"Hmm... the last gym is in Sootopolis City," Davin confirmed while checking his Pokegear map. "And from the looks of it, if we keep going south and make a left at a certain point, we should arrive there in a short amount of time. You heard that, Ros?"
"Swamp!" He nodded as he swam through the ocean water with his trainer on his back. Since Maura left with her Wailmer, Davin decided to use Ros to travel through the ocean.
They continued advancing until someone shouted, "Hey! Wait a second!" making the two turn to their lefts to see a boy wearing a white swimming cap and a set of goggles swimming towards them.
"Hi. Can I help you?" Davin asked politely.
"Have a battle with me!" He shouted. "Your Swampert looks like it's really strong, and you must have other Pokemon that are strong too. I want to battle them to get my Pokemon stronger. What do you say?"
"Sure, let's do it! I'm always ready for a battle. My name's Davin, by the way."
"I'm Keith." He pointed to a small island towards the southwest. "We'll have our battle there."
After swimming and getting on to their destination, Davin and Keith stood apart from each other to proceed with the battle.
"So what are the rules?" Davin asked.
"3-on-3; substitutions allowed!" Keith stated as he got out a Poke ball.
"I'm starting out with my Swampert. You ready?" Davin asked it.
"Swampeeert!" It shouted as it got on all fours.
"And I'm starting with this one!" Keith's ball was thrown and it opened, letting out a tall blue duck with arms and legs to his side.
"A Golduck! Cool!" Davin said as he got out his Pokedex.
"Golduck, the Duck Pokemon. Golduck is the evolved form of Psyduck. It sometimes joins swimmers, who are competitive, in training. When its forehead shimmers with light, it is using its psychic powers."
"Golduck's my best Pokemon, so I doubt it will lose. Right, Golduck?"
"Golduck!" It responded with a nod.
Davin grinned. "We'll see about that. Ros, use Mud Shot!" On command, Ros shot multiple bullets of mud towards Golduck.
"Golduck, use Confusion!" The duck put two fingers from both of its webbed hands on its head and the red gem on its forehead glowed, causing Ros's Mud Shot to be stopped in mid-air and for it to turn in the other direction and pelt its user. "Now, Zen Headbutt!" The spikes on its head glowed and it came towards Ros, bashing him with its head.
"Ros, use Water Gun!" The blast of water it shot hit its mark, but Golduck had endured the hit as if it were nothing.
"Use Iron Tail!" Golduck ran at Ros with its tail glowing white.
"Wait for it, then catch it when it's about to hit!" Davin commanded. Ros glared at the opponent; when Golduck jumped and swung its tail, Ros immediately used both hands to stop it by holding the Iron Tail in between them. "Toss it!" The Swampert swung Golduck around and launched it in the air. When it fell to the ground, it stood back up with a bit of struggle.
"This isn't over! Golduck, use Hyper Beam!"
"Ros, run straight into it!"
Ros did as told and sprinted towards Golduck as it begun to charge up. When Ros was 2 feet away, Golduck released the Hyper Beam only to have Ros avoid it by jumping to the side.
"Now! Muddy Water!" The brown water escaped through its mouth and Golduck suffered the wet strike. It fell into unconsciousness as it hit the ground.
"Golduck!" Keith cried as he ran over to it and held it in his arms. "Are you alright?"
"Go, Golduck..." It whispered. Keith took out its Poke ball and returned it so that it could rest.
"You did great, Ros. Take a rest." Davin copied Keith's motion with the Poke ball.
"I was right. You are strong!" Keith commented. "But I won't give up. Tentacruel, let's go!" The giant jellyfish Pokemon was sent out in a flash of white light.
Davin's Pokedex
"Tentacruel, the Jellyfish Pokemon. It lives in complex rock formations on the ocean floor and traps prey using its 80 tentacles. Its red orbs glow when it grows excited or agitated."
Davin sent out his next Pokemon. "Ferro, let's go!" The Lairon appeared from the ball as it opened.
"Tentacruel, use Sludge Bomb!" Multiple globs of sludge were fired from its tentacles, but when they made contact with Ferro, he didn't even flinch.
"What?! How come its not working?" Keith questioned in shock.
Davin grinned smugly. "Lairon is a Steel type Pokemon, which means that Poison type moves are useless against it."
Keith smacked his forehead. "Darn! I forgot about that!"
"Too bad. Ferro, use Iron Head!" Tentacruel was knocked backwards by Ferro bashing into it with its glowing head. "Follow with Headbutt!" More damage was taken by Tentacruel before it had a chance to move.
"Fight back, Tentacruel! Use Water Pulse!" A glowing orb of water formed between its front tentacles and it threw it at Ferro, resulting in super effective damage and Ferro moving back and forth in a dazed fashion.
Davin groaned. "Oh, great. I hate it when this happens." He called back Ferro to his Poke ball and threw a different one in the air, releasing his Vigoroth. "Luck, use Fury Swipes!"
"Vigooor!" He shouted as he ran with his claws outstretched.
"Use Poison Jab!" Tentacruel swung one of its tentacles, which Luck avoided and took the opportunity to rake Tentacruel with his sharp claws. Afterward, Luck suddenly groaned in pain and fell to his knees while gripping his right arm tightly.
"Luck, what's the matter?" His trainer shouted as Luck's body briefly started to glow a shade of purple.
It was Keith's turn to wear a smug grin. "That's Tentacruel's Poison Point. Whenever it suffers physical damage, there's a chance that the Pokemon that attacked it will get poisoned."
*A/N: I know Tentacruel doesn't legally have the Poison Point ability, but I just made this particular one have it to make the battle a bit more interesting.*
Davin panicked. "Oh no. Substituting isn't going to make the poison go away like it did with confusion. What'll I do?"
"Tentacruel, Constrict!" Keith ordered. Tentacruel wrapped its tentacles around its poisoned victim and began to squeeze, making Luck grunt in pain.
"Luck, use your Focus Punch to break free!" Davin called while feeling worry. Luck tried to get its left arm out, but the poison took effect and made it stop. "Oh no..."
"Tighter, Tentacruel! Don't hold back!" The pressure increased as the tentacles tightened; Luck could only scream in pain.
"Come on, Luck! Don't give in! Please!" Davin cried.
"Vi... Vigoor...!" It gasped. It tried desperately to move, but the poison wouldn't allow it. With one last scream, Luck's eyes closed and its head went back. Tentacruel released it and it dropped to the ground, unconscious.
Davin grunted in frustration. "Return, Luck. You did good." He said as it disappeared inside its Poke ball.
"Well, Davin, only one Pokemon left. Feel like giving up?"
"No way! I still have confidence!" Davin called Ferro back out, who had recovered from its temporary status. "Ferro, Stone Edge!"
"Dodge it!" Tentacruel jumped out of the way of the incoming rocks. "Water Pulse!" It shot the orb of water that had formed.
"Not this time. Harden!" A brief light shined across its iron body as it endured the Water type move. "Iron Head!" Tentacruel was hit again by Ferro's glowing head.
"Tentacruel, use Water Pulse once more!" Keith called, but Tentacruel started grunting in pain and it fell over, unconscious. "What?!"
"Looks like Tentacruel has used up all of its energy, especially with how much force it used in its Constrict attack." Davin explained with a grin.
"No way..." Keith stood silent for a moment and he recalled his Tentacruel to its ball. "I forfeit. You win, Davin."
Davin looked stunned. "Forfeit? But why?"
Keith smiled. "You see, just now when Tentacruel lost, I realized that I wasn't thinking clearly about what to do, and if I continue from here, I'll just end up losing because of it and making my Pokemon go through unnecessary pain. That's why from now on, I'll need to do better as a trainer and think before I use my moves and not just depend on my Pokemon's strength alone."
Davin nodded. "Sounds like a good plan."
Keith jumped into the water and started to swim away. "Thanks for battling with me, Davin! You've taught me a lot!" He shouted as he started to fade away from view.
"No problem! Good luck to you, Keith!" Davin shouted and waved goodbye.
He knelt down to Ferro and petted him. "You were awesome, Ferro. I'm really proud of you."
"Lair..." He calmly said.
Davin called out Ros, while he did the opposite with Ferro, and climbed on its back.
"All right, Ros! South towards Sootopolis City!"
