As Cold as Ice
Emily and the boys spent the night at the Pokémon Center. Now that a new day was here, she was ready to head to the Mahogany gym. Unfortunately, the gym was closed. An old woman named Sheila met the heroes at the front gate and told them that the gym leader Pryce was meditating at the falls. She has happy enough to take the heroes to the falls to meet him.
It was an interesting meditation method, sitting in the falls and feeling the water coming down. But it also seemed to be good for the mind and body. Sheila spoke up and told Pryce he had a challenger. "Pryce, this pretty girl wants to challenge you to a gym battle."
"Hello, Pryce," Emily said quietly. "Sorry to interrupt your meditation."
"That's all right," the old man said and got out of the water. He got back on the ground and got dressed. "I'd be happy to accept your challenge, my dear. What's your name?"
"I'm Emily Briar," she answered.
Unsurprisingly, Pryce recognized her name. "I've heard of you, Emily. You're one of the champions of the Duel Monsters card game. You faced Yugi Muto in the KC Grand Championship."
"That's right," said Emily. "And these are my friends Yugi, Joey, and Kaiba."
Pryce grinned at the boys. "It's a great honor to be in the presence of the champions of Duel Monsters," he said in a humble manner. He lowered himself to bow in respect. He tried to straighten up, but felt a crick in his back and groaned.
"Are you all right?" Emily asked in concern.
"I'm fine," he insisted. "I'm just not as young as I once was."
"Here, let me help you," Emily offered. She picked up Pryce's cane and gave it to him.
"Thank you, dear," Pryce told her. "Now then, let's head back to the gym." And everyone follows Pryce and Sheila back to the gym. The entire battlefield was covered in ice and had icy rocks along with a small pool of water. This would be a match of wits, coordination, and strength.
Sheila decided to referee the match. "Each trainer in this match will use two Pokémon. The match will be over when both Pokémon on either side are unable to continue battling. The challenger is allowed to substitute Pokémon when necessary, but the gym leader is not. Battle begin!"
Pryce chose Dewgong as his first Pokémon and Emily chose Sylphid. Sylphid attacked first using Discharge. Dewgong got out of the pool and used the ice to slide around and avoid the electric shocks. Dewgong launched his Ice Beam at Sylphid. He tried to escape, but the icy field was too slippery and he ended up getting hit. The pressure of the cold ice and thinking about the pain on his back caused Sylphid to shudder. As his teeth chattered, electricity began to form in his mouth. Sylphid learned to use Thunder Fang. He uses his strength to get the ice off his back. Dewgong tried to attack using Aurora Beam, but Sylphid slid on the ice to dodge. Sylphid used the icy rocks to keep himself in direction as he was approaching Dewgong, but the sea lion dove into the pool to avoid getting hit. Sylphid dived into the water as well. Dewgong was about to attack with his Head Butt. With the horn on his forehead, Dewgong's attack can cause serious damage. But Sylphid was ready. He swam under Dewgong, gripped his tail in his teeth, and zapped him with Thunder Fang. Dewgong leapt out of the water, but Sylphid was still holding on to his tail. To finish him off, he attacked with Discharge. Dewgong was unable to continue battling.
Pryce called Dewgong back and sent his strongest and most trustworthy Pokémon into battle. It was a Mamoswine. A long time ago when it was a Piloswine, Pryce lost his friend to a tragedy that caused them to be separated for years. They were reunited again after a long time and after training and battling together for so long again, Piloswine evolved into Mamoswine. This was Pryce's strongest Pokémon. Emily knew this wasn't going to be easy, but Sylphid still had some fight in him. He charged in for a Quick Attack, but Mamoswine overpowered him with Blizzard. Obscured from Sylphid's vision, Mamoswine charged in and attacked head-on with a Take Down. Sylphid got slammed into the wall and was no longer able to battle. The bitter cold took its toll on him.
Emily chose Undine as her second Pokémon. She was the only one in the family who tolerate the cold better. She could also use the pool to her advantage the same way Dewgong did. Plus, Mamoswine was a ground-type as well as an ice-type, so Undine would also have the advantage. Pryce admired Emily's thinking and saw that she was a brilliant strategist and she also had a lot of respect and trust in her Pokémon. Unfortunately, Mamoswine's Blizzard froze the water solid, so there was no water for Undine.
Mamoswine tried to use Fury Attack, but Undine dodged it and landed perfectly on the ice without slipping. Mamoswine used Blizzard again, but Undine withstood the attack and saw Mamoswine through it. She tried to attack with Water Gun, but it turned into ice. Rather the Water Gun turned into Aurora Beam. It was because Undine was so adaptable to the cold that her water attack turned into an ice attack. It stormed through the Blizzard and struck Mamoswine. The Blizzard stopped, but Mamoswine was still standing. He didn't take a lot of damage from that Aurora Beam. He charged at Undine again, but she jumped on the icy rocks to avoid damage. As Mamoswine crashed into the icy rocks, he felt like he was getting a headache. Undine stopped and attacked Mamoswine from behind with her Water Gun.
To keep Mamoswine from falling in defeat, Pryce commanded him to use Rest and replenish his energy. Mamoswine quickly fell asleep in recovery. Undine tried to stop him by waking him up with her Water Gun, but Mamoswine quickly recovered and attacked her with his Fury Attack. She also got hit with a Take Down attack. Undine was still able to battle after taking that hit. She launched her Aurora Beam at Mamoswine to stop him from attacking and she also launched her Water Gun to attack him. Mamoswine charged at Undine again using Take Down, but she jumped and landed on his tusks and used Aurora Beam head-on. The ice over the pool also collapsed under Mamoswine's weight and he fell into the water. Undine used Aurora Beam once again with all of her might. After taking all that water and ice, Mamoswine no longer had the strength to continue battling. The match was over.
Pryce approached Emily and congratulated her. "Well done, Emily. Excellent job. This Glacier badge is yours. It's proof that you were victorious in our battle. The strategies and combo attacks you executed worked so well because you and your Pokémon are so close to one another."
"Thank you, Pryce," Emily said, accepting the Glacier badge with great appreciation. She and her Pokémon cheered in triumph for their victory.
There was one last gym badge for Emily to acquire so she could compete in the Johto league. The next stop was the gym in Blackthorn City.