I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK! After a fortnight hiatus, this story has returned, with an updated schedule once again. During this 2 week break, I noticed that because of the schedule I'd given myself, I was beginning to actually dread uploading this thing, and not want to. If that continued, I may have even stopped writing this all together. Ironic, the strategy I implemented to prevent me from growing bored of this fic almost made me give it up. So, I will be uploading this every Tuesday and Thursday. But with that, here's the gym battle I promised.
Chapter 10:
After the Contest, Max and Bonnie set off again towards the Rustboro Gym. Tierno and Shauna decide to accompany them to the gym, to watch Bonnie compete in her first battle in Hoenn. Bonnie expects this walk to be short enough, but Max just has to ruin it by reminding her that they've still got another day of walking, longer if he gets distracted by any pokémon he sees. Bonnie puts a stop to that idea by threatening to throw his notebook into the river should he stop to write anything down. Max promises he won't, then pulls out one of his audio logs. As they head off down to Rustboro City, Bonnie falls into a bit of a trance listening to Max geek out about pokémon. at one point, she even has to be pulled to the side by Shauna, because she was so distracted by Max she nearly walked into a tree, something that makes Max laugh so hard he has to pause his recording. Bonnie just glares at him and keeps walking.
True to Max's estimation, it takes them until the next day to reach Rustboro City. By this time, Bonnie is very annoyed by how long it's taken for her to have her first gym battle in Hoenn. I swear it didn't take us this long to get to Santalune!" she complains. Max nods in agreement. "well, there was a lot more stuff to get through before we get to the gym," he points out. "But hey, at least we're here now." "I suppose," Bonnie agrees. Then, she takes his hand and begins to pull him into the City. "Now come on! you're showing me the way to the gym!" Max becomes too flustered to say anything, so he just nods and follows after her. Tierno and Shauna laugh at this, then follow after the pair.
Rustboro City is around the same size as Santalune, but not as pretty in Bonnie's opinion. Max leads her to a building that looks to be a trainer's school. "I thought you were leading me to the gym?" Bonnie asks him. "This is the gym," Max explains. "It also serves as a pokémon trainers school for kids who aren't old enough to become trainers yet." Max smiles a bit at the memory of his time there when he came here with Ash, May and Brock. Max leads the way in, with Tierno and Shauna following behind them. When they arrive, they're greeted by a young woman leading a group of children towards a large set of double doors, with her back to them. "Oh, you're just in time," she says, not looking at them. "I was just about to have one of my volunteers do a practice battle with me as a demonstration for my students." She then turns around and locks eyes with Max. "Well, if it isn't Max Maple," she says, beaming. "I was wondering when I'd see you in my gym." Max waves modestly, while Bonnie looks between them with confusion. "You two know each other?" she asks. Max shrugs. "I attended one of her classes back while I was travelling with Ash," he explains. "Bonnie, this is Roxanne, the Rock Type Gym Leader of Hoenn."
Both of them shake hands, then Roxanne turns to Max. "I take it you're here to challenge me yourself?" she asks him. Max shakes his head. "Actually, I'm here to support my friend" he explains, putting an arm around Bonnie's shoulder and causing her to blush. Roxanne notices, but doesn't say anything. "Th-That's right!" Bonnie says, a bit more flustered than she would've liked. "I'm here to earn my first badge!" Roxanne smiles, then turns to the double doors. "Kenny, it's alright. I've got someone here to challenge the gym!" A boy around Max and Bonnie's age with blue hair comes through the doors, looking a bit relieved. He wears a yellow jacket and black jeans, with a white t-shirt. He and Max lock eyes and they both grin. "Hey!" they exclaim at the same time. "It's been a while!" Then, they walk over to each other and high-five. Seeing the look of confusion on Bonnie's face again, Max explains, "This is Kenny, an old friend of mine, but we haven't really spoken in a while. Kenny, this is Bonnie." Kenny looks between the two of them. "Is she your girlfriend?" he asks innocently. Both of them go bright red at this. "We're not dating!" they both say. "We're just friends!" Everyone in the room looks at them sceptically. "Which way to the gym?" Bonnie asks quickly, trying to change the subject. The students begin to look excited at the prospect of seeing a proper gym battle. Roxanne smiles, then leads the way into the gym, while Kenny leads everyone else to the stands.
The gym is a square filled with rocks, with two pads on either side for the battlers to stand on. While Roxanne and Bonnie got ready for their battle, Max and Kenny spend some time catching up. Max shows Kenny his two notebooks, and Kenny tells him about his plans to be a Coordinator. He missed his chance to perform in the Rustboro Contest, so he's spending some time helping out Roxanne before he heads to Slateport to compete in his first Contest. Max thinks back to the Rustboro Contest, and to how much Harley annoyed him. Especially when he insulted May. "Hey Kenny," he says. "When you get to Slateport, if you see an idiot dressed like a Cacturne, utterly humiliate him for me please?" Kenny laughs at this. "Why not enter and do that yourself?" he asks. Max thinks about this. "Maybe I will" he replies. Kenny grins at this. "Well, if you do, I guess that would make us rivals" he says. Max nods, also grinning. "I guess it will!" he agrees. He extends his hand and Kenny shakes it.
Their conversation is interrupted by the voice of the ref, who's announcing the terms of the battle. Back on the pitch, Roxanne and Bonnie are ready to battle. At the words "Battle begin!" she sends out her first pokémon. Kenny stares at this choice in confusion. "Is that an electric type?" he asks. Max nods. "One that's native to Kalos," he explains. "Don't let that fool you though, he's pretty tough." Going up against Roxanne's Geodude is Dedenne, eager for a fight. Roxanne looks at this, then looks up at Max. "Taking inspiration from Ash are we?" she asks. Max grins at this. "Saw right through it did you?" he asks. Roxanne chuckles, then refocuses on the fight. She orders Geodude to start off with Rollout. Dedenne tries to dodge it, but he's hit by the attack. He luckily survives it, and activates the first part of Max's plan. He quickly hits Geodude with Disarming Voice, deactivating Rollout. He then tries to go in for a Quick Attack, but Geodude dodges it, then goes in for Bulldoze, knocking Dedenne out.
"Dedenne is unable to battle," calls the ref. "Challenger Bonnie has just one pokémon left!" Kenny looks at Max, expecting to see worry on his face. Instead, Max looks down at Bonnie with confidence. "How can you be so confident?" Kenny asks. "She's down one pokémon, and Geodude is undamaged." Max looks up at him with the same look of confidence and pride. "All part of the plan," he replies. "Just watch." The two boys turn to look down at Bonnie again, who releases her second pokémon. Seedot. Roxanne looks at the seed pokémon, then tries to order Geodude to use Rollout again. Unfortunately for her, it's still locked away thanks to Disarming Voice. So, she uses Bulldoze again, which Seedot is able to avoid. Then, he goes forth and uses Vine Whip, damaging Geodude greatly. Geodude tries to use Earthquake, but Seedot is able to use his small size to avoid that too. Then, he uses Razor Leaf, dealing even more damage to Geodude. At this point, Geodude is growing weak. But by now, its Rollout has returned. Max's grin faulters a little bit when Geodude uses it. He was hoping for Disarming Voice to last a little bit longer. As Geodude's Rollout is about to collide with Seedot, Bonnie quickly activates Max's backup plan. She has Seedot use Vine Whip to block the attack, which does more damage to Geodude. However, Geodude is able to smash through it and strike Seedot at last. But, just as everyone thinks it's over for Seedot, he begins to glow. He begins to get bigger, and develop a pair of arms. A mask appears on his face, and his nose grows. Soon enough, Seedot becomes a Nuzleaf. Max's grin returns immediately. Just as he planned. Nuzleaf catches Geodude and uses all of his strength to throw it away. It flies a few metres across the field, before crashing down and being knocked out.
"G-G-Geodude is unable to battle!" the ref announces, barely able to believe what he saw. Even Roxanne is shocked by this. But she quickly smiles and turns to her students. "This is something that can happen," she explains. "It can occur where a pokémon evolves in the middle of a battle. However, it is unwise to use that as a component in your strategy, as it is a rare occurrence." Max doesn't miss the way her eyes dart to him as she says this. "As you can also see, sometimes bringing pokémon with a type disadvantage can also help you out, as they can weaken your opponent, or else use a move to tip the battle in your favour." When her lecture is done, she pulls out her next pokémon. "But now, it's time for me to pull the win back for me! Go Nosepass!" She releases her next choice, a rock formation with a giant nose. The sight is so ridiculous that Bonnie can't help but laugh. Then, she refocuses on the fight. While Roxanne was lecturing her students, she took the time to heal up Nuzleaf. Now, he's fully ready to roll (pardon the pun).
Nosepass starts with Rock Throw, which Nuzleaf is able to avoid. Then, Nuzleaf counters with Absorb, healing himself up a bit more. Nosepass then uses Tackle, which manages to hit Nuzleaf. He stumbles backwards, and almost gets struck by another Rock Throw. But he manages to catch the rock and hurl it back at Nosepass, taking a bit of damage while he does. After using another Absorb to heal himself, he uses Fake Out, causing Nosepass to flinch. He uses this opportunity to use Leaf Blade, almost taking it out. However, Nosepass has one more trick up its sleeve. It uses Thunder Wave, much to Bonnie's surprise, and manages to inflict paralysis on Nuzleaf. Max swears under his breath, cursing himself for forgetting that Nosepass could do that. Roxanne smiles at this, believing she's won. Nosepass uses Power Gem, which Nuzleaf is unable to avoid. Nuzleaf tries to use another Leaf Blade, but can't move due to paralysis. He takes another Power Gem, then a Tackle. By now, both pokémon are on their last legs and breathing hard. Nosepass uses Harden, then one last Tackle. As a last ditch effort, Bonnie orders Nuzleaf to use Leaf Blade. Nuzleaf struggles, and is able to overcome the paralysis just enough to strike Nosepass with Leaf Blade, knocking it away and dealing damage. Then, he uses Absorb on it, knocking it out at last.
"Nosepass is unable to battle!" says the ref. "Making Challenger Bonnie the winner of this match!" Max cheers loudly for her, along with Tierno and Shauna, as Bonnie runs over to Nuzleaf and pulls him into a tight hug. Then she stands up and meets with Roxanne in the middle of the pitch. "Well, I must say, that was a very risky, but clever plan," Roxanne tells her. "I'd say my students learned a good deal form it." Bonnie thanks her, before telling her that Max was the one who came up with it. "Well then, you two certainly make a good team. I look forward to seeing how well you do in the future." Then, she reaches into her pockets and pulls out the Stone Badge. "Take this as a token of your shared victory" she tells her. Bonnie accepts it gratefully, then holds it up to her friends to show them. They cheer for her, as do the other students. Then, she walks out of the gym to meet up with them, and for her and Max to plan out their next move.
I definitely think I'm getting better at writing pokémon battles, as I'm very proud of that one. I was going to add a conversation between Max, Bonnie, Tierno, Shauna and Kenny to the end of this chapter, but I haven't got much of a plan for the next chapter, so I'm adding that into the next chapter. Also, yes, Max is going to be competing in the Contests in this volume. I wanted to give a reason to write the contests, plus something for Max to do other than supporting Bonnie and avoiding Team Terra. But with that, I'll see you on Tuesday with the next chapter. I missed writing this!