Author's note
Alright chapter 18 is ready. Finally have another gym battle , however only one of the two brothers is going to face him. My original plan was to have them both face Grant but it would have been to long of a chapter.
So anyway go ahead and enjoy the chapter
Disclaimer I don't own pokemon
Chapter 18: Cyllage Gym battle part 1
Two days had passed since Ash and the others left Nummel city. Late the second night Cyllage city came into view. The city didn't seem as big as Nummel city or Lumiose city. It's buildings were relatively smaller with fewer lights. However one building seemed particularly bigger, it seemed similar to the battle Château but with a slightly different design.
"We finally made it to Cyllage city" Red said.
" Lets get to the pokemon center, I'm exhausted" Serena said.
"My legs won't move anymore" Bonnie said.
"why couldn't we have just taken the beach paths?" Clemont said.
"Because the beach paths were longer. It would have taken us another day on the beaches" Ash said. The two days they spent walking towards Cyllage city the group had walked on nothing but uphill rocky paths. Ash and Red were slightly better conditioned for it because of their training with Felix. The rest of the group , however, were completely exhausted from all the harsh walking.
"One day really" Serena said with an irritated expression. Ash and Red sweat dropped.
"Well you guys didn't mind it did you?" Red said looking at their pokemon who were out.
"Pika" Pikachu said shaking his head.
"Char!" Red's Charmeleon said agreeing with pikachu.
"Oh easy for you guys to say you've either been riding on Ash's shoulder or in your pokeballs!" Bonnie said. Pikachu and Charmeleon sweat dropped.
"Alright maybe we were a little anxious, but we were just so excited for our gym battles. Plus your battle Château" Ash said.
"Really?" Serena said as she and the other 2 gave irritated looks.
"Alright what if I carried you the rest of the way?" Ash said.
"well I wouldn't mind that" Serena said as Ash walked over and lifted her into his arms.
"Clemont will you carry me!?" Bonnie said.
"Bonnie I'm too tired".
"But I'm tired too" Bonnie said as she jumped onto his back.
"Ahh Bonnie!" He said as he struggled to stay on his feet. His robotic aipom arm came out of his backpack and lifted Bonnie off him. Red led them down the rocky path until they reached the streets. From there it was only another few minutes before they reached the Pokémon center.
As usual Ash, Red, and Serena got one room while Clemont and Bonnie got another. After changing into her pajamas Serena let Braixen out of her pokeball.
"Sorry for making you walk so much over the last two days"Ash said.
"It's alright , it wasn't so bad" Serena said as Braixen laid down next to her. Ash walked over to the top bunk as Red got into the bottom bunk.
"So we're facing Grant tomorrow, you nervous little bro".
"No, we're more than ready right Pikachu" , "Pika!" said confidently.
"Well see you in the morning" Red said as he laid down.
"Yeah see you in the morning" Ash said. The next morning after breakfast the group went to get their Pokémon back from nurse Joy.
"Your pokemon are all fine, they should be able to battle today".
"Thanks, by the way nurse Joy do you know whether the gym is?" Red said as he picked up his pokeballs.
"Oh yes, Grant built the gym on top the rocky cliff-side. If you head up there you should see the entrance with the markings of a pokemon gym".
"Wait a minute we have to walk up more rocky paths" Bonnie said. She sighed with Clemont and Serena.
"Oh come on guys were the last two days really that bad" Red said. The three glared at him as he sweat dropped.
"Let's just get going" Serena said. The group made their way up the rocky paths to the Cliff side overlooking the city.
"Wow the view is amazing" Serena said.
"Hey guys I think I found it" Red said as he stood in front of a large rock formation. The rock formation had a brick entrance with the symbol of the pokemon league over it.
"Yeah I think this is it" Ash said. They walked through the entrance until they reached the gym interior. The interior of the gym was much like the inside of a cave. There was a waterfall coming down from the ceiling, a few benches, and what looked like an elevator shaft. The most notable thing was a massive pillar shaped rock hill in the center of the gym. the pillars had large sections of colored rocks that looked identical to rock walls in some recreation centers.
"That's a lot of rock walls" Clemont said. Ash noticed there was a man climbing the rock wall near the peak of the hill. The man was very tall and dark skinned, his hair was black with what looked like colored stones embedded in his hair.
"Hey it's Grant. Grant!" Ash shouted. Grant looked over his shoulder and saw the group beneath him.
"Well you guys finally made it here. I've been hoping you'd make it here".
"It's nice to see you to Grant, Ash and I are ready for our battles".
"Very well, the battlefield is up here".
"It is?" Serena said.
"Yes, I always make sure I get rock climbing in before I face challengers. It gets me psyched up and ready to face them. Always being able to look up and see what is ahead of you".
"Wait a minute they have to scale the wall to get to the battlefield?" Serena said sounding concerned.
"I give trainers the option, but I don't make them. If you want you can take the elevator".
"What do you think Red?".
"Are you serious man, i'll race you to the top".
"You're on, first one up gets to face Grant first".
"Wait, please be careful" Serena said.
"don't worry Serena Red and I did climbing like this all the time with Felix". Ash and Red quickly began climbing the rocks on the side of the hill. Grant was amazed at how quickly and easily the two young men were scaling the walls.
"Very impressive I'll meet you at the top" Grant said as he climbed onto the peak. Clemont, Serena, and Bonnie watched nervously as Red and Ash scaled the walls.
"That looks fun!" Bonnie shouted as she ran towards the wall.
"Bonnie no!" Clemont shouted as he quickly grabbed her off of the wall. Serena knew Ash had good skills but she couldn't help but be worried for him as he scaled the wall. As Ash set his foot on one of the rocks, he didn't notice that there was a large crack on the top. When he put his weight against the rock it's snapped off and he nearly lost his grip on the other rocks.
"Ash!" Serena almost screamed.
"Woah! Ash are you ok!" Red said as he looked down. Ash was holding onto the other rocks tightly as Pikachu gripped his shoulder even tighter.
"I'm ok" He said as he resumed climbing. It took them another few minutes before they were able to scale each of the walls and reach the top of the hill. Red pulled himself onto the peak just before Ash could.
"Hmp looks like I win little bro." Ash sighed as he climbed over the peak.
"Alright you can battle him first". when Ash and Red made it to the peak the rest of the group took the elevator to the top of the peak. Ash and Red saw Grant standing in the middle of a large battlefield that stretched across the top of the hill.
"Now that you're here who's going to face me first?" Grant said as he walked towards them.
"I'm going first" Red said.
"Alright , the battle will be a three on three or two on two. However, you should know that I have two sets of pokemon for battling challengers. One team have hardened defensive stats, while the other team has hardened offensive stats. As the challenger ,I'm going to let you decide who you want to face. Defense or offense. The defense team has 3 pokemon while the offense only has two".
"I get to choose" Red said. He hadn't heard of a gym leader doing something like this. He thought carefully of what he wanted to do. He knew his Pokémon were good at up close and hardened fighting but he was afraid that Grant's pokemon might be just as skilled if not more skilled in close quarters fighting seeing as they were rock types, plus only Charmeleon's flamethrower could hit them at a distance and it wouldn't be useful against rock types. However, he also had to take into account the only pokemon he had that was necessarily effective against rock types which was Pancham. So if he was trying to beat at their defenses with ineffective moves his pokemon could get worn out by prolonged fighting.
"Alright I've made my choice. I want to face your offensive team" Red said.
"Very well, offensive team it is" Grant walked to the father end of the battlefield while Red went to the closer end. Ash and the others went to a section of walkway across from the battlefield to watch the match.
"I hope you guys are ready for Grant. We already know from the battle chateau that he's better than Viola" Clemont said.
"That's true but we've been training really hard and I know we can beat him" Ash said.
"I hope so" Serena said sounding a little concerned for Ash.
"Alright I choose you Pancham!" Red said as he threw Pancham's pokeball out and Pancham came out giving a rather devious look at Grant.
"Time to show them what you can do ,go Golem !" Grant shouted as he threw a pokeball and sent out a massive Golem that roared as he smashed his feet into the ground.
"A Golem?" Serena said she took out her pokedex. "Golem the megaton Pokemon. Golem's boulder like body is extremely hard. It can easily withstand dynamite blasts without taking damage"
"Golem hit him with rock throw"
"Pancham use Karate chop on each of those rocks then get in close and hit him with arm thrust" Pancham quickly smashed the first rock that was hurled at him into pieces with karate chop. Grant raised an eyebrow impressed by pancham's strength.
"Wow Pancham's strength has really been improving" Ash said.
"Impressive Red but Golem's got much more than that". Golem began throwing much larger and harder rocks at Pancham. Pancham tried to smash one of them but was hurled back when it made contact with him.
"Dam that's one strong Golem" Red said as Pancham got up. Golem roared smashed his feet to the ground.
"Alright lets try speed and agility instead. Pancham Run in close and use karate chop on his legs".
"Intercept him with stone edge" Pancham sprinted towards Golem as the giant rock Pokémon jumped up and smashed his hand into the ground. Red felt the ground beneath Pancham shake as he realized what was about to happen.
"Dive forward!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. At the last moment Pancham dove forward just before a dozen sharp rocks shot out of the ground beneath him into the air.
"That was close" Serena said.
"Grant's Golem sure is powerful" Clemont said.
"Pancham keep going!" Red shouted Pancham continued towards Golem.
"Golem prepare to jump" When Pancham got close enough he slid across the ground and prepared to smash his arm into Golem's legs. At the last moment Golem jumped up and over pancham. Red was completely dumbstruck at how agile such a large Pokémon could be. Once Golem was over pancham he rolled around andWhile smashed his right foot into Pancham hurling him back.
"Geeze Grant trained his Golem well" Ash said.
"Come on Pancham we can do this. The bigger they are the harder they fall. Wait a minute that's it. Pancham use work up". Pancham gathered his energy and built up his strength as he flexed his arms.
"Golem use stone edge" Golem slammed his arms into the ground causing the earth beneath pancham to shake violently.
"Pancham dive forward" Red said. Pancham dove forward but this time not fast enough. One of the stones hit him in the back shin causing him to trip forward and land on the ground.
"Golem use stone edge".
"Pancham smash the ground right before the stones come up" Golem smashed his right hand into the ground once again causing the ground under Pancham to shake. Just before this stones could shoot up pancham smashed the ground with all of his might. This caused the stones to be shifted and shot out in different directions away from pancham.
Grant was caught completely by surprise by what happened, especially when three of the rocks flew at Golem and hit him in the head.
"Shoot, he's found a counter-strategy" Grant said.
"great job Pancham now sprint at his legs and use karate chop".
"But he already tried that?" Bonnie said. Ash and Pikachu both noticed Red had a determined look on his face which meant he was up to something.
"Golem jump over him at the last moment" Grant said. Golem prepared himself as pancham slid across the ground towards his legs. Golem jumped up and over pancham.
"Now hit him beneath with arm thrust!" Pancham quickly pushed himself off the ground and slammed his arm into Golem's underside causing him to fly even father and slam his face into the ground.
"Great job pancham!" Red said.
"I guess Red was up to something" Serena said.
"He's got this", "PIka!".
"Alright Golem if he's going to try and muscle you around it's time to show him your true power. Bulldoze!" Golem sprinted at Pancham surprisingly fast for such a large pokemon.
"Stop him with karate chop" . Pancham jumped up and tried to slam his arm into Golem. However, Golem's Bulldoze was far to powerul and Pancham was hurled back into the ground when Golem made contact with him.
"Man that's power" Red said.
"Bulldoze Golem".
"Pancham try aiming for his legs" Red said. Pancham waited until Golem got close and tried to slam his arm into Golem's legs. Once again Golem's momentum was too much even when Pancham tried to hit his legs.
"Geeze there's no stopping that thing" Clemont said.
"Come on Red don't give up", "Pika pikachu!".
"Come on there has to be a way to beat that Bulldoze. But even trying to hit his legs won't. Wait his legs, I've got it".
"Bulldoze Golem". Golem once again and sprinted at Pancham picking up momentum.
"Pancham grab onto his left leg", Rather than trying to overpower Golem again he latched himself onto Golem's leg.
"What is he doing?" Grant said. Golem tried to shake pancham off him, but Pancham wouldn't let go.
"Pancham don't let go, use work up" Once again Pancham gathered his strength and increased his attack power.
"Now Pancham throw him into the air and use arm thrust" Pancham put his feet on the ground and lifted with all of his might. At first pancham struggled, but suddenly started to glow white and was able to lift Golem up.
"Wait is he evolving?" Ash said.
"Pancham" Red said. By the time pancham had gotten Golem into the air he had stopped glowing and growing. He now looked like a massive version of his previous form except with a more threatening face and a leaf in his mouth.
"What is he?" Ash said as he opened his pokedex.
"Pangoro the daunting pokemon. Although it possesses of violence temperament, it won't put up with bullying. It uses the leaf in its mouth to sense the movements of its enemies" Pangoro roared as he jumped up and smashed Golem in the center of his face with arm thrust hurling him to the ground.
"Golem!" Grant shouted. When the dust cleared Golem was knocked out cold.
"Golem is unable to battle" The referee said.
"Alright we did it Pangoro!" Red shouted. Pangoro smiled as he roared in victory.
"Golem return. You performed well regardless of the outcome. I am impressed Red your Pokémon is very resilient and have plenty of spirit" Grant said as he returned Golem.
"This is good now Red has the edge" Serena said.
"Just one more pokemon Red!"Ash shouted.
"You may have beaten my Golem but lets see how you stack up against my next Pokémon" Grant said as he threw a pokeball. To everyone's surprise a large Amaura came out of the pokeball and let out a puff of cold air.
"An Amaura?!" They all said.
"You shouldn't be so surprised considering what I do in the Army".
"True. Alright pangoro use karate chop".
"Amaura use icebeam aim for his legs" Amaura opened her mouth and wailed as she unleashed icebeam. The icebeam hit pangoro in the legs and froze them to the ground making Pangoro trip onto the ground.
"Pancham quick break free!".
"No you don't, Amaura use aurora beam" Amaura opened her mouth and unleashed a powerful Aurora.
"Pancham no!" Pancham broke out of the ice just before the Aurora hit him in the face, knocking him out.
"Pangoro is unable to battle" The referee said.
"Just after one hit" Serena said.
"He must have been really worn our from the fight with Golem" Ash said.
"Pangoro return you fought incredibly. Don't let this get you down. Ok Amaura may be a rock type ,but she's also an ice type. So I choose you Charmeleon!" Charmeleon came out and snarled at Amaura.
"I was hoping you would bring him out. I saw how impressive he was at the battle chateau. Let's cool that lizard down with ice beam. Aim for his legs".
"Charmeleon use flamethrower" When Amaura unleashed icebeam towards Charmeleon the fire lizard opened his mouth as the flame on his tail grew larger. Charmeleon unleashed a powerful jet of fire that kept the ice beam away from him.
"Keep doing that Charmeleon get close enough to her then use fire fang".Charmeleon started moving towards Amaura as he continued to use flamethrower. Eventually the fire broke through Amaura's icebeam and hit her across the chest. The heat from the flamethrower was so immense amarua felt like she was in an oven.
"Amaura ice beam on the ground! Then use icebeam towards his feet". Amaura quickly opened her mouth and froze the ground around her stopping the flamethrower from hitting her. When she was safe from the fire Amaura unleashed another ice beam aiming for Charmeleon's feet.
"Charmeleon light up the ground". Charmeleon roared as he unleashed a jet of fire on the ground by his feet preventing them from being frozen like Pangoros's. The continued mixing of fire and ice created a mist around the battlefield. Neither trainer could see their Pokémon nor their opponents.
"What's going to happen now?" Bonnie said.
"I don't know I guess all they can do is wait" Serena said.
"Prepare to use ancient power" Grant said. Red started to think about what he could do. He could see Charmeleon and Charmeleon couldn't see Amaura. He felt almost as if he and Charmeleon were alone and not with each other. That was when he remembered what Felix taught him.
"You are never truly separated from your Pokémon. As long as you can feel their aura and they can feel yours, you'll always be connected". Red took a deep breath and used the aura technique that Felix had taught him. Ash noticed as Red's eyes began to glow blue.
"Well looks like he trying to find Charmeleon". Moments later Serena also noticed this.
"Ash are his eyes glowing blue?" She said almost sounding scared.
"It's alright Serena, he's using aura to try and find Charmeleon".
"Aura? You mean like what Felix taught you?".
"That's right". Charmeleon felt Red's aura come into contact with his own. Charmeleon felt better knowing that he was back with Red. Red also felt better knowing he had found Charmeleon. Now Red searched the battlefield trying to find Amaura's aura. When he found her Charmeleon knew exactly where she was.
"Fire fang!" Charmeleon sprinted forward while Amarua panicked not knowing where he was coming from. She unleashed Ancient power but missed. Charmeleon easily ducked and moved away from each of the rocks from ancient power. When he got close enough he circled his jaws around Amaura's neck as fire started to form around his teeth.
"Fire fang!" Red shouted. The flame on Charmeleon's tail grew larger as the fire in his mouth did the same. Amaura cried out in pain as Charlemeon bit down on her neck with his flaming jaws.
"keep it up Charmeleon, don't let go". Grant started to get nervous. He knew that Charmeleon was too close for Amaura to use ancient power. If she tried to use it she could end up hitting herself. That was when he saw Amaura's head was near Charmeleon's stomach.
"Aurora beam on his stomach!" Aurora mustered her remaining strength and raised her head towards Charmeleon's stomach before blasting him in the stomach with aurora beam. Charmeleon lost his grip on Amaura and moved back as the aurora beam hit him in the stomach.
"Ancient power!" Amaura's eyes glowed violet as she raised several large rocks into the air and hurled them at Charmeleon.
"Charmeleon block them with Dragon claw!" . Charmeleon tried to gather his dragon energy , but he was too close to Amaura. Two of the rocks slammed into Charmeleon before he was able to get his claws ready. However, before the third rock hit him Charmeleon's claws were finally ready and slashed through the remaining rocks leaving Amaura wide open.
"Hit her now with Flamethrower!" Red screamed.
"Amaura protect yourself with ice beam". Charmeleon roared as the tail on his flame burst into a massive inferno. When Charmeleon opened his mouth again a massive jet of fire flew at Amaura who was far too close to Charmeleon.
Amaura tried to use ice beam to protect herself , but her attack was overpowered as soon as it made contact with flamethrower and Amaura was engulfed in fire.
"Amaura!" Grant screamed. When the flames dispersed Amaura was on the ground unconscious.
"Amaura is unable to battle. The winner is the challenger" The referee said.
"Alright we've done it Charmeleon!", "Char!".
"Great work Red!" Ash said.
"Looks like it's your turn" Serena said.
"Right". Grant returned his Amaura as Ash and the others walked out onto the field beside Red.
"You performed well Amaura don't let this get you down. Very impressive Red your pokemon have only gotten stronger since the battle chateau".
"Thanks Grant, we've been working really hard". The referee came over to Grant with a box. Grant opened it and revealed a badged inside that looked like a cliff or a rock climbing wall.
"This is the cliff badge you've certainly earned it".
"Wow thanks Grant".
"Oh Grant I almost forgot to tell you, Colonel Agen sent you a message. He needs you back at the base for a few days. Apparently they just revived a few more Tyrunt".
"What? But I told him I needed more time to face challengers. Sigh, oh well that's army life for you. Sorry Ash it looks like it will be a few days before we can have our gym battle".
"Oh it's alright, we'll be here another few days before Serena's battle Chateau tournament anyway" Ash said despite being a bit disappointed.
"Well I should get my uniform packed up. But before I go there is something or should I say someone I wanted to give to Red" Grant said as he took out a grey pokeball.
"Your giving me a pokemon? Thanks but why?" Red said as he took the pokeball.
"Just see who's inside" Grant said. Red threw the pokeball and to everyone's surprise a massive winged pokemon with a large snout and massive jaws came out. The pokemon turned to Red and the others giving them a very threatening look. The pokemon shrieked before lifting up into the air and flying around the cave.
"What is that thing?" Red said opening his pokedex.
"Aerodactyl the fossil hard fangs suggest that it was a carnivore. Its sharp claws were probably used to capture prey".
"A dinosaur?" Clemont said.
"They found his fossil and thought he might be a good member of the family. However, since he's the only one he hasn't been able to get along with any of the other dinosaur pokemon. Because of that he's also had a hard time getting trained. After a while command told us that pokemon like Noivern are more useful then an aerodactyl; so Colonel Agen let me keep him. After I saw Ash and Serena work so well with Tyrunt and Amaura I thought you might do good with him".
"Really?" Red said excited.
"Yes, but I warn you he won't be an easy pokemon to train".
"I can do it. I'll make aerodactyl the strongest dinsosaur pokemon any trainer has".
"You're forgetting I have a dinosaur pokemon" Ash said.
"No I'm not" Red said.
Alrigh the next chapter will be Serena's battle chateau so we won't see Ash face Grant just yet, I'm still planning that out.
Also one last thing , I noticed that chapter 17 didn't get a single review and frankly I don't know if that means it was a So so chapter of a bad one. Look I'd really appreciate it if more of you guys left reviews it helps give me feedback of what you think so I can make improvements or know if I'm doing something right.
So please review, comment, question, or suggest