Even with the type advantage in his favor, Tyrogue still could've lost the battle against Micah and Aron. That one Metal Burst had done a number on him and he was barely able to finish the fight. I recalled him to his ball. I wanted to congratulate him, I really did but getting him treated was more important.

I took off the mic and stepped down off the platform. Micah walked over to meet me, offering me a handshake.

"Your Tyrogue's a piece of work. I thought for sure Metal Burst would backfire and be the end of him but the little guy kept tearing into poor Aron."

"I wasn't sure what to expect, Steel Types are such a mixed bag that the wrong matchup could've been a nightmare." I replied.

"You did fine. Now let's schedule your match with the old man so you can get to the Center."

Micah was nice enough for an older Trainer. The kind of person that was willing to shoot the shit and give advice without talking down to you. We went back to the desk and he got me scheduled for a match in five days. Enough time for Tyrogue to heal up so we could form a plan for Byron.

The battle with Micah was a wakeup call. If a Gym Trainer's Pokemon had something like Metal Burst, Byron would definitely have the same thing. There had to be a way to work around it and make sure that Metal Burst couldn't or wouldn't come into play. I had the next four days to work with Mudkip and Tyrogue on a plan.

I thanked Micah and took off for the Pokemon Center.

A few hours later, Mudkip and I were in the park outside of Canalave. He was practicing Dig and getting more accustomed to swimming through the ground. It was important he built up the stamina now but it would also help once he was a true Ground Type.

While he did that, I was researching any online battles or forum posts that mentioned the use of Metal Burst. From what I was seeing, there were moves that made the use of it difficult. Hammering the target with many weak hits guaranteed that Metal Burst wouldn't pack as much of a punch but it also came with the downside that these were Steel Types I was dealing with. They didn't go down easily, and you had to make the damage count. There was also the option of gambling and trying to fake out the opponent while swapping between weak and strong moves. It might work, but it also came with the risk that if the opponent could read and predict your moves, you may as well forfeit on the spot.

Then I remembered my opponent had been battling longer than I'd been alive. Trying to push my luck with someone like Byron wouldn't work. I needed a plan.

From what I'd looked into, the only move Tyrogue could learn that used many fast but weak hits was Comet Punch, a Normal Type move. Mudkip couldn't learn any at all.

There was just no way over this hurdle, there were no multi hit moves available and we couldn't deal damage fast enough to avoid the backlash from Metal Burst. Even Tyrogue's Double Kick had rebounded and done significant damage to him.

Wait a minute. Tyrogue had been right on top of Aron when Metal Burst had been used. Maybe the move had a limited range? If that was the case, I could keep Mudkip at a safe distance without risking the backlash. For Tyrogue it would be harder, as his only option was to stay far away with Swift, a Normal Type move that likely wouldn't do a lot to a Steel Type.

I groaned, rubbing my eyes in frustration. Every time I thought I was making progress, another factor reared its ugly head at me. I really didn't want to think of him that way, but Tyrogue was looking to be a bit of a liability in this battle. He couldn't deal damage without risking getting hurt but at the same time, wasn't he also at risk of getting hit with any other move when he got that close to his opponent? At that point…

Why not just attack anyway and go for it? The backlash was coming, and we could deal significant damage in the meantime or stay on the defensive and do nothing. It started to fall together that the use of a move like Metal Burst was psychological. It forced your opponent to battle differently. Fundamentally, it was a game of chicken, testing the resolve of either side. If I backed off or hesitated, I didn't think Tyrogue would ever forgive me. I couldn't let him down, not in our first Gym Battle.

"Mud!"

"Huh?"

Mudkip was poking his head up out of the ground, staring at me with his head cocked. He was covered in mud but it looked like he was enjoying the exercise.

Mom had been over the moon when I'd sent her the picture of him. She thought Tyrogue was adorable, but she was infatuated with Mudkip and demanded to see more of him. After the Gym Battle with Byron, regardless of the outcome, I'd be passing through Jubilife so I'd make sure she got to spend plenty of time with him. I took another picture of him and sent it to her along with the day of the Gym Battle. I also texted Glen and Nathan and let them know as well. They were the reason I had a Pokemon to start my journey with and Glen specifically had asked to see the battle.

"You're doing great, Mudkip. I think we're gonna head back now, but do you want to walk with me?"

He sunk slightly lower into the ground, to the point where only his eyes and headfine were visible. The Water Type yawned and his eyes drooped before he shook his head. I took that as a no and recalled him before heading back to Canalave.

The following day during the afternoon I picked up Tyrogue from the nurses and headed to our spot outside of the city. I released him and Mudkip so we could begin to workshop our plans to fight Byron. Upon releasing Tyrogue, he whipped around until he saw me and his face lit up with joy before stomping his feet in place with excitement.

"Tyro, Ty Ty!"

"You did incredibly well, Tyrogue. I'm sorry you didn't get to see Mudkip, but you're gonna do amazing too." I told them. Tyrogue grinned, puffing out his chest and flexing his arms. He was proud of himself, and I was proud of how well he'd been doing. Mudkip cocked his head, but he seemed to just be happy for Tyrogue.

"Now, we get to work on our strategy for taking on Byron. For you Tyrogue," I knelt down to him and offered him a fist bump. "I want you to try combining Swift and Mach Punch together. See if you can land the punch while keeping Swift active. I know it's not a move we use too often, but for this it's kind of important."

I had landed on the idea the night before. If we couldn't actually use something like Arm Thrust or Comet Punch, we could at least attempt to simulate the effect. I was hoping that by throwing many attacks at once like a barrage of Swifts with Mach Punch or Double Kick mixed in, the backlash from Metal Burst might trigger from one of the many Swifts instead of the more powerful Fighting Type move. It was still risky, as I didn't know the exact mechanics of the move and it still put Tyrogue in close range but there really was no alternative.

"Remember your battle with Aron? That Metal Burst attack really hurt. This is going to be our way of trying to get around it. It's not a perfect plan, but we're gonna give it a try."

Tyrogue gave me a fierce look before nodding. He was ready.

"Now Mudkip, you're gonna be trying something with Rock Throw. Do you think you can control the rocks once they're flying through the air?"

Mudkip cocked his head at me before stomping the ground. A small rock shot out of the ground and flew high into the air. Mudkip reared up onto his back legs and flailed his arms, and as the rock was nearing the end of its arc and coming closer, it suddenly shot straight downwards, landing in the dirt with a solid thunking noise.

For both Tyrogue and Mudkip, Bronzor and Magnemite would be a huge pain for them to face. It was bad enough that they had type advantages but they could stay far away and pelt them with ranged moves. If we could knock them down long enough to do some damage, it would turn the tide of the battle.

"Holy shit, you actually did it! That's awesome! You'll stick with me and we'll try it again, okay? Tyrogue, why don't you practice on a tree nearby? Stay where I can see you though, and don't go into the woods or the water." I told him.

"Ty!"

Around thirty minutes later, while Mudkip was making great progress with our Rock Throw strategy, Tyrogue approached me and pulled on the leg of my pants. He was looking down and away, frowning.

"Tyrogue? Everything ok?" I asked him.

The Fighting Type shook his head, then pointed at a tree. He settled in his stance, and his fist began to glow. Tiny stars began to wink into existence around him and he soon had around eight or nine floating near him. Tyrogue threw the Mach Punch, reaching the tree instantly and connecting with a solid hit.

There was a problem though. The Swift he'd built up hadn't kept up with him. The tiny cluster of stars floated towards him before popping and disappearing. They hadn't even made it halfway. Tyrogue looked down from where he stood under the tree, looking dejected as he kicked a nearby clump of dirt.

I approached him and knelt down to him, placing my hand on his shoulder.

"You did fine, Tyrogue. You did everything I asked you to. The problem isn't you, it's what I had you doing. It's just not possible with Mach Punch, and that's ok. I want you to try it with Double Kick and Low Kick. And don't give up on yourself, you can do this, ok?" I told him.

Tyrogue smiled, looking up at me and opening his arms up wide.

He wanted a hug?

I wrapped my arms around Tyrogue as he squeezed my midsection a lot harder than I thought he was capable of. I let go of him, then stood up.

"Now give it another try while I check on Mudkip."

I walked back to where I'd left Mudkip, who had his back to me and was surrounded by rocks that he'd pulled from the ground. A lot of them he'd gained control of and shot straight into the ground, but there were a good few that had fallen out of his range. I guess he had stopped when I walked away, but he was looking at something else now, someone nearby.

Damien was watching him from a bench nearby and scowling. Arceus, this guy was like a bad cold. How had he even found us?

I approached Mudkip and stood near him before addressing the blonde-haired kid.

"What do you want, Damien?"

He snorted derisively. "A battle. But I get it if you're too chickenshit, that's why you ran away the last two times, yeah?" he chided. His blonde hair fell in front of his face in greasy strands and a cocky smirk grew on his face.

Something pulled on the leg of my pants, and Tyrogue was at my left side. He was giving Damien the evil-eye, glaring at the Trainer before looking up at me and nodding. I didn't want to just throw Tyrogue and Mudkip into battles because of problems I'd created. Gym Battles and training were one thing, this was different.

"What do you think, Mudkip? Do you want to battle him?" I called to the Water Type.

He turned around to look at me, and nodded. There was a glint in his eye. Just like Tyrogue, he wanted to battle too. It occurred to me that this would be his first battle against another Trainer.

"Get a hold of Helen and Karl, one of them can referee for us."

The arena we'd chosen actually had different field options aside from the standard flat ground. There were grass fields, one that used floating platforms in water and another made of sand. We'd determined that the rocky ground field would be our battlefield. It would be better for Mudkip, as the sandy field would likely stop him from using Rock Throw altogether.

I didn't know what kind of Trainer Damien was, but from what his friends had told me he wasn't taking it seriously enough. Helen had even said that three Pokemon didn't mean a thing when they weren't trained well.

Helen cleared her throat, and stepped into the referee square with a smile.

"This will be a 2-on-2 battle with 1 switch and a thirty minute time limit. You may begin on my signal!"

A few seconds later, Helen whistled and we released our Pokemon onto the field.

Tyrogue materialized, and on the other end of the field his opponent did the same. A squat creature with black and white fur and a leaf sticking out of its mouth, with a mischievous grin on its face. Pancham. I had wanted Houndour, but if Tyrogue could stand his ground against Jangmo-o, then another Fighting Type of his size was probably in his wheelhouse.

"Arm Thrust!" Damien called out.

Pancham sprinted towards Tyrogue with its tiny fists glowing. When it was close enough, I threw out my first command.

"Mach Punch!"

Tyrogue shot forward, his fist cracking into Pancham's nose and stopping the attack. I saw Damien grit his teeth.

"Get back and Work Up!"

Pancham leapt backwards away from Tyrogue, putting distance between the two of them. The small black Fighting Type spread its feet and roared, bolstering its offensive capabilities.

"Tyrogue, Mimic!"

A blue light shone from Tyrogue's eyes, and it copied Pancham's movements as he screamed out.

Damien's eyes went wide, and I could tell he was panicking. Most Trainers didn't expect to have their setup moves like Work Up or Iron Defense used against them. Though, from a bit of research I'd done the trade off with stealing those moves with Mimic was that they had limited duration. That, and the more unusual the move was to the Mimic user it had an even shorter duration. With Work Up, my best guess was that Tyrogue had about two minutes, tops. It just meant we had to stay on the offensive.

"Mach Punch!"

A sound like a whip cracking echoed through the arena, and Tyrogue's fist connected with Pancham's gut, but the other Fighting Type wasn't backing off.

"Vital Throw!"

Pancham grabbed Tyrogue's arm before he could recover, pulling him in and rolling my starter over his shoulder before slamming him into the rocky ground. Tyrogue yelled out in pain, and I winced as I watched.

"Double Kick!"

Tyrogue's eyes snapped open and he swung his legs up, one kick grazing the side of Pancham's head. He twisted and threw himself back.

"Arm Thrust!"

"Dizzy Punch!"

Pancham's tiny hands began to glow and it ran forward, throwing rapid palm strikes at Tyrogue, who blocked and shielded his body with one arm, tightening his guard before ducking the assault with a glowing fist. He sprung upward, the Dizzy Punch uppercut connecting and throwing Pancham upwards and back. Pancham landed on his back before struggling to get to his feet on shaky limbs. Damien glowered at me before recalling Pancham and sending out Houndour. The canine Pokemon yawned, then snapped to attention when he saw Tyrogue.

In my opinion it was a bad move defensively. Like with Metal Burst, sometimes using a switch was like a game of chicken, and when you only had one it could really backfire. Damien was about to see that firsthand. Now he was locked into Houndour and I could switch offensively to Mudkip and he would have to either fight it out or lose out on having Houndour for the rest of the battle. I recalled Tyrogue, and sent out Mudkip to replace him. Then I lost control of the battle.

"Flamethrower!"

I hadn't expected that. Ember or Incinerate maybe, but Flamethrower was a powerful move that most Pokemon of the Fire Type would have to build towards. Had I underestimated Damien?

But Mudkip was moving before I could give him an order, running from the burst of fire that had erupted from Houndour's maw. He wasn't just moving to avoid damage. I could see the palpable panic on his face. He was terrified.

It had thrown me for a loop, and I was the one panicking now. It wasn't something any Trainer expected of a Water Type, for them to be afraid of fire. It was against his nature, wasn't it? Part of who he was, it was ingrained into him to be fundamentally opposed to the Fire Typing. And he was running for his life, ducking behind boulders to avoid being scorched.

"Dig!"

He was diving headfirst into the ground before the order had fully escaped my mouth. Mudkip didn't need me, he was operating on his own instincts but I couldn't give up and leave him on his own out there. A few seconds passed and nothing happened. He wasn't reappearing.

"Houndour, go flush it out!"

The Dark Type ran for the hole where Mudkip had gone for safety, and began to open its mouth, flames building up in his mouth. The Water Type burst out of the ground, slamming into Houndour's midsection and blasting it back with a Water Gun.

The canine Pokemon rolled and recovered, growling and getting back to its feet with an angry look pointed at Mudkip. Houndour opened his eyes, and unleashed another Flamethrower with a wider spread. Mudkip turned and began to flee, running towards me as he tried to escape the fire.

"Mud Mudkip!"

"Dig!"

Mudkip cried out, the roar of the flames cutting off his voice as he was engulfed in Houndour's Flamethrower. I hoped that he heard me, that he could break away and Dig his way out. I balled my fists up, hoping for some kind of sign that he was okay.

A white light broke through the overwhelming flames, and without Damien giving the order, Houndour snapped his jaw shut, ceasing his attack and retreated back a few steps.

Mudkip was…evolving.

When the light faded, he was standing on two legs. His skin had a green tint to it now, and he had black fins on his arms and head. Marshtomp was terribly burned all over and a faint blue glow surrounded him as he took ragged breaths. That was Torrent, his Ability, coming into play. Which meant he was nearing his limit.

Marshtomp dove for the ground, and the earth swallowed him up. There wasn't even a hole left behind, it was like he'd sunk into water.

"Faint Attack, get out of there!"

The colors of Houndour's body faded, and he became slightly intangible and hard to see as he ran from where Marshtomp had sunk into the ground. The effect was broken when Houndour yelped, his back legs having been pulled into the earth leaving his top half above ground and struggling to pull himself free. As the color returned to the Fire Type's body, Marshtomp's head appeared right beneath his. Houndour opened his mouth with flames ready to strike, but the attack was snuffed out when a geyser shot forth from Marshtomp's mouth, sending the canine Pokemon skyward.

Marshtomp emerged from the ground, a ball of earth and mud coalescing between his hands. The thing was a foot in diameter and growing. As Houndour fell down, Marshtomp screamed, slamming the Mud Bomb into his opponent. It exploded outwards, coating them both in mud. Houndour lay in a crumpled pile nearby, and when he didn't rise to his feet, Marshtomp turned his back and began walking towards me.

"Houndour is unable to battle! Damien, send out your last Pokemon! And quit giving me that look!"

Pancham reappeared on Damien's end of the field, standing on shaky limbs but ready to fight.

"Arm Thrust!"

Pancham sprinted forward, and Marshtomp spun around to face it. He released a jet of water from his mouth that slammed into the Fighting Type and sent it tumbling backwards. Marshtomp waited a few seconds, and when Pancham didn't get up he turned back to keep walking towards me.

"Pancham is unable to battle! The victory goes to Titus and Marchomp!"

I ran out onto the field to meet Marshtomp and congratulate him.

And he was crying. His eyes were closed, tears streaming down his cheeks as he choked up and sobbed. I was at a loss, he had just evolved and won the battle and…

Marshtomp had been running for his life from those flames. Fear spurred him into action, and when push came to shove, he fought back. I knelt down and hugged the Water Type, holding his head against my shoulder. Marshtomp returned the embrace, crying into my shirt and rapidly soaking through it. I didn't mind, not when he was in pain.

"I didn't…I didn't know about the fire, Marshtomp. If I'd known, I wouldn't have sent you out against Houndour." I whispered to him. "But I'm proud of you for fighting when you were scared, regardless of the outcome. You fought so well, little lazy fish." I blinked, and had to wipe away a few tears of my own. Marshtomp giggled and smiled at me, tears still flowing but I could tell it was helping.

"Oh, shut up!" Damien shouted. "Bad enough you're crying like you lost, leave the sad sack shit at home!" He yelled before storming off out of the arena.

"Damien!" Helen shouted after him but he was already out the door by the time she called for him. "I'm sorry he's such a jerk, Titus. But you did really well! Especially you, Marshtomp!" She knelt down and pinched his cheek, and he giggled.