An Age of Valour
by the Lady of the Mists
Chapter Fourteen: The Bug Gym
Lydia didn't dare say a word to Jesse about what she'd done that morning, though she did tell him that she'd gotten up early to make a phone call. He didn't ask who, though, no doubt because he assumed it was her uncle's. She hadn't spoken to Jack in over a week, so she probably should call him the next chance that she got.
Both she and Jennie had agreed to make it a surprise for Jesse, so when they got to Goldenrod, they would meet at the Department Store. That was the plan, anyway.
As they headed towards the Azalea Town Gym, Lydia felt somewhat nervous, even more than she had been at the Violet Gym. Maybe it was because she'd never actually used Cyndaquil in battle before, but she was barely able to stand up as they entered the gym. A young woman who was tending to a Beedrill looked up as they entered.
"Trainers?" she inquired. They both nodded. "Bugsy is through there." She pointed through the thick jungle that the gym appeared to be made out of. "Good luck on your battle."
"Thank you," Lydia said politely as she followed Jesse in the direction the woman had pointed. "So, you nervous?"
"Of course not."
"Are you lying?"
"Through my teeth," Jesse responded, shoving his hands into his pockets. Lydia smirked as she wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "I don't suppose that you would want to go first?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "No, I didn't think so. Isn't it supposed to be ladies first?"
"Jeez, Jess. If you're that nervous about it, then I'll go first," Lydia grumbled, shaking her head. He let out a relieved smile. She shook her head as she bent down to Eevee. "Hey, I was going to use Cyndaquil for this match. That's okay, right?"
"Vee!" Eevee gave her an understanding look as she scratched him behind the ears.
"All right, let's go get this over with," Lydia sighed as they entered the arena part of the gym. She gulped as she saw a young man a couple years older than they were with purple hair head over to them.
"You two trainers?" he asked. "I'm Bugsy, the gym leader. Are you both going to challenge me for a badge?"
"Yes, sir," they both said.
"All right, then," Bugsy said and made a sweeping bow towards Lydia. "Ladies first, then." Lydia made a face at Jesse as he went over to the bleachers, sitting down.
Handing over her Pokédex to the judge, Lydia glanced over at Bugsy. "How many Pokémon are we using?" she asked.
"One-on-one," Bugsy responded with a grin towards her. She nodded. "No substitutions."
"Fair enough," she replied as the judge handed her back her Pokédex after entering it into the computer.
"This battle between Lydia Talon of Rosewaters Isle and Gym Leader Bugsy shall now begin!" the judge announced. "Each trainer is allowed one Pokémon each and the battle will be over when either trainer's Pokémon is unable to battle."
"Scyther, let's go!"
"Cyndaquil, come on out!" Lydia threw the Pokéball that contained Cyndaquil just as Scyther appeared on the gym floor, glaring at the tiny fire Pokémon angrily. Giving a small squeak, Cyndaquil looked back at its trainer fearfully. "It's all right, you'll be okay."
"A fire Pokémon, huh?" Bugsy grinned. "You're at least a tad more intelligent than most of the Pokémon trainers that come in here. Still, you haven't won just yet. Scyther, wing attack!"
"Smokescreen!" Lydia commanded. The thick black smoke that emerged from Cyndaquil stopped Scyther in his tracks, unable to see where it was going. "Now ember!"
Unfortunately, Cyndaquil couldn't see through the smokescreen and the embers just blew into a different direction than where Scyther was standing. Lydia grimaced and Bugsy grinned. "Slash!" he ordered.
"Dodge it!" Lydia shouted. Cyndaquil managed to dodge it, but just barely. Scyther managed to graze it and Cyndaquil cried out. "Oh, no, Cyndaquil!" she exclaimed. "Are you okay?"
The fire Pokémon pushed herself up, a new fire in her eyes that Lydia hadn't seen before. She was ready, she realised, to fight. Not just to defend herself, but to work with the team. "Cyndaquil, flamethrower!" Lydia shouted, praying that it would hit.
It worked. Scyther couldn't avoid fire directly throw at it and the attack was too spread out to avoid. The attack was a direct and it was super effective as Lydia watched with amazement. She had never once seen Cyndaquil pull off a flame thrower that effective before.
Scyther emerged, badly burnt, but collapsed before he could pull off another attack. The judge called, "Scyther is unable to battle! The winner of this match is Lydia Talon of Rosewaters Isle!"
Lydia shrieked, running to Cyndaquil and hoisting her up, swinging her around. "You did it!" she said, hugging the little fire Pokémon. "I'm so proud of you! You did great!"
She looked around at Bugsy, who had recalled Scyther, looking impressed as he surveyed Lydia. "Not bad at all," he commented as Jesse climbed down from the bleachers.
"Nice job," he whispered to Lydia.
"Thanks," she whispered back, grasping his hand gently. "Good luck, Jess." She took his place at the bleachers and both Eevee and Cyndaquil climbed into her lap, watching the match. Petting each of them, Lydia frowned as Bugsy sent out a huge Pokémon that barred its pincers threatening towards Jesse, who stared back calmly. Now that he was in the battle, his nervousness had faded.
"Whoa," Lydia muttered, reaching for her Pokédex, which clicked on the information for the bug Pokémon. "What's that?"
"Pinsir, the stag beetle Pokémon. Pinsir depends only on its great strength and massive pincers to win a fight. If it can't crush an opponent in its claws, Pinsir will swing the enemy around its head and throw hard."
Lydia frowned as she slipped the Pokédex back into her pocket. "Hmm, which one are you going to go with, Jess?" she whispered as Jesse reached for a Pokéball. He looked down at it, as if trying to make a decision, then nodded as he threw it.
To Lydia's great surprise, it was not the ghost Pokémon that she'd expected to come out of the ball. "Natu?" she said incredulously, leaning back. Why was he going with Natu? She knew perfectly well that psychics were weak against bugs . . . unless he was relying on Natu's flying attacks to go up against Pinsir. "That has to be it," she whispered.
One of the junior trainers at the gym glanced over at her, smirking. "Apparently, your friend doesn't know what he's doing, little girl," he remarked.
"I'm not a little girl," she said warningly. "And he's been doing this longer that I have. Chances are, he knows exactly what he's doing." At least, I hope he does, she thought.
Bugsy grinned. "I hope that psychic of yours knows what she's doing," he remarked to Jesse, who only smiled. For a moment that contained an eternity, neither trainer moved. Then time started again. "Pinsir, vicegrip!"
"Dodge it!" Jesse yelled and Natu flew up into the air, narrowly missing the pincers. Lydia watched as Natu flew above the bug Pokémon, circling him as she waited for Jesse's command. "Peck!"
"Harden!" Bugsy yelled. Everyone in the gym knew that, as a flying type move, peck was super effective against bugs. Hardening wouldn't stop the attack completely, but it would build up some resistance against it, which would help.
The peck landed accurately and the pincers slashed against each other, frightening the bird psychic off before she finished. Jesse's eyes met Lydia's for a minute and in an instant, she understood exactly what it was he was doing. He hadn't brought Natu out for her flying abilities alone; psychic Pokémon were also capable of learning several ghost-type moves. And there was one that Natu learned at a very low level . . . and Lydia was pretty sure that Natu already knew the move.
"Night shade!" Jesse yelled. Natu's eyes glowed and a dark light surrounded Pinsir, blinding him and rendering him immobile. "All right, now finish him off with a confuse ray!"
That was all it took for Pinsir to start barrelling around, confused enough to hurt himself and Bugsy was forced to recall him to prevent Pinsir from knocking himself out.
"Pinsir has been recalled," the judge called. "The winner of this match goes to Jesse Turner of Alyson Town."
"Way to go, Jess!" Lydia exclaimed, climbing down the bleachers to hug Jesse. He returned the hug, surprising her by swinging her around. "Hey, put me down!"
Jesse looked disappointed, but obeyed as Bugsy walked over to them, reaching into his pocket. "Congratulations," he said, handing each of them a badge. "You have earned these. Miss Talon, you kept a cool head and showed your Pokémon that she had more confidence that she knew. And Mr. Turner, you have proved that types aren't the only thing that matters in a battle." He smiled. "And I'll make sure that the proper amount of money is put into your accounts."
"Thank you," both Lydia and Jesse chorused.
"And if you ever come back to Azalea Town," Bugsy added, "I would love to have a rematch if you want to. Good luck on your journey, the both of you," he told them. "I'll be looking forward to watching your matches in the Silver Conference."
It wasn't until they had reached the gate leading to the Ilex Forest that Lydia finally asked him, "Jesse, did you plan on using Natu from the very beginning?"
"Not really. I was kind of debating between her and Gastly, but I figured that she needed the experience. Not to mention, I knew that she had as good a chance of beating him as Gastly did, because of the flying type moves. To be honest, I was kind of winging it. It wasn't until about fifty seconds before I did it that I remembered about psychics knowing ghost moves."
"Yeah, I completely forgot about that until right before you did it," Lydia said with a laugh. "So, on to Goldenrod, shall we?"
"After you, milady," Jesse said mockingly. She rolled her eyes as she walked past him, heading into the dark and treacherous forest that was the only way to get between the two cities of Azalea and Goldenrod.