Chương 98: Chapter 96

I would say training went well, except for the fact I didn't actually spend my time dedicatedly training my team. As it stood, we had our actual Gym Battle coming up, where Ponyta, Dedenne, and Carbink needed to compete. Ninetales, Mawile, and Whimsicott would sit this one out in favor of the newer members, but Ralts was still too new to actually participate. I still needed him, alongside the other three, to gain the battle experience they needed, however. The focus was on Dedenne and Carbink.

Ponyta technically needed experience as well, but he had been raised alongside my other team members and was itching to compete in an actual battle. The other two, on the other hand, either spent their lives in the relative safety of the streets of Lumiose, or the isolated caverns of the Diamond Domain. Even Ralts had more experience than them, although he was clearly weaker due to obvious younger age.

(I talked to Carbink about it once, and while they didn't really understand the concept of years, I was pretty sure they were older than most people alive.) Oreburgh city was ripe with new trainers, although they wouldn't be much help. I already knew from the battles on Route 203 that my team was much more skilled than the new trainers just starting out, so battling any of them wasn't actually that helpful of practice.

Instead of putting the effort into finding a decent opponent, I decided to resort to something that I hadn't done in a long time: jobs. I admit, I was half motivated by guilt after being reminded of their existence by the Jubilife Pokémon Center nurse. I had stopped doing them once I started having enough money to sustain my team, but they were part of the reason Pokémon trainers were so encouraged.

It took a lot of manpower to deal with the constant, small problems wild Pokémon caused, and jobs were a way to recruit trainers to deal with them. It was expected that trainers would take care of them as they traveled, but I just hadn't been bothering.

To be fair, I had only stopped doing them when I was being forced to deal with the remnants of Team Magma, the consequences of sharing my information with Steven (and making the world a better place as a result), as well as practically everything that happened in Kalos. The big stuff had made me lose track of the small stuff. However, now was the perfect time to make use of them, while also helping me get rid of my guilt.

So, I went ahead and started to choose from the slim pickings that were left from the other numerous trainers in the city to use to train my Pokémon. A lot of the jobs were simple; they were just small tasks the locals needed help with. They were things like moving some heavy furniture around, digging up a field, creating some ice cubes (I only took that one at Ninetales's request), as well as breaking some large rocks in a pile on behalf of the local mine.

These jobs really just let my team practice their moves in a new, unique way, but it was the jobs that dealt with wild Pokémon that my team really benefited from. They didn't come up too often, and when they did, they were generally quickly snatched up, but I managed to get a few of them for my team. The first wild Pokémon job we took was to break up a newly formed "Fighting Type Fight Club."

Essentially, a few wild Machop, led by a wild Machoke, had started to use a flat area near the mines to beat the shit out of each other. It was one of the ways wild Fighting Types trained, but it had the consequence of forcing miners to avoid that area. The miners' Pokémon weren't trained for battle, so they had been needing to stay away. That was slightly slowing down the output of the mine, and while it was fine for now, the wild Pokémon needed to be scared away before too long had passed.

Since the club only consisted of Fighting Types, diplomacy wasn't an option. We just walked up to them, clearly stated our demands, and immediately started to battle. Dedenne's Electroweb was layered over the ground, slowing down most of their movement, and he began to run between their legs to paralyze them before they got close with Nuzzle. Carbink floated forward and started to repeat their name over and over again in one of their speeches, taunting the Machop to get close, and tanking their hits.

With the majority of the group being handled by those two, Ralts teleported around to pick up the stragglers, literally. When they were weakened, he caught them off guard with Confusion and threw them away. As Fighting Types, there was nothing they could do against his Psychic Type attacks. The leader, a Machoke, was immediately taken on by Ponyta and beaten into a miserable pulp. For a wild Pokémon, it was surprisingly tenacious, but Ponyta had been trained long enough to recognize all of its tricks.

Its punches, feints, blocks, and entire body crashes were useless in the face of his tested-and-true strategy, running away. Machoke was unable to reach Ponyta with anything it did as Ponyta peppered it with Psybeams and Fairy Winds, finishing it off with a Confusion that brought it to the ground. Machoke didn't faint, but it knew when it was beaten. A little annoyed at its inability to land a punch, it nodded respectfully at Ponyta, then shouted at the Machop to get them to leave.

For a horde battle that had only been moderately planned for, this job went pretty well. None of the other jobs that dealt with wild Pokémon were that exciting. We scared off a pair of Gligar who were trying to build a nest near the northeastern exit to Route 207, we convinced a Graveler to not roll down the hill towards the town, and we managed to lead a small ground of wild Phanpy and Donphan back towards their off-route territory they accidentally strayed from.

That one wasn't a job, merely something we encountered on the way back to town after a different one, but a passing Pokémon Ranger gave us credit. I thought we would have more time to do jobs, but after only four days of training (meaning five days after the show battle), I was suddenly informed we would be having our Gym Battle that day. A trainer had canceled at the last minute, giving us an open slot to fill.

Since I was still staying in the Gym, that slot was handed out first come, first serve, and I had been the only one to be there since the previous night. It was a bit nepotistic, but it was still technically allowed. Ash was in the audience. His eyes went wide when he saw me walk in, and started to shout excitedly to get my attention. As a result, the few people casually watching Gym Battles today turned my way and immediately recognized me from the show battle.

I saw their tired eyes brighten in response, and many of them sat up straighter or stood up to get a better view of the impending battle. I waved at everyone and made sure to give Ash a polite smile. I needed to start worrying about appearances due to my newfound "fame," which meant no grimacing from nerves. The custom set of outfits I got from Valerie were paying off, however, since the people were already recognizing me, and I didn't even need to wear an uncomfortable outfit to make that happen.

(Since it was slightly warmer today due to the summer month, I was only wearing a long-sleeved shirt and vest, with no coat or jacket. The designs on the vest as well as this pair of pants were probably the most identifying pieces of what I was wearing. The ability to mix and match meant that, no matter what, I was identifiable as Alex, Fairy Type specialist.) For the Gym itself, the arena was pretty basic: a simple, dark battlefield with stone-gray raised seating on each side.

The walls were undecorated, making the room seem more like a training room than anything else, but Roark was clearly there on the other side with a gray sweatshirt-wearing referee on the side. I knew from the occasional conversation I had with Roark that he'd start with a Pokémon from his two-star team, and adjust the strength of what he sent out based on my Pokémon's strength.

None of the Pokémon I planned to use today had actually participated in a Gym before, so he needed to test their strength to give us a proper battle. He spoke up once I found my spot on the challenger's side of the field.

"Ready to battle again, Alex? Maybe this time I can pull off a proper win," Roark taunted.

"Probably not," I chuckled.

"My current team is strong for their level." Roark laughed at that basic banter and waved to the ref to start. I stopped him before he could, however.

"Wait. I have a new member of my team that I'd like to keep out so they can watch. Is that fine?"

"Go ahead. I have no objections," Roark said. Ralts appeared by my side from his Nest Ball, and I kneeled down to better meet his eye level and talk to him.

"I'd like you to keep an eye on this battle. Do you remember how you were fighting on Route 203?" Ralts nodded.

"Good. Remember the level of force these Pokémon use, as well as when each side recognizes its time to give up. Battling to win is fine, but I'd say it's just as important to know how to lose. I don't want you pushing yourself as much as before and getting hurt again." Ralts frowned but didn't decline my suggestion. I stood up and gestured that we were ready.

"This will be a three on three battle between Challenger Alex and Gym Leader Roark," the referee shouted.

"The battle will end once one side has no Pokémon left that are able to battle. Each trainer will send one Pokémon out at a time, and there are no limits on switching. Non-consumable held items are disallowed. Trainers, are you ready?" I had to pause and briefly try to recall if I had given Ponyta, Dedenne, or Carbink any held items. The only held item any of them should have would be whatever food Dedenne managed to scavenge and store for later in his Cheek Pouch, so we should be fine.

The no limits on switching must be a subtle trick by Roark to try to get challengers to be hurt by any entry hazards he sets up. I know that we didn't use any in our show battle, but I'm also pretty sure that he really likes setting up Stealth Rocks. The no held item rule is interesting. I didn't know he had a way for him to not need to worry about Heavy Duty Boots? I can't think of it applying to anything else.

Regardless of my thoughts on the rules, we were both ready to go, so the referee swung down their arms and had us begin.

"Ponyta, let's do this!"

"Rock 'em, Geodude!" As the Psychic Type unicorn and boulder with arms took the field, Roark and I gave our commands.

"Stealth Rock," Roark immediately ordered.

"Psybeam," I stated. Geodude dug its fists into the ground to grab loose pebbles buried within, crushed them in its hands, then tossed the now-spiky rocks to coat my side of the field. Despite the flat field, they quickly disappeared from view as the move caused them to dig down and blend into the terrain. It managed to use that move relatively quickly, as Ponyta needed a moment to aim his Psybeam.

The psychedelic beam of light only barely missed as the Rock Type pushed off the ground with its arms to throw itself out of the way. In response, Roark yelled out "Rock Throw!" and Geodude dug its arms back in the dirt to compress and chuck a mass of earth. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Anti-air!" I shouted in response. Ponyta, with his horn still glowing, snapped his head towards the flying projectile and burst it with Psybeam as if he was attacking a clay pigeon. Roark hummed when he saw that.

"Interesting. I suppose ranged attacks won't work, then. Geodude, use Rock Polish and Defense Curl. You know what to do next," he commanded. Geodude brought its stone arms up close and it swiped them over its body, breaking off chunks of its uneven, rocky surface to make itself significantly smoother. It wasn't perfect, but when it pulled its arms in tight, the Geodude actually matched a sphere pretty well. With that done, it started to roll forward.

Ponyta had been building up speed while it was setting up, so the Rock Type began to roll after him in an attempt to use Rollout. However, when it came to staying away from opponents, Ponyta couldn't be matched. His ability, Run Away, meant he was an expert at escaping fights. Just like the Machoke, Geodude was unable to actually reach Ponyta to land its attack, and even in the moments it suddenly sped up, Ponyta easily just used Agility to run away even faster.

They moved around the field in a circle, just like that. After a bit longer of Geodude chasing its opponent, I decided that Ponyta had had his fun.

"That's enough for now, Ponyta. Pick it up with Confusion." Ponyta slowed ever so slightly to let Geodude get close, but instead of crashing into Ponyta, it was lifted up into the air. Shocked, it unwrapped itself as the Psychic Type move twisted the space around its body, hurting it and sending small pebbles from its body to the ground, but it was unable to do anything to escape.

"Finish it," I ordered. At my command, Geodude was slammed into the ground so hard it was actually pressed into a dent in the field. Eyes spiraling, it tried to push itself back up to escape, but Ponyta just leaped up and landed hooves first on its face to deal the last bit of damage to knock it out. He trotted away, satisfied at a battle well won. I was a little nervous. That move he used, Stomp, wasn't something we had practiced before, but it did remind me a bit of Azumarill's brutality.

I guess he picked up more from her than I thought. Roark returned his Pokémon. He might have lost the first round easily enough, but he didn't look bothered in the slightest. His hand drifted past two Pokéballs on his belt to grab the fourth in the row. He proceeded to chuck that one forward.

"A two-star team clearly wouldn't be enough. Try this on for size: a four-star Onix!" Surprised by the sudden jump in difficulty, I ordered Ponyta to back off as the rock snake appeared on the field. The massive being of connected boulders towered over the relatively small Psychic Type, going as far as to unleash a roar to announce its presence. The moment the battle resumed, Onix lifted up its tail to try to hit Ponyta with a Slam.

The attack only barely missed thanks to Ponyta enhancing his speed with Agility and leaping to the side.

"Charm!" I shouted hurriedly. Ponyta's eyes flashed pink and the next time Onix lifted up its tail, the attack came down a bit slower. Ponyta dodged a lot easier. That made me less worried about his chances, but Roark must have realized that as well, as he quickly changed up what Onix was doing.

"Don't let it run! Bind!" Onix took up too much of the field for Ponyta to properly escape, and even though Ponyta massively outsped it, Onix lunged forward and positioned itself just right to begin to wrap itself around Ponyta, binding him in place. I returned him to his Dream Ball before the attack connected. Onix tightened around nothing. Roark just chuckled, unbothered that the attack missed.

Coming out to replace Ponyta was Carbink, and as they appeared, the spikey, hidden Stealth Rocks were suddenly launched straight at them. While the entry hazard easily hit Carbink's body, all the trap managed to do was scuff and chip their rocky surface, barely hurting them at all. However, with Carbink now present on the field, Onix followed through and repeated its action from before once the battle resumed, and Carbink was quickly tied up by its much larger body. They let out a cry of surprise.

"Ancient Power," I said quickly.

"Onix can't hurt you. Wear it down until victory." Their eyes no longer as wide in surprise, Carbink conjured a few stones in the air around them with Rock Type energy and immediately controlled them to attack. Surrounded by ancient, purple energy, the Ancient Power slammed into Onix's body. The move barely even chipped its surface. Annoyed by the weak attacks, Onix squeezed harder (neither Carbink nor I had realized it had even been squeezing before), but Carbink was practically unharmed by its tight coil.

It continued to squeeze as Carbink continued to attack, but nothing was working.

"Keep it up! Try Smack Down!" I ordered. Onix was getting annoyed at just how defensively powerful (though offensively weak) Carbink was. It roared at Carbink, to little effect, only for a chunk of rock to hit its face and stun it out of its yell. Onix blinked, opened its mouth again to yell its name again, and a second Smack Down hit its cheek. Neither attack had actually hurt it, but they did succeed in making it angry.

Glaring at Carbink, it opened its mouth to release an absolute gout of searing flame from Dragon Breath. I heard the sound of Roark slapping his forehead from across the room.

"It's a Fairy Type, Onix." The massive snake stopped its attack, revealing that Carbink was completely unharmed. In reaction, they hit Onix in the face with a third Smack Down, then went back to hitting its serpentine body with Ancient Power, which was actually chipping the Rock Type's stony exterior, unlike the other move. The less said about the following battle, the better. The thing about Carbink was that their attacks were weak, but their body was nigh-impenetrable.

Onix was similar, but its attacks actually had less force than expected behind them, the species not having the muscle to properly train, and relying on their weight instead. As a result, the pair of defensive Rock Types went at it for a long time, Onix holding Carbink in place and squeezing with Bind, and Carbink chipping away at Onix with Ancient Power.

There were a few points where Onix tried to hurt Carbink with other moves, but Carbink was able to defend themself with Reflect and Light Screen, stopping the Rock Slide from falling above, and the sand from Sand Tomb from completely encompassing them. I stopped paying attention to the time about five minutes in, and I stopped giving orders as well. Both Pokémon were too invested to recall without offending them, so Roark and I waited for the outcome of the battle.

One member of the audience stepped away to use the bathroom and came back before the battle was finished.

"When I said to keep an eye on the level of force used in this battle, maybe don't base your observations on this fight," I said to Ralts. He nodded. Eventually, and I really mean, eventually, Carbink's Ancient Power had worn Onix down enough that one last tired, exhausted use of it smacked it across its face and caused it to faint. Roark and I both recalled our Pokémon. Carbink might have won, but they were now far too tired to continue. At least this gave them good practice.

Up next was Roark's Cranidos, and I sent out my last team member, Dedenne. Dedenne's only attacking moves were Electric Type, which meant that he wouldn't have been able to damage either Geodude or Onix due to their Ground Typing. Since Cranidos was a pure Rock Type, as well as a Pokémon I expected to see, I had purposely saved him for this match in particular to let him actually contribute. This was his only chance to fight. As soon as he appeared, Dedenne puffed up aggressively on the field.

The small-yet-decently-larger Cranidos just scoffed at the sight of the rodent trying to threaten it, choosing to scrape the ground with one of its clawed feet to ready itself instead. Dedenne was then immediately hit by the Stealth Rocks launching themselves at his position. He squeaked, caught off guard by the entry hazard, and was partially scuffed up. Cranidos chortled at his injuries. The referee called for the match to resume.

"Weaken it first. Use Charm," I said. Roark didn't give any orders as Cranidos immediately began to charge forward. As it did so, Dedenne tried to Charm it with the biggest, cutest eyes he could muster, but Cranidos had already averted its eyes and didn't see the move being used. Dedenne, with his lack of experience in battles, tried to use the move much longer than necessary.

Since Cranidos was faster than he expected, the dinosaur slammed its head right into Dedenne's stomach with Headbutt and brought its domed skull back as it did so, knocking Dedenne into the air.

"Again!" Roark ordered.

"Let it hit with Endure," I yelled.

"Grab and Nuzzle!" As Dedenne fell, he brought his limbs inwards, closed his eyes, and tensed his entire body as hard as he could. Cranidos used Headbutt a second time to land a hit to Dedenne's stomach, but rather than fainting to the back-to-back, powerful attacks, Dedenne just barely held on to consciousness thanks to Endure, then proceeded to hold on to Cranidos's head itself. The Rock Type's eyes widened, and it ran around, shaking its head wildly to try to get Dedenne off.

On a completely flat field, there was nothing it could do, so Dedenne used this brief moment to breathe and catch his breath. Right when Cranidos realized it could slam its head against the ground, Dedenne finally unleashed his attack, rubbing his cheek against Cranidos and sending sparks of electricity through Cranidos's body. The ancient Pokémon stilled, paralyzed by the move, and Dedenne immediately hopped off to get some distance.

He started to chew, eating the food he had stored with Cheek Pouch to give him some energy and recover from the damage just took. While Cranidos was still strong enough to most likely faint Dedenne in its next attack, the brief recovery was enough to get him back into decent battle condition. Roark gave Cranidos a new command while Dedenne was recovering from his damage.

"Focus Energy. Try to work through the paralysis," Roark instructed. Cranidos closed its eyes to do as it was told, trying its best to prepare itself for both movement and attacking. This went on for a few moments while Dedenne healed, but seeing his opponent stock-still and clearly distracted, he cheekily zapped Cranidos with a weak but annoying Thunder Shock to bring it out of its focus, making it lose its balance.

Its paralysis acted up at just the wrong moment, and Cranidos fell to the floor, chin impacting the dirt floor. Its eyes had closed from that impact, but when it opened them back up, Dedenne was standing right in front of it. He stood over the prone Rock Type haughtily, staring down at it and enjoying the new difference in height. Dedenne even went as far as to cover his mouth to let loose a chittering laugh, mimicking the same motions a lady of nobility might do to mock someone. Cranidos glared at him angrily.

I wasn't going to give it a chance to react.

"Discharge!" Hearing my command, Dedenne grinned and built up every bit of electricity in his body. It was gathered in moments, and once it was done, he released it in a burst that extended out from him. Since Cranidos was right there in front of him, it received the brunt of the Electric Type move, taking critical damage. Dedenne looked more than pleased. Unfortunately, Cranidos was still conscious.

"Headbutt, now!" Roark yelled. Lunging forward, Cranidos used its large, back legs to bring its entire body up in an attack against Dedenne. Dedenne squeaked with surprise and tried to run, but Cranidos rather sloppily followed. Due to his proximity to the Rock Type, there wasn't really a chase and Cranidos smashed into the poor little rodent. However, I noticed the attack wasn't a Headbutt, but a Take Down. Cranidos's paralysis meant it wasn't able to properly aim its head to attack.

The pair of Pokémon went tumbling forward, crashing into the ground together in a tangle of limbs, tails, and whiskers. A bit of dirt was kicked in the air, but not enough to actually obscure the field as the outcome was revealed. Dedenne had fainted from the attack, Cranidos's raw power being too much for the tiny Pokémon to handle. However, the recoil from the Take Down meant Cranidos suffered that last bit of damage to hurt and exhaust itself into not being able to get back up, meaning it had fainted as well.

We had won the battle.... Only kind of. Ralts shared my opinion with a scoff as I returned Dedenne. While my team had won, there was room for some massive improvements in my team. Ponyta was incredible like always, but Carbink and Dedenne definitely needed more experience. First off, Carbink's attacks were far too weak. Their defense was amazing, like always, but they didn't know any moves that would actually cause their opponents to weaken over time.

They'd be a good pair with Whimsicott, with Poison Powder and Leech Seed wearing down their foes as Carbink stalled, but they didn't have anything to use themself to hurt their foes. I needed to think of a way for them to more easily handle their foes. Dedenne, on the other hand, had all the tools to be decent in battle, but he didn't have the right mindset.

He wasn't serious enough about it, leading to a series of mistakes that turned a fight he could have won with a bit of effort, into a fight that ended in a tie. It'd go away with more practice, but I also needed to consider moves that weren't Electric Type for him to learn. He can't learn Moonblast, but perhaps Dazzling Gleam would be helpful? That'd certainly be a way he could throw off attacks coming his way.

With the battle over, Ralts was no longer interested in watching, so I returned him to his Nest Ball, and started to make my way to Roark in the center of the field.

"That was a good fight, Alex. I'd say between those three, you have a decent four star team, but only just barely. Onix was the second strongest Pokémon I brought, with Cranidos being slightly weaker. I also have to thank you, by the way. You've exposed a flaw in my strategy in that Onix doesn't have a way to take care of bulky opponents. Not many people use purely defensive Pokémon like Carbink against us." I chuckled at that comment and shook my head exasperatedly when I remembered that match.

"Yeah, that... took a while. I appreciate you helping me out with a place to stay these last few days, too. Both battles were really fun." After thanking him, I turned to go, but Roark interrupted me by clearing his throat. Facing him again, he had a confused yet amused expression on his face, and his hand paused in his pocket.

"Uh, Alex? Aren't you forgetting something?" I resisted palming my face. People were still watching.

"Shoot," I said embarrassed, managing to condense my reaction to just that.

"Yeah, sorry. It's been a while since I actually battled for a badge." Roark laughed, then finished reaching into his pocket to pull out a bronze pin shaped like a Pokéball with a boulder in the center of it.

"This is a Coal Badge. Obtaining it symbolizes your victory over me. Your Pokémon are strong, Alex. I look forward to seeing how your future battles go from here." With that, I actually left the room, intent on going to the Pokémon Center. I thought that would be it for Oreburgh, but of course, Ash was in the lobby to greet me as I left. Dawn and Brock weren't present, most likely still waiting in the audience back in the main battlefield.

"That was great, Alex!" he said.

"You sure have a lot of Fairy Types." Pikachu, on his shoulder, also made a few happy noises. I assumed he was complimenting me as well.

"Thank you, Ash, Pikachu. As for my team, yes and no. You've actually seen all the Pokémon I've caught at this point. I have ten total that I'm rotating through to make sure they all get the experience." Ash rubbed the back of his head, his eyes wide with amazement.

"That's really impressive," he said.

"It's difficult, too. Anyway, Ash, my Pokémon need to be healed at the Pokémon Center, so I can't stay to talk longer."

"Oh, yeah! Sorry about that Alex, didn't mean to stop you there. I've got to go, too. That Onix fight took long enough that my own battle is coming up soon. I'm scheduled to go right after you, y'know." I paused.

"... Good luck," I said slowly.

"We won't need it! My Pokémon and I will be sure to beat Roark! Just you wait!" We parted ways and I left the Gym, heading to the Pokémon like I said. However, Ash's comment about the schedule was stuck in my mind. In Ash's first battle with Roark in the anime, Paul actually went ahead of him. I know I've already changed things, but with what's been holding up, I would have thought that Paul would still fight right before him. Was he the trainer that canceled?

As I headed back to the Pokémon Center, all I could think about was if what I said to Paul earlier this week affected him more than I thought.