--- My Victory of Delft Town Gym (by Michael Keens/ Exodus) --- Its been a different sort of week, Tetsubo and that mysterious girl from Vermilion (Abby) had got caught up in Canary Village, where I got my hands on Bob, my new Snorlax. I had agreed to travel with them for a little while and I figured it’d be nice to have friends, unfortunately, I wasn’t ready to tell of my past, especially after the incident at Duplica’s Mansion. While Tetsubo, Abby and Duplica had gone to rescue her Ditto, I was in charge of the mansion and earlier, I had come across a gold nugget in Tetsubo’s bag, it seemed dirty and old and not of any value to him, so I took it, I could reach a high price with such a rare object, and if he wasn’t willing to do something with it, I was. I knew it was wrong, but I was sure he’d understand, he caught on to Casey, but not of her significance to me or what was actually wrong with her, perhaps I’d tell him someday. The incident in the Delft Town mountains had left Shard weakened, after almost drowning and then using the last of his strength to burrow through a mountain. Tetsubo overheard my conversation with Professor Yew and I wasn’t too happy about it, I thought he might know about the nugget I took from him, but he was more interested in my past to catch on, I revealed that I was an orphan and he eased my worries about Shard. His first Pokémon, the Staryu was once close to death too, but his quick thinking and compassion saved it, I had to have faith like him. He soon left for his Gym Battle and then Abby wanted a talk, a strange thing when it concerned this girl, but she opened up to me, as hard as it was for her, and I returned the favour. She had lost her memories and become a completely different person, she started out cold and ruthless, a little like me in my darker days, but she had bravely fought on through the pressures of homelessness and lack of friends, family and memories. She was entering the League in the rare hope that her being on television would attract her parents to her. I have to admit she’s more mature than she looks, but I suppose she had to, travelling all by herself with barely any money. In return, I told her all about me, provided she didn’t share it with Tetsubo, we were similar, looking to enter the League for unselfish reasons, not like Tetsubo, though not battling for money, battling for the glory of winning was equally as selfish. She really helped me take my mind off my own problems and look at things from another perspective. I was happy to count Abby as one of my friends. Shard turned out okay, just like Yew and Tetsubo had said, but still, I wouldn’t use him in the Gym Battle. I managed to get by Tetsubo without him seeing me, as I think he was getting suspicious. I’d decided that it was time to move on and get back to moneymaking, without anyone to question me or slow me down, I had to prepare for the alternative scenario, not winning the League. After meeting Tetsubo and Abby, I’d seen that they were worthy trainers that might actually beat me, if that was so, I’d have to double my efforts and make all of the money through battles, though it seemed an impossible task. I put those thoughts out of my head, I had to attempt the League, and to do so I needed eight Gym Badges, the sooner I got those, the sooner I could concentrate on battling trainers for money again. Lorelai stood ready, in a blue coat and black skirt, her purple hair was totally visible now, some strands hanging over her face and sides, and a lot of hair was tied in a short pony-tail. “Glad to see you again Scott.” she said politely, “How’s your Onix.” “He’ll be fine, but I shan’t allow him to battle today.” I said firmly. “That’s understandable, you give him my thanks, we might not have made it out without him.” “I will, after I win a Gym Badge.” “My, you’re confident, if you’re anything like Tetsubo then I’m expecting a worthy battle.” smiled Lorelai. “I’m very different compared to Tetsubo, you can expect far greater a battle.” I replied with a smirk. “Three-on-three, I choose Lapras!” “Go for it Bob.” “La-Pras!” squealed the Lapras as it landed in the small pool of water within a small area of the ice field. Bob appeared on the ice and surprisingly, he didn’t break through it. He had had another meal to make up for lost stamina at the mountain and was ready to burn it off with a battle. He lay on the arena floor, almost snoozing, but he was a valuable Pokémon under my tutelage, under my instructions, he’d get up and flaunt his amazing power, all for a little food at the end of the day. “Lapras, use your Water Gun!” “Bob, use Amnesia!” “Snor...” he said, scratching his head, he then glowed blue and was strong enough to repel the water blast. Lorelai shuddered a little, “Use Body Slam!” “Defense Curl!” Bob was rocked by the Lapras and groaned a little, I wouldn’t underestimate her strength anymore. “Harden.” Bob glowed gold and his defense skyrocketed, and including his body fat, he was nearly invincible, the Lapras hit Bob but bounced off with a sore head. Bob just smiled as he lay down on the icy floor. “You’re doing great, Bob.” I called. “Snorlax.” “Lapras, use Confuse Ray!” “La-Pras!” “Rest!” He quickly fell asleep and restored what little health he had lost, the ray had no effect while he was sleeping. “Our only chance, use your Hydro Pump!” shouted Lorelai. “La-Pras!” A large jet of water blasted from the Lapras’s mouth but it only splashed Bob and woke him up, health up to full. “Hyper Beam.” I smiled. “LAX!!!” he shouted, charging a beam from his very mouth, a golden shiny beam burst out and surrounded the Lapras in a flashing explosion. “Pras...” it groaned, it wasn’t down yet. “Another Hydro Pump!” “Double Edge.” It took some time to recover but Bob soon stepped towards the Lapras slowly so as not to crush the ice. “Pras?!” screamed the Lapras as Bob charged forward and tackled it. “Finish it off with Body Slam!” “Lax!” smiled Bob, and loomed over the Lapras. “Pras?...” said the Lapras nervously, before it was crushed. Bob was bigger than the Lapras and the hole it was in, he stretched out and touched the floor so that he could pick himself up, the Lapras rose up unconscious. “Good going Bob!” I yelled. “Immovable and invincible?... I’ll have to use Jynx.” “Jynx...” she said cautiously. “Bob, use your Head Butt.” “Blizzard!” shouted Lorelai, and a storm of ice was summoned to engulf Bob, he tried to fight against it, but it formed around his body, he was frozen, in body and mind, and was useless now. “Return, Bob. You got the ball rolling, Kindle can follow up.” I said recalling and replacing him. “Magmar...” “Go for it Kindle! Flamethrower!” He’d gone through intense training to use this powerful flame attack, he shot forward, aim straight and true, and blasted the Jynx. “Jynx...” she groaned and then struck forward with an icy hand. “Counter it with Fire Punch!” “Mar!” “Jynx!” The two fists connected and of course, fire prevailed and conducted with the Jynx and swept up her body. “JjjjjYYyYYnNNnXXxxX!!!” she screamed as her hand was set on fire, she hurried towards the pool and extinguished the flames, Kindle smiled. “Ember!” A fireball was blasted towards the Jynx, not at it, but under it, the ice shattered and Jynx fell in. “Good work Kindle.” “Use Psychic attack!” shouted Lorelai, I gasped and Kindle looked shocked as the icy floor underneath him broke away and rose quickly. The Jynx followed with evil glowing eyes and floated up before raising her hands, and the platform. Kindle was thrown upwards and a nasty crunching sound followed as the platform crushed Kindle against the hard crystal roof, he fell down at an angle and so hit the ice floor pretty hard, it started to crack and he quickly pulled himself back together and leapt off the collapsing area. He started to pant, Jynx’s Psychic side was still a big factor despite the Ice weakness to Fire attacks. “Jynx! use your Lovely Kiss!” “Confuse Ray!” She floated into the air and swooped down menacingly, Kindle’s eyes glowed but she dived too low for it to affect her, Kindle looked deep in thought. “Jynx!” she said before kissing my Magmar with its magical lips. “Jynx.” she smiled, as did Kindle, who let loose another Confuse Ray. “Mag...” “Jynx...” panicked Jynx and then went into a state of confusion, meanwhile, Kindle quickly drifted to sleep. “Jynx, shake it off!” “Jynx!” she said as if half drunk, and slapped Kindle hard. “Jynx! No!” shouted Lorelai, but it was too late, Kindle was awake now. “Fire Blast!” I shouted, she was a sitting duck for this attack and her goose would soon be cooked. “Mag-Mar!” A huge explosion followed and Jynx fell out totally burnt. “Very nice Scott, lovely I might add, but I can still win this back. Go Cloyster.” “Cllloysterrr...” “A Water-type...” I groaned. “Water Gun.” called Lorelai. Kindle was blasted by five jets and was catapulted into one of the many holes in the arena, he crawled out as quickly as he could and immediately fainted. “Who should I choose? Raichi’s the obvious choice, but its too predictable, besides, Cloyster has that shell to repel attacks, I need power. Go for it Dragoon.” I thought out loud. “Nairrr!!!” he wailed. Lorelai looked concerned yet confident. “Withdraw.” “Leer!” “Nair...” growled Dragoon and the Cloyster couldn’t shut, it was frozen with fear. “Now go! Slam attack!” Dragoon smashed itself into the black inner orb, the Cloyster recovered after that. “Use your Ice Beam!” “Nair!” squealed Dragoon, panicking and moving quickly to twist around the beam, part of it caught its tail and shattered its decorative bells. That got him mad, he treasured those things and, as far as I could tell, he wasn’t going to get another, just like a Marowak with its bone or a Farfetch’d with its leak. “Nair!” he roared and flung himself forward, blind to the possible danger for a shot at its enemy. “Hyper Beam attack!” “Dragon... Nair!!!” he squealed, quickly charging the beam and firing. “Cloy?!” questioned the Cloyster, but it was too late and it was engulfed in the blast. “That should do it.” I thought, “Even with its defense.” The beam cleared and Dragoon was tired. “Nair...” he panted, and then was forced back as the Cloyster tackled him, still inside its shell since defending against Hyper Beam. “Clamp it!” “Wrap attack!” Dragoon flew towards the Cloyster, and then backed away as it slammed its shell shut, he twisted around it and forced it inside by tying his body around its shell. “Supersonic!” A piercing cry sent shivers through me and drove Dragoon wild, forcing him to back away. “Clamp it!” shouted Lorelai and the Cloyster flew at Dragoon looking to crush it between its shell. “Thunder Wave!” Dragoon flew down as the Cloyster slammed shut, his tail was trapped. “Now Aurora Beam!” A spinning attachment to the shell aimed at Dragoon, but he braced the pain of his crushed tail and sent a powerful jolt into the Cloyster, forcing it open. “Ice Beam attack!” shouted Lorelai. “You too!” I shouted, I could see I needed to use one of my secret moves again. The beams connected and fought against each other, but a static charge from Cloyster caused it to lose concentration, Dragoon won and the ice formed and hardened inside of Cloyster’s shell, it was stuck open. “Finish it!” I shouted dramatically, “With one last Hyper Beam!” “Dragon-NAIR!!!” screamed Dragoon, and the Cloyster was subjected to everything that he had to offer. The match was over, and my Dragonair chose to evolve... “Bo Boooargh!!!” wailed my new Dragonite happily. “Alright!” I yelled, running across the field and giving my ‘newest’ Pokémon a brotherly hug, “You were great! No one will stop us now!” Lorelai smiled and walked over to us with a spiky blue badge. “Here is the Cold Badge, beating Ice Pokémon with a Dragon-type is rare, but just don’t do it again, now that its a Dragonite, it gains properties of the Flying-type Pokémon, Ice attacks will be double effective now.” “Thanks Lorelai, thank you so much for that battle.” I said happily. “Its a pleasure to be the one that evolves a fellow trainer’s Pokémon. I wish you good luck on your journey.” I left the Gym and released Dragoon, one of the Pokémon that I kept away from Tetsubo’s prying eyes, Kindle and Lancer were tough anti-social Pokémon that didn’t need any of Tetsubo’s good natured talks or lectures, just me and some occasional care, and Dragoon didn’t trust too many people anyway. “Bo, Booargh!” he yelled, outstretching his wings. “Are you sure you’re ready to fly me?” “Boargh!” he shouted happily. I mounted my new Dragonite and he flapped his wings, beating down the air, I prepared myself for a fast ride, maybe I’d head towards Terracotta City and battle some trainers there, before Tetsubo arrived, or maybe- “Scott?!” I heard Tetsubo yell as Dragoon lifted into the air. “Bo Booorrrgghhh!!!” wailed Dragoon. “Scott! Get down here! Bring back my nugget!” he yelled. I looked back at him and gave him one of my old smiles that I used to give him, the kind that showed a smirk and a confident and mysterious look, one that generally annoyed him, and waved my hand lightly as if to say I wouldn’t and I didn’t care, Dragoon took off and I caught a glimpse of Abby before I left. Surely she’d kept my secret safe, and after I saved my sis, I’d help out Abby with her problem. I was pretty sure that the next time I saw Tetsubo, he’d either: A) forgive me for stealing from him and let it go, or: B) still be mad at me and do something unpredictable. Oh well, it was something I kind of looked forward to seeing the result of, life was full of surprises and there were sure to be many more to come... --- Abby's Seventh Gym Battle Emily’s Seventh Gym Battle Back to the Side Stories Back to the Pokézone