Still basking in the satisfaction from the previous day's events, I woke up earlier than usual to make breakfast for the team and mentally prepare myself for the upcoming Gym Battle.
Petalburg Gym Leader Norman is well known for his team's aggressive, all-in approach, which sometimes makes his battles notoriously shorter compared to the other Gym Leaders in the region. The intense training had honed his Pokémon to become warriors never backing down without a gruesome fight.
I knew this would be a challenge requiring proactiveness and endurance for all of us.
As I walked towards the area where my Pokémon were resting to call them up, I noticed my Machop was not there unlike others, who were still deep in their slumbers. After looking around a little, I saw Power at one of the corners of the room, practicing his punches and kicks towards the air. Although he was still slightly off from showing a fully confident stance in his gestures, he definitely made progress after the Pokélympics Celebration Event, as shown from his calmer breathing and him looking more straight forward instead of towards the ground like before.
I grinned.
For some reason, I feel we'll be just fine today.
Arriving at the Petalburg Gym around 15 minutes earlier than the intended time, I just sat on one of the bamboo chairs provided at the reception area and looked around while fidgeting slightly. Of course, I had utmost confidence in my Pokémon, but the Petalburg Gym just overall emits an intense, serious atmosphere with its room's traditional style, consisting of mainly bamboo for its interior structure, making my heart beat just that little faster.
When it was time for the Gym Battle, I took a deep breath before following the receptionist to the battlefield room, which resumed the reception area's traditional-styled design with a dirt battlefield. I walked towards my side of the battlefield while exchanging brief eye contact with the Petalburg Gym Leader, Norman, who looked stern as ever. At the spectator stands, I could see the minimized figures of Woody and Grace, who would be cheering for us as they were not part of the Gym Battle for this time.
The referee, who located himself at the middle of the battlefield, explained the rules, "This match will be a three on three single battles, in which the challenger has the first move as well as being able to switch his Pokémon. The winner is decided when the opponent's three Pokémon are unable to battle. Do you understand and agree with the rules, Lows from Pallet Town?"
As I nodded, the referee took a few seconds before continuing, "With that, the match between Leader Norman and Challenger Lows will now begin! Trainers, please choose your first Pokémon."
"It's time to have a taste of Normal types' aggressiveness, Lows." Norman took out a Pokéball and threw it up in the air with good strength, "All out, Shinryaku!"
The Pokéball released a white, sloth-like Pokémon with a teardrop-shaped tuft of red fur on its forehead. Instinctively, I scanned it with my Pokédex, [Vigoroth, the Wild Monkey Pokémon. It is the evolved form of Slakoth. It is always hungry because it won't stop rampaging. Even while it is eating, it can't keep still.]
Sounds aggressive, alright…
Making a quick first decision in the match, I took out my first Pokéball and released my choice, "Game time, Surfer!"
My Wartortle made a graceful backflip before landing onto the dirt battlefield, not looking fazed despite the larger appearance of his upcoming opponent, which fueled me with a little more confidence as well.
After both sides looked ready, the referee announced, "Battle begin!"
"Surfer, a good ol' Water Pulse!"
"You got it, Lows!" He smiled before generating a pulsing blast of water aiming right at the Vigoroth. However, Norman remained unfazed as he said, "Shinryaku, fight right through the pain and use Fury Swipes!"
Upon hearing that, the Vigoroth instantly ran towards my Water type starter at a scarily alarming speed, taking the Water Pulse attack head on with no signs of slowing down before raking through Surfer with his sharp claws five times in a row. Surfer slightly winced in pain but remained firm on the battlefield, showing no signs of giving in.
I definitely need to take a different approach here.
After analyzing the situation, I pretended to feel panic and did not immediately command Surfer, he looked confused at first, but trusted me anyway right after making brief eye contact with me. Norman, who noticed my "hesitation", was obviously not going to let such an opportunity go away.
"Shinryaku, full power Slash!" Shinryaku was ready to attack with his sharp claws once again, and started aggressively charging towards his smaller opponent.
Knowing the time had come, I said, "Surfer, surround him with Sand Tomb now!"
Surfer grinned, understanding the assignment before summoning a harshly raging sandstorm around the Normal type, which finally made him stop his attack, the Ground type move proving too much for him at the moment.
The Sand Tomb attack obviously subsided after just a few seconds, but it was enough for me to formulate our next move, "Surfer, keep up the momentum and use Bite!"
Surfer instantly rushed towards Shinryaku, who appeared to still be struggling from the aftermath of Sand Tomb. However, a small smirk was seen in Norman's face as he commanded, "Shinryaku, Endure!"
Unlike his previously aggressive behavior, he appeared focused and calm before getting impaled by Surfer's sharp fangs. The Normal type uncontrollably let out a moan from the pain, but he was able to endure the attack.
"Perfect, Shinryaku! Use Counter now!"
"Surfer, retreat immediately!" Although my Wartortle tried to quickly fall back upon hearing my command, his speed was not a match against the Vigoroth as Shinryaku retaliated with horrifying power as he crushed Surfer. The tables had turned at an instant and Surfer struggled to get up due to the huge impact, but managed to pull himself back together as he slightly limped.
Taking on a full hit just for a chance to hit back even harder… I've never seen such a playstyle before! It's like he wants to bring his opponent down together no matter the cost!
The only upside of the situation was the veil of water surrounding Surfer as my starter's eyes turned light blue. From that, I knew his ability, Torrent had activated, which while making his Water-type moves more powerful, also signaled that Surfer potentially could not fight for much longer.
"Surfer, let's end this with Water Pulse!" I betted on the fact that Vigoroth was also low on health as Surfer released the pulsing blast of water, which seemed more powerful than the previous.
"Shinryaku, fight through the pain and use Slash!" Shinryaku continued his aggressive stance until the very end as he let out a thundering battle cry before dashing towards Surfer and slashed him right at the stomach with his claws, the impact sending my Water type Pokémon into the air before crashing against the bamboo wall, Surfer letting out a louder wince of pain before falling onto the ground, unconscious. On the other side, Shinryaku, who seemed to have full control of the ending of the battle, surprisingly also collapsed on the ground due to exhaustion.
"Shinryaku and Surfer are both unable to battle! This battle is a draw!"
During the short interval, I quickly ran towards my Water type starter, feeling slightly sorry as I petted him before returning him back to his Pokéball to recover. I also had a quick glance towards the stands, where Grace and Woody seemed worried about our honorary team leader's condition.
I had my worries at the time too, but what I could only do going forward was keep battling until the last moment.
Thus, I set aside my worries for the moment, and took out my second Pokéball.
At the spectator stands…
"That was a terrible hit at Surfer…" Woody's voice was full of worry about the Water type's condition.
"From what I observed from him so far, Surfer can definitely tank at least a few powerful hits during battles. He should be fine after some rest afterwards." Despite the initial worries, Grace seemed to have recovered from the shock and reassured the Grovyle beside her.
Woody remained silent for a few seconds before letting out a sigh, "I wish I was the one battling that Vigoroth instead."
"Why is that? You think you can do better than Surfer in that battle?" She half-joked, hoping she could help lightening up Woody's mood.
"O-Of course not! I just thought… maybe Surfer didn't have to suffer so much pain at this moment if I was the one on the battlefield." Woody said, feeling slight regret that he sat out of this match.
Suddenly, his thoughts were cut short by the light grip on his left hand. He looked towards it before realizing the small, thin white hand on his own. Mixed with the shyness, it was comfort that started easing his mind.
Once Grace felt his negative feelings had subsided, she added, "Although I don't wish any major harm for Surfer, I also don't prefer you being the one to endure such sufferings. For that reason, I hope you don't deprecate yourself like that again, Woody."
Although the Kirlia was mostly well-versed in her sentences, Woody could still sense the hint of anger in her voice. He looked at her and noticed the slight blush and the small pout on her face that the green hair could not hide completely.
He knew she said that out of good will and in some sense, care towards him. He instantly apologized, "I'm sorry. I wasn't really thinking too much when I said that… I won't do that again."
"Good." The small pout was replaced with a little grin on her face, as they resumed watching the match between Norman and Lows.
The two hands were still holding onto each other, but neither of them wanted, nor cared too much to let it go.
Back to the battlefield…
I threw my second Pokéball into the air, "You got this, Ziggs!"
As my Linoone landed onto the ground, Norman raised his eyebrows slightly before saying, "Well then, time to get ready for a mirror matchup. Time to prove yourself, Diggy!"
I felt the name sounded a little familiar before another Linoone appeared from Norman's Pokéball on the other side of the battlefield. The jovial looking Linoone looked towards Ziggs and I before saying, "Hey, I know you two! We met at the Pokémon Adoption Centre a few months back!"
"D-Diggy? How did you get here?!" Both Ziggs and I asked in unison, surprised by the turn of events.
"Oh? Looks like you guys are familiar with each other. I guess there's some explaining to do." Norman smiled.
"What's going on here, Leader Norman? Last time I remembered, a female trainer was trying to get Diggy back to her."
"The female trainer you're talking about? Her name is May, a friend of my son and the current Hoenn Champion, Brendan."
"May?!" Somehow, this got even more surprising for me. I tried recalling the appearance of the female trainer I saw back at the Pokémon Adoption Centre, and despite her wearing a more casual outfit at that time, I finally remembered she was wearing the same green bandana that she wore at Dewford.
I-It was actually her… Realization hit me like thunder.
"Looks like you recalled something." Norman said, "May just recently brought Diggy back to her from the Pokémon Adoption Centre after a series of… unfortunate events."
He glanced at the poor Linoone before continuing, "Diggy was frail before, so she was still concerned about his condition for future outdoor traveling and wanted him to take it slow. She then asked my son, Brendan to take care of Diggy, but he is currently quite busy with the tasks and paperwork as the Champion, so he ended up suggesting to May to let Diggy train at my Gym."
"May and I thought it was a great idea!" Diggy happily followed, "We even promised each other that we will travel together again after I fully derust and become even stronger than before."
"After Diggy moved to my Gym, she video-called us so frequently to check on Diggy, that it was getting annoying at this point." Despite maintaining his stern tone, I could tell he was trying to make a light joke, "But Diggy is doing quite well here, currently. He is eager to improve and rejoin May's team, that he enthusiastically trained hard everyday and has made good progress."
"To the point where I even evolved!" Diggy cheered, "It happened so naturally during just another day of Gym Training, that I didn't even have time to react properly! May was super happy about the news, too!"
"That's great to hear!" I was genuinely happy for the little guy.
"For sure! But that doesn't mean I'll go easy on you for this one!" Ziggs said.
"No problem! Bring it on!" Diggy happily replied.
As the conversation came to an end and both sides readied up, the referee continued the match, "Battle begin!"
"Ziggs, start off with Headbutt!"
"Diggy, do the same head on!"
The two Linoone both dashed at decent pace before ramming into each other with their heads, both being pushed back right after from the impact. The two smiled at each other, as all of us knew this might come to be another close fight between Ziggs and Diggy.
"Ziggs, go for Dig!" Instantly, my Normal type burrowed into the ground, waiting for the right time to strike against his opponent. However, both Diggy and Norman remained unfazed as Norman commanded, "Get ready to use Slash when he strikes!"
And Slash he did. Diggy raised its small, tuff-like ears and tried tracking my Linoone based on the sounds. Moments later, Ziggs dug out of the ground and attacked Diggy from behind, but the opponent reflexively slashed Ziggs with his sharp claws.
As Ziggs fled back to my side of the battlefield, Norman quickly followed up, "Diggy, use Belly Drum, then use Slash again!"
The aggressive approach was back for the Normal type Gym Leader, as Diggy started charging until a ball form of power came from his belly and surrounded him. I could tell the opponent's Linoone was slightly tired from the move, but still maintained his pace as he ran forward for a potentially powerful final blow.
"Ziggs, don't be afraid, he's definitely drained now. Fight through the pain and use Facade!"
Ziggs was ready to take the hit full on as Diggy attacked with a slash of claws with more power than his first. Ziggs winced in pain from the pain, but still managed to wring out his move as he tackled Diggy with incredible force. After the intense collision between two Linoones, both of them were down on the ground, unable to move.
Another draw?!
I ran over to them, which luckily, they were just tired from the exhaustion, "Ziggs, thanks for your hard work."
I then looked over towards Diggy and praised, "Diggy… You're definitely really close to rejoining May soon."
"Thanks, Lows! I look forward to that day happening as well…" Slightly recovering from the tough battle, he replied with a soft voice before looking at Ziggs and laughed, "Ziggs, next chance we battle again, it'll be my win!"
"In your dreams, Diggy." Ziggs weakly chuckled, as both friendly Pokémon accepted the draw before they returned back to their respective Pokéballs.
I took out my last Pokéball and thought, Power, believe in yourself and show what you got!
I threw the Pokéball high up into the air, "I believe in you, Power!"
My Machop appeared on the battlefield, but became slightly shocked by the large opponent in front of him as it was just summoned out of Norman's last Pokéball.
[Slaking, the Lazy Pokémon. It is the evolved form of Vigoroth and the final evolved form of Slakoth. It is the world's most slothful Pokémon. However, it can exert horrifying power by releasing pent-up energy all at once.]
Noticing Power becoming slightly nervous at the clearly experienced opponent, I reassured him, "The Slaking might look more powerful, but trust me, you're definitely up to par with him. Let's do this, Power."
"...Y-Yeah, let's do this." Power was still recovering from his initial shock, but I could tell he was determined to win it for the team. With the newfound confidence and determination, we were ready to continue fighting.
"Battle begin!"
"Power, use Karate Chop!" Thinking that we could take advantage of Power's higher speed compared to the Slaking's, it was a sensible idea.
"Zandaka, counter with Strength!"
Despite having a large figure and not being able to dodge attacks, the disadvantage was made up with Zandaka's quick arm movements. Before Power could even land the attack on the Slaking, he was slugged with a powerful punch and was forced to retreat.
"Power, try again! Low Kick!"
Power knew he needed to work harder to land effective hits onto the veteran in front of him. He ran forward once again and went for the powerful, low kick, fully expecting another trick up the Slaking's sleeve. However, Zandaka's reaction was instead just a big yawn before taking the Fighting-type move full on. The final boss of the Petalburg Gym, who looked so scary in his initial move, suddenly looked like he did not want to be there at all.
For a second, I thought I noticed Norman's worry in his expression, but he quickly returned to his stern look.
Yeah, something's definitely wrong.
Needing a little more time to confirm my suspicions, I lowered my voice enough for my next command so Norman's side would not be able to listen.
"Power, let's go for Low Kick again, but instantly fall back when he tries to counter you."
Power nodded before running towards the Slaking again, while Norman commanded, "Zandaka, counter with Facade!"
Upon closing in towards Zandaka, his focused expression returned as he tried to quickly tackle the approaching Power. However, at the last moment, Power quickly dodged towards the right, narrowly avoiding what could have been a fatal attack. He quickly went back to my side before Zandaka could do anything else.
Right after trying that Facade attack, Zandaka let out another huge yawn, which I took the opportunity to test out my theory, "Power, use Karate Chop now!"
Power ran towards the Slaking once again, this time landing the sharp chop with almost zero resistance. The Slaking still seemed to be in good condition, but the cat was definitely out of the bag at that point.
"I get it now, Power!" I told my Fighting type Pokémon, "That's Slaking's signature ability, Truant, which after a move, they become lazy to attack. I studied this in Trainer's School before."
"Good find, Lows!" Power smiled, knowing our chances to win had increased based on this newfound information.
"We've been fighting alongside this ability for years now, this won't stop us." Norman said, "Zandaka, all in! Use Hyper Beam!"
"Hyper Beam?!" We were definitely not prepared for this information, that was for sure. Even the gasps from Woody and Grace could be heard from the spectator stands. The Slaking, who recovered from his lazing state, opened his mouth and charged up a powerful beam, before releasing it towards my Machop.
Since all of Power's moves were physical, attacking moves, there was basically no way to counter the attack or protect himself from the upcoming attack.
W-What can we do?! I could only stare at Power as he closed his eyes and braced for impact.
There was no turning back. He had to survive the Hyper Beam attack.
He was scared, but that was the only thing in his mind. Do not go down.
He could not lose. For his team's sake.
As he closed his eyes and readied for the pain that would soon hit him, he thought about the memories he had with Lows' team, where most were filled by nothing but happiness. He was so awkward and easily scared back then, but his teammates were so accepting of him.
Finally, the memories of the previous day's event, the Pokélympics Celebration Festival, popped up in his head. Not only that it was so fun, for the first time in a long time, he felt like a Champion during the "Test of Strength" category, which gave him the newfound confidence to even come so close with an opponent that seemed so far to reach months ago.
Back then, at these final moments of each battle, he would only recall the bad memories and fill his mind with even more depressing thoughts, which made him give up before the battle even ended.
I-I really changed, didn't I?
Power slightly smiled.
That event changed me. My new teammates changed me.
Lows changed me.
I-I need to show that right now!
At that moment, a white light surrounded him right before the Hyper Beam hit the Machop.
At long last… he's evolving!
I smiled proudly as the white light continued surrounding my Fighting type Pokémon, absorbing most of the Hyper Beam's power. Some luck was definitely involved in this battle so far, but at that point, I would have taken anything.
After the white light subsided, what was a Machop before was replaced with a bipedal, humanoid Pokémon with large pectoral muscles that protrude slightly over its black and golden belt.
[Machoke, the Superpower Pokémon. It is the evolved form of Machop. Its formidable body never gets tired. It helps people by doing work such as the moving of heavy goods.]
"Power, how do you feel?"
"S-So much stronger, Lows!" Despite taking some damage from the Hyper Beam, he still seemed relatively refreshed, "I think I also learned some new moves from evolving!"
Saying that, he ran towards Zandaka, who was loafing around once again, before grabbing the heavy Slaking and recklessly dived for the ground. Power took some damage from the new move, but looked to be in better condition than Zandaka, who had taken three super effective moves and unleashed a Hyper Beam attack.
That's the move Submission! This evolution really has changed the game for us.
Norman knew the situation too, and knew the waiting game was not something he could go for anymore. He commanded, "Zandaka, another Hyper Beam, full power!"
I smiled at Power before asking, "You can handle that, right?"
"I think it should be fine." He replied.
"Then let's finish this off with Fling!"
My Machoke nodded as he flung the heavy rock he brought alongside towards the tired Slaking. Zandaka managed to unleash what could be the final powerful beam from its mouth, but the Hyper Beam obviously looked less intimidating than the previous one due to the piling exhaustion. Power took the Hyper Beam head on, while the large rock landed perfectly at Zandaka's figure. As the Hyper Beam attack finished, Power was still standing strong, while the final boss of the Petalburg Gym was finally down after a long, hard fought battle.
I-It's finally over!
"Zandaka is unable to battle! Power wins! The winner is Lows from Pallet Town." Upon hearing the referee's announcement, I happily walked towards Power and patted his shoulder, "You made everyone proud today, Power."
"I hope I did, Lows." Power smiled. I knew this victory would boost his confidence further from there onwards.
Norman and Zandaka walked towards us as the Petalburg Gym Leader said, "Even though Power's evolution came at possibly the worst timing for us, it was undeniable that your team battles with passion, determination and iron will. You're deserving of the Balance Badge."
I gratefully received a gray pin with two dark gray loops connected by a dark gray rod from Norman.
"You reminded me of the early days when my son battled me for the Balance Badge years ago." A smile appeared from Norman's serious expression, "Young trainers' potential is truly limitless. I moved here with my family to become the new Petalburg Gym Leader, and now years' passed, and my son is at a higher peak than me!" He chuckled.
"You must be proud of your son, Leader Norman." I said.
"Of course I am!" He said, "I'm sure your parents are proud of your journey so far, too."
I smiled, thinking about my parents back in Pallet Town.
After exchanging Pokégear numbers as usual, it was time for the conversation to come to an end. Norman patted my right shoulder with his strong hand, "Never change, trainer. I hope to see you at a stage as high… no, even higher than Brendan."
"That's a big goal to achieve, but I appreciate it, Leader Norman." I thanked him before leaving the Petalburg Gym.
As I packed up my stuff in my PokéCentre room before leaving, my recovered Pokémon were having fun recalling the Gym Challenge earlier.
Ziggs playfully asked, "Power, how does it feel to join the 'Evolved Club'?"
Power spoke in a more masculine voice in his reply, "I-I felt much better than before, that's for sure!"
Surfer smiled, "I'm happy for you, buddy. We all know you worked so hard for this."
The atmosphere around the room was generally buoyant after the Gym Challenge victory.
I hope we can keep this up for the challenges to come.
After finishing packing up, I returned my Pokémon back to their Pokéballs before heading to the dock nearby Petalburg City. I checked in and entered the ship I would be staying in for my trip to Slateport.
With that, we had started another long journey to our next destination…
Fortree City.
Lows' Pokémon Team:
Surfer (Wartortle, Male), Jolly Nature
Ability: Torrent
Moves: Bite, Water Gun, Water Pulse, Sand Tomb
Ziggs (Linoone, Male), Naive Nature
Ability: Quick Feet
Moves: Dig, Headbutt, Swift, Facade
Grace (Kirlia, Female), Calm Nature
Ability: Synchronize
Moves: Teleport, Magical Leaf, Shadow Ball, Psybeam
Woody (Grovyle, Male), Lonely Nature
Ability: Overgrow
Moves: Pursuit, Leaf Blade, Bullet Seed, Rock Tomb
Power (Machoke, Male), Timid Nature
Ability: Guts
Moves: Fling, Scary Face, Submission, Seismic Toss