It's Our Destiny

Chapter 3:

Phil brought Dan out to a gorgeous open field on the outskirts of Pewter City. It was the beginning of Route 3. Dan stood off the side, leaving plenty of room for Phil to put on his performance. Phil stood a few yards away from Dan. He reached for his poke'ball and held it in his hand. Dan noticed his poke'ball seemed to be inside some sort of blue, plastic seal. Phil threw the poke'ball in the air, "Vivillon! The stage is yours!"

Dan's heart started racing. Vivillon?

As Vivillon emerged from the poke'ball, flowers that seemed to be made of glitter exploded in the sky alongside the beautiful butterfly Pokémon.

"Use stun spore!" commanded Phil. Vivillon flapped its wings and scattered shining, orange powder across the field. "Now use bug buzz!" Vivillon's wings fluttered a little faster, and this time red waves of energy came forth. The red waves collided with the powder in the air causing everything to shimmer with red and orange hues. "Now finish it! Gust!"

Dan thought his heart stopped. Gust. That voice. It was him. Dan felt so mesmerized. To think that man had been the one to save his life. He almost forgot to pay attention to the routine. Quickly, he looked up and saw the Vivillon using the same attack it had used to rescue him. Vivillon moved its wings at an incredibly fast speed. A powerful whirlwind was created, carrying the sparkling dust around the area in various, beautiful patterns. Eventually, the gust attack broke apart, and the routine was over.

"Wow," was the only word Dan could find.

Phil jogged over to Dan with a smile on his face. "What did you think?" he asked as Vivillon decided to take a rest on his head. He reached up and gently stroked the Pokémon's wings.

"That performance was amazing," said Dan, trying to focus. "I didn't realize how strong and in control your Pokémon have to be to pull that off."

Phil's cheeks warmed a little, "You mean that?" Dan nodded his head yes and smiled. His eyes softened. That man, that amazing, beautiful man had been the one that saved him. "You alright, Dan? You seem almost distracted."

"Oh, yeah I'm fine," replied Dan. He wanted to thank Phil, but how would he put it? Hey thanks for saving me from those Beedrill. And I know it was you because of your voice and I stalked the Pokémon search engine to match the name Vivillon. He didn't want to come across as strange, so he decided to just be grateful and leave it at that. If only there was a way to give Phil his thanks without Phil knowing. Then, Dan got a brilliant idea. "Phil, I have an idea."

"What?" asked Phil intrigued.

"You should challenge Brock!"

Phil looked at Dan like he was crazy, "Are you mad? I could never defeat Brock. I'm a coordinator."

"Exactly!" insisted Dan. "You have plenty of experience. Your Pokémon are strong, and you battle in contests. If you beat him, all those asshole trainers will see you're just as good as them!"

Phil kicked some dirt and bit his bottom lip. "I don't know…"

"Come on; I know you can win."

Phil sighed. "I tell you what. I'm going to work on my routines, and if you can catch a good Pokémon to fight with by the end of the day, then I'll do it."

Dan stuck out his hand for Phil to shake it. "You've got a deal." Phil shook Dan's hand and gave him an ensuring smile. Dean tried to smile back without seeming awkward. He had felt a spark when their hands touched.

Phil took his hand back and went off to work on his contest appeal round strategies. He watched Dan take off to look for Pokémon. His eyebrows knit. He felt kind of bad. There was nothing but Pidgey and Rattata for miles.

"There's nothing but bloody Pidgey and Rattata for miles!" shouted Dan in frustration as he made his way back to Phil. The sun was beginning to set, meaning the day was almost up. Dan kicked a rock as hard as he could before he turned to look at Phil. "How's the routine coming along?"

"It's coming along alright. I think I'll be ready for the contest next week," replied Phil trying to keep his voice neutral. Guilt was setting in, but he was just so afraid to try a gym battle.

Without warning, there was a rustle in the nearby bushes. Dan turned his head; rustling now caused him to slightly panic. "What's that?"

"I don't know," said Phil. Vivillon rested on Phil's head and watched the shrubs. Then, a little Pokémon appeared. It was like a small, purple dinosaur.

Dan pulled out his poke'dex, "What the hell?"

The poke'dex gave Dan information on the creature in front of him. "Nidoran, male. It scans its surroundings by raising its ears out of the grass. Its toxic horn is for protection." The moves that the Nidoran knew appeared on the poke'dex screen.

"Oh my god!" exclaimed Dan as he looked at the moves the Nidoran knew how to use.

"What?" asked Phil starting to panic. Oh no. Oh no please miss this!

Dan pulled out Charmander's poke'ball as quickly as he could. "That Nidoran knows double kick! That's a fighting type move. If I can catch it, it'll be perfect for battling Brock! Go! Charmander!" Charmander came swiftly out of its poke'ball ready to battle. "Ember!"

Charmander spat fire at the Nidoran. The Nidoran hadn't been paying much attention to its surroundings, so it was taken by surprise. It was injured from the fire, but not so much that it couldn't fight back. It charged at Charmander, horn first. Dan remembered what the poke'dex had said and yelled out at Charmander, "Watch out for its horn!"

Charmander barely dodged the Nidoran's poison sting attack. Nidoran was right by Charmander, in close range for an attack.

"Tackle!" shouted Dan. Charmander obeyed, and rammed its body hard into Nidoran. Nidoran tumbled on the ground, but was back on its feet in no time. It charged at Charmander and used double kick. Alternating between feet, it harshly kicked Charmander in the stomach over and over. Charmander fell back, but was able to shake it off. "Stay focused. Use scratch!"

Charmander ran up to the Nidoran and scratched its body with sharp claws. Phil was watching closely, and noticed that Charmander's claws had illuminated bright white for a moment. That was metal claw!

Nidoran was now struggling to stand. It was breathing heavily and glaring at Dan and Charmander. Dan grabbed an empty poke'ball from his belt. "Do you think its weak enough?" he asked Phil not taking his eyes off the Nidoran.

Phil wanted to lie, he wanted to lie so bad, but he couldn't do that to Dan. Dan was so close to catching a new Pokémon, and he couldn't take that away. "Yeah, go for it!"

"Go! Poke'ball!" Dan threw the poke'ball at Nidoran. The poke'ball sucked Nidoran inside and fell to the ground. The ball shook whilst the white button in the center was lit up red. It shook, shook, and shook some more. Then, the center button turned white again, and the ball lay still. "Holy shit. I got it. I actually caught it!"

Phil felt horrified. He had to challenge Brock now. However, at the same time, he felt happy for Dan. Dan seemed so excited; how could he not smile? "Congrats, Dan!"

"Thanks, mate!" Dan held the poke'ball close. "I can't believe I caught it."

Phil patted Dan on the shoulder. "I knew you could do it. But you should get it to the Pokémon center. You beat it up pretty bad."

"You're probably right."

"We can walk together. After all…I need to register for the League so I can try to earn a badge." Dan grinned from ear to ear hearing Phil say that, and this time, it was him that grabbed the other man's wrist and dragged him along with great excitement.

Once they arrived at the Pokémon center, Dan and Phil both handed over their Pokémon to be cared for.

"Nurse Joy, may I sign up for the League?" asked Phil.

"Oh! Me too," said Dan.

Nurse Joy smiled at them both, "Of course. I just need to see your poke'dexes."

"Oh… I don't have one…" mumbled Phil uncomfortably.

"That's alright," ensured Nurse Joy. "If you have any type of Pokémon competition identification, you'll be just fine."

Phil pulled out a small card with his picture and Pokémon on it. "I have my contest pass from Kalos."

"Perfect," chirped Nurse Joy taking the card from Phil. "While you're here, would you like me to issue you a new contest pass for the Kanto region?"

"That would be great. I have the same three Pokémon on the top of the card."

Nurse Joy started typing away on her computer. She inserted Phil's old contest pass into a machine and pressed various buttons. A moment later, a brand new contest pass popped out. Nurse Joy handed Phil his card, and then turned to Dan. "And you're signing up for League as well?"

"Yes, ma'am," said Dan as he handed her his poke'dex.

Nurse Joy placed his poke'dex in a slot to be scanned. Once the scan was complete, Dan's information appeared on her monitor. Nurse Joy completed the process and handed Dan his poke'dex back. "You're now both registered for the Pokémon League. Earn eight badges and you'll be eligible to compete." She turned her attention to Phil. "And all you need to do is earn five contest ribbons and you can compete in this year's Grand Festival."

"Thank you very much," said Dan.

"Yes, thank you," said Phil.

"I wish both of you the best of luck, and I'll contact you over the intercom as soon as your Pokémon are healthy again," said Nurse Joy.

Dan and Phil gave Nurse Joy their thanks, and then walked away from the counter. Dan bit his lip unconsciously. "Are you ready for your battle?"

"Sort of. I'm really nervous. Is there any chance we can go challenge Brock together tomorrow?"

"Yeah, of course. That would be pretty fun actually."

"So the faggot is going to try gym battles?" said a voice. Dan and Phil turned around to see the same group that had been harassing Phil before. Their leader looked at Phil like he was trash. "Pathetic. You can't beat a gym leader."

Dan maneuvered and stood slightly in front of Phil. "Either leave him alone, or I'm sending you to the hospital."

"Dan, don't," said Phil. "They're not worth it."

The leader of the group laughed. "Luckily other challengers can observe the gym leader battling competitors. So we can sit in the stands and watch him kick your ass."

"Show up to make fun of him and I'll kick your arse!" shouted Dan getting extremely ticked off.

Nurse Joy stepped away from her desk and stood in between everyone. "That's enough! I won't have any fighting in my Pokémon center! Coordinators are just as capable as trainers! Now if you want to rest here I suggest you leave these two boys alone and mind your own business."

The group grumbled and walked away. Nurse Joy simply beamed at Dan and Phil and returned to her post. Dan sighed, "I'm going to stab those guys."

"Don't bother. I just have more motivation to win now."

"I'll be right there with you, mate. You can do this."

"I hope you're right."

Dan and Phil stood in front of the Pewter City Gym. Both men were nervous wrecks, and neither of them wanted to show it. Dan placed his hand on Phil's shoulder. "Are you ready for this?"

Phil took a deep breath, "I think so. I'll go first. That way, you can see his Pokémon and battle strategy. What really matters is you receiving your badge, not me."

"But it's important you win too," insisted Dan.

"Dan, let me do this for you."

But you've already done so much. "Alright," Dan gave in.

Dan and Phil walked into the gym. Inside was a lobby with two doors, one to the left, and one to the right. Dan walked up to the counter with Phil. "We're here to challenge Brock."

The lady at the front desk gestured to her left, "Right through there."

"Thank you," said Dan and Phil. Both felt a little awkward, but walked together regardless.

Once they walked down the hall and entered the gym, they were met with a large arena. The terrain for battling was uneven and had small rocks and large boulders scattered across the field. Sitting in a chair at the end of the arena was Brock. He was wearing a tuxedo with a red bowtie. He stepped down from his chair and made his way to Dan and Phil. "Welcome to Pewter Gym. My name is Brock; I'm the gym leader here. Which one of you is challenging me today?"

"We both are," said Dan. "And I have to ask, why a tux? Shouldn't you be in like mountain gear or something? I heard gym leaders dressed along their theme."

"That's usually the case, however with the rivalry between trainers and coordinators, some gym leaders are trying to show support to coordinators. Coordinators dress formal for contests, so me and three other gym leaders across Kanto have been dressing formal for our battles," explained Brock.

"That's pretty cool," said Phil. "It means a lot to coordinators like myself."

Brock looked intrigued, "You're a coordinator? May I ask why you're asking me for a battle?"

Phil shifted his stance awkwardly. "Well, Dan convinced me that I'm strong enough to win a battle against a gym leader."

"I guess we'll see. Would you like to go first?" asked Brock. Phil nodded his head. "Alright. Follow me." Brock led Dan and Phil over to the left side of the arena. Lined along a part of the wall were eight slots. They were labeled in numerical order. "What's your name?"

"I'm Phil, and this is Dan," Phil introduced himself and Dan.

Brock turned to face them and crossed his arms. "I have some questions for you, Phil, since I'm facing you first." Phil waited for his questions. "First, have you ever competed in a Grand Festival?"

"Once. I competed in last year's Kalos Grand Festival."

"What was your place?"

"I made the top 8."

"Have you ever competed in a gym battle before?"

"No, I haven't."

Brock turned to his array of slots. He pressed a button above the slots and all the panels fell open. Trays with poke'balls slid out. Each tray had six poke'balls. Brock was looking at his choices from slot four. "Lastly, how many Pokémon do you have?"

"I have three. And, may I ask you, why do you have so many Pokémon?"

Brock selected three poke'balls from slot four. He turned to talk to Phil directly. "Let's say a trainer comes in and wants to battle, but he already has seven badges. I would need a powerful team to make it challenge, but I can't use Pokémon that strong on someone who has no badges. All of these Pokémon have been specially trained at different strengths and levels. I have labeled one to eight in order to determine which to use based on how many badges someone has already earned. This is the first time I've had to make that decision based on contest skills. I should probably make a system in case more coordinators decide to try their hand at gym battles." Brock walked away and took his place on his side of the battle field.

Phil made his way to his side of the battle field, and stood in the box that was painted on the ground. Dan stood as close as he could, right outside the box.

Brock spoke up, "This battle is between I, Brock, the gym leader, and Phil the Pokémon coordinator slash trainer. We will each use three Pokémon. You may switch out as much as you like. The first person with no remaining Pokémon will lose. The challenger may not take any assistance from audience members, with the exception of poke'dex information. There will be no time limit. I will choose my Pokémon first. Let the battle begin." Brock selected a poke'ball from his belt and threw towards the center of the field. "Go! Graveler!"

A rock Pokémon with four arms appeared on the battle field. Phil swallowed hard and his breath rattled in his chest. He turned to Dan, "Dan, can you—?"

"On it," stated Dan as pulled out his poke'dex.

"Graveler, the rock Pokémon. Graveler grows by feeding on rocks. Apparently, it prefers to eat rocks that are covered in moss. This Pokémon eats it way through a ton of rocks on a daily basis."

"Well that doesn't tell me much," said Phil starting to panic.

Dan looked for any helpful information the poke'dex could provide, "All it says is that it's a rock and ground type. It doesn't show any moves."

"Yearly, gym leaders submit their information to the Pokémon League. So when the poke'dexes are updated, you don't have an unfair advantage," informed Brock.

"So all I know is it's rock and ground," stated Phil. He chose a poke'ball from his belt. "Hopefully I can do this. Go! Sylveon!" From Phil's poke'ball emerged a beautiful Pokémon. Similar to a large cat, it stood on all four soft paws. It had flowing ribbons attached to its ears. Dan scanned Sylveon with his poke'dex.

"Sylveon, the fairy Pokémon. It sends a soothing aura from its ribbon-like feelers to calm fights."

"Alright, Graveler use rock polish!" commanded Brock. Graveler curled up into a ball and appeared to be coated in a silver sheen. The effect vanished. "Now rockslide!" Graveler traveled across the field with incredible speed. Several boulders from the field were brought up into the air, and then came crashing down onto Sylveon.

"Sylveon, no! How?" shouted Phil in shock.

Dan was in just as much as shock as Phil, but then it made sense, "It was the rock polish!"

Phil was trying not to chew his nails, and it was only just the beginning of the battle. "Sylveon get up! Use draining kiss!" Sylveon got to its feet. It ran towards the Graveler and wrapped the ribbons by its ears around its opponent to hold them in place. Sylveon then kissed Graveler on the cheek. Graveler wiggled around in protest as it was having its energy drained. Sylveon jumped backwards away from Graveler, its energy restored. "Now use moonblast!"

"Sandstorm!" shouted Brock. Before Sylveon could attack, Graveler began to rapidly spin on the ground, and tossed up a massive sandstorm. Dan, Phil, and Sylveon couldn't see anything. "Earthquake!" Graveler jumped in the air, and then came crashing down, smashing its body into the ground. The whole arena shook, tossing Sylveon all over the place. Dan and Phil struggled to keep their balance. Eventually the earthquake ended, but Sylveon was starting to get weak. The air was still thick with sand.

Phil was coughing on sand, but he managed to yell out to his Sylveon, "Use dazzling gleam!" Sylveon generated bright lights around its body, and fired them in all directions. Luckily, it landed a direct hit against Graveler, despite the storm. Graveler was clearly getting weak. Phil held out his poke'ball. "Sylveon, return!" Sylveon was brought back inside the poke'ball. Phil threw a different ball out onto the field. "Vivillon! Go!" Vivillon came out onto the field, and was instantly shaken from the sandstorm.

"Rock polish!" shouted Brock. Graveler used its rock polish attack, and gained even more speed.

"Gust!" shouted Phil. Vivillon used its powerful wings to blow away all the dust. "Psybeam!" Vivillon gather energy close to its body. It launched a powerful attack at Graveler.

"Dodge that!" commanded Brock. Graveler attempted to move out of the way, but the blast range was too wide. A beam of bright colors collided into Graveler. Graveler tumbled, and lay on the ground. "Graveler, return." Brock held out Graveler's poke'ball, and the rock Pokémon vanished from the field.

Phil was in utter shock. "I did it?"

"Don't get too excited," said Brock. "You still have two Pokémon to defeat." Brock threw a poke'ball out onto the field. "Go! Rampardos!" From the poke'ball appeared a large grey and blue dinosaur-like Pokémon.

Dan held out his poke'dex, "Rampardos, the Head Butt Pokémon and the evolved form of Cranidos. Its headbutt attack is so powerful that it can pulverize even the sturdiest of objects with one hit."

"This one is a pure rock type," observed Dan. "Be careful."

"Right," said Phil.

Brock smirked just enough to cause fear to surge in Phil's body. "Rampardos use stone edge!" Rampardos attacked Vivillon with a powerful attack that caused rocks to come crashing down into Vivillon. When the dust cleared, it was obvious that Vivillon wouldn't be getting back up.

"Vivillon!" yelled Phil mortified. Vivillon had been taken out with one hit. What was he going to do? "You did well; take a rest." Vivillon was sucked into its poke'ball. Phil threw Sylveon's poke'ball, returning his already tired Pokémon to the field. "Sylveon use moonblast!" Luckily for Phil, Sylveon was much faster than Rampardos, and it landed a direct hit.

"Rock polish!" shouted Brock.

"Shadow ball!" Phil was counting on Sylveon's speed, and fortunately, Sylveon was able to launch a purple ball of energy at Rampardos. Rampardos was hit before it was able to use rock polish.

"Avalanche, Rampardos!" ordered Brock. Rampardos used its power to make the air chilly. Suddenly rocks were brought into the air and became frozen solid. They flew at Sylveon and collided into the smaller Pokémon's body. Sylveon struggled to stay on its feet.

"Sylveon use dazzling gleam!"

"Earthquake!" Rampardos obeyed Brock and caused the arena to shake once again. Sylveon was unable to get up after that harsh attack.

"Return, Sylveon, thank you." Phil took a deep breath. In his hand he held his last Pokémon, his last hope. "Go! Gardevoir!" Phil threw his poke'ball and out came a beautiful, elegant white and green Pokémon.

Dan was intrigued and scanned Gardevoir with his poke'dex, "Gardevoir, the embrace Pokémon. It has the power to predict the future. Its power peaks when it is protecting its trainer."

"Moonblast!" commanded Phil. Gardevoir attacked Rampardos an explosive blast of energy. It was the same attack that Sylveon had used, but clearly Gardevoir was stronger. Rampardos fell in defeat after being hit with that attack.

Brock's smirk had long faded. Gardevoir was not going to be an easy match. Brock held out his poke'ball, "Rampardos, return." Rampardos disappeared from the field. "Go! Kabutops!"

Dan and Phil were both stunned. "He has a Kabutops?" they asked in union, completely flabbergasted. A large, prehistoric Pokémon stood on the battle field. It had sharp claws for hands, and it was known for being fast.

"I'll get what information I can…" said Dan nervously as he scanned the Pokémon with his poke'dex.

"Kabutops, the shellfish Pokémon. Kabutops swam underwater to hunt for its prey in ancient times. The Pokémon was apparently evolving from being a water-dweller to living on land as evident from the beginnings of change in its gills and legs."

"It's a water and rock type," said Dan. "You can do this, Phil! I know you can!"

"Thanks, Dan," said Phil. He took a deep breath. This was it.

"Kabutops use aqua jet!" shouted Brock. Kabutops surrounded itself in water and attacked Gardevoir with speed that was almost unable to be seen. Gardevoir stayed on its feet, but it was already hurt badly.

"Use psychic!" ordered Phil.

"Rock slide!" Before Gardevoir could react, Kabutops had sent boulders high into the air, and made them smash into Gardevoir. Now Gardevoir was weak. It struggled to stand.

"I won't lose this battle! Gardevoir! Mega evolve!" shouted Phil as he pressed a multi-colored button that was placed dead center of a band that clung to his wrist.

Dan's jaw dropped. He can mega evolve? He wondered with wide eyes. He didn't know much about mega evolutions, but he knew that only talented trainers could pull it off.

Gardevoir was wrapped in a veil of silver and white. The light shimmered brighter and brighter until it vanished, revealing Gardevoir had mega evolved, making it stronger and faster.

"Now! Magical leaf!" commanded Phil with determination.

"Aqua jet!" shouted Brock.

The two Pokémon launched their attacks. Gardevoir attacked with silver leafs, and Kabutops charged at Gardevoir surrounded in water. The Pokémon collided and caused a massive explosion. Dan, Phil, and Brock all stood still with faded breath as they waited for the smoke to clear.