Chapter 6
"Now I'm holding on, myself was never enough for me, gotta be so strong. There's a power in what you do, now every other day I'll be watching you"- Outside by Calvin Harris Ft Ellie Goulding
"I, Trainer Bianca, challenge you, Cress to a rematch!" I yell at Cress as dramatically as I can. There's a small audience of the people I worked with the other day as well as Chili and Cilan watching the spectacle I created.
"Lillipup go!" Cress says.
"Ganon, you're out!" The two Pokémon stare at each other.
"Lillipup, Work Up!"
"Ganon use Flame Charge!" Flame Charge was the most recent attack he's learned and the expected result I wanted to see happen totally happened: Cress's Lillipup is now burned. The damage was already substantial and the Lillipup doesn't attack Ganon with the force he once did with his Take Down. The last time I battled Cress, I got one shotted. This time, I'm the one calling the shots.
Wow, how corny of me. Oh well.
"Use Flame Charge again!" This time the attack misses, but Lillipup's burn intensifies. When he faints, I hear Chili's cheering for the power of fire.
"Good job, Lillipup. I've seen you've improved, Bianca. Panpour, you're up," he states casually.
But before I summon back Gannon, a little spark rises from his side. Then a second one. The two sparks appear to clone themselves and soon dozens of them surround him and he's surrounded by them.
"He's evolving!" Cress, Chili, and Cilan all say at the same time.
When the lights leave Ganon, a new Ganon is shown. He's about a foot taller and his dark spot now has grown, resembling a wrestler. Golden straps are etched on him and his tail is now fluffy and black. I'm about to break down crying from this beautiful, special moment, but instead, I get a Ping! from my Xtransceiver app.
"Congratulations! Your Tepig is now a Pignite. He has gained a new type and has learned Arm Thrust, a fighting move," I read out loud. Sweet! I throw one hand in the air with my fist clenched.
"Ganon, come back. You've done fantastic! Courage, come out!" Courage isn't afraid of the Panpour. The creature is a bit different than Cress when I get a proper look at it. Last time I was so nervous that I didn't notice how different both Cress and Panpour look.
"Work up," Cress orders.
Again? "Use Fury Swipes!" The attack does a decent amount of damage. Anyway, as I was thinking earlier. Panpour is so happy and smiley while Cress is stoic. While Chili and Pansear and his Simisear both resembled one another, Cress and Panpour look the complete opposite, yet have total synchronization. I'm going to have to look this up one day on Pokémon-Trainer relationships.
"Another Work Up!"
REALLY? "Courage, another set of Fury Swipes." I know what I'm going to do. Cheren's given me a small, but essential piece of information: Chili used a potion on his Pokémon when they were too low in health. If I attacked with a substantial amount of damage, they'd get powerful. But wait, Bianca, I can keep spamming Vine Whip. No, I can't. I can't afford a Potion so this somewhat risky strategy has to be applied. I'm pretty sure Courage can take the hit. He's strong enough and I trust him.
"Take Down!" Courage anticipates the doubly charged attack and sidesteps at the last second, missing the entire attack.
"HOLY GIRATINA!" I hear Chili scream.
"Okay," my breathing become shallow as I hear triumphant music play from the speakers. When I glance, I see that it's Cilan who has played the music. I recognize it. It's the one they play in League battles as well as stadium ones. It's jokingly called the main Pokémon theme. It brings me back to the earth and my breathing back. "Use Vine Whip!"
The vines encapsulates the Panpour and takes him down. He doesn't get up after that.
"Oh my gosh. Is that it? He is down?"
"It appears so," Cress says. "Good job! I'm glad you've improved."
I'm then given a pink case for my future Badges and triumphantly leave the Gym, and soon after, the city.
Striaton, it was nice, but I gotta go onto a new city!
Nacrene isn't nearly as appealing to me as Striaton is. I'm not into the warehouse look at all. I like the classic style of Striaton much more than this. Luckily, though, I've got a nice plan settled because I want to reach Castelia and stay for a week or two. I notice that White's in town, but she's busy grinding because Cheren went and challenged Lenora and promptly lost.
I meet up with Cheren and White at Café Warehouse. Both of their starters are unevolved. The three of them are talking among themselves as we interact.
"Wow, you must have trained him really hard," White says.
"You've got a serious advantage against Lenora," Cheren says, sipping some tea. "She's using normal types. I think with your Pignite, he alone can take them down. Her Herdier KO'ed my Snivy with a Bite attack."
"Damn," White says. "I'll watch for that." Her face lights up as she's remembering something. "By the way, I ran into that N guy again when I reached here."
"Really?" Cheren says. "Did you tell him off about what he said back in Accumula?"
"Did you tell him about cute he is?"
"Bianca! You don't even know what he looks like!"
"I'm sorry, but you've brought him up a few too many times."
"Since when? I've only brought him up four times!"
"Totally crushing. I can tell!" I tease her. White crosses her arms and rolls her eyes.
"Well, what I was gonna say before you two goons interrupted me was that he's obsessed with the future. Says he's going to summon a legendary dragon or whatever to like, I don't know, save the Pokémon. It's kind of noble, but totally out there. You know?"
"So he's complicated?" Cheren says, though "complicated" isn't a word I'd use.
"Yeah. Exactly it. I wonder when I'll see him again though. He's not exactly charming. More like socially awkward times ten. No. Up to eleven. He makes you two look like pros."
"Hey!" Cheren says, clearly offended.
"I'm joking, geez. You two make jokes. Am I not allowed to?"
"So uh guys. We're close to Castelia. Any plans?" I quickly say, trying to diffuse the situation. It's kind of hard being the emotional center sometimes.
"I plan on training some more," Cheren says, giving the predictable answer.
"I plan on...I don't know," White says. "Just gonna see what happens." I internally sigh, glad to see that's a crisis averted. "I think for now, we should grind."
"Good plan," Cheren says.
"I'm in. Right, Ganon?" He gives me a dismissive grunt. "Yeah!"
So according to the apps on my Xtransceiver, Ganon's at level nineteen and Madge, now a Herdier (and my backup) is at a solid level sixteen after three uneventful days of training. I've decided not to use Courage for this fight and Munny isn't quite ready for a Gym battle at this moment. Also, I know the Watchog's Crunch could mess her up according to what Cheren told me from what he heard other trainers say.
"So it looks like I'm going to do this today, right?" I ask White and Cheren, who are hanging around the Pokémon Center's rooms.
"I think you're ready. I know Lenora's tough, but that's because I'm not properly equipped," Cheren says. His Snivy evolved just yesterday, joining Ganon in the once evolved club.
"Same here. Marth the Oshawott is very close to evolving, though. He doesn't develop a secondary type, though," White says.
"Anyway, we're here to cheer for you, okay?"
"Well, okay then." I guess I'm ready.
I'm confused when we make our way to the Gym. It isn't a Gym, though. It's a museum.
"Uhhh," I begin.
"Welcome to Nacrene's Museum of History and Science!" a perky receptionist greets us. There's two of them. The one who greets us sits on the left side of the entrance as the one on the right is busy.
"I thought this was the Gym," White says.
"It's in the-" Cheren begins but is interrupted.
"Oh but it is! It's right around the back. I'm sorry, but only one trainer at the time. It's a library so I'm not allowed to bring more than one trainer. Would create noise. Might telling me whoever is competing for their name and info?"
"Oh, uh. My name is Bianca Bel and this is my second Gym Leader battle. I'm using two Pokémon for this battle."
"Great. You can go in the back where Lenora will wait for you."
"Good luck, Bianca!" White gives me a hug.
"You know what to do," Cheren says. "You can do it."
I give them a small smile. I'm glad they put so much faith in me when I don't know if I should. I know that's disconcerting, but it's sadly true.
This Gym is not what I expect. While Striaton's was straightforward and asked simple questions about strengths and weaknesses, this one is a scavenger hunt. Worse yet, I have a half hour time limit. Lenora did make things only slightly easier by adding strategically placed stepping ladders. Her claim is that trainers need to not only depend on strength, but intelligence as well.
Well, that's not optimistic.
I finish the scavenger hunt with seven minutes left on the timer when one of the bookcases moves towards the wall with the press of the button. I go downstairs.
Lenora's sitting in a large swivel chair in what seems like an office. It's kind of dark, with lamps adorned on the side. She's beautiful, her bright blue eyes meeting mine, they stand out so much with her dark complexion. She's much taller than myself and has a commanding presence that at the same time seems kind of friendly. "Good to see you made it, Bianca. Most trainers have trouble with the scavenger hunt on their first few tries. My name is Lenora and I specialize in Normal Types. People oftentimes underestimate this type due to it not having any super-effectiveness but they don't see the logic behind this. Now let's battle!"
"Okay!"
"Oh you're not nervous, are you honey?" I don't know if she's being soothing or taunting, but either way I'm going to be honest.
"Of course I am! Go Ganon!"
"Well then. Go Herdier!"
"Ganon, use the power of your arm!" Ganon acts on my words as quickly as possible.
"Herdier, Leer!"
As Ganon attacks the Herdier, it gives it a glare which lowers its defenses. It doesn't matter because Ganon has viciously overpowered the Herdier, taking it down on the first try. I try to not let my elation overwhelm me.
"Good job, Herdier. Go Watchog!" Here it comes.
"Watchog! Hog!" A taller version of a Patrat is shown. He's got very large red eyes and bright yellow strips of fur. I think it's supposed to be generally used for practical purposes. I've seen it around construction sites helping the workers with safety measures.
"Ganon, use Arm Thrust once more!"
"Retaliate!" The attack isn't what I was expecting. Ganon gets hit hard. Watchog is also hit quite hard, but isn't down for the count like I wanted him to be. "You fell into my little trap," Lenora says proudly. I give her a marginally confused look and Lenora's pride goes slightly away. "Retaliate: an attack in which a Pokémon uses to inflict double damage if a teammate fainted on the last turn."
Ooooh.
So Herdier was a meat shield for her in other words. Cheren didn't tell me this. Probably because he didn't make it this far.
"Do your thing again, Ganon! Quick!"
"Use Hypnosis!"
But before Ganon can do anything, Watchog's eyes began to glow. Ganon stops in his tracks and falls down. He's still breathing but he's...
"Oh no! Wake up! Wake up!" Desperation begins to creep in. I have Madge and only Madge, but I don't know if she can take this one down on her own. "Ganon! Please!"
"Crunch!" It doesn't do much damage to him, but if he keeps sleeping, it sure will.
"Wake up!" It does the same attack. If he doesn't wake up now, then he's going to be unable to fight."Ganon, I know you want this as much I do. I'll feed you half a dozen Castelia Cones with this." It seems as though he's finally woken up! "Oh my gosh!" Goosebumps scatter around my skin, from my neck to my arms. "Arm Thrust! Do it before she makes you pass out again, my love! Do it and all the Castelia Cones for you, my beautiful life partner whom I love so much!"
I know I went overboard but that triumphant music Cilan played for me that day I won my Badge is playing in my head like some random background music. It pumps me up. And with that, Ganon gives the final blow.
"Yes! ALL the Castelia cones for you!" Ganon runs over to my side and I bend down, giving him a warm hug.
"Good job. Although you won in a way I don't necessarily like, I still admire your tenacity and your love for your Pignite. Good luck with the rest of your Gym Battles. You'll need it if you expect to keep going like this."
I barely register any of what she has to say and instead I take the Basic Badge and run off with Ganon. We both tackle White and Cheren, not caring if we've made too much noise at the museum. Two down, six to go! I can do this!
Review please! They are the lifeblood that keeps me pumped up!