Chapter 12 – Boulder
Arthur woke the next morning, his mind distracted. Lugia's lament was still present in the back of his mind, but the song seemed to infuse the young champion with an inner light. Walking over to the small desk in the room that Brock had allowed Arthur to stay in for the night, the champion once more opened the small case containing the pendent. The silver sheen was bright against the morning light streaming in through the partially open blinds. It held the shape of Lugia Arthur realized, curled against itself. But the hole in the middle, created by the elongated neck of the legend and its body, seemed to be just the right size for something.
Digging through his bag, Arthur pulled out the small stone that Mr. Fuji had given him. The round silver orb with the blue streak in the middle seemed to be a perfect fit for the pendent. Almost as if the two had been waiting for one another. Arthur inserted the marble-sized object and put the necklace on. Tucking the stone beneath his shirt, Arthur realized that neither object cold. A curious sensation.
The champion walked downstairs to the commotion of Brocks large family. His mother and father were in the process of cooking breakfast for the eight children. Of the gym leader himself there was no sign.
"If you're looking for Brock, he's headed over to the gym already" Flint, Brock's father, said. "You're more than welcome to stay for some breakfast however, before heading over." Arthur nodded and walked over.
"Is there anything I can help with?" he asked. Both Brock's parents laughed and told him to just take a seat and not worry. It wasn't long before the children started pestering Arthur with questions about his Pokemon, his journey and if he thought that he was stronger than their eldest brother. Arthur answered all the questions with grace and humour, all through the morning meal.
All good things must come to an end however, and it wasn't long before Arthur made his way around the house to the gym. The field separating the two was the home to many of the different Pokemon owned and raised by Flint and his family. Brock also kept his Pokemon here. The family was following a distance away from Arthur, more out of respect than anything else. A few of the younger children wanted to keep talking to Arthur on his way over, but the parents were stopping that. They were giving the champion the room he need to prepare for his match. It was something Arthur appreciated.
There was a cue to enter the gym upon the champion's arrival. The young man spied Walt Kowalski in the crowd and nodded to the elder, who nodded back in return. People started crying out in excitement as they too spotted the champion. Cameras began flashing as people tried to get a better look at their gym leader's challenger.
Arthur entered the gym and first noticed the earthly smell. The challenger area was simple and brown, an indication that this gym was dedicated to rock types. He waited for a time until a young man came and announced that the stage was ready and Brock would now accept Arthur's challenge. The champion walked out and to the battlefield. The clearing had high boulders surrounding the field. Even the terrain in the centre wasn't smooth but rather a rugged surface with boulders strewn about, similar to what one would find on a mountain clearing.
"Welcome to the Pewter City Gym!" Brock said from the far side of the field. The two challengers walked to the centre to say a few words before the battle began. "Sorry about this morning. I know my family can be a bit much."
"Not at all!" Arthur replied. "They made me feel at home, something I haven't felt for some months now. I should be thanking you." Brock laughed and gestured around.
"You certain?"
"Perhaps not" Arthur said with a smile.
"You know I've been waiting to battle you since meeting you what was it, almost a year and a half ago now?" Arthur nodded. "Times finally come. Everyone here came expecting a battle, so I hope I can live up to the challenge."
"Something tells me Brock that you will." The narrow eyed leader nodded, his face still warm and smiling as he strode to his position. Arthur followed suit. Both men stood facing one another before the battle began, Brock starting with a Graveler, Arthur with Delphin.
"I hope you weren't expecting to simply take me out with a water type!" Brock called out.
"I think Delphin is up for the challenge!" The Vaporeon cried out an affirmative and sprinted forward. Graveler threw up some rocks and began a rock slide down one face of the boulders on the side of the field. The crowd was roaring as the two trainers took stock of one another in this opening move.
"Delphin use quick attack to bounce from rock to rock. Then hit the living boulder with your aurora beam." Delphin nodded and waited for the slide to come in closer before beginning his evasion. The rocks were coming fast and hard, making it somewhat difficult for Delphin to stay on his feet. However, getting above the attack allowed for him to spot where the rock Pokemon was among the slide. The water type jumped and unleashed his beam attack, scoring a direct hit. The impact sent Delphin's opponent careening off the other rocks and stunning him somewhat.
"Don't ease up! Surf!" Arthur called out. Delphin was quick in responding, conjouring up a wave of water which he sent towards the rock type who was just regaining its feet now. Not in time however to avoid the wall of water slamming into it. Once the water had washed over, the ref saw that the rock type was unconscious. The crowd was still roaring, and Brock was still smiling. He now knew that this battle would be completely different. And that speed would be a major factor.
Next up was his trusty Rhyhorn, who he knew would pack quite a surprise for Arthur. The battle began quickly with Rhyhorn using earthquake to start. The attack was powerful, knocking more than a few fans off their seats and feet. Arthur for his part, stayed upright, showing Brock that he wasn't about to back down. Delphin was much the same, seemingly not taking much damage from the attack. Another wall of water was sent up and at the rock type. The attack scored a direct hit and Arthur's eyebrows went up in surprise as the Rhyhorn was still standing.
"Surprised?" Brock asked.
"And confused. That attack should have taken it down, and yet there is your Rhyhorn still standing."
"Yes. I am also a breeder and this Rhyhorn was born with a peculiar mutation. It's innate ability is sturdy meaning that your one shot attack strategy won't work." Arthur frowned, but did not relent. Not that Brock expected him too. However, now the champion knew what was coming. Brock had preventing single shot attacks from working. Meaning that no matter how strong his Pokemon were, they would require a huge defense as well to weather this storm.
Arthur recalled Delphin, which caused Brock to pause. His earthquake strategy was a sound one, definitely enough to bring low at least another Pokemon of Arthur's. What he wasn't expecting was a Scyther to replace the water type.
"My turn for a surprise. Syrio, you know what to do."
"Yeah, get my scythes all chipped up. Do you know how long it takes to sharpen these blades?" the mantis complained.
"No but I'm sure you'll tell me all about it after." The bug shot a glare at his trainer before striking the waiting rhino-like Pokemon with a night slash. Rhyhorn cried out as it faded into unconsciousness.
"Happy?" Syrio asked as he came back to Arthur.
"Ecstatic" the champion said with a laugh. Brock sent out his next challenger, a Kabutops. Syrio immediately froze and appraised this next challenger. "Hold off Syrio."
"No way. I'm doing this battle." Arthur frowned as he watched the resurrected Pokemon.
"Where did you come across that?" Arthur asked of Brock.
"I was a part of the people who helped find fossils here in Kanto for the restoration project. As such, they let me keep a few of the fossils they brought back to life." The ancient Pokemon clashed its scythes together in a challenge. One which was met by Syrio rushing in. People watched in awe as the two bladed Pokemon began a dance. The blows exchanged were faster than the eye could follow and it was difficult to tell who was winning. Suddenly the two broke apart and Brock launched his true attack. Another rock slide was created and cascaded down towards the bug type.
"Syrio use swords dance to avoid the rocks!" And dance he did. The beauty of the moves was simply stunning and captivating. Even Brock stopped and watched. The green Pokemon moved through the slide like water running between the cracks of a sidewalk. He wasn't able to avoid everything, but the amount of damage the mantis did receive was negligible. Then it was Syrio's turn to attack.
His blades were sheathed in darkness as he blurred across the field. Kabutops attempted to cross blades once more and it seemed like it would for a second, but then Syrio was able to sneak underneath its guard and score a strike across the fossils torso, diagonally from left pectoral to right hip. The attack left a minor gash along the rocky skin but caused the Kabutops to stagger back. Brock raised an eyebrow as his Pokemon collapsed.
"Well I wasn't expecting that!" Brock exclaimed. Even Arthur was a bit surprised by the ferocity of his Pokemon's blows. He'd also never seen a display of swordsmanship such as displayed by those two before.
Next up for Brock was his trusted Onix. The stone snake was enormous taking up almost half the field. Arthur looked at Syrio who was breathing heavily. That last battle had all but wiped the bug type out. The champion recalled his Pokemon and instead sent out his own massive Pokemon. Tusk was sent out and immediately began chilling the field. Onix roared its challenge, answered in kind by Tusk who was not one to back down. The two waited until their trainers called out their commands. Onix began brewing a sandstorm which the crowd was stilled by. The grains of sand started whipping around, obscuring everything. People were still crying out but were now forced to watch the monitors closer to the match in order to make out what was happening.
Tusk brushed off the attack like nothing. The grains of sand had no effect against him, and he could still sense where the massive stone snake was. Heading in, his tusks sheathed in ice, the mammoth crashed into the rock type causing serious damage. Brock's Pokemon roared in pain as the ice shattered along its rocky body. Onix's tail began to glow with a steely look and it swung it with such fierce ferocity that he was able to knock Tusk completely off his feet and onto the ground. Arthur could hear the breath leave his partner.
"You alright Tusk?" the champion called out.
"I'm fine" the ice type growled back. Standing once more, the mammoth deflected the next iron tail attack with its ivory teeth and sunk his massive icy fangs into the living stone once more. This time, the attack left the Onix on the gym floor, knocked out.
"This is quite the battle Arthur, but we're far from finished." Arthur looked to his Pokemon. The mammoth was still breathing heavily, and the young champion knew that leaving him out there would cause something more serious to happen. Images of Muscle flashed through Arthur's mind. He called back his ice type as Brock sent out his last Pokemon, an Omastar. Arthur frowned through the still raging sandstorm. Omastar was part water type, meaning that any water type attacks that Dephin used wouldn't be as effective. Also, he couldn't really use Blaze or Lucky, as they were both weak to the rock typing. He would have to believe in his water type. Delphin returned to the field. Arthur had a plan to deal with this sand, and he just hoped it would work.
"Delphin, let's turn this sand to mud!" Arthur called out. Delphin immediately knew what his trainer meant, and began soaking the gym floor in front of him. Brock looked confused as to what was happening, but wasn't going to let up a chance like this to attack. He ordered his rock type to use ancient power. The attack was right about to land when suddenly and massive wall of water on all sides enveloped Delphin and spread out from there. Sand began falling in globs as the storm was killed. Even Omastar's attack was deflected away from its target. Brock frowned as Delphin began really pressing the attack.
More than one surf was sent at the spiral Pokemon, along with aurora beams. The fossil was doing a good job Arthur noted at protecting itself, however, it wasn't enough when its attacks were not landing. Brock was trying everything, but couldn't seem to get through Arthur's attacks. The battle raged on for close to five minutes before finally the Omastar collapsed. Delphin was not far from that point either. His sides were heaving and he could no longer lift his head. Arthur walked out to his partner who was near the centre of the field.
"You were amazing out there Delphin."
"That was one of the hardest battles I've ever had. I'm not sure I can walk right now." Arthur smiled.
"Don't worry about that. Take a good long rest." Arthur returned the water type to its Pokeball. Standing he saw Brock waiting.
"That was some battle" the gym leader said. The crowd was still roaring in the background.
"It was. It's been some time since my team has been pushed like that. Thank you." Nodding, Brock held out a badge to the champion.
Arthur's team:
Blaze (Typhlosion) - lv. 56
Lucky (Togetic) - lv. 56
Delphin (Vaporeon) - lv. 57
Syrio (Scyther) - lv. 56
Spark (Magneton) - lv. 56
Tusk (Mamoswine) - lv. 58
Another gym battle done. I'm hoping to have some more chapters coming up soon to expand the story some more, so stay tuned!