Chapter 3: Gym Battle Part 1
After Cam received her coins, she said her farewells to Mr. Game and she left the Game Corner. She would definitely go back to play the slots later, but right now, she had to go to the gym.
Even though it was warm outside, she snuggled into the fuzz of her jacket while tightening her grip on her coin box. She didn't want to lug it around everywhere – it was getting rather heavy. She thought for a moment before calling out her abra.
"Hey, Syke. Do me a favor? Teleport to Uncle Nigel's and put this coin case away. And keep away from Noah and Fury; they're a bad influence and I don't want to put up with any pranks today. I'll be in the gym, okay?"
The pokemon nodded and grabbed the box, disappearing in a purplish aura of energy. Cam shivered. She had tried teleporting with Syke before, but it was the weirdest thing ever and she would never do it again for reasons left unsaid. She opened the gym door and made her way inside.
Whitney, the pink-haired gym leader, was standing on one end of the field and Samantha was standing at the other as a miltank and a persian faced off. Carrie and Cathy looked to be the referees and Victoria, a blue-haired beauty, sat on the bench and eyed her nails in distress.
"Milly, finish this with rollout!" Whitney shouted happily. The cow-like pokemon ran forward and jumped into a series of somersaults, picking up speed as it headed for Persian.
"Dodge!" Samantha yelled. Persian jumped to the side, but once Miltank had passed, it turned around and managed to hit its target.
Cathy and Carrie joined hands and brought them above their heads. "Persian is unable to battle! Victory goes to Whitney!"
The pinkette leapt for joy and rushed onto the field to glomp her miltank. "We did it, Milly! We did it!"
Cam found this a good time as she stepped out into the light and walked to the field. "Looks like your rollout is as good as ever," she commented and the girls turned to her in surprise.
"Cammy!" Whitney lunged for Cam, who stumbled back and fell on the ground with the sudden weight.
"Hey, easy kid. I'm not going anywhere."
Miltank mooed happily in greeting and Victoria waved from her spot on the bench. "Girl, we have so much to catch up on!"
Samantha returned her pokemon and put her hands on her hips, a smile playing at her lips. "So do you want to start training right off the bat?"
Cam was about to respond with an enthusiastic yes before Whitney cut in. "No way! Talking first, training later," she turned to the redhead with the biggest smile. "Samantha told me you'd be stopping by today, I couldn't believe it. I'm so happy you're here!" she took her hand and dragged her to the bench as the other girls followed. Cam was trying to hide the reluctance that she knew she was showing. She was more accustomed to walking the walk instead of talking the talk – she was really looking forward to battling someone.
After a plethora of mindless conversation and girly talk, Cam was actually enjoying herself. It's been a while since she had hung out with friends, and it was a nice change from being all alone in Dewford.
They were in the middle of discussing the Elite Four trainers when one of lasses gasped. Cam assumed her to be Cathy, since her voice was more high-pitched than Carrie's. "Whitney, tell her about what happened the other day!"
At first, the said girl wasn't sure what she was talking about, but caught on a few seconds later and turned to Cam with a mixture of distress and excitement. "Oh, right. This really strong trainer tried to steal my pokemon. He was wearing Team Rocket clothes!"
Cam nodded in response. "My uncle said something about that. What happened, anyway?"
Whitney went into an immense amount of detail to describe the event. Cam bobbed her head at the main points, being the things that her uncle told her. The man in the Team Rocket uniform had an arcanine and a pigeot, and Whitney's pokemon were both knocked out (she only had her miltank and clefable). Just when things were about to take a turn for the worse, a guy showed up and saved the day with a huge pokemon he called 'Electivire.' It was an electric-type (at which Cam grimaced) that was pretty powerful, but the battle was still rough. It was two against one and with Pigeot's gusts and Arcanine's fire blasts, the electivire was getting pretty worn out. He managed to knock them out with a powerful Thunder before collapsing and the guy rushed to the Pokemon Center with Whitney after the grunt ran for the hills. She didn't find out much about her savior though since he left right after he dropped off his pokemon.
When the pinkette finished, she smiled a dreamy smile. "He was so cute, too! I must've seen him from somewhere before, he has such a familiar face. I wonder if that means we're soul mates! I can picture it now…"
Cam sweat dropped at the younger girl and cut in before she could ramble about her fantasies. "How could that Rocket guy be so strong? And why did he have a pigeot and an arcanine instead of a few zubat or grimer? He doesn't sound like he's low rank."
Whitney shrugged. "Beats me. I'm just glad my pokemon weren't stolen! I'd be so lost without my Milly." Her miltank mooed and nudged the pinkette's head affectionately with her nose. She giggled in response and returned her pokemon as she stood to stretch her limbs. "I should get going. I have an interview at the radio station in a half hour – hey, what's that?"
Something peering out from under Cam's clothing had caught her eye and Cam followed her gaze to the yin-yang symbol. "Oh, this thing? I found it yesterday when I was walking out of the train station."
The pinkette motioned for her to hold it out to see clearly and when she did, Whitney's eyes narrowed.
"Something wrong, Whitney?"
She shook her head in reply. "No, I guess not."
Cam tilted her head and eyed the pendant with a skewed expression, but shrugged afterwards. She might have thought it looked familiar; it probably belonged to a previous challenger.
"I'd get rid of it." Samantha waved her hand as her disapproving gaze locked on the necklace. "It's plain and boring. Who would walk around wearing something like that?"
"I think it looks nice…"
"But it doesn't even match your clothing! Green and orange? I don't think so."
Cam shrugged and closed her jacket to conceal it. "Better?"
"Much."
Whitney cracked a grin at the two before jogging to the door. "I should really get going, now. See ya later!"
Before she could open the door, someone had already opened it from the other side. It was a scruffy purple-haired trainer, and from all of his traveling gear one could easily guess that he was a pokemon trainer.
His voice was low and hoarse as he addressed the girl. "Are you the gym leader?"
Whitney nodded with curious eyes. "That's me. Need something?"
"I'm looking for a battle."
Her features transitioned to an apologetic stare. "Sorry, I can't battle anyone right now. I have an interview to go to."
He grunted and crossed his arms. "You can't spare two minutes?"
Whitney's mouth opened slightly in surprise and quickly sent a glare at the man. "You seriously think it's going to be that easy to beat me?"
This earned a snort from the trainer. "This is a normal-type gym, right? I can take you on in my sleep and still end up with a badge."
Her glare intensified and she was about to offer a rebuttal, but Cam had advanced to the man and extended her arm, pointing a threatening finger at him. "You know what, Mr.? I don't like your attitude. Whitney has somewhere to be, and you're holding her up."
He raised an eyebrow and scoffed. "Too bad. She's a gym leader, so she has to accept my challenge."
"I'll accept it later," Whitney argued as she pushed passed him. "You're making me late."
"Hold it." He grabbed her arm roughly and the girl let out a sound of astonishment.
"Let me go!"
"Not until I get my gym battle. I don't have time to sit around and wait for you all day!"
"That's enough."
The three turned to Samantha who flicked her blond hair behind her shoulders confidently. "If you're so set on being productive, then fight me."
Whitney felt his hand loosen and slide off her arm. "Fine. I need a warm-up anyway."
Whitney sent a worried glance at Samantha and the latter nodded in her direction, indicating that it was okay for her to leave. The younger girl still looked unsure, but took one last look at the rude challenger before making her exit.
As he passed the girls, he said, "My name is Greg. Remember it when you lose." He made his way to the field and Samantha glared at him the whole way.
"Are you sure, Samantha?" Cathy appeared from behind Cam with a questioning face. Carrie showed herself on Cam's other side, mirroring her almost-twin's expression.
"Your persian just fainted."
Samantha merely smiled in determination. "This guy's all talk – I can just feel it. My persian may be tired from my battle with Whitney, but I still have a few meowth. As far as I'm concerned, that's all I need to wipe the floors with him."
She headed for the field with her head held high and a pokeball in hand. There was something about the way she walked that showed just how much battling experience she had over the last few years, and winning against her wouldn't be easy.
Nevertheless, Cam swallowed her anger at Greg and stared intently at Samantha. She had definitely gotten stronger since Cam had beaten her a few months ago, but was it enough? If someone was this confident in his abilities, shouldn't he have some reason to think the way that he does?
"I don't know…" Cathy said uncertainly. She was practically radiating worry, but Carrie seemed fine.
Instead, the short brunette resisted the urge to roll her eyes and said to Cam, "He's that kind of pesky challenger, so we'll try to hold him off until Whitney comes back, if he's even that strong. But just in case...are you up for a battle?"
Cam nodded, her burning anger returning. "You bet. I have Jabari on me right now, but I sent my abra home and he hasn't come back yet. Hold this guy off until I get here, okay?" she didn't wait for a response and she bolted out the door.
When she arrived at the mundane house she currently called home, she surveyed the empty living room. "Syke!" she called urgently. She scoured the living room, but to no avail. "Syke, where are you? If you're getting into something you shouldn't, I'll take away your teleporting privileges!" she warned, but the psychic still had yet to come out. This was something to worry about.
In the next room, Abigail was sprawled out lazily on the kitchen floor, but came to attention at the constant shouts. Cam noticed this and entered the kitchen. "Abigail, have you seen Syke?"
A flicker of movement caught her eye and Cam looked to the doorway to see her abra standing with his usual sleepy eyes. She beamed and ran up to him. "There you are! Where were you? Ah, never mind. Come on, we've got a-"
Whatever she was about to say withered away into silence as she took in the figure that had just entered the doorway behind Syke. Spiky brown hair, black eyes, black shirt, blue jeans, and a confused look on his face. Her heart thudded in her chest as soon as she recognized who it was and inhaled as much air as she could before letting out all of her frustration and bewilderment in a nice loud scream.
Everyone present, human and pokemon, flinched at the noise and covered their ears until the earsplitting screech subsided, leaving a very hoarse Cam screaming for Nigel.
"Calm down for a second, Cam-"
"You even know my name?" she spat at the guy with a horrified face.
"Your uncle told me."
"I can't believe this! What are you doing in my house?"
Nigel passed by the guy at this moment, making his way to the fridge and taking a small finger out of his now internally damaged ear. "Oh. Hi, Cam. I see you've met Gary."
"What is this doing in our house?" she nearly screamed, completely ignoring the man's obvious statement.
"You mean my house," he corrected. "He's been here since last night."
"He slept here? Why didn't you say anything?"
The raven-haired man sighed. "Well that video call yesterday was from Professor Oak and he asked if I could examine the egg Gary had been carrying around for a while due to a few abnormalities. I was going to tell you after you got back from searching for your aron, but you were out longer than I instructed. During that time, Gary here showed up, I got him settled, and I crashed before you finally decided to come home. Not to mention you zipped out of here so early this morning I never got to say anything."
Cam would have protested and mentioned something about his starter, Jiles, but her mind was lingering on something else. "Why would you let him sleep here, though? The Pokemon Center has rooms that are-"
"Currently full," Nigel finished for her, "and I figured since he's here for me anyway, I might as well make it easier for everybody and let him stay for a bit. You know I have spare rooms in the back, and I like having company."
"But why would Professor Oak-"
"Calm down and let me finish, will you? This boy is the world renowned Gary Oak, Samuel Oak's grandson."
Cam's mouth went agape as her eyes flickered back to the supposedly famous teen. There was no way that someone as rude as him could be related to the most respected professor on the planet. No way. "That's…that's impossible!"
"Why? You know more than anybody about the kind of people I work for. This shouldn't be a surprise to you," her uncle stated simply as he munched on some baby carrots.
"It's not that, it's just… He looks so…"
"Strong? Awesome? Hot?" Gary offered with a smirk. If one would look closer, a shimmer of hope could be seen in his eyes, but Cam was oblivious to this.
"…dull."
Nigel coughed lightly and suppressed a few chuckles behind his hand after seeing Gary's expression.
"Wait…I'm what now? Dull?"
"Come on, you're the grandson of a famous professor! You can't even dress the part? No lab coat-"
"It'll get in the way when I travel."
"-no glasses-"
"I can see perfectly fine."
"-just plain jeans and a black t-shirt! Your hair is a mess-"
"My hair is gorgeous-"
"-and you don't even look equipped to travel." She turned to her uncle. "I bet you anything this kid doesn't have any pokemon on him, let alone anything impressive!"
Gary seemed to take offense to this and reached into his jeans pocket.
An exclamation point appeared above Nigel's head when Cam began to take a battle stance and reach for a pokeball on her waist. Immediately sensing the danger, he casually stepped forward and held his hands out in front of the two quarreling trainers. "I don't want a battle in my kitchen, guys. If you're going to do this, take it outside."
Cam flashed the man a frustrated glare. He was always interfering, but this time, it was a good thing he did as Cam suddenly remembered where she needed to be. "I don't have time for this, anyway! I have a real battle to go to." Syke was still in the doorway, so she returned him and dashed to the door.
"With who?" Nigel called inquisitively.
"Some guy at the gym!"
Nigel sighed as the door slammed shut. He turned to Gary and gave a halfhearted smile. "Sorry about that. She's just so full of energy, sometimes she has to take it out on someone, ya know?" He held his hands up and shrugged in a gesture for him not to worry about it, but it didn't seem to help. Gary's frown remained firmly in place, still seething over the niece's comment.
…
The road to her destination was torturous. The only tortures Cam experienced however were the constant replays of the last few events running like a movie in her mind. Who the hell did that Gary guy think he was? Sure, he was the grandson of a famous professor, but who cares? He just waltzed in her home unexpectedly and spent the night without her knowing. That house was her escape. It was perfect, no matter how simple it was. And he invaded the one place she could call home. After everything that happened, she deduced that he was an inconsiderate, uncaring, egotistical jerk and they would never get along.
And to think this powerful hatred came to be all because he called her a razz head.
Cam slowed to a stop in front of the gym building's door and placed her hands on her knees. "I've…been running around…all day…" she informed herself between breaths. "I really need…to get more exercise…"
When she entered, her eyes widened at the scene before her. The challenger, Greg, had a graveler that didn't seem tired at all, completely unlike the sentret that it faced off against. The poor pokemon looked like she was going to vomit.
Victoria held her fingers above the sentret's ball on her waist, ready to withdraw in the event that her pokemon couldn't handle any more. That time was nearing, and things looked rather glum on the battlefield. Her pokemon stumbled slightly, but stood her ground.
The beauty thought for a moment more before grabbing her ball and calling back Sentret. "That's all she can take right now. You win."
Greg smirked. "Weak," he spat. "All of you are pathetically weak. Can't I get a real challenge?"
"You want a real challenge? You got one, buddy!"
He turned his head and laughed at the girl who had spoken. Cam narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "What?"
"You look weaker than the rest of 'em. You're not even worth it."
"Excuse you? I'll have you know I trained in Dragon's Den!"
The rest of the girls in the gym internally groaned. After all this time, she was still using that threat.
Greg seemed to get a kick out of this and gestured to the empty box on the other side of the field. "Good. A worthy opponent."
Cam gulped and slowly walked to her designated area. She had never gotten that response before, but then again, she had always said this after she won a battle. If this guy was strong enough to defeat Samantha and Victoria (and possibly the lasses due to the defeated looks on their faces) consecutively and still have enough energy to keep going, he was the real deal. She already knew what the result was going to be, but she shook away the thought. She wasn't prepared to lose to a guy like that.
"Oh, and by the way," Greg raised his eyebrows as a notion for Cam to continue. "My name is Cam. Remember it when you lose," she quoted as she mirrored his sneer.
The two younger girls, one dressed in blue and the other in black, stood at the sidelines, directly in the middle of the two battlers. Carrie was the first to speak.
"Trainers Cam and Greg, this is a single battle!"
"Each trainer may use two pokemon!"
Greg's features distorted. "Two? Why not three?"
Cam felt a growl rumble from her chest. "Because I only have two pokemon…"
"Hah! Some trainer you are," he jeered as more of his purple bangs fell into his eyes. She hated to admit it, but he was quite intimidating.
"Quit talking!" Cam's hand flew to her belt and called out her abra.
"Graveler, stay on the field. We can take this on easy." Greg had to stifle more of his laughter when he saw that a puny abra was about to go head-to-head with his almighty rock pokemon, but he had to stay in the zone, even if it was the easiest thing in the world for him. It was a battle, after all.
The referees took a step back. "Begin!"
"Graveler, magnitude."
He did as he was told and jumped as high as he could, landing and causing the entire building to shake. If the field wasn't destroyed enough before, it most certainly was now. Cam noticed that he was capable of doing more, but was only doing enough to tear up the field. And from all of the league championships she saw, this was a common way for a rock-type to have the advantage.
She sighed when she saw tiny Syke attempting to climb over a huge chunk of earth so he could see his opponent. "Ignore the rocks – teleport!" Syke glowed purple and vanished.
An eerie silence fell on the gym as several pairs of eyes scanned for the psychic pokemon.
"Hey! Your pokemon has to remain on the battlefield!" Greg protested with furrowed eyebrows.
"Never said he left." Cam smiled when she saw that he was caught off guard. She threw a hand in the hair. "Syke, dive in and use shadow ball."
Greg and Graveler looked to the ceiling, expecting an aerial attack from the way she was commanding her pokemon, but instead the abra came from the side. Syke had held his shadow ball until he was within the three foot radius his trainer had taught him and released it before teleporting to a safer distance. Graveler took the hit pretty hard, but was back on his feet and clenching his four rock-hard fists in anger.
"Get to a suitable area and use rock blast," he ordered. Graveler raced to the corner of the field and picked up a few rocks with his hands, throwing them at a rapid speed.
"Teleport."
Once again, Syke emitted a light purple and disappeared, getting a little bit closer with every teleport and narrowly dodging the rocks.
"Hit him already!" Greg yelled in frustration, causing Graveler to throw harder, but not faster. Cam could tell he was getting impatient.
"Syke, throw an energy ball."
The abra threw the ball of green – a grass-type move – but the target didn't seem to be affected as much as he should have. His arms had wrapped themselves around him like some sort of barrier.
Greg smiled slyly. "That's his defense curl. It comes in handy." He directed at his redheaded foe, who glared in return.
"Why the hell are you telling me your moves? We're competing."
"True, but it already seems like I'm going to be the victor. Your abra is pretty worn out even though I didn't hit him yet, and my graveler still has some juice left. Besides, with the little amount of skill you have, you need all the help you can get."
Cam gritted her teeth and she could have sworn she started seeing red. "Syke, keep using energy ball. He can't keep this up!"
The back door to the gym opened and a small portion of the floor lit up due to natural light, but it closed again. No one noticed a man dressed comfortably in a sweater and black jeans enter with another young trainer. They walked alongside the bleachers and scaled up the stairs from the side, finding and taking seats in the end section at mid-height.
"A nice view from up here and no one spotted us," Nigel declared proudly.
"Professor Redfern-"
"Really, Gary. Call me Nigel."
"Right, sorry. I forgot. Why are we sneaking around again?"
Nigel chuckled. "Cam gets easily distracted, and the last thing I want is for her to trip up in battle."
Gary nodded and turned his gaze on Cam. She looked really angry…almost as angry as when he called her a razz head. He smiled a bit, finding amusement in the girl's sore spots. Apparently, her hair was one of them.
"Keep using energy ball like that and you'll lose!" Greg taunted.
Cam lowered her head and tried to breathe evenly. "Tell me something I don't know, jackass…" she mumbled as she regained some tranquility. She raised her head and nearly face-planted when she saw Syke had ceased his energy balls (due to fatigue) and started to scratch the hardened pokemon with his dull claws.
"Stop messing around, Syke! You don't even know the move scratch." Syke obeyed and teleported a few feet in front of his trainer, still facing his newfound enemy. "Sorry about that, though. I kinda lost it for a minute, but I'm back, and I know you can keep going!" she fist pumped, which seemed to be enough motivation for her pokemon. "This graveler seems dead-set on using defense curl and he can't stay in there forever."
They waited and Graveler finally unrolled himself, looking more able to handle physical attacks.
"If that's the best you can do, I feel sorry for your pokemon. Graveler, tackle!"
"Think you can muster a shadow ball?" Cam asked, but she didn't need a reply. Syke raced forward and jumped above Graveler as he barreled past. He gathered a small ball of black energy in his hands and shot it at the pokemon's back in midair, causing Graveler to stumble and fall.
"Shadow ball?" Gary wondered aloud.
Nigel smiled and pointed at himself. "Since abra can only learn teleport naturally, I used a few technical machines on him to give him some variety in battle. It was at Cam's request, of course."
The young trainer nodded and returned his attention to the pokemon. He noticed a glint in Cam's eyes and wondered what she was going to do next.
"Ready, Syke? Just like we practiced."
Aside from Cam and her pokemon, no one knew what she was doing. Syke spread his arms out as far as he could and shut his eyes tighter than normal like he was concentrating. In one hand, a shadow ball started to form. In another, an energy ball vibrated with a light green color.
"No way…" Gary breathed in utter disbelief. "I've seen pokemon combine moves, but how can a psychic pokemon have enough power to perform two attacks at once?"
Nigel crossed his arms and shook his head. "It's not power. It's concentration and skill. No…the one thing Cam lacks is experience, thus, lacks power."
"How is she able to hold her own against a skilled trainer like him, then?"
By this time, Syke had hit the graveler with both the shadow and energy balls, causing major damage.
"Damn it… Rock blast!"
"Teleport."
Nigel took in Syke's dashing form as he sprinted every time he grew tired from teleporting. "Cam doesn't get to train her pokemon as often as she wants, but when she does, power isn't her main focus. Her style is more of the hit-and-run kind. She builds up speed and stamina so she can deliver as many attacks as she can and do enough damage to knock out her opponent over a longer period of time. She also likes to add some flair to her attacks so they're not as predictable, as you've just seen. These points give her advantages of course, but weighed against experienced pokemon and you've got yourself a tough battle."
"Rock polish."
"Keep teleporting, build up your strength!"
The man focused intently on Cam's adversary. "She's in a situation where she can't exactly tough up her pokemon 24/7, so this style is her only option."
Gary wondered what situation could render her incapable of training her pokemon, but it wasn't any of his business. And from the way Nigel was talking, he wasn't going to tell Gary even if he asked.
Graveler looked pretty worn out, as did Syke, and the latter only got hit twice. Cam internally sighed. She should have let Syke and Jabari get used to the open air so they would be able to fire off attacks longer, but now she was here, going up against this strong bratty trainer and she wasn't even prepared. "Finish it! Shadow ball!"
Syke dipped his head and raced forward, gathering energy in his hands.
"Graveler, meet him head-on."
Cam's eyes widened as confusion took over her confidence. "What…?"
Before she could tell Syke to teleport away, Greg had already given the order.
"Selfdestruct."
Graveler didn't have very much health left, so the explosion wasn't that big. Though, Syke still got the worst of it because of the close proximity. While Graveler collapsed, Syke was sent flying. He landed painfully on the side of a rock and slid to the ground, unmoving.
"Abra and Graveler are unable to battle!" Cathy announced.
Carrie followed with, "Please choose your next pokemon!"
"Syke!" Cam returned him quickly and examined his figure inside the ball worriedly. He seemed to be okay for the most part – winded, but still unable to fight. "Good job, out there. Especially with that combo attack: really nice." She tapped the red surface of the ball with her index finger affectionately and the pokemon inside seemed to be smiling back at her.
"Cut the crap and get on with it!" yelled Greg. He had already returned the graveler and was tossing another pokeball in his hand.
Cam's eyes narrowed as she put Syke on her belt, retrieving Jabari's ball in another swift motion.
"Go, Donphan!" A three-foot elephant came out of the ball in a white light. His tusks looked sharp…a little too sharp, Cam noticed. He had a murderous glint in his eyes, and Cam didn't like it at all. She wondered if her dratini would be up for it.
"Let's go, Jabari!" She threw the ball with as much force as she could, and out came her dratini. His tail slid back and forth as he tried to contain his excitement.
Cathy fidgeted on the sidelines, not liking the odds. Carrie stepped forward and began the battle herself, seeing as how Cathy was too interested in her nervous twiddling fingers.
"Rollout."
Gary noticed his companion smiling as Greg told his pokemon the attack. "Nigel?"
Nigel remained focused Greg, but explained his relief to Gary. "The gym leader here is Whitney, specializing in normal-type pokemon. Her miltank's prized move is rollout, and Cam had won a battle against her and earned the Plain Badge."
"Oh…" Gary nodded in understanding. Cam had encountered something like this before, so she was prepared.
"Out of the way." Jabari flashed to the other side of the field, and Donphan turned just before he barreled into Cam.
Nigel had to release the breath he was holding as he turned. This battle was held in a gym, so things were more civilized. But in real life out on the road, battling could be dangerous, which was the main reason why Cam wasn't allowed to travel.
"Twister."
Jabari flung his tail sideways and a strong wind hit the ground just before Donphan, and he was flung up in the air a bit, but otherwise he was unfazed.
Cam gasped. What was supposed to happen was that her target would lose his balance and offer an opening. It worked for Miltank, so why not Donphan?
Jabari was hit with the first rollout, and it wasn't pretty. He landed with a thud and the dragon had trouble lifting his head. Cam shifted on the spot, wondering what she could do. He never took attacks well, which was why Cam had always worked on his agility.
"I got too cocky…" she mumbled to herself. The donphan was coming back, and he was much faster than before. "Keep dodging!" Jabari finally managed to lift his head and shook it from side to side violently to snap himself out of his painful trance. His body was sore, but he was still able to slide back and forth with bursts of agility, missing the rollouts that were slowly getting faster. Donphan seemed to be rolling in circles, Jabari evading him every time.
Nigel was at the edge of his seat now as worry replaced his smile. He was really into it throughout the entire battle, having to bite back yells from time to time – probably to warn Cam of certain abilities and attacks that she was more than likely unaware of. That would only be a distraction for the trainers however, so he kept his mouth shut.
As Nigel remained frozen with anxiety, Gary tilted his head, wondering if that twister attack was all Cam had up her sleeve against a rollout. He could think of tons of things he could do, but then again, he had a wide variety of pokemon and moves to choose from. Maybe he could give her some pointers. Had not been for the current situation, he would have smiled at the scenario that played out in his mind. The end result would probably be her exploding with the rage of a gyarados, going off about how she can handle her pokemon herself. He didn't know her that well as he had only met her yesterday, but the more he thought about it, the more he wanted to know her limits.
"Looks like this match is over already." Greg's eyes narrowed almost in an evil way as his body visibly relaxed. The last match with the abra was long forgotten, and all he could see now was the distraught expression on the girl's face. He grew wary when her eyes lit up with an idea. "What now?" he whispered as Cam sprang into action.
"Jabari, use agility and get back here."
With what little strength the pokemon had left, the dratini barely managed to avoid being flattened like a pancake and appeared in front of Cam. His eyes were locked in on Donphan, but his fins twitched as a signal for Cam to give instructions.
"I'm going to try something. But it's crucial that you do what I say and when I say it. Got it?"
Jabari hesitated for a moment, knowing the tone she was using with him. He was aware that Cam was planning to do something he clearly wouldn't agree with, but nevertheless, he nodded.
As Donphan got closer, Cam shifted again. Jabari tensed, sensing that the time was approaching.
"Agility!"
Jabari dashed out of the way, leaving Cam out in the open for Donphan to roll over.
A few of the gym trainers gasped, noticing that she didn't budge as the pokemon continued on his path. Nigel gripped his knees until his knuckles turned white, and even Gary was slightly worried. "What the hell is she…?" he started to ask, but from the way Nigel was acting, he didn't know either.
Greg's eyebrows rose when he finally noticed the danger. There was no time to turn, and no time to recall him. "Donphan, stop!"
Cam smirked at the order. The elephant obeyed immediately, but uncurling himself wasn't going to be enough. The momentum of the rollout had him flying forward and his feet had no ground whatsoever to slow him down.
She heard a familiar voice yell, "Get out of the way!" and she didn't need to be told twice. The girl jumped to the side and missed his incredibly sharp tusk by just a hair.
"Dragonbreath!"
Jabari flashed in front of the flying Donphan and unleashed the most powerful dragonbreath he was capable of withholding. It seemed to be enough since Donphan was thrown back from the force. Jabari slithered back onto the field with a triumphant posture.
Nigel blinked a few times and sat back down. He was winded, but Gary got over the shock faster than he did.
"Is she insane? That could've killed her!" The teen momentarily forgot who he was talking to, but he didn't care at this point. Not even back in the day when he began his journey was he ever that stupid. That stunt was worse than what Ash would have done, and that's saying something. A part of him admired her for it, though. She pulled it off and broke Donphan's rollout streak.
Nigel stayed quiet. Obviously, Cam gave him quite the scare and Gary figured that it might take him a few minutes to fully recover.
As this went on, the battle continued. "Rollout and slam."
Donphan began to roll in midair and as soon as he hit the ground, he shot forward. Just like last time, he uncurled himself, but he was able to touch the ground to keep himself from rolling out of control. His hind legs kicked against the floor to straighten himself out and he gained a good amount of speed before leaping into the air for a slam attack.
"Jabari, move!"
Unfortunately, Jabari was still out of breath from his last attack and didn't budge as Donphan crushed him. Cam stiffened as dust kicked up from the impact. It couldn't possibly have done that much harm, could it? Most pokemon land on their sides when using slam, but Donphan landed on his stomach.
After a few agonizing seconds, the dust clouds faded to reveal Donphan scratching at the earth and an unconscious Jabari in front of him. The elephant lifted up his trunk and cried out his name victoriously while Greg took on a visual of pride and arrogance.
"Jabari?" Cam curled her fingers and tapped them together lightly in wonder and waited for him to slither back to her, radiating happiness after another battle they had won. But the pokemon remained on the ground, and she lost. It had only been a few minutes – if that – and she lost.
Carrie moved a stray piece of short hair behind her ear sadly and moved forward. "Dratini is unable to go on! Victory goes to-"
"Wait."
Carrie turned to Cam, the one who had spoken. "What is it?"
The trainer recalled Jabari and addressed Greg. "You said you wanted a three-on-three, right?"
The man loosened the blue bandana he wore around his neck and placed his hand in his pocket. "Yeah, but you said you only had two."
"What if I told you I had three pokemon? Would you still want to keep going?"
Nigel furrowed his eyebrows and whispered to himself more than anyone, "She only has two… What is she doing?" Gary heard, but tried harder to hear what was going on down below.
Greg smiled wickedly and responded, "So I can kick your ass again? Yeah, I'm all for it."
"You want…an extension?" Carrie asked Cam and the latter nodded, her eyes trained on Donphan. The referee turned to Greg, who mimicked Cam's nod. "U-Um…okay. The fight is extended! The rules are now three-on-three, continuing from the last battle!"
Cam reached into her pouch and took out another pokeball, scrutinizing whatever was inside. She whispered something to it, though no one heard. She lifted her head and said nothing as she tossed the ball to the field.
As soon as Nigel saw the outline of the light that escaped the ball, surprise took over more than anger would have. "She didn't…"
Sleek blue fur, a yellow underbelly, and a temper that rivaled even Cam's.
"Rakaaaaaa!" a hunched typhlosion roared menacingly. He took a battle stance as Cam's words echoed through his mind.
"Wreck him, Jiles."
