So I've somehow managed to get three chapters done in one day, which makes me pretty happy! I don't know if I've already said this, but I'm aiming to get this story done by December at the very latest. If I really go after it and can knock out either two or three chapters a day, I could be done before the end of next month! Alright, so last chapter Owen stopped the Krokorok gang and managed to capture one of the Krokorok. However, he seems like an arrogant butt, so that might complicate things. Now, Owen will be taking on Elesa, and hopefully he'll win. I know some of you are anxious to start reading, so let's get to it!
Owen's team
Snivy, (f), level 16, Tackle, Leer, Absorb, Vine Whip, Leaf Tornado*
Tranquill, (f), level 26, Detect, Air Cutter, Gust, Quick Attack
Blitzle, (m), level 24, Quick Attack, Shock Wave, Thunder Wave, Flame Charge
Heatmor, (m), level 30, Flame Burst, Tackle, Hone Claws, Flame Wheel, Fury Swipes*
Krokorok, (m), level 30, Bite, Dig, Dragon Claw, Bulldoze
Puff, (f), level 26, Dynamic Punch, Sing, Rollout, Pound, DoubleSlap*
With Professor Juniper
Muk, (m), level 37, Sludge, Body Slam, Protect, Poison Jab
Prinplup, (m), level 27, Bubblebeam, Peck, Metal Claw, Whirlpool, Bide*
Owen walked into the Nimbasa City Gym with Rebecca, CJ, Fate, and Blake in hopes of challenging the gym leader. The outside of the gym looked more like a casino with al of its flashing lights and its similar architecture to the Game Corner in Celadon City. The inside, however, was much different. There was a man sitting behind a desk in a waiting room, which was identical to the one in the Castelia City gym. Before Owen could walk up to the man behind the counter, he pointed to the doorway. Everyone walked through, and they found themselves walking down a runway, which threw everyone off.
"Are you sure this is the right place, CJ?" Owen whispered.
"Yeah, it says so on my Pokedex," he answered before showing a holographic map. Sure enough, they were in the right building, but no one knew if they were in the right area of the building. Suddenly, a light focused on them, and the rest of the room turned dark. The runway began to light up, so Owen began walking down it.
"Well, let's see if this works, Snivy," Owen told his starter. Snivy nodded and the others followed close behind. Once they reached the end of the runway, the lights turned on, and Owen realized he was standing in his trainer box. Everyone else decided to sit on the flashing bleachers, and a woman in her early twenties walked out from behind the curtain that was behind the battlefield. She had yellow hair, and two strange black strands hanging from a hair straightener went down to her ankles. She wore a bright yellow top and a pair of tight navy blue paints along with yellow heels. Blake, CJ, and Owen all salivated over the young woman as she strutted over to her trainer box, but Owen stopped when she spoke up.
"My name is Elesa, and I am the gym leader of Nimbasa City. I saw you defeat the Krokorok, so thanks for making my job easier," she joked.
"I'm Owen Plateau, and I'm here for my fourth badge!" Owen responded. Elesa nodded and motioned for someone, or something, to come out from behind the curtain. A referee did just that, and he stood on his normal podium.
"This will be a three versus three gym battle between Owen and Elesa, and only the challenger may substitute Pokemon! Furthermore, once all Pokemon on one side are unable to battle, the battle will be over! Elesa, choose your first Pokemon!" the referee ordered.
The blonde nodded before snapping her fingers, which led to an entire audience surrounding the battlefield like a pack of wolves. They all took their seats and began cheering for Elesa before she even threw her Pokeball, which Owen figured was a tactic to unnerve her challengers.
"Joltik, go!" Elesa yelled before flicking the Pokeball straight into the air. A small spider-like Pokemon appeared on Elesa's side of the battlefield, and it began to glare at Owen. It was covered in yellow hair and had bright blue eyes.
"Hmm… Snivy, you're up first!" Owen shouted. Snivy jumped off her trainer's shoulder, but winced when she saw the evil look Joltik had given her. The referee then stepped forward and looked at both sides.
"This battle will be between Joltik and Snivy! Begin!"
"Snivy, use Vine Whip!" Owen commanded. Snivy's vines shot out from her neck, and she ran towards Joltik. Rebecca face palmed at Owen's decision because Joltik was a bug type, meaning Snivy's attack would do minimal damage. Snivy began to throw her vines forward, but Elesa and her Pokemon were more than ready to counter Snivy's ineffective attack.
"Joltik, dodge and use Spider Web!" Joltik jumped in the air to evade the grass type attack, and then it hit Snivy with a tiny spider web. Owen didn't know the purpose of the move, which prevented Snivy from escaping, so he continued to attack.
"Snivy, hit 'em with Tackle!" As Joltik fell from the air, Snivy smacked into the bug and electric type with her shoulder, which sent Joltik bouncing back to Elesa. The tiny bug got back up and continued to give Snivy a dirty look, which unnerved her.
"Shake it off, Joltik! Use Thunderbolt!" Snivy snapped out of her fear when she was zapped by the powerful electric type attack that Joltik had just performed, but she seemed hesitant to strike back.
"Fight back with Leaf Tornado!" Hearing Owen's command, Snivy jumped in the air while a spiraling wind appeared around her tail along with hundreds of razor sharp leaves. Snivy then trapped Joltik inside the Leaf Tornado, but Joltik was able to break free with minimal effort. She then scurried over to Snivy with her disgusting spider legs before Elesa shouted another attack.
"Joltik, use Bug Bite!" Joltik jumped at Snivy and bit her on the arm, causing Snivy to jump back in pain. After shaking her bitten arm, Snivy looked over at Joltik angrily. She then dashed towards her bug type opponent quickly, catching everyone off guard.
"Snivy, throw Joltik with Vine Whip!" Owen ordered. Snivy snatched Joltik with her vines before throwing the small yellow Pokemon against the ground as hard as she could. Joltik bounced like a rubber ball, but managed to land on her feet, giving Elesa the prefect opportunity to seal the battle.
"Use Struggle Bug!" Suddenly, Joltik shot a gigantic web at Snivy, and the grass type was tangled up in Joltik's attack. Then, the web stuck to the ground immobilizing Snivy.
"Snivy!" Owen cried once he realized she was pinned against the ground and unable to move. Owen tried withdrawing her back to his Pokeball, but the red beam was blocked by the web.
"Now use Bug Bite!" Owen watched as Joltik made her way over to Snivy before hitting the grass snake with a super effective Bug Bite, which knocked Snivy out instantly. Owen made his way over to the fainted Pokemon and ripped the webs off her before taking Snivy back to his trainer box.
"Snivy is unable to battle! Owen, choose your next Pokemon!"
"That was a great job, Snivy." Snivy looked up at Owen and shook her head disappointedly. "Don't worry, we'll win." Owen then placed her on the ground before grabbing a Pokeball off his belt. "Puff, come on out!" Puff appeared from the Pokeball and waved to the screaming crowd. Everyone was amused by Puff's stage presence until the referee stepped forwards and stopped her dance routine.
"Here we go, Puff!" Fate cheered along with Angel and Hez, who clapped in support of their former teammate.
"This battle will be between Joltik and Puff! Begin!"
"Joltik, use Thunderbolt!" Elesa ordered. Joltik hopped up before firing a zigzagging bolt of electricity towards Puff. Without a command, Puff rolled away from the powerful electric type attack. Then, she began to inflate in order to fly in the air.
"Puff, use Rollout!" Owen shouted. Puff began to roll before she hit the ground, making her reach top speed faster than normal. Elesa flinched when she saw Joltik get clobbered by the super effective attack, and the small bug landed on its back. After throwing her weight around, Joltik got back on her feet and made her way towards Puff.
"Use Bug Bite, Joltik!" Joltik hopped onto Puff, who was still rolling around, and she bit the normal type. Puff let out a cry of pain, but she continued to use Rollout in order to squish Joltik, which happened seconds later.
"While Joltik's down, use Dynamic Punch!" Owen yelled. The crowd gasped as Puff's fist was covered in crimson energy. She then punched Joltik in-between her eyes, and she was sent flying back into Elesa as result. After making her way back onto the battlefield, Joltik clearly looked disoriented, but Elesa didn't notice.
"Use Struggle Bug to keep Puff from flying or rolling!" Joltik looked straight in the air before using Struggle Bug. The attack began to descend just before it hit the ceiling, and it immobilized Joltik.
"Here we go! Puff, use Sing!" Owen shouted. Puff sent a series of colorful music notes at Joltik, who was unable to avoid the sleep inducing attack. The tiny yellow bug's eyes closed right after she was hit by the notes, and Elesa began to shout in an attempt to wake her Pokemon up.
"Joltik, wake up! You have to wake up!"
"Dynamic Punch!" Owen shouted over the gym leader's pleas. Puff walked over to Joltik with her glowing crimson fist and reared back before slamming her stubby fist against Joltik's head, which knocked the electric type Pokemon out. Elesa looked down at her fainted Pokemon and then over at Puff, who began basking in the chants she had been receiving from the crowd. She was impressed by the normal type's battling ability, but she knew she could beat Puff.
"Joltik is unable to battle! Elesa, choose your next Pokemon!"
"Return, Joltik. You did very well. Now, Emolga, go!" Owen and Puff turned their attention to Elesa's second Pokemon, which looked like a flying squirrel. Well… it was literally a flying squirrel. Emolga's underbelly was white while the extra skin she was using to fly was yellow. Her back was completely brown, but her inner ears were yellow and white.
"This battle will be between Emolga and Puff! Begin!"
"Puff, use Rollout!" Owen yelled. Puff began to roll like a tire and towards Emolga, who began to ascend in the air in an attempt to avoid the rock type attack.
"Emolga, use Thunderbolt!" Elesa countered. Before Puff could reach Emolga, the flying squirrel unleashed a zigzagging bolt of electricity that shocked the inflatable Pokemon. Puff stopped rolling immediately, and laid with her face against the ground. After getting up and wiping the dirt off her body, Puff dropped to one knee, feeling the pain of the Thunderbolt.
"Hang in there and use DoubleSlap!" Owen yelled, realizing the pain Puff was suffering through. The circular Pokemon inflated and took to the air. After reaching Emolga's height, Puff began to slap her flying opponent with a vengeance. Emolga tried slapping Puff back, but the popular Kanto Pokemon blocked Emolga's weak attacks and continued to slap her.
"Answer right back with Aerial Ace!" Elesa yelled after Puff made her way back to Owen's half of the battlefield. Puff turned around and saw Emolga closing in sat a blinding speed. Puff closed her eyes, waiting for her foe to hit her, but Owen's command overrode her instincts.
"Inflate!" Puff inflated to her largest size in a split second, which allowed her to absorb Emolga's Aerial Ace while feeling no pain whatsoever. Emolga then fell to the ground and gave Owen the perfect opportunity to deal a devastating attack. "Now use Dynamic Punch!"
"Electro Ball!" Elesa shouted as Puff wound up to punch the downed Pokemon in front of her. A large yellow ball of electricity formed in front of Emolga's stomach, and she hit Puff at pointblank range. The force behind the attack sent Puff skidding across the battlefield before stopping in front of Owen.
"Puff, are you okay?" Owen asked worriedly. Puff waved off her trainer, but was clearly in bad shape. Despite this, Owen was confident that Puff was still able to battle. If she wasn't able to, she wouldn't have responded, and he would've pulled her from the battle.
"Aerial Ace again!" Looking back up, Owen and Puff saw Emolga closing in while white streaks of light flew off her wings. Owen watched as his injured Pokemon hopped up and took to the air by inflating.
"Don't give in, Puff! Use Dynamic Punch!" Owen cheered. Puff's fist began to glow crimson, and she swung at Emolga. Everyone gasped as Emolga spun away from the attack and managed to get past Puff, who was completely defenseless after trying to land the wicked fighting type attack.
"Electro Ball!" Owen closed his eyes, but still saw a flash of yellow. After moving his arm away from his eyes, he saw that Puff was facedown on the battlefield and didn't move a muscle. He then turned to look at the bench, but everyone still looked confident despite Owen being down 2-1.
"Puff is unable to battle! Owen, choose your last Pokemon!"
"Thanks, Puff. That was an awesome job." Owen withdrew the fainted Pokemon back to her Pokeball before sighing. He looked down at Snivy, who didn't seem worried about the adversity Owen and her teammate would be facing, but that didn't ease Owen's nerves in the slightest.
"Wow, he's in a tough spot. If he wants to win, he's gotta go with Heatmor or Krokorok," CJ opined. The bench had been particularly quiet tho gym battle, which was rather uncharacteristic of Fate and CJ.
"Definitely," Rebecca agreed while turning to CJ, who was sitting a few rows behind her.
"I'm counting on you, bud," Owen whispered to the Pokeball in his hand. "Blitzle, come on out!"
"What!?" CJ and Rebecca shouted in unison before deadpanning. Blitzle appeared on the battlefield in a flash of light before slamming his hooves on the ground powerfully. Emolga eyed her opponent closely before turning her head away as if she didn't need to try in order to beat Blitzle. The electric zebra took notice, and electricity began to dance around his body, wowing the audience and everyone on the bleachers.
"This battle will be between Emolga and Blitzle! Begin!"
"Emolga, start off by using Aerial Ace!" Elesa yelled halfheartedly. She knew none of Emolga's attacks were even moderately effective against Blitzle, which was why Owen had sent him out to battle.
"Blitzle, show off your Shock Wave!" Owen commanded. Blitzle nodded confidently, grabbing the attention of everyone in the room. The electricity that had been spiraling around Blitzle's body was suddenly fired at Emolga, and it looked more like a Thunderbolt than Shock Wave. The electric and flying type was zapped by the powered-up attack, and she fell to the ground.
"Emolga, use Electro Ball while you're falling!" Elesa ordered. A large yellow ball of electricity appeared in front of Emolga's chest, and she fired the ball at an insane velocity. Luckily for Blitzle, he was way faster than the incoming attack.
"Use Quick Attack to dodge!" Owen shouted. Just before the Electro Ball could hit, Blitzle sprinted around it and appeared next to Emolga before ramming into her side with his skull. Emolga was flung towards the referee, but she was able to recover from her wild movements by using her extra skin as wings.
"Emolga, use Acrobatics at full power!"
"Blitzle, dodge it!" Blitzle began to shimmy away before rolling and jumping away from each attempted punch and kick, which frustrated Emolga. The electric and flying type mad her way back to Elesa, who didn't know what otter moves to use given Blitzle's typing and ability to dodge attacks. Sighing, Elesa looked at her fatigued Pokemon before issuing another attack.
"Let's use Aerial Ace!" Emolga hopped back up and stuck her extra skin out to her side before zipping towards Blitzle. The electric zebra watched as his opponent had white streaks of light fly from her face and disappear behind her body, which was a spectacular sight.
"Wrap this up with Flame Charge!" Owen shouted. Blitzle began stomping on the ground, creating a cloud of dust. Once the dust hid him from sight, he bolted out while covered in fire. He sprinted towards his incoming opponent before leaping into her and knocking the electric squirrel out cold, causing the crowd to roar excitedly for the final battle.
"Emolga is unable to battle! Elesa, choose your last Pokemon!"
"That's how you do it, Owen!" Blake cheered while emphatically pumping his fists in the air. "You better win this battle, Blitzle!" Blitzle was too focused on the battle at hand to respond to Blake, but he appreciated the support.
"Good job Emolga," Elesa whispered to the fainted Pokemon as she withdrew her. The supermodel then grabbed her third Pokeball and chucked it forwards. "Zebstrika, let's put on a show!" Owen watched as a large zebra appeared on Elesa's half of the battlefield. It looked incredibly similar to Blitzle, except it had more spiky white hair running all the way down its neck and back. It also had a long white tail, and there were white stripes all over its body and face.
"Zebstrika, the Thunderbolt Pokemon, and the evolved form of Blitzle. They have lightning-like movements. When Zebstrika run at full speed, the sound of thunder reverberates.
"So this is your evolution, Blitzle," Owen told the electric type. "We're gonna take him down!" Owen proclaimed while punching the air in front of him. Blitzle nodded in agreement and began swiping at the ground.
"This battle will be between Zebstrika and Blitzle! Begin!"
"Blitzle, use Quick Attack!" Owen commanded. Blitzle dashed towards his evolved form before lunging forward. Zebstrika took the attack head-on, and while Blitzle was stumbling around and rubbing his head, Zebstrika looked down at him angrily. Blitzle looked up and gave a look of determination, but Elesa spoke up right after.
"Use Stomp!" Blitzle's eyes went wide as Zebstrika slammed his front right hoof on his head, causing Blitzle to slam against the ground powerfully. The crowd let gasped as the crack of Blitzle hitting the ground sounded like thunder rumbling in the sky during the middle of a storm. The smaller of the two Pokemon got back up and retreated to his trainer, waiting for another command.
"Blitzle, use Shock Wave!" Owen shouted. Blitzle unleashed a powerful bolt of electricity that zapped Zebstrika, who was expecting the attack to be weak. Much to his dismay, he was horribly wrong and his legs began to shake while he was being electrocuted by Blitzle's Shock Wave. Once the attack stopped, Zebstrika looked up with a fire burning in his eyes, so he dashed towards Blitzle.
"Zebstrika, use Flame Charge!" Elesa called. Her final Pokemon was instantly covered in flames and he barreled into Blitzle, who was sent flying down the runway. Owen looked at Zebstrika and gasped at his raw power before hearing Blitzle let out a battle cry. Owen and Snivy turned around to see Blitzle moving at his top speed and his eyes were locked on his target.
"Let's show them our Flame Charge!" Owen shouted. Blitzle managed to cover his body in flames just like Zebstrika, which impressed Elesa and her Pokemon. Before either of them knew it, Blitzle had rammed into Zebstrika and sent him skidding across the battlefield. The two electric types locked eyes and let out a large breath of air before running towards each other.
"Zebstrika, use Thunderbolt!" Elesa yelled.
"Cancel it out with Shock Wave!" Owen shouted right back. Both Pokemon stopped running and shot powerful bolts of electricity. Both attacks missed each other, but managed to hit the two Pokemon, causing them to drop down in pain. Everyone in the crowd moved to the edge of their seat, and so did Owen's friends.
"Zebstrika, use Stomp!" Blitzle began galloping towards Blitzle while raising his right hoof in preparation for the attack.
"Blitzle, Quick Attack!" Blitzle bolted towards his evolution while white light trailed behind him. Zebstrika quickly threw his hoof out and it hit Blitzle just after he rammed into Zebstrika. Both electric zebras rolled back to their trainers while clouds of dust trailed behind them. The two Pokemon rose at the same time and began to screech before their trainers spoke up once again.
"Zebstrika, finish this with Flame Charge!"
"We'll use Flame Charge, too!" Both Zebstrika and Blitzle began stomping on the ground, causing dust to shield them from everyone's sight. Once the two Pokemon were fully covered in flames, they leaped out of their dust clouds and sprinted towards one another while roaring powerfully. The two Pokemon met in the middle of the battlefield and an explosion occurred as soon as they collided. A gigantic cloud of smoke covered the battlefield and prevented everyone from seeing for a minute until the smoke finally dissipated. The crowd gasped once they saw the result of the collision, and Owen fell to his knees.
"Zebstrika is unable to battle! That means Owen is the winner!"
"Blitz!" Blitzle cheered before being enveloped in a bright white light. For what seemed to be the hundredth time, the crowd gasped as Blitzle's body began to take the shape of Zebstrika's. Once the light faded, Owen ran over to his newly evolved Pokemon and hugged him tightly.
"Way to go, Blit- I mean, Zebstrika," Owen said to the larger and much more powerful Pokemon. Zebstrika nodded at Owen and then bent his neck down to see Snivy. The two lightly high fived, and Elesa walked over after withdrawing her fainted Zebstrika.
"That was an impressive battle, Owen. You were great, Zebstrika. And congrats on evolving," Elesa said to the Pokemon that had just won the battle. Zebstrika nodded thankfully, and then Elesa handed Owen a small piece of metal. "As a sign of your victory, this is the Bolt Badge. The next gym is just across the bridge, and it leads to Driftveil City," Elesa told Owen before smiling.
"Thanks. Zebstrika, return." Owen withdrew Zebstrika as his four friends walked over.
"Elesa, I'm Blake Redstone and I challenge you to a battle!" Blake exclaimed. Elesa sweat dropped at Blake's poor timing, but she decided to accept his challenge.
"Good luck, Blake. You're gonna need it," Owen told his new rival.
"Thanks. Good luck with your contest, Fate," the boy said as the group of four walked away. Fate waved back before they walked out of the building, and Owen stretched before falling onto the grass just outside the gym.
"I'm halfway through, now," Owen said aloud while holding the Bolt Badge in his right hand. "And my next badge is only one town over."
"Well, you'll just have to wait, because I have to win my contest," Fate stated. Angel and Hez nodded at Owen, agreeing with their trainer.
"I wouldn't plan on missing it."
000
"Any updates on his location?" Blaziken asked as he and Ariel sat in the Pokemon Center in Viridian City.
"Kind of. He just won his gym battle in Nimbasa, so he's actually close to qualifying for the league," Ariel replied while looking at the computer screen. "He's got some pretty weak Pokemon, though. How has he even made it that far?" Ariel asked aloud while looking at Owen's information on the Unova League website. "Who the heck doesn't evolve their starter before the second gym?" the mysterious girl spat.
"If I remember correctly, I didn't evolve until the third," Blaziken told his trainer.
"Yeah, but we both know you were terrible at battling," Ariel teased, causing Blaziken to frown. "We better hurry if we want to get to Vermilion City and get to him," Ariel told Blaziken as she walked out of the Pokemon Center. Blaziken followed right behind, but not before he looked at Owen's information. His team certainly looked weak, which made him significantly more dangerous.
Wow! I'm going to be starting next chapter soon, but I doubt it'll be up tonight. If it is, then I need to rethink my life :P So, Owen beat Elesa thanks to Blitzle, who evolved into Zebstrika after the battle. Now with Fate's contest starting (and concluding) next chapter, the gang will run into some familiar faces, and Owen will battle someone we haven't seen in a while, and it's going to be a disaster. Till next time, peace out.
Next Chapter: Mayhem in Nimbasa