March 12, 2010
Motostroke City
Both Abby and Hop were standing next to the pokemon center as they waited for everyone. The sun had set as the night sky was shrouded in a bright light from the many street lamps. Abby had her headphones on as her music was blocking out any outside disturbances while Hop was checking his watch.
"Jeez, they really are taking their sweet time." He comments when he looked up to see a Charizard in the distance and elbowed Abby to get her attention. "There they are."
"Sorry guys, we got caught up in some bad business." Leon says to the two.
"It's no big deal bro. But I purchased rooms for everyone at the pokemon center for the night. How about we head inside and discuss how everyone was trying to catch Pokemon?" Hop suggests to everyone's approval.
The group heads inside the Pokemon center as they are greeted by the nurse at the counter. She offers to heal everyone's teams while they talk to which everyone agrees. James, Vik and Abby hand over their pokeballs as the nurse takes them to the back to heal while they take a seat in the lounge.
"So, what did you guys need to take care of?" Hop curiously asks.
"We had to deal with some bastard who was abusing a poor pokemon. He had a Hydreigon who was launching attack after attack at it. But thanks to Alistair here, he got his arse handed to him." James explains as Alistair nods.
"Correct. After that was when Leon and Viktor found us and James took in the poor little guy. But I can't help but be curious about who that guy was. If he had a Hydreigon, then he had to have been a relatively strong trainer. Not that he stood much of a chance against my Emboar." Alistair adds to the conversation as both Abby and Vik glance at him.
"You have an Emboar!?" Abby was very surprised.
"So you're from Unova?" Vik inquires as Alistair nods.
"Yes, I am from Unova. As a matter of fact, I was the region's strongest trainer for four years now." He explained.
"You're a champion just like my big bro? That's neat, but why have you come to Galar?"
"I came here because I wanted to continue my journey. Sure I might've been Unova's strongest trainer, but I wanted to continue my journey with my pokemon. And I heard that the gym challenge for Galar is a very competitive event, so I wanted to test my limits."
"I can respect that." Leon grinned. "Anyways now that we are in Motostroke, you four will need to register yourselves for the gym challenge. The opening ceremony will occur tomorrow, so you can register yourselves just before that."
"Great, do you know where the stadium is Leon?" James asked as Leon just responded in a nervous laughter.
"Seriously bro!? You don't even know where the bloody stadium is? You literally can't miss it"
"I'm so bad with directions little bro. But he is right about the stadium being very difficult to miss." He chuckles before remembering something. "Oh yeah! I almost forgot. I have a final gift for all of you."
"What is it?" Abby curiously asks as Leon pulls out four armbands and hands them to the four of them which causes Abby to gasp a little. "Is this!?"
"It's a dynamax band. This will allow you to dynamax your pokemon when you are in the vicinity of a powerspot, which each stadium tends to have one. I had the professor make them for you the day I gave all of you your pokemon, but I had her make me an extra cause I had a feeling that I would misplace one somewhere. Thankfully I didn't and it worked out for Alistair being with us."
"So this is what makes pokemon battles in Galar so unique?" Alistair questions Leon as he gives him a nod. "Interesting…now I'm psyched to try it out."
"Now I'm really excited for this challenge." James smirked as he slipped the band on.
"Good, another method to increase my strength." Vik comments as the nurse came back and handed everyone's pokemon back.
"Alright everyone, let's get some rest for tomorrow." Leon suggests as everyone agrees with him and leaves the lounge to turn in for the night.
*timeskip*
March 13, 2010
Once morning came, everyone traveled to Motostroke's stadium to register for the gym challenge. James was the first one to enter the stadium as he saw many individuals who were standing near the counter talking to the receptionist or standing off to the side. As James and the others approached the receptionist, they noticed an individual dressed in a pinkish jacket walk past them while having the smuggest look on his face which bothered Alistair a little bit. However, he tried to ignore it as the group registered for the Galar gym challenge.
The group was each given a uniform that they had to wear during gym battles and were requested to change and head onto the field for the opening ceremony. The group separates to change into their uniforms and wait in the locker rooms with the other gym trainers as a well dressed man walks to the center of the stadium with crowds of roaring fans cheering. The man clears his throat as he takes out a microphone.
"Welcome people of Galar! I am Rose, chairman of the Pokemon League, and I would like to announce that this year's gym challenge will now commence!" He announces to the audience of fans. "Each trainer will have to defeat eight gym leaders in a battle to earn their gym badge! And once they collect eight, then participate in the Champion's Cup to earn the honor to challenge our prestigious champion!"
The crowds in the stands cheer and roar as Rose directs their attention over to the locker room exit. While everyone in the locker room could see this on the television screens that were present there, they noticed several individuals stand up and head out the door leading to the field. To the field, the fans continued to cheer out as the individuals proceeded to pleasantly respond to the cheering.
"I'd like to welcome our beloved gym leaders to the field for an introduction!" Rose announces as the audience was very fired up to see all the gym leaders. "Unfortunately one couldn't make it, but it's not that big of a deal. These gym leaders along with our beloved champion make Galar well known to the world far and wide! Let's hope for a successful gym challenge!"
The crowd cheers in excitement as then Rose requests for the gym trainers to come out to the field. James, Vik and Alistair glance at each other for a moment before walking out. Abby was already out on the field as she was shocked to see how many people were in the stands. Everyone in the stands were cheering for them…cheering them on to complete the gym challenge. James couldn't hold back his excitement as he grinned at the crowd. Abby stood there in complete awe while Alistair waves at the audience. Vik stands there without much of a reaction as the crowd continues to cheer.
A few moments pass as Rose then announces that an exhibition match amongst the gym challengers will now commence. They were simple one on one battles with no dynamaxing allowed. James, Abby, Vik and Alistair fought hard against each of their opponents until they all had reached the quarter finals of the tournament. The first round of the quarter finals was Alistair vs a trainer by the name of Elias. The two trainers step out onto the field as the referee gives them the nod to begin.
"Alright Rookidee, let's get going!" Alistair shouts as he sends out a small bird pokemon.
"Go! Sizzlipede!" Elias shouts as he sends out a small centipede looking pokemon.
That pokemon looks cool. Alistair thought to himself. "Rookidee! Let's begin with a peck attack!"
Rookidee immediately responds to its trainer's command and flies towards the opposing Sizzlipede as its beak grows a few inches as it lands a super effective attack on the opponent. Sizzlipede curls back a little from the attack as it begins to coil up itself before beginning to roll like a wheel towards the Rookidee.
"Now use flame wheel!" Elias commands as the Sizzlipede continues to roll towards Rookidee before jumping up to hit him.
"Dodge!" Alistair commands as the bird dodges the flame wheel and sharpens his talons. "Now that you're powered up, go in for a fury attack!"
Rookidee then swoops in to launch a flurry of pecks at the opposing Sizzlipede who was too slow to dodge the onslaught of attacks. The centipede pokemon then fell over after Rookidee finished the last attack as the referee ran over to check on the Sizzlipede.
"Sizzlipede is unable to battle! Therefore challenger Alistair will move onto the semi finals!" He announces as Rookidee perches on Alistair's finger.
"You were great out there. Let's keep this up." He used his other hand to pat on the bird's head.
The two trainers then shake hands at the center of the field before walking off for the next battle to begin. Viktor is the next trainer to fight as his opponent is a trainer by the name of Marnie. Vik stares across the battlefield with a stern expression as he takes out the pokeball he plans to use.
"Riolu! Standby!" He throws out his partner as he emerges from his pokeball.
"It's time to battle Croagunk!" Marnie sends out her pokemon.
Both pokemon stare each other down as croagunk's cheeks inflate for a second before deflating back to normal. Riolu pumps itself up as it awaits Vik's commands.
"Riolu, use quick attack!" He instantly commands as Riolu dashes toward Croagunk with incredible speed and lands a quick blow. Riolu's claws then turn to a tough metal as he launches a slash attack on Croagunk. "Let's keep our offense up, use rock smash!"
Riolu then balls up his fist as he dashes once again towards Croagunk who sidesteps and lands a brutal sucker punch on Riolu. Riolu falls to the ground for a moment before standing up again.
Dammit, I fell for that trap. I need to do something about that sucker punch if Riolu wants to launch an attack. Let's play it safe for now. Viktor thought to himself. "Riolu! Use work up to power up your attacks!"
"So he's playing more cautiously now…use taunt! Don't let 'em power up!" Marnie orders as Croagunk taunts Riolu into attacking it before Riolu could use the move. " Wait till it gets closer before using poison sting!"
Croagunk plays back for a moment as the now taunted Riolu goes for another rock smash attack. When Riolu is within five feet of Croagunk, it releases a series of poisonous stings towards the jackal pokemon. Riolu manages to hang on from the attack, but becomes poisoned as a small purple spot appears on his face.
"Now use venoshock!" Marnie orders as Croagunk releases some venomous liquid from its mouth, but Riolu dodges the attack at the last second and goes for another rock smash attack. The attack is then countered by another sucker punch. The poison slowly chips away at Riolu's stamina as Viktor keeps trying to think when he notices the movement Croagunk makes when it uses the move.
Hmm…if I can go for a deceptive move and force Croagunk to miss the attack, I think then that's how Riolu will get his opening. He thought as he looked at Riolu and it seemed like he could understand the plan Viktor was going for. "Alright Riolu, let's finish this with a metal claw attack!"
Riolu then charged towards Croagunk with his metal claws as Marnie expected as her Croagunk prepared for another sucker punch. Just as Riolu goes for the blow, Vik then calls out for another order.
"Now move backwards and go for a feint!" He shouts as both Marnie's and Croagunks eyes widen as Riolu jumps backwards which causes the sucker punch to miss and then Riolu lands a strong feint on Croagunk who falls to the ground unconscious.
"Croagunk is unable to battle! Therefore, Viktor is the winner of the second match!" The referee announces as the crowd begins to cheer.
"Huh, I thought I almost had ya" Marnie sighs before recalling Croagunk. "But thanks for the battle. You did rather well against my strategy"
"Uh…thanks?" Vik wasn't sure how to feel as he never received a compliment before, let alone from a girl.
Marnie just chuckled at his reaction as the two leave the field while the next two trainers prepare for their fight. The next battle was James and a trainer by the name of Alyssan. James was feeling rather excited about this as he took out his Pokémon's capsule.
"Alright Scorbunny, it's showtime!" He sends out his partner pokemon onto the field.
"A fire type? Then I'll go with this!" Alyssan shouts as she sends out a Chewtle.
"We'll go first! Scorbunny, strike fast with a quick attack!" James commands as a tuft of fur on Scorbunny's head changes to a brighter white as its libero ability changes him to a normal type and he rams into Chewtle with a great amount of force.
Chewtle tries to retaliate with water gun, but Scorbunny is too fast for it as the attack misses its mark. Scorbunny then lands a powerful double kick as libero changes him to a fighting type. Chewtle manages to land a bite attack before he could jump away and shoots a point blank water gun directly on Scorbunny's leg. Alyssan smirked a little seeing that she landed a super effective attack on Scorbunny until she noticed that it stood up relatively unfazed by the attack.
"Wait what!? How is your Scorbunny acting like nothing happened from that attack? Water type moves are super effective against fire types."
"Normally that is true." James replied with a smirk of his own. "But my Scorbunny is currently a fighting type thanks to his ability. Now use flame charge!"
Alyssan was in pure shock as she couldn't command Chewtle to dodge in time as it took the attack head on for Scorbunny to land a powerful double kick to finish off his opponent. Scorbunny turns to his trainer and runs over to him for a fist bump which James returns.
"You did great out there pal. Let's keep working hard." James says to his partner as the two trainers shake hands before the final battle of the quarter finals would finally be underway. Both Abby and Bede step out on the field as the latter had a smug look on his face.
"Heh, so this is one of the trainers endorsed by the champion himself? I can't wait to show her up in this battle." He chuckles as he sends out a Ponyta.
"Okay, it's time to rock and roll Zigzagoon!" She sends out her new capture onto the field.
"Hmph, I'll let you go first. You do have the type advantage over me after all." He retorts rather smugly. "Just don't disappoint me."
"I do…?" She questioned. "Uh…use snarl Zigzagoon!"
Her Zigzagoon lets out a loud growl as Bede doesn't even try to command his Ponyta to dodge the attack as the growl sends out several soundwaves that damage his pokemon. Abby was shocked to see Ponyta take the hit as it seemed like the attack did some major damage.
"What the!? You just let it take all that damage!?"
"What? I'm just showing you that I wasn't lying about the type advantage." He still had a smug smirk. "Now use double kick."
Ponyta charges towards Zigzagoon and attempts to kick with its hind legs. The first kick misses, but the second one lands as Zigzagoon is sent back a few feet. He stands back up and starts to kick up some dirt on the battlefield and uses the dust to blind Ponyta. Zigzagoon then lands a direct snarl onto Ponyta as it feels a bit weaker after hearing the snarl. Ponyta then lets out a hypnotic sound that causes Zigzagoon to fall asleep. Bede smirks as he sees the raccoon on the ground asleep.
"Aww, did your little Zigzagoon fall asleep?" He says in a rather taunting manner. "Your strategy to blind my Ponyta won't work."
In the stands, James was staring daggers at Bede. Alistair also watched with an angered expression.
"That bastard is trying to get under her skin. The nerve of him." James mutters quietly, but Alistair was able to hear him.
"Tell me about it. So much for sportsmanship." Alistair comments.
"You need to wake up Zigzagoon! Please! You just need to!" Abby calls out in desperation for her pokemon to wake up, but to no avail.
"Use fairy wind." Bede commands as Ponyta stirs up a pinkish wind that damages Zigzagoon in his sleep, but doesn't cause him to wake up. "Seems it's the end of the line. Finish it off Ponyta!"
Ponyta releases another fairy wind that causes Zigzagoon to fall over, unable to battle. After the referee made the call, Abby runs over and kneels down to pet her Zigzagoon.
"I'm sorry…my friend. You fought your hardest for me out there, but it wasn't enough." She says quietly as her pokemon glanced at her with kindness in his eyes, giving her assurance that he wasn't angry with her.
"Is that really the best you got? I mean you were endorsed by the bloody champion of all people. I was expecting a fight, but you were defeated that easily. That's just pathetic." Bede responds in a taunting manner. "Maybe you aren't cut out for this gym challenge after all. I'd suggest just packing it up and heading back to wherever you call home."
Abby didn't know what to say as she just looked down in shame. First she was defeated in battle in front of an audience of this scale and now her opponent was belittling her. She could hear a few footsteps behind her as both James and Alistair rushed over.
"Hey, what's your problem!? You won the battle, there's no point in talking down to her like this. Or are you just trying to show that you're such an arsehole to everyone here in this stadium?"
"I agree. As a champion, I won't sit idly and watch new trainers being disrespected like this." Alistair crosses his arms as Bede scoffs.
"You are a champion? Don't make me laugh. Guess I'll just kick both your arses in the rounds to come. Seems Leon made the wrong choice of endorsing several weaklings who won't amount to anything." He says before turning around to leave the field.
"Hmph, I won't let that bastard win this." James says as he then turns to Abby who was trying to hide a few tears. "Are you okay?"
"Um…not really if I'm being honest. But I appreciate you two for trying to stand up for me." She says feeling defeated.
"Don't let what he said get to your head Abby. You'll become a great trainer who will eventually surpass him. Just give it some time." Alistair assures her.
"Exactly, his words mean nothing. You'll become stronger and prove him wrong." James says to her as she lets out a slight chuckle.
"I suppose we'll see." She replies as the three head back to the waiting area.