In our last episode, Alex has appeared again! But this time, it seems he's changed. Maybe he'll get another chance! Meanwhile, Aaron's gotten ready for his next gym challenge, will he win. In the caves, it seems one of Seth's companions has gone missing, will he be found?
Seth's Group
"Peter!" shouted Seth. "Peter! Where are you?"
His voice echoed throughout the cave, causing it to be amplified. Seth grunted and kicked a loose stone.
"Great, now the cave's taunting me back."
"I doubt that's the case," muttered Theo.
"PETER! YOU CAN COME BACK NOW!"
Theo winced as Seth's voice echoed again even louder. Theo rubbed his ears and gave Seth a look.
"I bet he's heard us already. You can stop shouting and we'll wait here for him to come back. You might disturb some other Pokémon in this cave."
"I don't care. It's my fault he got lost! I was paying attention to where he was. I-"
Seth paused. Theo looked around as loud squeaking noises echoed throughout the cave.
"See what I tell you?" asked Theo.
"Whatever, we can take out a bunch of Zubats."
A swarm of Golbats entered the cave, squeaking angrily.
"Nevermind! Run!"
They turned around and ran down the tunnel, the Golbats in hot pursuit. The tunnel they were in was somewhat small and caused the Golbats to get in each other's way.
Soon, only a few Golbats remained chasing them. Seth looked back and saw that their numbers had diminished severely.
"Alright Theo. Ready to take them on?"
"Not really," gasped Theo, his breath ragged from running.
"Good enough for me!"
Aaron's Group
Aaron walked through a dark room with his team, at least, the dark room inside of the dark type gym. He felt the walls with his hand, trying to see where to go next.
"I heard Brawly's gym in Hoenn is structured the same way," said Clara, keeping close to them.
"I just hope they turn the lights on during a Pokémon battle," said Aaron.
"Obviously they will," said Thomas. "Unless they don't as a special way of Pokémon training. You'll never know. I hate mazes, and the fact this is dark doesn't help."
"We've been at this for twenty minutes, we'll get there."
He rubbed his hand against the wall and felt something. He touched it again and realized it was a switch. He flipped it, causing overhead lights to turn on.
"Thanks for the warning Aaron," groaned Clara sarcastically, rubbing her eyes from the sudden light.
"Boo!" shouted a voice behind them, causing them all to jump. A girl stood there, in gym clothing. Aaron noticed she was wearing black glasses.
"Where can I get those?" asked Clara, still rubbing her eyes.
"Maybe I'll lend you mine if Aaron can defeat me easily. Go, Shade Walker!"
"Out, Noctowl!"
Aaron's Noctowl flew into the air, circling the Sableye overhead.
"Air Slash!"
The Noctowl shot blades of air at Shade Walker, who couldn't move fast enough to dodge them. The Noctowl turned around sharply, avoiding the walls.
"We can't move much in a cramped area, land and use Air Slash!"
Aaron's Noctowl landed cleanly on the floor and used Air Slash again. Shade Walker raised his arms up, trying to protect himself from the multitude of air blades.
"Thief!"
Shade Walker dashed forward and struck out at Aaron's Noctowl, who tilted to the side and dodged it.
"Fury Swipes!"
"Take to the air!"
Shade Walker rushed at Noctowl, swinging his claws rapidly. Noctowl hopped backwards and flapped his wings, hovering up into the air and avoiding the attack.
"Air Slash!"
Noctowl fired more blades of air at Shade Walker. The Pokémon leapt into the air and tried in vain to slash at the Noctowl, but came up short and was soon fainted by the never ending Air Slash.
The trainer sighed and returned her Pokémon. "I never seem to win. Does your Noctowl only know Air Slash?"
"No," said Aaron, returning his own Pokémon. "Unfortunately, your Pokémon's dark and ghost typing makes most of Noctowl's moves ineffective."
"But you still one. Whatever, a deals a deal."
She handed Clara her black glasses. Clara took them and put them over her eyes.
"Won't that make the rest of the maze even darker?" asked Thomas.
"Not like it really matters," Clara shot back.
Seth's Group
"Vex, use Rock Tomb!" shouted Seth, his Tyrunt battling a large Golbat.
Vex slammed a foot against the ground, causing a pillar of stone to jut out and slam into the Golbat. The Pokémon gave a screech and fell over, fainted.
"Think that's the last of them?" asked Seth, peering around the corner.
"Not for long," said Theo. "But it should be long enough."
"Stop talking in circles, I'm heading out."
Seth walked through the tunnels, Theo following behind. Seth looked back at Vex and returned him to his pokéball.
"Let's check down here," said Seth, indicating a tunnel.
Theo frowned and leaned forward. "I dunno, I can hear something going on there."
"Maybe it's Peter. Let's go."
They walked through the tunnels, Theo clutching his giant bag nervously. Seth swept his flashlight across the tunnel. His light passed over a fallen Golbat, causing him to leap back.
"What the heck?"
Theo looked at the Golbat and slowly brought his light around the entire cave. There were Golbat's everywhere. None of them were awake.
"I don't think Peter did this," said Seth.
"Then who did?" asked Theo.
A digging noise filled the cave. The noises seemed to be coming from all around them.
Seth spun in a circle, aiming his flashlight everywhere. "I didn't sign up for a horror show!"
"This is what happens when you disturb the cave Pokémon!" Theo hissed.
Seth's flashlight beam hovered over a disturbance in the ground. A diglett head popped out, followed by twenty nine others. They all rushed at Seth and Theo.
"Digletts? These things faint to a light breeze! Arianna! Take these things out with Bubble Beam!"
"Poliwrath, Surf!"
Seth and Theo sent out their Pokémon. Arianna let loose a stream of bubbles, stunning the Diglett while Theo's Poliwrath created a wave of water that washed over the Diglett.
In no time, all the Digletts had fainted. Seth returned Arianna, a smug smile on his face.
"What did I say? At least they weren't Dugtrio though."
Theo looked around, half expecting a swarm of Dugtrio to burst out and attack them. After a while, Theo waved Seth forward.
"All clear. Let's move."
"And let's hope it stays clear."
Aaron's Group
Aaron's group moved through the dark maze. The part they were in wasn't fully dark, but was still dim enough to make it hard to see the intersections.
"Didn't we come through here?" asked Thomas.
"How am I supposed to know?" asked Clara. "All the walls look the same to me."
"I could swear there was a turn like this. Are we going in circles?"
"It's a square maze," said Aaron, stopping at a fork and looking around.
"I don't mean literally," said Thomas.
"I think he's as lost as we are. He's getting frustrated."
"Well you're not helping Clara," muttered Aaron. "Can you even see with those glasses?"
"Nope."
Aaron sighed. "I don't think we've gone through here yet. Let's go."
After a few more turns, Aaron made out a switch on the wall. He nodded and walked over to it.
"Alright guys, you might want to cover your eyes."
He flipped the switch, causing the light in the room to brighten dramatically.
"Out of the dark, and into the light!" shouted a trainer wearing a black cloak, appearing from the corner of the room.
Everyone jumped back in surprise. Clara took off her glasses and glared at him, a hand over her heart.
"Are you trying to kill me? You almost gave me a heart attack!"
The boy looked at her. "You need a doctor?"
She sighed, waving a hand dismissively. "Just do your battle or whatever."
"She's always like that," said Aaron. "Go, Quilladin!"
"Sneasel!"
The two Pokémon burst out of their pokéballs , landing on the marked floor.
"Sneasel, use Ice Punch!"
"Needle Arm!"
The Sneasel's fist was enveloped in a freezing cold as it lunged towards Quilladin. He raised both of his arms up, surrounded in green spikes and blocked the attack.
"Knock him back!" shouted Aaron.
Quilladin flipped his arm upwards and hit the Sneasel in the face, knocking it backwards as it tried to hit him with Ice Punch.
"Quick Attack!"
"Rollout!"
The Sneasel ran towards Quilladin, who spun into a ball and rolled at it. The Sneasel deftly flipped over him and twisted around, using Ice Shard.
"Dodge it and use Leech Seed!"
Quilladin leapt out of his ball form and shot out a stream of seeds. The seeds wrapped around the Sneasel and started draining it.
"Rollout!"
"Cut!"
The Sneasel slashed at the vines around it, trying desperately to free itself. The vines wilted as they were cut, but the Sneasel wasn't fast enough. Quilladin slammed into the Pokémon, knocking it back against the wall.
"Needle Arm!"
"Dodge it!"
Using the momentum from the Rollout attack, Quilladin leapt forward and slammed his arms into the Sneasel. The Sneasel rebounded off the wall and scrambled away from the powerful Quilladin.
"Feint Attack!"
"Defend yourself by spinning with Needle Arm!"
Aaron knew that with this approach, the Sneasel wouldn't be able to attack from any side easily. Quilladin whirled around, a green light surrounding him. The Sneasel dash to the right before flipping to the left, striking out with a claw. The attack was met with a Needle Arm, knocking the Sneasel back.
"Now, use Pin Missile!"
Quilladin fired a stream of needles at the Sneasel. The Sneasel was blown back as a barrage of needles slammed into it, causing it to faint.
The trainer returned his Pokémon and sulked back into the corner.
"I see I have been bested in battle. Into the darkness I return."
Jax's Group
Jax strolled through the grass, headed towards the dark type gym. Virgil running around his feet. The Eevee had constantly been out of his pokéball, leaping at every Pokémon to battle it.
"Do you think we'll run into Aaron again?" asked Camilla.
"I doubt it," answered Jax. "Last I checked he was headed towards bug type gym. Following his pattern, the flying gym will be next. For us, we'll be headed towards the rock gym, then the fire gym."
"I thought we're supposed to do the first six gyms the professor mentioned," said Mack.
"He recommended it, but that doesn't mean we have to. I'm sure us and our Pokémon will be able to handle the stronger Pokémon. And If we do it this way, it'll be more efficient."
"If we wanted to be efficient, shouldn't we have done the rock or water gym and then go from right to left or left to right?"
"Didn't the other challengers already do that?" asked Camilla.
"True," said Mack. "But if the Pokémon prove too strong, it's your fault."
"That's fair," said Jax. "But I'm not saying we won't prepare. I'm sure Virgil can't wait to evolve. We'll just need an evolutionary stone, a Thunder Stone would be preferred."
"Maybe we can find one in the next settlement," offered Camilla.
Virgil's ears perked up, he turned towards a patch of grass and leapt at it, using Take Down.
"Aw come on Virgil!"
Virgil slammed into a Pokémon in the grass. A Herdier leapt out of the grass and growled at Virgil, who showed no signs of being intimidated.
"Fine then. Swift!"
Virgil leapt back and fired star shaped rays that slammed into the Herdier. The Herdier shook its head and growled, leaping forward while using Take Down.
"Dodged it with Quick Attack!"
Virgil ran around the Herdier and slammed into it from the side. The Herdier gave a whimper and retreated backwards.
"Take Down!"
Virgil leapt forward and slammed into the Herdier. It retaliated by using Crunch, biting down onto Virgil's leg and throwing him backwards.
"Bite!"
Virgil recovered from the attack and latched his teeth onto the Herdier's tail, dragging it off its feet.
"Watch out!" shouted Jax, noticing the Herdier glowing orange.
Virgil let go and leapt backwards, avoiding a Reversal.
"It's weak, Take Down!"
Virgil rushed forward and slammed into the Herdier with a powerful blow. The dog Pokémon staggered back and turned tail.
"Leave it Virgil," said Jax before Virgil gave pursuit.
Virgil gave a huff and returned to Jax's side, swishing his tail in a self important manner.
"Reminds me of my brother," said Mack.
"I'm guessing you two didn't get along," said Jax.
"Nope."
Aaron's Group
"Espurr, use Disarming Voice!"
"Dodge it Poochyena!"
A Poochyena leapt away from the waves of pink energy.
"Blind it with Sand Attack!"
"Get away Espurr!"
Espurr avoided the Sand Attack and used Disarming Voice again, hitting the Poochyena this time. The Pokémon was thrown back into a wall and then fainted.
"Ugh," said the trainer. "You beat me with a psychic type?"
"Type match ups aren't everything," said Aaron. "I know that better than anyone."
He returned Espurr to her pokéball and left the room. He and his team continued through the maze, the entire room lit up brightly. When they got to the center of the maze, they found a new pathway had opened.
"I think this is it," said Aaron. Heading into the pathway.
"Good luck," said Clara. "Don't make Espurr do all the work with Disarming Voice."
"Or Quilladin," added Thomas.
Aaron gave them a smile. "Relax. It'll be easy."
He strode through the passageway and headed into the main gym room. On the other side of the room, he saw someone wearing a black cape approaching.
"The name's Robert," said the man. "I'm the dark type gym leader, and trust me, I'm not an easy person to battle."
"Well neither am I," retorted Aaron. "Let's see if you can match my skills."
"Ha, I see you have some fire inside. You know, I used to always want to be a dragon type gym leader in Unova. I loved the old legend and the Original Dragon, as well as dragon types. But I ended up becoming a mythologist and then became a dark type gym leader for a reality tv show. I guess I didn't follow my own fire well enough.. But enough reminiscing, you ready to lose?"
"The answer's pretty obvious, I'm ready to win!"
"If you say so, let's get this battle started!"
A referee came between them holding a black and white flag.
"We have black and white!" announced the referee, pointing at Robert and Aaron respectively. "The rules for this match follow the standard singles three on three. One switch per person, and the first person to lose both Pokémon is the loser. Any questions?"
Robert and Aaron shook their heads.
"Didn't think so. Ready your Pokémon, and let the battle begin!"
"I choose you, Liepard!"
"Go, Noctowl!"
Two two fully evolved Pokémon burst out of their pokéballs. The Liepard moved gracefully on the ground, while Noctowl took to the sky.
"Start this off with Air Slash!"
Robert didn't say anything as his Liepard wove around the blades of air, dodging them with relative ease.
"Assist!"
Liepard became surrounded in a white aura, as did one of Robert's pokéballs . His Liepard opened its mouth and fired a stream of draconic energy at Noctowl, hitting him on the side.
"Noctowl! Use Hypnosis!"
"Dodge it!"
The Liepard dodged the attack easily and leapt at Noctowl. Noctowl flipped around and used Air Slash.
Robert gave an imperceivable nod, and the Liepard dashed forward and slammed into Noctowl with Sucker Punch. Noctowl gave a shriek and flapped away.
"Steel Wing!"
Before the Liepard landed, Noctowl dove and whipped out his wings, slamming the Liepard into the ground with steel covered wings.
"Fury Swipes!"
"Air Slash!"
The Liepard rushed at Noctowl, but was beaten backwards by strong winds. It leapt to the side and avoided the wind blades, stalking Noctowl.
Robert tapped his foot lightly on the ground twice. Liepard glowed white again and dashed forward and leapt, raising a claw. The claw glowed silver as it came swiping at Noctowl.
"Steel Wing!"
Noctowl swooped down and clashed his wings with the Liepard's claws. Using his powerful wings, he threw the feline Pokémon backwards and used Air Slash. The powerful wind blades beat down on the Pokémon as it scrambled away.
"Aerial Ace!"
Robert's Liepard ran forward and leapt at Noctowl. Aaron realized with a start that it was glowing white.
"It's not using the same move! Be careful!"
The Liepard opened its mouth and latched onto one of Noctowl's legs, sparks flew as it used Thunder Fang.
"Steel Wing!"
Noctowl brought it wings down and beat the Liepard. It let go as he used Air Slash, bringing it one more time to the ground where it fainted.
"Liepard is unable to fight!" announced the referee. "Send in your next Pokémon!"
"Hey, when are you going to send out that Deino of yours?" asked Aaron.
Robert raised an eyebrow in suprise. "How'd you know?"
"When your Liepard used Dragon Breath, I knew there was only one dragon and dark Pokémon you could have."
"How smart. Go, Deino!"
The Deino appeared on the field, giving a squeal as it sniffed around, looking for a target.
"Return, Noctowl!"
"Aaron has used his only switch! He has none for the remiander of the match! Send in your replacment!"
"I choose you, Espurr!"
The psychic type Pokémon appeared on the feild. Robert smirked at the Pokémon and laughed.
"You really think my Deino's that weak? Please, sending out a psychic type is insulting to both of us."
"Keep talking, Fake Out!"
Espurr dashed forward, clapping the Deino on the face and stunning it. It gave a snort and shook its head, trying to disercn where the attak had come from.
"Deino, Bite!"
The Deino turned towards Espurr and leapt forward. Espurr dodged to the side and backed away from the vicious Pokémon.
"Disarming Voice!"
"Dragon Breath!"
The stream of draconic energy was immediatly washed away by the fair type attack. The pink sound waves slammed into the Deino and sent it backwards, dealing lots of damage from the double type effectiveness.
"Don't let that stop you! Use Bite!"
The Deino charged in Espurr's general direction, trying to find its target. It banged its head on the floor in its reckless attack before swinging around and landing and unexpected hit on Espurr.
"There you go! Dragon Breath!"
"Light Screen!"
Espurr raised a screen of light that blocked the Dragon Breath. The Deino gave a snarl and charged forward with Thunder Fang, smashing past the barrier and biting Espurr with electric jaws.
"Disarming Voice!"
Espurr let out a cry and blasted the the Deino backwards with a powerful Disarming Voice. The dragon type Pokémon staggered back, clearly taking a lot of damage from the attacks.
"Return, Deino!" shouted Robert, pulling the Pokémon back into its ball.
"Robert has used his only switch!" shouted the referee, pointing his black flag at Robert. "Neither battler can switch their Pokémon now! Send in you next Pokémon!"
"Go, Arthur!"
A Pawniard appeared on the field, it clashed its blades and rushed at Espurr.
"Disarming Voice!"
Arthur leapt to the side and swung a blade at Espurr. It then flipped around and hit Espurr in the direction she tried to dodge it.
"Metal Claw!"
"Disarming Voice!"
Arthur wasn't able to dodge this time. Espurr blasted the Pokémon backwards with a powerful cry.
"That won't be enough to stop him!" shouted Robert, tilting his head upwards. "Fury Cutter!"
Aaron narrrowed his eyes as Arthur rushed forward, his blades glowing leapt to the side and was about to strike.
"Dodge backwards! He's using Feint Attack!"
Espurr leapt back as the Pawniard swung to the left like he anticipated. Espurr used Disarming Voice again, throwing the Pawniard to the ground.
"You're starting to make your commands pretty obvious."
"Fury Cutter!"
"Get back Espurr!"
Arthur slashed in rapid succsession at Espurr, who dodged backwards as best as she could. Running short on energy, she tried for one last Disarming Voice, but the Pawniard was too quick. It leapt forward and delivered a final blow.
"Espurr is unable to fight!" shouted the referee, pointing the white flag at Aaron. "Send in your next Pokémon!"
"You did great Espurr," said Aaron, slightly worried. Most of the moves known by his Pokémon only knew moves that would be resisted by Arthur, and the only move that wasn't rresisted wasn;t that strong. He knew how defensive steel types were.
"If I can't win with stat advantages, I'll have to win with brute force! Quilladin, I choose you!"
Quilladin popped out of his ball, raising his arms and giving a battle cry.
"Rollout! Build up your speed and crush it!"
"Arthur, use Slash!"
Quilladin rolled into a ball and came racing at Arthur. The Pokémon leapt to the side and slashed at Quilladin, his blade bounced off the Pokémon as if he hit stone.
"Let's see how he handles Fury Cutter!"
"Strike him now!"
Quilladin rushed at Arthur, who stood ready, his blades up. Right as Quilladin came caraneering towards the Pokémon, Arthur leapt to the side, attacking towards the right before whipping around and hitting Chespin on his left side.
"Pin Missile!"
Quilladin leapt into the air, firing a series of quills at Arthur. He raised his blades and slashed at the misslies.
"Rollout!"
Quilladin curled himself into a ball and slammed into Arthur. He popped out of his ball form and followed up with a Needle Arm, knocking the Pawniard back.
"Pin Missile!"
Not ready for a barrage of different attacks, Arthur wasn't able to defend against the Pin Missile. The quills slammed into Arthur and fainted him.
"Arthur is unable to battle! Send in you last Pokémon!"
"Well, it looks like things are over. Go, Deino!"
The blind dragon Pokémon appeared again. Still weakened from its battle with Espurr.
"Quilladin, use Needle Arm!"
"Fire Fang!"
Quilladin ran forward, his arms glowing green with spikes. The Deino heard him and rushed at Quilladin, its jaws blazing with fire.
"Get ready to dodge it!"
"Dragon Breath!"
Quilladin leapt to the side and jumped at the Deino, slamming it with both arms and sending it flying. The Deino staggered to its feet. Clearly, it could not take much more damage.
"Pin Missile!"
Quilldain fired a series of quills at the Deino. The quills slammed into the Pokémon right as Quilladin was upon it with Needle Arm. With a powerful stroke, Quilldain slammed his arm into the Deino, fainting it.
"Deino is unable to battle. The winner is, Aaron!"
The crowd cheered as Aaron strode forward to meet his Pokémon. Quilladin smiled and gave him a high five before returning to his pokéball. Robert walked up to Aaron, holding a glittery badge shaped like a star in his hand.
"I congratulate you for beating me in a Pokémon battle. I shall now confer onto you, the Midnight Badge. Good luck on the rest of the gyms."
Aaron accepted the badge. "Will do."
Seth's Group
"Do you hear that?" asked Theo, putting an ear against the wall.
"Yeah, it sounds like Pokémon are fighting. Let's go."
"Are you sure?" asked Theo. "It could be something we don't want to get caught up with."
"We can handle it." With that, Seth ran forward into the cave. He saw a Lairon tangled up in a multitude of vines. Battling the Pokémon was Peter the Phantump.
So that's the end of the story, nice to leave it on a cliffhanger. If you liked this episode, please leave a review! It really helps keep my motivation.