Chapter 14: Strong Enough To Fight
"Carly!"
Carla smiled at the picture on the screen. "Hey, Glen."
"I haven't heard from you for ages. Have you got any more..." Glennis stopped and bit her lip. "Sorry. I shouldn't ask about the money."
"It's fine. I'll be sending the next package today." Carla checked to make sure nobody was around before asking: "Have they been back to the house?"
"No, and they haven't sent any messages either. I guess that's a good thing." Glennis looked anxiously towards the kitchen door.
"Is Dad home?" Carla had picked a time when she was sure he would be out.
"No, but Nadine and Tyson are upstairs. Wait a second." Glennis quickly shut the door before coming back to the phone. "I haven't told Dad about what's going on, so maybe we can still get away with it."
"Good." Carla decided to change the subject. "How are you doing?"
"I've got a part-time job. I can't use the money from that because it's meant to be going in a savings account and Dad will wonder where the money went."
That was a fair point.
"I miss you, Carly."
Carla smiled wistfully. "I miss you too. But I'll be back once we've sent the right amount."
"See you."
Once she'd hung up, Carla wandered towards the computer; thankfully nobody was using it, so she logged on and started looking up online training tutorials.
Maybe she could get another badge. It would be a great way of earning extra money and she needed to have somewhere to go. Tate and Liza were out of the question, so that just left Roxanne, Brawly, Wallace, Winona and Flannery. Carla mentally ruled out Wallace and Flannery, since she would need a Water-type for both transport and battling - but then, the only one on her team with a definite disadvantage against Flannery was Zoe. The others might be all right.
She decided to take a risk and go for Roxanne. The Gym Leader's most famous pokémon was her Nosepass and it was quite likely that she would have more than one. They could also use Electric attacks, which might be a problem.
For the battle, Carla would use Zoe because of her ice and Layla because of her speed. Rakel would be the back-up. If Layla's ears were as powerful as Carla thought they were, the Buneary could be in for a fighting chance against a Rock-type - but she needed to work with Nixie to gain resilience to Electric attacks.
Carla clicked on a video that showed a Machop doing some basic Fighting-type moves. Carla wasn't only interested in these, she also spent time looking at the stance and footwork. Fighting-types made use of agility and speed as much as they did power.
It might be a good idea to look up human self-defence tutorials, too. Just in case.
Even in the rain, Rustboro Gym was surprisingly beautiful with its golden roof. The closed doors were still imposing; as Carla walked up, the doors slid open gracefully and she stepped right into the past.
The first thing she saw was a carving of a Dragonite skeleton. It had been formed from the very wall of the Gym itself. Nearby, two moving sculptures of Kabutops and Cradily were watching over what must be the battle arena. Glass cases displayed fossils and relics from a time long gone.
"Good afternoon." A smartly-dressed man stepped forward to greet her. "Are you here for a battle or to see the relics?"
Carla lowered her hood. "I'm here for a battle." She'd almost been tempted to say the relics.
"Do you have any badges already?"
"Two."
The attendant raised his eyebrows. "Two? Roxanne'll be pleased to hear to hear that. It's been a while since she's had a challenger who isn't a newbie trainer - it'll be good for her other team members to have a battle. Tell you what, why don't you look at the displays while she's getting ready for you?"
Carla wandered among the display cabinets, peering inside at the fossils and rocks. One of them had what looked like a strange word carved into it.
"Excuse me," she called. The attendant came over. "What does that mean?" Carla asked, pointing at the word.
"Ah. That is the work of Madoc the Traveller. Have you ever heard of him?"
Of course she had. Madoc the Traveller was supposedly the first person to travel to all the regions of the world, and left carvings of his own name in different locations. "I never thought I would get to see one of his carvings."
"You don't want to know how much Roxanne had to pay to get that thing here." The attendant's walkie-talkie fizzled into life; he raised it to his ear, waited a moment and said: "OK, thanks." He put it back on his belt. "You can go through now."
Carla was forced to pass beneath the giant Kabutops head. She wondered if it was there to impress challengers or intimidate them. She should have considered how best to use Roxanne's territory to her advantage, but it was too late now.
She could do this.
The first thing she noticed about the battle arena was the stones scattered around it. That wouldn't be a problem for Layla, but Zoe might have difficulty here.
Roxanne stood directly below the Dragonite carving. She was in her mid-twenties; she wore a charcoal-grey dress, red tights and a scarf around her neck the same colour as her tights.
"Hello," she said when Carla stepped onto the stone platform. "I'm Roxanne, Leader of Rustboro Gym."
Carla nodded politely. "I'm Carla."
"Before we battle, I owe you an apology." Before Carla could ask Roxanne what she was talking about, the Gym Leader said: "Normally I'd give a challenger on your level a three-on-three battle, but one of my team has been seriously injured. It'll have to be two-on-two."
"I can come back later," Carla offered.
"No, you're here now." Roxanne was pale, and dark shadows haunted her eyes. "Let's start this battle."
The first pokémon Roxanne sent out was a Nosepass.
"Go, Layla!" The capsule opened, releasing the Buneary into the arena.
"Interesting choice. Nosepass, use Spark!"
"Dodge and Agility!"
The Electric attack barely missed Layla as she darted around the floor. A massive Rock Blask shot out right in front of her, causing her to hop onto one of the rocks scattered around the field.
"Thunder Wave!"
"Jump really high, Layla," Carla called. Layla leapt into the air and did a tiny somersault before landing close to the Nosepass. "Now use Jump Kick."
Layla's tiny foot smashed right into the Nosepass, causing it to fall backward.
"Use Spark," Roxanne commanded. Carla gritted her teeth; she'd let Layla get too close. The Buneary squealed as the attack coursed through her body, but she managed to shake it off and hop away.
"Now use Rock Blast again."
"Dodge and use Baby Doll Eyes!" Carla had to come up with better techniques than dodging all the time.
Layla moved to the side and batted her eyelashes at the Nosepass; her brown eyes grew soft and limpid. The Nosepass blinked twice in confusion.
"Focus, Nosepass!" Roxanne clicked her fingers impatiently. "Use Thunder Wave."
"Onto a rock, then Jump Kick." Layla vaulted into the air and landed on top of the largest rock in the arena, then launched herself at the Nosepass, sending him further back this time.
Layla's speed was her greatest advantage over the Rock-type. Unfortunately, her most powerful attack was Jump Kick and it wouldn't be long before Roxanne figured that one.
The Nosepass was bulky. It was slow. If Layla managed to get behind him...
"Agility."
"Use Spark!"
Layla moved around the arena, jumping over and dodging bolts of electricity. She was doing well, but soon enough she'd have to make her move before Nosepass made his.
"Vault over his head."
"Quick, use Spark again!" Roxanne shouted. It was too late. Layla landed on the tips of her ears, directly behind Nosepass.
"Jump Kick."
Layla's ears shot out and launched her into the air, sending her back paws smashing into the Nosepass. He flew forward, landed heavily and did not get up again.
"Return, Nosepass. You did well." Roxanne's lips were pursed as she took out her second capsule. Carla braced herself; she had a feeling their luck was about to run out.
A massive form emerged from the capsule and roared a challenge. Carla fought not to flinch as the sound send chills through her body. The Onix was nearly as large as the Dragonite carving - or maybe it just seemed that way to Carla.
To her credit, Layla held her ground.
"You've done really well, Layla," Carla told her. "You've earned a rest." Once the Buneary was back in her pokéball, Carla sent out Zoe.
Once the Snorunt was out, Carla realised this could have been a mistake. The Onix was far, far larger than Zoe, and the Snorunt wasn't as fast as Layla.
"Double Team."
Zoe's form blurred once, then the arena was filled with multiple duplicates.
"Dragon Breath on all of them."
What? "Dodge!"
The Onix opened its mouth and spewed blue flames everywhere on the arena. Carla winced and covered the lower half of her face - and lowered her arm when she saw all of the duplicates moving around to avoid the fire.
She hadn't known Double Team worked that way.
Then she realised it had been raining outside. "Weather Ball."
A sphere of water shot quickly out of Zoe's mouth and hit the Onix between the eyes. It roared in pain and shook its head, scattering droplets everywhere. Its eyes narrowed as it loomed over Zoe.
They had made it angry...but if they kept hitting it repeatedly in certain spots, they'd weaken it.
"Smack Down!" Roxanne said.
"Move."
Zoe swerved out of the way just as the massive tail came crashing down, sending dust and shards of rock everywhere.
"Ice Fang!" yelled Carla.
Zoe lunged towards the tail, mouth open, revealing shards of ice growing over her teeth. She bit hard, causing another bellow from the Onix. Carla gritted her teeth; Onix wasn't going to go down easily.
"Use Stealth Rock, then Rock Tomb," Roxanne ordered.
The shards of rock created by the Smack Down came together, creating thick clusters that hovered around Zoe.
"Break out of there; use Ice Fang again."
Zoe had just managed to create an opening when Onix raised its tail agan.
"Get out of the way!" Carla screamed. She closed her eyes as more stones and dust flew everywhere.
"Dragon Breath!"
Carla watched as Zoe flew backwards, smashing through one of the rocks, her mouth open in an inaudible cry. She tumbled over the ground and finally came to rest before slowly getting up. Her entire body was covered in a thin coating of dust.
Onix raised its tail again; just as it came down, Zoe moved aside again.
"Crunch!"
Zoe did so - on the exact same spot she had hit with Ice Fang.
The Onix's roar had the entire Gym shaking. Its tail flailed around, causing Zoe to land heavily on the ground. She rolled away again to avoid the living monolith.
"Double Team!" Carla shouted.
Soon the Onix was surrounded by Snorunt.
"Focus, Onix!" Roxanne yelled, but again it was too late.
"Weather Ball." This had to do the trick, it just had to...
The ball of water hit the Onix in the head again. It groaned, swaying on the spot, blinking its eyes blearily. Then it started to keel over.
Quickly, Roxanne whipped out its capsule and ordered: "Onix, return!" She sighed, rubbing her left temple in circular motions. "That was close. Onix can cause a lot of damage when they faint." She lowered her hand and smiled at Carla. "Congratulations. You've won."
Carla went over to Zoe and knelt in front of her. "You did so well, Zoe. Thank you!" She put her arms around the Snorunt and felt the chilly body lean into her.
But once Zoe was safely returned, Carla's victory seemed hollow. Roxanne had been off her game and they both knew it. There hadn't even been a referee for the battle.
"I think I'd like to..."
"If you were going to say forfeit, you can forget it," Roxanne said firmly. "Your Snorunt and Buneary fought well; it wouldn't be fair to your pokémon or mine if you forfeited." She put a hand in the pocket of her dress and took out a small piece of metal. "Here's your Stone Badge."
As she took the badge, Carla saw Roxanne's smile was faltering a little. "If it's OK to ask, what happened to your other pokémon?"
"It was Team Scythe. They attacked a couple of trainers; when I intervened, my Graveler was seriously hurt. Rock-types normally recover quickly, but this time she wasn't so lucky." Roxanne sighed. "Team Scythe are growing bolder. Even after all the arrests, they're still..." She shook her head. "I don't know what's going on in Hoenn anymore. But you should probably go before the repairmen arrive."
Carla looked at the arena. There were massive grooves left from Onix's Smack Down attacks; that would take a long time to rebuild.
"Thank you. And I hope your Graveler gets better soon."
The nurse at Rustboro Centre raised her eyebrows at Carla's appearance. "Roxanne?"
Carla nodded. She wanted to brush the dust away from her clothes, but this wasn't the right place to do it.
"Who won?"
"Me."
"Congratulations. If you give me your team, I'll get them healed quickly."
Carla pushed the capsules across the counter to the nurse. There didn't seem to be anyone waiting behind her, so she said: "Can I ask you something?"
"Depends what it is."
"Roxanne said members of Team Scythe had been arrested; do you know anything about that?"
The nurse looked incredulous. "How can you not..." She caught herself and shook her head. "Sorry - I forgot trainers don't always have access to TV and radio. Yes, there have been arrests; hunters have brought in several members for questioning thanks to the free hand they were given. And good riddance."
Carla went outside and brushed the dust from her clothes. She tilted her head up and allowed the rain to wash the remnants out of her hair.
Thank you, Latias.
The prize money she'd received from this was more than she had expected, and Team Scythe was slowly being dealt with. She couldn't see things going any better.
Then an idea struck her. If she received this much money from winning her third Gym badge, how much would she get from winning a fourth?
There was only one Gym Leader left in Hoenn over whom Carla would have an advantage.
She hoped Zoe wasn't afraid of heights.
I'm sorry for another short chapter – this seemed like the perfect place to end it.
If you think the battle seems a little choppy, there's actually an explanation for that: if you're in an intense pokémon battle, there's no time to shout out long commands. Your opponent could take advantage of you that way.
In other news, The Spectre Trilogy has a TV Tropes page!
This chapter's title comes from Warrior Daughter by Wildwood Kin.
Hope you're enjoying the story so far! Please leave a review if you liked it.