Chapter 18: VS Rustboro Gym Leader Roxanne
Sorry for the delay, people! School kind of decided to hand me my gluteus maximus on a silver platter over the course of the past couple weeks. We're talking tests, quizzes, calc finals, and staying up until 2AM in the morning working on homework. Thank goodness I've got the week off.
A big thanks to GarionRiva, Hulk Davidson1010, TrAfAlGaRIAxSgUrL27,dkj224, lovelyflower5, and JACCGirls-Squad for following and/or favoriting this fanfic!
GarionRiva: Thanks so much for the review. I'm glad you're enjoying the fanfic so far, and thanks for forgiving me on Sapphire catching a bunch of Pokémon right at the start. It's going to slow down a bit now, though. I mean, she'll catch a few more, but right now these seven are her main players. At least, that's the plan. I don't know, I might slip one in soon, I'm not certain. As for the battles, I'm happy you think that they are good. I hope you enjoy the one in this next chapter!
Anonymous (guest review): Glad you love it, and thanks for the support!
TheSignOfLibra: Before I forget, no I have not forgotten about checking out your fanfic, I've just been too busy to literally do anything else besides sleep, go to school, and do homework. Don't put yourself down about your writing, though - different people have different strengths. I'm certain that you are an extremely talented writer in your own ways; that's what makes every writer unique. And I'm glad you approve of Brook's usage, she'll be making another appearance in the near future!
Disclaimer: I own nothing official!
The next day Sapphire found herself standing outside of the Rustboro Gym, anxiously running a hand over her Pokeballs. Roxanne, the leader, used Rock types, and Sapphire had structured her team accordingly. Swampy and Beldum would be her main fighters, and Shade would pop out in case they needed some support. Also on her were the twin Ralts and Shadow, though they were more there as last resorts. She had done some training with Dancer the night before after her return from the Devon Corps, and the tiny Pokemon now had an identical move set to her brother
Taking a deep breath, and with a reassuring glance at Shade who was perched on her shoulder, the girl opened the door and walked into the large cavernous gym.
"I can't believe I'm doing this." Sapphire muttered before steeling her nerves and opening her mouth to call out. "Hello! I'm here for a gym battle!"
Silence permeated the air for a moment, before a young lady walked out of a side room, stopping once she caught sight of Sapphire.
"Hello." She said brightly. "So, you're a challenger, hm? I'm Roxanne, the leader of the gym. Who might you be?"
"I go by the name of Alpha." Sapphire proclaimed, gesturing to the Sneasel on her shoulder. "And this is my partner, Shade. We would like to have a gym battle."
"And so you shall." Roxanne replied as the lights came up, revealing that they were standing on the battlefield. Sapphire had unknowingly stopped in the challenger's box, and as Roxanne moved to stand in the gym leader's position she reached for a Pokeball. Tossing it high in the air she revealed her first Pokemon, a Geodude. Sapphire wasted no time in retaliating by calling out Swampy. A referee took his position on the sidelines and called for the battle to begin.
"Alright then, Geodude, use Defense Curl!" Roxanne ordered as her Pokemon curled up in on himself, increasing his defenses.
"Go on the attack, Swampy! Use Mud-slap!" Sapphire commanded in response. Swampy nodded and sprayed a bit of water on the ground to create some mud before kicking it up into the air.
"Geodude, use Rock Tomb to create a barrier." Geodude slammed his hands down onto the ground, creating a small rock fall that piled up in front of him, shielding the Rock and Ground type from the mud. Not all of it was blocked, however, and Roxanne's Pokemon took some minor damage. Roxanne frowned and called for a Defense Curl, which Geodude faithfully executed.
"Water Gun!" Sapphire was hoping that the super effective attack would be enough to take care of the Geodude.
"Not so fast, Alpha." Roxanne chastized. "Geodude, use your Tackle attack to dodge it, and then use Rock Tomb!"
In an impressive display of speed that was unusual of his species, Geodude handily slipped out of the way of the incoming blast of pressurized water, before generating another set of boulders. These ones fell around Swampy, damaging him slightly and lowering his speed. Geodude than rushed in with another Tackle, though Sapphire quickly called her partner back before it could connect.
"I've got to lower that Geodude's speed somehow." She murmured before glancing down at Shade. "You're up, buddy."
"Sneasel." Shade smirked and darted out onto the field. Sapphire wasted no time in calling for an Icy Wind. Geodude just barely managed to get out of the miniature blizzard's path, but he was unable to completely dodge the second one. The icy cold gale licked one of his hands, forming small ice crystals.
Geodude shuddered a bit before retaliating with Rock Tomb, dropping the boulders on top of Sneasel. Sapphire flinched as a few of the larger ones connecting, one of them trapping Shade's foot.
"Again!" Roxanne shouted. Sapphire frowned, knowing that Shade would be unable to dodge another hit. This would require some planning.
"Shade, use Icy Wind to freeze the boulders and then break them apart with Scratch!" She called. Shade nodded before unleashing another chilly gust, the ice crystals penetrating the boulders and making them weak and brittle. Several fine sScratch attacks later and the tiny shards of rock littered the ground surrounding the Dark and Ice type. Shade repeated the process with the boulder trapping his foot, freeing himself just in time to summersault out of the way of an incoming Tackle.
Roxanne called for six more in quick succession, and Shade dodged them all, darting in occasionally to whittle away tiny bits of Geodude's strength with Scratch. Eventually, however, Shade was backed into a corner, and there was no place for him to run.
"Rock Tomb again, Geodude." Roxanne's partner began to create the rocks that spelled doom Shade. Sapphire frowned, calling for a Feint Attack. While it was not super effective, the move was guaranteed to land, and the weasel dealt a powerful blow to Roxanne's first Pokemon before the boulders were dropped right on top of him.
"Sneasel is unable to battle." The referee pronounced. "Geodude wins. Challenger, select your next Pokemon."
"Nice work, Shade." Sapphire praised her fallen partner as she recalled him. She placed the Pokeball back in its spot on her wrist band before pulling off the solid red one. "Beldum, let's go."
Roxanne raised an eyebrow when she saw the shiny Pokemon appear, before gasping as they suddenly rushed forward in response to Alpha's call for an Iron Head. The Steel type move connected with a solid thunk, and Geodude was down. Roxanne recalled him after the referee's judgement, appraising the Beldum with a keen eye.
"That's a pretty good Pokemon you've got there." She admitted, a smile on her face. "But I'm not done yet. Nosepass, come on out!"
This new Pokemon looked like a cartoonish drawing of ancient statues, complete with a bright red nose. Sapphire frowned, thinking that he looked tough and that it might be better to have Swampy deal some damage first. Having made up her mind, she held out Beldum's Pokeball.
"Beldum, return for now." She called as the red laser that pulled a Pokemon back into its Pokeball darted through the air to strike Beldum. To her great shock, however, Beldum was not sucked into the beam and pulled back into the Pokeball, the red light shattering against their body. Beldum turned back to look at her, a sad note in their single red eye.
"Bel, beldum." They said, shaking their head. Alpha frowned.
"What's going on?" She demanded.
"Allow me to enlighten you." Roxanne's voice took on a scholarly tone as she spoke. "My Nosepass's ability is called Magnet Pull. It prevents Steel type Pokemon from being switched out. And to make things a bit more interesting, I think I'll have my Nosepass use Thunder Wave!"
Alpha paled, flashing back to the clearing in Petalburg Woods with Alpha and her Beautifly. Thunder Wave had the same effect as Stun Spore, leaving the victim paralyzed and unable to move. Her orders to dodge the attack came too late, and a weak electrical jolt froze the Steel and Psychic type's muscles.
"Oh great, not again." Sapphire murmured to herself, calling for an Iron Defense. Beldum tried, but the paralysis kicked in and froze them in place. The girl flinched as her Pokemon continued to strain against the unnatural immobility that plagued them, her breath starting to come in a few short gasps. It was just like with Taryn - her Pokemon were trying their best for her, and she could only watch as they suffered.
No, no, she couldn't think about that, not right now. Her head wasn't in the game as Roxanne called for a Rock Tomb. It wasn't super effective, but it slowed her already paralyzed Beldum even further. The Gym Leader followed up on her advantage by calling for a Tackle, which displayed her Nosepass's speed - or rather a lack of speed. By Sapphire's estimates her Beldum was sitll faster.
"Use Hold Back!" She yelled in desperation, and Beldum managed to rush forward to land a blow, taking the Tackle head on. Her Pokemon had not used their full strength to attack, which meant that Nosepass took little damage.
"Retaliate with Rock Tomb!" Roxanne commanded, and more boulders rained down to trap Beldum.
"Keep on using Hold Back!" Alpha shouted in response. "Don't let up!"
"If that's the way you want to play, then I'll just have my Nosepass keep on using Rock Tomb." Roxanne replied smugly. Sapphire grit her teeth as she watched the attacks clash, the weak Hold Back against the stronger Rock Tomb. Beldum put up and admirable fight, and managed to sap away much of Nosepass's strength before a third and final Rock Tomb sent them crashing to the ground.
"Beldum is unable to battle." The referee said after a moment. "Challenger, please select your next Pokemon."
"I'll admit, that Beldum of yours really threw me for a loop." Roxanne admitted as Alpha recalled her partner. "I didn't know that Beldum could learn anything other than Take Down. Congratulations, you've actually been able to teach me something. Not many challengers can say that."
"Mine's a special one." Sapphire said with a shrug before tossing out her next Pokemon. Swampy returned to the field, knowing that it was a risk. Swampy had sustained some damage fighting off Geodude, and it probably wouldn't take much to faint him. But the type advantage was worth it.
"Water Gun!"
"Use Rock Tomb to contain it!"
Nosepass was a bit quicker on the drawn, dropping more boulders around Swampy. Sadly, the force of the blue Pokemon's Water Gun was sufficient to punch a hole through straight through the rocky prison, soaking Nosepass.
"Get in close and use Tackle!"
"If that's the way you want to play, then fine!" Sapphire replied to Roxanne's orders. "Swampy, you use Tackle as well."
Crash after crash was heard as the two Pokemon collided, occasionally retreating a bit to use Rock Tomb or Mud-Slap. As the battle wore on, both Nosepass and Swampy steadily grew more and more exhausted until finally they were both on their last gasps.
"Quick Nosepass, fire off a Thunder Wave!" Roxanne cried, seizing an opening. Sapphire mentally cursed as Nosepass quickly managed to paralyze Swampy, the Mudkip's muscles seizing up in response to the electrical jolt.
"You're a good battler, Alpha, but this ends here." Roxanne said confidently. "Nosepass, finish this off wit-huh?"
She trailed off as Swampy began to be covered in a blinding bright light, the white form changing slowly at first, but then growing quicker and quicker.
"No way." Sapphire murmured as the light faded. Swampy was no longer as cute and cuddly as he was when he was a Mudkip. He was a bit taller, perhaps up to her waist, and looked to be a bit more heavily muscled now.
"Marshtomp." He growled. Seeing that both Roxanne and Nosepass were still shocked at the sudden evolution, Sapphire quickly took her chance.
"Swampy, Water Gun attack now!" She yelled. Swampy nodded and opened his mouth, launching a blast of pressurized water at Nosepass. It was stronger now that Swampy had evolved into Marshtomp, and the activation of his ability Torrent had also added to the move's power. Nosepass didn't have a chance. Roxanne's order to dodge had come just a split second too late, and the super effective attack hit her Pokemon dead on. Nosepass fell over with a loud clunk, out cold.
"Nosepass is unable to battle!" The referee called. "Marshtomp wins. And the victory goes to the challenger Alpha."
Roxanne sighed as she recalled Nosepass, while Alpha walked over to Swampy.
"That was a good battle." She said as she joined the winner in the center of the arena. "You've more than earned this Stone Badge."
"Thanks." Alpha couldn't help but allow a small, proud smile to cross her face as she slid the metal badge into her case. She and her Pokemon had done it. They had earned their first badge.
So, Sapphire has earned her first badge? What do you all think? Leave any comments, constructive criticisms, comments, and questions in a review! Flames will be doused by Swampy's Water Gun!
