Author's note: Writing this story has made me conclude that the Pokédex entries need to go a bit deeper into detail when it comes to certain moves. In the games these moves always look so spectacular; not sure if I managed to bring that same spectacle over in written form ^^; Oh well, here we finally have the Gym Battle!

Thanks to the following reviewers: PinkiePieParty122894; Pen-Woman; SarahNThatcher

Warnings: Gym Battle; the usual violence associated with this

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Kishimoto owns it. I also don't own Pokémon, that belongs to Satoshi Tajiri and The Pokémon Company.

I hope you'll like it!

Chapter 49

Naruto quickly considered their first opponents. While Magneton had a severe weakness against Ground Type moves, Naruto decided Ninetales would be best suited to deal with the hovering Electric/Steel Type. Its Steel Typing made it vulnerable against Fire attacks and Ninetales' attacks were nothing to sniff at. Raichu meanwhile only had one severe weakness and that was once again Ground Type moves; in other words perfect for Lucario to deal with.

"Ninetales, focus on Magneton; avoid all its Electric attacks and attack with Flamethrower when you have the chance," Naruto told Ninetales quietly.

She flicked her tails; the twitching of her ears the only sign she had heard him.

"Lucario, you focus on Raichu, all right? For now Bone Rush should be enough to deal with it. You can use Dig to avoid any Electric attacks – just make sure not to hit Ninetales when you come back up," Naruto remembered to add.

This wouldn't be the first time that his Pokémon would fight together, but this was the first time battling together after Lucario had learnt new moves. Especially Dig might be a bit problematic if Lucario calculated the distance wrongly and ended up hitting Ninetales. Normally he shouldn't be able to hit her if they remained on their respective sides of the field, but during a battle anything could happen – especially during a Double Battle.

"Let's go all out, un," Deidara announced cheerfully. "No need to hold back, Raichu, Magneton! Let it rip!"

Well, he clearly didn't need to give that order twice.

Before Naruto could even blink twice, Raichu squeezed its fists together, clenched its eyes shut and released a Thunderbolt at Ninetales, who only nary managed to dodge it by jumping sideways. At the same time as the Thunderbolt was released, Magneton used Discharge, aiming it straight at Lucario. Right before Discharge could hit, however, Lucario nimbly used Dig, disappearing underneath the field.

"No build up, huh," Naruto muttered, but what else had he expected?

This was the second to last Gym; of course the battle would be far from easy. Deidara hadn't become the Leader of this Gym by simply twiddling his thumbs after all.

Ninetales growled when Raichu dashed forwards, aiming to hit her with a Quick Attack – and possibly paralyse her through that action. Before Raichu could even so much as touch her with its paw, though, Lucario burst out from underneath the field. The force behind his punch sent Raichu flying backwards with a squeal and Lucario made use of Raichu's temporary distraction to clobber it four times with Bone Rush; the fifth strike only missing because Raichu rolled out of the way.

"Ninetales, leave Raichu to Lucario," Naruto urged when he spotted the vicious glint in her eyes.

If Magneton hadn't been present anymore, Naruto wouldn't have had any issues with letting both of his Pokémon gang up on Raichu, but Lucario was handling the Electric Pokémon well, giving his opponent barely an opening to strike anymore. Magneton, on the other hand, was starting to light up again, preparing for a new Electric attack; another Discharge?

Before Magneton could fully charge its attack, however, Ninetales jumped into the air, opened her jaw and released a thick pillar of fire. The flames engulfed Magneton entirely and the Pokémon screeched, attempting to fly sideways. Its attempt at escape just landed it in Ninetales' crossfire again when she dashed right in front of it and aimed several Incinerates at the floating Pokémon. With no way to escape the flames at all, Magneton couldn't do anything but succumb to the scorching fire. Its eyes rolled back, its magnets drooped but before it could fall onto the field unconscious, Deidara called it back.

One vicious Force Palm of an overly excited Lucario later saw Raichu being returned to its Pokéball as well; its eyes rolling back into its sockets before the red beam of the ball enveloped it.

"You know, if Electric Types didn't create such beautiful art, I think Fire would have been an excellent substitution, un," Deidara spoke, whistling when he stared at Ninetales. "Fierce one you got there."

Ninetales preened, sitting down elegantly as if she hadn't just nearly melted the steel of a Pokémon's body.

"Well, I still have three more chances to show my art, un," Deidara continued lightly before throwing a Great Ball and a Pokéball into the air. "Electrode, Boltund, your turn!"

The large grin on Electrode's face when it rolled forwards had Ninetales growling in irritation. Her low warning growls, deep and rumbling enough to even raise the hairs in Naruto's neck, had Electrode merely grinning wider, rocking back and forth. Boltund's slim body meanwhile had taken to prowling alongside the field, keeping an eye on both Ninetales and Lucario. Ninetales' warning growl had Boltund's ears twitching and it raised its tail, which had the shape of a lightning bolt.

With these two opponents Ninetales didn't have any real advantage left. Both Electrode and Boltund were purely Electric Types and while neither of them had any specific immunity against Fire Type attacks, neither were they particularly weak against them. Naruto considered calling Ninetales back and replacing her with Snorlax, but one look at the concentrated look in her eyes and the way she had gone from sitting to bracing herself had him pursing his lips. Considering her competitive nature, there was no doubt she would protest if he even hinted that he wanted to replace her with someone else. Ah well, he supposed it wouldn't be bad if she remained on the field for a bit longer. She was far from weak and she hadn't been able to fight in a lot of Gyms so far.

There was one issue, though: Electrode most likely knew Explosion and he definitely knew Self-Destruct. Given the sheer power of those moves, a direct hit would lead to instant fainting. It was even possible that if the range was large enough, both Lucario and Ninetales could still be hit even if they remained at a distance. The only one in his team who had a chance of staying out of an Explosion's or Self-Destruct's reach was Pidgeot, but his Flying nature made him way too vulnerable in this Gym. Lucario could avoid a potential Explosion or Self-Destruct if he used Dig right before that, but that would all come down to the right timing in that case.

Naruto masked his groan just in time. Electrode was for sure the worst opponent they could possibly get. He supposed he should have expected to battle one considering the room behind him had been filled with Voltorb.

"Mimikyu," Mimikyu muttered, his shadowy limbs restlessly squeezing Naruto's wrist. Tough battle.

"Yeah, this isn't going to be easy," Naruto mumbled in agreement.

He guessed that long range attacks would be the best way to deal with Electrode. Close combat would only risk the Pokémon going for Explosion or Self-Destruct for sure; if they attacked it from a distance, though, they might delay or hopefully even prevent the use of those destructive attacks. Naruto wasn't feeling very optimistic about the latter option, though.

"Lucario, focus on Boltund," he instructed. "Ninetales, you take care of Electrode. Stay out of its reach, use only Flamethrowers. We want to keep the risk of an Explosion or a Self-Destruct as low as possible."

Honestly, what kind of masochist did a Pokémon have to be to come up with such a violent move? Yes, the chance of taking down your opponent completely was absolutely guaranteed but what was the point if that meant you knocked yourself out as well? He really would never understand some Pokémon.

"Going for the long range, huh?" Deidara smirked knowingly, crossing his arms. "I suppose that's your best option, un."

It was their only option if they wanted even a shot at winning this particular battle unscathed.

Right from the very start, it was clear that neither Boltund nor Electrode were going to give up easily. Electrode used so many Thunder Shocks and Electro Balls in quick succession, never letting up for long, that Ninetales was forced to go entirely on the defensive, jumping and running and dodging, doing everything she could to avoid getting hit. It left her barely able to aim a Flamethrower at Electrode; something the large round Pokémon was clearly counting on as it kept launching one Electro Ball after the other. Some of them actually struck the glass panels, leading one window to shatter in the right upper corner. Electrode just rolled straight across the glass splinters; its eyes entirely focused on Ninetales, who was trying to catch it off guard by running fast enough behind its back.

Lucario meanwhile was having a hard time landing hits on Boltund. The dog like Pokémon was fast, speeding alongside all the corners in the room, evading several Bone Rushes with ease. Boltund's ease with which it was evading Lucario's attacks was clearly getting to Lucario as the Pokémon stalked after Boltund; the look on his face more vicious than Naruto had seen in a while. Boltund merely yipping tauntingly before dashing straight past Naruto, the force behind his run actually making Naruto stumble a bit before he caught his balance.

That did give him an idea however. "Lucario, use Bulldoze to lower Boltund's speed!" he rushed to instruct when Lucario sped past him as well.

'Will do,' was the only reply Naruto received before Lucario started running faster, jumping sideways against the right wall in order to land closer to Boltund.

Boltund clearly hadn't expected Lucario to use the wall of all things to push himself off and actually paused for a second. That one second was more than enough. With a furious cry, Lucario stomped down on the ground with all his might. The sheer force he put in his stomp cracked the field in several pieces and Boltund stumbled, tripping over its own paws and landing on its side for a moment. Before it could jump up on its legs again, Lucario sprang forwards and struck Boltund several times with his Bone Rush. One, two, three, four, five hits! In rapid succession Lucario managed to strike Boltund in its side with all five hits of his Bone Rush.

Knocked onto its side again, Boltund growled and gnashed its teeth before it unleashed a Spark. The Electric attack hit Lucario in his shoulder, but by this point Lucario had grown so annoyed that it seemed he didn't even register the attack. Instead he struck Boltund several times with his Force Palm before using one final Bone Rush to finish the fight. Boltund whined, hiccupped once, but slumped down, unconscious. Once the red beam of its Pokéball enveloped Boltund and pulled it off the battlefield, Lucario sank down for a moment, panting visibly.

Naruto turned towards him, ready to call out to him and ask him if he was okay – getting hit with a Spark at such a close range couldn't have been pleasant to tank even with the adrenaline that was no doubt currently rushing through Lucario's body – when a dangerous crackling noise had sirens blaring in his mind. He whipped his head around and to his horror he saw Electrode beginning to light up from within, its wide grin gaining an eerie undertone when knowing it was preparing itself for an Explosion.

And Ninetales was too close.

"Ninetales, Lucario, watch out!" Naruto cried out in a panic.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Lucario using Dig just in time to dive underground, but Ninetales didn't get far enough.

One loud, gigantic BOOM! saw Naruto flying back against the wall; all the air getting knocked out of his lungs with a painful woosh. Mimikyu squealed in shock; his shadowy tendrils flaying through the air before they latched onto Naruto's shoulders. The ground underneath him trembled heavily and multiple windows shattered, showering glass all over the terrain. A wooden beam broke off from the ceiling and crashed down a bit further from Naruto, kicking up dust that sent him into a coughing fit. His ears rung, his back ached and somewhere on the other side of the room Deidara was cackling up a storm.

When Naruto managed to scramble upright after putting Mimikyu down, pressing a hand against his aching ribs – shit, but that actually really hurt! – he saw Deidara standing there with his arms spread wide, a maniacal grin on his face. His hair was no longer in a neat ponytail; the blast from Electrode's Explosion having reached far enough into that side of the room that it had messed up the blond hair. Deidara clearly wasn't bothered by that, however.

"NOW THAT IS WHAT I CALL ART, UN!" he yelled excitedly before calling the passed out Electrode back.

Lucario popped out from underneath the surface again, shaking his head and looking quite disoriented. Meanwhile Ninetales was …

Naruto rushed forwards, ignoring his aching ribs when he dropped to his knees in front of his Pokémon. She was completely passed out, lying listless on the ground; her tails spread out around her. Some places of her fur were actually singed and Naruto winced at the sight of those, carefully stroking them. She had been running away right as Electrode had exploded and had caught the brunt of the attack.

It could have been worse, Naruto supposed morosely, but it still hurt to see her so defeated, so utterly passed out that she didn't even twitch when he stroked her forehead.

"Get some rest; I'll get you to a Pokécentre soon, I promise," he murmured and retrieved her Pokéball, aiming it at her to call her back. "You did very well, I'm proud of you."

He returned back to his spot and beckoned Lucario, who after a couple of seconds spent blinking rapidly, trotted over to him. "You still good for the next one? Or do you want to rest as well?" he asked worriedly.

Even when having been underground when Electrode had exploded, it was clear that Lucario had been affected by the explosion in a way as well. Who knew how far the waves of that destruction actually went?

'Lucario fine, Master. Only one more left,' Lucario replied, which was true, but …

"Only one more left, that's true, so it's time for you to get some rest," Naruto decided, smiling weakly. "You took out two of them; I'm proud of you. Get some rest, okay? I'll bring you to the Pokécentre soon."

Lucario looked ready to protest but appeared resigned when Naruto held up his Pokéball. No doubt Lucario still wanted to keep fighting, but Naruto couldn't in good conscience let him continue. Boltund had already wore him down slightly by running all over the place; on top of that Electrode's Explosion had clearly managed to hit him in some manner even when hiding underneath the ground. In the dazed state he was in, it would be too dangerous to let him keep battling. There was no sense in tiring out Lucario even further when Naruto still had a couple of other Pokémon left who could take on the remaining Pokémon.

"How could anyone look at this absolutely amazing display of art and not recognise it as such, un?" Deidara sighed, looking almost starstruck as he stared down at the Great Ball containing Electrode.

"It made Electrode pass out, though," Naruto pointed out and returned Lucario to his Pokéball. "Isn't art supposed to last?"

That appeared to offend the older man. "What, you suddenly an art connoisseur, un?" he sneered, hooking the Great Ball onto his belt before spreading his arms wide again. "Art is fleeting! That's what makes it so majestic to begin with! There is no beauty in forever; only dullness!"

Naruto was pretty certain most people wouldn't agree with that assessment, but he was here to win a badge; not debate the nature of art.

"Fine, art is supposed to be fleeting," he agreed, figuring it was easier to give in than to keep arguing.

Deidara narrowed his eyes as if he didn't trust how easily Naruto had given in before huffing, placing his hands on his hips. "You are all a disgrace to art, un," he muttered and sniffed before selecting his last Pokémon. "But so be it. Toxtricity, your time to show your art!"

All right, Toxtricity. That should be doable. Naruto had a Toxtricity of his own; more importantly all his Pokémon had trained with Toxtricity, so they were familiar with this Pokémon's attacks.

"Snorlax, your turn!" Naruto called out, throwing Snorlax' Pokéball into the air.

Snorlax appeared with a low cry, landing a small distance away from Toxtricity, who sneered and started to prowl back and forth; the frill around its neck slightly glowing.

At least it wasn't another Electrode; a small mercy.

Even though Toxtricity was a known entity, that didn't mean they could just lower their guards. As a matter of fact, it actually put Naruto more on guard precisely because he knew what Toxtricity was capable of.

"Mimi, Kyu, Mimikyu, Kyu," Mimikyu noted idly. Smells more than ours do.

The corners of Naruto's mouth twitched with supressed amusement even when Toxtricity's head shot up and whipped around, its white eyes narrowing dangerously, showing it had heard Mimikyu's comment.

"Best not to challenge Toxtricity too much," Naruto murmured. "You know they can be a bit testy at times."

"Mimikyu." Can take it.

Naruto shook his head, reluctantly amused, before turning to address Snorlax, who was gazing curiously at the hissing Pokémon in front of him.

"Snorlax."

Snorlax' blue-green ears twitched before he turned his body sideways, regarding Naruto questioningly.

"You've trained with Toxtricity before," Naruto began and Snorlax inclined his head. "So you know you can't let your guard down. In this case, though, you can let loose your full strength, all right? Bulldoze and Earthquake: those ones will be the key to your victory. Try to avoid Toxtricity's attacks as much as you can but other than that, go all out."

Snorlax' eyes appeared to glint and when he turned around to face Toxtricity again, he seemed to straighten his back. At once his laidback aura disappeared, replaced by such intense focus that Naruto nearly felt sorry for Toxtricity. Every bit of regret he might feel at the absolute trashing Toxtricity was about to receive was buried underneath bubbling excitement, however, as Naruto was looking forward to seeing Kurama's training taking shape here.

As it turned out, it was true what they said: Snorlax was quite the veritable tank. His bulky form tanked several Thunder Shocks and Sparks Toxtricity sent his way and he actually body checked Toxtricity with his belly before the latter could use Screech against him. Naruto and Mimikyu couldn't help but snicker at that, which sent Toxtricity in a hissing rage, using Poison Jab and Overdrive immediately in succession.

Snorlax avoided the Poison Jab by spinning around, but the Overdrive had him whimpering, raising his arms to hold his head.

"Snorlax, are you okay?" Naruto asked alarmed, but it turned out he didn't need to be.

While the Overdrive definitely had hit Snorlax, it apparently had caused less damage than the large Pokémon had let on. Right as Toxtricity started to smirk and jumped forwards to shock Snorlax with a Discharge, Snorlax stomped his foot down hard. His Bulldoze sent Toxtricity careening to the side as the ground cracked into several places underneath it, but before the Electric/Poison Pokémon could regain its bearings, Snorlax jumped up and slammed down onto the ground even harder than before, smashing his fists into the field as well.

His Earthquake was powerful enough to shake the entire field and Naruto stumbled almost, his grip around Mimikyu tightening reflexively while Mimikyu crooned in amazement, squeezing Naruto's wrists.

The sheer force behind the Earthquake had been enough to make even Naruto nearly lose his balance, which meant that Toxtricity stood no chance with its close proximity to Snorlax. The quaking ground had Toxtricity toppling over, landing onto its back with a startled hiss. That was what Snorlax had been waiting for. He took a couple of steps back before he started to run. He jumped up into the air and before Toxtricity could push itself off the ground, Snorlax landed down heavily on Toxtricity, boring it back down into the ground with a vicious Body Slam.

When Snorlax got back onto his feet again, it was clear the match was over. Toxtricity laid almost flattened onto the field, its eyes rolling back into the sockets as it lost consciousness.

For a moment only silence reigned as Deidara stared stunned at his crushed Pokémon. Then Mimikyu started to whoop and Snorlax turned around almost shyly, scratching the back of his head.

"Snorlax?" Do well?

Naruto grinned, his shock at the abrupt ending of the match quickly replaced by exhilaration. "You did amazing, Snorlax! You won the battle! With your help, we defeated the Gym!"

"Snorlax?" Snorlax lit up. Snorlax did?

"Yes! Thanks to you we got a new Bad- oof!"

In just a couple of quick steps – belying his heavy weight – Snorlax was in front of him and actually lifted up Naruto in a big hug, nearly crushing his ribs and making the blond wheeze in pain while Mimikyu started to scold Snorlax for using too much strength.

Even the aching of his ribs couldn't lessen his sheer happiness at having defeated yet another Gym, however, and he accepted the Badge in the form of a Lightning Bolt with a wide grin from a pouting Deidara.

Seven Gyms down. Only one more to go.

AN2: That was the day Toxtricity learnt never to underestimate its opponent again. Now I'm going to sleep, because I'm making wonderful life choices again here.

Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.

I hope to see you all back in the next chapter! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!

Cuddles

Melissa

P.S. For more information about my upcoming and posted stories, please visit my profile.