His battle with Cheren was a tough one. His inability to capture a Riolu left Nate in a moody state; a fighting type would've made Cheren a breeze to complete; despite not catching a Riolu, catching a Mareep soon after lifted his spirits. Snivy and his new partner Mareep fought tooth and nail against Cheren's normal type Pokémon. Normal types, having neither been weak nor resistant to Nate's Pokémon, made his first gym battle reasonably tricky. He had overheard that Roxie was a poison type, which would be difficult for Snivy, but he had to face the disadvantage. The path to Champion was going to be tough, and the second gym was just another obstacle.
The entrance to the Virbank City Gym was unlike any Nate had ever read about in his research of the gyms he had to compete in. Unlike Cheren's gym, which was behind Aspertia City's trainer school, Roxie's gym was deep underground. The first entrance led to a network of stairs where rock music grew louder as he descended. As Nate walked down the steps, he noticed a sign on the wall showcasing the schedule for the next couple of days. All the slots for today read:
Koffing and the Toxics
Practice Session: 12 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Concert: 7 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Upon reaching the actual entrance to the gym, the attendant behind the front desk sat up from her slumped position and faced Nate. The attendant was visibly tired, with bags under her eyes, and used herbal tea bags in a nearby trash bin.
"You here for a battle? If you're here for the concert, it's not happening anytime soon," She grumbled, annoyed that her attempted nap was interrupted.
"No, I'm here for the battle I registered for at 3:00 p.m.," Nate responded. "You were the one who wrote down the appointment for me two days ago."
"Did I?" She questioned herself as she began clicking her pen on the side of her head. The attendant started to flip over her clipboard and noticed Nate's name. "Oh yeah, right, you're Nate, correct?" He nodded. "Well, you're here a little early. Just go inside and wait for their practice session to end."
Nate thanked the attendant in response, but she spoke up right before he touched the door handle.
"Hey, can you make the battle as long as possible?" She requested as she returned to her slumped position on the desk. "The battles here are so much quieter than Roxie's band. I haven't slept properly in ages."
Wanting to finish the fight as fast as he could, Nate gave the attendant a shrug and a nod. Neither responded with a yes or no. When he opened the doors, volume blasted Nate's body with the full force of the underground club's music. Many speakers and subwoofers decorated every free space in the room.
"P! O! K! É! M! O N! POKÉMON!"
Covering his ears, Nate walked over to the table furthest from all the speakers and waited for the band to finish playing. While waiting, he looked around the underground club and noticed several people listening to the band. The DJ was in the back of the club, playing with his turntable and adjusting the balance levels of the song. Roxie's band was so absorbed in their playing that they never noticed Nate entering through the double doors. The main stage was small, but it was the perfect size for Roxie's band, consisting of a lead bass, electric guitar, and drums. The back wall of the stage had a picture of a Koffing, fitting the band's name. The club's center was empty since it acted as the battlefield for the gym.
As Nate observed the club/gym and looked back at the band, Roxie finished her final riff, ending with a strum reverberating across the room. She stood dramatically, looking down with her playing hand held up high. When Roxie looked up, the audience began to lightly applaud. She noticed the loudest person clapping was Nate, standing out from the crowd with his visor and bright blue jacket.
"So you're Nate? The trainer set for 3 o'clock?" She spoke as she held the mic, pointing at Nate. When Nate nodded in response, Roxie flung her guitar behind her like a backpack and jumped off the stage, pokéball already in hand.
"The attendant told me a while ago that this is your second badge, so I'll be using a corresponding team for that," she explained as she walked to her side of the arena. "I'm also not going to hold back; I have some pent up anger that rocking out won't fix."
The DJ picked up his mic, and after tapping it twice to test its functionality, he announced to the sparse audience, "Today's match is between the challenger Nate and the gym leader Roxie. As this is Nate's second badge challenge, Roxie will be using her second badge team. This will be a two-on-two match, and only the challenger is allowed to swap out. The battle is over if the challenger calls forfeit or renders the defender's team unable to battle."
Roxie turned back to face Nate, who was prepared, standing on the opposite side. "Get ready, 'cause I'm about to knock some sense outta ya!" Roxie asks, ready to throw her Pokémon into the battlefield.
"I'm ready to return the favor," Nate replied, grabbing a pokéball from his belt and touching the button, enlarging it.
After their short conversation, the DJ spoke into the mike, "Are both trainers ready?" When they both looked at the DJ with a fiery glare, he took it as a yes and continued, "Then let the match…BEGIN!"
Nate and Roxie throw their pokéballs in tandem into the arena, both shouting their Pokémon's names simultaneously.
"Let's do this, Mareep!" "Go, Whirlipede!"
With a click from both pokéballs, a shimmer of light escapes them. When their respective Pokémon appear in front of them, their trainers issue out their commands instantly.
"Mareep, use cotton spore!" "Whirlipede, rollout!"
Mareep's wool began to glow as vast clumps swiftly flew towards Whirlipede's route, blocking rollout's stampede.
"Tch, you made the right play." Moxie scoffed, "Whirlipede! Turn and switch to poison sting!"
Whirlipede halted before it hit the first ball of wool on the ground and jumped to the right, shooting a sharp, pointy needle in Mareep's direction. A poison sting hits Mareep in her front leg, the venom beginning to course through her veins.
"Shit! Mareep! Take the needle out and use a thunder wave!"
Using her hoof, she knocked the needle out of her leg before more poison could enter and sent ripples of electricity around her. The thunder wave successfully hit Whirlipede before he could roll away, causing the Pokémon to twitch erratically.
"How astounding, ladies and gentlemen!" The DJ exclaimed, "Both trainers have already inflicted status effects on each other in such a short time frame! Already, this match is getting toxic!"
The crowd began to encourage the two trainers, equally split between the challenger and the defender.
"Go, Roxie! Beat him for the next concert!" "Go, Nate!" "Beat Roxie!" "Stomp the newcomer!"
Nate grinned as he heard the encouragement; even hearing Roxie's fans cheering for her motivated him to prove them wrong.
"Use tackle and cotton spore on his eye!"
Before Whirlipede could react, Mareep was already in front of the poisonous bug type and hit Tack squarely in the eye. When Whirlipede stumbled, making clicking noises as it was bearing the pain, Mareep shot a ball of wool at its injured eye.
"Ooooh!" The DJ recoiled, putting his hands before his mouth when Mareep connected her tackle. "Whirlipede is now both paralyzed and blinded on his left side! How will Roxie fight with more disadvantages weighing her Pokémon down?"
"Fight off the paralysis, Whirlipede! Use screech!"
An ear-splitting, shrill noise emanated from the bug's mouth, causing everyone in the underground club to cover their ears, Nate included. Roxie soon issued another command while his ears were still deafened.
"Perfect! Now use rollout at 10 o'clock!"
Whirlipede shifted left and began to roll towards Mareep. Despite paralysis affecting his top speed, it still packed a punch when he pummeled Mareep right on her forehead. Mareep stumbled around after receiving the blow, still trying her best to stay afoot.
"Mareep, use thundershock while Whirlipede's close to you!"
Sparks of electricity began to accumulate around her wool and soon shot the collected energy, shocking Whirlipede. He began to roll side to side until he fell onto the floor like a loose tire.
"Roxie's Whirlipede is unable to battle!" With Nate's Mareep still standing and his other Pokémon on standby, let's see how Roxie can turn the tide in her favor!"
Roxie called back Whirlipede into her pokéball, whispering into it as she brought it to her forehead, "You did well; your poison brought his Pokémon to its knees."
Mareep was barely keeping it together, her face scrunched up from the poison that's been in her body far longer than it should've.
"Mareep, you did great! Good job on holding it out till the end." Nate complimented her, soon calling her back into her pokéball. "Let's have Snivy take over now."
"Nate uses his right as a challenger to swap out his Pokémon! What will our battlers change to now?"
"Let's finish this, Snivy!" "It's on you now, Koffing!"
Nate released his first Pokémon and starter while Roxie let out the namesake of her band.
"Bold of you to have a grass type sent out!" Roxie scoffed as she crossed her arms. "Hope you have a strategy knowing you're under a type disadvantage! Koffing, use smokescreen!"
Fumes emerged from the Koffing's geysers, covering the combat zone in a thick haze of smoke. Snivy began looking over his shoulder frantically, expecting an attack from an unexpected angle.
"Snivy, use magical leaf to blow the smoke away!"
Snivy began to spin on the tip of his feet as he summoned leaves, revolving alongside the grass snake Pokémon. The whirlwind that the magical leaves created from rotating repeatedly sucked up the smoke. When Snivy stopped spinning around, the smoke and the leaves dissipated from the arena.
"There hasn't been a trainer this creative since our previous champion," Roxie thought as Nate grinned, glad that his idea worked.
"I'd better end this fast! Koffing, use tackle!" Roxie commanded as she threw a hand to her side.
Koffing launched towards Snivy, hitting him on the side. Snivy fell to the ground but quickly regained his footing.
"Use wrap on Koffing while he's close!"
Vines began to extend from Snivy's shoulders and wrapped around Koffing like a ball of yarn. Without another command from Nate, Snivy began to ram Koffing up and down onto the ground multiple times.
"Damn it, there he goes again! Koffing, use poison gas!"
His purple fumes caused Snivy to let go of his vine whips, the poison beginning to burn off the first layer, but the damage had already been done. Koffing was having difficulty keeping afloat, slowly gravitating towards the floor as time passed.
"Alright, let's finish this Snivy! Use vine whip and smack him down!"
Without sparing another second, Snivy withstood the pain inflicted by poison gas on its plant-like tendrils and used two vines to smack Koffing onto the ground. The impact created a cloud of dust, creating a sense of unease in Roxie. When the dust dissipated, Snivy stood firm before Koffing, who remained on the ground and fainted from the repeated physical blows.
The silence left from the final attack was broken by the DJ, who tapped into the mic and spoke, "My goodness, ladies and gentlemen! I have not seen a spectacular battle like this in ages! The victor is Nate!"
The DJ's announcement led to the crowd erupting into a frenzy of applause. Roxie sent Koffing back into a pokéball and walked over to Nate, who was spraying a potion bottle on both Snivy and Mareep's injuries.
Digging into her pockets, she took two pecha berries and handed them to Nate. "You're gonna need these as well. Nice battle, Nate."
"Thanks, Roxie," Nate replied, taking the pechas and passing them to his Pokémon.
As they ate their berries, Roxie asked Nate, "How did you come up with clearing the smoke with magical leaf?"
"Well, I knew I was going to have trouble with this battle since I was under a type disadvantage with my two Pokémon." Nate turned back and faced his Snivy. "I know that the Snivy evolution learns leaf storm much later in their life, but spinning around some summoned leaves is fundamentally the same as its move counterpart. And since leaf storm uses wind to a certain extent, I expected my discount version to be the same."
Roxie laughed, "Tricks like this will get you far, Nate. Here you go, you deserve this." Roxie rummaged through her pocket and took out the toxic badge, dropping it on Nate's open hand.
Nate stared at the golden badge with embedded purple gems, laughing cheerfully as he held it high to his head. The club broke into another round of applause in response.
When the noise died down, Roxie tapped his shoulder and explained the situation.
"So you're going to Castelia City next, right?" When Nate confirmed her question, she continued, "Well, you're out of luck. The only person who has a round trip from Virbank to Castelia by boat is my Pops, who's too dense to listen to me." She sighed, looking down at the ground with her hands on her hips.
"I know you're capable, especially after seeing you battle, so I will ask for a favor for Virbank's and my sake. Can you get my Pops to leave the Pokéstar Studios and return to his job?"
"Sure, Roxie." Nate accepted as he called back his Pokémon, who returned to a healthy condition. "I'll find him as soon as I can."
"Thanks, Nate. Just look for someone named Liam O'Connor; he should be doing whatever actors do at movie studios."
Nate hummed in response, turning around and exiting the underground club through the double doors. He was now one step closer to his dream of being Unova's champion.
During the walk in the forest, Harper got to familiarize himself with his two rescuers. The male herdier went by Winston, and the female herdier's name was Willow. Both of them were under the care of their ranch owner and his wife. To pass the time while they walked, the two herdiers began talking about their encounter with an evil human.
"So get this son, some evil-looking trainer in a strange black costume decided to steal my dear Willow!" Winston barked in anger upon remembering the event. "Our trainers and I had no idea how she went missing, and we wouldn't have ever found out if it weren't for those two trainers who came by."
Willow continued the story as Winston tried to catch his breath from his rant. "They immediately started looking for me when they heard I went missing. The evil trainer stole me while I was behind the barn, leading a lost Mareep back to the field. He tried to run away from the scene as fast as he could but got lost in the forest. Then, the nice trainer found us and roughed up the bad guy."
"What did the trainer that saved you look like?" Harper questioned, "Did he have a visor with a blue jacket and shorts?"
"Why yes, he did. How did you know that?"
Harper couldn't find a proper response without revealing outside knowledge. He found the perfect opportunity to change the conversation when he saw a fence dividing the forest from the ranch.
"Is that the ranch you live at?" Harper asked, pointing at the fence.
"There's no ranch around here, son, other than our Floccesy Ranch," Winston answered. "Let's pick up the pace; I doubt you want to feel more pain now."
The human-turned-Riolu nodded in response as the herdiers began walking faster. After ducking under the fence and exiting the forest, Harper looked around the ranch, amazed at how ordinary it looked. The farm was surrounded by a fenced perimeter with a vast field for the Mareep to graze. A smaller field section was fenced off, and mounds of hay sat in the corner. The wooden barn, stablehouse, and silo stood side-by-side with a bright red roof on each one. If the Mareep were replaced by sheep from Earth, Harper would assume he was back in his original world.
The trio of Pokémon walked up to the two ranch owners who were reboarding the side of the stablehouse. The woman was reboarding the bottom of the wall as the man was on a ladder, reboarding the top. The man wore a bandana damp from sweat and green overalls dirty from sawdust and dirt. The woman was clothed in a vest and dress, just as dirty as her husband's. Her visor helped block the heat rays of the sun.
"Hey, Reed! We need urgent care right now!" Winston barked loudly, surprising the man and dropping his hammer and nail. Just as he was about to fall off, he regained his footing and grabbed the ladder's sides, catching his breath.
"Winston!" The man said in a tense voice as he descended the ladder, "You know how easily I get scar-"
His face of irritation soon turned into shock as he glanced at Riolu. His body was covered in injuries, the first and second-degree burns singing the fur, the chest area being the largest. Cuts covered nearly every part of his extremities, blood staining the fur.
"Meadow!" The rancher yelled, "We got an injured Pokémon here! Get the first aid kit in the living room!"
His wife stopped working on the stablehouse, rushing over to Harper with the same face the man made.
"Oh goodness, Reed. I'll do just that: bring Riolu to the kitchen table." She said, leaving the group behind.
"Well, Willow and Winston, you heard her. Let's move on now." Reed picked up Harper and ran to the nearby house. Harper, being both physically and mentally tired from every situation since his encounter with an explosion, felt his consciousness going dark when Reed entered the front door.
Author's Notes: This was my first time writing a pokémon battle so bear with me. Constructive criticism is welcome.