This is the chapter where I make my one change to Barry's team, just so you know.
Evolutions by the Resort
An empty gas tank. Chris didn't seem to realize that he had tunnel vision to this point, but he had some inkling once the tank hit the E symbol. Chris's insurance didn't provide any roadside assistance, but he did know of a gas station that was willing to send out gas in a different way. He recalled seeing a flying Pokémon being given a somewhat full gas can before it flew away with the can. Maybe that could help him out.
He was right. It took calling a few different numbers before finding the right station, but someone who answered the phone confirmed that what he saw was what actually happened. The girl on the other end of the line told him to let her know what Pokémon would be approaching the gas station, and they'd fill up fifteen dollars worth of gas. It'd be more than enough for him to get to the gas station at the nearby resort. So, Chris sent his Staravia Ikaros right on over, only for it to return with some injuries, the gas can, and a newly evolved form.
The station ended up calling Chris, telling him that someone's Houndour ran up on Ikaros once she had lowered close enough to the ground. While Ikaros was never in any real danger, she had a few wounds from the surprise attack, before defeating the little Houndour. The attendant tried to get Ikaros to stay and have someone to look at her wounds, but Ikaros was already flying away when they called after her. Whatever happened during Ikaros's flight back to Chris, it triggered her evolution.
"Good girl, Ikaros." Chris says, as he has his now Staraptor stand on the back seat of his Harley. Chris's Marshtomp partner fills up the gas tank with the can. Ikaros is better than alright, happily spreading her wings as Chris rubs underneath her chin. Once Hawke has filled up the Harley's gas tank, Chris recalls all his Pokémon, then kickstarts his Harley back up. Before he takes off however, he notices a faint glow coming from baby Togepi sitting in the basket between his handlebars. "Are you okay, Togepi?" He asks, wondering what the glow could've been. The little one chirps happily to his trainer, just like always. Chris tilts his head up at the little one, then checks to make sure the goggles and helmet are both secure on the baby's head.
There was a news crew over by Valor Lakefront on Route 214, blocking the way to the actual lake. Whatever story they were covering, they were more or less completely blocking off the path into the lake. While Chris certainly didn't have any plans to stop at the lake, he couldn't help but be disgusted by the news team bothering the Pokémon. Despite his disgust, he could only hope that the next time he passed through here, they'd be gone.
Shortly after putting them in his rear-view mirrors, Chris pulled up to the gas station at the Hotel Grand Lake on Route 213. While he was filling up his Harley's tank, he looked over across the street to see a restaurant. The name was one he had heard some snobby rich kids talking about back in school in Veilstone High. "Wonder if they fell flat on their faces." He thinks out loud. He never once liked those kids. His Togepi overheard Chris's pondering, obviously not knowing what he was thinking about. Chris looked over at the little one as he called out to him, smiled and shook his head at him. "Everything's alright Togepi. Just thinking about something."
Afterwards, Chris noticed the door to the restaurant opening up from the inside. Then, he watched Lucas step out of the restaurant. As little as Chris knew about Lucas, something about the moment he saw him step outside the restaurant made him happy to see him. So he called out to him. "Hey, Lucas!" He yells out, catching the attention of Rowan's assistant.
Lucas looks across the street to see Chris flagging him down, and a smile paints his face as well. Traffic in the resort was minimal, so Lucas simply jogged across the road to come up to Chris. "Hi Chris! How have you been?" Lucas says, as he and Chris shake hands.
"Pretty good. I just won at the gym in Veilstone City."
"Did you really? Congratulations. I," Lucas starts, as he reaches into his backpack to pull out a gym badge case. He opens it up, and it has three gym badges inside it. "managed to win the badge from Hearthome City. Fantina was a tough battle."
"Yes she is." Chris says, as he looks at Lucas's three badges. He then looks back up at his friend. "Great work, Lucas."
"Thank you. My next stop is Veilstone. They told me that I had to go in that order, but I wanted to check out Route 212, and the Great Marsh in Pastoria City. I caught a couple of new Pokémon along the way, and they did good when I ran into Barry."
"Barry's in Pastoria?"
"Yeah. He beat me in a four-on-four battle. He's got a fire-type called Magmar now. His team all around is really good, to be honest."
"And yours?"
Chris's question makes Lucas chuckle, as he looks over to a battlefield past the pools at the resort. "Do you want to see for yourself?"
Chris nods. "I do." Chris puts his Harley in neutral so he can walk it over to a parking spot. Then he and Lucas step inside the battlefield to take their sides. "I've got more than four on my team. Do you want to do four-on-four?"
Lucas nods. "That's fine by me." Lucas activates a Safari Ball. "I'm ready when you are!"
Chris nods at him, activating one of his own Poké Balls. "Let's do it." Chris and Lucas throw their balls into the air, Chris starting the battle with his Gabite, whilst Lucas starts their battle with a Skorupi. Sitting comfortably in the arms of Hawke, Chris's Togepi would bear witness to a Pokémon battle for the very first time.
"Okay Skorupi, use Slash!" Lucas's Skorupi charges at Chris's Gabite as fast as it can.
"Gabite, use Metal Claw!" Chris's Gabite's claw begins to shine as he runs at Skorupi, the two Pokémon's claws colliding as they battle each other back. Lucas's little scorpion Pokémon may not match strength or power with Gabite, but it certainly makes up for it with heart. Although Gabite wins the exchange, Skorupi remains ready for battle.
"Skorupi, Bite!" With its close proximity to Gabite, Skorupi leaps off the ground, and bites Gabite on his arm. Gabite closes his eyes tightly in reaction to the pain, reeling after it gets Skorupi off. "Alright! Now, Pin Missile!" Skorupi fires off sharp spikes at Gabite, five of them landing for noticeable damage.
"Gabite, Dragon Claw!" Now Gabite's claws radiate with draconic energy as he targets Skorupi. Little do Chris and Gabite know what's coming next.
"Skorupi, Dig!" As fast as Gabite charges at Skorupi, he isn't fast enough to hit the little Pokémon before it can burrow underground. Gabite looks around helplessly to find the bug/poison-type, only to get hit from down under as it pops out and strikes.
Many of the moves Gabite knew when Chris first captured him were no longer in the Cave Pokémon's arsenal, there was one move left over that Chris knew could come in handy right now. "Gabite, Sand-Attack!" At Chris's command, Gabite launched sand right into the eyes of Skorupi, which was now struggling to clearly spot Gabite. Chris heard Lucas let out a swear, and then capitalized on the sudden opening. "Dragon Claw!" Gabite's claws shimmer with draconic energy again, as he rushes forth and strikes down Skorupi. The head on attack on the disorganized little one is far too much for it to withstand.
Lucas sighs, and then recalls his newest capture. "You're a very cagey trainer, Chris. You know that?" Lucas says, as he activates his next Poké Ball. Chris nods at him, as he throws out his next Pokémon. "Gastrodon, it's your turn!" Lucas throws out a blue and green sea slug-like Pokémon to face down Chris's Gabite. Chris studied this Pokémon quite a bit when he first arrived in Sinnoh, knowing that there's a difference in appearance depending on which side of the region you're on. He was also well aware that it had the same weaknesses as Hawke. Still, he stuck to Gabite.
"I know you're faster, Gabite! Use Dragon Claw!" Gabite charges at Lucas's Gastrodon.
"Protect!" Lucas exclaims, and his Gastrodon surrounds itself with a protective barrier that completely negates Gabite's attack. "Now, use Icy Wind!" Gastrodon drops its barrier, opens its mouth, and lets out a breath of chilled air right in Gabite's face. Along with the damage that Gabite has already taken, the Ice-type attack it is so vulnerable to does it in. Gabite cannot continue the battle.
"Well I'll be damned." Chris says softly, as he recalls his Gabite. "You're getting the hang of this, Lucas. No wonder you got your first three gym badges so quickly."
"Well, I did have some catching up to do with you, Barry, and Dawn."
"Fair enough." Chris activates his next Poké Ball, and launches it into the air. "Zyra, you're up!" Chris's Leafeon emerges from the bright light, as it prepares for battle. "Let's see how you handle being at a disadvantage, Lucas. Zyra, use Bullet Seed!" Zyra fires off seeds right towards Gastrodon.
"Protect!" Gastrodon again raises the protective that shields it from all the seeds shot at it.
When Chris sees this, he decides to steal one of Lucas's strategies. "Zyra, Dig!" Chris's Leafeon burrows its way underground, with Gastrodon looking around in a bit of a panic as it tries to find Zyra. Lucas and Gastrodon both know that they can't use Protect again, if they don't know when Zyra is going to pounce. And sure enough, Zyra bursts from the ground, and lands a critical strike on Lucas's Gastrodon. It finds itself barely able to stay upright, and finds out the hard way that Chris has the killer instinct. "Now, finish it off with Razor Leaf!" While Lucas and Gastrodon are getting over their shock, Chris has Zyra fire sharp edged leaves at Gastrodon to take it out.
Lucas sighs, as he recalls his Gastrodon. "You use my own strategy better than I did."
Chris cracks a smile, as he suddenly reactivates Zyra's Poké Ball. "Maybe so." He says as he recalls his Leafeon.
"What are you doing?" Lucas asks as he witnesses Chris recall Zyra.
"Switching up." He says, as he activates a different Poké Ball. "This one's a really good one, but I haven't used him in battle much."
"Alright, let's go then." Lucas says as he activates his next ball. "Drifblim, come on!" Lucas calls out his hot-air balloon looking Pokémon.
After taking a quick scan of Drifblim, as he had never seen this Pokémon before, Chris knew that he was making the right choice. "Electabuzz, take the field!" Chris's bipedal tiger-like Pokémon powers up his electrical energy on his head to warm himself up for battle. Electabuzz looks up at Lucas's Drifblim floating in the air, and prepares to leap at Chris's first command. "Electabuzz, use Thunder Punch!" Electabuzz leaps into the air with his power flowing through his fist. He lands a clean strike on Drifblim, who staggers back from the pain.
"Drifblim, Ominous Wind!" Drifblim's flaps snap forward to let out a gust of repulsive wind at Electabuzz, and knocks him out of the air, down to the ground. Although the landing was painful, Electabuzz still stays on his feet.
"Keep at it Electabuzz! Thunder Punch once again!"
Before Electabuzz can jump back at Drifblim, Lucas has a counter. "Disable!" A flash can be seen from Drifblim's eyes, and suddenly the energy surging from Electabuzz's fist dies down.
"What the-?" Chris says, having never been put in this position to this point.
"Now, use Swift!" Before Chris can refocus, Lucas has his Drifblim fire star-shaped rays at Electabuzz. Electabuzz eats the attack, but then the frustration starts to set in.
"Drifblim's not the only Pokémon that can use a move that doesn't miss, Lucas. Electabuzz, Shock Wave!" Electabuzz lets out a quick jolt of electricity from its horns, which moves far too quickly for Drifblim to have any hope of dodging. Lucas notices how well his Drifblim has taken the attack however, and realizes that Ominous Wind's secondary effects have boosted its power.
It is then that he decided to see if he can get a more advantageous position. "Now, use Whirlwind!" A mystical gust of wind blows at Electabuzz, as his Poké Ball reactivates seemingly on its own, and recalls Electabuzz back within as the winds send Electabuzz back. Chris barely manages to catch the ball before it can hit the ground, and then he notices that Zyra's ball reactivates, and she gets forced back into the battle. "Gust!" The flaps snap again, whipping up a gust of wind to strike Zyra. She takes a nasty shot, but stays in the fight.
As he watches Zyra slide back in pain, Chris looks up at Lucas to see his confidence growing. "It's not in your favor yet, Lucas. Zyra, use Bite!" Zyra gets her footing back, and then leaps right at Lucas's Drifblim to bite it hard. The damage is far too much for it to carry on, and it goes crashing down to the ground. Unfortunately, Zyra cannot escape the crash, and lets out a cry of pain as it hits the ground with Drifblim. The damage is done, and Zyra goes down with Drifblim.
Concerned, Chris leaves his spot on the battlefield, and rushes up to Zyra. She isn't seriously injured, but that doesn't stop Chris from stroking his Pokémon's cheek as he checks up on her. "Are you okay?" He asks. Zyra can only respond faintly, but then something happens that draws everyone's attention away from the battle, for a moment.
From the bench where Chris's Marshtomp is sitting next to the baby Togepi, that very same baby begins to shine with a bright light. His tiny body begins to double in size, as wings sprout from his back, and his limbs elongate as the light fades away. "Togetic!" The former Togepi now proudly proclaims. Right after it has evolved, Togetic floats over beside Zyra, and energy flows from its hands that gives Zyra the strength to rise back to its feet. While she still cannot continue the battle, she has the ability to lick Togetic as a thank you.
"Thank you, Togetic." Chris says, as he looks at the former baby Pokémon. Togetic smiles at Chris, then floats back to sit beside Hawke.
"That was a really special moment." Lucas says, bringing Chris's attention back to the battle. "You don't want to use your new Pokémon in battle though?"
"I would. But I haven't even trained Togetic yet."
"Sounds like a friendship evolution."
Chris was about to ask what that was, but then he recalled learning about it back in high school. He nods his head instead, as he and Lucas ready their next Poké Balls. Chris has lost two team members, whereas Lucas is down to his last. They throw their balls, Chris bringing Electabuzz back into battle, while Lucas calls out his own Monferno. Electabuzz is as rested as he's gonna be, but Lucas's Monferno is raring to go.
But Chris knows that Electabuzz's best move is no longer disabled. "Electabuzz, Thunder Punch!" The electrical energy surges from Electabuzz's fist.
"Monferno, Flame Wheel!" Monferno curls up into a ball as fire emerges from its body, as it rolls right at Electabuzz. The two Pokémon slam right into each other, each other's power matching each other to a stalemate. Now that the two Pokémon have distance between each other, Lucas goes for a follow up. "Use Mach Punch!" Monferno picks up immense speed, and hits Electabuzz with a solid punch.
Chris's response was immediate. "Electabuzz, use Rock Smash!" While Monferno is still in such close range to Electabuzz, he hits it with a solid punch. Its defenses drop, and it closes one of its eyes to calm itself down from the stinging pain.
"Monferno, Dig!" Monferno burrows its way underground, as Electabuzz struggles to find it. He does manage to find Monferno, but when it is too late. Monferno bursts out of the ground, and strikes for massive damage. Electabuzz staggers backwards, falling down to one knee. "Now Monferno, use Mach Punch!" Monferno picks up his speed.
Chris issues his next command right at the same time Lucas issued his order. "Thunder Punch on his Jaw, Electabuzz!" Electabuzz quickly charges up the energy in his fist, and then uppercuts Monferno right on the jaw the second before it could strike him, to knock it out cold. Monferno hits the ground hard, back-first. It cannot continue, and Electabuzz wins the battle for Chris.
Lucas sighs in amazement, and can do nothing but applaud Chris after recalling his Monferno. "Well done, Chris." He walks up to the middle of the field, where Chris has moved to stand next to his Electabuzz. "You've gotta tell me. How is it that your Pokémon are so well trained that they can do things like what Electabuzz just did?"
"I think they do it for me. I don't just train them, I train my own body right beside them."
"Building some extra trust and respect?" Chris nods, then recalls his Electabuzz. "Well, thanks for a good battle Chris. I think you might've taught me something today."
"Maybe." Lucas accompanies Chris over to the bench, as he has a look at his newly evolved Togetic. "Look at you." He says, as he rubs the not as little one's face to make him smile. Chris smiles back, then picks him up. "Come on, lets get you back in the basket."
"You think he'll still fit in that basket?" Lucas asks.
"I intend to find out." Chris responds, as he picks up Togetic and walks over to his Harley. "Alright, lets see here." He places Togetic gently into the basket, but he can't get his feet comfortably into the basket. "Not gonna work, is it?" Togetic has a sad expression that confirms Chris's statement. As much as Togetic loved to ride out freely in the open, that might not be possible any longer. Chris takes a quick look at Togetic as he activates its Poké Ball for the first time since he caught him. "I'll see if I can find you a basket in Pastoria City, okay?" Togetic nods, and Chris recalls the Happiness Pokémon.
Lucas looks at Chris. "I don't remember if I told you or not, but Barry's probably waiting on you in Pastoria City."
Chris puts Togetic's deactivated ball back on his belt, then nods at Lucas. "I'll give him a call before I get there, so he and I don't have a repeat of what happened last time we ran into each other."
"I'll ask you for that story next time we meet up. I want to get to Veilstone before sundown."
Chris looks at the time on his phone. "You'd better get going, then. I'll catch you later, Lucas." Chris says, as he extends his hand.
Lucas takes it, and the two young men give each other a hug. "That you will, Chris." Lucas walks back across the street to his dirt bike, and kick starts the engine. As Chris is getting his things together, he waves at Lucas as he rides past the gas station. Once he has everything together, he kick starts his own engine, and rides off towards the Route 213 beach.