Chapter 21
I pointed the Master Ball at my slumbering yellow tiger without a moment of hesitation. "Raikou, Return!"
The Pokémon vanished in a flash of red light back into the purple ball while the man I was battling grinned even wider and tilted his head a little to the side. I got the feeling he'd been expecting that move.
"Snover," I said while addressing the white and brown tree Pokémon with a gentle and soothing tone. "It's your turn to help me out if you are willing."
The Pokémon nodded in determination and walked out to face the Sunflora still swaying in front of my opponent. She turned in my direction in a clear indication that she was going to wait for me to give out commands on what to do while still keeping an eye on the sunflower. I felt a slight twinge in my chest at how much she was willing to trust me after just meeting me.
"Alright," I said while flicking my own determined brown eyes up to meet those of the man across from me. "Snover, use Swagger."
"Too slow," murmured my opponent as he flicked his green bangs in a motion indicative of habit. "Grasswhistle."
Once again, the sunflower began to emit the lovely sound which had put my Raikou to sleep. I cringed as the harsh sunlight continued to make the flower Pokémon faster than mine.
To my surprise, instead of slumping to the ground and beginning to snore, the Snover began to glow with harsh red light and glared at the Sunflora. The flower shuttered and its gentle side to side rhythmic motion became erratic as though it was dizzy and having trouble standing straight. It was swaying in almost every compass direction now and I was sure the Confusion status the Pokédex had mentioned had taken effect. Now that the man had explained how Sleep was a part of battling, the move made more sense than when I'd first read it.
"Interesting," stated the man, although he didn't appear worried about what had happened. "I had my suspicions. That Snover is indeed a special Pokémon. It has its Hidden Ability, Soundproof."
"Hidden Ability?" I asked. I was pretty sure Joleen had mentioned something about that in reference to my Raikou.
"Most Pokémon can have one or two abilities, or additional effects they can take with them into battle, just like Flora's Chlorophyll," he answered with a glimmer in his green eyes. "Sometimes, you might be able to stumble across one which has what we call a hidden ability. It is much less common and really hard to find Pokémon with those abilities. It makes them rare and they can be used to surprise an opponent who didn't know that Pokémon could have that ability. In this case, all sound-based moves, like Grasswhistle, are completely useless against that Snover."
"Wow," I muttered, considering what that meant about the Pokémon. It could certainly be useful, especially if Team Plasma didn't know about the possibility. "Okay then, now use Razor Leaf."
The Snover raised its arms and a cloud of leaves sprouted from its green hand-like appendages. The cloud fluttered around it before it pointed at the confused sunflower and all the leaves shot off in its direction.
"Dodge and Pound," commanded the man.
The Sunflora tried to run towards Snover but tripped over its own feet and landed face down on the cracked floor of the broken building. The leaves summoned by the small tree peppered the flower and sliced parts of its leaves, petals and stem. The fellow grass-type Pokémon got to its feet while still swaying erratically in all directions. I glanced up slightly as the harshness of the sunlight dimmed back to its regular brightness and the temperature increase it had brought dropped as well.
"Quick," I commanded while pointing at the Sunflora. "Use Icy Wind while it's slower!"
The small tree pointing its arm at the sunflower once more and this time a swirl of snowflakes sprouted and flew into the pure grass-type Pokémon. The Sunflora tried to brace itself, but was toppled over by the cold wind. It lay on the ground on its back and didn't try to get back up.
"Looks to me like you have defeated me," replied the man with a wide grin as he recalled his defeated Pokémon back into its ball. "You are worthy to raise your Raikou, and that Snover has made a wise choice in choosing you to be her trainer."
"I-," I hesitated as the Snover hurried over to my side and beamed up at me. "I don't know what to say. That wasn't like my first battle attempt."
"From what I heard from Joleen, you got really lucky with that one," replied the man while placing his hand inside his suit. He withdrew it with something glittering between his fingers. "That is why I am happy to give you this as a sign that you have learned a lot since then. This is Unova's official Trio Badge given to those who have defeated the official Gym Leader of Striaton City. Well, one of them. My name is Cilan and I used to be the Gym Leader before Team Plasma took over and disbanded us."
I accepted the object he held out for me. It was a pin lined in gold with thee small gems in it. The center gem was red while the other two on the outer edges were green and blue. I glanced back up at the man with alarm.
"I what now? That was a test?"
"Exactly," replied Cilan. "Before Team Plasma got rid of them, the Gym Leaders used to test trainers to see if they could be worthy to have the chance to claim the title of Unova Champion. I used to run the Striaton Gym with my brothers Cress and Chili."
"Used to?" I asked softly.
"Unfortunately," the man continued with a sigh. "Cress fought against having our Pokémon taken in the first place and was arrested almost immediately by Plasma for it. After that, Chili got a hold of a new fire-type Pokémon, and he left in pursuit of the king of Team Plasma. I don't know what has happened to either of them since I last saw them. I'm the only one left to look after our café now that it's no longer allowed to be a gym. Helping Fennel where I can is the only way I can live with my cowardice."
I stared at him in silence with the Snover clinging to my side and the gym badge still cupped in my hand.
"Sorry, I figured you ought to know," he replied in a low tone. "Fennel sent me to see how you were doing and overhearing you talk to your Pokémon about plotting to take on Team Plasma for their sake made me excited. So I decided to test you as an unknown threat and see how you would react. You're a quick study. If you really do want to take on Team Plasma, then I suggest you head to Wellspring Cave. Lenora was holed up there last I heard. Show her that badge and she'll help you any way she can."
"I-," I started as I tried to sort through the whirlwind of thoughts. "I'll need to think about this."
"Take all the time you need," replied Cilan while placing a hand on my shoulder. "Your Pokémon and your friends will support you no matter what you decide."
A/N: Well, it certainly has been a while since I last posted a Chapter. Almost a year to be exact. I found myself a little stuck on the battle, but now we know who Chris was battling :P
The next chapter should be a fun one and do a lot of explanation through showing. I know I still have to work on that some more. It's still something I struggle with in writing.