Today it was time for Ember to face Gardenia for her second gym badge. Gardenia was there to meet the gang when they arrived. She was glad to show them the gym. The Eterna Gym was a dome shaped building and since Gardenia used grass type Pokémon the gym had trees and bushes inside and out of the building. Even the battlefield had trees and bushes and grass.

"The Eterna Gym battle between Ember Ketchum, the challenger, and Gardenia the Gym Leader is about to get underway! Each side will be able to use three Pokémon! And the battle will be over when one side's three Pokémon are unable to continue! Also, only the challenger is able to make substitutions! So, let the battle begin!" Yoko the referee explained.

Ember and Gardenia took their places.

"Are you ready, Ember?" Gardenia asked.

"Ready!" Ember grinned.

"Okay, let's go Cherubi!" Gardenia sent out her Cherubi.

"Cher!" Cherubi chirped when it appeared on the field.

"Liko, let's go!" Ember sent out her Mothim.

"Mothim!" Liko the Mothim chirped when he appeared on the field.

Ember took a quick look at the sky and saw the sun shining very bright, 'Gardenia's Pokémon would use the sun to their advantage, especially when using Solar Beam.' She reckoned.

"Liko, use Tackle!" Liko ran towards Cherubi.

"Dodge, Cherubi!" Cherubi dodged Liko's attack.

"Liko, use Psybeam!" Liko launched his attack at Cherubi.

"Dodge again, Cherubi!" Cherubi dodged it at great speed.

At that moment, Ember remembered why Cherubi was so fast; it was its ability 'Chlorophyll' which is an ability that raises a Pokémon's speed in sunlight.

"Cherubi, use Solar Beam!" Cherubi launched its attack at Liko.

"Protect, Liko!" Liko protected itself from Solar Beam with a protective barrier.

"Now use Aerial Ace!" Liko charged at Cherubi and tackled it hard.

"Nice, but you'll need to do more than that, Ember." Gardenia said, "Cherubi, Solar Beam!"

However, the sun had been covered up by clouds.

"Oh no! Cherubi, use Magical Leaf!" Gardenia ordered.

"Counter that with Hidden Power, Liko!" The two attacks collided with each other.

"Wow, Liko is getting good with this despite it wasn't that long ago he evolved from Burmy. I can tell that Ember is training him well." Dawn commented.

"Well Liko trains with Ember's older bug Pokémon." Alain explained.

"As we said, Dawn; newer Pokémon can learn a lot from older Pokémon." Brock added.

"Okay Liko, let's use Aerial Ace again!" Ember ordered.

Before Cherubi could do anything, Liko charged and tackled it.

"Now use Psybeam!" Liko fired a Psybeam attack and Cherubi got hit by it.

Cherubi couldn't take anymore after that and fainted with swirls in its eyes, "Cher~"

"Cherubi is unable to battle! Liko wins!" Yoko announced.

Liko perched himself on Ember's shoulder and she gently patted his head, "Good job, Liko." She complimented.

"Mothim." Liko chirped happily.

Gardenia returned her Cherubi. "Well Ember, you certainly knew what to do despite the sun being out." she commented.

"Thanks. I've been in battles with trainers using the weather to their advantage." Ember said as she returned Liko.

"Interesting," Gardenia smiled and let out her second Pokémon, "Come on out, Turtwig!"

"Turtwig!" Gardenia's Turtwig appeared on the field.

"Arachne, let's go!" Ember releases her shiny Long Leg Pokémon.

"Ariados!" Arachne the shiny Ariados appeared on the field.

"Turtwig, use Leech Seed!" Turtwig launched a seed at Arachne.

"Protect!" Arachne projected a green colored barrier in front of her, protecting from the Leech Seed, "Scary Face!"

Arachne made a scary face which frightened Turtwig.

"Now Agility Cross Poison!" Arachne crosses her arms in front of her face and her claws start to glow purple. She disappears and then reappears in front of Turtwig. A purple 'X' then appears in front of Arachne's crossed arms, and she opens her hands, firing the 'X' at Turtwig who cried out in pain from the attack.

"Turtwig!" Gardenia cried out.

Turtwig grunted as it tried to stand up.

"Turtwig, are you okay?" Gardenia called out.

"Turtwig! (I'm fine!)" Turtwig assured her.

"Okay then, use Tackle!" Turtwig ran towards Arachne.

"Dodge!" Arachne jumped out of the way.

"Now, Leech Life!" Arachne bit down on Turtwig who cried out in pain.

"No, Turtwig!" Gardenia called out.

Then Arachne let go of Turtwig and Turtwig fainted with swirls in its eyes.

"Turt~" Turtwig moaned.

"Turtwig is unable to battle! Arachne wins!" Yoko announced.

"Good job, Arachne." Ember smiled.

"Ariados!" Arachne smiled back.

"Ember is doing great so far." Dawn commented.

"Yeah, but she needs to defeat Gardenia's last Pokémon." Brock pointed out.

"I wonder what it is." Dawn pondered.

"Roserade, come on out!" Gardenia released her Bouquet Pokémon.

"Roserade!" Roserade said when it appeared on the field.

Ember returned Arachne and let out her next Pokémon, "Go, Eirwen!"

"Sandslash!" Eirwen the Alolan Sandslash appeared on the field.

"Whoa, is that a Sandslash? It looks different from the normal one." Dawn questioned.

"That's an Alolan Sandslash, the Ice/Steel type." Alain answered.

"Ice/Steel type?! But that's what affects the normal Sandslash, right?" Dawn exclaimed.

"Right. This type of Sandslash is from the Alola Region." Alain stated.

"The Alola Region?" Dawn asked.

"We'll tell you later." Brock promised.

"Roserade, use Magical Leaf!" Roserade summoned a wind of green glowing leaves towards Eirwen.

"Counter with Icy Wind!" Eirwen summoned a cold breeze from his mouth which collided with Magical Leaf.

"Blizzard!" Eirwen created a blizzard which blinded Roserade, "Now Avalanche!"

Eirwen's body glows light blue, and a dark cloud appears above Roserade. Chunks of white ice then rain down from the cloud and strike Roserade who cried out in pain from the attack.

"Roserade, use Sunny Day!" Two white orbs appear in front of the flowers on Roserade's arms. It then raises its arms to the sky and releases two white beams from the orbs on its hands at the sun, making the sunlight brighter.

"Eirwen, use Dig!" Eirwen dug into the ground and Roserade tried to sense where Eirwen was.

"Ice Punch!" Then Eirwen popped out in front of Roserade with his right paw covered in ice and he punched Roserade who was soon encased in ice.

"Roserade!" Gardenia cried out.

"Now Iron Head!" Eirwen's head glowed a white color and slammed into Roserade who broke out of the ice and went tumbling across the field. A dust cloud appeared when Roserade stopped. When the dust cleared, it showed Roserade with swirls in its eyes.

"Rose~" Roserade groaned.

"Roserade is unable to battle! Eirwen wins! The victor is Ember!" Yoko announced.

"Alright! Great job, Eirwen!" Ember beamed as he jumped into her arms.

"Slash!" Eirwen trilled happily.

Gardenia returned Roserade and walked over to Ember and Eirwen as the others walked up to Ember.

"Ember, you gave me quite a battle. You were able to beat me so well despite my Pokémons' advantages." Gardenia commented, "You're a tough trainer. I guess that's the measure of how much you love your Pokémon. In recognition of that, I give you the Forest Badge." She held out the badge to Ember.

The Forest badge and it was green with white outlines and was shaped like three trees of a forest, with the trunks whited out.

"Thank you, Gardenia." Ember bowed slightly and gently took the badge from her hand.

"Alright! We got the Forest Badge!" Ember posed with her Pokémon.

"Raichu! (Badge number two!)" Tesla cheered.

Liko, Arachne and Eirwen trilled happily.

Ember: Shiny Prinplup (Triton)(M), Roselia (Hana)(F), Luxio (Raji)(M), Shiny Buneary (Usagi)(F), Staravia (Sora)(F), Mothim (Plant Cloak)(Liko)(M), Shiny Ariados (Arachne)(F), Turtwig (Silas)(M), Shiny Cranidos (Garnet)(F), Shieldon (Bertrand)(M), Pachirisu (Maizy)(F), Drifloon (Yennefer)(F)

Alain: Staravia (M), Ariados (M), Cranidos (M), Shiny Shieldon (F)

Brock: Croagunk (M), Nuzleaf (M), Cranidos (M), Shieldon (M), Pokémon Egg

Dawn: Piplup (M), Mothim (Plant Cloak Form)(F), Buneary (F), Smoochum (F), Shiny Pachirisu (M), Drifloon (F), Buizel (M)