The Marshy City
The atmosphere of Pastoria City was unlike anything Chris had experienced in the past. Right after riding through the city gates, Chris parks over to the side to take in everything about Pastoria. The smells, the humid feeling in the air, and all the Croagunk paraphernalia. This was certainly a swampy area, which made it very interesting to Chris that they would decide to build a city around it, rather than a small town.
After he's acclimated himself to Pastoria's atmosphere, Chris pulls out his phone to place a call to Barry. After a couple of rings, Barry's voice loudly pierces Chris's eardrums. "Hey Chris!" He says, before following up with a question that Chris doesn't hear with how his ear is now ringing.
"Hey Barry. I ran into Lucas earlier today, and he said that you wanted to have a battle with me?"
"For sure! I know you well enough to know that you've been buffing up your Pokémon. I'll test you and your Pokémon out to see how buff and tough you are!"
"Alright. Meet up with me at the Pokémon Center. After my team gets some rest, we'll have a battle tonight."
"Sounds like a plan. I'm already at the Pokémon Center after my gym battle with the master, mister Wake. I got the badge, but my team's exhausted."
"Hold on. 'The master'?"
"Yeah, Crasher Wake. The master!"
Chris shakes his head. "Whatever. I'll see you at the Pokémon Center, Barry." Chris hangs up his phone, and rides his Harley on over to the Pokémon Center. As he parks up by the center, he looks over at a large painting with a Croagunk that has its face cut out of the picture, as a small child puts her face through the hole. At that exact moment, a wild Croagunk goes running past the child and her mother, into the Great Marsh, completely captivating the child. Something about the innocence of the child makes Chris crack a smile, as he dismounts his Harley to step inside the Pokémon Center.
Once he's inside, he spots Barry waving to him by the front desk of the center. Chris nods to his rival, walking up to the front desk with his Poké Balls at the ready. "I don't want to take up too much of your time, Nurse Joy." Chris says, as he lays out three Poké Balls he used in battle against Lucas. "But these three could really use some rest."
"No problem, sir. We'll have them ready to go in a bit." As the nurse takes the three Poké Balls, Chris turns his attention to Barry.
"How was your ride over here?" Barry asks.
"Eventful. Ran out of gas, because I forgot to check my tank before I left Veilstone City."
"Were you close enough to the gas station?"
Not the station that Barry was thinking of, but technically speaking Chris was close enough to a gas station. "Yeah." He said.
"That's good at least. Hey, Chris..." Barry pauses for a moment, and rubs the back of his head. "I know I already apologized, but I'm sorry for how I almost caused an accident a couple weeks ago."
Chris shakes his head. "Its water under the bridge Barry. Don't worry about it."
"How is the baby Pokémon that was in your basket, by the way?"
Chris pulls out his Pokédex, and opens up the page that has information on Togetic. "Evolved." He says, as he lets the Pokédex's robotic voice speak for him.
An image of Togetic flashes on the screen. "Togetic: the Happiness Pokémon. Togetic is said to be a Pokémon that brings good fortune. When the Pokémon spots someone who is pure of heart, it is said to appear and share its happiness with that person."
Chris deactivates and puts away his Pokédex. "I haven't gotten around to training Togetic yet, though I intend to start in the next day or two. I think it evolves again, but I'm not sure when or how. I also have a Pokémon with me called Hippopotas that I know is fairly strong, and I think it should evolve soon."
"Maybe in the middle of battle? That happened to me with my Staraptor recently."
"Maybe. Do you know if the city allows battles at night time?"
"They do. We might have a crowd."
"Fine by me."
Just then, Nurse Joy brings Chris's three Poké Balls back to him. "You're all set, sir. We hope to see you again."
Chris nods to her. "I'm sure you will." He responds, thinking about tomorrow's gym battle with Crasher Wake as well as his battle tonight. He then turns to Barry. "I'm ready when you are."
"Follow me." Barry says. The two rivals step outside the Pokémon Center towards a battlefield a short walk away. The lights on the court are more than sufficient enough to make this the perfect spot. Chris and Barry each take one end of the court, and activate their first Poké Balls once they are in position. "On the count of three!" Barry exclaims. Chris responds with a simple nod, whilst also noticing that he and Barry are already attracting an audience. Both trainers begin to count up to three. "One. Two. Three!" They each throw out their first Pokémon, Chris starting with his Hippopotas, while Barry throws out his Staraptor.
"Lets see what she's got, Chris! Staraptor, use Double Team!" Barry's Staraptor begins to make clones of itself to surround the battlefield. Chris's Hippopotas finds itself trying to single out the real one.
"Sandra, use Rock Tomb!" Sandra produces a boulder as she aims at the clone she believes is Staraptor. The boulder goes through the clone, and Sandra starts to panic.
"Staraptor, use Wing Attack!" Barry's Staraptor readies its wings as it descends, and strikes Sandra for a clean shot.
"Sandra, Bite on to it!" Before Staraptor can get back into the air and create distance, Sandra hops up and bites it. Staraptor struggles to get airborne, before finally managing to shake clear of Sandra's jaws. It does struggle with the pain however.
"They won't get away with that again Staraptor, use Quick Attack!" With incredible speed, Barry's Staraptor takes Sandra off her feet with a rapid strike. Sandra manages to slow herself to a stop a few feet in front to Chris, before Barry keeps up the assault. "Quick Attack, again!" Staraptor swoops down for another rapid strike onto Sandra, who just manages to stay on her feet. "One more time, Staraptor!" Staraptor picks up its speed once again.
"Sandra, Take Down!" Sandra runs towards Staraptor, and the two Pokémon come to a stalemate as their foreheads push violently against each other's. Unexpectedly to Barry, Sandra ends up sending Staraptor back, and then begins to glow with a brilliantly bright light. Sandra becomes almost twice as large as she was, her stubby limbs now looking more like blunt weapons as the light fades. Her skin has become a dark shade of grey, and her eyes have turned into a shade of red that mesmorize the audience. "Lets keep it going, Sandra! Use Rock Tomb!" Sandra begins to produce boulders, but they are larger than they had been in the past. She launches them right at Staraptor, and it takes some massive damage on Staraptor. Chris recognized that the move was no longer Rock Tomb, but Rock Slide.
Barry growls, but keeps his composure otherwise. "Come on, Staraptor! Use Wing Attack!" Staraptor swiftly swoops down, and strikes Sandra. This time around however, Sandra's hide has become so bulky that Staraptor can barely do anything. "Dammit!" Barry cusses out, as he realizes how the situation has turned. "We can do this Staraptor! Wing Attack one more time!" Staraptor does a full circle in the air, and flies at full speed towards Sandra.
"Sandra, use Bite!" Sandra starts running at Staraptor, her mouth agape as it stomps its way over to the faux-hawked bird charging at it, eats the Wing Attack, and then respnods by clamping down onto it. Staraptor cannot keep fighting through the pain, and crashes in a heap onto the ground.
"Man..." Barry says, amazed by how this battle has just begun. He recalls his Staraptor, and has his next Poké Ball ready to go. "This isn't gonna go like our last battle, Chris!" If it could even be called that, Chris thinks to himself, as Barry throws out his Roselia.
Something about looking at Roselia makes Chris recall when he learned about evolution stones. He could recall learning about them in school, and somehow Roselia's stone was the one that he remembered the easiest. "A shiny stone." he said under his breath, only noticing Barry's next move when it was too late.
"Roselia, use Leech Seed!" Barry exclaimed, as his Roselia fires off seeds that open up to ensnare Sandra with energy draining nutrients.
At this point, Chris quickly realizes just how exhausted Sandra is beginning to feel. He knows that she won't last much longer in this battle, so he decideds to go for a hail mary shot. "Sandra, Earthquake!" Sandra begins to stomp on the ground, and makes the ground around Roselia's feet shake in a small circle. The sudden violent feeling has Roselia stumble to the ground, and land on its face.
Right away, Roselia gets back on its feet in time to absorb the energy that gets sapped away from Sandra. Roselia looks Sandra right in the eyes as Barry issues his next command. "Roselia, use Magical Leaf!" Roselia scatters curious leaves in the air, before launching them at full speed at Sandra. Sandra takes the hit hard, and her exhaustion becomes too much to continue on in the battle. Sandra's legs give out underneath her, Chris grunting as he watches the scene play out.
Chris reactivates his Poké Ball to recall Sandra, and takes a moment to ponder his next move. Knowing that he wouldn't be using Caesar against Pastoria Gym's water-types, Chris opts to go for Ikaros, his own Staraptor instead. Despite Barry's Roselia looking up several times its own height at Ikaros in the air, neither it, nor Barry were fazed. "Roselia, Leech Seed again!" Roselia hits its mark, the seeds it fires off at Ikaros opening up to ensnare it. Ikaros struggles to spread her wings, and Barry capitalizes. "Now, use Sludge!" Roselia produces an unsanitary blob of sludge, and hits Ikaros spot on with it.
Though Ikaros took a hard shot, she managed to get her wings spread once again to avoid hitting the ground. Then Chris regained his focus. "Ikaros, use Wing Attack!" Ikaros locks on to Roselia, and picks up her speed. She rockets her way over to Roselia, who cannot withstand the strike that Ikaros lays on it. While Roselia goes down, Ikaros nearly does as well. She has a stagger step, then manages to stay upright while the foliage from Leech Seed weighs her down.
As Barry recalls his Roselia, Chris swears he can see a bit of apprehension on his face. Then some of the crowd seem to jeer him, which spurs him back into the battle. He activates his third Poké Ball, and throws it up in the air. Out comes the Magmar that Lucas had mentioned to Chris. The fire-type's display as it comes out makes it plain as day that it carries impressive power. "Alright Magmar, use Brick Break!"
"Ikaros, use Quick Attack!" Ikaros picks up immense speed to slam into Magmar. Her sheer speed is enough to make Magmar's Brick Break miss, but Ikaros's own attack does very little damage. That damage was more or less made a non factor immediately, as the Leech Seed from Roselia was now healing up Magmar, as Ikaros continued to weaken. "You're still in this battle, Ikaros! Use Take Down!" Ikaros begins to recklessly fly head on towards Magmar.
"Magmar, use Heat Wave!" Magmar's body begins to blaze brightly, as it exhale some unbearably hot air at Ikaros. The good news is that the attack is so hot, that it melts the foliage from Leech Seed. The bad news is that Ikaros is in far too much pain to withstand this attack. She hits the ground hard, before she can ever even reach Magmar to hit Take Down.
Chris blows out, reactivating his Poké Ball and recalling Ikaros. Wherever Barry found this Pokémon, it was a more than worthy addition to his team. "You're certainly only getting better, Barry." He then activates his very first Poké Ball. "But so am I." He readies himself, and then throws his ball. "Go, Hawke!" The light the emerges from the ball recinds to reveal Chris's Marshtomp. Hawke is raring to battle, and his energy can be felt by everyone on and around the battlefield. Even Chris feels something different, and exciting, radiating from his very first partner. "Let's show em who you really are, Hawke. Use Water Pulse!" Hawke sends a pulsating blast of water hurdling towards Barry's Magmar.
"Magmar, use Protect!" Magmar surrounds itself with a barrier, that negates Hawke's attack. "Now, use Feint Attack!" Magmar seems to disappear for a short instance, but then reappears to jab at Hawke. Hawke staggers back.
"Keep at it Hawke! Mud Bomb!" Hawke produces a thick blob of mud, and launches it at Magmar for a clean blow. Magmar finds itself struggling, as some of the mud made it into its eyes. Chris then turns to a prior strategy, knowing that Magmar can use Protect. "Get after it, Hawke!" From Chris's vague command, Hawke rushes Magmar as it tries to get the mud out of its eyes.
"Magmar, use Protect!" Magmar surrounds itself with its barrier again, blissfuly unaware of what Chris's next move is.
"Hawke, Feint!" Hawke's attack slips through Magmar's protective barrier, and hits Magmar right on the chin. Magmar takes a stagger step backwards, and still finds itself struggling to find Hawke. And Chris knows it before Barry does. "Finish it off, Hawke. Use Water Pulse!" So little distance between Hawke and Magmar leaves Barry no time to try to use Protect again. Hawke blasts Magmar with its pulsating water attack, and hits it right on the money. Magmar goes down, caught off guard by just how good Hawke is.
Barry recalls his Magmar, and he's down to his last Pokémon. Despite that fact, Chris spots the smile he cracks. "Hawke might be strong, but he's got something holding him back. Something that my starter doesn't have holding him back." Barry activates his last Poké Ball, and launches it up into the air. "Empoleon, lets win this!" The light ejected from the Poké Ball subsides to reveal Barry's partner. Empoleon stands tall and prideful, and Hawke has to look up at his opponent for the first time in quite some time.
It'd be easy for Chris to assume that Empoleon was as much a water-type as Prinplup. But something about the way Empoleon's body looked made Chris second guess himself. Barry does Chris the courtesy to allow him to get further information about Empoleon on his Pokédex. The robotic voice speaks after Chris activates the device. "Empoleon: the Emperor Pokémon. The three horns that extended from its beak attest to its power. The leader of a pack of Empoleon is the one with the biggest horns." Something Chris didn't tell Barry was that the Pokédex told him that Empoleon was a Steel-type. Chris also remembered that Barry never got a Pokédex from Professor Rowan.
"Stay ready, Hawke. Use Mud Bomb!" Hawke refocuses at the sound of Chris's voice, and he produces a blob of mud to launch at Barry's Empoleon.
"Empoleon, Drill Peck!" Empoleon's body begins to spin at a seemingly uncontrollable speed, as he blasts through Hawke's attack, and then rams Hawke beak first. Hawke falls down to a knee, as Empoleon readies himself for Barry's next command. "Now, use Aqua Jet!" Empoleon surrounds itself with water, and then takes off at Hawke like a missile. Hawke takes a nasty shot, and ends up landing on his back hard. Hawke struggles back to his feet, his facial expression failing to hide the pain. "Lets finish him, Empoleon! Use Brine!" Empoleon fires a burst of water that goes hurdling right at Hawke, who looks on helplessly at the attack.
"Hawke, get out of the way!" Chris yells out to his partner. Something about the moment awakens Hawke's determination, whilst also unlocking more of his potential. Hawke braces himself for the attack, and holds it at bay. Empoleon's attack starts to have Hawke's feet digging into the ground, as he fights to power through the attack. Then the unexpected happens. Hawke begins to glow brightly, before going into a full blown blinding light. Hawke begins to evolve.
Hawke becomes more than twice his former size, his limbs elongating further. His body begins to take on a more lean shape, save for his belly. The mow-hawk-like fin on its head splits into two fins that seem like they're sprouting from his eyes, and the two fins recind from the back of its legs to be replaced by a large fin on its backside. The orange growths on his cheeks spread apart like they were when he was a Mudkip, and his fingers spread apart more than they were just a few short moments ago. The bright light fades away, and finalizes Hawke's evolution into Swampert. The now Swampert bursts through Empoleon's Brine, and then he roars out to show Empoleon he isn't out of the battle yet.
Chris cracks half a smile, realizing that he's now picked up the element of surprise. Now it was time to test Hawke's newfound strength. "Hawke, use Mud Bomb!" Now, Hawke was using only hand to produce the mud that he launched at Empoleon.
"Empoleon, use Drill Peck!" Barry goes for the same strategy he used to blow through Mud Bomb the last time, but this time it was too powerful for the strategy to work. Empoleon gets hit hard, and has to regroup.
But Chris will not allow him to do so. "Charge him, Hawke!" Hawke goes in head on towards Empoleon, and the knife-edge of his hand strikes down on Empoleon. Chris immediately recognized that Hawke has learned Brick Break. Empoleon staggers back, having completely lost his balance.
"Empoleon, use Aqua Jet!" Empoleon bounces back at the sound of Barry's voice, surrounding himself with water as he rapidly slams into Hawke at full speed. Hawke and Empoleon have some distance between each other, as their respective trainers give their next commands. "Empoleon, Brine!" Empoleon fires off a burst of water at Hawke.
"Hawke, Water Pulse!" Hawke blasts a pulsating burst of water at Empoleon. Both water attacks slam into each other at a stalemate, and they both become an intense burst of steam that even the onlookers have to brace from.
"Empoleon, use Drill Peck!" Empoleon starts to rapidly spin, and flies right at Hawke.
"Hawke, Mud Bomb!" Hawke produces a blob of mud that he launches right at Empoleon. Once again, Empoleon can't get through the Mud Bomb. Only this time, the damage that is done is too much for the Water/Steel-type. Empoleon teeters out, and hits the ground unconscious. Chris and his team walk away with the victory. As much as Chris kept himself in control in almost all circumstances, something about his very first partner getting to its final stage was a huge source of joy for him. He runs up behind his tired partner with a huge smile on his face, as he gives Hawke a big hug. Hawke smiles as well, as he drapes an arm around Chris's back. "I love you, buddy!" Chris tells Hawke.
As Barry recalls his fallen Empoleon, he cannot help but marvel at how his battle with Chris has played out. "Yeah, maybe you did get a bit tougher since last time. That even shocked me a bit, so yeah, I got beat 'cause I was careless." As the audience dissipates from the battle, and Chris stands next to his Swampert, Barry continues on. "Oh yeah, I joined Mr. Wake as an apprentice! Like, I want my own theme song!"
Chris was more than a little confused. "There's no way you'll sit still in this city long enough to be someone's apprentice." Barry laughs, and then almost to confirm what Chris is saying to be true, runs off back towards where they originally came from. Something about the theme song comment makes Chris take a second to ponder, however. "Mine'd be Children of the Grave." He says, before leaving the battlefield with his newly evolved starter.
The next morning...
Outside of the motel room, Chris lights a cigarette as he begins to remove the basket in between his Harley's handlebars. Someone was willing to buy the basket from him for forty bucks, so he sold it to her. She never said what her plan was with the basket, but it didn't matter. Chris was planning to look into getting a basket for Togetic to put his feet through when he rode through Hearthome City.
Breakfast was eaten, the basket was sold, and it was just about time for the gym battle against Crasher Wake. Chris rides over to Pastoria City's Gym, shuts off his bike, and steps inside the gym. The attendant at the front of the gym holds on to the keys, and Chris walks inside to the battlefield. The rows of lights turn on as he walks to his end of the battlefield, and an entrance theme plays as Crasher Wake makes his way to the other end of the battlefield.
Whilst Wake makes his introductions, Chris lets out both his Togetic, and Hawke out as well to go sit down with each other to watch the battle. "Welcome! I don't get challenged very often!" Crasher Wake starts, as he proceeds to hit a pose. "The glory you are now beholding is the Pastoria Gym Leader! That's right, my name is Crasher Wake! My Pokémon were toughened up by stormy white waters!" Wake then proceeds to activate his first Poké Ball. "They'll take everything you can throw at them, and then pull you under! Victory will be ours! Come on, let's get it on!"
Chris activates his first Poké Ball as well, and throws out his Staraptor at the same time as Wake throws out his Gyarados. Ikaros begins to fly around Wake's Gyarados, whilst Gyarado's roar shakes the ground. "Alright Gyarados," Crasher Wake starts. "Use Twister!" Gyarados whips its tail violently to create a viscious tornado that tears at Ikaros. It is a good hit, but Ikaros has no trouble taking it.
"Ikaros, Aerial Ace!" Chris commmands, as Ikaros slashes at Gyarados with immense speed. Gyarados has no trouble taking this attack either, but Chris isn't done. "Now, Quick Attack!" At full speed, Ikaros does a full circle back, and then slams head on into Gyarados.
So focused on how he's pressing the attack, Chris never could've suspected what could've come next. "Gyarados, use Waterfall!" Water radiates off of Gyarados's body, and it charges at Ikaros. It nails her with an absolutely brutal shot, that takes her down. It's early on in the battle, and yet Crasher Wake has already put Chris at a disadvantage in the battle.
Chris blows out, then recalls his Staraptor. "Return Ikaros." He immediately activates his next Poké Ball, knowing that this next one was one of his best. "Electabuzz, you're up!" Chris throws out his Electric-type, who lets his energy surge through the horns on his head.
"It'll take more than a type advantage for you to win this battle, young Chris. Gyarados, use Bite!" Gyarados charges at Electabuzz, and takes a quick bite at him. The stinging pain seems to make Electabuzz flinch, and Crasher Wake only grows in confidence from that impression. "Now, use Twister!"
As Gyarados whips up the small tornado to launch at Electabuzz, Electabuzz drops the facade. He cracks half a smile, and then vaults his way through the Twister attack. Chris smiles as he witnesses this, and then issues his command. "Thunder Punch!" The electricity surges through the Pokémon's fist, and Electabuzz punches Gyarados right in the face. Gyarados goes down in a heap, and cannot get back up after that. In the blink of an eye, Chris and his team have evened the odds.
Crasher Wake cracks a smile as he recalls his Gyarados. "You know Chris, we gym leaders keep in contact with each other. The ones you've defeated have raved about you. It didn't take you long to make me see what they saw." He activates his next Poké Ball. "But you won't win this one using just your Electabuzz. Go, Quagsire!" Crasher Wake throws out a Pokémon that looks like a blob version of Swampert. That sneaking suspicion that Chris had about Quagsire was enough for him to activate his Pokédex.
After Quagsire's image pops up on the screen, the Pokédex's robotic voice speaks. "Quagsire: the Goldfish Pokémon. Quagsire hunts for food by leaving its mouth wide open in water, and waiting for its prey to blunder in unaware. Because the Pokémon does not move, it does not get very hungry." Something else that Chris notices from this entry is that Quagsire is a water/ground-type.
Chris knows that Thunder Punch isn't gonna cut it in this stiuation. Quagsire is as immune to that move as Hawke is, but Electabuzz isn't helpless. "We can still hit you. Electabuzz, use Ice Punch!" Now Electabuzz's fist becomes icy-cold, and he charges right at Quagsire. The speed is too much for Quagsire to answer that attack until after it hits. But its answer is a great one.
"Quagsire, use Mud Shot!" Quagsire hurls a blob of mud at Electabuzz, to hit a big shot. Electabuzz is left reeling, but ready to get back on the offensive.
"Hang tight Electabuzz! Ice Punch, again!" Electabuzz finds himself moving slower from the aftermath of the Mud Shot attack, but he continues on to charge at Quagsire.
But Crasher Wake has a plan to hinder Electabuzz even more. "Quagsire, use Yawn!" Quagsire does just that. Its yawn is a visible one, creating something that looks like a cloud that floats over to Electabuzz. Electabuzz becomes almost completely exhausted, and misses its attack on Quagsire. This strategy wasn't something Chris had encountered to this point, so he didn't know that his next move was a good answer to this situation.
Chris decided that he wanted Electabuzz to get some rest. "Electabuzz, return." Chris recalls Electabuzz back into its ball, the laser on the ball shooting out to absorb him within. "Electic isn't my only advantage, Crasher Wake." He says as he activates his next Poké Ball. "Let's go Zyra!" Chris sends out his Leafeon, who lets out a sharp cry. Quagsire coos at Zyra, the two Pokémon staring each other down.
"Zyra, use Bullet Seed!" At Chris's command, Zyra fires off bullet-like seeds from its mouth at Quagsire. Only two of the seeds hit, and Quagsire hangs on by the skin of its teeth.
"Quagsire, use Rock Tomb!" Quagsire hurls boulders at Zyra that hit her for a respectable amount of damage. She finds herself slowed down a bit, but stays ready for battle, and still moves faster after losing some speed.
"Lets make sure it goes down, Zyra. Use Razor Leaf!" She proceeds to shoot sharp-edged leaves at Quagsire, which is so damaged and vulnerable that it gets dropped. Zyra is in pain, but is ready for whatever is to come.
But that readiness wouldn't last long. Once Crasher Wake recalled his fallen Pokémon, he proceeded to send out his last Pokémon. "Time to turn it all around! Go, Floatzel!" Wake sends out a tall, bipedal weasel-like Water-type Pokémon. Before Chris could size up Wake's Floatzel, Wake issues the finishing blow to the Grass-type Zyra. "Now, use Ice Fang!" Floatzel speeds up to Zyra, its fangs raditating with an icy energy that is far too much for Chris's Leafeon to take. Zyra goes down, and Chris lets out a hard breath. Crasher Wake's Pokémon were just as well trained as anyone he'd ever battled to this point.
"We're in a close one, young Chris." Crasher Wake says, as Chris recalls Zyra.
"Yes we are." Chris responds, as he reactivates Electabuzz's Poké Ball, sending one of his best battlers back into the fray. With the time spent resting in his Poké Ball, Electabuzz is now wide awake. He may not be as fresh as Floatzel, but he's up to the challenge. "Electabuzz, Thunder Punch!"
"Floatzel, Aqua Jet!" Electabuzz's fist radiates with electricity, whilst Floatzel surrounds itself with water, and launches itself at Electabuzz. Both hits land, with Floatzel taking the most damage. But the damage that Electabuzz sustained against Gyarados and Quagsire was building up. "Now, use Brine!" Floatzel fires off a burst of water to hit Electabuzz, to the point of nearly taking him down.
But Crasher Wake wasn't that lucky. A burst of steam erupted after Brine hits, but only Chris could see that Electabuzz is still standing. "Electabuzz, Thunder Punch!" With all that he had left, Electabuzz leaped out of the steam, going careening towards Floatzel. Thunder Punch nails Floatzel, who hits the ground hard after the attack hits. Floatzel goes down, and Chris wins his fifth gym battle.
Wake recalls his ace, and applauds Chris. "Like all the other gym leaders said, you're going places kid." Chris has stepped up next to his Electabuzz, checking on it as it is barely still standing. Crasher Wake joins Chris and Electabuzz on the center of the field, holding a tray in his hands with Pastoria City's badge sitting on it. "It seems the undertow pulled me under... but I had a great time battling with you!" Wake presents Chris the tray. "You've earned this, the Fen Badge!" Chris holds the badge in his fingers, enjoying the sight of it.
"It was a great battle, Crasher."
"That it was. Congratulations Chris. Now come on. Off to Canalave City with you. You can catch a ship in Jubilife City."
Chris nods, then recalls all of his Pokémon to their balls, before heading back outside the gym.