Episode 22: The Boss of The Underground
The Driftveil Gym was finally open the second time Niko and his friends visited it in the northern part of Driftveil City. Niko then opened the front door to enter the gym, with Charlotte and Warren following closely behind. The first thing they noticed was an elevator, which Niko instinctively walked up to and opened up. Before he could do anything, the elevator doors immediately closed and began moving, presumably downwards.
"Guess they just assume visitors are going to the battlefield…" Niko commented. For rock and ground type specialists, this was certainly a new experience for him.
"What kinds of Pokémon do you think the Gym Leader uses?" Warren asks.
"Well, ground types." Charlotte replied. "So…could be anything. I can imagine he might have something from the Sandile line of evolution. They're pretty popular Pokémon among trainers here."
"Oh, right! There are a few famous trainers with Krookodiles, right?" Warren asked, with an affirmative from Charlotte. "I've heard those are pretty strong. Watch out, Niko."
"Wow, you guys are so optimistic about my chances, aren't ya?" Niko said, leaning back to look at them.
"I'm just curious! I've never seen a ground type specialist before!" Warren said. "And I don't know about many ground type Pokémon in general!"
"Fair enough." Niko said, shrugging. "I think Servine will help me out a lot. Plus, I have Rufflet who is resistant to ground types."
"Both are true." Charlotte said with a smile. "You're more confident, aren't you?"
"Yeah, why?" Niko asked.
"I don't know. You just seem different, I guess."
"Maybe I just had a revelation of some sort." Niko said with a wink. Warren, who had no idea what either of them were referencing, looked bemused for a moment before thinking of something else to talk about.
Turns out, Warren didn't need to. The trio had finally made it to the end of the elevator extending from the front entrance of the gym to the actual battlefield, which was clearly underground. Opening the door to the battlefield room, Niko noticed large flood lights on the top of steel towers. The battlefield was set on hard, uneven, rocky ground: unlike the normal smooth, dirty fields that Niko was accustomed to. At the opposite end of the field was a short man in a cowboy outfit watching an Onix burrow a hole in the wall. Upon seeing Niko standing there, he smirked.
"Ah, looks like I have a challenger. Howdy, young man! Who might ya be?" He asked, returning the Onix to its pokéball and approached Niko and his friends.
"I'm Niko from Pallet Town. I'd like to challenge you for your gym badge." Niko said confidently. He was certainly taller than the Driftveil Gym Leader, but apparently not by much—he was taller then he originally appeared.
"Clay's tha name, mining's mah name! Welcome to the Driftveil Gym, son!" He said, vigorously shaking Niko's hand. "Now, my gym battles are three-vs-three. Are ye up to that?"
"Yes, I am." Niko said, and watched as Clay walked to his right, stopping at one end of the field. Niko walked to the opposite end. And both pulled out pokéballs and began the match, with a referee on standby now standing on the sidelines in the middle.
"Krokorok, I choose ya!" Clay shouted, summoning a tan, bipedal, crocodile-like Pokémon.
"Krokorok, the Desert Croc Pokémon. Ground and dark type. Protected by thin membranes, their eyes can see even in the dead of night. They live in groups of a few individuals."
"Rufflet, I choose you!" Niko shouted, summoning his own first Pokémon. "Let's start off with hone claws!"
"Krokorok, use crunch!" Clay shouted. The Croc Pokémon then, surprisingly, crouched low to the ground and immediately leapt into the air, fangs baring from its long mouth. Rufflet was sharpening his claws in midair as his opponent was attacking, and quickly had to swoop out of the way to dodge the move. As Krokorok landed, Clay commanded his Pokémon to use the attack once more. Rufflet then spun around just in time to dodge Krokorok once again, but barely—the Desert Croc Pokémon's mouth was inches away from Rufflet's talon.
"Wing attack!" Niko commanded. Rufflet then shot into the air before quickly turning and diving back towards the ground and slamming into Krokorok, causing a small explosion of dust to rise into the air. "Now, use hone claws again!"
"Crunch!" Clay shouted. It was clear by now that this was the only move he could use, but he hardly seemed irritated about it. Almost as if he was used to fighting flying types. This time, Krokorok finally snapped his jaws on Rufflet's talon and quickly lowering its snout to the ground, slamming the Eaglet Pokémon into the floor. Krokorok then used crunch to once more grab Rufflet's talon and throw him across the field before dashing once more and slamming into Rufflet with the full force of its body. "Well done, Krokorok! Finish Rufflet off with crunch!"
"Rufflet, you can do this!" Niko called out. "Never give up, buddy!"
Hearing this, Rufflet shook his head in an attempt to regain his composure and flew into the air, just as Krokorok slammed into the wall behind Rufflet. The Eaglet then shot higher into the air, turning around above the midpoint of the battlefield, several yards away, to stare at Krokorok.
"Use peck!" Niko shouted. He knew that Rufflet's peck was far stronger now, and might not even be classified as such anymore. No, Niko believed Rufflet was on the verge of learning a new move.
And so Rufflet dove towards Krokorok, his beak glowing white before thin tendrils of light erupted from the beak and surrounded his body. Rufflet then crashed into Krokorok, repelling the Desert Croc Pokémon and forcing it into the wall behind it. Rufflet then safely got back into the air, flapping in place near Niko.
"Krokorok is unable to battle, Rufflet is the winner!" The referee declared. "Leader Clay will send out his second Pokémon!"
"Great job, Rufflet!" Niko shouted. "That move is called aerial ace, by the way! It never misses!"
Rufflet turned to his trainer and cawed out happily, clearly proud of himself. They both watched Clay return his Krokorok in exchange for his second Pokémon, which Niko easily recognized.
"Sandslash, I choose you!" Clay shouted, smirking a little. "Crush claw!"
"Rufflet, hone claws." Niko said calmly. He felt confident that he could beat Clay. But that was exactly when he should feel the least confident, from his experience. Sandslash charged across the field towards Rufflet, its claws sparkling blue and white. Rufflet then rose into the air to dodge the move. "Alright, now let's go down with aerial ace!" Niko commanded, thrusting his hand into the air.
Rufflet charged down towards Sandslash, whose claws were ready to use crush claw a second time. Before the crush claw hit, Rufflet crashed into Sandslash, shoving the Mouse Pokémon back with the sheer force of the impact. However, Sandslash was now able to land an attack, and slashed rufflet across the stomach, repelling him backwards. Rufflet crashed into the hard, rocky surface and rolled backwards a little before collapsing in front of Niko.
"You can do this, Rufflet." Niko kept saying. "We never give up. You know this." Rufflet nodded, slowly getting back up. Seeing this, Clay smirked.
"I appreciate the moxie of yer Pokémon, Niko." The Gym Leader shouted out. "Makes the battle more innerestin!"
"I appreciate that, Clay. Rufflet, use aerial ace, and follow up with fury attack!" Niko commanded, pointing a finger forward towards Sandslash. Rufflet got back up and glided across the field, the white tendrils signifying aerial ace surrounding the small Eaglet Pokémon. Sandslash then curled up into a ball and began rolling towards Rufflet until the two collided, creating a wave of dust and dirt to explode everywhere.
Once the dust settled, Rufflet lay on the ground and Sandslash was still standing, albeit with some difficulty.
"Rufflet is unable to battle, Sandslash is the winner!" The referee declared. "Challenger Niko will now send out his second Pokémon!"
"Boldore, I choose you!" Niko commanded, summoning his newly evolved Ore Pokémon. He had originally wanted to use Solosis, but he didn't feel like the Cell Pokémon was ready to fight, and Boldore seemed much too excited to actually compete in a gym battle as a newly evolved Pokémon. "Let's start off with sand attack!"
Boldore surrounded himself with a wall of dirt and sand particles and then launched them in every direction, nearly blinding Sandslash, who used its claws to protect itself. Clay then commanded Sandslash to use an attack called bulldoze, which Niko had never heard of.
"Oh no…" Charlotte said. "Bulldoze is a nasty move…"
"Why, what does it—oh man." Warren said, watching the move execute. Sandslash stomped on the ground and created a shock wave that rippled across the field, hitting Boldore and launching him into the air. Sandslash's claws then began pulsating blue and white and it jumped into the air to intercept Boldore, slashing at the Ore Pokémon and slamming him into the ground.
"Boldore!" Niko shouted. "Use smack down!"
"Sandslash, bulldoze!" Clay commanded. A golden orb conjured in front of Boldore and then launched just as Sandslash crashed into the ground, creating another shock wave that rippled across the battlefield towards Boldore. Both attacks hit at the same time, launching both Sandslash and Boldore in opposite directions. Clay grit his teeth, as did Niko.
"Boldore, can you keep going?" Niko asked. He knew the Ore Pokémon had more in him…it was just a matter of whether or not he knew it, as Boldore seemed to have a problem with self-confidence. The Ore Pokémon nodded, albeit begrudgingly, and stood back up.
"Sandslash, bulldoze!" Clay commanded.
"Smack down!" Niko called out. Once more the two Pokémon launched their attacks, which hit the other with enough force to simultaneously knock each other out, which is what ultimately happened.
"Boldore and Sandslash are both unable to battle! Leader Clay and Challenger Niko will now summon their third and final Pokémon!"
"Wow, it's coming down to the line…" Warren observed. "Luckily Niko still has Servine!"
"Well, Clay probably still has his ace. If you've noticed, gym leaders tend to send out their strongest Pokémon last." Charlotte said, giving off the impression that she was concerned. As it turned out, she wasn't.
"Servine, I choose you!" Niko commanded, summoning his trusty Grass Snake Pokémon. To this, Clay smirked.
"Excadrill, I choose ya!" Clay shouted, throwing out a pokéball that contained a massive mole-like Pokémon. It had a dark brown body with diagonal, red splotches; short legs with small, narrow feet; a small white face that was long and thin, with a pink nose at the tip. However, it's most prominent features involved a large blade roughly twice as large as its face extends from its forehead. The top of the blade contains two smaller blades that resembled fins. Lastly, it had thick arms, each with three large blades instead of fingers, with two smaller blades on top of the middle ones.
"Excadrill, the Subterrene Pokémon. Ground and steel type. Forming a drill with its steel claws and head, it can bore through a steel plate, no matter how thick it is."
"Oh, I remember these Pokémon! Niko, they're very strong!" Charlotte shouted to her friend. She merely got a glare in response.
"Then why didn't you say something earlier!?" Niko shouted back, suddenly feeling a little intimidated.
"I…I forgot…" Charlotte said innocently. "Sorry…"
"Heh, it's fine. I'm sure we'll figure something out, right Servine?" Niko asked his Pokémon, who nodded without turning her gaze from Excadrill. "Now, let's use leaf tornado!"
"Excadrill, use bulldoze!" Clay commanded. Excadrill slammed both of its arm-blades into the ground with enough force to cause a light earthquake throughout the battlefield. Servine, as agile as she was, was able to leap through the air to dodge the move, and somersaulted before landing a leaf tornado on Excadrill, who winced a little from the force of the attack, which seemed more irritating than forceful. "Hmm…use rock slide!"
Excadrill summoned nearly a dozen rocks from the ground using its arm-blades and tossed them at Servine as she landed onto the ground. Niko then commanded her to use a combination of defensive leaf tornado as a last resort, and vine whip to knock aside the rocks that she reasonably could. For the most part, Servine successfully blocked the move, but accidentally let in a couple of rocks which knocked her backwards. She fell onto her back, which gave Excadrill the opportunity to use bulldoze and launch her back into the air.
"Excadrill, metal claw!" Clay commanded. For the first time, Excadrill changed its position, charging forward with its arm-blades glowing a light gray color. It slashed at Servine, who blocked with a leaf tornado before spinning around and slapping Excadrill across the face with vine whip. She then landed on the ground gracefully before leaping backwards to dodge each successive slash from metal claw. "Bulldoze!"
"Servine, leap into the air and use leaf tornado!" Niko shouted, suddenly coming up with an idea. It seemed like Servine sensed this, as she spun quickly through the air and launched a leaf tornado to briefly put Excadrill at bay before sensing Niko's next command. "Now, vine whip the blade on Excadrill's head!" He called out. Servine nodded, summoning two green vines from her neck and, similar to her battle against Cheren's Lillipup, all the way back in Aspertia City, Servine attempted to throw Excadrill.
However, Excadrill was not Lillipup. It was far heavier than a small terrier dog. So, instead of throwing Excadrill, Servine managed to simply force the Subterrene Pokémon to the ground. Servine then spun around viciously and used leaf tornado to subdue Excadrill before charging forward, leaping into the air, and spinning horizontally with her vines extending out as far as they could, slapping Excadrill across its torso as Servine descended to the ground.
"Finish it off with leaf tornado!" Niko shouted. Just as Servine was nearly a foot from Excadrill's body, which was still laying on its back, she rolled downwards and unleashed a final leaf tornado, aiming directly at Excadrill's face this time. Servine then landed in front of Clay, just a few feet from the Gym Leader's strongest Pokémon.
For a moment, Niko, Servine, and Clay all waited to see what Excadrill would do. The longer they waited, the clearer it became that Excadrill was unable to battle, and the referee declared it as such.
"…the victory goes to Niko from Pallet Town!" The referee declared. Niko kneeled on the ground to embrace Servine, who was normally stoic about her victories, but this time was different. She didn't take too many hits from Excadrill, which proved to both her and Niko that she was getting much stronger, and much faster. And Niko was very proud of her.
"Niko…" Clay said as he and Excadrill met their victorious challenger on his end of the field. "That was an excellent battle, son. You've really shown us your stuff. Here, the Quake Badge, as proof that you've defeated me. Best of luck in your journey and in the Unova League."
"Thanks, Clay. I think my team and I were quite pleased with this battle as well." He said, looking down at Servine as he took the Quake Badge, which was a small golden badge in the shape of a vertical piece of earth, with the top half cracked and slid out of place, resembling the result of an earthquake. He then showed the badge to Warren and Charlotte, both of whom were standing to his right.
"Congrats, Niko! Only three left!" Warren said excitedly. "Wow…that's crazy!"
"And it'll only get harder from here, I think." Niko said, peering down at the Quake Badge. "I mean…I can only assume it will."
"The road to winning all of the badges in Unova is not an easy one, Niko." Clay interjected. "Us gym leaders are smart—we know how to gauge an opponent's strength, and try to meet that strength. Rarely is one badge easier to obtain than the ones preceding it. Keep that in mind."
"I will. Thanks for the advice." Niko said, returning Servine to her pokéball. "Now, let's head back to the Pokémon Center. I think my Pokémon deserve a reward for this." He said, now smiling as he looked upon the Quake Badge. Warren and Charlotte nodded, and the trio of them exited the battlefield—and the gym—using the elevator, waving farewell to Clay as they ascended through the Driftveil City Gym, ready to begin the next leg of their adventure in Unova.
Author's Note: I just wanted to point out how much I enjoy writing Snivy/Servine. I truly enjoy writing most of Niko's Pokemon-with rare exception-but this season I think I enjoy Servine the most, at least at this point. She's got a Sceptile feel to her, but with more stoicism in her personality. And this battle kind of shows how much of a badass she is. Same with Rufflet, whom I also enjoyed writing here-he's starting to fit his pokedex entry more and more.
I also hope you enjoyed this episode!