Chương 33: Chapter 31

I was confident in my team's power to defeat Petalburg Gym. We may have lost the battle last time, but that loss brought reflection and improvements. We had spent over a month preparing for this battle, and my team's progress showed. Ninetales and Florges were in their final forms, Marill was a monster like always, and Swablu had received enough training to be a powerful combatant in his own right.

Mawile was a bit behind since she was a recent catch, but I had no doubts she would become a powerful combatant once we spent time training together. My team was raring to go, and I was more prepared than ever. I was finally able to get rid of that constant pressure on my shoulders after my talk with Steven, and spending time with friends in Dewford almost made the past few days feel like a vacation. Mawile had been added to my team, and soon Steven would send me an egg for a Galarian Ponyta.

I was in the best mood I had been in since I entered this world. Today, my Pokémon and I would be winning this Gym challenge together. We had spent too long training to lose now, and I knew in my heart we would soon earn our fifth Gym Badge. I didn't have to wait to challenge the Gym. It was the middle of the season so the less dedicated trainers had already dropped out, and the rest were traveling and training along routes and in other cities.

There had only been one challenger before me today, and they left three hours ago. We waited until a bit past noon to show up to make sure we had time to eat, rest, and go over last minute strategies before the battle. There was a different person with a tablet out front today and she waved me in without issue, letting me pass through the same dojo I had passed through twice before. Norman stood ready in his trainer box and the stands had a small number of people on their lunch break ready to watch the battle.

An Indeedee was already standing next to the field, ready to create Psychic barriers once we started. Since Mawile wouldn't be participating, I sent her out to watch alongside me. I wanted her to see how the team would perform in a serious battle. She had only experienced a battle with Marill and had some casual training back in Dewford, so this would be important for her development. Mawile pulled out her stone to fiddle with while she watched.

A referee walked up to the field once I entered the trainer box and began shouting instructions. It was the same rules as last time: four-on-four with three switches each. I couldn't let my guard down since I knew that the fifth Gym battle would be significantly harder than the fourth Gym battle. Norman only spoke two words to me before the battle began.

"Six stars." The referee shouted for the battle to begin and we each sent out our Pokémon. I sent out Florges and Norman sent out Loudred. The psychic barrier immediately went up as our rematch began. Norman didn't give any commands and Loudred's face became one of utter glee as it took a deep breath.

"Focus on Magical Leaf, Wish sustain!" I yelled at Florges. Florges immediately prepared itself to tank Loudred's sound-based attacks. Grass spread throughout the battlefield almost instantaneously thanks to Grassy Terrain, Florges showing off her mastery of the move. A healing star from Wish appeared above her head just in time as Loudred began to scream. Florges's improved and evolved form allowed her to not be stunned from the damage as a furious Uproar echoed within the battlefield.

With her increased special defense and vitality, Florges was able to attack even through the strain of the soundwaves. She brought an arm forward and used Magical Leaf, forming a multitude of glowing leaves enhanced by Grassy Terrain and launching them towards Loudred. Loudred took the attack with ease and continued to scream. Florges started to wilt but the star entered her body and she healed from Wish. Loudred breathed in between its screams and Florges used this opportunity to unleash an attack of her own.

She clenched her hand and pulled it down, commanding the grass to grow out, wrap around Loudred's foot, and pull back. The Normal Type fell on its face, its chain of Uproars interrupted by a well-timed Grass Knot. Florges spun as petals floated off her bouquet and drifted around her. As soon as the initial movements were completed, the petals launched forward at Loudred with a Petal Dance attack.

From where it was being held face-down with Grass Knot, Loudred just barely managed to move its head up to yell at the petals, knocking them aside with Hyper Voice. Unfortunately for it, Petal Dance was like Uproar in that it was not a one round move, and a larger array of petals had already been sent forward and tore into Loudred immediately after. The sound Pokémon didn't last long after that. Norman recalled Loudred once it fainted and the Indeedee dropped the barrier.

Florges wobbled in place from confusion caused by the end of Petal Dance, and Norman looked me in the eye.

"Good," he stated. With Florges confused, it was unlikely she'd be able to perform well against her next opponent, so I shouted at the referee before Norman sent out his next Pokémon.

"I'm switching out Florges," I yelled. Florges returned to her Heal Ball in a flash of light and the Grassy Terrain happened to fade at the same time. It was unfortunate timing on my part, but considering Grassy Terrain wouldn't benefit my next Pokémon, I didn't mind. I picked up the Love Ball on my belt and sent out Swablu as Norman sent out a Pokémon he hadn't sent out last time. It looked like a tan panda-rabbit with randomly placed darker spots on its ears, face, and body.

Its eyes were nothing more than confused spirals and it immediately wobbled in place and acted like it was struggling to stand upright. I recognized it as a Spinda, and noted that Swablu would need to try to avoid its confusion. The referee yelled out for us to begin and we shouted our orders.

"Paralyze it with Dragon Breath!"

"Spinda, Teeter Dance." Spinda wobbled on its feet and began to dance by rocking its body back and forth and spinning its arms at its side. Swablu exhaled a beam of yellowish flames, but Spinda simply moved out of the way with its dance, avoiding the attack almost like it was drunk. Swablu breathed in to regain its breath after using his attack, but had to flap his wings a few extra times just to stay in the air.

He started to drift to his left despite trying to fly in a straight line, and I decided it would be best for him to land before he crashed into the ground. He could focus on keeping Spinda away with his attacks a lot easier if he didn't have to focus on flying while confused. Following my orders, Swablu flew down to the ground, and although he had a bit of a rough landing, managed to stay still and use Roost, hunkering down for the confusion to hopefully wear off.

Spinda spun once on the other side of the field, then started to skip over to Swablu without taking any steps to defend itself.

"Keep it away with Dragon Breath!" Despite being dizzy from confusion, Swablu was able to breathe out a focused, fiery beam that managed to clip Spinda on its side. Unfortunately, paralysis didn't take effect and Spinda continued to get closer.

"Copycat," Norman commanded. Following Norman's orders, the Spinda suddenly stopped moving closer and planted both feet on the ground. It held its arms to its side and lowered its head, mimicking Swablu's resting position, and breathed out an imitation Dragon Breath towards Swablu. Swablu tried to get up to dodge, but just ended up falling on his face due to the confusion and was hit by the beam. Frustratingly, Swablu became paralyzed due to the mimicked attack.

I had avoided using this move since it would lock him into it, but Spinda had almost approached Swablu and anything he sent at Spinda would be Copycatted right back. If we wanted to win, it was necessary for Swablu to use his strongest move.

"Uproar!" I yelled. Swablu breathed in to get as much air in his lungs as possible then screeched out as loud as he could. Spinda stopped moving to grab its ears and crouched down to try to resist Swablu's move. Norman was forced to wait to give his next order since Swablu's screeching muffled all other sounds.

"Spinda, use Uproar yourself!" he called out during a break in Swablu's wailing. While an individual Uproar from either Spinda or Swablu would be tolerable, both Pokémon yelling at once was near deafening. Recognizing this, the half Psychic Type Indeedee immediately put the barriers around the field back up to prevent damage to everyone's eardrums.

Both Pokémon on the field continued to scream in an Uproar, significantly damaging their opponent while Norman and I were forced to watch the exchange without further orders. I felt a tap on my leg and I looked down to see Mawile pointing at the field. I shook my head.

"Ah, sorry. I don't think you can learn that move." She looked a bit disappointed. Swablu's Uproar was interrupted after the second scream due to his paralysis condition acting up. I still couldn't yell out an order since Spinda was in the middle of one of its own sets of screams, so Swablu was forced to make a decision on his own. He had to be fast, because otherwise he would soon faint to Spinda's attacks.

His body glowed white with Normal Type energy and he flapped his wings hard once to shoot forward towards Spinda. I breathed out a sigh of relief, noticing that the confusion had worn off in the middle of his Uproar. We hadn't practiced close-ranged attacks in a while, but Take Down's damage was comparable to Uproar's. Despite his lack of practice, Swablu was able to use the move faster than it would have taken him to start up Uproar again, and slammed into the distracted Spinda.

The two Pokémon flew backwards, the force from Swablu's Take Down pushing Spinda along with Swablu and eventually causing Spinda to land on the ground and skip across the rough dirt. Its already spiral eyes were spinning even more, and Swablu's eyes were doing the same. Take Down had knocked out Spinda, but in exchange, Swablu had been knocked out from the recoil. Norman and I both returned our Pokémon.

I wasn't happy that Swablu had been taken down here, since I wanted him to still be around for Norman's tougher Pokémon. Norman seemed to prefer melee combatants, and those would have had a limited number of ranged moves to use against a flying Pokémon like Swablu. However, I didn't have a counter for Spinda's Teeter Dance, so fainting Spinda here did prevent my other Pokémon from being injured.

I just wished that Swablu had been able to use Uproar without interruption, or at least survive the Take Down, since he would have been able to heal himself back up with Roost. Norman and I both sent out our next Pokémon, and I immediately became worried. The matchup was another repeat from the last battle: I sent out Marill, and Norman had sent out Vigoroth. It was the same Vigoroth Marill had lost to last time.

I looked over to Marill to make sure she would be okay repeating what had hurt her so much before, and instead of becoming fearful or nervous like last time, she had a manic smile on her face. And then Marill started to laugh. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. It was a mad, hysterical laughter that echoed throughout the entire area. Some of the audience members shifted uncomfortably in their seat as Marill went through a moment of pure joy.

Neither Norman nor Vigoroth moved, the ape visibly concerned. After all, it would be the one fighting Marill. I briefly considered using a switch here to make sure Marill wasn't experiencing some kind of mental breakdown, but any thoughts of switching suddenly evaporated. As Marill continued to be in her manic state, her body began to glow and I rubbed my eyes in disbelief. Her head shifted upwards and her body elongated, becoming closer to an ovoid rather than a sphere.

Her ears stopped being round mouse ears and lengthened to be more like long rabbit ears. The white coloring on her stomach shifted around and now colored her entire lower half. As the light faded, Marill's evolved form was visible. Azumarill took the field. I knew she was more than strong enough to evolve! Of course she held back her evolution just to use it against Vigoroth. Vigoroth unconsciously took a step back, Azumarill's face now a calm visage of pure maliciousness.

Her laughing had stopped, but seeing her opponent's fear made her chuckle. She took a step forward and the ground almost seemed to shake just from her sheer presence. Vigoroth slapped itself in its face to regain its composure and stepped forward as well. The referee called out for the battle to begin. I didn't give any orders to Azumarill. I knew she wanted to handle this herself. As for Norman, instead of allowing Vigoroth to lunge forward like it wanted to, he gave it a set of different orders.

"Stay back and Work Up. Be ready to Counter when it approaches. Overwhelm it with your claws when it's safe." Vigoroth let out a soft "tch" of its own, reminiscent of Azumarill's classic phrase, and my Pokémon eyed it warily. Vigoroth started to breathe in and out in a regular pattern and thumped its claws against the ground to hype itself up for this battle. Its face grew angrier and angrier as it used Work Up to maximize its own physical power to use against Azumarill.

Azumarill didn't react and simply watched as Vigoroth prepared itself for the upcoming battle. I was worried she wasn't doing anything, but noticed that she was following a regular breathing pattern as well, using Work Up but with a much more subdued method. Both Pokémon were using empowering moves to set themselves up, and would be at peak strength for the upcoming clash. Norman saw this and frowned. Whichever Pokémon won this match would be in the perfect state to finish off the rest of their opponent's team.

I personally got the sense that this was exactly what Azumarill wanted, and let her continue, trusting my Pokémon to win. The battlefield was silent outside our two Pokémon's breathing as everyone watched with bated breath. Soon, Vigoroth was practically about to explode with energy, and Azumarill was readying herself to unleash her full power.

I still didn't give any commands, knowing Azumarill would want revenge on Vigoroth on her own terms, and prepared myself for the deafening impact that was sure to come when she used Aqua Jet. However, that attack never came. Azumarill put out her arm and performed a "come at me" motion with her paw. Vigoroth saw that movement and became absolutely enraged. It was far madder than what it should have felt after seeing Azumarill's taunting motion.

Norman immediately called for it to stay back, but Azumarill's Swagger already took effect and Vigoroth charged forward at Azumarill in its confusion. As the Normal Type ran at her, Azumarill took a stance reminiscent of Machoke back in Dewford. As she prepared an attack, I realized I didn't recognize the move she was about to use. Did she really keep a second trump card from me just to use against Vigoroth? She prepared too much for this, I have to remember never to get on her bad side.

Vigoroth continued to run forward as Azumarill readied herself. The Normal Type brought up its claws to use in what would have been a devastating Slash, but Azumarill moved before it could unleash its attack. As soon as it was just a few feet away, Azumarill lunged forward and grabbed Vigoroth on its chest. She lifted it high above her head and spun it around before slamming the Pokémon to the ground, her massively increased strength creating a dust cloud from the impact.

I was aware of what moves Azumarill could learn, and seeing it in action let me figure out what the move was. Superpower. One of the strongest Fighting Type moves in existence. It dealt devastating damage in exchange for weakening its user from the exertion of overwhelming their physical capabilities. The dust cloud settled and the crowd gasped. I couldn't see it immediately from my position, but I saw it soon enough. Azumarill had knocked out Vigoroth. And she had done it in one move.

I couldn't help but to whistle with how impressed I was. She had spent so long preparing herself with the perfect combination of moves and events to absolutely crush Vigoroth. She postponed her evolution, learned Work Up and Swagger in Sea Mauville, and even spent time with Machoke to master Superpower. Her plan was so much more in depth than anything I had created for her on my own that I was actually kind of embarrassed.

Azumarill planted a foot on Vigoroth's chest and took up a victorious pose, but was forced to step back down as Vigoroth disappeared in a beam of red light. Norman spoke up after he returned his Pokémon.

"I'm impressed. You and your Pokémon have grown a lot since our last battle." Normally, I would have been happy to receive a compliment from Norman. However, his usually serious demeanor had fallen away and he was visibly smirking.

"Too bad you waited to challenge me for your fifth Gym Badge." Norman pulled out a Pokéball, not a Great Ball, and not an Ultra Ball, but a completely normal Pokéball and sent out his fourth and final Pokémon. A massive brown ape almost three times the height of Azumarill appeared on the battlefield and immediately laid down. It was one of the physically strongest Pokémon in existence, as well as the evolved form of Vigoroth. It let out a yawn and temporarily closed its eyes to rest.

Its laziness wasn't an act, but that didn't detract from its strength. Slaking were notorious for putting in all of their energy behind their attacks, forcing them to need to take frequent breaks in battle. Since it was resting right now, it was already preparing to use its first move. Azumarill was a bit tired from using Superpower, so her physical capabilities and defenses were slightly weaker than they should have been.

However, the boost from Work Up was still mostly in effect so Azumarill was still stronger than she was normally. I was hesitant to tell her to get close to Slaking, but I hoped she would be able to damage it while Slaking rested between attacks. The referee shouted to begin and I immediately gave Azumarill its orders.

"Keep away with Aqua Jet, and hit it with Aqua Tail when it rests. Be careful, it's much stronger than you." Azumarill nodded seriously and moved back to stay away from Slaking. The giant ape heaved itself onto its feet, then lumbered towards her. She stayed back and used Aqua Jet when it got too close, and even had enough time to set up both Rain Dance and Aqua Ring while it moved towards her. However, despite constantly chasing after Azumarill, Slaking never once stopped to sit down and rest.

"You're going to have to do better than that," Norman called out.

"They may call me a Normal Type specialist, but the Slaking line is my true specialty. Slaking won't rest until he attacks, you can't run away forever." I was frustrated at this situation. Azumarill could deal a lot of damage if she got in close, but so could Slaking. If I ordered her to use Bubble Beam and attack at a distance, she would take too long to use the move and Slaking would catch up.

I hated to do this, but I had to risk her getting close since her boost from Work Up would allow her to do significant damage. Slaking had no buffs of its own, and Azumarill was significantly tankier now that she evolved, so I could only hope for the best.

"Aqua Jet into Aqua Tail, then back off once it's done resting!" Azumarill knelt forward and blasted forward with Aqua Jet, the move boosted by the downpour created by Azumarill's Rain Dance. She aimed at Slaking's center of mass, but the ape quickly held out a palm to stop her from getting closer. Thankfully, the impact managed to send shockwaves through the arm and throughout Slaking's body, dealing a decent amount of damage. However, the ape still managed to stop the attack. My heart dropped at what I saw next.

Slaking closed its massive hand around Azumarill's body and lifted her up while she was recovering from essentially slamming into a hard wall. It swung its arm in the air to smash her into the ground next to it with Strength, then let go and fell on its butt to catch its breath. Azumarill took a bit too long to pull herself up from the crater the attack left her in, and I returned her to her ball.

She could have got away with using Aqua Tail, but Slaking would have been able to retaliate and I didn't want that to happen. Instead, I wanted to resort to a much safer strategy to take this behemoth of an ape out. My starter appeared on the battlefield and a massive hailstorm overtook the rain as the referee shouted to begin.

"Your opponent is too strong to ever get close," I told her.

"It dealt a significant amount of damage to Azumarill, but she managed to deal a good amount of damage back. If we want to win, stay away and abuse Snow Cloak. Start off with Confuse Ray and follow through with Ice Beam spam." Ninetales perked up when I called Azumarill by her new, evolved name, but stayed focused as I described Slaking's absolute power. Norman didn't speak as I talked with Ninetales.

He looked confident that he would win, and my strategizing was giving Slaking time to recover its energy and prepare for its next attack. I was wondering why I wasn't interrupted, and looked more closely. Slaking wasn't just sitting there and doing nothing. It was specifically using this time without combat to use Slack Off to heal itself. I cursed.

"Ninetales, you have to go now! It's healing!" Ninetales, hearing the panic in my voice, jumped up and fired an Ice Beam at Slaking before disappearing into her hail. The falling hailstones chipped into Slaking and passively wore down its health as it stood up to face her. Ninetales gracefully strode forward and strafed around its side. She controlled the ice and snow to pick up around her and used her near-white fur to blend in with the weather.

Slaking glanced around to track Ninetales, but its eyes had trouble focusing on her. While Snow Cloak wasn't perfect cover, it forced her opponents to attack towards a small area where she could be rather than her exact position, which helped her dodge attacks a lot easier. Another way she could dodge more easily was if her opponent was confused within her illusions. From the dome of spiraling snow around Ninetales, a ghostly beam shot toward Slaking as Ninetales used Confuse Ray.

Slaking stumbled after it hit its body, and its eyes glazed over and started looking around. While I couldn't see what illusions Slaking was subjected to, it was clearly looking at multiple different locations, unable to narrow down Ninetales's general position. Ninetales nimbly moved across the field and let loose a powerful Ice Beam. The attack impacted Slaking and hardened ice formed on its body. It looked down at the chunk of ice and flexed its hulking muscles, immediately shattering it.

Looks like freezing isn't an option. Slaking stumbled forward randomly, and Norman spoke up to try to help it.

"Focus on where its attacks are coming from. Hammer Arm." Slaking looked around, trying to find Ninetales through both the hail and the illusions, and another Ice Beam hit it on its back. The ape crossed its fists and raised them up before jumping forward like a certain green superhero. It brought them down onto the ground, creating a small crater and knocking back the hail temporarily from the shockwave it created. Too bad it jumped to the wrong side of the field. I smirked.

It was hard for Ninetales to practice Confuse Ray without harming her other team members, but she was able to get her illusions to mimic her attacks. She had learned from her loss to Norman's Linoone and figured out how to not let Pokémon find her by tracking her attacks through the confusion. With Ninetales's improvements, Slaking was unlikely to be able to ever locate her. Unfortunately, as Slaking sat down to rest after its attack, it rubbed its eyes and managed to end the confusion.

It began to try to use Slack Off to heal since the previous Ice Beams had done significant damage.

"Use Confuse Ray to interrupt its healing!" I ordered. Ninetales's eyes flashed within her snow and illusions were once more inflicted onto Slaking. Unfortunately, it still managed to heal, but had taken enough damage so far to still be decently injured. Slaking stood up to follow Ninetales's position, and I started to worry that it could somehow find a way to attack her through both the confusion and Snow Cloak. However, I let out a sigh of relief when I saw what Slaking did next. It smashed itself in its face.

Whatever illusions Ninetales put onto Slaking this time were less of a way to let her dodge, and more of a way to trick Slaking into hurting itself in confusion. Clearly, it somehow thought that hitting something on its head would help it win this battle. Maybe it thought it was breaking ice from another Ice Beam like before? Slaking sat back down, clearly bothered by what it had just done.

Considering how strong Slaking was, the power of the attack it inflicted on itself was much stronger than other Pokemon's self-inflicted damage from confusion. Rather anticlimactically, Ninetales finished off Slaking with one last Ice Beam, the move having been significantly more powerful throughout the battle now that Ninetales had evolved and was using her Never-Melt Ice to empower its damage.

"Slaking is unable to battle! Challenger Alex wins the match!" Ninetales commanded the snowstorm to fade and strode over to me proudly. Mawile, who was still next to me, said a quick word of congratulations to Ninetales and looked over to where Slaking lay fainted. I walked away to let Ninetales talk at Mawile while the Steel Type played with her stone, and headed toward the center of the battlefield. Norman returned Slaking as I approached. I met him in the center of the field and shook his hand.

Norman proceeded to give the classic Gym Leader victory speech.

"Congratulations on beating me and earning the Balance Badge. Let me be the first to welcome you to the upper echelons of trainers taking on the Gym Challenge. Most trainers drop out after earning four or five badges, but from your determination, I can tell you're going to go far. Be careful, all succeeding Gym Leader Battles will be much tougher than I was." I thanked him and pocketed the badge he handed to me.

Internally, I was worried about how much stronger the other Gyms would be, but was confident my team would be able to pull through. Norman was decently tough, but we had won due to the time spent training everyone up and creating new strategies. As long as we didn't let up our training, we would be able to defeat the other Gym Leaders and enter the Ever Grande Conference. When I was about to step away, Norman interrupted me by telling me some good news.

"Before you leave, I was provided compensation to hand you after your troubles in Sea Mauville. If you come with me, I can give it to you now." Excited for another new team member, I called Mawile and Ninetales over to return them, then followed Norman once they were in their Pokéballs. I was led to that same greenhouse that I had shared my Mega Evolution information in.

It was filled up with the same Pokémon as before, and seeing the top of an absolutely enormous Slaking's head poking up between the trees made me thankful I didn't take on Norman as my eighth Gym Battle. He brought me to the far side of the greenhouse, past the pond in the corner, and we entered a small back room. The best way I could describe the room was to say it was a poorly maintained shed. It had a few shelves filled with miscellaneous items and one wall had a rusty metal cabinet.

In the center of the room was an old wooden table, but we didn't sit down. Norman walked over to the rusted cabinet before taking a key out of his pocket and opening it up. Rather than another collection of generic shelves like I expected, the doors revealed a high-tech storage unit that had several glass containers containing objects that made my heart race. Eggs. Norman looked over the eggs, reading labels printed on the front of their glass cases and made casual conversation with me.

"If you're wondering why the outside looks like that, it's a safety precaution. Better to store these in plain sight than make it obvious for someone to steal. The greenhouse tends to always have someone inside of it, so if an emergency happens they would be able to arrive within moments. Now then, where is the one Steven sent me..." Norman continued to parse through the several containers before he reached down and pulled out the one container that was labeled with my name.

The egg was primarily white with a swirl of pastel pink and blue around the top. It didn't follow the egg design in the games, where it would have been tan with green spots, but rather matched the species it would hatch into. As a Fairy Type specialist, even if I didn't already know what Pokémon egg I would be receiving, I would have been able to easily recognize it as the egg of a Galarian Ponyta. The egg was stored within a high-tech cushioned incubator with glass sides, letting me see within.

It was situated so it wouldn't rock, but I would still need to be careful handling the case. I briefly made a mental note to call Steven's assistant for a grooming kit and carefully took the case as Norman handed it to me. I was excited about the egg, but at the same time nervous about bringing it with me due to how fragile it was.

"Thank you for storing it and giving it to me. Would you still have passed it over if I had lost?" Norman chuckled.

"With your team, I doubt you would have. Your growth is impressive, whatever happened to you in the past month must have been a great training experience."

"I met a lot of wonderful people," I said while smiling. Norman smiled back. This was the first time I had ever seen his face have a happy emotion outside of a battle.

"That's great. Now then, I believe you have a journey to continue?" he asked. We said our last goodbyes and left the greenhouse. He escorted me back to the field, where I left the property through the dojo and collected my winnings from the Gym Trainer out front. With a new badge in my pocket and an egg in hand, it was time to return to the Pokémon Center. My Pokémon needed to be healed, and I wanted to call my friends to tell them the good news.