A/N Hey all and welcome to the newest chapter of Pokemon Omega Loud! It's finally arrived, Lincoln's Gym Battle with Brawly! While he takes on the Dewford Gym his former friend group will get their first glimpse of a real Pokemon battle and May will finally learn who's been watching her from the shadows.
As always I hope you like this one as much as I did writing it.
Once again Lincoln and his friends found themselves standing outside of a Pokemon Gym. With a grin on his face Lincoln and Co. made their way inside, unaware of the small black and white form that slipped in after them.
"Did you remember to call the fam?" asked LJ.
"I sent them a quick message when we stopped off at the Pokemon Center before coming here." replied Lana. "They'll call us back once Clyde and the rest of Lincoln's friends arrive."
Both sisters looked at the white haired boy, completely unsure of what he was going to say to his former friends, especially Clyde. The sole Loud son said nothing as the group passed through the Health and Fitness part of the Gym to where the battle arena was.
To their surprise the open doorway was completely dark and they found their way forward blocked by a League official.
"Hello," said the Official, "Only challengers to the Dewford Gym can continue past this point. If you are not a challenger you can watch the Gym Test and the Battle by going through that door."
He then motioned to a door off to the side that the group had not noticed on their approach. With some words of encouragement, the girls left to go watch the events, leaving Lincoln standing alone in front of the official.
Stepping forward Lincoln addressed the Official. "So what is a Gym Test exactly?"
The official smiled. "It's quite simple really, in most Gyms in the Hoenn region, you must pass a small test before being allowed to battle the Gym Leader. These tests will test your problem solving capabilities, your ability to improvise on the spot, and your grasp of different battle strategies."
Lincoln nodded. "So what do I need to do for this test?"
"You must navigate a series of darkened rooms to make your way to the Gym Leader. Whenever you enter a room the light will be turned on for a brief moment. You must then navigate the rooms based on what you can remember from when the light was on. Do you understand?"
Lincoln thought for a moment, processing what the official said before nodding his head. The official stepped to the side and allowed the white haired boy to enter.
"Then on behalf of the Pokemon League, I wish you luck during your test," said the Official.
Meanwhile, Lana, May, and LJ made their way to a seating area that overlooked the battle arena where they could see Brawly waiting for the challengers to reach him. Up above them was a Video screen that showed a night vision feed of the Test area, which Lincoln soon entered.
At that moment Lana's dimensional watch began chiming letting the girls know that they were getting a call from home.
Quickly pressing the answer button, a holographic display of the Loud House's living room appeared where the rest of the family sat on the couch. On the floor in front of the couch sat Clyde and the rest of Lincoln's former friend group.
Not much had changed among them over the past year aside from them getting a bit taller. But all of them had nervous looks on their faces due to not being sure what will happen when they can finally talk to Lincoln.
"Hey kiddos!" said Lynn Sr. "Did we miss anything?"
"No, you guys are just on time." said Lana, "Lincoln just started his Gym Test."
Everyone looked confused. "What's a Gym Test?" asked Leni
After May quickly explained what a Gym Test was, the family introduced her to Lincoln's former friends group, where she was cordial with most of them but seemed cold towards Clyde. When asked about this by Luan, May spoke.
"I'm just not too impressed to meet someone who willingly abandoned their friend when they needed them most." she said.
Clyde looked down in sadness, causing the rest of the conversation to become a bit awkward. Before anything else could be said, Lana quickly got everyone's attention.
"Look!" she said, "Lincoln made it past the first room!" Everyone quickly looked up at the video screen, seeing that Lincoln had indeed gotten past the first room. They watched as he entered the second room where the light turned on for a moment before turning off.
Lincoln began making his way through the room, doing his best to remember the layout of the room. He had only seen it for a second but he distinctly recalled seeing several benches and pieces of exercise equipment which made a small maze.
Going slowly, Lincoln navigated his way through the dark, only occasionally running into equipment or stubbing his toe on a bench. He let out a small yell when he slammed his shin on a piece of metal exercise equipment, which caused his family to wince in sympathy.
Eventually he found his way through to the next room, but to his surprise a young girl in orange work out gear stood in his way. Lincoln immediately noticed that the hallway between the rooms was quite spacious, large enough to even have a Pokemon battle in, which instantly got his attention.
"Congratulations on making it this far, challenger!" she said. "But if you want to proceed further you have to beat me in a Pokemon Battle first!"
The girl quickly moved to the opposite end of the hallway from Lincoln, getting into a battle position when she did so.
"I'll show you the results of my special training with the Dewford Town Gym Leader!" she cried as she tossed out a Pokeball.
From the Pokeball, came a small gray and blue pokemon. Its head was vaguely shaped like an onion and it hovered in the air in a sitting position with its legs crossed underneath it.
Quickly whipping out their respective Pokedexes, Lincoln and May scanned the new Pokemon.
Meditite, the Meditate Pokemon, Female. Meditite undertakes rigorous mental training deep in the mountains. However, whenever it meditates, this Pokémon always loses its concentration and focus. As a result, its training never ends.
"Sounds like my kind of Pokemon!" said LJ. Meanwhile Lincoln's friends were in awe. While Clyde had given them a brief runthrough of what he was told about Pokemon, they had found the whole thing hard to believe. Even when they got to the house and met the Pokemon the Louds were caring for they were a bit suspicious, well aware of Luan's propensity for playing pranks.
"So these Pokemon things are real?" asked Rusty. "They aren't a prank?"
As they watched Lincoln tossed out the Pokeball containing Kirlia, which had the Loud sisters, especially Lola and Leni, squealing at how adorable she was.
"That one looks kinda cute," said Stella. Like the Loud sisters she was absolutely enamored by Kirlia.
"Are we sure these things aren't aliens?" asked Zach, who was ignored by most everyone since they knew of his love of creatures from space.
Back in the arena, the Gym trainer known as Tessa began to call out attacks.
"Meditite! Use Confusion!" she yelled out. Meditite then began to glow with a pale blue light as it began to cause nearby items to levitate in the air before they were flung at high speed at Kirlia.
"Use Teleport to dodge, then get in close for a Draining Kiss!" cried Lincoln. Kirlia then vanished just as the flung items would have connected with her body. She then reappeared briefly before disappearing again, getting closer as she did.
Soon Kirlia appeared right next to the Meditite before leaning in and giving the Meditate Pokemon a brief kiss on the cheek, causing the Loud girls to squeal once again. Meditite slumped in its place as its energy was siphoned away and absorbed by Kirlia, causing super effective damage.
"Use another Draining Kiss before it can recover!" cried Lincoln. Kirlia immediately leaned in to give it another kiss, but not before Tessa called out for Meditite to use another move.
"Use Detect to protect yourself!" countered Tessa. An odd gleam appeared in Meditites' eye as it quickly dodged the energy draining attack. "Now use Feint!"
Meditite then began to swing one of its arms towards Kirlia, who braced herself for the impact but was surprised when Meditite delivered a hard kick to her midsection instead.
"Kirlia, use Disarming Voice!" cried Lincoln. Kirlia then opened her mouth and emitted a short cry, causing a series of pink hued soundwaves to rush towards Meditite, knocking it back several feet where it then collapsed into unconsciousness.
Tessa then recalled her Meditite before walking towards Lincoln, a grin on her face.
"I'm not going to waste this loss." she said, "I'll use it to motivate me to train! One day, I'll become a Gym Leader... No, I'll become the Pokémon League Champion!"
She then pointed Lincoln towards the darkened doorway behind her.
"You can continue, just one more room before you reach the Gym Leader."
Thanking her for the battle (as well as collecting his winnings from the girl) Lincoln entered the darkened room, where once again the lights turned on briefly before turning off. This room was much more difficult than the previous one as numerous lockers and cabinets made a labyrinth of metal and wood that needed to be navigated.
After a few minutes of navigating around in the dark, hitting a few dead ends in the process, Lincoln finally made it to the exit of the room, getting cheers from his family and friends.
The space Lincoln entered was large, housing a standard League battle arena. On the opposite side stood Brawly who was doing some exercises as he waited. When he saw Lincoln walk through the door to the arena, he smiled and walked forward.
"I was wondering when you were gonna show up!" said Brawly. "Are you and your companions done playing tourist?"
Lincoln smiled back, "Yup. Now I'm going to win my next badge."
Brawly's smile turned slightly smug, "You can try."
With that the two trainers walked to opposite sides of the arena as the League Official from before stepped forwards.
"This is an Official League battle between the Challenger, Lincoln Loud, and the Dewford Town Gym Leader, Brawly. This will be an elimination match, with both trainers using two Pokemon. Only the Challenger will be allowed to substitute Pokemon during the match. The battle is over when both of a trainers' Pokemon are unable to battle."
Looking between the two trainers the Official continued.
"Are both trainers ready to battle?" Getting nods of confirmation from both trainers, the official raised his flag and lowered it between the combatants..
"Then let the battle BEGIN!"
He then quickly left the arena as both trainers tossed out their Pokeballs, Lincoln's containing Kirlia, while Brawly's let out a small gray Pokemon with three beige ridges on its head. May then quickly scanned the Pokemon before anyone could ask what it was.
Machop, the Superpower Pokemon, Male. Machop's muscles are special—they never get sore no matter how much they are used in exercise. This Pokémon has sufficient power to hurl a hundred adult humans.
"I like it." said LJ, which caused most of the family members to roll their eyes.
"A critter like that'd be a mighty big help on the farm," said Liam.
"Machop! Use Bulk Up, then move in for a Karate Chop!" cried Brawly. Machop then grit its teeth tensing its body as its muscle mass quickly doubled in size making it stronger than before.
"Woah, wish I could do that." muttered LJ.
"Kirlia, use Hypnosis!" yelled Lincoln. Kirlia then let out rings of energy from her eyes, which flew towards Machop. Machop, however, dodged the energy before rushing forward and hitting Kirlia with a fierce Karate Chop.
Kirlia shook off the attack, leaping back a short distance from Machop.
"Use Confusion!" said Lincoln. Just as Meditite had done during the earlier battle, Kirlia became enveloped in a pale blue light as she lifted Machop into the air with her Confusion before slamming him down onto the arena floor, causing several cracks to appear.
"Quick get close and use Draining Kiss!" cried Lincoln. Kirlia then rushed forward, leaning close to Machop to use her attack.
"Grab her while she's close and use Seismic Toss!" yelled Brawly. Before Kirlia could make contact with Draining Kiss, Machop leapt up and grabbed her by the waist before leaping in the air and swinging her in a wide circle. When it had gained enough momentum, Machop then flung Kirlia full force towards the ground, creating a large crater in the arena.
Kirlia struggled to get up, doing her best to move after the impact. Brawly took advantage of the situation ordering Machop to use another Karate Chop attack. Lincoln waited patiently watching as the Superpower Pokemon closed the distance between itself and Kirlia. Just as Machop began to swing its arm, Lincoln cried out.
"Kirlia use a point blank Hypnosis!" he cried. Kirlia's eyes shot wide open emitting the same rings of energy she did early, catching Machop just before his attack made contact. Machop immediately keeled over, fast asleep and unable to mount a counterattack.
Now it was Lincoln's turn to take advantage of the situation and he ordered Kirlia to use a series of Drain Kiss attacks to damage his opponent and heal his Pokemon at the same time.
Try as he might, Brawly could do nothing to awaken his Pokemon and after a few more moments, Machop passed from being merely asleep to being completely unable to battle. Kirlia on the other hand looked as if she had never even entered a battle, the amount of Drain Kiss attacks having completely healed the Emotion Pokemon.
"Machop is unable to battle!" cried the Official, "The winner of this round is Kirlia!"
Cheers erupted from the stands as Lincoln's family and friends voiced their support for their son/brother/friend.
Brawly then recalled his Pokemon, smiling as he held the Pokeball containing Machop.
"You did great, Machop." he said, lifting his gaze towards Lincoln. "I must say Lincoln, you have an excellent grasp of strategy and battle tactics."
"Thanks, Brawly." said Lincoln, "I owe it to years of having to deal with my sister's shenanigans."
"Ha! Ain't that the truth!" snickered Rusty, who immediately got dirty looks from the Loud Sisters, causing him to gulp in fear.
Back at the battle, Brawly took out another Pokeball, eager to continue the fight as he brought out his next Pokemon, a Makuhita.
Lincoln, to everyone's surprise, recalled Kirlia causing everyone to wonder what he had planned.
"Come on out, Lynn!" he cried as he released his starter. Lynn immediately let out a loud crow of determination, spewing out a torrent of flame as she did so. All of the spectators looked on in awe at the sight of the Fire Type Pokemon, eager to see how the battle would play out.
It was Brawly who made the first move, calling out an attack.
"Makuhita, use Sand Attack!" he cried out. Makuhita quickly swept one his hands along the ground, kicking up a shower of dirt that hit Lynn in the eyes before she or Lincoln could react. Lynn quickly began rubbing her eyes in an attempt to clear her vision.
"Hey, that's cheating!" yelled LJ after seeing the attack. She stood up to yell in anger at Brawly but was stopped as May put her hand on the girl's shoulder.
"Actually," said May. "Sand Attack is an officially recognized move by the Pokemon League, so it's perfectly acceptable to use in battle."
LJ looked at the girl with her mouth open in shock. If this had been a normal sport between humans, such moves would definitely be frowned upon. The young girl looked back to the battle and saw that Lincoln looked completely unbothered by the attack, so she gently retook her seat to continue watching.
"Lynn try to hit it with Peck!" cried Lincoln. Lynn dashed forward, her beak glowing with a white light as she thrust herself forward. Unfortunately due to the dirt in her eyes, her attack went a bit too wide, missing Makuhita by a small amount.
"Makuhita! Use Arm Thrust before it can recover!" cried Brawly. Makuhita then began hitting Lynn with a blindingly fast series of open palm slaps to the face. The Fire Type Pokemon could do nothing against the onslaught of slaps before she was sent flying when the final slap made contact.
Before anyone could react, Lynn leapt to her feet, a look of absolute rage burning in her eyes. Briefly giving her eyes a quick rub to slightly clear her vision, she turned to her trainer and gave a nod, causing Lincoln to grin alongside his starter.
"Use Aerial Ace!" Lincoln cried. Lynn dashed forward, her claws glowing brightly as she moved. It looked for an instant that the attack would miss due to the Pokemon's blurry vision, but to most everyone's surprise the attack struck home, even though Lynn's eyes were closed. Makuhita was brought down to one knee by the super effective attack and everyone began to look on in anticipation as it looked like Lincoln would soon claim victory.
To everyone's shock and awe, Makuhita began glowing with an intense light as its form began to grow in size until the light faded, revealing an angry looking Hariyama in its place.
Everyone in Royal Woods let out cries of shock, wondering what was going on.
"What just happened!?" cried Stella.
"I think this is the evolution phenomenon Lincoln told us about," said Lisa as she looked at the screen intensely.
"What's evolution?" asked Clyde.
Lisa adjusted her glasses as she turned to her brother's former best friend.
"According to Lincoln, when a Pokemon meets certain conditions, such as enough battle experience, or coming into contact with a specific item, the Pokemon can undergo a metamorphosis into a completely new, oftentimes stronger, Pokemon."
Lincoln's friends gulped at the mention that Brawly's Pokemon was now stronger as they turned back to the battle, hoping their friend could still win.
Brawly quickly took advantage of everyone's shock at seeing Makuhita evolve mid-battle.
"Hariyama use Force Palm!" he cried. Hariyama's hand quickly began to glow with a similar light to Lynn's Aerial Ace as Hariyama swung it's palm down towards the Combusken.
"Dodge it!" cried Lincoln. Lynn leapt to the side just as Hariyama's palm would have made contact, causing the attack to hit the ground instead. The ground erupted into a cloud of debris as a massive crater encompassed half of the arena. Both trainers quickly ducked to avoid the pieces of the arena that were sent flying in all directions.
Even the spectators weren't spared as large pieces of debris were sent rocketing in their direction. Lynn and Lana quickly ducked down below the stands to avoid being hit, but May was too slow.
As an exceptionally large piece of debris blasted towards her, the young trainer held her arms up in an attempt to protect herself but was shocked when a small black and white form leapt out from a nearby area, its hand glowing brightly, and struck the boulder causing it exploud into a cloud of dust.
What was that?! May thought as she lowered her arms and looked at her savior.
Standing before her, looking at her with an intense look, was a small black and white bear Pokemon with a small green leaf sticking out of its mouth. She slowly took her Pokedex out of her pocket as the little Pokemon stared at her.
Pancham, the Playful Pokemon, Female. It does its best to be taken seriously by its enemies, but its glare is not sufficiently intimidating. Chewing on a leaf is its trademark.
May looked at the Pancham, who was studying the girl intently before it walked towards her and climbed into her lap and snuggled itself into her arms. May almost squealed in delight before she remembered where she was and turned her attention back to the battle where Lynn was dodging one Force Palm after the other.
Lincoln looked on with concern. Lynn was doing her best to dodge and hadn't been hit so far but with her vision still blurry it was only a matter of time until she was hit. Deciding to fight fire with fire Lincoln quickly called out.
"Lynn, hit it with a Sand Attack of your own!" Lynn nodded and waited for Hariyama to try for another hit. As soon as she dodged, she kicked up a dirt cloud into Hariyama's face, temporarily blinding it.
Unfortunately this caused Hariyama to flail out in anger and one of his massive hands collided with Lynn before she could dodge it. The Fire Type Pokemon went flying off to the side, narrowly missing the Official before she collided with the wall.
The Official ran to check on Lynn but immediately noticed that her eyes were rolled into the back of her head as she lay there unconscious.
"Combusken is unable to battle!" yelled the Official, "This round goes to Hariyama!"
Lincoln's family and friends groaned in sympathy, while LJ yelled out some words of encouragement to her brother.
Lincoln stared at Hariyama intently, taking notice that even though Hariyama had evolved and become stronger, it had still taken a lot of damage from Lynn's attacks causing it to breathe heavily as it moved slowly due to its body in pain.
Lincoln tossed out Kirlia's Pokeball, ready to continue the match. Soon Kirlia and Hariyama stared at each other from across the battlefield before Brawly called out for an attack.
"Get close and use Force Palm!" he cried. Hariyama bolted forward quickly closing the distance to the Psychic type Pokemon when Lincoln cried out.
"Kirlia use Double Team!"
Kirlia quickly began moving around the arena at a breakneck pace causing several doubles to appear throughout the battlefield. Hariyama looked around in confusion, unable to differentiate between the doubles and the original, especially with its eyes still blurry from Lynn's Sand Attack.
"Hariyama, it's pointless to search for it, so shore up your defense with Bulk Up!" cried Brawly.
Hariyama quit trying to find the original Kirlia, instead tensing its body causing its muscle mass to increase.
"Use Confusion!" called Lincoln. Kirlia stopped for a moment causing her doubles to disappear, where her eyes began to glow brightly. Hariyama was lifted into the air and slammed against the ground repeatedly.
"Use Force Palm to brace yourself!" cried Brawly. Just as Hariyama was about to make contact with the ground again, it shot its hand out so the palm made contact with the ground first, cracking the arena and cushioning its fall while also causing a cloud of dust to obscure most of Brawly's side of the battlefield.
"Kirlia! Keep an eye out for Hariyama!" Lincoln called out. Kirlia looked around nervously, unable to see much through the dust cloud. Thinking quickly, Lincoln called out for Kirlia to try to sense Hariyama with its psychic powers.
Kirlia closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as she spread her awareness around the battlefield. To her surprise she couldn't sense Hariyama's presence until Lincoln cried out.
"Above you!" he shouted. Kirlia looked up just in time to see Hariyama falling towards her like a meteor straight out of Hell.
"Use Force Palm! End it!" yelled Brawly. Hariyama shot its arm forward, palm facing the ground as it closed in on Kirlia. The Psychic Type braced herself for impact as Hariyama once again caused a cloud of dust to kick up when it landed.
Everyone held their breath, unsure of what they would see when the dust cleared. Brawly looked confident that Hariyama had claimed victory while everyone in the stands and in Royal Woods looked nervous, worried that Lincoln had lost another Gym Battle on his first attempt.
The only one not showing emotion on his face was Lincoln as he studied the battlefield intently. As the dust cleared Brawly's expression went from confidence to shock while a broad smile spread across Lincoln's face.
Standing untouched by Hariyama's attack stood Kirlia who lowered her arms as she looked at her surroundings. It appeared that due to Hariyama still suffering the effects of Lynn's earlier Sand Attack, it had completely missed the Psychic Type Pokemon instead hitting the ground a foot away from her.
"Kirlia! Before it can recover, use Draining Kiss, then follow up with Confusion!" Lincoln shouted out.
Kirlia quickly kissed Hariyama on the cheek, siphoning away its health before lifting it in the air and slamming it back down once again.
Hariyama slowly got to its feet, breathing heavily as it stood its ground. It glared at Kirlia before its eyes slowly rolled into the back of its head and its body fell forward, face planting onto the battlefield.
Quickly the Official rushed forward and checked on Hariyama, before motioning towards Lincoln.
"Hariyama is unable to battle!" he cried. "Kirlia is the winner, which means the match goes to the challenger, Lincoln Loud!
Loud cheers erupted from the stands as LJ and Lana embraced each other while jumping up and down in excitement. Back in the Loud house, similar reactions were sweeping through the Loud family while Lincoln's former friend group had much more subdued reactions.
May added her own voice to the din, but refrained from jumping as she still held Pancham in her lap, the small Pokemon having fallen asleep during the battle.
Brawly recalled Hariyama to its Pokeball as he made his way towards Lincoln, who had run forward and embraced Kirlia in a tight hug, praising his Pokemon for its great battling.
When Brawly reached Lincoln, the white haired boy looked up as the Gym Leader held out his hand.
"That was an excellent battle." he said, "It's clear that you and your Pokemon are very close and I'm pleased to award the Knuckle Badge."
Lincoln took Brawly's hand as he gave it a grateful shake, while the Official stepped up to the boy's side holding a small case. Inside the case was a small badge that looked like a blue boxing glove with an orange thumb.
Lincoln took the badge in a trembling hand, happy to have won his second badge. He thanked Brawly for a fantastic match before he looked down at his side as Kirlia stared at the badge, enamored with the light reflecting off its surface.
"I think it's about time I gave you a name, huh Kirlia?" he said. Kirlia blinked in confusion before she began to smile brightly at her trainer, eager to learn what her new name would be.
Lincoln gently placed his hand on Kirlia's head giving it a gentle rub.
"How do you feel about the name, Leni?"
Kirlia just smiled and nodded.
-=o=-
A/N So Lincoln has earned his second badge AND given his Kirlia her long awaited name! Also what is going on with the Pancham May has found herself suddenly caring for? Find out in the next chapter where Lincoln has his talk with Clyde and his friends after which the group will meet Steven Stone.
See you all next time!
Lincoln
Pokemon on Team: Lynn (Combusken (F)), Leni (Kirlia(F))*, Carvanha(M), Lola (Bounsweet (F)), Joltik(F), Passimian(F)
Pokemon in Storage: Phantump(F), Zigzagoon(M), Wingull(M), Slakoth(M), Shroomish(M), Carvanha(M), Skitty(M), Wrath (Taillow(M)), Makuhita(M), Sableye(F), Mawile(F), Geodude(M), Aron(M)*, Aron x3 (M/M/F)
Loud House: Whismur(M), Abra(F), Mimikyu(F), Dratini(M)
May
Pokemon on Team: Marshtomp(M), Beautifly(F), Skitty(F), Feebas(F)
Lana
Pokemon on Team: Lizzy (Treecko (F)), Scar (Poochyena(M)), Wormy (Dustox(F)), Ninjask(M), Paras (M), Pokemon Egg(N/A)
Pokemon in Storage: Magikarp(F)*
Loud House: Shedinja (X)
*denotes shiny Pokemon