Hello one and all to another chapter of Pokemon SVTA where today, it's Nemona's big day, the start of her first Gym and she'll have to do everything she can for both the Gym test and battle itself. Now I said this before but I'm not good at describing battles and this will also be the case for Gym battles, so I'll do my best to make them as entertaining as possible.
Without further ado, let's begin.
Cover Story 20: The Looker files #2: The Rosey Lookalike (Part 2):
Last time, the detective Looker and his two new proteges Jenny and Lock head to the Freezington, Galar in search of two runaways from custody; Rose and Oleana who caused the events of the Darkest Day. Upon arriving however, Looker is immediately forced into a battle with the former Galarian Champion Peony after being forced to by Peony's daughter, Peonia who wants to go to the Max Lair.
Feeling he has no choice in the matter, Looker agrees, and Looker sends out his Centiskorch while Peony sends out his Copperajah and both proceed to battle but unbeknownst to both, Peonia uses this opportunity to sneak away catching Lock's and Jenny's attention as they go after her. Both battle for a little while until they realized it was a trick and Looker agrees to search for Peony's daughter but just as he says that, Peony's fatherly instincts kick in and comedically runs to the cave shouting out sweetie before Looker also realizes that his two proteges are gone most likely in search of Peonia.
Looker promised someone something so he's going to get it done and heads into the den to find out from his assistant Jenny that Lock went in there out of sheer bravery and Peony went in there recklessly as well without safety. Looker also realizes that he was joined by two others, Mairin and Faba who are there for their own purposes, but Mairin appeared to be nervous about something plus her Chespie wasn't there and Faba's was unknown.
The woman tells the 4 that they have to work in a group to get through the Max Dens, a series of Dens that contain random Dynamaxed and Gigantimaxed Pokemon and gives them their own Dynamax Band to allow them to Dyna/Gigantimax their Pokemon and to not wander in aimlessly like Lock and Peony. Looker asks if Peonia was in the group to which the woman points over there to see Peonia walking over as the woman reveals that Peony didn't look to his left when he went in. Looker comments that he really needs coffee before the woman tells everyone to pick out a rental Pokemon due to particle effects of the caves that could affect a user's own Pokemon but can catch the Pokemon and swap them out in the dens after battles.
Peonia chooses Pangoro, Looker picks out a Coalossal that can GMAX, Mairin picks out a Drakloak and Faba chooses a Jigglypuff (only due to it being the last one) and all 4 head in.
END
Cover Story 21: Alain's Investigation Days 2: Runaway
Last time, Alain and Mairin arrived at the village of Freezington, Galar to investigate rumors of supposed regional forms to the 'Kantonian Birds'. When they arrive, they help out the village with their vegetation problem and encounter a professor named Sonia who is also seeking out the birds but also the Swords of Justice and that the house she's staying in has spare rooms if they want to stay. The two agree but just as they were about to head inside, Mairin notices a strange rabbit-head object that looks like it goes on a statue.
Mairin cleans it up and puts it on a nearby statue which attracts the attention of a mysterious Pokemon who watches in joy over Mairin placing statue head on there before it hides back.
Inside, Sonia explains that she's here in rumors of those two groups of Pokemon to which Alain mentions that he's also here for regional forms but asks why the Swords of Justice. Sonia mentions that she heard from an individual that a robotic looking Virizion was sighted in the Crown Tundra and supposedly caught the Swords of Justices attention and were reportedly found here via their footprints. Sonia is also curious about the birds as while she knows a regular Pokemon can have a Regional form, she's confused as to why those Legendary Pokemon have a regional form.
As Alain and Sonia were talking, Chespie smells something outside and follows the smell to which Mairin follows her Chespin to find out that he followed the scent into Max Den and heads in to find out her Chespin did indeed go in but unfortunately, she's stopped from going in recklessly saying that she'll have to wait for 3 others to arrive in order to head in and starts to worry what might happen to her Chespin.
End
Cover Story 22: Gladion's Ultra Journey 2: Cosmog's return? part 2
Last time, Gladion, Rotom Dex and Faba head to the Crown Tundra after the Aether Foundation's radar picks up on Ultra Beast energy within the town of Freezington and after Gladion helps an old woman, they 3 find out that the old woman's home is home to Ultra Beasts who are doing housework strangely enough.
The old woman asks if they're hungry and need a place to sleep, they accept the offer and have dinner. Rotom asks about the Ultra Beasts to which the woman mentions them having been found injured one day and decided to heal them up, she took care of them as if they were her own family until eventually, they decided to stay and help little ole her.
She then begins to cough badly worrying everyone including the Ultra Beasts with Blacephelon getting her medicine, Xurxitree came outside from the garden and passed out fruit to everyone. Gladion asks if she has any other family to which she shook her head saying that she drove them away due to circumstances and that she wants to redeem herself but it's too late for her saying that her sickness will take her first.
Faba asks how the Ultra Beasts came out here in the first place to which the oldster isn't sure, but she remembers having seem injured and that Cosmog here was an egg when she found them near the Max Dens around a month prior and that she's been helping them since then. Faba decides to take a breather outside to comprehend it all and his small map device picks up on some crazy energy within the Max Dens and decides to head in there.
Upon arriving, he's placed into a waiting area where he sees the girl Mairin upset and notices a pin of hers that resembles a Lokix with sunglasses seemingly catching Faba's attention. He asks if the pin is from the 'Mighty fighting Lokix Rangers' to which Mairin cheers up and says yes saying it's one of her favorite shows and the two go on taking about the show and some popular moments such as when the rangers kick down a door to the villain's wedding simply to cheer him on despite his villainy and all other weird shenanigans as the two wait for two more people to show up.
Meanwhile, Gladion and Rotom figure out more about the oldster and her 'family' such as how Cogmog there has red cheeks instead of blue like the Cosmog they know and how the woman seems to look sadly out the window. Gladion asks what's up and the oldster reveals that there is another child of her who got jealous for all the attention their siblings were getting and how they couldn't fit into the house and so left the house being a large Pokemon with a mouth as huge as a crater to which the two realize it's Guzzlord.
They worry that Guzzlord might've went on a rampage, but the woman says she last saw them crying around the temple of Regidrago in the distance but couldn't reach there due to her age. Gladion agrees to go find Guzzlord and asks Rotom to stay while he does so, unbeknownst to everyone, Cogmog would follow Gladion.
END
Main Story
It was another beautiful day in Paldea with the Starly chirping, the Deerling running and Arven cooking. We see Nemona, her Fuecoco, Pawmo and Teddiursa training with Hawluchador and his Spidops with Ash and Hawlucha being on the side while the gang watch from the distance near Penny's house.
"Thank you for training me, Hawluchador! Although wouldn't your wife get angry for helping the trainer?" Nemona asks as Hawluchador shook his head, "I know it seems strange, but my wife encourages me to help you trainers. She always considers herself weak compared to other Gym Leaders despite my insistence that she's not but whenever she sees trainers with serious potential, she gets fired up and can get unpredictable. I'll say this, she loves using webs to her battle but her moveset is a bit different. So, show me what you got against my Spidops!" Hawluchador says as Nemona nods.
"Alright Teddiursa, you're up first! Use Covet!" Nemona yelled out as Teddiursa nods and makes her fist glow and rushes towards Spidops, "Use your Silk Trap, let's go!" Hawluchador yelled out as Spidops creates multiple sticky webs as a shield of sorts causing Teddiursa to have her arm stuck in it surprising Nemona.
"Quick, get out of there Teddiursa!" Nemona says as Teddiursa struggles to get out of there by running back to where she came from as Hawluchador sighed, "Poor choice, send it in the air and bring it back with you!" Hawluchador says as Spidops uses its right arm to throw Teddiursa in the air with the web thread and pulls their arm closer to their chest sending Teddiursa flying towards them.
"Oh no, quick use-" Nemona didn't get a chance to finish, "Use X-Scissor!" Hawluchador says as Spidops crossed their arms and attacked Teddiursa sending her flying towards Nemona as she ran to her quickly. "Teddi!? Are you alright?" Nemona asks as Teddiursa nods and gets back up. Ash analyzes the scene and nods before turning his head towards Nemona.
"Right, you shouldn't always focus on offense during those moments like with Silk Trap but instead come up with a counterplan and quickly think on your feet when it comes to something like Teddiursa's arm getting stuck." Ash says as Hawluchador nodded in agreement.
"But those types of things are stressful." Nemona says as Ash nods, "I agree but quick thinking and quick demands can help make a difference in a battle. You always come up with plans as a Student Council president, right?" Ash asks as Nemona nods.
"Then imagine that in battle and use that quick thinking to your advantage." Ash says as Nemona stresses out a bit but nods, "Your effort with Teddiursa was at least commendable so let's try your Pawmo, he seems speedy enough for this next task." Hawluchador suggested as Pawmo got in there.
"Careful now Pawmo, things can get unpredictable." Nemona said to her starting mon, "Paw!"
Hawluchador nods as Ash steps forward, "Alright then, your next task is to try to adapt to my Hawlucha's speed by trying to reach him." Ash says as Hawlucha steps forward and Nemona nods.
"Right! Pawmo use Arm Thrust!" Nemona called out as Pawmo rushes towards Hawlucha who avoids the attack at every opportunity.
If Spidops is going to avoid every attack, let's try something different. Nemona thought to herself, "Alright Pawmo, combine your electricity with Arm Thrust on the ground!" Nemona spurted out as Pawmo nods and generates electricity before striking the ground, the electricity creates a puff of smoke from the ground causing Hawlucha to not be able to see Pawmo.
"Now Arm Thrust!" Nemona yells out as Pawmo attacked from behind sending Hawlucha flying but is still on his feet and the dust clears away, Ash nods with positivity.
"That was great Nemona, you adapted quickly." Ash says as Nemona blushes, "Oh it was nothing." Nemona says as she stretches.
"Remember to always aim for the loose thread both in battle and out of battle." Hawluchador says getting both Ash and Nemona's attentions, "Aim for the loose thread?" Nemona says.
"I always tell my students that during battles, you need to search for an open spot during battle and during challenges to take advantage of a scenario." Hawluchador says as Ash gets it but Nemona does not. "I'm still confused." She says confused.
"Well it's-"
"Breakfast is ready!" Penny yells out, "You'll find it eventually, go on and have breakfast with your friends and do your best during this Gym Challenge and battle."
"Right! Thank you for teaching me Hawluchador!" Nemona says as Hawluchador nods, "Take care." Hawluchador says as he disappears like a shroud. We see Katy near a corner having watched her husband trained and smiles before she walks back to her gym.
We see Nemona and the gang at the Gym which resembled an office building with Nemona and Pawmo appearing nervous and gulping.
"Well Pawmo, we finally made it to our first Gym. It's finally time right Pawmo?" Nemona said nervously, "Paw." Pawmo also said nervously as they both gulped.
"Alright, here it goes." Nemona closes her eyes and takes the first step forward, "Ok we're in!" Nemona says as she opens her eyes to see, she's still at the front door of the Gym as the others look on with concern.
"C'mon Nemona, you only took one step forward and you're not even inside." Arven says as Nemona blushes, "I know, I'm nervous alright! Ash, what was your feeling when you went to your first Gym?" Nemona says as Ash thinks to himself and nods.
"A mixture of nervousness and yet excitement and I utterly failed the first time." Ash says causing Nemona to be nervous, "Ash, I think you were supposed to be encouraging not make Nemona even more nervous." Penny said with a deadpan tone as Ash rubs the back of his head.
"Sorry, I was getting to that point. But I succeeded the 2nd time where I won... via breaking the sprinklers to affect Onix with electricity and his siblings getting in the way." Ash says as the gang look on with surprise.
"Effecting the sprinklers to effect Onix with electricity? That sounds very unrealistic." Arven says, "It worked even in Alola with sea water, but this isn't about me. The point is that you should feel confident going into this Gym without no worries whatsoever though speaking of which, are you sure this is the Gym? It looks like an office building." Ash says as Penny and Nemona nods.
"It may not look like a gym and that's because it's where official data for challengers, Gym Leaders and records are kept unlike other regions, but the battlefields aren't inside these boring buildings but each one does contain a unique quirk. Come along, I'll show you the inside, it's like a mall of sorts." Penny says as Arven and Ash nod and follow along, but Nemona stood still as Ash looked to her.
"Nemona?" Ash asks as Nemona woke up, "Oh sorry Ash, you go on in, I'll catch up." Nemona says as Ash nods and heads inside.
"Paw?" Pawmo said to his nervous trainer, "Sorry I'm ready now." just as Nemona said that, two ghostly hands appeared and pushed her forward.
"Keep moving forward, no matter what happens." the voice of a younger girl ghost says happily as she disappears, "Be the best like no one ever was my dear." an older woman ghost says as Nemona looked behind her to see no one.
"Strange, it almost sounded like I was hearing Grace and my mom just now. Maybe I'm just remembering things." Nemona says as she walks forward, and the ghostly figures disappeared.
Nemona heads inside the Gym and we see that the Gym containing different shops mixed in with an office like setting as we see Penny, Ash and Arven looking at a moving Bug type statue as Nemona heads up to the front desk to get set up.
"Hello and welcome to the Cortondo Gym, are you here for the Gym challenge?" the front desk lady says as Nemona nervously nods and the woman chuckles, "Oh I know how you feel, I was nervous when I began my journey when I was younger but I was always told, 'no matter what stands in your way, break through it'." the woman says encouragingly.
"Thanks."
"May I see your ID please?" the woman says as Nemona grabbed her ID and gave it to the lady, she inserts it into a computer displaying her information and the amount of Pokemon she has and that she's registered for battle before giving the ID back to Nemona.
"And with that, you're all ready to go. Please wait for a representative to come by and we can take you to your challenge." the front desk lady says as Nemona nods as she waits at a nearby sitting area with the gang eventually joining her. A little while later, we see a representative ask for Nemona and she gets up and follows the man outside.
We see Nemona and her 3 Pokemon inside a stable like area and in front of her was a large ball with the gang (plus Hawluchador) outside the stable arena within the crowd.
"You can do it Nemona!" Ash yelled out in support as Nemona nods, "Thanks, I'll do my best!" Nemona says stretching prepared to go as Katy walks up to a nearby podium holding onto a microphone tapping on it until it turned on.
"Testing, testing. Ok, welcome ladies and gentlemen to our annual Gym Challenge. Today, Nemona here will have a special task to do in order to battle me. In order to succeed in this challenge, Nemona will have to push or kick the large ball to the goal behind me in the distance within 35 minutes." Katy says as Nemona looks towards the goal which was over in the distance with some twists and turns but nothing too hard.
"Well, that seems easy." Nemona says as Katy turns to her, "I can hear you in the distance dear. Here's the catch, you also have to be wary of trainers and their Pokemon from all over this stable trying to kick your ball out of the field and you have 3 shots at it. Not only do you need to keep the ball on a roll, but you also need to deal with trainers by coordinating your Pokemon to defend the ball and being careful that it doesn't step out of bounds. I'll give you a few minutes to prepare yourselves." Katy says as Ash ushers Nemona over.
"You got this?" Ash asks his student as Nemona nods, "Yeah, I think so. I played Paldean soccer when I was a little lass, I even led a team for a match against a rivaling Galar school, but we were utterly decimated. But I still remember those techniques and I think I'm ready." Nemona says as Ash nods.
"Alright, just remember to focus both on the ball and commanding your Pokemon and as Hawluchador says, aim for the loose thread." Ash says as Nemona nods.
Aim for the loose thread, yeah, I think I can do that. Nemona thought to herself before going to her Pokemon.
"Alright, this is the moment we need to focus and strategize. Fuecoco and Teddiursa when the whistle is heard, you'll act as the defense and go forward ahead and defend the ball from any Pokemon that tries to knock it over. Pawmo, I need you to help me with the ball such as if I were to toss or kick it over to you or if something unexpected happens alright you three?"
"Paw!/Coco!/Ursa!" all 3 says as Nemona smiles, "Alright, get into your positions." Nemona says as Pawmo stood beside her while Fuecoco and Teddiursa were in the front, a representative goes by to see if Nemona was all prepared to which she nods and goes to Katy to inform her that Nemona's ready.
"Alright, is everyone in position?" Katy asks as everyone shouted a yes, "Alright, on your marks, get set go!" Katy says as the trainers and Pokemon came onto the stable and were ready.
"Alright Fuecoco and Teddiursa run ahead! Let's go Pawmo!" Nemona says as Fuecoco and Teddiursa run ahead of Nemona and Pawmo as they began to push the ball forward.
"Alright Heracross use Throat Chop to knock away the ball!" a male trainer yelled out as Heracross's arm glowed black, "Alright Growlithe Fire Fang!" a female trainer says as her Growlithe's fangs glowed with fire.
"Alright Fuecoco, use Incinerate on the ground to block off Heracross and Teddiursa, use your Slash to send up dirt to Growlithe!" Nemona says as Fuecoco launches a fireball from his mouth onto the ground blocking Heracross's path and Teddiursa launches some dirt onto Growlithe causing Growlithe to be dirty as both Nemona and Pawmo turn the corner to see two large hills.
"Two large hills eh, alright Pawmo, time for the Arm Thrust!" Nemona says as Pawmo nods and hits the ball at full force accidently sending out of bounds causing the crowd to throw it back in placing it in front of the hills.
"That's one strike folks." Katy says as Nemona and her Pokemon stared blankly, "Maybe just a lighter Arm Thrust next time." Nemona says as Pawmo scratches the back of his head.
"Paw." Pawmo said in agreement as they quickly went up the hills and got back to where they were quickly and continued. As they were running, some more trainers and Pokemon were in the way, and they tell their Pokemon to attack the ball.
"Teddiursa, send Fuecoco in the air then use Snarl to clear a path!" Nemona says as Teddiusa threw Fuecoco high in the air and Fuecoco prepares to launch dark energy from his mouth onto the Pokemon who stumble out of the way clearing a path for Nemona and her mons to go through another hill. As soon as they do so, more people and Pokemon block the way but unlike before, there was no way to get through them causing Nemona to think.
Dang! No way through there. I could try to use my own Sheer Force to get through there but maybe I- Nemona stops upon seeing a loose fence within the stable which gave Nemona an idea. To find a loose thread, I knew it could be used outside of battle! Nemona thought to herself again as she looked to Pawmo.
"Alright Pawmo, we're going to try something unorthodox; I need you to go pass that loose fence and I'm going to kick it to you and Teddiursa, you go with to protect Pawmo. Got it!" Nemona says as both Teddiursa and Pawmo nodded, and they both go over the fence. Nemona took a deep breath before kicking the ball high enough to allow Pawmo to catch it and Teddiursa to use the same technique earlier to blind the opposing Rellor.
That move seems to have impressed Katy, the crowd and the gang as they cheered Nemona on, "Now that's aiming for a loose thread." Hawluchador says as Nemona and her mons have reached the final stretch with the goal in the distance over some hills as Nemona keeps going with the goal close by. Everything was normal until a trainer called out to their Raichu to use Thunder Punch on the ball sending it flying.
"No!" Nemona yelled out as Pawmo jumps and uses Arm Thrust to push the ball back in leaving it in the middle of the field as Nemona sees an opportunity, "Now Fuecoco, Teddiursa. Do it!" Nemona yells out as Fuecoco sends himself flying with Snarl and Teddiursa uses Covet at the same time to send the ball flying towards the goal at quick speed allowing Nemona to score.
"Alright!" Nemona cheered on as she went to her 3 Pokemon and hugged them, "You three make me proud so much!" Nemona says happily as the crowd cheers and Katy smiles as she walks down from the podium and walks over to Nemona.
"Congratulations Nemona, you have successfully passed the first part of the Gym. Now, you'll have to face the might of me in order to get your badge and judging by your coordination and time, how would you like to have a 3-star battle?" Katy asks as the crowd looks on shock except for Ash who looks on confused.
"3 stars?" Ash asks as Penny turns to him, "It's as Sarah said, depending on the level of the Gym, the less difficult it is but sometimes depending on if the challenger was really good at their challenge, they may also offer a star system where their teams are easy for those who aren't very experienced but may increase that depending on the challenger's performance and if the challenger wants to. For Katy, 3 stars means that it' but her strongest Pokemon is Spidops and her Teddiursa rather than 3 typically weak Pokemon." Penny says.
"A Teddiursa? I thought she was a Bug type expert?" Ash says, "Oh you'll see why soon enough, but I hope Nemona's ready to face my wife." Hawluchador says as we switch to Nemona who nods.
"I agree!" Nemona said with confidence surprising Katy but nods, "Alright then, whenever you're all cleaned up and ready to fight, I'll see you at my stage which is at my bakery." Katy says as Nemona nods.
We see Nemona doing some hops alongside her Pokemon outside the gym as Ash coaches her.
"You know your training, right?"
"Yep."
"Well if you're ready to fight, just be wary of Katy's techniques and adapt accordingly."
"On it!"
"Alright, go get em and just be careful now."
Nemona nods before proceeding to head up the stairs to where Katy was at, she was seen petting some Vivillion before facing Nemona.
"Ah Nemona, once again, I want to congratulate you on your success in the challenge earlier. I maybe some sweet lady but don't forget that I'm a Gym Leader so I expect you to give me your full strength." Katy says as Nemona nods with confidence.
"You can count on me!"
"That's good." Katy says as she pulls out a button and presses it causing some walls to pop up resembling dark green leaves behind the railings to surround the stage alongside an open roof surprising everyone in the crowd (A/N: I'm sorry, this is the best as to how I can describe a changing stage as).
"I don't want you to hold back." Katy says as Nemona nods, "Fine by me as long as you do the same." Nemona says as Katy nods and a referee goes to the middle of the stage.
"This battle will comprise of the challenger and Cortondo Gym Leader Katy, only the challenger will be able to switch Pokemon and it will be 2 on 2. When you're ready, you may send out your Pokemon."
Penny looks to Ash, "Say Ash, doesn't it feel strange not to be taking on the Gym Challenge here unlike in your previous endeavors?" Penny asks the focused trainer who breaks away.
"Yeah, it kind of does. It's kind of nostalgic actually because I met some great Gym Leaders who all had interesting personalities and even helped me change my battle style on the spot. I'll never forget the adventures, but I think it's time to let the new generation continue." Ash says as both Arven and Penny giggle as Ash looks on confused.
"Is it something I said?"
"No Ash, it just kind of reminds me of an old man talking about their glory days about the next generation and such." Arven says as Pikachu giggles as well to the shocked Ash, "Old man!?" Ash says.
"You know now that I think about it, you do remind me of a teacher with your teachings, unconventional but I can definitely see a career down the line." Penny says as Ash blushes.
"You think so? We don't need to focus on it right now, let's just enjoy the fight today." Ash says getting back to the battle.
We see Nemona nervous but confident, For my two Pokemon, I want to challenge myself and not go through this easily so I hope Fuecoco doesn't get mad at me for choosing Pawmo and Teddiursa Nemona thought to herself as she grabs her Pokeball.
"Alright Spidops, get in there!" Katy says as she throws her Pokeball in the air releasing Spidops, "Spidops huh, alright Teddiursa time to shine!" Nemona says as she throws her Pokeball in the air releasing Teddiursa who's ready for battle.
The referee looks to the two trainers and nods, "And you may begin!"
"You may go first." Katy says generously as Nemona smirks, "Alright then, Teddiursa use Slash!" Nemona yelled out as Teddiursa nodded and rushed at Spidops with her glowing right claw.
"Silk Trap let's go!" Katy yelled out as Spidops prepares a silk shield as the gang look on, C'mon Nemona, remember your training! Ash thought to himself as Nemona smirks and calls out her next attack.
"Slide underneath!" Nemona yelled out confusing Katy and the crowd as Teddiursa slid underneath Spidop's Silk Trap, "Now Slash!" Nemona continued not allowing Spidops any chance to defend themself as Teddiursa slashes Spidops's back unbeknownst to Teddiursa that an invisibile thread was around Teddiursa's arm as Spidops is sent back.
Katy claps and seems impressed, "You impress me, and it's only been 4 minutes, but you managed to surpass my Silk Trap. But make sure you always focus on the smallest of details." Katy says with an innocent smile, but a dark gaze was upon her face confusing Nemona until she sees the small thread but by then, it's too late.
"Teddiursa use-"
"Too late, pull her in!" Spidops did as their trainer commanded and threw Teddiursa in the air before pulling her in with full force as the thread wraps around Teddiursa quickly, "Teddi-"
"Now use your Silk Trap to fully tie her up!" Katy says as Spidops nodded and wrapped Teddiursa around preventing her from moving, "Now Circle Throw." Katy said lowly as Spidops grabbed Teddiursa and threw Teddiursa behind them slamming her.
"Teddiursa!" Nemona yelled out in worry as the gang look on in worry.
"I didn't think Katy would be absolutely brutal." Arven says as Hawluchador nods, "Yeah, my wife knows that Nemona can go all out, she's just waiting for the moment for Nemona to let loose." Hawluchador says surprising the group.
"So, she knows Nemona is capable of handling this battle, but how does Katy know that?" Ash says as Hawluchador shook his head, "To be honest, I don't even know myself." Hawluchador said in agreement.
Nemona looked on nervously as Spidops prepares for their next move, "C'mon sweetie, you need to pick up the pace. Spidops, create a sticky field with your Silk Trap!" Katy says as Spidops creates a web of thread and proceeds to place them on the corners of the field surrounding Teddiursa which confuses everyone except for Penny and Hawluchador who seem to know how it all works and Spidops being able to adapt to the webs via its legs.
"She's not attacking?" Ash says as Penny shakes her head, "No, I know what her tactic is but it's best I don't spoil the surprise." Penny says as Nemona looks on worryingly.
"Now use Poison Jab!" Katy says as Spidops's arms turn purple and jabs at the tied up Teddiursa multiple times with Nemona looking on shocked.
Damn it! What am I supposed to? Teddiursa's stuck in a web and I'm looking on with shock, I trained a lot so what can I- Nemona stops to snap her fingers and notices that Teddiursa dodged at the same time when she snapped her fingers.
Wait? Does she dodge when I snap my fingers. Odd thing but I now see an opportunity to annoy Katy a bit. Nemona thought to herself as she called out to Teddiursa, "Teddi, when you hear a snap noise, dodge." Nemona says calmly as she put her right arm behind her back.
"Teddi!" Teddiursa said muffled from the webs as Spidops prepared to strike and Nemona snapped her fingers allowing Teddiursa to dodge before Spidops could hit confusing both Katy and Spidops.
"What the- again with Poison Jab!" Katy says confidently as Spidops rushed in to strike but Nemona snaps her finger again allowing Teddiursa to dodge. The gang look on impressed.
"Her strategy may work if she continues doing this." Arven says but Penny says otherwise, "I wouldn't count on it, Katy is very deceptive when it comes to a trainer's strategies and takes a 3rd glance to see the trick." Penny says as Spidops keeps attacking while Teddiursa dodges until Katy notices Nemona's arm behind her back.
Clever girl. Katy says, "Change of plans, use all 4 of your arms for Poison Jab." Katy says as Spidops nods and proceeds to lunge at Teddiursa at full force putting Nemona in a sticky predicament (Sorry).
All 4 huh, let's try- Nemona stops her thoughts to call out her next move, "Jump right to have Spidops be caught in the web!" she yells out as Teddiursa jumps and successfully catches Spidops in Teddiursa's web trap causing Katy and Spidops to look on shock. Teddiursa rolls out of the trap with only the end of the thread she holds onto.
"What!?" Katy says as Nemona smirks, "Now bring in Spidops fast!" Nemona says as Teddiursa uses her massive strength to pull in Spidops.
"Now Play Rough!" Nemona says as Teddiursa's arms glowed a dark pink and slammed their arms into Spidops sending them flying at full force, "Spidops!" Katy calls out to her Pokemon who gets back up prepared for battle.
"Alright! Nice going Teddiursa!" "Ursa!"
Everyone looks on impressed.
Katy softly smiles towards Nemona and claps, "You've managed to impress me today from your strategy in the test and your endurance in battle, keep up the good spirit!" Katy says happily as Nemona smirks.
"Thanks. Now Teddiursa use Slash!" Nemona says as Teddiursa prepares to use Slash only for her to fall to the ground causing Nemona to break out of her smirking state to realize Teddiursa's feet are tangled in the webs and Katy has the same soft smile, dark glare look to her. The gang finally gets why Katy's Spidops covered the field with web.
"So, her intentions were to slow the opponent down by covering the field in webs." Ash says as Penny and Hawluchador nods.
"Yes, she typically likes to do this once her opponent is in a bind. She uses that as a substitute for Sticky Web which would cover the field faster, but she doesn't have Sticky Web, so she goes for this strategy." Penny says as Katy prepares her next move.
"Pull Teddiursa in with your webs!" Katy says as Spidops launches some webs onto the struggling Teddiursa and throws her in the air before bringing her in.
"Teddiursa use Covet quickly!"
"X-Scissor." Katy says calmly as Spidops crossed their 4 arms and slashed at Teddiursa sending her flying to the ground KO'ing her.
The referee notices and raises his arm to Katy's side, "Teddiursa is unable to battle, Spidops wins!" the referee says as Nemona looks on in fear before clearing that fear up with a soft smile.
"Thank you Teddiursa, you did a tremendous job. Now get some rest." Nemona says as she returns Teddiursa to her Pokeball and sighs, she looks to the field and notices an open spot on the field.
I better have Pawmo jump there before Katy tries anything. Nemona thought to herself as she looks to her day 1 partner and both nods wordlessly as Pawmo jumped to the open spot and prepared for battle.
"Paw!" Pawmo says as Katy smiles, "Hope you're ready for round 2! Spidops use Poison Jab!" Katy yelled out as Spidops's arms glowed purple and rushed at Pawmo as Nemona had to think fast.
"Dig!" Nemona said as Pawmo rushed quickly to dig avoiding the attack, both Katy and Spidops looked on with focus as they tried to see where Pawmo would pop up from. "Be on guard Spidops and prepare a Silk Trap if needed." "Dops!"
Nemona sees a little crack behind Spidops and smirks,
"Alright Pawmo, come out and use Bite!" Nemona says as Pawmo digs out behind Spidops who turns and prepares to attack but Pawmo can't seem to get past the webs causing everyone (except Katy, Penny and Hawluchador) to have a blank stare on their face.
"Is Pawmo nod able to get out of there?" Arven says as Penny shook her head, "Not exactly, it's pre-evolution Tarountula has threads that are tough as steel and it also applies to Spidops as well." Penny says as Pawmo went to a different spot and tried to dig out, but nothing was working.
"Alright Pawmo get back to where you came from-"
"No, you don't! Cover the hole!" Katy says immediately as both Pawmo and Spidops rush to the hole and Spidops was faster at covering the hole causing Pawmo to be stuck there and Nemona to look on nervously.
She really outsmarted me, is this the end of- hang on? Nemona looked to Spidops's legs which were on the web and gets an idea in mind.
"Stay calm Pawmo and use Thundershock from all the holes!" Nemona says shocking the crowd, "Wait, it won't hit Spidops!" Arven says as Ash shook his head.
"That's not what she's aiming for." Ash says confusing both Arven and Penny who look to him, "What do you mean by that?" Arven says as Ash points to the webs.
Pawmo released his Thundershock from the ground from all holes with one of the electric streams hitting the web causing the webs and Spidops to be shocked and the webs to burn up and disappear which surprised Katy.
"Wha-"
"Now jump out of the hole and prepare an uppercut Arm Thrust!" Nemona says confidently as Pawmo jumped out of the hole and rushed at Spidops at full speed prepared to do an uppercut when Spidops got back to normal.
"Silk Trap go!" Katy says as Spidops created a heavy layer of webs as a shield and caught Pawmo's right arm as Katy smirks, "Gotcha!" Katy says as Nemona sees an oppuratunity with the web.
"Rotate your arm around the web." Nemona says as Pawmo rotated his arm in a clockwise direction surprising both Katy and Spidops whose arms suddenly became stuck with Spidops's arms tangled all around unable to get out surprising Katy.
"What the- Use X-Scissor to-"
"Nope, now bring Spidops down to use Arm Thrust!" Nemona says as Pawmo nodded and with full force, Pawmo used his strength from his right arm and punched Spidops sending them flying in the air and landing behind Pawmo knocked out. A referee goes to Spidops and confirmed it's knocked out.
"Spidops is unable to battle, Pawmo wins!" the referee says waving his flag over to Nemona who looks on surprised while Pawmo has some web stuck on his arms.
Katy returns Spidops to her Pokeball and places a kiss on top of the ball, "Thank you Spidops, get some rest."
"I- I don't believe it, I knocked out my first Pokemon in a Gym battle but I know I shouldn't be celebrating yet have I?" Nemona says to Katy who nods, "Yep, now it's time for the main event. Teddiursa, time to shine!" Katy says throwing her Pokeball in the air releasing the energetic Teddiursa. This causes Ash and Arven to appear surprised over the decision of Pokemon.
"A Teddiursa!?" both Arven and Ash say as Hawluchador and Penny nod, "Just wait." both Penny and Hawluchador say as Nemona is prepared to keep going.
"Alright Pawmo let's keep the spirit going! Hmm, Pawmo?" Nemona asks as Pawmo struggles to remove the webbing, "Pawmo are you ok!?" Nemona asks her day 1 partner as Katy brings up a Tera stone.
"I'd suggest hurrying and remove the web because me and Teddiursa are going to bug you out. Terastalize Teddiursa!" Katy says throwing the Tera stone at Teddiursa who terastalizes, the Tera hat this time was a hat that resembled a bug and antennae as the sparkles clear away and shocks Arven and Ash.
"She Terastalized Teddiursa into a Bug type!?" Arven and Ash say shocked as both Penny and Hawluchador nod.
"Yes, in the Gym Challenge, a Gym Leader's Ace is of a Pokemon who's regular typing may seem out of place like a Fire type for a Grass Gym Leader for example but through Terastalization, they're able to make them into a Grass Type to avoid let's say, a Water type move and potentially use Trailblaze to attack the opponent for instance." Hawluchador says surprising Ash and Arven once more.
Nemona looked on shocked as she quickly grabbed her own Tera Stone.
"Alright Pawmo, we'll do the same!" Nemona says as Pawmo nods as Nemona throws her Tera Stone at Pawmo who begins to glow and his Electric Tera hat appears.
Katy called on her first move, "Teddiursa use Fury Cutter!" Teddiursa nodded and the Tera glowed as she rushed at Pawmo who panicked and started to dodge the slash-based attacks until Nemona got an idea.
"Use that web as a shield!" Nemona yelled out as Pawmo nodded and blocked the oncoming Fury Cutters with ease when all of a sudden, Teddiursa dug her claw into the web shield surprising most.
"Now use that web to your advantage!" Katy says as Teddiursa ran away from Pawmo with the thread following behind her as Pawmo and Nemona looked with confusion until Katy's Teddiursa used her strength to pull Pawmo towards her as both Nemona and Pawmo panicked. Nemona tries to think of a strategy and notices a open hole from when Pawmo dug the hole earlier and sees an opportunity.
"Pawmo, get to the hole!" Nemona says as Pawmo nods and jumps in with Teddiursa stopping, "Follow Pawmo in and use Fury Cutter!" Katy says as Teddiursa jumps into the hole and follows the runaway Pawmo prepared to attack. Pawmo dug through to escape Teddiursa until he heard his trainer's voice.
"Now jump out of there quickly!" Nemona yelled out as Pawmo rushed towards an open hole and jumped out of there as Teddiursa struggled to get out, "Oh no." Katy says as Nemona smirked.
"Use Thundershock!" Nemona yelled out as Pawmo's Tera hat glowed with electricity and launched a stream of electricity towards the hole causing smoke to appear and Teddiursa popping out of the hole damaged by the Tera boosted Thundershock and the web thread disappearing from Pawmo's arm.
Teddiursa lands on the ground injured but gets back up, she appeared to be paralyzed from the electricity but got back up appearing a bit speedy than before. The gang take notice of this as Ash scans Teddiursa with his Rotom phone.
"I take it that Teddiursa there has Quick Feet so it will be much faster than before." Ash says as Hawluchador nods, "When that happens, it's all or nothing for Katy and she'll use her most powerful technique, but Teddiursa looks like she's about to collapse." Hawluchador says as Teddiursa is ready to fight once more but as Hawluchador says, she's about ready to collapse.
Katy sighs, aware of her fate but smiles softly towards Teddiursa.
"Teddi, sweetie. It's all or nothing, use Facade." Katy says softly as Teddiursa's body glows and rushes towards Pawmo quickly due to her Quick Feet ability as Nemona thought fast and called on her next move.
"Pawmo it's all or nothing, use Arm Thrust combined with your electricity!" Nemona yelled out as Pawmo nodded and combined the two moves before rushing at Teddiursa at full force. Pawmo landed the attack onto Teddiursa's face while Teddiursa did the same with her Facade attack and some dust appears.
When the dust settles, we see Pawmo and Teddiursa both wobbly as Pawmo appears to begin falling on his back before he uses the remainder of his energy to stay up while Teddiursa falls to the ground knocked out.
The crowd talks amongst themselves over Pawmo's last stand and a referee confirms Teddiursa's knockout.
"Teddiursa is unable to battle, Pawmo wins, and the winner of this Gym battle is the challenger, Nemona Banderas!" the referee yells out as the crowd cheers on with the gang happy and Hawluchador nodding.
"Alright you've did it!" Ash says as Nemona stood there rather blank, unsure how to process all this.
"What just happened?" Nemona says as she immediately sees Pawmo prepared to fall causing Nemona to run over and catch him and hold him in her arms. "You alright bud?" Nemona says happily as Pawmo softly smiles and nods.
"Paw." Pawmo says as Katy returns Teddiursa to her Pokeball and thanks her Pokemon for their help before going over to them, "Congratulations, you have earned your first Gym badge, the Hive Badge. Hmm, normally people would choose me as their first Gym battle because I'm the weakest one and so you'll probably find your next battle a bit more challenging." Katy says honestly as Nemona shook her head.
"Nonsense, you provided an excellent challenge. Your Spidops proved to be a trickster and your Teddiursa was surprisingly tough. You shouldn't look down on yoursel-" Nemona didn't finish as Katy hugged her and comedically cried.
"Oh, thank you, you're so nice!" Katy says comedically crying before Ash and the gang walk over to them, "C'mon hon- err I mean young miss, your perfect as a challenge and they wouldn't have it any other way." Hawluchador says encouragingly to his wife still trying to hide his identity as Katy wipes the tears away before nodding to herself. A referee walks to Katy and hands her a badge.
"And with that battle, you have officially earned the Hive Badge." Katy says happily handing Nemona the badge as she tears up.
"Alright, my first Gym badge!"
"Paw!"
"Ursa!" Teddiursa says out of her Pokeball.
"Coco!" Fuecoco also said though a bit angrily as he hit Nemona's legs with small, stubby punches as Nemona giggles.
"Haha, sorry Fuecoco. I didn't mean to leave you out, you'll battle the next one, so I'll get you extra treats to make it up to you, ok?" Nemona says as Fuecoco turned his head away and pouted. Katy smiles towards Nemona's group.
"So, with that, I like to have a commemorative photo to remember this Gym battle by if you don't mind." Katy asks as Nemona nods. We later see some photos being taken with Ash's gang enjoying Katy's sweets with Arven appearing to be knocked out and satisfied over the delectable treats, another was of Hawluchador, Spector the Hawlucha, Ash (wearing his Ash Royal mask) and Ash's Nymble and Hawlucha posing heroically in front of the camera as the crowd appeared to be cheering with Penny and Katy swooning over Ash and Hawluchador respectively. Lastly, was a photo Nemona's and Katy's Teddiursa's playing in a flower field.
We later see Nemona and the gang outside Katy's sweets shops with Nemona holding her badge case and Ash holding a large scrapbook used for pictures containing the 3 photos from earlier and a pendant.
"You sure you want to give me your scrapbook and pendant?" Ash asked Katy who nods, "I'm sure, it's to reward you for your actions yesterday saving the town twice." Katy says as Ash nods.
"Photos and pendants must be important in Paldea." Ash says as Hawluchador nods.
"They're indeed important. To us Paldeans, a picture and pendant symbolizes the bonds you have with your friends, family and Pokemon, something you'll never forget for the rest of your lives. Pendants symbolize the past and the possible history that is contained in there but can also symbolize the ones you love that are still around or have long sense passed and are meant to be bittersweet yet meaningful to you personally. Photos on the other hand represent the bonds you share with others and how they'll keep you going, even if there's a wall of darkness that covers the road and your feelings, there's always your photos to keep you from losing yourself and can show a light path ahead no matter what happens." Hawluchador says surprising the group.
"Wow, I didn't know you were very good at symbolism, you hunk." Katy says the last part quietly and romantically as Hawluchador blushes, "It's all apart of my encouragement, young miss, haha." Hawluchador says trying to sound brave in front of everyone.
Arven wraps his arm around Ash excitedly, "Welcome to the Pendant club, Ash." Arven says holding his pendant
"Cool, what do I get?"
"Nothing." Penny says simply as Ash nods.
"That sounds like a deal already." Ash says.
"Regardless, young Nemona, this is only your first step to the world of the Gym challenge and more challenges come up ahead. My suggestion for the next Gym is Brassius's Gym in Artazon." Katy says as Nemona shook her head.
"Actually, Penny and Arven have some stuff to do out west so I'm heading there. Any gyms over in the west?" Nemona asks as Katy thinks to herself and remembers, "Yes, there's a city known as Cascaraffa where my old cooking teacher and Gym Leader Kofu however, I recommend that you wait for your Pokemon to train a bit until you take on the eccentric Kofu, he's pretty tough in battles." Katy suggested but Nemona scoffs confidently.
"After this battle I feel like I'm a role, I'll take on anything!" Nemona says with confidence as Ash nervously smiles.
Oh no, I know where this is going. Ash thought to himself before focusing on Nemona, "That's great Nemona but make sure you keep your confidence in check, you may never know what happens in the future." Ash suggested as Nemona confidently smiles.
"I know!"
"Well, are you heading off today?" asked Katy as the gang shook their heads, "Nope, we'll be heading off tomorrow. My dad wants to cook a celebration dinner for me starting my Treasure Hunt but also for my friends' adventures despite our insistence not to." Penny says face palming as both Katy and Hawluchador chuckle.
"Delav is certainly eccentric isn't he, Pen-Pen?" Hawluchador said teasingly as Penny blushes, "Not you too!" Penny says as Katy smacks his arm.
"Sorry, sorry. But for real, your adventure will have some bumps and turns along the way but by sticking together, you'll be capable of the challenges ahead so don't lose that focus you 4." Hawluchador said encouragingly as the gang nodded.
"Right!" all 4 say. The gang then said their goodbyes and headed back to Penny's home to celebrate and talk about their old and future adventures ahead of them.
Meanwhile somewhere in a cave near Cortondo, we see the mysterious robotic Gallade/Gardevoir from days before seemingly trying to remember something where we see an older individual with long curly hair and a older Gogoat.
"-ect -sh."
"The 'egg' will-"
"Prevent-"
"-ward"
"Fate"
"Himself"
"Stop Ash fr-"
The robot awakens from those memories and gets up surveying the area, "Professor Orion wants me to stop the boy in the cryst- no Ash from finding this egg and causing Paldea's crystallization and his fate, then I'll do as he commands. Now the question is, will he resist, or do I have to drive him out by force?"
END
My goodness that was a hard chapter to write and I apologize if it felt sloppy. This is the first Gym battle in the story and so I hope future battles will be improved later on. But yeah, Nemona has successfully got her first Gym badge and they're going to set out to Cascaraffa to have Arven and Penny do their things, but it seems like the gang (or more specifically Ash) have to face their next greatest threat, a mysterious robotic Gallade/Gardevoir from the future.
Things are certainly spicing up and I can't wait to show you what will happen in the future! Otherwise (aside from the character details) that's all I have until the next chapter which will focus on Ash's encounter with this mysterious robot and their battle of epic proportions.
*Katy
Age: Best not ask unless you want some Spidops webs.
Hometown: Cortondo
Description: The gym leader of Cortondo, she looks very young but is actually a grandmother of 4 with 3 adult children (she and Hawluchador have 5 children with the last 2 teens). She is kind and a good family friend of Penny's and can't help but be very motherly towards her family friends and challengers alike but is still adapting to being a grandmother. She seems to put herself down for being the first Gym leader of Paldea and thus considers herself the 'weakest' despite what others tell her.
She enjoys baking with her Pokemon and has learned how to cook from her master Kofu. She met her husband Alonzo/Hawluchador when he saved the town and immediately asked him out on the spot surprising him. Her father is Harold, owner of Harold's sandwiches in Mesagoza and a former Fire type Gym Leader and currently Charcadet's caretaker. Her starter was Tarountula and fell in love with Bug types and their uniqueness.
*Hawluchador
Age: Doesn't like to say it but he is in his late 40's
Hometown: Nacrene City, Unova
Description: A famous hero in Cortondo, he and his Shiny Hawlucha Spector went to Paldea to do some soul searching and happened to arrive to Cortondo when it was being robbed. He wore a nearby wrestler's mask to appear intimidating and drove away the bad guys. He immediately dated Katy and became happily married to her with children and grandchildren. According to him, the meeting with Katy's parents was awkward but instead of the 'dad being the stern, protective one with the mother being the kind one' trope, Harold was apparently very happy while his (now late) wife Elizabeth acted as the scary one.
He and his Hawlucha's age has prevented him from doing too many stunts but is still rather muscular. He once battled Professor Kukui in his Masked Royal personality before and was surprised that Ash has a mask give to him by Kukui after Nemona's Gym battle with Ash saying he knows a lot about Kukui both within the mask and out of the mask.