! Not giving up now; certainly not. I am to present my last Pokémon out to the world; go Cranidos!" he hollered as he let out the rock dinosaur to battle. Gardenia herself was impressed y this and she had a final score to settle. Besides, why would she give up to somebody like him? She knew there was something in there that could make this battle the adventure of a lifetime and she wasn't going to give it up now; especially when her keen eye saw it being recorded by yours truly, Volkner. And besides, she knew somewhere that this would definitely be the greatest moment of her life and she was anything but tired. "Do you think you're the only one? Well, so am I bestowed with one!" she said and then twirling in teh air, she threw her pokeball high up and screamed "It's time, my dear! Go Roselia!" Roark almost fainted. Roselia was her strongest Pokémon and even otherwise, they were blessed with amazing move sets, and she knew a whole lot of attacks, poison included.

"Wow. You got me, girl. But not for long. Cranidos, Leer and head butt!" he ordered. Gardenia was still quick. "Roselia, magical leaf!" she ordered. While Cranidos was attacking, though- he saw something in Roselia's eyes and as if by default, he wanted to say something to her which was translated-: "what am I doing? Roselia; is that you?!" Roselia still attacked him, but missed. "Why should I ever be with you? Your master attacked my mistress and cared not for her!" she hissed. Cranidos felt really bad. "My master is not a bad man! I've lived with him ever since I was born; he is like a father to me!" he argued while head butting into her, making her flinch. Roark smiled. "Good boy! Now, head butt again!" Gardenia wasn't going to give up yet, though. "Roselia; magical leaf again and this time, pinpoint accuracy!" she ordered. Roark gulped. "Dodge and hurry!" he ordered. Sadly, magical leaf wasn't as avoidable as razor leaf because they were concentrated on one area, whereas razor leaf was a flurry of leaves just floating round the surface.

Cranidos was hit hard by this as much as he wanted to talk to Roselia, but failed. "Come on!" he yelled. "I know that master was bad to her, but he truly regrets what he's done! Would he ever come over to apologise if he didn't?!" Roselia seemed unfazed. "Why do I find that incredibly hard to believe?" she sneered as she then prepared for yet another attack. Cranidos rose up and said "If it really was, would you ever find him crying?" he argued. "You are just trying to protect your master; your argument is invalid!" she scoffed as then she executed another attack of magical leaf as per Gardenia's instructions. "Cranidos, my boy- Pursuit and then head butt!" he ordered following which the magical leaves did scrape the dinosaur, but not without being attacked mercilessly by the Cranidos, albeit with heavy heart.

"Please! You have to believe me! My master would never do such a thing and not regret it!" Cranidos insisted. "Well, I'm sorry; but this is not something I can take for granted. Now face my wrath!" she screamed. "Alright Roselia; he looks weak enough. Now, time to use the final attacks- grass knot!" she ordered. Roark though saw more in it. "Right Cranidos, leer and a hard head butt!" he ordered. Cranidos did so, making Roselia almost at critical level. Roark smiled- this was going to e so easy.

Gardenia may be naive but she was no fool. "Rest up, dear!" as she fed her a potion and made her better again. Roark face palmed and tore his hair in frustration. His life sucked to the core. "Oh my; your friend is really angry!" Cheryl remarked. "That's him." Riley said as he was still scarlet thinking of how long he hugged her. Then of course, he cheered for Roark mentally.

"Why Roarky? Meowth got your tongue?" she taunted making him scream. "What un manly behaviour! No wonder girls disliked you. Come on, Roselia! Now use Poison Sting!" Roark gulped, partying that none hit Cranidos. It was fairly effective a hit though, and voila- he was poisoned. Roark would have died there itself, but he still thought of a new plan. "It's okay, buddy. I'd rather lose the title than you; but will you still finish the match?" he consoled. Cranidos nodded, but was still roaring in pain, making Cheryl cry. "It's okay, dear. Have a hanky." Riley offered. "
Thank you Riley." Cheryl smiled making him red all over. Then Cranidos rose up high and waited for Roark's orders. "Now, Cranidos, if you see clearly, the rocks have done their jobs. So now for the last gambit, you use Head butt and Pursuit!" he commanded. The poison was doing its work, so Gardenia said "Roselia; magical leaf!" This was it now; they both used their final ounces of strength into this. "Well, goodbye sir." Roselia scoffed. Cranidos cringed; girls were hard. "I don't care what you think, I'm not letting you get anywhere near my father!" Cranidos yelled as they used their last attacks. An explosion filled the air which almost made Flint's heart burst; for it was so loud, it could have been a sonic boom!

Finally, the smoke doused down and to everyone's shock and dread, Cranidos was on the floor while Roselia, tired and bruised; stood standing. The crowd slowly stood up and gave her a standing ovation; that by far was the most explosive battle ever! Volkner's camera ran out of battery, but he saved it just in time while all the others just clapped endlessly for hours, Cynthia herself partaking in the acts. They all just clapped and clapped, too consumed by amazement to do anything else.

Roark himself started clapping slowly, which Gardenia noticed and he didn't just doing it with reckless abandon. Who cared about what happened now? Nothing was gained or lost as it is? Cheering for his now distant friend felt like heaven for her; she deserved it. Then he flung something at her and moved away lest anyone saw. Soon, everybody stopped and Cynthia ran to the podium and called the two up there.

"That was brilliant! I have never in my entire life seen something so dynamic, so extraordinary! You two have clearly set the standard for every leader and are the epitome of personality, guts and spirit! Now Gardenia, for that amazing performance and that astounding graphic; I want you to name your choice of type." Cynthia praised while hugging her hard.

"Grass! I worship grass, plants and nature, now and forever more! Until eternity dies and the world loses its charm!" Gardenia spoke fervently and solemnly. "So be it. You shall award the forest badge to your victors and be the gym leader of a beautiful city that I promise!" Cynthia said as she pinned it onto her poncho. "Congrats, victor!" the crowd cheered and most of them were in tears to see such a wonderful victory.

"Hurrah! The girl won at last!" Maylene and Candice exclaimed high fiving each other while the other leaders were as pleased as punch. "Yes! She won! You are my lucky charm! I love you!" Cheryl exclaimed while suddenly kissing Riley long and hard. When he was released from that, he took a few breaths and then started jumping up and down screaming in joy while Roark smiled; this really was his bestie's true love. Then Riley fainted, making Roark and Cheryl giggle. Then Roark walked up to the podium and saw Cynthia's face shine with delight. "You were stupendous over there, Roark! Thank you so much for putting up such a wonderful, heart-warming and movie deserving fight! I am so proud to say that you will be the future Gym leader! Make your city proud! Now name your type preference." Cynthia exclaimed hugging him, making him blush. "Rock, all the way." He answered. "Ah, so it is. You shall award the coal badge to all your victors. Make your gym, make the traps, have fun and be a shining example to all your fellow trainers' world over! I must thank your opponent for putting up such an extraordinary fight!" Then she called out "May I ask Gardenia Winchell to come up on stage?"

She came up there and said "And so it shall be; you are the gum leader of Eterna City! Congratulations and putting up such a good job! You deserve every last bit of it!" she exclaimed. The whole crowd cheered and clapped and many of them were praising her endlessly. Some even went to the far extent of crowd surfing her, much to her pleasure.

Of course, Cynthia was announcing Roark's title too. "As for Roark, he shall be the gym leader of Oreburgh City! How blessing! This has worked for everybody; congratulations Roark! You are now a gym leader too! Crowd clapped and cheered for him of course, which made him blush. He wasn't that good too, you know, at least that was his thoughts.

The crowd was still surfing Gardenia though and he saw that, Steeping away, he checked the time and gasped, then slowly and sneakily, made a hasty exit to the destination of his desire. Either way, it was going to be far, far away, out and about on his own...