"You are a terrible driver." Kirstie said, in the passenger seat of Danny's new Jaguar.
"I never took any lessons, House, I just kinda go with the flow."
"Well then go with a flow that knows how to drive."
Danny wasn't in a great mood. He'd learned earlier that there had been a malfunction of the system causing most of the members of his newfound team not to get the message about their relocation. Only Kirstie had received the message and she wouldn't stop moaning about anything. On a more positive note, he was on his way to Blackthorn city to battle Clair whilst Kirstie was to secretly film the battle and the footage would be sent back to Petrel for him to analyse.
"Good news Danny, Abbie has begun training!" the sound of Jack's voice came so suddenly that he jumped up and lost control of the vehicle. It swerved right violently and went on to the other side of the road.
"Shit!" Kirstie screamed as a lorry came hurtling towards them. Danny grabbed the steering wheel and hit the centre of it. The entire car suddenly bounced up into the sky, one of Jack's adjustments was spring loaded tyres. The car landed off the road completely but the suspension took the blow for its two passengers.
"Jeez, don't do that you stupid thing!" Danny yelled, hitting the dashboard.
"Don't blame the car you idiot, we could've died!"
"Thanks for the information, House, I missed that part."
"And how the hell did we bounce up like that?" Kirstie asked, clearly having recovered from her brief moment of fear and returning to being a nuisance.
"We didn't bounce, you had your eyes closed anyway, I just hit a rough piece of road, that's all." Danny said, breathing a sigh of relief afterwards and rejoining the road. He'd given Jack some acknowledgement, even if it was hidden, and it was good news that he had been given it had just been slightly terrifying, that's all.
"The battle will be three on three and the trainer to defeat all of their opponent's Pokémon is the winner. Begin!" the referee said and Clair threw out a Pokéball. Clair was intimidating and had blue hair. She was a very tough opponent but Danny rarely had the chance to battle so he took this one immediately.
"Dragonair!"
"Kingler!" the two sent out their Pokémon and Danny knew it'd be a difficult challenge to win with no type advantages but in the corner of his eye he saw Kirstie filming so he had to impress both her and the Team Rocket executives. "Bubblebeam!"
"Go underwater and hide." Clair said and Dragonair dove into the pool in the middle of the gym. It was large enough to hide in, he'd have to fish her out.
"Use Guillotine on it as it swims past," Danny ordered and Kingler scuttled to the edge of the pool, thrusting his bigger claw in, retrieving the struggling Dragonair.
"Good aim cannot win this battle alone, use Thunder Wave!" Clair said and Dragonair let out a cry as electricity surrounded the two Pokémon. Kingler cried out in pain and let go. "Now, Dragon Rush." With Kingler barely moving, he was an easy target to Dragonair's oncoming strike and it hit hard.
"You got this buddy, now get up," Danny urged as Kingler fell onto his smaller claw and leant on it for support.
"This was almost too easy. Finish this pitiful Pokémon with another Dragon Rush!" Clair ordered and once again, Dragonair sprang into action, heading towards Kingler, fast.
"Sidestep it and use Crabhammer!" Danny retorted and at the last second Kingler looked up and stepped right, then brought his large claw down onto Dragonair, crushing it into the ground.
"Dragonair is unable to battle, Kingler is the winner!" the referee said, pointing his green flag towards Danny and Kingler.
"Great job Kingler!" Danny said to his victorious friend as he waved his claws in celebration.
"Impressive," Clair said as she called back her fallen Dragonair. "But the battle's just getting started, now it's your turn - Gyarados!" Clair tossed her second Pokéball into the air, revealing the huge blue dragon which landed in the pool, roaring.
"Alright then Kingler, Strength!" Danny ordered and Kingler scuttled towards Gyarados with surprising speed and jumped, claw first towards Gyarados.
"Dodge it." Clair said and Gyarados swerved away with ease. "Now, Twister!" With Kingler still in the air, Gyarados spun and sent a powerful twister attack in Kingler's direction.
"Block it with your claws!" Danny desperately urged, but paralysis kicked in and Kingler was powerless to stop the violent attack.
"End this with Bite." Clair said and Gyarados dived into the twister and emerged with Kingler in its jaws.
"Kingler is unable to battle, Gyarados is the winner!" the referee announced pointing his red flag towards Gyarados.
"You tried hard." Danny said, calling back Kingler. "Now for you, Ampharos!" Danny said, throwing the Pokéball onto the field and showing his second Pokémon.
"A type advantage does not necessarily mean victory, you have to work hard still." Clair said although the type matchup was certainly in Danny's favour.
"Ampharos, use Thunderbolt!" Danny ordered and Ampharos sent a powerful lightning bolt in Gyarados' direction.
"Send it right back with Twister." Clair retorted and once again, Gyarados spun creating its Twister attack which turned Thunderbolt straight back at Ampharos.
"What the-" Danny stuttered as his Ampharos was hit by its own power and then the Twister, throwing it against the wall.
"Dragon Rage!" Clair said and Gyarados sent flames towards Ampharos who was staggering to its feet.
"Get out of there, quick!" Danny said, urging Ampharos to get up but it was too late and the flames engulfed Ampharos, sending it straight back down to the floor.
"What did I tell you?" Clair said, laughing as her Gyarados roared at Ampharos.
"Get up buddy!" Danny cried as Ampharos got to its feet, breathing heavily. "Good job, now Dragon Pulse!" Ampharos steadied itself before sending a strong purple beam towards Gyarados.
"Dodge it." Clair said calmly as Gyarados dived below the surface of the pool to evade the attack.
"Now Thunderbolt on the pool!"
"What?" Clair stuttered as Ampharos electrocuted the pool with Gyarados inside. A roar came from down below and then Gyarados rose to the surface, not moving.
"Gyarados is unable to battle, Ampharos is the winner!" the referee announced, this time his green flag was pointing towards Danny.
"Great job Ampharos," Danny said as his faithful Pokémon punched the air but was clearly panting and injured.
"Gyarados did its job," Clair said calling back her Gyarados. "Now for your real test, Kingdra!" Clair yelled, sending out her final Pokémon, the majestic blue seahorse.
"Alright then Ampharos, hit that thing with a Dragon Pulse!" Danny instructed Ampharos as it sent a powerful, purple beam of light towards Kingdra.
"No games this time, Dragon Pulse, straight at it!" Clair retorted and Kingdra summoned a beam far greater than Ampharos' which collided with Ampharos' beam with an explosion as it tore through the attack hitting Ampharos in the chest.
"No!" Danny cried as his Pokémon was sent flying through the air and rammed into the wall. When the smoke from the explosion cleared, Ampharos was left crumpled on the floor.
"Ampharos is unable to battle, Kingdra is the winner!" the referee said, pointing his red flag towards Clair.
"That is too much power." Danny said, calling Ampharos back to its ball. "So we'll just have to match it, go Sceptile!" From Danny's next and last Pokéball emerged Danny's strongest and oldest friend, his ever faithful green lizard. "No playing around Sceptile, just use Focus Blast!" Sceptile quickly conjured a blue ball and fired it in the direction of Kingdra.
"Start your Hydro Pump." Clair said as Kingdra began to form a swirling ball of water in its mouth. "Now swallow that Focus Blast and return it!" The Focus Blast landed directly in Kingdra's gaping mouth, the water cushioning the blow. It then fired its Hydro Pump with the Focus Blast inside.
"What the-" Danny stuttered as Sceptile was ferociously bombarded by the combined power of its own Focus Blast and Kingdra's Hydro Pump. Sceptile fell with a crash, overwhelmed by the power of the attack.
"Game, set and match." Clair said triumphantly.
"It's not over until it's over." Danny said as Sceptile got up, cloaked in a mysterious green light. "If you didn't know, that is Sceptile's overgrow. And it powers up its attacks big time. So how's a Leaf Drill sound to you?"
"That's not even a move!" Clair screamed as Sceptile's leaf blades shone and lengthened and then it jumped and span creating a drill made of Leaf Blade. Clair stood speechless as Sceptile came down upon Kingdra, smashing it with tremendous power into the bottom of the pool. Both trainers knew that the match was over.
"Kingdra is unable to battle, Sceptile is the winner and the victory goes to Danny!" the referee announced, shocked as anybody by the way in which Sceptile had won.
"Well Daniel," Clair said after calling back her fallen Kingdra, "That was something quite exceptional. You deserved this victory and this - the Rising Badge." she handed him a small badge in the shape of a dragon's head.
"Thanks." Danny said as he took the badge and left the gym, pleased with his victory and he may have been wrong, but he thought Kirstie had given a slight look of amazement when Sceptile pulled off that Leaf Drill. Then again, he could gloat about that later.
Well, here's chapter 5, or 6 if you count the prologue. I'm still having some internet problems but it's getting better so hopefully, I'll still update regularly. Don't forget to review, praise or criticism.