A Journey of Two, a Pokemon Story

Violet and Willow relaxed on the bench in front of the gym as they waited for it to open. Staring at the morning sunrise, the two trainers were taking a moment to relax after their recent raid on the Rocket Lab.

Willow, who was practically vibrating at the thought of getting her seventh badge, rolled backward over the back of the bench. Landing on her feet, she looked at Violet for confirmation of her strategy. "So, I'm thinking of just sprinting through the maze as fast as possible."

The Fuchsia Gym was known for its unique method of testing gym participants. Rather than have an attendant challenge the trainee, they instead simply had to reach Gym Leader Koga. "Working through the maze is half the fun," Violet muttered softly. "But … your plan works."

"Of course it does!" Willow said with a smirk. "Besides, you've seen the work I've put in, there's no way my 'mons and I fail."

Violet frowned, looking at Willow to study her plan. It was rather straightforward for her, she had been traveling with her friend for months now so knew all her tells. Relying on frequent switching and constant strategy changes would throw off anyone, but there were a few issues Violet could see. "Well-"

"Wait, wait, wait," Willow waved her hands causing Violet's mouth to close with a click. "I wanna figure out what you saw first."

Violet raised an eyebrow, curious about what Willow was going to say. "Go on …"

Willow hummed in thought, subconsciously pacing back and forth as her mind raced. "...You think I should use Minun's Baton Pass at the start?"

"Not necessarily," Violet replied. "But what's the danger of poison types?"

"Toxic," Willow said with a pout. "And Toxic Spikes, which worries me more."

"And Explosion," Violet added, clarifying her comment at Willow's confused expression. "Koga has three Weezings."

"At least it'll be exciting!"

The maze was a lot easier than Violet had expected. She didn't think the panels would be made out of glass, nor that she'd be able to see the entire room from the entrance. It was a little tricky to try and visualize how the various glass panels translated to their position in space, but after around a minute or so the map became clearer. A part of her wanted to simply fly over them with Dragonite, but based on Koga's expression that wouldn't be well received.

Willow meanwhile simply sprinted through the maze, often (quite literally) running into dead ends. But the combination of her speed and dedication did allow her to eventually traverse it a few minutes after Violet did.

Koga meanwhile, looked at Violet with an appraising look. "Violet, right?"

Violet immediately turned a shade of crimson at having been recognized. Nodding hesitantly, she glanced to the side and saw several of the attendants whispering to each other and pointing at her. "Ye-yeah."

Koga's gaze lingered on Violet for a moment longer, "I've heard about your recent accomplishments." He said calmly, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "On behalf of the League, I have to thank you for your decisive actions in the face of danger."

Tugging her hat down in an effort to hide her face, Violet shuffled on her feet. "C-c-can we start the battle?"

Momentarily taken aback, the gym leader blinked before smoothing out his surprise. "Very well," his gaze sharpened and his hand drifted subconsciously to his first Pokeball.

It would be a six-on-six battle with 20 switches per contestant, the arena itself was mostly standard with the only deviation being a faint smell of incense that hung in the gym itself.

Koga will open with his strongest Weezing and will immediately set up an array of Toxic Spikes over two rounds. After this, he'll readjust but will prefer to Muk who will use a series of Minimizes and Belch.

His first Weezing is a fairly powerful Pokemon that's focused on defense but is relatively weak to elemental attacks. They do know Heat Wave, however, which allows them to face off against Magnezone. Moreover, if Dragonite is sent in, Koga will almost certainly use Explosion at the earliest opportunity.

Weezing also holds Leftovers which allows them to heal each round.

If Forretress is sent in, Koga will instead order Weezing to use Taunt before conducting his setup.

Pick 1

[] Bait out Explosion - Send in Dragonite and attack aggressively (without using Outrage). The instant Koga uses Explosion, use Protect then continue the battle.
[] Disallow the Set Up - Send in Umbreon and use Taunt. After this, a combination of Dark Pulses and Hyper Beams will allow for an extended range engagement that should be to Umbreon's advantage.
[] Send in Slowbro - Requiring practice and training, sending in Slowbro isn't optimal. However, it would make the battle more challenging and give him valuable experience which is useful on its own.
[] Write-in

Alright, looks like Disallowing the set up it is. With that, Umbreon and Weezing get into quite the scrap as the two of them exchange shots from across the arena with little regard for their own safety. Unfortunately though, Weezing's Leftovers do allow them to heal through it. And despite a rather heroic ending, Umbreon just barely fails to win. That being said, Weezing is rather weak at this time, so any Pokemon with a speed rating above C (Gengar, Magnezone, Blissey, Dragonite) can outspeed them and knock them out.

"Taunt," Violet immediately ordered as Umbreon exited his Pokeball. His eyes seemed to flash under the gym lights as he took in his opponent while using Taunt. The Moonlight Pokemon's stance shifted, moving away from the more relaxed posture he normally used where he could react to anything quickly and decisively. Now his legs were bent, bringing his body closer to the ground. His ears were pinned back and he leaned towards his back legs allowing for faster movement but also making it harder to move laterally.

Violet internally nodded in approval. This was not a battle that Umbreon could win by trying to dodge and evade. This was going to be a slugging match where two Pokemon traded blows back and forth until one of them came out on top.

A part of Violet wondered if she was being overconfident. Weezing's Leftovers would allow them to heal as the battle went on, and Koga appeared to be fully relaxed, confident that this first exchange would end in his favor. But the larger part of Violet was certain this battle would go as she wished, Umbreon may not be the most physical Pokemon, but he was certainly her smartest.

As both Violet and Koga predicted, the battle turned into a mid-ranged slugging match. While Umbreon constantly pressed forward with his attacks, trading his slim chances to dodge for ensuring his attacks hit harder, Weezing was focused on maintaining distance to avoid any possible Counters or Assurances.

While Umbreon mixed Dark Pulses and Hyper Beams in a steady, alternating cadence, Weezing used a single move to great effect. Heat Wave after Heat Wave was used, causing the temperature of the arena to increase and parts of the sand to turn to glass. There was no dodging from either Pokemon, only the brutal back and forth of traded attacks as they fought to land more powerful blows. Midway through, Umbreon managed one such blow, forcing their way through a Heat Wave to land a point-blank Dark Pulse that tossed the Poison Gas Pokemon back.

But despite it all, Umbreon was slowly losing. The sheer utility that passive regeneration provided in a slugging match ensured it. While both Pokemon slowly wore each other down, it was Umbreon that began to flag first.

After several minutes of battle, Umbreon stumbled after being hit by a sixth Heat Wave. Forced to attack from an off angle to maintain his steady cadence, Koga had a strong expectation for the move to come. Throughout the battle, Umbreon had alternated Dark Pulse and Hyper Beam, and after using a Dark Pulse Weezing and Koga expected a Hyper Beam. Positioning themselves accordingly, Koga's plan was simple: use the knowledge of the incoming move to give Weezing a small but significant chance to avoid it. Unfortunately for them, Violet saw through their strategy.

"Dark Pulse!" She shouted, causing Umbreon to switch moves in a fraction of a second. The slight difference in timing being enough to throw off Weezing's planned counterattack. Hit slightly later than expected, the Poison Gas Pokemon launched their Heat Wave as they were being hit rather than a moment before. Interrupted by the Dark Pulse, Weezing wasn't able to carefully aim as they had before, allowing a severely injured Umbreon to avoid it.

But all that did was provide the Moonlight Pokemon a few more seconds to fight. Umbreon was severely injured and couldn't take another hit. Everyone on the field knew it, so it wasn't a surprise when Umbreon's posture shifted once more. He leaped backward, gaining as much distance as he could while also focusing entirely on defending. Weezing reacted themselves to this act, shifting from their previous attempts at maintaining distance to moving more erratically.

From across the arena, Umbreon twisted their head mid-stride to fire a Hyper Beam. Focusing less on ensuring it hit and more on avoiding the incoming Heat Wave, the Moonlight Pokemon was satisfied by the familiar sound of his Hyper Beam landing. And a moment later he skidded to a stop, feeling Weezing's Heat Wave scorch the ground in front of him.

Umbreon could see Weezing struggling to remain upright, and he knew he had to act quickly. Unfortunately, he was at a dead stop having just avoided a Heat Wave. Firing a Dark Pulse at Weezing, Umbreon smirked as he saw it land and Weezing fall to the floor.

Only for the smirk to vanish as he saw Weezing stand back up and reply with a Heat Wave.

*Umbreon improves Dark Pulse from B- to B*
*Umbreon improves Hyper Beam from B- to B*

Outside of the arena, Violet felt an emotion she rarely felt in a Pokemon battle. Worry. There wasn't much she could have done in that engagement. Using Protect and Detect would have simply allowed Weezing to heal some more, and quite frankly, Umbreon had done better than she could have expected.

Forcing herself to take a deep breath, Violet's eyes sharpened as she studied the gym leader who was looking at her with an analytical gaze.

Koga will keep Weezing in and use Explosion immediately. While he expects them to be defeated before they can do so, he's doing this to figure out who Violet will send out next. Based on this he'll send out a different Pokemon.

Of Violet's Pokemon, Dragonite, Blissey, Magnezone, and Gengar outspeed Weezing and will act first.

If Dragonite is sent out, he'll send in his second Weezing. This second Weezing will set up Toxic on Dragonite before Exploding. After this, he'll send in Crobat to stall long enough for Dragonite to faint. If he sees an opportunity, he'll use Tailwind during this exchange.

If Forretress is sent out, Koga will be notably surprised but use Heat Wave recklessly. If Forretress is still standing and Weezing faints, Koga will send out Crobat and slowly work to whittle down her health.

If Magnezone is sent out, Koga will send out his Ariados and set up a Sticky Web. After which he'll remain in the fight through a combination of String Shots, Agility, Sucker Punches, Bug Bites, and Fell Stringers.

If Blissey is sent out, Koga will send in his second Weezing and set up Toxic on Blissey. After which he'll switch to Crobat and attempt to stall long enough for the poison to build up and defeat Blissey.

If Gengar is sent out, Koga will send out Crobat and try to use a series of Air Cutters. If he sees an opportunity, he'll use a U-Turn to send in his Ariados and use Sucker Punch.

If Slowbrow is sent out, Koga will have Weezing use Toxic Spikes before they faint. After which he'll send out his Ariados and set up a Sticky Web.

Currently, Koga is saving his Muk for a more advantageous time when he can get them set up over a few rounds.

[] Send out the Ace - Dragonite can handle Toxic for a while. Sending him out will remove Koga's second Weezing and he can hopefully manage to stay in the fight long enough to defeat Crobat. That would make the fight far more manageable.
[] Accept the Web - Sending out Magnezone will allow Koga to set up a Sticky Web. Ariados is fairly weak overall so you will win. Even if the web will be problematic overall.
[] A Relative Type Advantage - Sending in Gengar will let you remove Koga's Crobat, their one Pokemon that can stall out battles. Removing them would be worthwhile, even if you aren't using Gengar's poison resistance in a better manner.
[] Write-in

Alright, I'll be calling the vote here. Looks like Slowbro gets set out next. As it is Koga rolls rather poorly allowing Violet to knock out Weezing without having to worry about Toxic Spikes. Ariados then comes out, lands the Sticky Web, then faints. A result that probably should have predictable considering Smogon refers to Ariados as "an abysmal lead" and generally isn't that flattering. Regardless, this does put Violet in quite an advantageous position.