Hey readers - Here we are with another new chapter : )
Now I've been a little under the weather the last few days, so I'll just get straight to it. I'm rather surprised to announce that the winner of the last voting topic was... Goldeen! Yeah, a bit of a weird one. Ironically enough, I was actually hoping for any Pokemon but Goldeen, not because of this Pokemon itself, but for reasons that'll become clearer later on : ) Either way, I think it'll be a fun challenge to figure out how to utilise a fish-Pokemon on land, which I hope will bring an interesting element to Nolan's growth both as a trainer and character : )
Finally, I just want to say a GIGANTIC thank you to everyone that has reviewed, favourited, and followed this story. The support that has been shown to the story is amazing, and it means so much to me, so thank you : )
Please remember that Pokemon is not mine, only my OC's are : )
I hope you enjoy this chapter : )
The Waterflowers of Cerulean City - Part 3
The Battle Arena of the Cerulean City gym was everything that Nolan could have hoped for and more.
After making his initial challenge against Misty's three older siblings, the Sensational Sisters had led Nolan, Ash and Misty to a separate room in the gym. And just like it had been back at the Pewter City gym when they had first met Brock, this room housed a battlefield which was the perfect replica of the natural habitat of the Pokemon element that this particular gym specialised in. Namely - a swimming pool. They were going to have their battle on a swimming pool. Nolan couldn't help it when his bright blue eyes lit up with excitement, and a huge grin started to make its way onto his face. He had never taken part in a battle which took place on a water field before, so regardless of whether he won or lost this battle, at least he would be able to take a new experience away from it. That was always a positive in his book, considering that he wanted to grow as a Pokemon trainer.
But it wasn't just the sheer size, length and depth of the pool that was so impressive about this particular battlefield. It wasn't even the fact that the base of the pool had been designed and carefully decorated to replicate the natural habitat of Water Type Pokemon, much like the aquarium tank that Misty had shown to them earlier. It was the room itself. Row after row of seats lined every wall, creating a stadium that could easily hold two thousand people, if not more. It was there that Ash Misty, and Pikachu had currently taken up refuge, after wishing Nolan good luck in his upcoming battle of course. Nolan quickly deduced that this was the area of the gym where the Sensational Sisters put on their famous underwater ballets, though thankfully the pool had been emptied of any other Pokemon right now, no doubt to give them chance to recover after their most recent performance. Nolan was relieved about that. The last thing he wanted was for any other Pokemon to get injured during their battle, simply for being in the pool at the wrong time. Beyond that, Nolan noticed that even the outer walls of the Battle Arena had been given the same due care and attention that had gone into the details of every other aspect of the Cerulean City gym. Much like the humongous Dewgong statue on the roof outside, four other huge depictions of Water Type Pokemon had been bolted to the walls of the room they were all in. A Horsea, a Starmie, a Poliwag, and a creature that Nolan was fairly sure was a Pokemon called Lapras. They were all uncanny in how realistic they were, and their presence by the pool certainly added to the positive atmosphere of the area. Nolan honestly couldn't wait to get started.
And fortunately for the golden haired Pokemon Trainer, he wouldn't have to.
"So I'm, like, totally wiped out after that performance we just did" Lily announced in a way that left nobody in any doubt that she didn't want to be here doing this, "So let's, like, get straight on with it".
Nolan nodded seriously at her. He was eager to get this match underway as well, although admittedly for very different reasons.
"Okay" Daisy stepped forward, sensing her pink haired sister's fatigue, and knowing that as a result she'd probably leave some important information out by mistake, "I'll, like, explain how we do thing's around here".
Nolan carefully listened with rapt attention, not wanting to miss even a single, solitary detail.
"Since Cerulean City Gym has, like, more than one gym leader, challengers get a special choice" Daisy continued, Lily and Violet both nodding importantly on either side of her, "You can either, like, pick one of us to battle. If you do that, like, that specific Sensational Sister gets to pick how many Pokemon you can use".
The golden haired boy quickly nodded to show that he understood.
"Or, you can, like, go with the second option" Violet picked up where her oldest sister had trailed off, "You can choose to battle all three of us. If you go with, like, that option, we will each only use one Pokemon. Understand?"
Again, Nolan nodded his head to show his understanding.
"That's the option I want to go for" the golden haired boy announced determinedly, eager for the addition challenge it would pose, "I want to battle all three of you".
This time it was the three Sensational Sisters that nodded in understanding.
"Like Violet said, this'll be a three on three elimination battle" Daisy said to the younger blonde trainer as the decision was made, taking over the explanation again, "A side wins when they knock out all three of the other team's Pokemon. That cool with you?"
Nolan nodded his head affirmatively.
Daisy smiled, pleased that he had accepted the conditions. She was about to press on, when a quiet cough to her left drew her attention. Lily, the pink haired Sensational Sister, was the one who had made the noise.
"Like... Aren't you forgetting something, sis?" she gently prompted.
Daisy just stated at her blankly.
Sensing that their older sister wasn't quite getting it, Violet sighed from her position to Daisy's right, and rolled her eyes to the ceiling.
"She's, like, talking about the Substitute rule Daisy" the blue haired gym leader drawled, her tone slightly condescending.
Daisy clapped a hand to her forehead in realisation, but quickly removed it, for fear of smudging her pristine makeup.
"Oh yeah!" the blonde woman exclaimed with a gasp, "I'd, like, totally forgotten about that!"
Turning her attention back to their challenger, and seeing the somewhat bemused expression on his face, Daisy hastened to explain what they were talking about.
"You see kid, in certain gym matches there are, like, special rules about switching out your Pokemon" Daisy explained to Nolan, who listened with rapt attention.
"Okay" he nodded slowly as he processed her words, "So what are the rules used at the Cerulean City gym?"
"Well, for starters, the three of us can't, like switch out our Pokemon at all" Daisy informed him, and when sure that the boy standing across from her understood, she continued, "And, like, you can only switch out each of your Pokémon once, so you get three switches altogether. You got it?"
"Got it" Nolan nodded confidently.
Daisy smiled again, pleased that he understood and didn't have any questions. She really didn't feel like going through it all again after all.
"Then in that case, we're, like, totally ready to begin" Daisy declared in a rather dramatic tone of voice, "You just need to go down to the other end of the pool and, like, hop onto one of the floats down there".
Nolan glanced over in the direction that the golden haired Sensational Sister had indicated.
To the blonde haired boy's surprise, he noticed something which he had failed to spot when his icy blue eyes had first scanned the room. Bobbing about in the water at the either end of the pool were several heavy-duty floats. They were clearly designed to be floating platforms, and at first, Nolan assumed that they were there to allow land-based Pokemon somewhere to stand so that they could participate in battles at this gym as well. Then Daisy's earlier words came back to him, and with a jolt, Nolan realised what she meant.
He was expected to stand upon the surface of the pool as well!
The golden haired boy wasn't too sure how he felt about that. He was in no way afraid of water, if fact he quite enjoyed a nice swim from time to time, but participating in a Pokemon battle whilst adrift on a swimming pool was something else entirely. He'd never battled under conditions like that before, so he was hoping that it wouldn't throw him off too much. In the end though, Nolan reasoned that he didn't really have much choice. He wanted to battle the Sensational Sisters, and if this was one of their conditions for making that happen, then the golden haired boy was just going to have to suck it up and get on with it.
So that's precisely what he did.
With no small amount of trepidation, Nolan struggled to keep his footing as he cautiously stepped off dry land, and on to the floating platform that was bobbing about on the surface of the swimming pool. He kept his arms aloft as he attempted to find his balance. Once he felt steady, Nolan breathed a sigh of relief.
At least he hadn't made a fool of himself by immediately falling off the platform at any rate.
Feeling a little more confident now, the golden haired boy gently kicked away from the edge of the pool, so that his float drifted a couple of metres into the water. It was only then that he spared his opponents on the opposite side of the pool any attention.
He found exactly what he expected.
Daisy, Violet and Lily had all successfully managed to board their own individual floats without any problems either. But unlike Nolan, who in all truth was still trying to find his sea legs, the Sensational Sisters all looked completely at home on their floating platforms. Their balance didn't waver at all, which Nolan quickly realised was probably due to their years of experience performing water ballet. Either way, they looked very confident as they drifted atop the water into a neat line opposite their challenger. Nolan quickly shook his head to rid himself of those unimportant thoughts. Right now he needed to focus on the matter at hand - defeating the three of them in battle, and earning himself his next gym badge. The blonde squared his shoulders and narrowed his eyes.
He was ready for anything they might throw at him.
"Who goes first?" Nolan called across the water to the trio of gym leaders.
Daisy, who was the sister floating in the middle of the line opposite him, was the one that answered Nolan's question.
"As the challenger you can, like, show your Pokemon first" the blonde haired woman instructed him, albeit not unkindly.
Surprised that he was expected to show his hand first, Nolan didn't allow it to throw him off, and quickly detached a Pokeball from his belt. He hurled it up into the air.
"Let's go, Welkin!" he cheered.
High above the young blonde trainer's head, the capsule snapped open and released a ball of crimson light that solidified into the form of Welkin.
"Pidgey!" the small brown Pokémon crowed.
The little Flying Type Pokemon had eagerly been awaiting this moment ever since Nolan and the others had left Pewter City, where poor Welkin had been forbidden from his trainer's gym battle there. Needless to say, Welkin had not been very happy at the time, but was thrilled that Nolan had kept his promise now and was letting him finally make his gym battle debut. The small feathery Pokémon let that be known by doing a few loop-de-loops in the air, twittering in excitement all the while.
Daisy, Violet and Lily all just watched the hyperactive Pidgey flying in circles above the pool with varying degrees of bewilderment.
"What's with your Pidgey?" Lily couldn't help but question with a confused frown, "It's, like... totally hyper!"
"Totally" Violet nodded in agreement.
"I'm, like, getting dizzy just watching it" Daisy remarked as over Welkin completed another circuit of the pool.
Nolan rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. The blonde boy couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed at how thoroughly overexcited Welkin was about the upcoming battle. Still, he also couldn't deny that it was also really cute, so he couldn't be too hard on the little guy. After all, Nolan knew that he was the same way before his first official battle as well.
"He's just really excited I'm using him in a gym battle since I haven't done that before" Nolan explained to the three women that were his opponents, before calling up to the little Flying Type Pokemon that was still soaring delightedly overhead, "Welkin! I know you're excited but try to rein it in a bit, okay? Remember, we need to focus!"
"Pidgey!" Welkin cawed back.
Positioning himself in the air in front of his trainer, Welkin stopped moving around and instead merely flapped his wings to remain airborne. Nolan smiled at the show of obedience.
"Aw... That's like, super cute though" Daisy cooed with a bright smile.
"Yeah" Violet nodded in agreement with her older sister, "It's like, really sweet how eager your Pokémon is to battle for you".
Nolan couldn't help but smile in agreement with their kind words, whilst above him, Welkin puffed out his chest proudly.
"It may be sweet and cute" Lily conceded as she produced a pokeball in her hand, her tone somewhat close to a drawl, "But that doesn't mean it's going to win this battle! Goldeen, you're in the spotlight first!"
Lily tossed the pokeball high into the air, and within seconds Welkin's first opponent materialised on the field, landing in the pool with a small splash.
Nolan took a couple of moments to study the Sensational Sisters' first Pokémon. Exactly as expected, it was just like the ones he had seen in the canals outside, as well as the one that Misty was training. This one was a fair bit bigger than any of those ones however, and looked rather strong in comparison. Playing it cautiously, Nolan decided that he needed some more information, and thus withdrew his pokedex from his pocket. He pointed it at the aquatic Pokemon bobbing about in the water.
"Goldeen - the Goldfish Pokemon" Dexi announced once the identification had been made, "A Water Type Pokemon. Its dorsal and pectoral fins are strongly developed like muscles. As a result, Goldeen can swim at a speed of five knots".
Nolan flipped shut his pokedex and put it away again, all the while biting his lip thoughtfully as he processed the information he had just learnt. From the sounds of it, Goldeen was quite a speedy little Pokémon, which might pose a problem if it proved to be quicker than Welkin. The Flying Type Pokemon was by no means a slouch in that department of course, and he was only getting faster thanks to all the hours of training and hard effort that the Tiny Bird Pokemon had been putting in to mastering Quick Attack. Granted he wasn't quite there yet, but Welkin was definitely improving, so his increase in speed was rather noticeable. Still, if Goldeen could out-speed him, than that definitely was a problem. Nolan wasn't too worried about that though. He loved a challenge if nothing else. Plus he had no doubt that Welkin would be able to pull this off for their team. His little Flying Type friend was even more determined to win this than he was.
It was time to put that determination to good use.
"As the challenger, you may have the first move" Lily graciously offered.
"Thanks" Nolan smiled gratefully, before turning his gaze up to where Welkin was hovering in the air over his head. The golden haired boy couldn't help but smirk when he saw that the Tiny Bird Pokemon was fit to burst with excitement, so Nolan decided to put him out of his misery.
"Welkin!" Nolan yelled as he got straight down to business, "Let's start things off by testing the waters. Use your Gust Attack!"
Eager to prove that his trainer had made the right choice in picking him to open this very important gym battle with, Welkin hastened to obey the order. Beating his small wings together as hard as he could, the Tiny Bird Pokemon was able to quickly summon up a powerful vortex of swirling wind. Taking care with his aim, Welkin then launched the air-based attack in the direction of the opposing Goldeen.
"Goldeen, dodge that" Lily instructed so calmly, that it was almost at a point where she almost sounded bored.
With a loud splash that seemed to echo throughout the entire room, Goldeen effortlessly dodged the incoming attack from Welkin, simply by diving straight down in one graceful manoeuvre. The Goldfish Pokemon quickly vanished beneath the water, leaving Welkin's Gust attack to harmlessly ripple across the pool's surface.
Nolan frantically glanced down into the gigantic swimming pool, but failed to spot a flash of white or orange anywhere within the crystal clear water. Evidently Goldeen had hidden herself somewhere within the artificial coral reef that had been built as part of the battlefield. The golden haired boy's face quickly morphed into an anxious frown. The obvious advantage that the opposing aquatic Pokemon held in this particular environment, might prove more troublesome than the young Pokemon trainer had initially anticipated.
"Keep your eyes peeled Welkin!" Nolan called up to his beloved Flying Type Pokemon, who was circling over the pool from the air, his sharp eyes on the lookout for a tiny horn or an elegant fin, "We can't let it get the drop on you!"
"Pidgey! Gey!" Welkin cawed back seriously. He understood the importance of winning this battle after all. He wasn't about to let Nolan down.
For what seemed like an eternity, there was a tense standoff.
Nolan beat his lip anxiously, the longer the almost suffocating silence continued. He wasn't exactly sure what Lily was playing at, but it was starting to get underneath his skin. The pink haired Sensational Sister hadn't even had to call out a single attack so far, and yet she had already managed to turn the battle to her own favour. After all, how on earth were he and Welkin supposed to defeat an opponent they couldn't even find?!
It was almost a relief when it didn't take too long for the pink haired Sensational Sister to put them both out of their misery.
"Quick Goldeen!" Lily's voice echoed across the surface of the swimming pool with effortless command, "Resurface and use your Supersonic attack!"
As soon as the words had left the pink haired women's lips, Nolan knew that he and Welkin were in serious trouble.
Whilst the golden haired boy had never seen a Supersonic attack in action with his own eyes before, Nolan had heard in almost painstaking detail from his best friend about the effects of this particular technique, who had witnessed it in use by Brock's Zubat against Team Rocket's Pokemon, back when they had battled against the criminals inside Mount Moon. Ash had taken great pleasure in regaling the story of how Ekans and Koffing had turned on each other due to the effects of the attack.
Nolan couldn't help but grimace. He had a horrible sinking feeling that he was about to witness such horrendous effects for himself, any moment now...
Splash!
The sound of the break in the swimming pool's surface caught Nolan's attention almost immediately. His icy blue eyes snapping over in the sound's direction, the golden haired boy could only look on in horror, as Goldeen surfaced directly beneath where Welkin was currently hovering in the air above all of their heads.
"Welkin! Quick!" Nolan yelled out desperately, knowing that the only way to stop the effects of the Supersonic attack was to make sure that Goldeen couldn't use it in the first place, "Use Gust straight down!"
The frantic command came a second too late.
"GGGGOOOOLLLLDDDDEEEEEEEENNNN!"
Nolan immediately had to clamp his hands tightly over his ears as the aquatic Pokemon that was their opponent suddenly opened its mouth in an almost primal scream. No doubt amplified by the tiles that made up much of the flooring and walls of the room, echoes which could only be described as pulses of pure sound energy were rippling throughout the entire battle arena. The golden haired boy screwed up his eyes tightly in pain. But for poor Welkin, the cacophony was much, much worse.
"Gey! Pidgey! Pid!" Welkin, an exceptionally dazed expression lining his sharp features, was suddenly flying about in very erratic circles. Nolan could only look on in horror when his feathery friend just barely avoided crashing headlong into a wall. That left no doubt in the blonde haired boy's mind.
Welkin had successfully been confused.
"No! Welkin!" Nolan groaned in despair. On the opposite side of the watery battlefield from him, Lily looked on in delight.
"Yes!" the pink haired Sensational Sister cheered happily, before turning to her Water Type Pokemon with an appraising smile, "That was like, a totally good job Goldeen!"
"Deen!" the Goldfish Pokemon graciously smiled at the compliment.
"But we're like, nowhere near done with this battle yet" Lily continued and Goldeen nodded back at her seriously, awaiting another command "So like, wait until that cute little Pidgey drops down low enough, and like, then jump out of the pool and use you Horn Attack!"
"Goldeen" Goldeen bobbed her entire body in what could only be construed as an affirmative manner.
Across the surface of the swimming pool which was acting as their battlefield, Nolan could do little more than listen on in abject horror as he heard Lily outline her plans. The golden haired boy had literally no idea what he could possibly do to stop them from coming to fruition, for he had never been in a situation like this in a battle before. He could scarcely believe that things had gone downhill so quickly. He and Welkin hadn't even managed to land an attack yet. It left him wondering what he could possibly do to try and turn this battle around.
"Come on Welkin! You have to try and snap out of it!" the golden haired boy cried desperately to his beloved Flying Type Pokemon, but it was no use. Welkin was still flying haphazardly all over the place, occasionally slamming into the lights hanging down from overhead or bashing his small body off the walls, no doubt mistaking them but his enemy through the dazed and disillusioned state his mind had been forced into, "WELKIN!"
Dong!
In spite of his human's frantic cries, Welkin just collided with the wall again, rebounding off it and twittering madly. Nolan groaned and slapped a hand against his forehead in dismay. All the whilst, Welkin was dropping lower and lower out of the air, closer to the pool, and closer to where Goldeen lay in wait, to deliver what probably would be the final blow. Welkin was already quite battered and bruised after all, having taken heavy damage from the injuries he had inflicted on himself in his confusion.
Nolan knew that they couldn't go on like this for much longer, and whilst the golden haired boy realised that the most sensible cause of action he could take here would be to just switch Welkin out for one of his other Pokemon, he also felt like that would be too unfair to his Flying Type friend. The Tiny Bird Pokemon had been working tirelessly hard in preparation for this moment after all, and Nolan had promised that he could fight in this gym battle. No. To do that to Welkin at this point would be nothing short of cruel, and as such, Nolan now knew exactly what course of action he needed to take.
"Welkin! You will listen to me!" Nolan shouted in the sternest voice that any ten year old boy could possibly muster up, "You have worked way too hard to compete in this battle to let it all go to waste now! As your trainer, I won't allow it! Now listen to me - AND SNAP OUT OF IT!"
Those last five words were shouted at such an impressive volume that they seemed to reverberate and echo all around the battle arena. Up in the air above the golden haired boy's head, Welkin suddenly came to an abrupt standstill. The Tiny Bird Pokemon was beating his wings to remain airborne, but he wasn't moving about haphazardly anymore. Instead, his eyes were squeezed tightly shut, as if in deep, almost painful, concentration. Nolan waited with baited breath to see if his heated words had done the trick.
"PIDGEY!"
Quite suddenly, and without any kind of warning whatsoever, Welkin's eyes abruptly snapped open again. Nolan couldn't help but cheer at what he saw in them. Clarity. Beautiful crystal clear clarity. His voice had broken through the hallucinations in the Flying Type Pokemon's mind.
Welkin was confused no longer.
"Yes! I knew you could pull yourself out of it Welkin!" the golden haired boy whooped and fist-pumped the air gleefully. Across the watery battlefield from him, Lily just arched an elegant eyebrow at the display.
"Okay, I'll admit that was like, impressive. But it's still not enough" the pink haired Sensational Sister cut in, bringing Nolan back down to earth with a rather sharp bump, "Goldeen still like, totally has the advantage in the water, which might I point out, your Pidgey is like, totally just a few inches above right now".
Immediately looking back at his Flying Type Pokemon, Nolan saw to his horror that Lily spoke the truth. The tips of Welkin's talons were lightly skimming across the water. Nolan opened his mouth to issue a frantic command to move away, but sadly it was already too late.
"Like, don't miss your cue Goldeen!" Lily shouted from her floating platform at the opposite end of the swimming pool, "Your best Horn Attack, like, right now!"
"GOLDEEN!"
With a large splash that sent water flying in every direction, the elegant Goldfish Pokemon suddenly leapt straight out of the pool. With her tiny horn glinting dangerously under the bright fluorescent spotlights, Goldeen shot straight towards Welkin like a slippery wet bullet.
WHAM!
"PIDGEY!" Welkin shrieked in what must have been agonising pain, as Goldeen slammed into him with every ounce of strength that her body possessed. The blow almost knocked the Flying Type Pokemon straight out of the air, but it wasn't so much the impact which caused Welkin such a high amount of distress. It was the fact that he had taken the brunt of her sharp horn straight to the chest.
"Welkin! Shake it off!" Nolan called across the pool to his beloved Flying Type Pokemon, wanting to take advantage of the fact that Goldeen was finally out of the water, "Strike back quickly with your Tackle attack!"
"Gey! Pidgey! Pid!" Welkin, clearly very frustrated by how badly this battle was going for him so far, eagerly followed through with the command. Flying quickly towards where Goldeen was descending back towards the water, the Tiny Bird Pokemon rammed his body into hers, putting all of his weight behind the blow.
"Goldeen!" finally, it was the Goldfish Pokemon that let out a small gasp of pain. Nolan couldn't help but notice the aquatic creature's grimace as she hit the surface of the pool with a small splash, before she vanished beneath the water's surface once more. The golden haired boy's icy blue eyes widened in abject horror when he realised what was coming next.
"Welkin! Hurry!" Nolan yelled in the direction of the Tiny Bird Pokemon, a frantic edge in both his tone and expression, "Land over at the edge of the pool and cover your ears with your wings! Quick as you can!"
Moments later, his theories were proved to be correct.
"Goldeen! Like, use the same tactic as before!" Lily commanded her own Pokemon, realising that Nolan had figured out what she was planning and wanting to get in first, "Resurface and like, use your Supersonic attack again!"
Nolan knew that Welkin wouldn't be able to keep going if the pink haired Sensational Sister's Pokemon successfully managed to put him back into a confused state. The golden haired boy waited with baited breath as the Goldfish Pokemon floated back up to the pool's surface, and opened her mouth to unleash another unearthly, shrieking wail. Nolan quickly stuffed his fingers into his own ears as well.
"GGGGOOOOLLLLDDDDEEEEEEEENNNN!"
Just like she had the last time, Goldeen let out a shrill screeching sound that seemed to impose itself on Nolan and Welkin like a physical force, drilling its way down to their inner cores and rattling their bones. Nolan squeezed up his eyes with the effort it took to block the unpleasant noise out. It seemed to last a lifetime, but in reality it was over in just a few seconds. Nolan quickly opened his eyes again, and nervously glanced over in Welkin's direction.
The golden haired boy almost fell over in relief.
Welkin, like a living waking miracle, had successfully managed to block out Goldeen's Supersonic attack by doing exactly what his trainer had said. The Tiny Bird Pokemon still had his little wings clamped tightly on either side of his head, but realising that the sound-based attack surely must be over by now, Welkin hesitantly removed them and opened his eyes. Nolan couldn't help but beam as he made eye-contact with his beloved Flying Type friend. Unlike the last time, there wasn't even a single hint of a dazed expression in the small feathery Pokemon's sharp eyes. And that could only mean one thing.
It meant that Goldeen's Supersonic attack had not been successful this time.
"Urgh! Like, total bummer!" Lily complained from her floating platform at the opposite end of the swimming pool, "It didn't work!"
"Yeeesss!" Nolan cheered excitedly as he came to the same realisation, happily fist-pumping the air, "Nice work Welkin!"
"Bulba!" Meadow also congratulated her teammate, from her position on the floating platform at her beloved human's side.
"Pidgey!" Welkin cawed happily, puffing his little chest out in pride.
"Now quickly! " the golden haired boy continued hurriedly, not wanting to waste any time and risk giving Lily and Goldeen a chance to try and confuse Welkin again, "Use your Gust attack! Try and blow Goldeen out of the water!"
Caught off guard by the somewhat odd instruction, Lily had no time to issue a counter command to her own Pokemon from her position at the opposite end of the watery battlefield. Welkin, trusting in his beloved human's instincts for battle as they had always served them well so far, hastened to obey the boy's latest order. Beating his small wings together as hard as he possibly could, the Tiny Bird Pokemon was able to quickly summon up a powerful vortex of swirling wind. The golden haired boy watched eagerly as Welkin unleashed his attack, and grinned as it rippled across the surface of the swimming pool. A small wave was created by the force of it, and it was steadily growing bigger and bigger the further across the battlefield the Gust attack propelled it. By the time that the wave had reached the spot where Goldeen was bobbing about, it was like a miniature tidal wave.
"GOLDEEN!" the Goldfish Pokemon gasped in alarm as she was immediately swept up by the wave that Welkin's Gust attack had created. She flailed about, trying to break free from its grasp, but it was no use.
WHAM!
Unable to save herself in time, Goldeen hit the edge of the swimming pool with a resounding thump, but quite frankly that was the least of her troubles. Thanks to the strong momentum of the wave that Welkin had created, Goldeen soon found herself swept out of the pool entirely, before she was unceremoniously deposited onto the gleaming white tiles that lined the room around the pool. The Goldfish Pokemon immediately began squirming about, no doubt trying to pull herself back into the water, but it was no use. Her slippery wet body couldn't get enough grip against the tiles. She could barely move an inch.
"Oh! Like, oh no!" Lily gasped in alarm from her floating platform at the other end of the room, "Goldeen! You've gotta like, get back in the water!"
But unfortunately for the pink haired Sensational Sister, Nolan and Welkin were not about to let that happen.
"Let 'em have it Welkin!" the golden haired boy cried gleefully, relieved that his chosen Pokemon had managed to finally turn the tide of the battle in their favour, "Tackle attack!"
"Pidgey!" Welkin cawed loudly, before getting straight down to business.
Like a tiny feathery bullet, Welkin shot through the air towards where his target lay on the clean white tiles, helplessly wriggling around as she desperately tried to escape her fate. Goldeen was out of good fortune though, and could do little more than look on in panic as her opponent drew in closer and closer.
WHAM!
"Goldeen!" the aquatic creature gasped in pain as Welkin slammed into her with enough force that she was flung across the slippery wet tiles, and even further away from the swimming pool. Welkin quickly followed it up with another close-range Tackle attack, eliciting another groan from the Goldfish Pokemon.
"Oh no! Goldeen!" Lily cried in horror, knowing that with her mobility restricted due to literally being a fish out of water, their chances of winning were quickly draining away. The pink haired Sensational Sister wasn't quite ready to throw in the towel just yet for and quickly issued another command, "Like, try using your Supersonic attack again!"
Unfortunately for Goldeen and Lily though, things weren't going to progress that far.
"PIDGEY!" Welkin, refusing to allow himself to be at risk of being confused again, took it upon his own initiative to use one final Tackle attack, and slammed his entire body into that of Goldeen. The Goldfish Pokemon hadn't even had chance to open her mouth before the impact had happened.
CRUNCH!
With a sickening noise that seemed to echo loudly around the entire battle arena, Goldeen was knocked flying backwards. It seemed to take an eternity, but in reality it was only a few seconds, before the Goldfish Pokemon hit the barrier that was in front of the first row of the seats that lined the room. Nolan, Lily and everybody else spectating the match all collective winced at the collision.
"GOLDEEN!" Goldeen shrieked in what must have been agonising pain. Her body battered and broken, the Goldfish Pokemon weakly collapsed back down to the ground in a messy heap. She let out a low feeble moan, but didn't so much as stir
"Nooo!" Lily whined in despair, looking towards her Pokemon with concern in her eyes, "Goldeen, are you like, okay?"
When the aquatic creature made no response, it quickly transpired that she must certainly was not, in fact, okay. Goldeen didn't even twitch so much as her dorsal fin. That could only mean one thing.
"YYYEEESSS!" Nolan bellowed excitedly at the top of his lungs, having to remind himself that he was on a floating platform or else he'd be jumping up and down in delight, "YOU DID IT WELKIN! YOU DID IT! I'M SO PROUD OF YOU! THANK YOU WELKIN!"
"Pidgey!" Welkin puffed out his chest proudly. He was happy that he had managed to turn his big gym debut around. The last thing he ever wanted to do was let Nolan down after all.
"Bulba!" Meadow happily congratulated her teammate as well for a job well done.
Meanwhile, across the watery battlefield from the celebrating trio, Lily just sighed in disappointment, before she quickly returned to the unconscious Goldeen back to the safety and comfort of her pokeball for a well-deserved rest. The brief flash of bright red light was enough to quickly draw Nolan's focus back to the matter at hand, and the golden haired boy quickly sobered himself up.
After all, they may have defeated one of the Waterflowers of Cerulean City, but there was still two more to go...
And that's the end of another chapter : )
So Nolan finally makes good on his promise to Welkin : D I figured it was time to give him a change to properly shine in battle, since next to Meadow, Welkin is my favourite Pokemon on Nolan's team in the story so far : ) Plus, I also decided to shake things up and have Nolan battle against the three Sensational Sisters, as opposed to just Misty. I figured it would give me some more room to make Nolan's challenge a little harder to have him face not one opponent but three : )
But enough about that though. Instead, let's move on to this week's voting topic : ) This time you guys won't be voting for a new encounter or a new evolution, but rather the return of another old face. Yep, that's right. I've defeated my rival in the game for a second time. His team was exactly the same as before, just a little stronger, but still no major threat. But his defeat means it's time for you guys to vote on who to bring to Nolan's Orange Islands Team. And since this is the second rival fight I've won, the list of options gets expanded to include both base stage Pokemon and middle stage Pokemon. So the options to vote between this time are Meowth, Poliwag, Voltorb, Electabuzz, Kadabra, and Xanthite the Graveler. Please leave your vote in a review to bring back one of these Pokemon : )
And I think that's just about everything from me for this time, so thank you so much for reading this chapter and my story in general. I hope you are enjoying it all so far, and please consider leaving a review because I'd love to hear your comments and feedback : )
Until the next time, keep on reading : )