Chapter 41: The Shining, Shocking Star
I left the lighthouse feeling a lot more excited about the upcoming gym battle than I had when I arrived in Sunnyshore. Meeting Volkner was what really cemented the fact that this was it. This was the final obstacle standing between me and the Elite Four. I wasted no time in preparing for the battle, not wanting to make Volkner wait. I dropped by the local mart and picked up some Hyper Potions before climbing up onto one of the many spans cris-crossing the upper level of the city and made a beeline for the gym.
Once inside, the shear size of it all took my by surprise. Sure, it wasn't one giant room like Byron's gym, but it was still impressive. Massive gears with walkways attached lay in a large opening in the floor, providing the only way across. I had to maneuver myself across the steel walkways, hitting buttons whenever possible to move the gears, changing the orientation of the paths. The constant moving, and the bright, electric yellow and green paint job started to make my head spin.
There was no shortage of trainers in the gym, and as expected of the final challenge, they were all fairly difficult to deal with. Fortunately, my team was up to the task, and were more than capable of winning. Lola and Kamina were the star players, Lola hitting her opponents with an almost dancer-like grace, and Kamina mercilessly knocking out his opponents, thoroughly enjoying himself. Once I was through to the third and final room, I found yet another trainer blocking my path, an Ace Trainer from the look of him.
"Hey there. My name's Zachary." he called. "Volkner's right through those doors there. Problem is, you're not going to make it that far." He tossed a pokeball into the air, calling out an Electabuzz. The large, ogre-like pokemon had yellow and black fur all over its body. It pounded its hands together and growled defiantly, electricity crackling across its large fists.
I grinned confidently. "That's what everyone else in this gym told me." I bragged, releasing Lola. "Show him what I mean Lola."
She obliged, tearing across the metal floor to slam into the opposing Electabuzz, her fist covered with the tell-tale glow of a Return attack. Her speed caught the yellow brute off guard, and he left himself open to a critical hit. Altogether, it was to much and he collapsed, fainted before he could even take a swing.
"How about that? Don't mess with the best!" Lola cheered, standing victorious over her defeated foe.
Zachary did seem to be disturbed by this turn of events. "You're Lopunny is strong, I'll give you that." he said as he began to switch out the next opponent. "But Magneton here is just as strong." The pokemon in question appeared in a burst of red light, warbling in a strange metallic sound at Lola. Magneton was an oddity in the pokemon world, since it was comprised of three Magnemite, it's previous evolution. All three of its eyes glared menacingly at Lola, who glared right back, though the confident smile never left her face. I knew exactly why she was so relaxed with this particular opponent.
"Hate to break it to you Zach, but that's not the first Magneton Lola's battled before." I said. "And we've got a pretty solid strategy on how to beat them. Jump Kick!"
Lola got a running start before leaping into the air, gliding across the field like she was meant to be off the ground. She pulled both legs back, ready to stomp heavily on the enemy Magnetons face when the unthinkable happened. Lola had used Jump Kick without a hitch for so long, I had forgotten that the move had disastrous results if it missed. That seemed irrelevant, since Lola was much faster than most pokemon we came across. This Magneton, however, was not most pokemon. It saw the attack coming a mile away and, almost lazily, floating out of the path of the kick.
Lola had only a second to realize what had happened before she slammed, hard, into the steel floor. The crash was bead, and she clutched her knee as if it were broken. She cursed at the Magneton in between cries of pain, trying her best to deal with the damage. She was in such a state that she barely noticed when the Magneton hovered behind her.
"You may have strategies of your own, but one of mine is to take every advantage that I see." Zachary said coldly. "Thunderbolt."
"Lola, NO!" I screamed, as her amber eyes widened in horror at the realization of what was about to happen. Electricity sparked up from the many magnets attached to the electric-type, before the bolts flew forward and onto Lola. Her scream of pain from the crash was nothing compared to the inhuman sound that I heard as Lola was electrocuted. Her body twitched and thrashed in unnatural ways as her muscles spasmed from the intense jolts. I had to look away, but shielding my eyes couldn't block out the noise. Finally, it ended, and when I looked back, Magneton was floating just where it had been.
Lola was motionless on the floor.
I couldn't speak. I could barely think. All I could do was deny what my eyes were showing me. She can't be dead. There's no way. She can survive anything, there's no way a stupid Thunderbolt would kill her! I just kept repeating that in my mind. She's not dead. She can't be dead. I snapped back to reality as a flash of red erupted from my belt. Before I could register what was happening, a blue and black blur flew across the floor, slamming into the Magneton and throwing it onto the opposite wall so hard, the steel bent inward with a thunderous BOOM.
Kamina stood before the injured Magneton, tears falling freely from his eyes as he glared down at his mothers killer. He brought back his fist and slammed it into the pokemons steel body, producing another, slightly softer boom. The sound hadn't even faded when he brought back his other fist, hitting it again and again and again. Kamina kept hitting, even though Magneton had fainted from the first hit. His fists simply kept moving, automatically, producing a steady rhythm of harsh blows. Zachary yelled something and tried to stop Kamina, but that only got him a backhand that sent him almost off of the platform and into the pit of gears. Kamina didn't even slow down in his relentless pummeling. Another hand took hold, this time gently touching his shoulder. Kamina spun around, fist ready to strike this new intruder just like the last.
He stopped, fist inches from my face, when he saw it was me. I could see the pain, the sorrow, and the fury in his eyes as he dropped his fists to his sides. I wrapped my arms around him, pulling the young pokemon in close as the tears started to flow again, ignoring the slight pain his chest-spike caused. After a few moments, I noticed the blue glow reflecting off of Kamina's metal-like skin. He must have sensed it as well, his ears twitching before we both turned to look at the source.
Lola was standing in front of us, though it was clear from her body on the floor that it was her ghost, soul, aura or whatever you wanted to call it. She smiled at the two of us before walking over and wrapping her arms around us in what would have been a tight hug if she wasn't incorporeal. Backing away she kept smiling at us. Kamina sniffed, trying to hold back his tears as she reached for his face, as if to wipe them away. "G-goodbye Mom." he chocked.
She nodded before looking over at me sternly. She couldn't speak, but I got the message. "I'll look after him. I promise." I said softly. She smiled again before lifting up, floating up and out, passing right through the roof of the gym, gone.
There was silence for a moment before footsteps caught my attention. Kamina and I looked over at the double doors as they swung open, revealing Volkner and two gym officials. He looked around, noting the Magneton, Lola's body, and the trainer groaning on the floor before putting his eyes back to me. "What happened? Is it something we need to tell the League about?" he asked, voice just as sullen as it had been in the lighthouse, despite the situation.
"No." I answered quickly, shaking my head. "I apologize for Kamina's behavior, but I think it's understandable given his mother just died." I gestured to the body. Volkner's eyes moved back to where she lay, and I swear I saw some kind of spark in them before it disappeared. "Can your people move her to the Lost Tower? I have... there's a place for her on the top floor." Again, Volkner's eyes sparked slightly as he moved his attention back to me.
"Okay." he said softly before turning to the two men behind him. "Marco, go get Faith, have her tend to Zach and his Magneton. Kyle, get the body ready and when Marco gets back, the both of you move her to the Tower personally. As for you," he said, pointing at me. "we still have a match scheduled. In light of what's happened, I'm willing to postpone it to tomorrow to let you grieve."
I looked over at Kamina, who sniffed and shook his head, tears all gone now. "We've come this far. She wouldn't want us to back out now. She's...she was to much of a fighter for that." he said.
I nodded before turning to the gym leader. "Thank you, but we'd like to battle you now." I said.
"Then follow me." he said before turning around and walking back through the open doors. The two men behind him sprang into action, one running off to fetch the nurse and the other moving towards Lola. I stopped him as I passed.
"Hold on a moment, there's something I have to do." I said, reaching into my bag and grabbing a card and pen. I thought quickly, but thoroughly, not wanting to do anything less for her. Finally, I wrote on the card.
Here lies Lola the Lopunny.
She was mother to us all
and the best fighter I've ever seen.
Finished, I handed the card over to the man. "Make sure they put this in her gravestone." He nodded and carefully put the card in his chest pocket before moving on. Glancing back one more time, I motioned to Kamina and we moved through the doors together, leaving our farewells behind.
The arena was not exactly what I had been expecting. Every other gym had some kind of motif going on with there stages. Rocks or a forest or a ghostly castle. Volkner didn't seem to believe in those kind of theatrics, or simply didn't care. The arena was a simple, flat floor, areas marked out in white paint for where the trainers should be. Spotlights formed a ring around it to provide light, but other than that, the room was bare. Volkner sat at the other end, a little stool provided for him. I returned Kamina to his pokeball and stepped into my designated place.
That seemed to catch Volkner's attention. "Why not keep him out? I thought you were going to use him in this battle." he asked.
"Not right away. He's still shocked from what happened, I don't want to push him to hard." I explained.
Volkner frowned, lacing his fingers together. "I've seen so many trainers over the years, battled hundreds of matches and lost only a handful of times since I've become a gym leader. I've seen the relationship between trainer and pokemon manifest in many different ways. But what you and your Lucario showed back there, that display of power and emotion after the death of a comrade, of a member of the family? That is something I haven't seen." He got to his feet, revealing a pokeball in his hand. "I want to see how strong that bond is. How close you and your pokemon really are. Jolteon!" he cried, releasing the fox-like pokemon.
"Mufasa, let's go!" I roared, and when he was released, so did Mufasa, sounding a challenge to all who could hear.
"Charge Beam." Volkner commanded, not wasting any time. Jolteon was quick to react, shooting out a solid beam of light that crashed into Mufasa, washing over him. He seemed to be in slight discomfort, but the electric attack wasn't hurting him badly.
"Shut them down, use Crunch." I said. Immediately Mufasa charged forward, breaking out of the Charge Beam and racing across the field. Jolteon cut off the attack as soon as he was out of it, and raced to avoid the large black lion. Jolteon was fast and nimble, but Mufasa was a much better hunter than Jolteon was. He feinted left, causing Jolteon to turn right, directly into the path of Mufasa's mighty jaws. He clamped down on Jolteon's side, causing considerable damage.
"Thunder Wave." Volkner ordered. Jolteon nodded before blue lightning shot out from its body, shocking Mufasa badly enough for his muscles to lock up. Unfortunately for Jolteon, this had the side affect of locking the Crunch attack in place. Mufasa retaliated by squeezing even harder, making Jolteon cry out in pain. It zapped Mufasa with another Charge Beam, but the attack had almost no effect, and one more Crunch sealed the deal, defeating the yellow fox.
"Raichu." Volkner said, his voice rising steadily. I noticed his stance was becoming less relaxed, and more engaged. "He's paralyzed, so he should be an easy target. Focus Blast." Raichu nodded quickly, before moving right into the attack. He held his paws together, charging a blue ball of energy. Once it was a decent size, he threw it at Mufasa.
However, it never hit its target. Mufasa may have been hit badly from the Thunder Wave, but he was still in enough control of his body to move out of the way, the Focus Blast missing by inches. Raichu growled at his failure, small sparks flying from his yellow cheeks. He fired Focus Blasts, one after another at Mufasa, and the cat dodged them all. Meanwhile, I dug through my bag, searching for the one thing that would turn this match around. Finally, I found it, waving the clear container filled with yellow fluid in the air. "Mufasa! I've got a Paralyze Heal!" I called. He ran over as fast as his spastic muscles could carry him, narrowly avoiding another Focus Blast as he did. I gave him the medicine and he nodded in thanks. "Alright, now go show them how it's done." I encouraged. "Crunch."
Eagerly, he ran back onto the battlefield. Raichu looked scared now, and started shooting Focus Blasts as fast as he could. It still wasn't fast enough, now that the paralysis was gone, and Mufasa dodged ever single one, closing in the entire time. His fangs flashed, and he bit down on Raichus side. In desperation, the mouse shot a Charge Beam, but just like with Jolteon, the attack did barely anything to the lion, who squeezed until Raichu fainted.
"Incredible." Volkner mused, showing more emotion now than he had ever done before. "I'm going to have to go all out to beat you. No more games. Electivire!" he cried, unleashing the giant beast. Electivire stood as tall as I was, with a much thicker build. Its red eyes stood out on the black marking that wrapped around its head above its wicked grin. Twin black tails, tipped with red, metal-like barbs, swished around behind its gorilla-ish body. "Hit it with Fire Punch!" Electivire charged, closing the distance between it and Mufasa quickly and easily. It brought back a large, ham-sized fist, which burst into flames before pounding into the big cat.
Wasting no time, Electivire brought back its other fist, igniting it as well before hitting Mufasa again. Mufasa lashed out, biting down hard on Electivire's arm. This seemed to annoy the yellow ape greatly, and it lifted its arm high, suspending Mufasa in the air. "Giga Impact!" Volkner ordered. Electivire brought its free arm back wide, twisting its body to put as much power into the attack as it could. He snapped forward, punching Mufasa in the stomach so hard, his legendary jaws released the captured limb, all air leaving his body as he sailed through the air and crashed to the floor. Electivire grinned, strutting over to his limp opponent.
Mufasa sprang up, roaring loudly as his jaws bit down on Electivires shoulder, mere inches away from his throat. Savagely he thrashed at the meat and bone of his opponent until Electivire finally gave in, fainting from the pain.
Volkner didn't look any less interested from loosing three pokemon to only one of mine. In fact, he looked absolutely ecstatic. "Your Luxray is truly a powerful pokemon." he complimented. "I wonder how he compared to mine." He tossed his last pokeball, and another Luxray appeared on the field. While Mufasa was bloody and bruised, this Luxray was in perfect fighting shape, and he knew his opponent was worse off. Mufasa didn't back down, roaring in defiance at this new challenger.
Before he got himself killed over pride, I waved him over, a Hyper Potion in my hands. "Oh no you don't, get over here and heal up, even you have limits." I snapped when he tried to ignore me. Reluctantly, he slunk over, accepting the medicine without complaint. Unfortunately, the opposing Luxray took the opportunity to ambush Mufasa. The cats rolled around on the ground, claws and fangs flashing as they swiped and bit at one another. The noise was incredible, and if it wasn't for the Magnet hung tightly around Mufasa's neck, I wouldn't have been able to tell which Luxray was my own. As it turned out, Mufasa was the one loosing, the medicine doing nothing to restore his fatigue from the previous three battles. Finally, I had enough, sending out reinforcements.
As Volkner's Luxray raised a claw to swipe across Mufasa's face, a pillar of fire blasted him off the big cat. "I didn't need your help." Mufasa growled, getting to his feet.
"Yeah, but you got it anyway." Cerberus sneered. "Not like I wanted to help you in the first place. I was enjoying watching you get your ass beat. I guess the boss doesn't want his star pupil getting roughed up though, so here I am." Mufasa said nothing, simply walking back over to me and allowing himself to be returned to his pokeball. "Hardass." Cerberus snorted, turning back to the Luxray he had attacked. "Sucks to be you kitten, I've got all kinds of issues I need to work out involving Luxray, and you just happen to be one I'm allowed to hit."
Luxray lashed out, claws and teeth coated in electricity in a Thunder Fang attack, raking Cerberus flank. He howled in pain before bathing the enemy cat in another Flamethrower. Volkner called him back to be healed, but a particularly harsh Flamethrower brought his health right back down. Luxray was on his last legs, and Cerberus knew it. He moved in for the kill when I shouted "Stop!". He looked back at me, eyebrows raised.
"Seriously? Do I need my ears checked? I'm about to win the match and you want me to stop!?" he barked.
"It's not your fight to win." I said, forcibly returning him to his pokeball. I grabbed another, sending out Kamina. He stepped forward, staring calmly at his opponent. Luxray stared back, not showing any weakness despite the beating it took. He was still a threat, despite the damage.
Volkner was grinning from ear to ear. "Now I see. Alright then. We'll end this here. I haven't been this excited about battling in ages! One more fight to declare the winner! Luxray, Fire Fang!"
"Kamina, Extremespeed!" I cried.
Luxray's attack was fast, almost blindingly so. But after the display of speed Kamina showed today when he attacked Magneton, I knew he would be the faster pokemon. He was a blur, moving across the field and hitting his opponent before Luxrays claws had even conjured a flame. Luxray swayed unsteadily before collapsing, defeated.
Silence held across the arena. You could hear a pin drop. Then Volkner did something unexpected. He started laughing. "Ha! That was amazing! Truly, an incredible battle! I can see why Flint liked you so much, you and your pokemon are such a good team, I can't even put it into words!" He strode across the field, digging in his jacket pocket. "Allow me to award you with the Beacon badge. You've earned it."
Okay, some quick news here. One, I've got a job now, so my free time has been cut short considerably. That being said, I can no longer update as often as I used to. So, I'm changing it up a bit. I will update every Sunday from now on. I think a regular schedule would be much better than the random updates I've been doing. Another thing. We're coming up to the end of the Platinum run, but FAR from the end of the story. The next chapter will be about the same length as always, but after that it's the Elite Four run. I'm dedicating a single chapter to each fight, so those chapters will probably be shorter than normal. Just a heads up. Thanks for following along the journey, and I hope you'll enjoy the finale.