--- My Victory of Sky City Gym (by Michael Keens/ Exodus) --- After leaving Tet’, I went back to going it alone, with good reason, I couldn’t battle for money with people looking over my shoulder and acting like my second conscience. Abby knew the truth about my quest as I did about her life, and Tetsubo had got a hint of my true purpose, and so staying with them would only slow me down. Even though I’d worked really hard to make money through Pokémon Battles, I hadn’t made enough to cover my sister’s operation, it was starting to look like I’d have to win the Pokémon League after all, and that still wouldn’t be enough unless I continued to battle with no goofing off, and no teaming up, it would just be me and my Pokémon from now on. The reason I bring this up again is because Casey wasn’t doing as good as she started out, I’d checked in with the hospital, who told me her life was slowly ebbing away, and shortly after the League, there might not be anyone to save, just an empty shell. I wouldn’t let that happen, if I wasn’t battling for money, I’d be training my Pokémon, or resting when it was necessary (when the Pokémon were checking in to a Pokémon Centre to rest for the night), I know this might be putting some strain on the Pokémon, but they didn’t want to see Casey fade away any more than I did, some had offered to help me raise the money for her, others had been caught, and adjusted to this lifestyle. Casey’s too important to me now that my parents are gone. I was enjoying training Dragoon in the skies, trying out aerial manoeuvres, strafing, corkscrews, barrel rolls, and loop the loops, flying was important to a Dragonite and any skills he could pick up to be used in battle were worth training for. Meanwhile, a mysterious man sat on a Dragonite of his very own and watched me with a dark stare. “Could they be as good as... Him?...” “Boooargh!” screamed Dragoon happily, we’d come such a long way since Grey Town and been through so much, I wouldn’t trade this Pokémon for the world. Suddenly something jetted past us and Dragoon stopped and flapped its wings to stay stationary. The mysterious figures floated down in front of us, a man with dark spiky hair, a dark green costume and a green cape was riding a Dragonite of his own. “You there, are you a trainer, or do you just like Dragon-type Pokémon?” he called out to me. “What do you think?” I asked, opening my trenchcoat to reveal the badges and Pokéballs attached to the insides. “How many badges do you have?” he asked. “Seven!” I shouted. “In that case, would you be interested in a Gym Battle more challenging than anything you’ve faced so far?” “Sure.” “Then come with me...” The Dragonite took off swiftly. “Don’t lose him Dragoon.” I said, and he shot down towards the other Dragonite. We caught up and flew by its side. “That Dragonite, I was wondering how powerful it is, and if its as good as another I know of.” said the mystery man. “I take it you know a Gym Leader in these parts to be saying something like that?” I inquired. “You could say that, descend now.” ordered the man. The thick clouds tore apart as we flew down, and there was a huge arena at the top of a study tower in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by rocky mountains and rapid waves, access was virtually impossible from below. We touched down in the arena. “Welcome to Sky City, the training area for the best of the best.” said the man. I noticed a few people in robes surrounding the arena, it wasn’t odd to have a large audience at Pokémon Gym Battles. “So, what are you waiting for, introduce me to the Gym Leader.” I said rudely, I didn’t have time to spend sitting around. “I am Lance, and you?” spoke the man firmly, I should have seen it coming a mile away. “Scott Addison... So, You are the Gym Leader, but who were you talking about, someone that Dragoon might be as strong as.” “Know that its an honour to battle me, I was once one of the Elite Four, renowned Pokémon Trainers that tower over regular Gym Leaders, and now we have become Gym Leaders ourselves.” pointed out Lance. “I am honoured but who do you keep speaking of?” I asked, a little frustrated in waiting for my answer. “Blacknite. My original Dragonite. Months ago he passed away, but he was the very best Pokémon around, its been hard to find another that can match up to him and I’ve got a suspicion about your Dragonite.” explained Lance at last. “But Dragoon just evolved recently, surely he can’t be better than an older Dragonite.” I pointed out, I wasn’t prepared to fight a battle I’d never win. “The Dragonite I have now should closely match your Dragonite’s level. I will even allow you to choose the restrictions and number of Pokémon. Don’t worry about my judgement, I’ll judge your Dragonite on how powerful it is for its age, not in comparison to Blacknite.” “You’ve got me going Lance, and I say a one-on-one battle with no limit to height will show you what you need to know, with no prior damage or weakening, I’m sure you’ll see everything you need to know during the battle.” I said energetically. “Booargh!” roared Dragoon confidently. “Good call, then I choose my own Dragonite, Tiamat.” “Bo Borgh!” “GO!” we both shouted, and both Dragonites flapped their wings and hovered into their positions over the square marks of the Pokémon arena floor. “Dragoon! Dragon Rage!” “Booargh!!!” he roared, a ball of energy growing in his mouth, which hit the floor and turned into a wide tornado. “Slam.” said Lance calmly. The enemy Dragonite ploughed through the flames bravely, and threw its side into Dragoon. I noticed what a reckless move this was, Tiamat had several burns since Dragon-type moves were somewhat effective against other Dragon-types. “Ice Beam!” I shouted. Dragoon opened its mouth, and a smaller ball of energy glowed before unleashing a beam of ice, which only clipped the opponent as it had flapped its wings and rose up into the air, the antennae-like parts on its head glowing with electricity. “Dragoon! Move! Its gonna use Thunderbolt!” Dragoon took to the skies as bolts rained down on his last position, and then my Dragon-type attempted a Leer to scare the opponent, but it retaliated by unleashing a Thunder Wave. “Agility!” I shouted, and in a flash, Dragoon had dived under the sphere, and rose up to hit the opponent, by tearing across Tiamat with its wings. “Do it again!” I called, and Dragoon buzzed by the second Dragonite several times, clipping it with its outstretched wings. “Leer.” said Lance. “Booargh...” growled the opponent, and Dragoon backed off, but returned the look with one of his own, secretly charging another Dragon Rage attack. I waited for a moment, and then called out “Now!” A sphere of blue flame shot out of Dragoon’s mouth, but also from Tiamat’s. Lance and I had thought of the same attack and strategy, which flattered me a little. Both spheres collided, grew in size, and exploded, filling the air with a bright flash and a booming explosion. I had to cover my eyes for a moment, but it was soon over. “Wing to Wrap attack.” called Lance, and immediately, Tiamat made a pass and whacked Dragoon, and then clung to him, wrapping its arms, legs and tail around it, but flapping its wings furiously to stay airborne. “Hyper Beam!” shouted Lance. “Break free!” I shouted, “Use Ice Beam!” But the enemy had planned one step ahead, and one hand held Dragoon’s mouth shut, Dragoon started to struggle desperately, but Tiamat had a firm grip, and a glowing power built up in its mouth and fired... A booming explosion followed, along with a thick black cloud covering the area in the sky. Tiamat came flying out unintentionally, but it flapped its wings and gained some control, it had a fair few burns from being so close, and it looked tired after expelling such a great deal of energy. Dragoon however plummeted fast, in much worse condition, eyes closed and body limp. “Dragoon! Wake up! You’re gonna get really hurt if you impact! Dragoon! Come on! I believe in you!...” I shouted. “Booargh...” it groaned. “That’s it, now just find a little more strength, we can win this, the opponent’s not that much worse off... Now rise!” I called out. “Booargh BOOARGH!!!” wailed Dragoon, flapping its wings, at the last moment it regained its flight and height. “Until the very end, eh?” questioned Lance, “I admire your strength and determination, but the victory will go to Tiamat, we’ve travelled around just as you have if not further and been through many trials.” I didn’t answer him, and turned to Dragoon, flying up and shooting an Ice Beam, the most effective type against a Dragon/ Flying combination, but the same went for Dragoon. The cold ray overwhelmed Tiamat and solidified into hard twisted ice, clinging around its body, head and wings like thorny vines. “Boooooargh!!!” screamed the opponent, falling a little, and then outstretching all of its body to press against and shatter the ice, none the less, the damage had been done, so it was okay for us. “You’re using Ice attacks again to take a big advantage?” stated Lance, “Prepare to get a taste of the cold yourself, Tiamat, Blizzard.” “No.” I thought, “Blizzard covers a huge range, and Dragoon’s too weak to take a double-whammy of type advantage, but what could prevent it?” “Things are about to get really chilly.” smiled Lance. “Dragoon!” I shouted, suddenly remembering an attack that might work, “Fire Blast!” The Ice attack didn’t hit immediately because of Tiamat’s distance, which gave Dragoon the chance to fire off a large star-shaped blast of fire that was about the same size as he, which shot towards the enemy Dragonite, but this wasn’t primarily to hit Tiamat, Dragoon followed behind the fire, which was burning through the ice in its path, making it a fine shield. The other Dragonite had a look of disbelief and fear as the flames collided with it and burrowed into its chest, followed by Dragoon’s Slam attack. Tiamat fell back, but quickly discharged a sphere of electricity and hit Dragoon with it. Thunder Wave: Dragoon was sparkling with electricity, and it was making it difficult to flap his wings and stay in the air. Tiamat followed up with a Dragon Rage attack, and Dragoon attempted a dive, but he froze up, and was blasted by the blue fireball which grew into a mini-twister. Lance smiled as did his Dragonite, until Dragoon flew out the top and charged up an Ice Beam, which the opponent barely managed to dodge, it was getting tired. “Dragoon, you think you can go all out like he did?” I called out, being cryptic enough to hide the next attack from Lance. Dragoon nodded and took in a deep breath, and then was rammed by the enemy again. I grinned, as Tiamat had guaranteed this attack would catch him, Dragoon blew out its own Blizzard attack, and hit the enemy dead on, not freezing it but hitting it hard and making it extremely cold and weak. “This could be it.” I stated. “Its not.” replied Lance. Tiamat was wheezing, its strength was gone but its wings were flapping and it was determined to go on, it seemed horrible to beat it now, but I had to. “Wrap attack!” I shouted, and Dragoon flew behind the other Dragonite and held it from behind. “Slam.” I said, and Dragoon descended, holding Tiamat’s wings shut so he couldn’t fly away, until they reached ground level swiftly and Dragoon threw Tiamat down, the speed of the descent powering up the attack. Dragoon turned around, and flapped his wings strongly to hover, and then land, while the smoke around Tiamat cleared, and he was clearly defeated. Lance clapped his hands and the others around the arena followed, Lance recalled his Dragonite, and then approached me. “That’s one legendary dragon you’ve got there.” said Lance impressed. “Um, Dragoon’s not exactly a legend, but he’s the only Dragonite for me.” I replied. “Hmmmm.” said Lance, “You two work very well together, you remind me of myself in my younger days, and my first Dragonite, and we were legends.” I liked where this was going, Lance was a very famous trainer, maybe I’d be as good as he after my mission, possibly even become a Gym Leader, as I had found myself dreaming about. “There’s a chance your Pokémon will be strong as Blacknite with the proper training.” added Lance. “Thank you Lance, coming from you, that means everything.” I said genuinely. “You are welcome here any time Scott, once you finish your duties, feel free to come back here and train with me.” smiled Lance. “Don’t you worry about that, and I’ll make sure Dragoon gets more powerful so we can battle again.” I added. “Well, nothing else to say but congratulations and here is your Legend Badge.” said Lance. It was a green disc with two black wings overlapping it that stretched out to the sides. I opened my trenchcoat to reveal my seven other badges, and attached the last one in the bottom right corner. Finally, I had my entry to the Pokémon League, which would pretty much make or break my goal of saving Casey. After all I’ve been through, the intense training, the trials and the sacrifices, I know I can go on to win. Nothing will stop me from winning, I’ll make sure of that... --- Chad's Eighth Gym Battle Back to the Side Stories Back to the Pokézone