I feel like I haven't worked on this in ages. It's infuriating that I keep procrastinating like this. I think it's best that I just get started and try to get as much done as possible as quickly as possible. I have a pretty good idea of what I'm going to do. Hopefully it will work out as I intend.

"I choose Tangela as my first Pokémon!" Erika announced. Her Pokéball snapped open and produced a strange creature. It at first looked like a tangle of blue or bluish green vines, but closer inspection showed a pair of red shoes and a pair of beady eyes peering out of the center of the vines. No matter how hard Green looked, she couldn't see what those eyes were attached to.

"I'll stick with my Ninetales," Green said as the beautiful fox stepped forward.

"Tangela, begin with Vine Whip attack!" Erika ordered. Vines in the tangled mess around the Pokémon shot out at Ninetales. The nimble fox Pokémon leaped around the attack and avoided it.

"An attack like that can't hit us!" Green announced.

"Use Bind to hold it still, then!" More vines shot at Ninetales. All of them started to coil around Ninetales. There was nowhere to go as they came in from all sides. At the last minute, Ninetails jumped into the air, avoiding the prehensile appendages just as they clamped around where she had been standing.

"That was close," Green mumbled to herself, "I can't give that Tangela thing a chance to get lucky…" Ninetales landed from her leap just as the vines retracted so they could be used for the next attack. "Ninetales! Use Fire Spin!" The fox let out a strong breath that ignited into a tornado of fire that slammed into and surrounded the foe's Tangela.

After a second, Tangela was spat out of the tornado and the flames dissipated. Tangela was soundly knocked out. "Oh, my! You are very strong! I'll have to work hard if I want to beat you." Erika recalled her Tangela and withdrew another Pokéball. "This time I'll use Victreebel!"

Erika's next plant was even stranger than her Tangela. It had no arms or legs, only a gourd shaped body with an opening at the top. The opening was ringed with a few teeth and a leaf covering it. From the back of the leaf on top extended a vine that ended in a sharp spade. The closest thing it had to limbs was a pair of leaves on either side of the gourd. A pair of small, menacing eyes just under the lip of the gourd completed the thing's otherworldly look.

"Victreebel, use Acid attack!" Erika ordered. The plant obliged, lifting the leaf over the top of the gourd and spraying a sickly purple "liquid" at Ninetales. Still, the nimble fox as able to dash away. The substance Victreebel coughed up landed on the floor and started to melt a divot in the wood.

The thought of that hitting her Ninetales, even if it wouldn't have that dramatic an effect on a living Pokémon, made Green's face go pale. "That attack won't hit my Ninetales!"

"You're right," Erika agreed, "Your Pokémon is very fast. I'll have to do something about that. Victreebel, use Sweet Scent, now!" Victreebel's leaf lifted and a pink mist wafted out. Quickly the room was filled a sickly sweet aroma. While Green certainly wasn't happy about the scent, Ninetales couldn't stand it. She tried to sneeze and shake the smell out, but nothing would get rid of it. Even after the mist had gone away, the lingering smell stuck in Ninetale's nose. "Now use Poison Powder, Victreebel!"

Again, the leaf on top of lifted and more mist came out. This time it was a darker purple color, and Ninetales was too busy trying to get rid of the smell to dodge the bizarre attack. The Poison Powder attack enveloped Ninetales, making her face turn blue and her knees weak. "Ninetales, return!" Green called out as she presented her Pokémon's Pokéball. Ninetales may have been able to finish that battle, but Green didn't want to risk her only Fire-type Pokémon. Erika was definitely good. She knew the weaknesses of her Grass-type Pokémon and she had a way to deal with them. "Go, Farfetch'd!"

The duck Pokémon appeared, and readied for the foe's attack. "Use Poison Powder again, Victreebel!"

"Not this time!" Green announced, "Farfetch'd, go around the cloud and use Fury Attack!"

The foe's Victreebel belched out another purple cloud of dust at Farfetch'd, but he took off and flew around the approaching poison. After the short flight to his opponent, Farfetch'd started jabbing Victreebel with its leek, hitting it right in the face. Victreebel was pushed back, but tried to swat Farfetch'd down with one of the leaves on its side once the attack ended. Farfetch'd backed up and listened for Green's next order.

"Victreebel, use Razor Leaf!" The pitcher plant Pokémon did so, summoning a mass of sharp leaves from its side leaves and flinging them at Farfetch'd. The bird Pokémon put up his wings to weather the attack. Thanks to a favorable matchup, he did.

"Counterattack with Peck attack!" Green ordered. This time it was Farfetch'd's pointed bill that smacked the foe's Victreebel right between the eyes. It was too much and Victreebel collapsed.

Erika recalled her second Pokémon. "Well done, challenger! One more Pokémon and you will be victorious. However, this one is my most prized flower. Go! Vileplume!"

This one was the least strange of Erika's Pokémon. It was simply a small, simply shaped, bipedal creature with a giant flower on top of its head. Considering Green had a dinosaur with a similar flower on his back, it wasn't that odd. Still, Farfetch'd was the only other Pokémon she had other than Ninetales that had a clear type advantage and Farfetch'd had taken a hit in that last battle. "Alright, end it with Peck!"

"You shouldn't be too hasty," Erika said with a smile, "Vileplume, use Sleep Powder!" Vileplume shook its giant flower and its petals started to shed a blue dust. Farfetch'd flew right into the cloud and dropped to the ground immediately. It was sound asleep. "Other than Pokémon Battling, I think the most divine thing in this world is to lie down for a nap on a clear summer's day! It looks like your Pokémon agrees. Unfortunately, I'll have to interrupt its snooze. Vileplume, use Petal Dance attack!"

Suddenly, leaves started to whip around Vileplume from nowhere. Vileplume than tackled Farfetch'd, causing the leaves and the wind carrying them to knock the duck Pokémon away. He landed at Green's feet, unable to battle. She clenched her fist. Erika wasn't a Gym Leader for nothing. But she had no intention of losing.

"Okay, try this on for size!" she declared as she recalled Farfetch'd and took out her next Pokéball. "Grass against Grass! Go, Venusaur!" Green's partner appeared, leaving Vileplume and Erika in awe. "Take 'em down, Venusaur! Double Edge!"

Venusaur slammed into Vileplume, sending it to the ground. But Vileplume wasn't finished yet. It got back up and slammed right back into Venusaur with its coat of leaves. The hit was hard enough to even knock Venusaur back a few steps.

"When my Pokémon uses Petal Dance, it gets to keep using it over and over again," Erika explained confidently, "And it looks like it's still going!" Indeed, Vileplume once again slammed into Venusaur. However, this time the storm of leaves ended and Vileplume started stumbling around like it was dizzy. "Oh, I almost forgot…" Erika continued, "It also confuses my Pokémon after it's over. Still, your Pokémon shouldn't have that much fight left in it."

"Venusaur, use Synthesis!" The tired Venusaur aligned its leaves and flowers to the sun shining through the windows and he began to glow. After only a second or two, he looked much more energetic and ready for battle. "You were saying?" Green asked confidently.

"Oh, dear. That's a problem," Erika admitted, "Vileplume, put it to sleep with your Sleep Powder!" To Erika's surprise, instead of following her orders, Vileplume instead ran face first into one of the trees planted around the Gym. "Oh my! Vileplume!"

"You know, you were right before," Green said, drawing Erika's attention back to her, "I shouldn't rush my way to victory. That's why while your Vileplume was stumbling around, I had Venusaur charge up the ultimate Grass attack!" Erika looked to Green's Venusaur. He was drawing a bright light into the center of the flower on his back. The Grass-type Gym Leader recognized the attack right away. "Venusaur, use Solarbeam!"

Venusaur's flower unleashed a blast of pure light straight up into the air. Before it hit the ceiling, it arced back down and landed on Vileplume. Finally, Erika's last Pokémon fell. "That was splendid. You're remarkably strong!"

"You bet I am!" Green announced proudly. "Now it's about time you dropped that stupid 'no boys' rule and let my friends have their chance!"

"I beg your pardon?" Erika asked genuinely.

"Don't play dumb!" Green returned, "They said you don't let boys in to challenge this Gym! But I beat you so a promise is a promise!"

Erika looked surprised to hear that, but her demure smile returned a second later. "Oh, I see," she said lightly. She then turned to the Gym trainers standing behind her. Green couldn't see the expression on her face, but from the look on the Gym trainers' faces', it must have been a terrifying one. "Perhaps you ladies would like to explain what she's talking about?"

"WE'RE SORRY MISS ERIKA!"

Just a few minutes later, Red and Blue were standing before Erika. "Forgive my friends," she apologized politely, "They do the silliest things sometimes. Now, don't think light of me just because your friend won!"

This is pretty much what I was looking to create, so I'm happy with it. Not much else to say here, so see you next week (hopefully sooner, but you know me…)!