Gym Leader Number 9
- Thread starter Parthenian
- Start date
- Pronouns
- Mr/Sir
I can't wait for her approval condition to be changing future book plots.
Not based on anything in particular, it's just a fairly dramatic story about a number of Trainers going through their Pokemon journeys at the same time.
- Location
- Philippines
Sooo... how many hardcore fans gonna go to his future gym just to get a autograph, avenged their fave characters or be the champions of they're Ships? And how much will he regret revealing his identity as the author?
They'd have to battle for it!
Chapter 10
New
It took a while to finally get away from Gabby and Ty. She had had plenty of questions for me, some of which I had answered and others I had avoided. One or two had come awfully close to hinting that I was on the journey to become a new Gym Leader, if I'd answered them correctly. She had been more interested in the brief battle against the Graveler and Happy had cheerfully taken up the majority of the cameraman's attention.
Interviewing wasn't something I'd ever done before. But if I was going to become a Gym Leader then I was going to have to have a public profile now. Gym Leaders were major entities in their local sphere, technically a government institution, and I couldn't just hide from the less palatable obligations that came with the job.
Having to change a part of what had been my lifestyle up until now wasn't enough to put me off though, I had known this would happen, just not so soon. I… also knew that introversion wasn't exactly good for me, it was too easy to get stuck in my own head sometimes. people. My team were family, but a bit more human interaction would probably be good for me.
"Do you think I'm rushing this? I mean about the Gym Leader thing," I asked my Pokemon.
Leah, Robin and Happy were still out, Robin insisting on staying out to keep an eye out for any other surprises and Happy just because he wanted to stay out and keep us company. He liked being with us and I enjoyed his weight on my shoulder.
My sudden question elicited a bit of surprise from them. Leah was the first to respond with a shake of her head and a murmured noise of encouragement. Happy replied in his own tongue, something that I felt meant he agreed with Leah while Robin thought on the question for a bit longer.
"Ribbo," he said, shaking his head slowly. He had always been the more thoughtful member of the team so his agreement with the other two Pokemon meant a lot.
It was at that point that a couple of Marill appeared out of the tall grass. Upon seeing us the two small Pokemon froze.
"Marilll!" Happy called from my shoulder, waving his hand. "Marill Mar!"
That was odd. I didn't think you could find Marill out this far north. Maybe if we'd stayed a bit closer to the lake we had passed before, but not all the way out here where there were only a few streams and brooks to provide moisture for Water types.
The two Marill unfroze a second after Happy's greeting. They turned and approached and Happy jumped down to say hello. But it was clear in the following exchanges that the wild Marill were left confused and then uncomfortable by my Pokemon and not long after we'd met them they fled back into the grass as if they'd never been there at all.
Happy slumped slightly in response to the rejection. I slowly approached and picked him up before setting him back on my shoulder.
"Hey don't worry about it buddy," I told him as he settled back in place. "Once we have the Gym set up I'm sure we'll make lots of friends with the local Pokemon."
Marill were usually very docile and not eager to battle unless they had a trainer behind them. I knew it didn't need to be said that Happy was definitely an outlier in terms of strength.
Innate abilities like Overgrow or Blaze were difficult to pin down the cause of, whether they were quirks of biology or effects akin to the attacks and other feats Pokemon could perform. Happy as best I could tell definitely held the True Power ability, or whatever its name was. My memory wasn't exactly perfect unfortunately. Not that the actual name mattered. I wouldn't have known the likely cause of Happy's strength unless I'd spent some time trolling through build calculators and such back in my previous life. Regardless that it made him strong, it was that ability that I felt had left him something of an outcast amongst his own kind.
Happy cuddled my head in response to my reassuring words but was still uncharacteristically solemn for a while as we approached Mt Chimney. No doubt that encounter had brought back some unwanted memories. I originally found him alone out in the wilds in Johto, battling random trainers. After befriending him, I'd learnt he'd left his old home, or been forced to leave. Regardless that Happy's supposedly unnatural strength had made him an outcast amongst his own kind, he was part of our family now and that wouldn't be changing as far as I was concerned.
The grassy terrain gave way to harsher rock and gravel and the air became a bit more warm and dry. This was not just a mountain, it was a volcano, one with real laval at its peak. At least as far as I was aware. I remembered the big pool of lava you get to see in the games and I knew that Mt Chimney regularly chucks up a load of volcanic ash into the atmosphere on the regular.
"And there's the cable car," I said, spotting the coloured cars making their way up the mountain slowly.
There was also supposed to be a cave somewhere, with Machop and a few fire types but I didn't see any signs indicating an entrance or anything. I might've chosen to go and take a look but we were kind of on a timetable and after a relaxing stroll so far today we needed to get a bit of a move on. It wasn't like there would be anything particularly interesting there anyway.
There weren't many people beyond the staff when I entered, which meant that we could all hop into a cable car on our own. It travelled slowly up the mountain, wobbling a bit but not so much as to be uncomfortable and going a bit higher above the ground, over the sparse trees that dotted the side of the volcano and we reached the point where I started to feel a pit of discomfort in my belly.
It was the height that was the issue. It gave me vertigo, something I'd never been able to shake off even after being reincarnated in this life. Intellectually knowing it was safe didn't help, the swaying of the cable car made me instinctively tense up at the idea of finding ourselves falling, regardless of the fact that even if we did, that Leah would be abel to safely teleport us away in seconds.
My Pokemon were obviously made of much sterner stuff than I was and didn't show any signs of discomfort. I felt Leah's hand on my shoulder, offering silent support. I offered her a weak smile in return, partly embarrassed and also annoyed at myself. I just wanted to force myself past this. The memory of once being stuck in a sodding tree, only a few metres above the ground coming back to me. I'd been seventeen at the time, at some group activity thing with my college and I'd had an audience for that particular fiasco.
I took a deep breath and forced myself to ignore the vertigo as best I could and forced myself to instead of dwelling on what was directly beneath me to look out across the landscape, which for whatever stupid reason didn't have the same effect.
It was indeed an impressive view and my Pokemon all leaned up against the glass in front of me to get their first real view of the Hoenn landscape.
From our elevation we could see much of the southern and eastern landmass that belonged to Hoenn. There was the desert to the east and further on lush forests and waterways leading to Fortree. To the south were the more flat plains leading to the ocean and the metals and greys of the human occupied cities stuck out clearly from the otherwise natural landscape. Despite that, it was clear that Hoenn, like much of the rest of the world, was predominantly unoccupied by humanity. This was a Pokemon world, we just happened to live in it too.
It was eventually time to get off and I felt myself relax now I was back on solid ground. The cable car had come to a stop somewhere near the top of the volcano and we vacated our arrival point and began the trek down the mountain towards Lavaridge.
There were more trees here on the southern side. I knew Falarbor town did a lot of planting of trees and Lavaridge probably did too, which I imagined was meant as a means of stopping potential landslides.
We began the fairly slow hike down. Maybe if we had hurried we could have reached the town before nightfall but we weren't really in a hurry. It wasn't even raining ash from the volcano right now. So we found ourselves a nice little patch of flatter earth surrounded by the sparse trees which helped reduce some of the wind coming our way. Then it was time to set up the tent.
"Come on out everyone," I said, releasing my other three Pokemon to help set up the camp.
My Marill, Gardevoir and Ribombee were soon joined by the other three. Ielle looked around with interest at our new environment while Kira's eyes lit up upon seeing me and the Sylveon's ribbons immediately began to wrap around my limbs and torso. It was something I was well used to right now.
The sixth member of the team bounced up in the air, looking around excitedly.
"Whim!" called out Bud, my Whimsicott. She jumped up into the air, her incredibly light weight and the big bob of cotton on her head allowing her to take to the air currents easily when she wanted to. I'd found that it was less her always being lightweight and more something she chose to do. Whimsicott had some innate ability to decide that gravity didn't apply to them when it didn't suit.
Bud floated up, looking around the new environment and quickly spotted Robin who was being responsible and scouting the area for potential trouble.
"Ribbo!" Robin said to the other Pokemon, flying away from her quickly as Bud approached with a big smile on her face. Robin was the one who handled Bud's antics the least well out of all of us. My Whimsicott was a prankster and Robin had never quite figured out that she probably wouldn't bother him as much if he stopped reacting to her.
"Come on, let's set up the tent," I reminded everyone else why we were here.
My tent wasn't too big, enough for four people to lie comfortably, or one person and several small to medium sized Pokemon. If it weren't for the more exciting technology of this world I wouldn't have been able to carry it with us the way I did. I'd have needed to dress for travelling properly, with a backpack and everything else.
The tent and most of my other camping gear was easily stored in fancy capsules that acted as storage containers, or perhaps they would be better described as being like the capsules from Dragonball but either way I knew it was some adaptation of Pokeball technology that made it work.
The tent popped into position in a burst of light not unlike a Pokemon being released from thor Pokeball. Ielle's Iron Head worked like a hammer to put the pegs deep into the ground and guarantee we wouldn't be blowing away and that was pretty much it.
The tent set up, it was time to start thinking about food. Fairy types liked sweet things, or at least strong tasting things as long as there was an element of sweetness to them. Each of my Pokemon had a meal plan tailored for them and their species, all of them having a secondary typing that required specific nutrients. Because of all that it was often fairly simpler to prepare one larger meal that was predominantly sweet tasting to cater to their Fairy typing and then make a few smaller changes to each individual meal.
Leah and Ielle began helping me, Leah because she was genuinely a helpful and sweet Pokemon, Ielle because it meant she could sneak a few nibbles of extra food when she thought nobody was looking.
Kira was a lazy bones and contented himself by rubbing up against my side, ribbons continuing to wrap around me affectionately. Happy meanwhile was bouncing up and down, cheering as he watched the impromptu aerial game of tag going on above us.
"Whiiim si cooot!" Bud shouted excitedly, chasing after Robin who looked increasingly annoyed as he tried to scope out our surroundings, not that I fancied there would be many Pokemon willing to bother a group as large as ours or one this high up on the mountain.
Then Robin's patience apparently wore thin and my Pokemon shot out a controlled Silver Wind attack at the Whimsicott.
Bud's eyes widened in sudden surprise as she was pushed away, but not just that. The Silver Wind pushed her up and over the treeline and once she was out of that protection the natural wind coming around the mountain was strong enough to carry her away.
"Whiiiiiim!" Bud shouted in sudden panic. I sighed, this was why I tried not to have both of them out together. This sort of thing just kept happening… Bud wouldn't leave Robin alone, Robin's temper would inevitably wear out and Bud was a drama queen.
I was about to intervene and remind Bud that she could summon an actual hurricane if needs be to push herself back down to us, but the crisis was averted for me when the faint shimmer of Psychic energy surrounded the Pokemon and it was Leah who pulled Bud back down to earth. Bud wailed dramatically, putting on crocodile tears as she hugged my Gardevoir. She seemed to be making it out like Leah had just saved her life, instead of helping her avoid having to save herself from a predicament that was really of her own making and one that wasn't actually that serious given the circumstances.
Leah stopped helping me with the food preparation to wrap her arms into the Whimsicott's soft hair, patting her head affectionately. Leah mildly chastised the contrite looking Robin and I tactfully ignored the stink eye which I spotted Bud shoot Robin from her position in my starter's arms. It was all harmless antics and I knew Leah wasn't so blind as she pretended, she'd scold either of them if they were really getting at each other. So I concentrated on finishing the meal preparations instead.
"Who's hungry?" I asked, capturing the attention of six pairs of eyes. Bulk storage tech made it fairly easy to prepare lots of food in advance and even keep it mostly warm, meaning it was pretty quick to get our meals ready.
Not too long later and with six voracious appetites sated, alongside my own less voracious need for food, we stopped to relax as the sun moved closer and closer to the horizon. I spent a little while reading through Roxanne's notes on Gym management and legalese, but the setting sun left it too dark after a while and I abandoned the task for the time being to sit and relax properly with my team, who were already gathered pretty close.
With six Pokemon, one who was particularly fluffy, the bits of wind that snuck through the trees didn't bother me at all as the seven of us gravitated together.
I wasn't necessarily going to miss every part of travelling around the way we had been. But moments like this I was going to miss. The peaceful quiet of being sat here in my own little bubble with nobody to bother me, just my Pokemon for company. Being able to lie here and enjoy the night sky above us for a little while before heading inside the warmer confines of the tent and going to sleep. That I certainly would miss.
***
"It's him! Mum, look!"
"There's no need to shout. Your mother's right here," Kaleb reminded his son but he too looked excited as they beheld Mr Harry Hemming, the man with the mysterious pink and white Pokemon they had encountered a few days ago. "Go get the PokeNav, it's on my bedside table."
"Right!" Timmy replied, jumping up and racing through the house, something he shouldn't be doing, but Kaleb would let this one go under the circumstances.
"So not only does he have a special Pokemon but he's a writer too and of all things Trainers Colliding," Isabel said thoughtfully, bouncing baby Kyle on her knee.
"Do you know it?" Kaleb asked. He vaguely recalled the name but it wasn't something he'd read.
"Sandra recommended it to me but I never tried it," Isabel admitted. "Lola and Chandler's mother," she said, apparently realising that Kaleb didn't know who she was referring to.
They must have been some of Timmy's classmates but Kaleb honestly couldn't recall them either.
"Oh yeah, I remember," he lied. Kaleb had been married long enough to know there was no reason to reveal even more ignorance about something he should know. otherwise it would only annoy his wife. But in his defence all the other mothers sort of blended into one another after a while, especially when you only ever saw most of them just once or twice a year.
Timmy hurried back in, carrying the PokeNav which he offered to Kaleb and Kaleb took it from him, quickly unlocking it and opening the webpage with the FanDex.
"Okay I've updated the forums," he said a few minutes later. "If he's on Route 111 then he must be on his way to Falarbor or Lavaridge and that ought to be just under a week of travelling by foot. Hopefully someone there will see this and spot him."
"Ohhh!" Isabel squeed, hugging Kyle up against her bosom while her Plusle and Minun watched with a tiny bit of jealousy in their expressions. "I can't wait to find out about that Pokemon!"
"Me too!" Timmy said. "Do you think it's strong?"
Their son's Elektrike barked in excited agreement with his trainer's question.
"Who knows," Kaleb replied. "But remember it's not just about how strong or cute a Pokemon is. We should love all Pokemon regardless of either of those things."
Timmy nodded, not replying verbally and Kaleb knew his son wasn't really listening to the advice. It was the sort of thing you say to children younger than him now and it was a bit of a holdover from back when he was little. Timmy was old enough now to form his own opinions about what he personally liked in a Pokemon, it's why they'd let him get an Elektrike of all things even though they were supposed to be quite the handful to look after on account of being so energetic. Elektrike needed exercise at least two times a day.
"But his Marill is very strong considering what species it is, so I wouldn't be surprised if this mystery Pokemon is strong either way," Kaleb admitted as Isabel replayed the recording of the battle again, having rewound it on their Tv. That was really one strong Marill. The strongest Marill he'd ever seen had been in one of the local contests and despite a type advantage it'd still been knocked out by a Combusken in the finals. Losing a contest battle by knockout didn't often happen, which is why it'd stuck in Kaleb's mind.
His Plusle jumped into his lap and Kaleb distractedly scratched him behind the ears as they watched the Marill on the Tv knock out both of those wild Graveler again. It was something which had Timmy watching with interest. Cuter Pokemon weren't often considered strong. It was the big scarier types that were mainly seen in the battling scene.
And it wouldn't be top long now until Timmy became a teenager, Kaleb thought wistfully as they rewatched the interview with Harry Hemming on the Tv. Then Timmy would probably decide he was too cool to play games with his dad anymore and everything else that went along with puberty. He'd probably also want to go on a Pokemon journey too. It was both an exciting and worrying thought. Kaleb had never gone on a Pokemon journey, not everyone did, but Timmy definitely would want to.
Well as long as he was safe, Kaleb thought to himself. If Timmy did go out on a journey he'd also be able to go out and meet a bunch of interesting and cute Pokemon too, so there was that a least.
By the end of the evening there hadn't been any response on the forums, but Kaleb knew that now they had identified its trainer, they were now one step closer to figuring out what the mystery Pokemon was!
***
Why should you never take your medicine into Mt Moon?
Because the Paras-eat-'em-all!
Interviewing wasn't something I'd ever done before. But if I was going to become a Gym Leader then I was going to have to have a public profile now. Gym Leaders were major entities in their local sphere, technically a government institution, and I couldn't just hide from the less palatable obligations that came with the job.
Having to change a part of what had been my lifestyle up until now wasn't enough to put me off though, I had known this would happen, just not so soon. I… also knew that introversion wasn't exactly good for me, it was too easy to get stuck in my own head sometimes. people. My team were family, but a bit more human interaction would probably be good for me.
"Do you think I'm rushing this? I mean about the Gym Leader thing," I asked my Pokemon.
Leah, Robin and Happy were still out, Robin insisting on staying out to keep an eye out for any other surprises and Happy just because he wanted to stay out and keep us company. He liked being with us and I enjoyed his weight on my shoulder.
My sudden question elicited a bit of surprise from them. Leah was the first to respond with a shake of her head and a murmured noise of encouragement. Happy replied in his own tongue, something that I felt meant he agreed with Leah while Robin thought on the question for a bit longer.
"Ribbo," he said, shaking his head slowly. He had always been the more thoughtful member of the team so his agreement with the other two Pokemon meant a lot.
It was at that point that a couple of Marill appeared out of the tall grass. Upon seeing us the two small Pokemon froze.
"Marilll!" Happy called from my shoulder, waving his hand. "Marill Mar!"
That was odd. I didn't think you could find Marill out this far north. Maybe if we'd stayed a bit closer to the lake we had passed before, but not all the way out here where there were only a few streams and brooks to provide moisture for Water types.
The two Marill unfroze a second after Happy's greeting. They turned and approached and Happy jumped down to say hello. But it was clear in the following exchanges that the wild Marill were left confused and then uncomfortable by my Pokemon and not long after we'd met them they fled back into the grass as if they'd never been there at all.
Happy slumped slightly in response to the rejection. I slowly approached and picked him up before setting him back on my shoulder.
"Hey don't worry about it buddy," I told him as he settled back in place. "Once we have the Gym set up I'm sure we'll make lots of friends with the local Pokemon."
Marill were usually very docile and not eager to battle unless they had a trainer behind them. I knew it didn't need to be said that Happy was definitely an outlier in terms of strength.
Innate abilities like Overgrow or Blaze were difficult to pin down the cause of, whether they were quirks of biology or effects akin to the attacks and other feats Pokemon could perform. Happy as best I could tell definitely held the True Power ability, or whatever its name was. My memory wasn't exactly perfect unfortunately. Not that the actual name mattered. I wouldn't have known the likely cause of Happy's strength unless I'd spent some time trolling through build calculators and such back in my previous life. Regardless that it made him strong, it was that ability that I felt had left him something of an outcast amongst his own kind.
Happy cuddled my head in response to my reassuring words but was still uncharacteristically solemn for a while as we approached Mt Chimney. No doubt that encounter had brought back some unwanted memories. I originally found him alone out in the wilds in Johto, battling random trainers. After befriending him, I'd learnt he'd left his old home, or been forced to leave. Regardless that Happy's supposedly unnatural strength had made him an outcast amongst his own kind, he was part of our family now and that wouldn't be changing as far as I was concerned.
The grassy terrain gave way to harsher rock and gravel and the air became a bit more warm and dry. This was not just a mountain, it was a volcano, one with real laval at its peak. At least as far as I was aware. I remembered the big pool of lava you get to see in the games and I knew that Mt Chimney regularly chucks up a load of volcanic ash into the atmosphere on the regular.
"And there's the cable car," I said, spotting the coloured cars making their way up the mountain slowly.
There was also supposed to be a cave somewhere, with Machop and a few fire types but I didn't see any signs indicating an entrance or anything. I might've chosen to go and take a look but we were kind of on a timetable and after a relaxing stroll so far today we needed to get a bit of a move on. It wasn't like there would be anything particularly interesting there anyway.
There weren't many people beyond the staff when I entered, which meant that we could all hop into a cable car on our own. It travelled slowly up the mountain, wobbling a bit but not so much as to be uncomfortable and going a bit higher above the ground, over the sparse trees that dotted the side of the volcano and we reached the point where I started to feel a pit of discomfort in my belly.
It was the height that was the issue. It gave me vertigo, something I'd never been able to shake off even after being reincarnated in this life. Intellectually knowing it was safe didn't help, the swaying of the cable car made me instinctively tense up at the idea of finding ourselves falling, regardless of the fact that even if we did, that Leah would be abel to safely teleport us away in seconds.
My Pokemon were obviously made of much sterner stuff than I was and didn't show any signs of discomfort. I felt Leah's hand on my shoulder, offering silent support. I offered her a weak smile in return, partly embarrassed and also annoyed at myself. I just wanted to force myself past this. The memory of once being stuck in a sodding tree, only a few metres above the ground coming back to me. I'd been seventeen at the time, at some group activity thing with my college and I'd had an audience for that particular fiasco.
I took a deep breath and forced myself to ignore the vertigo as best I could and forced myself to instead of dwelling on what was directly beneath me to look out across the landscape, which for whatever stupid reason didn't have the same effect.
It was indeed an impressive view and my Pokemon all leaned up against the glass in front of me to get their first real view of the Hoenn landscape.
From our elevation we could see much of the southern and eastern landmass that belonged to Hoenn. There was the desert to the east and further on lush forests and waterways leading to Fortree. To the south were the more flat plains leading to the ocean and the metals and greys of the human occupied cities stuck out clearly from the otherwise natural landscape. Despite that, it was clear that Hoenn, like much of the rest of the world, was predominantly unoccupied by humanity. This was a Pokemon world, we just happened to live in it too.
It was eventually time to get off and I felt myself relax now I was back on solid ground. The cable car had come to a stop somewhere near the top of the volcano and we vacated our arrival point and began the trek down the mountain towards Lavaridge.
There were more trees here on the southern side. I knew Falarbor town did a lot of planting of trees and Lavaridge probably did too, which I imagined was meant as a means of stopping potential landslides.
We began the fairly slow hike down. Maybe if we had hurried we could have reached the town before nightfall but we weren't really in a hurry. It wasn't even raining ash from the volcano right now. So we found ourselves a nice little patch of flatter earth surrounded by the sparse trees which helped reduce some of the wind coming our way. Then it was time to set up the tent.
"Come on out everyone," I said, releasing my other three Pokemon to help set up the camp.
My Marill, Gardevoir and Ribombee were soon joined by the other three. Ielle looked around with interest at our new environment while Kira's eyes lit up upon seeing me and the Sylveon's ribbons immediately began to wrap around my limbs and torso. It was something I was well used to right now.
The sixth member of the team bounced up in the air, looking around excitedly.
"Whim!" called out Bud, my Whimsicott. She jumped up into the air, her incredibly light weight and the big bob of cotton on her head allowing her to take to the air currents easily when she wanted to. I'd found that it was less her always being lightweight and more something she chose to do. Whimsicott had some innate ability to decide that gravity didn't apply to them when it didn't suit.
Bud floated up, looking around the new environment and quickly spotted Robin who was being responsible and scouting the area for potential trouble.
"Ribbo!" Robin said to the other Pokemon, flying away from her quickly as Bud approached with a big smile on her face. Robin was the one who handled Bud's antics the least well out of all of us. My Whimsicott was a prankster and Robin had never quite figured out that she probably wouldn't bother him as much if he stopped reacting to her.
"Come on, let's set up the tent," I reminded everyone else why we were here.
My tent wasn't too big, enough for four people to lie comfortably, or one person and several small to medium sized Pokemon. If it weren't for the more exciting technology of this world I wouldn't have been able to carry it with us the way I did. I'd have needed to dress for travelling properly, with a backpack and everything else.
The tent and most of my other camping gear was easily stored in fancy capsules that acted as storage containers, or perhaps they would be better described as being like the capsules from Dragonball but either way I knew it was some adaptation of Pokeball technology that made it work.
The tent popped into position in a burst of light not unlike a Pokemon being released from thor Pokeball. Ielle's Iron Head worked like a hammer to put the pegs deep into the ground and guarantee we wouldn't be blowing away and that was pretty much it.
The tent set up, it was time to start thinking about food. Fairy types liked sweet things, or at least strong tasting things as long as there was an element of sweetness to them. Each of my Pokemon had a meal plan tailored for them and their species, all of them having a secondary typing that required specific nutrients. Because of all that it was often fairly simpler to prepare one larger meal that was predominantly sweet tasting to cater to their Fairy typing and then make a few smaller changes to each individual meal.
Leah and Ielle began helping me, Leah because she was genuinely a helpful and sweet Pokemon, Ielle because it meant she could sneak a few nibbles of extra food when she thought nobody was looking.
Kira was a lazy bones and contented himself by rubbing up against my side, ribbons continuing to wrap around me affectionately. Happy meanwhile was bouncing up and down, cheering as he watched the impromptu aerial game of tag going on above us.
"Whiiim si cooot!" Bud shouted excitedly, chasing after Robin who looked increasingly annoyed as he tried to scope out our surroundings, not that I fancied there would be many Pokemon willing to bother a group as large as ours or one this high up on the mountain.
Then Robin's patience apparently wore thin and my Pokemon shot out a controlled Silver Wind attack at the Whimsicott.
Bud's eyes widened in sudden surprise as she was pushed away, but not just that. The Silver Wind pushed her up and over the treeline and once she was out of that protection the natural wind coming around the mountain was strong enough to carry her away.
"Whiiiiiim!" Bud shouted in sudden panic. I sighed, this was why I tried not to have both of them out together. This sort of thing just kept happening… Bud wouldn't leave Robin alone, Robin's temper would inevitably wear out and Bud was a drama queen.
I was about to intervene and remind Bud that she could summon an actual hurricane if needs be to push herself back down to us, but the crisis was averted for me when the faint shimmer of Psychic energy surrounded the Pokemon and it was Leah who pulled Bud back down to earth. Bud wailed dramatically, putting on crocodile tears as she hugged my Gardevoir. She seemed to be making it out like Leah had just saved her life, instead of helping her avoid having to save herself from a predicament that was really of her own making and one that wasn't actually that serious given the circumstances.
Leah stopped helping me with the food preparation to wrap her arms into the Whimsicott's soft hair, patting her head affectionately. Leah mildly chastised the contrite looking Robin and I tactfully ignored the stink eye which I spotted Bud shoot Robin from her position in my starter's arms. It was all harmless antics and I knew Leah wasn't so blind as she pretended, she'd scold either of them if they were really getting at each other. So I concentrated on finishing the meal preparations instead.
"Who's hungry?" I asked, capturing the attention of six pairs of eyes. Bulk storage tech made it fairly easy to prepare lots of food in advance and even keep it mostly warm, meaning it was pretty quick to get our meals ready.
Not too long later and with six voracious appetites sated, alongside my own less voracious need for food, we stopped to relax as the sun moved closer and closer to the horizon. I spent a little while reading through Roxanne's notes on Gym management and legalese, but the setting sun left it too dark after a while and I abandoned the task for the time being to sit and relax properly with my team, who were already gathered pretty close.
With six Pokemon, one who was particularly fluffy, the bits of wind that snuck through the trees didn't bother me at all as the seven of us gravitated together.
I wasn't necessarily going to miss every part of travelling around the way we had been. But moments like this I was going to miss. The peaceful quiet of being sat here in my own little bubble with nobody to bother me, just my Pokemon for company. Being able to lie here and enjoy the night sky above us for a little while before heading inside the warmer confines of the tent and going to sleep. That I certainly would miss.
***
"It's him! Mum, look!"
"There's no need to shout. Your mother's right here," Kaleb reminded his son but he too looked excited as they beheld Mr Harry Hemming, the man with the mysterious pink and white Pokemon they had encountered a few days ago. "Go get the PokeNav, it's on my bedside table."
"Right!" Timmy replied, jumping up and racing through the house, something he shouldn't be doing, but Kaleb would let this one go under the circumstances.
"So not only does he have a special Pokemon but he's a writer too and of all things Trainers Colliding," Isabel said thoughtfully, bouncing baby Kyle on her knee.
"Do you know it?" Kaleb asked. He vaguely recalled the name but it wasn't something he'd read.
"Sandra recommended it to me but I never tried it," Isabel admitted. "Lola and Chandler's mother," she said, apparently realising that Kaleb didn't know who she was referring to.
They must have been some of Timmy's classmates but Kaleb honestly couldn't recall them either.
"Oh yeah, I remember," he lied. Kaleb had been married long enough to know there was no reason to reveal even more ignorance about something he should know. otherwise it would only annoy his wife. But in his defence all the other mothers sort of blended into one another after a while, especially when you only ever saw most of them just once or twice a year.
Timmy hurried back in, carrying the PokeNav which he offered to Kaleb and Kaleb took it from him, quickly unlocking it and opening the webpage with the FanDex.
"Okay I've updated the forums," he said a few minutes later. "If he's on Route 111 then he must be on his way to Falarbor or Lavaridge and that ought to be just under a week of travelling by foot. Hopefully someone there will see this and spot him."
"Ohhh!" Isabel squeed, hugging Kyle up against her bosom while her Plusle and Minun watched with a tiny bit of jealousy in their expressions. "I can't wait to find out about that Pokemon!"
"Me too!" Timmy said. "Do you think it's strong?"
Their son's Elektrike barked in excited agreement with his trainer's question.
"Who knows," Kaleb replied. "But remember it's not just about how strong or cute a Pokemon is. We should love all Pokemon regardless of either of those things."
Timmy nodded, not replying verbally and Kaleb knew his son wasn't really listening to the advice. It was the sort of thing you say to children younger than him now and it was a bit of a holdover from back when he was little. Timmy was old enough now to form his own opinions about what he personally liked in a Pokemon, it's why they'd let him get an Elektrike of all things even though they were supposed to be quite the handful to look after on account of being so energetic. Elektrike needed exercise at least two times a day.
"But his Marill is very strong considering what species it is, so I wouldn't be surprised if this mystery Pokemon is strong either way," Kaleb admitted as Isabel replayed the recording of the battle again, having rewound it on their Tv. That was really one strong Marill. The strongest Marill he'd ever seen had been in one of the local contests and despite a type advantage it'd still been knocked out by a Combusken in the finals. Losing a contest battle by knockout didn't often happen, which is why it'd stuck in Kaleb's mind.
His Plusle jumped into his lap and Kaleb distractedly scratched him behind the ears as they watched the Marill on the Tv knock out both of those wild Graveler again. It was something which had Timmy watching with interest. Cuter Pokemon weren't often considered strong. It was the big scarier types that were mainly seen in the battling scene.
And it wouldn't be top long now until Timmy became a teenager, Kaleb thought wistfully as they rewatched the interview with Harry Hemming on the Tv. Then Timmy would probably decide he was too cool to play games with his dad anymore and everything else that went along with puberty. He'd probably also want to go on a Pokemon journey too. It was both an exciting and worrying thought. Kaleb had never gone on a Pokemon journey, not everyone did, but Timmy definitely would want to.
Well as long as he was safe, Kaleb thought to himself. If Timmy did go out on a journey he'd also be able to go out and meet a bunch of interesting and cute Pokemon too, so there was that a least.
By the end of the evening there hadn't been any response on the forums, but Kaleb knew that now they had identified its trainer, they were now one step closer to figuring out what the mystery Pokemon was!
***
Why should you never take your medicine into Mt Moon?
Because the Paras-eat-'em-all!
That was a fairly terrible pun lol.
I tell you what, there's no Shaymin finding it funny.
Chapter 11
New
I woke up, coughing suddenly and I quickly spat out the end of the ribbon that had just slipped into my open mouth.
"Ugh," I groaned, stretching as best I could while being held down at various points, mainly on half of me. Kira completely held down my right side. Facing away from me, he was pushing his head up under mine and some of his ribbons were mostly wrapped around my torso and my arm, holding it against his chest. As usual, it meant I'd have to unwrap myself if I wanted to get up. However, experience told me that it would be a losing battle without waking up the Sylveon first as if I did manage to undo one of the ribbons it would only rewind itself while I was busy with one of the others.
As for the other Pokemon, they would be far less of a problem but between them they still made it challenging. Bud was snoring into my left leg, having slipped in between myself and Leah, who was cuddling my left arm. I could just about sense Robin somewhere above my head, a small hand holding onto a bit of my hair and I could feel Ielle holding onto my right calf.
I slowly pushed myself up, which made Kira's ribbons constrict a bit too tightly for a few moments before relaxing. The last of my Pokemon, Happy, was shoring away and producing a fairly large spit bubble as he did so. This was all despite being held in another Pokemon's maw. Ielle's jaws tended to have a life of their own when she was sleeping and it semed they had found the Marill who hadn't been disturbed in the slightest. Being a water Pokemon, Ielle's saliva probably didn't feel so uncomfortable for him but ti was still an odd sight.
I gave Kira a poke, making him murmur in his sleep and after a few more attempts, he opened his eyes.
"Kira, I need you to let go," I told him.
"Syyylveon," the Pokemon complained, slowly twisting in place to stand up and retracting his ribbons as he did so. Mostly, he still kept a bit around my wrist. That was okay though, as long as it didn't affect my ability to move around too much.
One by one the rest of the team were woken up and we tried to begin the day with breakfast. Unfortunately the volcano had begun spewing ash again when I stuck my head out of the tent, leaving it and the surrounding area covered in a freshly laid blanket of brownish grey muck. It meant we couldn't all go outside and I couldn't cook anything either.
Fortunately I was prepared for this and we ate some dry food in the warm confines of the tent. Then it was time to brave the elements. I withdrew most of the team and quickly packed up the tent. Then with just Leah to keep me company we headed down the mountain to finish our trek down the rest of the way.
As we began the walk, I was surprised I wasn't seeing any Grimer around here, given the polluted environment. The ash and smog produced from the volcano surely counted enough to help those Pokemon thrive. But then again, Grimer and Muk were supposedly the product of human pollution which was probably a far different thing in comparison to the toxins and such coming from Mt Chimney.
The route down the mountain we took was as quickly as I felt comfortable with. People generally think about walking uphill being challenging, but I knew from experience that downhill could be just as strenuous, acting on different muscles and also your joints as they were forced to halt your momentum with every step. This was in order to stop someone finding themselves moving down a slope uncontrollably and then accelerating until they inevitably fall and hurt themselves.
The Ash in the air left me coughing slightly but it wasn't going to kill me, even if I did feel like I was standing beside a smoker.
Along the way we saw a few Pokemon but didn't stop to say hello. There some Spoink bouncing their way down and up a series of ledges for fun as best as I could tell and a solitary Machop was practicing martial arts against a large, ash covered tree. It spotted us, but upon seeing us not approaching for a battle, the Pokemon continued on with its exercise.
As we went further down the ash in the air cleared up steadily until I struggled to spot it. Brushing some of it off my shoulders for the last time felt satisfying, but my clothes were definitely stained now. I should've brought an umbrella, but that wouldn't have helped.
"I must look a right state," I said to my Pokemon as I took off my glasses to try polishing them on the inside of my shirt. Only then I realised I was just spreading ash more over my clothes. Leah looked me up and down before covering her mouth and giggling.
"Haha. Not everyone gets to clean themselves psychically you know."
That was a quirk of the Gardevoir line and some other Pokemon too. A Gardevoir's dress was physically connected to them, the same as it was for a Jynx's dress or a Sawk's gi, but they had some self cleaning and repair quality to them that meant the Pokemon never needed to bother with laundry or something like that. It didn't transfer over to other items of clothing they might start wearing, like the ribbon I'd got Leah when I was a kid which had eventually gotten too old and tatty to keep wearing.
The slightly smug look my Pokemon had as she twirled around to show off her pristine white dress was one I did not find endearing in the slightest.
***
Lavaridge town felt warm, which I attributed to the many hot springs it was supposed to have. With a bit of passive geothermal energy about it was bound to be a bit warmer just naturally. The settlement also gave off old vibes with traditional Japanese architecture being the dominant style on display. It was clear as we continued into town that that Lavaridge was one of Hoenn's oldest surviving settlements.
Of course it wasn't all old buildings and traditional architecture. The bright red roof of a Pokemon Centre stood out above some of the older, smaller buildings and I started heading in that direction.
Lavaridge was also kind of small, at least compared to Slateport, Rustboro or Mauville and we reached the building fairly quickly. I was conscious though that we were drawing eyes from passersby. It wasn't scary or anything, but it was slightly unnerving. We entered the Pokemon Center and approached the desk.
"Hello and welcome to the Pokemon Center," said the Nurse Joy. "Do your Pokemon need healing?"
"No," I replied. "But I'd like to rent a room if that's possible."
Pokemon Centers did provide accommodation, but it was only free until you turned fifteen. After that point you were expected to pay for some services but if you'd been travelling, or preparing to travel as a Pokemon trainer and leaving at a later date than the ten to twelve most people did, then you ought to be able to afford it at that point anyway.
The Nurse Joy nodded professionally and I got a room key. It was just a small hotel room really, but obviously better than sleeping in a tent.
The room was organised and I went to dump our things, grab a shower and a change of clothes. Then we headed back down and got directions to the Gym from the Nurse.
The Lavaridge Gym was a large, traditional looking building with white walls and a bright red tiled roof and it was set against the side of Mt Chimney. I approached the entrance with Leah trailing behind me.
Unlike the other Gyms I had visited as we entered there wasn't anyone waiting for us. Actually the building seemed deserted. There was a desk, but it was unmanned.
"Hello?" I called.
After a few seconds there was no answer.
"Really ought to call ahead next time," I muttered. Even if the Gym Leaders were supposed to know I was coming, it was pretty presumptuous the way I'd done things so far.
Petalburgh would be next after Lavaridge.
"Remind me to call the Petalburg Gym tonight," I instructed my starter. I wasn't going do this a fifth time.
Leah nodded in understanding and it was as I was deciding whether it would be better to leave and come back later that I heard footsteps.
An elderly man dressed in traditional clothes and wearing a small pair of glasses approached me.
"Are you… Harry Hemming?" He asked, looking me up and down shrewdly.
"I am," I replied immediately. "It's good to meet you, sir," I offered my hand for him to shake. Moore, the current Gym leader of the Lavaridge Gym smiled at me as his warm hand clasped around mine.
Despite the formalities having been met there was still a tension between us when our hands parted and we stood there silently for several seconds. I was worried I might have missed something. This was a traditional looking building, a lot less modern than the other Gyms I had visited. Was I doing something wrong? Perhaps I needed to do something else?
"It's been a good while since someone tried to make another Gym in Hoenn," Moore began thoughtfully. "You're much more polite about it though," he said more humorously. Then his expression turned challenging as he beheld me.
"But if you think you'll get my support without showing me what you're made of then think again!"
Oh, I must've been just overthinking things again, I realised with relief. Of course he just was just leading up to saying he wanted a Pokemon battle.
"I'm ready for a battle," I told him seriously, feeling my heart rate rise as our eyes met. Moore's teeth gleamed as he grinned at me.
"Then there's no time to waste," he said. "Come on."
I followed the man through the building.
"If you don't mind me asking," I said. "But there isn't anyone else about. Is it just you here?"
"My granddaughter's somewhere," Moore replied. "But I gave the rest of my staff the week off. Too many of them don't know how to keep a secret, like what's going on with you. You understand?"
"I see," I responded. None of the other Gym Leaders had gone to these measures.
"That's their choice," Moore said when I voiced the question. He waved his hand airily. "We all have our own ways of doing things. I know the value of operational security. Or maybe I'm just going senile in my old age, you decide!"
I chuckled politely, not particularly finding the idea of going senile particularly funny.
We came out into a courtyard. Surrounded by the white walls of the complex there was an arena for us to battle in.
"We'll make this a six on six battle," Moore told me, to my surprise. "I want to see all you've got, Harry Hemming. If you want to be a Gym Leader then you've got to hold your own with the rest of us. Beat four of my team before I knock yours out and you'll have my vote for becoming a Gym Leader."
My eyes narrowed.
"Who says you'll beat me?" I asked.
Moore's eyes narrowed in turn. Then his lips twitched and he let out a bark of laughter.
"Now that's the right attitude!" he told me. He withdrew an old, battered Pokeball from within his robes.
"Let's get this thing started."
"Waiiiiit!"
We both paused as from another doorway a red haired young woman burst out, heading in our direction.
I immediately recognised her as Flannery, wearing her traditional in game outfit of jeans and a black t-shirt. She slid to a stop before us, breathing heavily.
Moore was the current Gym Leader but I still recalled plenty of things from the anime and games. Mr Moore was the current leader but he would be retiring soon and Flannery would be taking over as Gym Leader. I had no way of knowing how soon that would be, but I knew that I'd likely be spending more time interacting with Flannery in the long term than her grandfather.
Flannery managed to catch her breath enough to speak.
"Harry Hemming, I challenge you to a battle!" Flannery shouted, pointed at me with one hand and with a furious expression on her face. Or that might have been that it was still pretty red from the exertion of having ran here.
I looked back to Moore, entirely taken off guard, but it looked like Flannery's actions had taken him by surprise too.
"Flannery, where's this come from?" Moore asked curiously. "You didn't say anything about wanting to battle Harry before."
"Things have changed!" Flannery argued. "I wanna battle him, grandpa. Please, I need to do this!"
Moore glanced my way, apparently as dumbfounded as I was that the younger Fire type trainer was so desperate to battle me. He bit his lip in indecision but then nodded his head.
"Well who am I to say no to that kind of fire?!" He declared. "Alright Harry, you'll battle my granddaughter instead!"
***
I didn't get a chance to question what the hell was going on as Moore eagerly stepped aside for his granddaughter to take him place across from me. Now I found myself stood opposite the red haired young woman and I really wasn't sure what I'd done to offend her. If looks could kill then hers would've seen me dead already.
"This will be a six on six battle with no substitutions," Moore declared, having taken on the role of referee for this match. "Release your Pokemon!"
"Go Arcy!" Flannery immediately shouted, betraying her eagerness to battle by throwing her Pokeball and summoning an impressive looking Arcanine to the field.
The Arcanine appeared from the multicoloured light of the Pokeball sat down, panting like an eager puppy. He looked around and then barked a hello at us before standing up and assuming a battle ready position.
Okay weirdness aside, I knew what to do here. I didn't have much of a plan, but I knew how I'd intended to start the battle.
"Come on out Robin!"
Robin appeared on the field. Up against a Fire type, this was far from an ideal matchup with Robin's Bug typing but all of my opponent's Pokemon would be a Fire type. What made this worse form e was that I had two other Pokemon whose secondary typing would make them vulnerable to Fire types and Fairy type attacks were weak against Fire types. If this was going to be a full six on six battle then I wanted to be careful with how I used Happy, Kira and Leah in kind and Robin would just have to manage as long as he could, as much as it pained me to say it.
Robin spun around in a circle, taking in the new environment before focusing on the Arcanine.
Moore chopped down with his hand and declared for us to begin!
"Use Flamethrower!" shouted Flannery immediately.
"Dodge it Robin and use Silver Tornado!"
The intense fire that burst forth from the Arcanine surprised me but it wasn't close enough to hit my Ribombee before he flew out of its path. A moment after the flames spluttered out he began to twirl, rapidly building up a powerful Silver Wind around himself.
It was a sneaky tactic, applying Silver Wind this way. In the games it was an attack that could deal damage and occasionally improve all the user's stats but in reality buffing moves were less static than that. They were gradual things which started to wear down the moment you received them. After training with Robin we'd modified it to stay around him instead of firing off like a Gust. The effect meant he got a lot more of a buff from the attack at the expense of it not travelling very far and it'd deal a bit more damage when an opponent did get close too.
"Grr… Use Extremespeed!" Flannery ordered next. "And then grab it with Fire Fang!"
"Dazzling Gleam! Make it so he can't see you!" I decided quickly, taken aback at the aggression on display.
But my response was already too late. Perhaps if Robin had had more time to get buffed with Silver Storm then he could've had the ability to dodge or react in time, but Extremespeed was considered a powerful move for a reason. As quick as a flash the Arcanine was upon him, knocking Robin up and then the Arcanine caught the Bug type in his burning jaws.
The remaining Silver Winds that had built up burst from around him as Robin lost control and endured the attack. They battered the Arcanine, forcing him to let go of my Pokemon who flew back a safer distance, wings beating weakly after only a few seconds of the powerful attack.
My Ribombee needed to be faster than his opponents or have the ability to dodge their attacks to be effective. I should've remembered that Arcanine could know that move. If I'd had Robin use Double Team first and then worked up to Silver Tornado we might've made a better start.
It wasn't my Pokemon. I wasn't prepared, and it was already starting to show.
"Why the hell are you so desperate to battle me anyway!?" I demanded to know. That last attack was far too aggressive for a casual battle, even if it was a perfectly reasonable attack, I hadn't really anticipated this battle would get so serious so quickly.
"You know what you did!" Flannery shouted back in reply to my question.
"The fuck I do," I replied. "Robin, do you think you can manage?"
Robin nodded, not taking his eyes off his opponent.
"Then go Double Team and then Pollen Puff to heal yourself up!"
"Oh crap, use Flamethrower Arcy!"
The Arcanine's Flamethrower was strong and widespread but it didn't catch my Ribombee who had created dozens of copies around the arena in moments. Each one brought their little hands together and created a Pollen Puff and then he ate it.
Instantly my Pokemon started looking better, but only the original had changed. The doppelgangers remained looking just as beaten up as he had before. He was still unfortunately very far from working order. Another hit would end it.
"Behind you on the left!" Flannery shouted, spotting the real Robin quickly.
"Dazzling Gleam!" I shouted next. That strategy had mixed things up enough to give us the opportunity to go on the counterattack.
The Arcanine turned, jaws leaking flames as he prepared to use another Flamethrower, but it was him that was too slow this time and he took a face full of pink light for his trouble. The two Fire type trainers were completely unprepared for the attack too and were blinded by the aftereffects of the Fairy type attack.
Arcy's attack spluttered out and he had to turn his head to avoid the light. He took a glancing blow and was sent skidding back, blinking rapidly and at least for the moment unable to see or attack.
Finally we were making some progress!
"Extremespeed, use your nose to find it!" Flannery shouted in panic, rubbing her eyes furiously to recover her vision.
"Aroo!" the Arcanine called out and did just what his trainer ordered. Just like last time both I and my Pokemon were too slow to react to the fastest attack in the world and Robin took another powerful blow from the much larger and bulkier Pokemon.
With his prior injuries only partially healed, I was frustrated to see that the Extremespeed was still enough to take him down. Robin fell to the ground with swirls in his eyes.
"Harry is down one Pokemon!" Moore shouted, calling the loss out as if we actually had an audience. "Bring out your next Pokemon whenever you're ready."
"Good job Robin," I said. My Ribombee had tried his hardest but in the end that matchup was always going to be an uphill battle for him. Of course the Arcanine would have an obscenely accurate sense of smell too, they were well liked by the Officer Jennys for a reason.
That Arcanine seemed like it had taken a decent chunk of damage, but it was far from out of the battle. Flannery didn't look like she would be returning it anytime soon either. It had an advantage because of it's Fire typing, but it was the ability to use Extremespeed that made it a real threat. Robin might have done far better against a Magcargo for example, something I was sure Flannery would have.
I considered my options for several seconds. I wanted to send out Happy, but with his Water typing he would be far better suited to handling the Magcargo and Camerupt I was sure Flannery had. Bud would likely fare just as poorly as Robin and Ielle wouldn't be able to hide from that Arcanine's nose with her usual battle strategy. That left me with either sending out my Gardevoir or Silveon.
Truthfully there was only one choice I was comfortable with.
"Leah, take the field."
"Ugh," I groaned, stretching as best I could while being held down at various points, mainly on half of me. Kira completely held down my right side. Facing away from me, he was pushing his head up under mine and some of his ribbons were mostly wrapped around my torso and my arm, holding it against his chest. As usual, it meant I'd have to unwrap myself if I wanted to get up. However, experience told me that it would be a losing battle without waking up the Sylveon first as if I did manage to undo one of the ribbons it would only rewind itself while I was busy with one of the others.
As for the other Pokemon, they would be far less of a problem but between them they still made it challenging. Bud was snoring into my left leg, having slipped in between myself and Leah, who was cuddling my left arm. I could just about sense Robin somewhere above my head, a small hand holding onto a bit of my hair and I could feel Ielle holding onto my right calf.
I slowly pushed myself up, which made Kira's ribbons constrict a bit too tightly for a few moments before relaxing. The last of my Pokemon, Happy, was shoring away and producing a fairly large spit bubble as he did so. This was all despite being held in another Pokemon's maw. Ielle's jaws tended to have a life of their own when she was sleeping and it semed they had found the Marill who hadn't been disturbed in the slightest. Being a water Pokemon, Ielle's saliva probably didn't feel so uncomfortable for him but ti was still an odd sight.
I gave Kira a poke, making him murmur in his sleep and after a few more attempts, he opened his eyes.
"Kira, I need you to let go," I told him.
"Syyylveon," the Pokemon complained, slowly twisting in place to stand up and retracting his ribbons as he did so. Mostly, he still kept a bit around my wrist. That was okay though, as long as it didn't affect my ability to move around too much.
One by one the rest of the team were woken up and we tried to begin the day with breakfast. Unfortunately the volcano had begun spewing ash again when I stuck my head out of the tent, leaving it and the surrounding area covered in a freshly laid blanket of brownish grey muck. It meant we couldn't all go outside and I couldn't cook anything either.
Fortunately I was prepared for this and we ate some dry food in the warm confines of the tent. Then it was time to brave the elements. I withdrew most of the team and quickly packed up the tent. Then with just Leah to keep me company we headed down the mountain to finish our trek down the rest of the way.
As we began the walk, I was surprised I wasn't seeing any Grimer around here, given the polluted environment. The ash and smog produced from the volcano surely counted enough to help those Pokemon thrive. But then again, Grimer and Muk were supposedly the product of human pollution which was probably a far different thing in comparison to the toxins and such coming from Mt Chimney.
The route down the mountain we took was as quickly as I felt comfortable with. People generally think about walking uphill being challenging, but I knew from experience that downhill could be just as strenuous, acting on different muscles and also your joints as they were forced to halt your momentum with every step. This was in order to stop someone finding themselves moving down a slope uncontrollably and then accelerating until they inevitably fall and hurt themselves.
The Ash in the air left me coughing slightly but it wasn't going to kill me, even if I did feel like I was standing beside a smoker.
Along the way we saw a few Pokemon but didn't stop to say hello. There some Spoink bouncing their way down and up a series of ledges for fun as best as I could tell and a solitary Machop was practicing martial arts against a large, ash covered tree. It spotted us, but upon seeing us not approaching for a battle, the Pokemon continued on with its exercise.
As we went further down the ash in the air cleared up steadily until I struggled to spot it. Brushing some of it off my shoulders for the last time felt satisfying, but my clothes were definitely stained now. I should've brought an umbrella, but that wouldn't have helped.
"I must look a right state," I said to my Pokemon as I took off my glasses to try polishing them on the inside of my shirt. Only then I realised I was just spreading ash more over my clothes. Leah looked me up and down before covering her mouth and giggling.
"Haha. Not everyone gets to clean themselves psychically you know."
That was a quirk of the Gardevoir line and some other Pokemon too. A Gardevoir's dress was physically connected to them, the same as it was for a Jynx's dress or a Sawk's gi, but they had some self cleaning and repair quality to them that meant the Pokemon never needed to bother with laundry or something like that. It didn't transfer over to other items of clothing they might start wearing, like the ribbon I'd got Leah when I was a kid which had eventually gotten too old and tatty to keep wearing.
The slightly smug look my Pokemon had as she twirled around to show off her pristine white dress was one I did not find endearing in the slightest.
***
Lavaridge town felt warm, which I attributed to the many hot springs it was supposed to have. With a bit of passive geothermal energy about it was bound to be a bit warmer just naturally. The settlement also gave off old vibes with traditional Japanese architecture being the dominant style on display. It was clear as we continued into town that that Lavaridge was one of Hoenn's oldest surviving settlements.
Of course it wasn't all old buildings and traditional architecture. The bright red roof of a Pokemon Centre stood out above some of the older, smaller buildings and I started heading in that direction.
Lavaridge was also kind of small, at least compared to Slateport, Rustboro or Mauville and we reached the building fairly quickly. I was conscious though that we were drawing eyes from passersby. It wasn't scary or anything, but it was slightly unnerving. We entered the Pokemon Center and approached the desk.
"Hello and welcome to the Pokemon Center," said the Nurse Joy. "Do your Pokemon need healing?"
"No," I replied. "But I'd like to rent a room if that's possible."
Pokemon Centers did provide accommodation, but it was only free until you turned fifteen. After that point you were expected to pay for some services but if you'd been travelling, or preparing to travel as a Pokemon trainer and leaving at a later date than the ten to twelve most people did, then you ought to be able to afford it at that point anyway.
The Nurse Joy nodded professionally and I got a room key. It was just a small hotel room really, but obviously better than sleeping in a tent.
The room was organised and I went to dump our things, grab a shower and a change of clothes. Then we headed back down and got directions to the Gym from the Nurse.
The Lavaridge Gym was a large, traditional looking building with white walls and a bright red tiled roof and it was set against the side of Mt Chimney. I approached the entrance with Leah trailing behind me.
Unlike the other Gyms I had visited as we entered there wasn't anyone waiting for us. Actually the building seemed deserted. There was a desk, but it was unmanned.
"Hello?" I called.
After a few seconds there was no answer.
"Really ought to call ahead next time," I muttered. Even if the Gym Leaders were supposed to know I was coming, it was pretty presumptuous the way I'd done things so far.
Petalburgh would be next after Lavaridge.
"Remind me to call the Petalburg Gym tonight," I instructed my starter. I wasn't going do this a fifth time.
Leah nodded in understanding and it was as I was deciding whether it would be better to leave and come back later that I heard footsteps.
An elderly man dressed in traditional clothes and wearing a small pair of glasses approached me.
"Are you… Harry Hemming?" He asked, looking me up and down shrewdly.
"I am," I replied immediately. "It's good to meet you, sir," I offered my hand for him to shake. Moore, the current Gym leader of the Lavaridge Gym smiled at me as his warm hand clasped around mine.
Despite the formalities having been met there was still a tension between us when our hands parted and we stood there silently for several seconds. I was worried I might have missed something. This was a traditional looking building, a lot less modern than the other Gyms I had visited. Was I doing something wrong? Perhaps I needed to do something else?
"It's been a good while since someone tried to make another Gym in Hoenn," Moore began thoughtfully. "You're much more polite about it though," he said more humorously. Then his expression turned challenging as he beheld me.
"But if you think you'll get my support without showing me what you're made of then think again!"
Oh, I must've been just overthinking things again, I realised with relief. Of course he just was just leading up to saying he wanted a Pokemon battle.
"I'm ready for a battle," I told him seriously, feeling my heart rate rise as our eyes met. Moore's teeth gleamed as he grinned at me.
"Then there's no time to waste," he said. "Come on."
I followed the man through the building.
"If you don't mind me asking," I said. "But there isn't anyone else about. Is it just you here?"
"My granddaughter's somewhere," Moore replied. "But I gave the rest of my staff the week off. Too many of them don't know how to keep a secret, like what's going on with you. You understand?"
"I see," I responded. None of the other Gym Leaders had gone to these measures.
"That's their choice," Moore said when I voiced the question. He waved his hand airily. "We all have our own ways of doing things. I know the value of operational security. Or maybe I'm just going senile in my old age, you decide!"
I chuckled politely, not particularly finding the idea of going senile particularly funny.
We came out into a courtyard. Surrounded by the white walls of the complex there was an arena for us to battle in.
"We'll make this a six on six battle," Moore told me, to my surprise. "I want to see all you've got, Harry Hemming. If you want to be a Gym Leader then you've got to hold your own with the rest of us. Beat four of my team before I knock yours out and you'll have my vote for becoming a Gym Leader."
My eyes narrowed.
"Who says you'll beat me?" I asked.
Moore's eyes narrowed in turn. Then his lips twitched and he let out a bark of laughter.
"Now that's the right attitude!" he told me. He withdrew an old, battered Pokeball from within his robes.
"Let's get this thing started."
"Waiiiiit!"
We both paused as from another doorway a red haired young woman burst out, heading in our direction.
I immediately recognised her as Flannery, wearing her traditional in game outfit of jeans and a black t-shirt. She slid to a stop before us, breathing heavily.
Moore was the current Gym Leader but I still recalled plenty of things from the anime and games. Mr Moore was the current leader but he would be retiring soon and Flannery would be taking over as Gym Leader. I had no way of knowing how soon that would be, but I knew that I'd likely be spending more time interacting with Flannery in the long term than her grandfather.
Flannery managed to catch her breath enough to speak.
"Harry Hemming, I challenge you to a battle!" Flannery shouted, pointed at me with one hand and with a furious expression on her face. Or that might have been that it was still pretty red from the exertion of having ran here.
I looked back to Moore, entirely taken off guard, but it looked like Flannery's actions had taken him by surprise too.
"Flannery, where's this come from?" Moore asked curiously. "You didn't say anything about wanting to battle Harry before."
"Things have changed!" Flannery argued. "I wanna battle him, grandpa. Please, I need to do this!"
Moore glanced my way, apparently as dumbfounded as I was that the younger Fire type trainer was so desperate to battle me. He bit his lip in indecision but then nodded his head.
"Well who am I to say no to that kind of fire?!" He declared. "Alright Harry, you'll battle my granddaughter instead!"
***
I didn't get a chance to question what the hell was going on as Moore eagerly stepped aside for his granddaughter to take him place across from me. Now I found myself stood opposite the red haired young woman and I really wasn't sure what I'd done to offend her. If looks could kill then hers would've seen me dead already.
"This will be a six on six battle with no substitutions," Moore declared, having taken on the role of referee for this match. "Release your Pokemon!"
"Go Arcy!" Flannery immediately shouted, betraying her eagerness to battle by throwing her Pokeball and summoning an impressive looking Arcanine to the field.
The Arcanine appeared from the multicoloured light of the Pokeball sat down, panting like an eager puppy. He looked around and then barked a hello at us before standing up and assuming a battle ready position.
Okay weirdness aside, I knew what to do here. I didn't have much of a plan, but I knew how I'd intended to start the battle.
"Come on out Robin!"
Robin appeared on the field. Up against a Fire type, this was far from an ideal matchup with Robin's Bug typing but all of my opponent's Pokemon would be a Fire type. What made this worse form e was that I had two other Pokemon whose secondary typing would make them vulnerable to Fire types and Fairy type attacks were weak against Fire types. If this was going to be a full six on six battle then I wanted to be careful with how I used Happy, Kira and Leah in kind and Robin would just have to manage as long as he could, as much as it pained me to say it.
Robin spun around in a circle, taking in the new environment before focusing on the Arcanine.
Moore chopped down with his hand and declared for us to begin!
"Use Flamethrower!" shouted Flannery immediately.
"Dodge it Robin and use Silver Tornado!"
The intense fire that burst forth from the Arcanine surprised me but it wasn't close enough to hit my Ribombee before he flew out of its path. A moment after the flames spluttered out he began to twirl, rapidly building up a powerful Silver Wind around himself.
It was a sneaky tactic, applying Silver Wind this way. In the games it was an attack that could deal damage and occasionally improve all the user's stats but in reality buffing moves were less static than that. They were gradual things which started to wear down the moment you received them. After training with Robin we'd modified it to stay around him instead of firing off like a Gust. The effect meant he got a lot more of a buff from the attack at the expense of it not travelling very far and it'd deal a bit more damage when an opponent did get close too.
"Grr… Use Extremespeed!" Flannery ordered next. "And then grab it with Fire Fang!"
"Dazzling Gleam! Make it so he can't see you!" I decided quickly, taken aback at the aggression on display.
But my response was already too late. Perhaps if Robin had had more time to get buffed with Silver Storm then he could've had the ability to dodge or react in time, but Extremespeed was considered a powerful move for a reason. As quick as a flash the Arcanine was upon him, knocking Robin up and then the Arcanine caught the Bug type in his burning jaws.
The remaining Silver Winds that had built up burst from around him as Robin lost control and endured the attack. They battered the Arcanine, forcing him to let go of my Pokemon who flew back a safer distance, wings beating weakly after only a few seconds of the powerful attack.
My Ribombee needed to be faster than his opponents or have the ability to dodge their attacks to be effective. I should've remembered that Arcanine could know that move. If I'd had Robin use Double Team first and then worked up to Silver Tornado we might've made a better start.
It wasn't my Pokemon. I wasn't prepared, and it was already starting to show.
"Why the hell are you so desperate to battle me anyway!?" I demanded to know. That last attack was far too aggressive for a casual battle, even if it was a perfectly reasonable attack, I hadn't really anticipated this battle would get so serious so quickly.
"You know what you did!" Flannery shouted back in reply to my question.
"The fuck I do," I replied. "Robin, do you think you can manage?"
Robin nodded, not taking his eyes off his opponent.
"Then go Double Team and then Pollen Puff to heal yourself up!"
"Oh crap, use Flamethrower Arcy!"
The Arcanine's Flamethrower was strong and widespread but it didn't catch my Ribombee who had created dozens of copies around the arena in moments. Each one brought their little hands together and created a Pollen Puff and then he ate it.
Instantly my Pokemon started looking better, but only the original had changed. The doppelgangers remained looking just as beaten up as he had before. He was still unfortunately very far from working order. Another hit would end it.
"Behind you on the left!" Flannery shouted, spotting the real Robin quickly.
"Dazzling Gleam!" I shouted next. That strategy had mixed things up enough to give us the opportunity to go on the counterattack.
The Arcanine turned, jaws leaking flames as he prepared to use another Flamethrower, but it was him that was too slow this time and he took a face full of pink light for his trouble. The two Fire type trainers were completely unprepared for the attack too and were blinded by the aftereffects of the Fairy type attack.
Arcy's attack spluttered out and he had to turn his head to avoid the light. He took a glancing blow and was sent skidding back, blinking rapidly and at least for the moment unable to see or attack.
Finally we were making some progress!
"Extremespeed, use your nose to find it!" Flannery shouted in panic, rubbing her eyes furiously to recover her vision.
"Aroo!" the Arcanine called out and did just what his trainer ordered. Just like last time both I and my Pokemon were too slow to react to the fastest attack in the world and Robin took another powerful blow from the much larger and bulkier Pokemon.
With his prior injuries only partially healed, I was frustrated to see that the Extremespeed was still enough to take him down. Robin fell to the ground with swirls in his eyes.
"Harry is down one Pokemon!" Moore shouted, calling the loss out as if we actually had an audience. "Bring out your next Pokemon whenever you're ready."
"Good job Robin," I said. My Ribombee had tried his hardest but in the end that matchup was always going to be an uphill battle for him. Of course the Arcanine would have an obscenely accurate sense of smell too, they were well liked by the Officer Jennys for a reason.
That Arcanine seemed like it had taken a decent chunk of damage, but it was far from out of the battle. Flannery didn't look like she would be returning it anytime soon either. It had an advantage because of it's Fire typing, but it was the ability to use Extremespeed that made it a real threat. Robin might have done far better against a Magcargo for example, something I was sure Flannery would have.
I considered my options for several seconds. I wanted to send out Happy, but with his Water typing he would be far better suited to handling the Magcargo and Camerupt I was sure Flannery had. Bud would likely fare just as poorly as Robin and Ielle wouldn't be able to hide from that Arcanine's nose with her usual battle strategy. That left me with either sending out my Gardevoir or Silveon.
Truthfully there was only one choice I was comfortable with.
"Leah, take the field."
expecting Gardevoir there to employ some aggressive non-aggressive tactics. heavy on the illusions and hypnosis and light screens and reflects. probably pain split, destiny bond shenanigans. which would fit the Fairy-type aesthetic. treading lightly because things are more than they appeared to be.
also redirecting opponents attacks with psychic, as per the bit about Leah being pristine in an ashen route. because volcanic ash is very fine, very annoying to clean up. the sheer finesse and control it took to do that...
and well, Harry and his team are shaping up to be real good, so Leah is probably not lacking in the power department. maybe the constant battling duties of a gym leader would hone the battle instincts and reactions further down the line.
thanks for sharing!
also redirecting opponents attacks with psychic, as per the bit about Leah being pristine in an ashen route. because volcanic ash is very fine, very annoying to clean up. the sheer finesse and control it took to do that...
and well, Harry and his team are shaping up to be real good, so Leah is probably not lacking in the power department. maybe the constant battling duties of a gym leader would hone the battle instincts and reactions further down the line.
thanks for sharing!
Always dislike it when people do that.
If I know what I did I wouldn't be asking dammit
Chapter 12
New
He hadn't been terribly impressed by Harry's first Pokemon, but Flannery's Arcanine was a strong one, the grandchild of his own Arcanine and Arcy's speed had made the obvious Bug type at a disadvantage with what Moore assumed to be a reliance on speed and maneuverability as its main defensive strategy. Against one of Flannery's less mobile Pokemon it would probably have done a lot better.
The Gardevoir that had followed him into the Gym though, Moore could tell that it was strong. He'd been flung, thrown and tossed around enough times by Psychic types to know what he was looking at.
The Gardevoir seemed to float past her trainer with her dress trailing behind her and a stern expression on her face that was at odds with what you'd normally see on one of that species. Moore watched with interest.
The Arcanine, as dopey as his grandmother, barked a greeting at the other Pokemon, who nodded back in reply. Arcy had received a bit of damage before but he still had plenty left in the tank. They were both ready for battle.
"Begin!" Moore called out.
"Use Flamethrower!" Flannery ordered immediately.
Harry didn't give an order as the fire approached his Pokemon. Moore wasn't terribly surprised when with a hum of sound and a dim flash of light the Gardevoir disappeared.
Not many Psychic types could learn Teleport and it was notoriously difficult for a non-Psychic type to learn it, even if it had been proven to be possible with Wattson's Electrode. Using it as a battle technique though was what made it impressive here. Moore felt a moment of nostalgia for Liza's old Alakazam. He had used the same move in much the same way against Moore once or twice. This would be a good obstacle for his granddaughter to try and overcome.
"Psychic!" Was Harry's order, right at the same time as his granddaughter cursed softly. She hadn't anticipated the teleportation, which indicated she needed to study up a bit more on what moves certain Pokemon could learn.
The Gardevoir raised her hands, forming a triangle shape with her forearms and fingers not quite touching just beneath her chin. The Pokemon's chest horn started to glow.
The Arcanine hadn't been able to see the Gardevoir disappearing with its flamethrower blocking his vision and had barely cut off his attack when he found himself picked up, glowing pink and purple energy covering his form. The Pokemon yelped in surprise and immediately began flailing, trying to disperse the Psychic energy.
"Impressive," Moore admitted to himself. Psychic as an attack was primarily about the psychic damage it dealt on the mind of the opponent, an extension of the move Confusion which did the same albeit on a lesser scale.
Depending on the intent of the user, Psychic could also allow the Pokemon to levitate their opponent off the ground telekinetically. Sometimes it was a passive effect of using the move and other times it was deliberate.
Telekinesis in general was harder and harder the heavier or larger the object being lifted was and trying to combine it with the psychic assault just made it harder. That wasn't to say it was useless, but the real damage that could be dealt was always through the mental component of the attack. So many trainers focused solely on that psychic component of the attack, disregarding the benefits of partially disabling their opponent through telekinesis like now.
So dividing her attention between telekinesis and the damaging psychic effect was again impressive and spoke of good training, assuming this was all deliberate on the Gardevoir's part.
While Moore had been thinking about the attack, Arcy kept trying to struggle free, even as he whined in pain at the mental assault.
"Come on Arcy! use Flamethrower again!" Shouted Flannery in a panic. Moore felt a bit of sympathy for her. The previous matchup had been strongly in her favour, but Arcy just wasn't prepared for a strong Psychic. If he had chosen to allow substitutions then Flannery might have been able to recall her Pokemon, but then Harry would have substituted out his own Pokemon too.
The Arcanine kept struggling though and managed to twirl himself around a bit, resisting the Gardevoir's hold, who seemed to be struggling slightly to keep the Arcanine in the air. Arcy's bulk and personal strength was definitely working in his favour here, factors which made it harder to use Psychic abilities on an opponent.
Was it going to be able to break free? Moore wondered as the Arcanine managed to flail himself around enough to be able to look at the Gardevoir. Her strength and control were not enough to keep him perfectly in place. If she could have managed that against what had to be at least a near peer opponent, then Moore would have been incredibly surprised.
It might not matter, because the Arcanine immediately released a burst of fire from his mouth, heading right for the Gardevoir!
Only, it teleported again, once more appearing behind the Arcanine as he fell to the floor in a tumble as the Psychic attack cut off.
"Leah, use Dazzling Gleam!" Called out Harry, and the Gardevoir immediately began to form the attack between her hands.
"Use Extremespeed Arcy!" Flannery shouted back.
The Arcanine, looking much worse for wear, managed to get back on his feet just in time to dodge the attack with Extremespeed. The Gardevoir was taken by surprise, her attack having missed and she was body checked by the bulky Arcanine a moment later. It was a solid hit, so Moore was very surprised to see the Pokemon disappear through another Teleport before she hit the ground.
"Keep it up Arcy, catch it with Extremespeed!" Flannery called out.
"Teleport to evade and get ready for another attack!" Harry ordered.
The two Pokemon then engaged in a cat and mouse. The impossibly fast Arcanine trying to catch up with the Gardevoir who could teleport anywhere in the arena in moments.
This was highly impressive, maybe better than Liza's Alakazam could achieve. Moore watched in awe until finally the Arcanine's injuries caught up with him. He had to stop to catch his breath and it was then that without needing an order the Gardevoir shot a Dazzling Gleam and the Arcanine went down.
"Arcy is down! Flannery prepare your next Pokemon."
"Grrr," Flannery grumbled, recalling her Pokemon with one hand and bringing forth another Pokeball with the other. "Go Honey!"
Her Houndoom took the field. It was a Dark type, a very useful Pokemon to have when up against a Psychic and the Pokemon Moore would have used in this situation too.
The Houndoom found her opponent and her hackles immediately rose. Moore knew Houndoom had strong noses. She must have figured out her partner, the Arcanine, had just been beaten.
"Begin!"
"Alright this'll put your Gardevoir down!" Flannery shouted. "Use Dark Pulse!"
The Houndoom braced herself near the ground before releasing the attack. Dark purple energy burst out in a ring around herself. It was the perfect move for this situation, one that dispersed Dark type energy around the arena and it would disrupt the Gardevoir's teleporting using the Psychic move. At least until the energy dissipated enough for the Pokemon to be able to break through.
Okay this was good. It was what Moore would have done in the same situation with Flannery's Pokemon at his disposal. Spreading Dark type energy through Pokemon moves was the only real counter to this Teleporting strategy that didn't rely on luck or incredible skill. Maybe Flannery actually had been doing some studying when he wasn't looking or perhaps she'd simply figured it out entirely on her own.
The old trainer's heart swelled with pride. This next generation was going to surpass the ones before it. Well, at least his granddaughter would!"
"Use Dazzling Gleam and cut through it!" Harry ordered.
The expanding ring of Dark type energy shattered as the beam of light shot forward. Moore's eyes widened as the Houndoom wasn't quick enough to react and was sent tumbling back, the Dark wave having been broken apart by the more concentrated pink beam of light.
That didn't matter though. Honey's attack had done its job in spreading Dark energy around the arena elsewhere and now the Houndoom could do what it'd no doubt been raring to do from the start.
"Again!" Harry ordered quickly.
"Dodge it Honey! Get in close with Crunch!"
The Houndoom's jaws became encased in Dark type energy and she ran around, not entirely dodging the Dazzling Gleam but also not being slowed too much either.
But the closer it got, the harder it was to dodge the attack. The Houndoom dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the next Dazzling Gleam and leapt with jaws wide and ready to catch the Psychic/Fairy type.
Then the Gardevoir used Teleport, reappearing on the other side of the arena.
"What?" Moore asked with surprise, rearing back in confusion. There was no way that Pokemon had been able to use Teleport so easily with all the Dark energy about.
Flannery was just as surprised.
"What gives!" She shouted as her Houndoom landed in the Gardevoir's previous position. "Dark Pulse should've stopped you teleporting!"
"I suppose I'll give the secret away," Harry replied. "Dazzling Gleam does exactly what you think it should. The Fairy type energy disperses the Dark energy and lets Leah stop that countering strategy cold. You'll have to try harder if you want to catch her!"
Fairy type energy dispersed Dark type energy?
Before, the only types that affected Dark type energy were Bug and Fighting type and they weren't one of the spiritual types. They weren't types that could easily be dispersed in the environment through field moves or other effects. But as had just been demonstrated, Fairy types were. Moore had obviously read the new type interactions that were being verified across the world, but he'd not thought about this specific interaction whatsoever.
It didn't make a big difference to the battling scene, but for those who were near the top this would definitely lead to a lot of experimentation with Fairy types.
But the real difference would be the criminal community, Moore thought as Flannery bit her lip, trying to figure out what to do. Criminals might now have an easy way to bypass or break through Dark emitters and other security measures for Psychic types.
"Honey, keep using Dark Pulse and try and get closer!"
The Houndoom started running, releasing bursts of Dark Pulse as she did so. Harry immediately ordered his Gardevoir to start bombarding it with Dazzling Gleam.
The Houndoom was agile, jumping and twisting, doing her best to dodge the smaller bursts of the Fairy type attack. A few still dealt glancing blows however and using Dark Pulse repeatedly like that had to be tiring. But constantly keeping up the attack was all Flannery could do to ensure the Gardevoir couldn't use Teleport easily and Moore couldn't think of a better idea either. Moore could tell that if the Houndoom didn't close in quickly then she would be left unconscious just like the Arcanine.
"Come on Honey, you can do it!" Flannery shouted earnestly.
Harry only crossed his arms, watching the battle with a serious expression but it was clear that he was worried the Houndoom would make it.
The Houndoom managed to close the distance, taking a great deal of damage as she did so. She was close enough to make one final leap and without needing the order from her trainer Honey's jaws opened, Dark energy coalescing into a Crunch attack.
Instinctively, Leah raised an arm to ward off the attack and the Houndoom's maw closed around her arm.
Harry shouted out in concern for his Pokemon but he needn't have worried overmuch. The Crunch attack had landed but a split second later the Gardevoir's other hand came up with the glowing pink energy of Dazzling Gleam which released and struck the Houndoom point blank!
Moore could see the moment the energy of the Crunch attack dispersed, the attack failing the same moment the Houndoom was knocked out. Honey fell limply to the floor at the Gardevoir's feet, leaving Leah breathing heavily, cradling her injured arm but most importantly still standing.
"Honey is unable to battle!" Moore announced.
"Good job Honey," Flannery said, although her heart clearly wasn't in it. She'd clearly hoped to beat the Gardevoir with her Houndoom's Dark typing disrupting the Psychic attacks.
After seeing Harry's own counter strategy to using Dark type energy, Moore thought her optimism had been a bit too high if she'd thought that her Houndoom would be able to win on its own. Regardless, she'd come up with a strategy to stop the Gardevoir being able to teleport and dealt a strong blow. Now Moore's Granddaughter would need to figure out her next Pokemon and Moore honestly didn't think there were any good choices here. She didn't take long coming to a decision.
"Go Melly!" Flannery called out, summoning her Camerupt.
A Camerupt would be much harder to affect with Psychic, at least telekinetically on account of its size. So Flannery wouldn't be having the same problem as she had with her Arcanine. But it wouldn't stop the Gardevoir from using the attack outright either and Flannery's Camerupt didn't know any Dark type moves. Moore wasn't sure they even could learn Dark types attacks.
"Alright before we start again, what's your beef with me? Why'd you insist on battling me?" Harry asked Flannery.
Moore looked towards his granddaughter, just as interested in the answer as the other trainer. When both Leah the Gardevoir and Melly the Camerupt turned to look at the trainer Flannery realised she was entirely the centre of attention and a blush came to her cheeks as she looked away uncomfortably. Then she seemed to regain her confidence and with fury in her eyes she pointed at the other trainer.
"You killed Claudia!" She shouted and the seriousness and sincerity of the accusation caught Moore by surprise again.
He did what?! Moore turned to look at the man opposite Flannery. Harry had killed some girl called Claudia? It wasn't a name Moore recognised, but it wasn't like he knew everyone his granddaughter was friends with. Moore hadn't thought the man would be the type to have committed murder of all things but his granddaughter wouldn't lie about such a thing either.
Looking at him, Harry's expression was one of confusion at hearing the accusation, which turned to surprise and realisation and then the man palmed his face as he looked between Flannery and Moore.
"Claudia is a fictional character," he explained to Moore. "She died trying to save Alex, one of the protagonists of Trainers Colliding, the series I'm writing."
"She didn't have to die!" Flannery shouted indignantly. "You could have let her live. She and Alex were made for each other!"
It was Moore's turn to palm his face this time as he figured out what his grandaughter and the young man were on about. Those books she sometimes read weren't something he'd paid much attention to. Moore was interested in poetry, not fiction.
"I always planned for her to die," Harry replied, which clearly only made Flannery more upset with him. "It was part of his character arc."
Meanwhile between the two trainers their Pokemon were speaking quietly. Flannery's Camerupt shook her head and shrugged in response to whatever the Gardevoir had just asked, clearly having been unaware of her trainer's motivations for this battle.
"Flannery, you've got to be careful about making those kinds of accusations," Moore chided weakly, to his granddaughter's chagrin. Moore was impressed with her spirit at least, but really?
"This is one of the reasons why I chose to use a pseudonym," Harry said. "Well, not quite because of this specifically…"
Moore felt a burst of humour erupt and he barked out a laugh.
"Okay," the older man said. "Let's just continue. Are you both ready to continue battling?"
"Yes!" Flannery replied and Harry gave a gentle nod, mirrored by his Pokemon and the Gardevoir and Camerupt took positions in front of their trainers.
"Begin!"
"Use Earthquake!"
"Brace for it Leah and use Psychic!" Harry ordered.
The earth trembled and Moore had to brace himself to stop falling over. It was good that Flannery's Pokemon was trained enough to limit the area of effect. The building was built to resist Pokemon moves but not entirely. A lot of the structure was built to resist fire specifically and otherwise so that it would be cheap to repair if there was any damage.
The Gardevoir wasn't knocked down and she still managed to retaliate by initiating the Psychic attack. The Camerupt wasn't lifted up off the ground this time, but she did have to brace against the mental assault.
The Camerupt wasn't exactly quick. Flannery had a tendency to favour either high defence or high speed with her Pokemon. Melly the Camerupt was trained to handle receiving a lot of hits and dishing out more damage in return and by using Earthquake Flannery made sure that the Gardevoir wouldn't be able to dodge and attack at the same time with Psychic. Teleporting into the air might be a strategy but ti would be a tiring one and would provide plenty of opportunities to put the Gardevoir on the back foot. But while this was a sound strategy here and now that would work in an arena, it wouldn't be as effective in a real world scenario, as Moore knew personally.
Harry didn't seem to have an answer for it either and the two Pokemon traded their attacks back and forth. Neither of them had a better attack to use.
This had to be enough, Moore thought. Surely the Gardevoir wasn't going to be able to outlast the Camerupt after already taking damage before.
But hold on it did.
"Come on Leah, you can do it," Harry encouraged passionately.
His words had an effect, making the Gardevoir steel herself. Her legs wobbled through the Earthquake and she brought her hands to her head, concentrating hard as she retaliated against Flannery's Pokemon. Moore was once again impressed. Harry's Gardevoir was strong, strong enough to last against three of Flannery's Pokemon, two of whom had been fresh and it seemed like she was winning against the Camerupt too.
Despite Flannery's encouragement, the Earthquake attack faltered and the Gardevoir had beaten another of Flannery's Pokemon.
"Flannery's Camerupt is out of the battle," Moore announced as the Gardevoir wobbled on her feet, clearly still off balance and really Moore was sure that a stiff breeze would probably knock her over after her battle of endurance against the Camerupt.
"I'm choosing to withdraw Leah," Harry spoke up as Flannery withdrew her Camerupt.
Leah turned around and looked to be about to respond when Harry shook his head at her.
"No, he denied her. "You've done enough. Come on back, Leah,"
The Gardevoir looked slightly Mudbrayish about it but acquiesced to her trainer's orders. Harry pulled her into a hug and muttered something to her which seemed to mollify the Gardevoir who leaned against her trainer's side.
Harry hadn't withdrawn her into a Pokeball, which was a mild surprise. Moore knew there were plenty of Pokemon that preferred to be outside their Pokeballs even if they were in the minority.
"Harry has chosen to retire his Gardevoir. Both of you get ready to release your next Pokemon," Moore declared and both trainers obeyed, holding out a fresh Pokeball.
"Alright then," Harry said. "Come on out Kira!"
A Pokemon Moore had never seen before appeared before them. It was quadrupedal with pink and white fur and a number of prehensile ribbons came out from around its collar. There was also an adorable bow around its throat.
Then it turned around and leapt at its trainer. A moment later some of those ribbons were reaching out to wind their way around the trainer but Harry began to bat them away.
"Kira, this is a battle. We can cuddle later."
Pouting, the Pokemon Harry had called Kira turned away from it's exasperated trainer and faced in the direction it was supposed to be facing. Moore chuckled quietly. Seeing overly affectionate Pokemon never stopped being entertaining.
It was also interesting. Moore had lived a long time and travelled to a few places around the world and he had never encountered one of these Pokemon before. So this would be an interesting experience. He still had full confidence that his granddaughter's Torkoal could handle whatever the unknown Pokemon might throw her way. Shelly was both Flannery's starter and her strongest Pokemon.
"Well you've shown me your starter so now I'll show you mine!" Flannery declared. "Go Shelly!"
Her Torkoal took the field opposite the other Pokemon and heat was already radiating from the Torkoal's shell. Shelly let out a puff of white smoke from her nostrils as Kira took a battle position opposite it.
Seeing both trainers were ready, Moore brought his hand up and chopped down once again.
"Begin!"
The Gardevoir that had followed him into the Gym though, Moore could tell that it was strong. He'd been flung, thrown and tossed around enough times by Psychic types to know what he was looking at.
The Gardevoir seemed to float past her trainer with her dress trailing behind her and a stern expression on her face that was at odds with what you'd normally see on one of that species. Moore watched with interest.
The Arcanine, as dopey as his grandmother, barked a greeting at the other Pokemon, who nodded back in reply. Arcy had received a bit of damage before but he still had plenty left in the tank. They were both ready for battle.
"Begin!" Moore called out.
"Use Flamethrower!" Flannery ordered immediately.
Harry didn't give an order as the fire approached his Pokemon. Moore wasn't terribly surprised when with a hum of sound and a dim flash of light the Gardevoir disappeared.
Not many Psychic types could learn Teleport and it was notoriously difficult for a non-Psychic type to learn it, even if it had been proven to be possible with Wattson's Electrode. Using it as a battle technique though was what made it impressive here. Moore felt a moment of nostalgia for Liza's old Alakazam. He had used the same move in much the same way against Moore once or twice. This would be a good obstacle for his granddaughter to try and overcome.
"Psychic!" Was Harry's order, right at the same time as his granddaughter cursed softly. She hadn't anticipated the teleportation, which indicated she needed to study up a bit more on what moves certain Pokemon could learn.
The Gardevoir raised her hands, forming a triangle shape with her forearms and fingers not quite touching just beneath her chin. The Pokemon's chest horn started to glow.
The Arcanine hadn't been able to see the Gardevoir disappearing with its flamethrower blocking his vision and had barely cut off his attack when he found himself picked up, glowing pink and purple energy covering his form. The Pokemon yelped in surprise and immediately began flailing, trying to disperse the Psychic energy.
"Impressive," Moore admitted to himself. Psychic as an attack was primarily about the psychic damage it dealt on the mind of the opponent, an extension of the move Confusion which did the same albeit on a lesser scale.
Depending on the intent of the user, Psychic could also allow the Pokemon to levitate their opponent off the ground telekinetically. Sometimes it was a passive effect of using the move and other times it was deliberate.
Telekinesis in general was harder and harder the heavier or larger the object being lifted was and trying to combine it with the psychic assault just made it harder. That wasn't to say it was useless, but the real damage that could be dealt was always through the mental component of the attack. So many trainers focused solely on that psychic component of the attack, disregarding the benefits of partially disabling their opponent through telekinesis like now.
So dividing her attention between telekinesis and the damaging psychic effect was again impressive and spoke of good training, assuming this was all deliberate on the Gardevoir's part.
While Moore had been thinking about the attack, Arcy kept trying to struggle free, even as he whined in pain at the mental assault.
"Come on Arcy! use Flamethrower again!" Shouted Flannery in a panic. Moore felt a bit of sympathy for her. The previous matchup had been strongly in her favour, but Arcy just wasn't prepared for a strong Psychic. If he had chosen to allow substitutions then Flannery might have been able to recall her Pokemon, but then Harry would have substituted out his own Pokemon too.
The Arcanine kept struggling though and managed to twirl himself around a bit, resisting the Gardevoir's hold, who seemed to be struggling slightly to keep the Arcanine in the air. Arcy's bulk and personal strength was definitely working in his favour here, factors which made it harder to use Psychic abilities on an opponent.
Was it going to be able to break free? Moore wondered as the Arcanine managed to flail himself around enough to be able to look at the Gardevoir. Her strength and control were not enough to keep him perfectly in place. If she could have managed that against what had to be at least a near peer opponent, then Moore would have been incredibly surprised.
It might not matter, because the Arcanine immediately released a burst of fire from his mouth, heading right for the Gardevoir!
Only, it teleported again, once more appearing behind the Arcanine as he fell to the floor in a tumble as the Psychic attack cut off.
"Leah, use Dazzling Gleam!" Called out Harry, and the Gardevoir immediately began to form the attack between her hands.
"Use Extremespeed Arcy!" Flannery shouted back.
The Arcanine, looking much worse for wear, managed to get back on his feet just in time to dodge the attack with Extremespeed. The Gardevoir was taken by surprise, her attack having missed and she was body checked by the bulky Arcanine a moment later. It was a solid hit, so Moore was very surprised to see the Pokemon disappear through another Teleport before she hit the ground.
"Keep it up Arcy, catch it with Extremespeed!" Flannery called out.
"Teleport to evade and get ready for another attack!" Harry ordered.
The two Pokemon then engaged in a cat and mouse. The impossibly fast Arcanine trying to catch up with the Gardevoir who could teleport anywhere in the arena in moments.
This was highly impressive, maybe better than Liza's Alakazam could achieve. Moore watched in awe until finally the Arcanine's injuries caught up with him. He had to stop to catch his breath and it was then that without needing an order the Gardevoir shot a Dazzling Gleam and the Arcanine went down.
"Arcy is down! Flannery prepare your next Pokemon."
"Grrr," Flannery grumbled, recalling her Pokemon with one hand and bringing forth another Pokeball with the other. "Go Honey!"
Her Houndoom took the field. It was a Dark type, a very useful Pokemon to have when up against a Psychic and the Pokemon Moore would have used in this situation too.
The Houndoom found her opponent and her hackles immediately rose. Moore knew Houndoom had strong noses. She must have figured out her partner, the Arcanine, had just been beaten.
"Begin!"
"Alright this'll put your Gardevoir down!" Flannery shouted. "Use Dark Pulse!"
The Houndoom braced herself near the ground before releasing the attack. Dark purple energy burst out in a ring around herself. It was the perfect move for this situation, one that dispersed Dark type energy around the arena and it would disrupt the Gardevoir's teleporting using the Psychic move. At least until the energy dissipated enough for the Pokemon to be able to break through.
Okay this was good. It was what Moore would have done in the same situation with Flannery's Pokemon at his disposal. Spreading Dark type energy through Pokemon moves was the only real counter to this Teleporting strategy that didn't rely on luck or incredible skill. Maybe Flannery actually had been doing some studying when he wasn't looking or perhaps she'd simply figured it out entirely on her own.
The old trainer's heart swelled with pride. This next generation was going to surpass the ones before it. Well, at least his granddaughter would!"
"Use Dazzling Gleam and cut through it!" Harry ordered.
The expanding ring of Dark type energy shattered as the beam of light shot forward. Moore's eyes widened as the Houndoom wasn't quick enough to react and was sent tumbling back, the Dark wave having been broken apart by the more concentrated pink beam of light.
That didn't matter though. Honey's attack had done its job in spreading Dark energy around the arena elsewhere and now the Houndoom could do what it'd no doubt been raring to do from the start.
"Again!" Harry ordered quickly.
"Dodge it Honey! Get in close with Crunch!"
The Houndoom's jaws became encased in Dark type energy and she ran around, not entirely dodging the Dazzling Gleam but also not being slowed too much either.
But the closer it got, the harder it was to dodge the attack. The Houndoom dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the next Dazzling Gleam and leapt with jaws wide and ready to catch the Psychic/Fairy type.
Then the Gardevoir used Teleport, reappearing on the other side of the arena.
"What?" Moore asked with surprise, rearing back in confusion. There was no way that Pokemon had been able to use Teleport so easily with all the Dark energy about.
Flannery was just as surprised.
"What gives!" She shouted as her Houndoom landed in the Gardevoir's previous position. "Dark Pulse should've stopped you teleporting!"
"I suppose I'll give the secret away," Harry replied. "Dazzling Gleam does exactly what you think it should. The Fairy type energy disperses the Dark energy and lets Leah stop that countering strategy cold. You'll have to try harder if you want to catch her!"
Fairy type energy dispersed Dark type energy?
Before, the only types that affected Dark type energy were Bug and Fighting type and they weren't one of the spiritual types. They weren't types that could easily be dispersed in the environment through field moves or other effects. But as had just been demonstrated, Fairy types were. Moore had obviously read the new type interactions that were being verified across the world, but he'd not thought about this specific interaction whatsoever.
It didn't make a big difference to the battling scene, but for those who were near the top this would definitely lead to a lot of experimentation with Fairy types.
But the real difference would be the criminal community, Moore thought as Flannery bit her lip, trying to figure out what to do. Criminals might now have an easy way to bypass or break through Dark emitters and other security measures for Psychic types.
"Honey, keep using Dark Pulse and try and get closer!"
The Houndoom started running, releasing bursts of Dark Pulse as she did so. Harry immediately ordered his Gardevoir to start bombarding it with Dazzling Gleam.
The Houndoom was agile, jumping and twisting, doing her best to dodge the smaller bursts of the Fairy type attack. A few still dealt glancing blows however and using Dark Pulse repeatedly like that had to be tiring. But constantly keeping up the attack was all Flannery could do to ensure the Gardevoir couldn't use Teleport easily and Moore couldn't think of a better idea either. Moore could tell that if the Houndoom didn't close in quickly then she would be left unconscious just like the Arcanine.
"Come on Honey, you can do it!" Flannery shouted earnestly.
Harry only crossed his arms, watching the battle with a serious expression but it was clear that he was worried the Houndoom would make it.
The Houndoom managed to close the distance, taking a great deal of damage as she did so. She was close enough to make one final leap and without needing the order from her trainer Honey's jaws opened, Dark energy coalescing into a Crunch attack.
Instinctively, Leah raised an arm to ward off the attack and the Houndoom's maw closed around her arm.
Harry shouted out in concern for his Pokemon but he needn't have worried overmuch. The Crunch attack had landed but a split second later the Gardevoir's other hand came up with the glowing pink energy of Dazzling Gleam which released and struck the Houndoom point blank!
Moore could see the moment the energy of the Crunch attack dispersed, the attack failing the same moment the Houndoom was knocked out. Honey fell limply to the floor at the Gardevoir's feet, leaving Leah breathing heavily, cradling her injured arm but most importantly still standing.
"Honey is unable to battle!" Moore announced.
"Good job Honey," Flannery said, although her heart clearly wasn't in it. She'd clearly hoped to beat the Gardevoir with her Houndoom's Dark typing disrupting the Psychic attacks.
After seeing Harry's own counter strategy to using Dark type energy, Moore thought her optimism had been a bit too high if she'd thought that her Houndoom would be able to win on its own. Regardless, she'd come up with a strategy to stop the Gardevoir being able to teleport and dealt a strong blow. Now Moore's Granddaughter would need to figure out her next Pokemon and Moore honestly didn't think there were any good choices here. She didn't take long coming to a decision.
"Go Melly!" Flannery called out, summoning her Camerupt.
A Camerupt would be much harder to affect with Psychic, at least telekinetically on account of its size. So Flannery wouldn't be having the same problem as she had with her Arcanine. But it wouldn't stop the Gardevoir from using the attack outright either and Flannery's Camerupt didn't know any Dark type moves. Moore wasn't sure they even could learn Dark types attacks.
"Alright before we start again, what's your beef with me? Why'd you insist on battling me?" Harry asked Flannery.
Moore looked towards his granddaughter, just as interested in the answer as the other trainer. When both Leah the Gardevoir and Melly the Camerupt turned to look at the trainer Flannery realised she was entirely the centre of attention and a blush came to her cheeks as she looked away uncomfortably. Then she seemed to regain her confidence and with fury in her eyes she pointed at the other trainer.
"You killed Claudia!" She shouted and the seriousness and sincerity of the accusation caught Moore by surprise again.
He did what?! Moore turned to look at the man opposite Flannery. Harry had killed some girl called Claudia? It wasn't a name Moore recognised, but it wasn't like he knew everyone his granddaughter was friends with. Moore hadn't thought the man would be the type to have committed murder of all things but his granddaughter wouldn't lie about such a thing either.
Looking at him, Harry's expression was one of confusion at hearing the accusation, which turned to surprise and realisation and then the man palmed his face as he looked between Flannery and Moore.
"Claudia is a fictional character," he explained to Moore. "She died trying to save Alex, one of the protagonists of Trainers Colliding, the series I'm writing."
"She didn't have to die!" Flannery shouted indignantly. "You could have let her live. She and Alex were made for each other!"
It was Moore's turn to palm his face this time as he figured out what his grandaughter and the young man were on about. Those books she sometimes read weren't something he'd paid much attention to. Moore was interested in poetry, not fiction.
"I always planned for her to die," Harry replied, which clearly only made Flannery more upset with him. "It was part of his character arc."
Meanwhile between the two trainers their Pokemon were speaking quietly. Flannery's Camerupt shook her head and shrugged in response to whatever the Gardevoir had just asked, clearly having been unaware of her trainer's motivations for this battle.
"Flannery, you've got to be careful about making those kinds of accusations," Moore chided weakly, to his granddaughter's chagrin. Moore was impressed with her spirit at least, but really?
"This is one of the reasons why I chose to use a pseudonym," Harry said. "Well, not quite because of this specifically…"
Moore felt a burst of humour erupt and he barked out a laugh.
"Okay," the older man said. "Let's just continue. Are you both ready to continue battling?"
"Yes!" Flannery replied and Harry gave a gentle nod, mirrored by his Pokemon and the Gardevoir and Camerupt took positions in front of their trainers.
"Begin!"
"Use Earthquake!"
"Brace for it Leah and use Psychic!" Harry ordered.
The earth trembled and Moore had to brace himself to stop falling over. It was good that Flannery's Pokemon was trained enough to limit the area of effect. The building was built to resist Pokemon moves but not entirely. A lot of the structure was built to resist fire specifically and otherwise so that it would be cheap to repair if there was any damage.
The Gardevoir wasn't knocked down and she still managed to retaliate by initiating the Psychic attack. The Camerupt wasn't lifted up off the ground this time, but she did have to brace against the mental assault.
The Camerupt wasn't exactly quick. Flannery had a tendency to favour either high defence or high speed with her Pokemon. Melly the Camerupt was trained to handle receiving a lot of hits and dishing out more damage in return and by using Earthquake Flannery made sure that the Gardevoir wouldn't be able to dodge and attack at the same time with Psychic. Teleporting into the air might be a strategy but ti would be a tiring one and would provide plenty of opportunities to put the Gardevoir on the back foot. But while this was a sound strategy here and now that would work in an arena, it wouldn't be as effective in a real world scenario, as Moore knew personally.
Harry didn't seem to have an answer for it either and the two Pokemon traded their attacks back and forth. Neither of them had a better attack to use.
This had to be enough, Moore thought. Surely the Gardevoir wasn't going to be able to outlast the Camerupt after already taking damage before.
But hold on it did.
"Come on Leah, you can do it," Harry encouraged passionately.
His words had an effect, making the Gardevoir steel herself. Her legs wobbled through the Earthquake and she brought her hands to her head, concentrating hard as she retaliated against Flannery's Pokemon. Moore was once again impressed. Harry's Gardevoir was strong, strong enough to last against three of Flannery's Pokemon, two of whom had been fresh and it seemed like she was winning against the Camerupt too.
Despite Flannery's encouragement, the Earthquake attack faltered and the Gardevoir had beaten another of Flannery's Pokemon.
"Flannery's Camerupt is out of the battle," Moore announced as the Gardevoir wobbled on her feet, clearly still off balance and really Moore was sure that a stiff breeze would probably knock her over after her battle of endurance against the Camerupt.
"I'm choosing to withdraw Leah," Harry spoke up as Flannery withdrew her Camerupt.
Leah turned around and looked to be about to respond when Harry shook his head at her.
"No, he denied her. "You've done enough. Come on back, Leah,"
The Gardevoir looked slightly Mudbrayish about it but acquiesced to her trainer's orders. Harry pulled her into a hug and muttered something to her which seemed to mollify the Gardevoir who leaned against her trainer's side.
Harry hadn't withdrawn her into a Pokeball, which was a mild surprise. Moore knew there were plenty of Pokemon that preferred to be outside their Pokeballs even if they were in the minority.
"Harry has chosen to retire his Gardevoir. Both of you get ready to release your next Pokemon," Moore declared and both trainers obeyed, holding out a fresh Pokeball.
"Alright then," Harry said. "Come on out Kira!"
A Pokemon Moore had never seen before appeared before them. It was quadrupedal with pink and white fur and a number of prehensile ribbons came out from around its collar. There was also an adorable bow around its throat.
Then it turned around and leapt at its trainer. A moment later some of those ribbons were reaching out to wind their way around the trainer but Harry began to bat them away.
"Kira, this is a battle. We can cuddle later."
Pouting, the Pokemon Harry had called Kira turned away from it's exasperated trainer and faced in the direction it was supposed to be facing. Moore chuckled quietly. Seeing overly affectionate Pokemon never stopped being entertaining.
It was also interesting. Moore had lived a long time and travelled to a few places around the world and he had never encountered one of these Pokemon before. So this would be an interesting experience. He still had full confidence that his granddaughter's Torkoal could handle whatever the unknown Pokemon might throw her way. Shelly was both Flannery's starter and her strongest Pokemon.
"Well you've shown me your starter so now I'll show you mine!" Flannery declared. "Go Shelly!"
Her Torkoal took the field opposite the other Pokemon and heat was already radiating from the Torkoal's shell. Shelly let out a puff of white smoke from her nostrils as Kira took a battle position opposite it.
Seeing both trainers were ready, Moore brought his hand up and chopped down once again.
"Begin!"
Chapter 13
New
I didn't normally tend to use Leah in battles. It was mainly because she was just too strong and could injure weaker opponents, something it was very hard to judge without a number hovering above a Pokemon's head like in the games. But against Flannery I was confident that she'd have Pokemon that were on Leah's level.
My starter had done nicely against two and a bit of Flannery's team, despite the Fire typing putting her on the back edge with some of the moves she would've otherwise used. One or two techniques we might have benefited from it had been obvious would be unusable against a Fire based team.
Now my next concern was if the difference in power between Flannery's ace and the rest of my team was the same or better as it had been between my ace and hers. If it was then the lead I'd acquired could easily go back the other way in short order.
My Sylveon squared off against the Torkoal. This was going to be a tough battle. Kira didn't really like battling, although he was decently strong. Pixilate, which it had taken a decent bit of experimentation to discover my evolved Pokemon had, might work against us here considering that Fairy type moves were weak to Fire.
I could feel the grin on my face right now and as I looked at her, Flannery returned the expression back at me.
The original reasons for us battling were completely forgotten right now. This was just two powerful trainers competing to see who was stronger. It was Pokemon battling in its purest form.
"Begin!" Moore called out again.
"Use Flamethrower!" Flannery called out.
"Dodge it and use Swift!" I ordered.
Swift was a homing move, it meant that Kira wouldn't have to try particularly hard to aim the attack while dodging the very impressive Flamethrower from Flannery's Pokemon.
Kira did as I ordered, but Shelly the Torkoal was definitely powerful and the flame was too quick for my Eeveelution to dodge the attack in its entirety.
Kira ran around, white fur singed by the attack, releasing a plethora of pink tinged stars which sailed around in the air. Several of them were caught up in the Flamethrower and burnt away but others came around without my Pokemon's input and they pelted the Torkoal's shell.
Shelly didn't seem to acknowledge the attacks, only turning to keep her maw pointing in my Pokemon's direction as Kira ran to the side.
"Don't let it get behind you, use Flame Wheel!"
"Crap," I cursed. The Torkoal, which had seemed fairly slow before jumped up for a moment before retracting all its exposed limbs and landing on her underside. Then fire began to emit from the openings on the Torkoal's shell and it began to spin.
I got a brief flashback to Ash Ketchum's Squirtle using Hydro Pump in the anime. Thankfully the Torkoal didn't have quite enough power behind her attacks to take off, but when the Pokemon began to rapidly spin and chase after my suddenly panicking Pokemon I felt just as much panic as Kira did.
"Sylv!" my Sylveon shouted out in pain as the Flaming Torkoal caught up with him and sent him flying. My Pokemon landed back on his feet but that hit had done some decent damage.
He was still releasing Swift stars as he moved, something I had trained him to do almost constantly. But only a few of the attacks were getting past the Torkoal's fire. If we kept up with this then we would lose the battle of attrition.
But I had a solution already in mind.
"Use Dig!" I called out before the fast Torkoal came back around and she still almost caught up with my Pokemon before Kira had managed to dig her way rapidly into the soft terrain of the arena.
Shelly bumped over the empty hole and came to a stop, withdrawing from her shell after sensing her quarry was no longer within reach.
"Koal?" She asked, looking towards her trainer.
"I thought you'd do that!" Flannery crowed. "Use Earthquake!"
"Shit, Kira come out of there!" I shouted.
I'd taken a stupid gamble in assuming the Torkoal didn't know that attack and it was coming back to bite me.
The Torkoal stamped her foot and immediately the ground began to tremble again. Only this time it was even more powerful than the attack from the Camerupt.
It was a painful few moments and I could practically feel as Kira was dealt a powerful blow by the Torkoal. But my Pokemon wasn't completely out of it. Shelly brought her foot up to slam it down again but my Sylveon burst out of the ground beneath her and the Torkoal's eyes widened in surprise as she was knocked over.
My Pokemon landed on shaky feet looking much worse for wear. He was covered in dirt and grime and everywhere else showed the signs of injury.
"Kira are you okay?" I called out as he shook himself.
"Sylveon!" my Pokemon called out, nodding resolutely. He was determined to keep battling, but I knew despite the bravado that he wouldn't manage much longer.
We couldn't use Dig again, that much was for sure and the rest of Kira's known moves wouldn't be much help just now, but we did have one trick up our sleeves.
"Alright then, let's see how they like it! Use Copycat!"
My Sylveon bared his teeth and reared up on his hind legs. Then my Pokemon slammed them down to emulate the attack that had just been used against us.
Flannery had reeled back in shock at the surprise counter, but recovered quickly.
"Protect!" She shouted just in time and I cursed again as Kira's feet came back down and a third Earthquake rocked the stadium.
"Toooor!" The Torkoal called out. A dome made of glowing hexagons formed around her, completely nullifying the super effective Ground type attack, what would have been the first super effective hit we'd landed this match.
I didn't need to know what Flannery's next order would be. Copycat was a tiring move to use, perhaps just as if not more than Protect and Kira was too worn down to do anything to stop the Flamethrower that came his way.
I was already activating the return feature on his Pokeball before the attack even landed. I wasn't sure if I'd saved Kira from being knocked out, but he didn't have to wait at all to be returned to the comfort of his Pokeball.
"Good work," I said to the Pokeball before returning it to the confines of my jacket. The Torkoal was clearly strong, and durable. The Fire Spin attack made up a bit for the species' lack of mobility but it was the Pokemon's sheer power that had truly made the difference. Kira had still done a small chunk of damage to it but definitely less than I'd hoped for. Now it was just a matter of what Pokemon I should use next.
I warred with indecision for a few seconds, ignoring Moore's commentary as the judge.
Reason said that Happy would be the right choice. A type advantage right now might just be enough to clinch it, but if Happy was too worn out by the Torkoal then I didn't like our chances against Flannery's remaining Pokemon. She'd have a Magcargo I was sure, which Happy would be able to beat fairly easily unless it had any special tricks. I wasn't sure what the last Pokemon would be but it would be a Fire type, obviously. There weren't many Fire types with a second typing that countered Water moves.
"Go Bud!" I called, finally summoning my Whimsicott.
Bud appeared on the arena and looked around excitedly. Spotting her opponent, she immediately pulled her eyelid down and made a funny face at her.
Shelly the Torkoal seemed a bit put out by whatever my Pokemon had said, but that was par for the course for my Whimsicott. She'd never taken something seriously in her entire life and wasn't about to start now.
With Moore calling out for us to start again I decided to start things off safely.
"Use Fairy Wind and jump up!"
My Whimsicott immediately obeyed my instructions, buffeting herself up into the air on pink tinged wind, narrowly avoiding the Flamethrower from the Torkoal. Flannery pouted as my Whimsicott soared up high enough to avoid any chance of the Torkoal landing a hit.
"You'll have to come down if you want to finish this anytime soon!" Flannery complained as Shelly bent her neck to look up at the Whimsicott who was making a slightly ruder gesture than she knew she was allowed to be.
Feeling slightly cheeky myself I shrugged silently. Flannery was about to say something else but I did agree with her.
"Hurricane Seed!"
"Whimsicoooooott!" My Whimsicott shouted, spreading her arms wide and summoning not a Hurricane, but a Fairy Wind from behind herself.
"Use Protect, Shelly!" Flannery called, having fallen for the trick entirely.
I smirked. I'd baited her into using the tiring Protect move once more while in reality I didn't plan for Bud to land a direct hit at all right now.
Along with the Fairy Wind, from my Whimsicott's puffy cotton mane came a plethora of small seeds too. Nothing breached the Protect itself, but that wasn't a problem for the moment. The Fairy Wind died down, having done its job to disperse the real attack.
Flannery was shouting something about the Whimsicott not using a Hurricane attack like she'd thought, so she wasn't paying attention to what was going on on the ground.
The multiple Leech Seeds dispersed by Bud's Fairy Wind pierced the softened ground and after a few moments they sprouted all over the battle arena.
Yes! I pumped my fist as I watched the surprise on my opponent's faces. The Protect had deactivated as soon as the Fairy Wind had ended. So it didn't stop the Leech Seed tendrils from reaching out and beginning to wrap around the Torkoal's limbs and neck.
"Hurricane!" I declared, and this time my Whimsicott obeyed the instruction and Flannery panicked.
"Use Protect!" She shouted and the Torkoal tried to use the move. But Protect wasn't just tiring to use, it was also finicky. It left behind energy after dissipating that made it harder to use consecutive times.
"Use Fire Spin!" She shouted next in desperation as one of the strongest Flying type attacks was sent her Pokemon's way.
Shelly was quick to follow her trainers order and she tried to withdraw back into her shell which would've probably helped defensively, but the Leech Seed that was wrapped around her limbs held her tight. Shelly struggled to break free but wasn't fast enough and then the real Hurricane landed.
It was like a miniature tornado of wind and the Torkoal reared back in pain as the attack hit home. Bud adjusted her weight and started to float back down a bit, to avoid being blown away by her own attack. That was one weakness of the Whimsicott line. They could fly, but they were at the mercy of any wind around them and didn't have the same kind of maneuverability as real Flying types.
As soon as she landed the Leech seed took effect, having started to drain the Torkoal's energy and now it was feeding it to my Pokemon. It looked like Bud might actually win this for me.
Then Flannery, completely done with things, shouted a command to upend my hopes.
"Overheat!" She ordered. "Burn away all those vines and that Whimsicott!"
"Toooorkoooooooaaaaal!" Shelly rumbled out. She braced herself and started to glow with heat as her shell almost ignited.
It was nothing like the heat of the Flamethrowers and other attacks they had used before. I had to cover my face as my skin started to burn from the passively radiated energy.
This was Fire type power being used with no restraints.
"Get up and out of there Bud!" I shouted.
My Whimsicott obeyed, quickly pushing herself off the ground as the Leech Seeds ignited all over.
"Heat rises!" Flannery shouted. "You can do it, Shelly!"
It was then that the Torkoal actually released her attack.
It was less like a Flamethrower and more like a Hyper Beam that shot out of the Torkoal's mouth and Bud wasn't quick enough to evade it.
After several long seconds the attack died down. My Whimsicott fell to the floor, knocked out in just one hit.
"Harry's Whimsicott is knocked out. Harry, prepare your next Pokemon!"
The Torkoal was breathing heavily now. I grimaced as I withdrew Bud but I felt she'd done enough.
"Let's finish this, Happy!"
Happy was already raring to go as he appeared and Flannery grimaced upon seeing him.
"Brawly told us all about your Marill," she admitted. "Guy wouldn't stop talking."
"I'm glad he left a good impression," I said while the Marill in question cheered at hearing he'd impressed someone.
"Are you both ready to begin?" Moore asked, looking at my Marill with an odd expression. It was like he didn't quite understand what he was looking at.
"Yes," I said, followed shortly by Flannery.
Moore seemed to be ruling this battle fairly and he didn't give the Torkoal any more of a chance to rest before starting things back off.
"Begin!"
"Use Aqua Tail!" I ordered immediately. The Torkoal was still steaming from the intense heat she'd just released and I could sense that another hit would end this.
"Just one more Flamethrower Shelly!" Flannery called out.
Shelly managed to produce a weak stream of flames, but she was too tired and unable to catch my fast moving Marill who closed the distance and struck down with a powerful Aqua Tail. Shelly was knocked out, leaving my Marill uninjured, only warmed up and ready for his next opponent.
Happy bounded back to our side of the arena and Leah, who had recovered a bit after her battle clapped for my Marill who responded brightly back before turning back and retaking his position.
We were now four for four and I was suddenly conscious of my breathing.
I was sweating too, mainly due to the heat, but also due to the exhaustion that was starting to run through me. I felt like I'd been running a marathon and Flannery likewise didn't look much better. Battles took something out of trainers too and right now we were both feeling it.
"Let's go Pony!" Flannery called out, revealing that she was continuing the fairly simple naming convention all her Pokemon had followed so far as her Rapidash took to the arena.
Obviously it'd been called Pony as a Ponyta. Not the most forward thinking name… but it was kind of cute.
The Rapidash wasn't cute though. It was as large as any war horse, clearly built for power and speed and was far taller than my Marill. It was definitely the kind of horse you'd deck out in armour to charge an enemy army, if only that armour didn't melt first.
But it wasn't going to last against Happy, I thought confidently as I looked across at the other trainer. Flannery looked serious and ready for the next battle, but this was the first time I had had an actual type advantage.
It's funny, Marill, the Pokemon were usually pretty weak. Happy was the only real exception to the rule I had ever encountered and I was certain that he had the hidden ability that in the games doubled his strength. The thought had come back to me now because I remember in the games that the special ability was actually enough to turn a Marill, whose Attack stat was normally quite pitiful, into something that was just barely short of a Rapidash's Attack stat.
Moore signalled for us to begin for what I hoped would only be the second to last time and Flannery was the one to start us off by ordering her Rapidash to use Flame Charge.
"Use Bounce!" I ordered.
Happy obeyed the instruction and the Rapidash, for all that it was quick wasn't fast enough to catch my water mouse. It still tried, leaping up with it's pointed horn ready to strike Happy. But Happy was far too experienced against larger foes using the same tactics. He spun in the air, adjusting his momentum to avoid the hit entirely. It was still a good attempt on Pony's part, but it had failed and in the process left Flannery's Pokemon wide open.
"And then use Aqua Tail!" I ordered, just as the two Pokemon passed each other.
Happy's vicious grin grew wider as he spun in midair. The Aqua Tail formed quickly as Happy's tail came swinging around to hit the Rapidash.
The Fire Horse Pokemon, even though it should really have been classified as a unicorn, was completely unable to dodge and its eyes widened in surprise before it took the heavy blow. Pony the Rapidash was sent tumbling and it landed hard on the ground, unable to recover its balance.
Happy landed perfectly on his feet, ready to react in a split second to my next command.
Pony did try to get up, but the Rapidash stumbled as it did so, its hooves struggling to find purchase on the soft ground that had been loosened by the battle thus far.
I was looking forward to seeing what Flannery would try next. I'd not actually battled many horse type Pokemon before but I was feeling confident that whatever strategies she might try wouldn't be effective against my Marill's agile movements. Flannery would need to be able to catch him if she wanted to end this.
The Rapidash burst into red light as it was recalled, taking me entirely by surprise.
"I concede," Flannery said.
I had to shake myself slightly, taken aback by the sudden end to the battle. Happy seemed a bit put out too, falling back onto his tail with a pout. He'd barely got to take part in the battle, which I knew would leave him pent up. Hopefully one of the team wouldn't mind a practice battle with him later.
"Harry wins!" Moore declared, which meant it was officially over now, I'd won.
Moore approached me with a smile on his face and Happy came up to me too and jumped up into my arms. He wiggled around to face forwards as the Gym Leader came to a stop before me.
"That was very impressive," Moore said. "I think I can say right now that Brawly is right, you have what it takes to be a Gym Leader."
"Thank you," I replied as Flannery joined us, having approached at a more sedate pace. Her expression was a bit glum and her shoulders were slumped.
"I really thought I had you there, but seeing that first hit from your Marill… I wasn't going to be able to beat you with the Pokemon I had left."
I shrugged. "You have a Magcargo right?"
She nodded and I nodded in understanding too. A dual vulnerability was killer to have on certain Pokemon. Magcargo being Rock/Fire wouldn't stand a chance against a Water typed, peer level opponent, at least without some sort of significant advantage to level the playing field. If my Marill was going to be able to handle the Rapidash with minimal damage taken then it'd be foolish to continue the battle after that point.
"Even though you lost, you did great too, Flannery," Moore said warmly. "That was definitely the showing I would expect of the future Lavaridge Gym Leader."
That seemed to perk the young woman up a bit but she still sighed again.
"I'm sorry I butted in on your battle, Grandpa," Flannery said. "I just got a bit over excited I guess."
"Ha!" Moore replied, putting an arm around his granddaughter's shoulders. "You should see what I was like back in the day..." He shook his head with a chuckle.
"A-and I'm sorry too, about what I said. I shouldn't have let my feelings about Trainers Colliding affect me like that," Flannery continued, speaking to me. "I really do wish you'd let Claudia live though…" She told me, pouting.
I shrugged weakly, not entirely sure how to reply. I really hoped this wasn't going to become a thing with people who'd read my books.
"Don't worry about it," I managed to say. "I figure you'll not be the only one that was ever disappointed in the way one of my books went." I offered my hand to shake and Flannery accepted it.
Her hand was warm, hot really. I could feel a few small calluses as we shook that were doubtlessly born from hard work as a Fire type trainer. I hoped that we'd be able to be friends, despite the confrontational first meeting.
"Anyway, Harry Hemming," the Gym Leader looked back at me. "Why don't we all head over to the Pokemon Centre and get both of your Pokemon healed. We can talk more on the way."
The elderly trainer led both myself and Flannery out of the Gym and back into Lavaridge town.
"So, about Trainers Colliding…" Flannery began and thus began a long conversation about the series I was writing.
My starter had done nicely against two and a bit of Flannery's team, despite the Fire typing putting her on the back edge with some of the moves she would've otherwise used. One or two techniques we might have benefited from it had been obvious would be unusable against a Fire based team.
Now my next concern was if the difference in power between Flannery's ace and the rest of my team was the same or better as it had been between my ace and hers. If it was then the lead I'd acquired could easily go back the other way in short order.
My Sylveon squared off against the Torkoal. This was going to be a tough battle. Kira didn't really like battling, although he was decently strong. Pixilate, which it had taken a decent bit of experimentation to discover my evolved Pokemon had, might work against us here considering that Fairy type moves were weak to Fire.
I could feel the grin on my face right now and as I looked at her, Flannery returned the expression back at me.
The original reasons for us battling were completely forgotten right now. This was just two powerful trainers competing to see who was stronger. It was Pokemon battling in its purest form.
"Begin!" Moore called out again.
"Use Flamethrower!" Flannery called out.
"Dodge it and use Swift!" I ordered.
Swift was a homing move, it meant that Kira wouldn't have to try particularly hard to aim the attack while dodging the very impressive Flamethrower from Flannery's Pokemon.
Kira did as I ordered, but Shelly the Torkoal was definitely powerful and the flame was too quick for my Eeveelution to dodge the attack in its entirety.
Kira ran around, white fur singed by the attack, releasing a plethora of pink tinged stars which sailed around in the air. Several of them were caught up in the Flamethrower and burnt away but others came around without my Pokemon's input and they pelted the Torkoal's shell.
Shelly didn't seem to acknowledge the attacks, only turning to keep her maw pointing in my Pokemon's direction as Kira ran to the side.
"Don't let it get behind you, use Flame Wheel!"
"Crap," I cursed. The Torkoal, which had seemed fairly slow before jumped up for a moment before retracting all its exposed limbs and landing on her underside. Then fire began to emit from the openings on the Torkoal's shell and it began to spin.
I got a brief flashback to Ash Ketchum's Squirtle using Hydro Pump in the anime. Thankfully the Torkoal didn't have quite enough power behind her attacks to take off, but when the Pokemon began to rapidly spin and chase after my suddenly panicking Pokemon I felt just as much panic as Kira did.
"Sylv!" my Sylveon shouted out in pain as the Flaming Torkoal caught up with him and sent him flying. My Pokemon landed back on his feet but that hit had done some decent damage.
He was still releasing Swift stars as he moved, something I had trained him to do almost constantly. But only a few of the attacks were getting past the Torkoal's fire. If we kept up with this then we would lose the battle of attrition.
But I had a solution already in mind.
"Use Dig!" I called out before the fast Torkoal came back around and she still almost caught up with my Pokemon before Kira had managed to dig her way rapidly into the soft terrain of the arena.
Shelly bumped over the empty hole and came to a stop, withdrawing from her shell after sensing her quarry was no longer within reach.
"Koal?" She asked, looking towards her trainer.
"I thought you'd do that!" Flannery crowed. "Use Earthquake!"
"Shit, Kira come out of there!" I shouted.
I'd taken a stupid gamble in assuming the Torkoal didn't know that attack and it was coming back to bite me.
The Torkoal stamped her foot and immediately the ground began to tremble again. Only this time it was even more powerful than the attack from the Camerupt.
It was a painful few moments and I could practically feel as Kira was dealt a powerful blow by the Torkoal. But my Pokemon wasn't completely out of it. Shelly brought her foot up to slam it down again but my Sylveon burst out of the ground beneath her and the Torkoal's eyes widened in surprise as she was knocked over.
My Pokemon landed on shaky feet looking much worse for wear. He was covered in dirt and grime and everywhere else showed the signs of injury.
"Kira are you okay?" I called out as he shook himself.
"Sylveon!" my Pokemon called out, nodding resolutely. He was determined to keep battling, but I knew despite the bravado that he wouldn't manage much longer.
We couldn't use Dig again, that much was for sure and the rest of Kira's known moves wouldn't be much help just now, but we did have one trick up our sleeves.
"Alright then, let's see how they like it! Use Copycat!"
My Sylveon bared his teeth and reared up on his hind legs. Then my Pokemon slammed them down to emulate the attack that had just been used against us.
Flannery had reeled back in shock at the surprise counter, but recovered quickly.
"Protect!" She shouted just in time and I cursed again as Kira's feet came back down and a third Earthquake rocked the stadium.
"Toooor!" The Torkoal called out. A dome made of glowing hexagons formed around her, completely nullifying the super effective Ground type attack, what would have been the first super effective hit we'd landed this match.
I didn't need to know what Flannery's next order would be. Copycat was a tiring move to use, perhaps just as if not more than Protect and Kira was too worn down to do anything to stop the Flamethrower that came his way.
I was already activating the return feature on his Pokeball before the attack even landed. I wasn't sure if I'd saved Kira from being knocked out, but he didn't have to wait at all to be returned to the comfort of his Pokeball.
"Good work," I said to the Pokeball before returning it to the confines of my jacket. The Torkoal was clearly strong, and durable. The Fire Spin attack made up a bit for the species' lack of mobility but it was the Pokemon's sheer power that had truly made the difference. Kira had still done a small chunk of damage to it but definitely less than I'd hoped for. Now it was just a matter of what Pokemon I should use next.
I warred with indecision for a few seconds, ignoring Moore's commentary as the judge.
Reason said that Happy would be the right choice. A type advantage right now might just be enough to clinch it, but if Happy was too worn out by the Torkoal then I didn't like our chances against Flannery's remaining Pokemon. She'd have a Magcargo I was sure, which Happy would be able to beat fairly easily unless it had any special tricks. I wasn't sure what the last Pokemon would be but it would be a Fire type, obviously. There weren't many Fire types with a second typing that countered Water moves.
"Go Bud!" I called, finally summoning my Whimsicott.
Bud appeared on the arena and looked around excitedly. Spotting her opponent, she immediately pulled her eyelid down and made a funny face at her.
Shelly the Torkoal seemed a bit put out by whatever my Pokemon had said, but that was par for the course for my Whimsicott. She'd never taken something seriously in her entire life and wasn't about to start now.
With Moore calling out for us to start again I decided to start things off safely.
"Use Fairy Wind and jump up!"
My Whimsicott immediately obeyed my instructions, buffeting herself up into the air on pink tinged wind, narrowly avoiding the Flamethrower from the Torkoal. Flannery pouted as my Whimsicott soared up high enough to avoid any chance of the Torkoal landing a hit.
"You'll have to come down if you want to finish this anytime soon!" Flannery complained as Shelly bent her neck to look up at the Whimsicott who was making a slightly ruder gesture than she knew she was allowed to be.
Feeling slightly cheeky myself I shrugged silently. Flannery was about to say something else but I did agree with her.
"Hurricane Seed!"
"Whimsicoooooott!" My Whimsicott shouted, spreading her arms wide and summoning not a Hurricane, but a Fairy Wind from behind herself.
"Use Protect, Shelly!" Flannery called, having fallen for the trick entirely.
I smirked. I'd baited her into using the tiring Protect move once more while in reality I didn't plan for Bud to land a direct hit at all right now.
Along with the Fairy Wind, from my Whimsicott's puffy cotton mane came a plethora of small seeds too. Nothing breached the Protect itself, but that wasn't a problem for the moment. The Fairy Wind died down, having done its job to disperse the real attack.
Flannery was shouting something about the Whimsicott not using a Hurricane attack like she'd thought, so she wasn't paying attention to what was going on on the ground.
The multiple Leech Seeds dispersed by Bud's Fairy Wind pierced the softened ground and after a few moments they sprouted all over the battle arena.
Yes! I pumped my fist as I watched the surprise on my opponent's faces. The Protect had deactivated as soon as the Fairy Wind had ended. So it didn't stop the Leech Seed tendrils from reaching out and beginning to wrap around the Torkoal's limbs and neck.
"Hurricane!" I declared, and this time my Whimsicott obeyed the instruction and Flannery panicked.
"Use Protect!" She shouted and the Torkoal tried to use the move. But Protect wasn't just tiring to use, it was also finicky. It left behind energy after dissipating that made it harder to use consecutive times.
"Use Fire Spin!" She shouted next in desperation as one of the strongest Flying type attacks was sent her Pokemon's way.
Shelly was quick to follow her trainers order and she tried to withdraw back into her shell which would've probably helped defensively, but the Leech Seed that was wrapped around her limbs held her tight. Shelly struggled to break free but wasn't fast enough and then the real Hurricane landed.
It was like a miniature tornado of wind and the Torkoal reared back in pain as the attack hit home. Bud adjusted her weight and started to float back down a bit, to avoid being blown away by her own attack. That was one weakness of the Whimsicott line. They could fly, but they were at the mercy of any wind around them and didn't have the same kind of maneuverability as real Flying types.
As soon as she landed the Leech seed took effect, having started to drain the Torkoal's energy and now it was feeding it to my Pokemon. It looked like Bud might actually win this for me.
Then Flannery, completely done with things, shouted a command to upend my hopes.
"Overheat!" She ordered. "Burn away all those vines and that Whimsicott!"
"Toooorkoooooooaaaaal!" Shelly rumbled out. She braced herself and started to glow with heat as her shell almost ignited.
It was nothing like the heat of the Flamethrowers and other attacks they had used before. I had to cover my face as my skin started to burn from the passively radiated energy.
This was Fire type power being used with no restraints.
"Get up and out of there Bud!" I shouted.
My Whimsicott obeyed, quickly pushing herself off the ground as the Leech Seeds ignited all over.
"Heat rises!" Flannery shouted. "You can do it, Shelly!"
It was then that the Torkoal actually released her attack.
It was less like a Flamethrower and more like a Hyper Beam that shot out of the Torkoal's mouth and Bud wasn't quick enough to evade it.
After several long seconds the attack died down. My Whimsicott fell to the floor, knocked out in just one hit.
"Harry's Whimsicott is knocked out. Harry, prepare your next Pokemon!"
The Torkoal was breathing heavily now. I grimaced as I withdrew Bud but I felt she'd done enough.
"Let's finish this, Happy!"
Happy was already raring to go as he appeared and Flannery grimaced upon seeing him.
"Brawly told us all about your Marill," she admitted. "Guy wouldn't stop talking."
"I'm glad he left a good impression," I said while the Marill in question cheered at hearing he'd impressed someone.
"Are you both ready to begin?" Moore asked, looking at my Marill with an odd expression. It was like he didn't quite understand what he was looking at.
"Yes," I said, followed shortly by Flannery.
Moore seemed to be ruling this battle fairly and he didn't give the Torkoal any more of a chance to rest before starting things back off.
"Begin!"
"Use Aqua Tail!" I ordered immediately. The Torkoal was still steaming from the intense heat she'd just released and I could sense that another hit would end this.
"Just one more Flamethrower Shelly!" Flannery called out.
Shelly managed to produce a weak stream of flames, but she was too tired and unable to catch my fast moving Marill who closed the distance and struck down with a powerful Aqua Tail. Shelly was knocked out, leaving my Marill uninjured, only warmed up and ready for his next opponent.
Happy bounded back to our side of the arena and Leah, who had recovered a bit after her battle clapped for my Marill who responded brightly back before turning back and retaking his position.
We were now four for four and I was suddenly conscious of my breathing.
I was sweating too, mainly due to the heat, but also due to the exhaustion that was starting to run through me. I felt like I'd been running a marathon and Flannery likewise didn't look much better. Battles took something out of trainers too and right now we were both feeling it.
"Let's go Pony!" Flannery called out, revealing that she was continuing the fairly simple naming convention all her Pokemon had followed so far as her Rapidash took to the arena.
Obviously it'd been called Pony as a Ponyta. Not the most forward thinking name… but it was kind of cute.
The Rapidash wasn't cute though. It was as large as any war horse, clearly built for power and speed and was far taller than my Marill. It was definitely the kind of horse you'd deck out in armour to charge an enemy army, if only that armour didn't melt first.
But it wasn't going to last against Happy, I thought confidently as I looked across at the other trainer. Flannery looked serious and ready for the next battle, but this was the first time I had had an actual type advantage.
It's funny, Marill, the Pokemon were usually pretty weak. Happy was the only real exception to the rule I had ever encountered and I was certain that he had the hidden ability that in the games doubled his strength. The thought had come back to me now because I remember in the games that the special ability was actually enough to turn a Marill, whose Attack stat was normally quite pitiful, into something that was just barely short of a Rapidash's Attack stat.
Moore signalled for us to begin for what I hoped would only be the second to last time and Flannery was the one to start us off by ordering her Rapidash to use Flame Charge.
"Use Bounce!" I ordered.
Happy obeyed the instruction and the Rapidash, for all that it was quick wasn't fast enough to catch my water mouse. It still tried, leaping up with it's pointed horn ready to strike Happy. But Happy was far too experienced against larger foes using the same tactics. He spun in the air, adjusting his momentum to avoid the hit entirely. It was still a good attempt on Pony's part, but it had failed and in the process left Flannery's Pokemon wide open.
"And then use Aqua Tail!" I ordered, just as the two Pokemon passed each other.
Happy's vicious grin grew wider as he spun in midair. The Aqua Tail formed quickly as Happy's tail came swinging around to hit the Rapidash.
The Fire Horse Pokemon, even though it should really have been classified as a unicorn, was completely unable to dodge and its eyes widened in surprise before it took the heavy blow. Pony the Rapidash was sent tumbling and it landed hard on the ground, unable to recover its balance.
Happy landed perfectly on his feet, ready to react in a split second to my next command.
Pony did try to get up, but the Rapidash stumbled as it did so, its hooves struggling to find purchase on the soft ground that had been loosened by the battle thus far.
I was looking forward to seeing what Flannery would try next. I'd not actually battled many horse type Pokemon before but I was feeling confident that whatever strategies she might try wouldn't be effective against my Marill's agile movements. Flannery would need to be able to catch him if she wanted to end this.
The Rapidash burst into red light as it was recalled, taking me entirely by surprise.
"I concede," Flannery said.
I had to shake myself slightly, taken aback by the sudden end to the battle. Happy seemed a bit put out too, falling back onto his tail with a pout. He'd barely got to take part in the battle, which I knew would leave him pent up. Hopefully one of the team wouldn't mind a practice battle with him later.
"Harry wins!" Moore declared, which meant it was officially over now, I'd won.
Moore approached me with a smile on his face and Happy came up to me too and jumped up into my arms. He wiggled around to face forwards as the Gym Leader came to a stop before me.
"That was very impressive," Moore said. "I think I can say right now that Brawly is right, you have what it takes to be a Gym Leader."
"Thank you," I replied as Flannery joined us, having approached at a more sedate pace. Her expression was a bit glum and her shoulders were slumped.
"I really thought I had you there, but seeing that first hit from your Marill… I wasn't going to be able to beat you with the Pokemon I had left."
I shrugged. "You have a Magcargo right?"
She nodded and I nodded in understanding too. A dual vulnerability was killer to have on certain Pokemon. Magcargo being Rock/Fire wouldn't stand a chance against a Water typed, peer level opponent, at least without some sort of significant advantage to level the playing field. If my Marill was going to be able to handle the Rapidash with minimal damage taken then it'd be foolish to continue the battle after that point.
"Even though you lost, you did great too, Flannery," Moore said warmly. "That was definitely the showing I would expect of the future Lavaridge Gym Leader."
That seemed to perk the young woman up a bit but she still sighed again.
"I'm sorry I butted in on your battle, Grandpa," Flannery said. "I just got a bit over excited I guess."
"Ha!" Moore replied, putting an arm around his granddaughter's shoulders. "You should see what I was like back in the day..." He shook his head with a chuckle.
"A-and I'm sorry too, about what I said. I shouldn't have let my feelings about Trainers Colliding affect me like that," Flannery continued, speaking to me. "I really do wish you'd let Claudia live though…" She told me, pouting.
I shrugged weakly, not entirely sure how to reply. I really hoped this wasn't going to become a thing with people who'd read my books.
"Don't worry about it," I managed to say. "I figure you'll not be the only one that was ever disappointed in the way one of my books went." I offered my hand to shake and Flannery accepted it.
Her hand was warm, hot really. I could feel a few small calluses as we shook that were doubtlessly born from hard work as a Fire type trainer. I hoped that we'd be able to be friends, despite the confrontational first meeting.
"Anyway, Harry Hemming," the Gym Leader looked back at me. "Why don't we all head over to the Pokemon Centre and get both of your Pokemon healed. We can talk more on the way."
The elderly trainer led both myself and Flannery out of the Gym and back into Lavaridge town.
"So, about Trainers Colliding…" Flannery began and thus began a long conversation about the series I was writing.