A large, swimming-pool type arena expands before you as you enter through the doors. The domed roof above seems to echo every sound as you enter the building, and find yourself looking at what is, most undoubtedly, one of the largest swimming pool/arena/aquariums in the land. Pictures of all the various kinds of water pokemon line around the inner walls, including a large Lapras on the north wall. The pool arena is built for both swimming shows, and for pokemon matches. To the left a doorway leads towards what looks like a huge aquarium area, that wraps around all the outer walls of the roundish building. This building with its high stadium-like seating (obviously for shows) is, without a doubt, built for an event in this water town.
Contents:
The sky is grey and cloudy, and nothing casts a shadow. It's hot, humid, and still. High overhead, a pair of Butterfree can be seen flying in the direction of the ocean. In the forest, the deep green leaves of the trees are unstirred. While at the coast, the sea broods in the heat today under the dark and foreboding clouds. It is 01:50 PM on Saturday, June 29th, 2002. The sun is up. The moon's phase is full, but it has set. At the coast, the tide is low and rising.
It's a grey, foggy day outside the Cerulean Gym, but inside everything is bright and colorful. Bright lights hang from the ceiling, installed for the water shows, but quite useful for cases such as this. During this instance, the stands are empty, but the giant pool is not. Sitting on one of the floats in the middle is a pretty girl with shoulder-lengthy, bouncey pink hair. Her feet and much of her calves rest in the water as she leans forward, talking earnestly to a Squirtle, who listens passively to his trainer.
It is a dreary and morose day outside. A sheet of gray clouds cloaks the warmth giving sun. Nothing casts a shadow. The trees are quiet and still. There is no breeze to rustle the verdant trees. The door of the gym creaks open. "Come in, Eevee. Go right ahead. I'll be right behind you." Zeph states as he pushes the door open and allows a furry little companion to enter. The trainer cringes slightly from the creak, although he does not comment about it. Perhaps he should tell Misty to apply some oil to the hinges? He follows right behind the normal type and descends down the short flight of stairs. "Eevee!" The Eevee, currently without a name, calls out as he bounds down toward the pool and spots the pretty maiden. His eyes widen. His trainer nears the edge of the pool as well, trembling slightly although he does not lower his eyes. "Miss. Are you one of Misty's sisters? I'm here for a gym battle." He announces in a neutral tone as he tries to hide his nervousness.
Lily looks up in surprise at the sudden human voice. At first a smile spreads across her face at the sight of the older teenager, then it changes to a bit of a smirk. "Oh, you're friends with the runt? Yeah, I'm one of her sisters. One of her sensational sisters! I'm Lily," she adds. She pats the Squirtle on the head, then, with a graceful motion, pulls her feet out of the water and rises. "Yeah, I can like, defend the gym if you want me to. We'll use two pokemon each."
Zeph holds eye contact with the gym leader, nodding to her proposal of using two pokemon each. Once she finishes, the trainer begins to speak. "Two pokemon each is fine with me. Yes, I'm friends with Misty, although I cannot agree that she is a runt. She's pretty headstrong." He states in defense of his human friend, pursing his lips in a frustrated manner. That facial expression does not last long. The Eevee standing next to him pulls at his socks with his small teeth. "Eevee." The brown creature yips with a bright smile and a sparkle in his dark eyes. His trainer smiles at the reassurance. "Thank you." He states quietly in response, before stepping upon one of the gym's battle floats. "Don't get too close to the edge, Eevee. I don't want you to fall in during the battle and get hurt." The youth says to the normal type as he waits for further instruction from Lily.
Lily purses her lips a bit at the sudden defense of 'the runt,' but just for a moment. She then shrugs it off and smiles brightly at Zeph again. "You can go ahead and go first, as the challenger. I'll go ahead and totally use you, Squirtle! You know what you're doing." At the choice, the small water pokemon nods and paddles a short distance away from the float, obviously prepared to battle.
Zeph watches the Squirtle move through the water. Then, he looks up at the gym leader and bites his lip. Who should he choose? Blossom, an electric type, would obviously have the advantage. However, Oceanus, the Lapras, is quite familiar with the gym's pool. The trainer takes a deep breath as he makes his decision. "All right." He states as he quickly takes a pokeball from his belt and expands it. "You've been working the hardest out of the two, so you deserve to have this battle. Go, Oceanus!" He calls out with great spirit. The red and white sphere twirls through the air, bursting open and revealing a majestic Lapras. "Lappprass!" The water type calls out in a melodic voice, raising his front flippers off of the water. At the moment the pokeball returns to his hand, Zeph closes his eyes and thinks. "Oceanus! Start with your Confuse Ray! Give it everything you've got!" The trainer declares rapidly as his eyes open. "Lap! Lap!" The rare creature calls out in a high-pitched voice. His eyes begin to twinkle like silvery stars, glowing vibrantly as his mouth opens and releases a mysterious, opaque beam of energy in the direction of the Squirtle.
Though the Squirtle is eager and alert, the suddeness of the strange attack is too much for him. He starts to dive to avoid the ray, but he catches it with his head. Immediately, he begins swimming to and fro like he hasn't a clue as to what's going on. "Oh, come on, Squirtle! Shake it off!" Lily calls anxiously from her float. "Get back at him with a Skull Bash!" The terrapin blinks his eyes for a moment, then begins swimming hard. He starts out going towards the Lapras, but there's no guarantee he'll manage to keep on course long enough to actually hit the much larger pokemon.
"Oceanus! With haste, dive under the water! Body Slam that pokemon as he passes right above you! Remember to position yourself well!" Zeph calls out rapidly as his eyes widen and focus on the battle, trying to keep his battle strategy perfect and precise. There cannot be mistakes in a gym match. The Eevee behind the trainer's float sits down about a meter from the edge, watching his new trainer silently. Oceanus quickly puts the command in motion, sinking silently into the water and descending toward the bottom until he is sure that the other water pokemon will miss. He catches sight of a shadow out of the corner of one of his eyes, causing him to rise suddenly toward the surface in response in hopes of flinging the Squirtle straight out of the water from the impact -- or at least catch a glimpse of what is happening at the surface if he misses.
The Squirtle isn't nearly as fast as the much larger Lapras in the first place, and being confused makes it even worse. Despite his good start at heading towards Oceanus' direction to attack, he quickly begins veering and randomly moving around again, trying to focus, but too muddled to do so. This randomness makes it so the Lapras just barely misses, coming up right beside the turtle pokemon and even causing a wake that draws the terrapin away a short distance. "Come on, Squirtle, you can do it! Water Gun!" Lily calls out. The well-trained pokemon responds instantly, letting a narrow stream of water pour from his mouth. It's a good example of the attack, though whether he actually hits anything is another subject completely.
Zeph cringes as his pokemon fails to land a blow. "Oceanus, fight back with an Ice Beam! Freeze that water to the source!" The trainer cries out to the blue pokemon, trying to speak as fast as he can to keep pace with the tempo of the battle. The Eevee watching the battle unfold stares in awe. He has never seen a battle of this magnitude before. Oceanus raises his head as he watches the tiny turtle with cold, calculating eyes. In response to his trainer's words, he opens his mouth. An iridescent, luminescent orb grows and develops, taking a spherical shape. However, it does not develop in time to save him from the water attack. The Water Gun hits him square on the head. His mouth still glows with a cold, white aura. Using great strength, he overcomes the water's force and opens his mouth. A jagged, frigid ray races outward and begins to freeze the stream of water rapidly, moving up toward the source.
Before Lily can cry out a warning, the crackling ice reaches the Squirtle with painful force, freezing the water as it leaves the turtle's mouth and trying to crawl inside the pokemon. With a choking cough, the Squirtle stops his attack and dives under the water, trying to warm up again after the freezing beam. Lily opens her mouth, then, realizing her pokemon won't be able to hear her, shuts it without a word. The Squirtle rapidly moves through the water towards Oceanus, trying to Slam his small body into the Lapras and leave a few bruises behind.
Oceanus, with a surprised look on his visage, watches the water type vanish under the surface. "Lap. Lap." He calls out with a high-pitched tone, jerking his head from side to side as he tries to catch a glimpse of the incoming turtle pokemon. "Oceanus! Do not waste time! Dive under the water and Growl! Let the water amplify your attack!" Zeph calls out with a bite of his lip, knowing that timing is of the essence. The trainer's words come too late. The Lapras cannot sink fast enough to escape the blow from his opponent. The Slam hits his lower body, and he makes that fact clear with a loud shrill to express his pain. Nevertheless, he slides into the water at an angle. Once his body completely submerges, he cries out with a deafening, guttural Growl which resonates through the water of the pool.
The Squirtle surfaces as he hits, looking a bit surprised that his attack managed to hit in the first place. He then hesitates, no longer as willing to take the initiative now that he's back above the water. This pause is plenty of time for Oceanus to let out his Growl, and while, with his ears above the water, the terrapin can't hear it, he can feel the vibrations coming from the huge water pokemon. He falls back a few strokes, looking terrified now. "Don't let him frighten you, Squirtle! Get under there and use a Bubble attack!" Lily cries out quickly. The turtle obeys despite his obvious dread, ducking his head under the water and sending a stream of Bubbles in the Lapras' direction.
Zeph, unable to call out a command to his submerged pokemon, remains silent upon his float, looking rather worried for the well being of his bulky water type. A finger rises toward his lower lip. The Eevee behind the trainer stands and leans forward, trying to catch some of the action happening under the clear water. Under the water, the battle ensues without repose. The much larger Lapras observes the turtle pokemon and squints his eyes slightly as the bubbles stream toward him. With a knowing smile, he opens his mouth, pouring out a massive Hydro Pump in the direction of the bubbles and the Squirtle. The powerful stream of water creates a strong current that begins to push the spheres of air, slowing them down and hopefully reversing them so that they head right back from where they came.
The Hydro Pump does slow the bubbles, and while most change their course to float up to the surface, where the pockets of air escape the water with tiny ripples. A few, however, completely reverse course and hit against the Squirtle stingingly. Lily bites her lip a bit as she cranes to look over the edge of the float to see what's happening, but she cannot help her pokemon at this moment. The turtle winces, his mouth opening in an 'o' with pain, but he struggles to keep fighting. His limbs begin paddling, and again he does his best to dash in the Lapras' direction, seeking to sink his teeth into the larger pokemon in some soft spot with a Bite attack.
"I hope my Lapras is okay." Zeph murmurs as he watches the bubbles rise to the surface and pop. Reassuringly, some of those spherical pockets of air appear to hit the turtle pokemon. He sighs in relief. His Lapras is still battling down there. His pokemon still has a chance, although his inability to offer some guidance to the water type takes some of that comfort away. Oceanus does not waste any time as the current of water he created pushes the bubbles away. Silently and powerfully, he propels himself toward to the turtle with downward flaps of his flippers. He tries to swerve to the side as he nears the turtle to dodge the attack. It only exposes one of his front flippers -- and it gets bitten. The rare creature closes his eyes momentarily from the pain, as he swings around and tries to Body Slam the smaller water type against the white, concrete walls of the pool. Hopefully, the turtle is still attached or at least near enough to get hit.
Indeed, once the Squirtle attaches himself to the Lapras, the tired pokemon refuses to let go, closing his eyes to concentrate on his attack, not knowing what's coming to him. He ends up slammed into the rough cement wall, the huge bulk of Oceanus, though supported by the water, more than enough to bruise and perhaps break a few things. The Squirtle lets go of the fin in his mouth, and swims to the surface. Once he pops out of the water, he tries to Withdraw into his battered shell, but his bruised limbs don't obey him. Lily sighs, then calls out, "You like, did, totally good Squirtle! Return!" The terrapin disappears into his pokeball in a flash of red, his part of the battle over. Lily considers for just a moment before pulling out another pokeball. With a slight smile, she tosses it into the water, saying, "Go, Seadra!" A majestic speciman of the dragon-like fish appears from the burst of white light, obviously eager to battle.
The Lapras, finally having defeated the well-trained terrapin, rises from the water right in front of his trainer's float. The transparent liquid sloshes right off of his spiked shell and long neck. "Lappprasss." The majestic creature calls out tiredly, taking in deep breaths during the momentary pause. "Oceanus, you're doing very well. Now, let's try a Confuse Ray just like before! Just do your best!" Zeph calls out encouragingly to the Lapras, trying not to sound afraid of the evolved pokemon. The Eevee that is watching this entire ordeal smiles as his new friend becomes victorious against the first opponent. In the pool, Oceanus lowers his head and watches the seahorse pokemon warily. He has fought against these speedy water types before. Taking in a deep breath, he opens his mouth. His eyes shine brightly once more as an enigmatic beam of energy flows from his mouth and toward the new opponent.
While the first time the Lapras used the attack was very successful, this time it is not to be. The Seadra is much more agile in the water than the Squirtle was, and her huge, wing-like pectoral fins give her far more control than the stumpy legs of the turtle did. Even as the beam shoots towards her and Lily calls out, "Dodge, Seadra!", the fish is moving. She dives beneath the water, avoiding the Confuse Ray entirely, then begins to stroke her fins steadily. She begins to move in circles beneath the Lapras, moving faster and faster as she tries to raise her Agility.
Zeph turns pale as he watches the ray miss the water type, although he still speaks with confidence to his pokemon. "Oceanus! Sink down into the water and Growl! We cannot let that pokemon get any faster!" He shouts in a serious tone, biting his lip down really hard. At this rate, he will have bite marks on his lips at the end of the battle. The Eevee looks a bit upset as well because of the turn of events. Oceanus nods to his trainer, diving down into the water once again like a miniature, azure submarine. Terrified of the speed of the Seadra, the Lapras cries out with wide eyes. He delays the attack. Bubbles rise from his mouth. A few seconds later, the water type controls his fear and closes his eyes. A powerful wave of energy resounds through the water, causing the liquid to vibrate.
Unfortunately for Oceanus, the Seadra currently has two great advantages over him. She's fresh to the battle and is, due to her evolved form, is obviously a highly experienced pokemon. She falters a bit in her swimming, but that is her only concession to the powerful Growl. She almost instantly retaliates, orienting on the larger pokemon and letting a stream of Bubbles emerge from her tubular snout.
The Lapras cannot react quickly enough to stop the flow of bubbles. The Bubble attack strikes his body, causing him to wince in pain as each individual sphere pops upon hitting his body. He resurfaces slowly. His head is lowered. He has been beaten. "Oceanus. Don't lower your head and look sad. I'm very proud of you. You did very well!" Zeph tells his pokemon encouragingly. A weak smile lies on his countenance as he extends his arm and recalls the pokemon back to his respective pokeball. The Eevee, wide-eyed, watches the water type disappear. His trainer, however, is not wide-eyed. His eyes close as he takes another pokeball from his belt and expands it. "Hoku. I'm counting on you!" The trainer calls out as he releases its contents into the small body of water. A Starmie materializes in the water, extending his arms and flashing his gem fiercely. He begins to rise from the water and pick up altitude.
As the Lapras disappears, the Seadra goes to the surface herself, a pleased look on her fact. "That was like, totally awesome, Seadra! Now you just have to get this Starmie. Hydro Pump!" Lily calls to the dragon-like pokemon. "Sea," the water pokemon murmurs in response ot her trainer, then focuses all her attention on the other evolved pokemon. She briefly dips her snout in the water, then, cheeks bulging, she sends out a powerful stream of water in the direction of Hoku.
As the Seadra sucks in the water, Zeph calls out a warning and the next attack for his pokemon. "Hoku! Spin like a top on the surface of the water! Harden, while you're at it!" The trainer cries, gritting his teeth as the Seadra performs the water attack. "Hyra!" The Starmie vocalizes with a rapid flash of light from his multi-faceted jewel. He lands upon the water lightly, barely touching it with the point of one of his arms. The starfish starts to spin like a top, moving so rapidly that his body blurs and begins to look like a giant, purple ball. "Hyra!" He calls out as he spins to the side and allows the Hydro Pump to pass. Gravity pulls the jet of water back down, creating a gentle shower over Zeph and his Eevee. They don't say a word, however. The action of the battle holds them in a trace. The Starmie twirling upon the surface of the water begins to secrete a strange, sticky substance from his porous body. The starfish pokemon turns white for a moment, before returning to his former color. A thin, crystalline coating now covers his body.
Lily's brow furrows a bit at this unusual way to avoid her pokemon's powerful attack, but she doesn't give up yet. "Seadra, frighten it. Leer!" The dragon pokemon nods her head, then, surprisingly, dives beneath the water. She swims a short distance under the water in a few quick circles, then suddenly emerges again, directly facing Hoku. Her eyes glow an eerie red color that seems to highlight the many bumps and horns on her head, giving her a devilish appearance as she Leers.
Zeph smiles at the successful dodge of the Starmie. That's a good sign. The smile is only temporary, however, as the Seadra stares darkly at the echinoderm. "Hoku! Don't let the Seadra get to you! Swift to counter attack!" The trainer shouts with a frown, clenching his fists and turning various shades of white. This Seadra is going to be tough. The purple water type continues to spin, trying to keep his rapid pace. Apparently, it is not an effective barrier against a Leer attack. The sphere containing the starfish pokemon shrinks back at the cold stare. Hoku stops suddenly. "Hyra!" The half psychic type vocalizes, pulsing his central gem repeatedly as a volley of golden stars pour forth. Hopefully, there was some element of surprise in that attack.
Since Zeph had already called out the attack name, there was very little surprise. Using her Agility, the Seadra manages to dodge most of the stars, though the last three hit her, leaving distinctive star-shaped, dark blue bruises on her scaley hide. "Like, concentrate Seadra! Water Gun!" This time, the water dragon doesn't even need to dip her snout for extra water for the attack. She immediately sends out a thin stream of water towards the spinning Starmie, not as powerful an attack as the Hydro Pump would have been, but it will definitely sting if it hits.
As he finishes releasing the glowing stars, Hoku resumes the rapid twirling of his body. The stream of pressurized water hits the psychic creature hard, slowing down the spinning greatly. The crystalline coating on his body does manage to deflect much of it, however. It could have been a lot worse. "Hoku! Don't slow down! Just give it all you've got! Harden!" Zeph cries out encouragingly, bringing his fingers close to his mouth. He does not start biting his nails, fortunately -- that would be impolite. The pokemon with the ruby red jewel starts to spin around faster, picking up the speed he lost from the water attack. His body begins to glow an icy white once more, coating himself with a second layer of the transparent substance.
"Like, that's totally a bad thing. Stop it with a Dragon Rage, Seadra!" Lily calls out anxiously to her pokemon. The Seadra doesn't even have to move from her position facing the spinging pokemon. She just aims her snout towards him, and narrows her eyes a bit, obviously concentrating. Within seconds, a blueish-white glow coalesces around the end of her snout, then a bright beam, which on the outside, then gradually changing to a bright blue in the middle, shoots out towards Hoku.
Using his current speed, the Starmie manages to escape the brunt of the luminescent beam with a spin to the side. Regardless, the attack still causes some damage. The Dragon Rage scathes one of his arms, leaving a black mark on the purple appendage. "Hyra!" Hoku cries out in pain, although he does not slow down. "Hoku! Use your Hardened body to your advantage! Hit that Seadra hard!" Zeph cries out, placing his arm back at his side and clenching both of his fists. He hopes the half psychic understands what that command meant. The Eevee becomes uneasy, watching every single hit and wincing visibly as the Seadra manages to hit the echinoderm once more. "Hyra!" Hoku shrieks fiercely, halting his current spinning and changing the technique of the rotation. He begins to spin around laterally as fast as he can, heading straight toward the Seadra for a Tackle with his coated body.
The Seadra tries to use her Agility once more to dodge the attack, but this time is taken off guard and fails to get out of the way in time. With a strangled cry, she's rammed into by the Hardened sea star pokemon. Momentarily stunned, she begins to sink below the surface, then, reviving a bit, she continues the movement voluntarily. Within seconds, she's deep within the pool. Once she's satisfied with her position, her snout begins moving in a pumping motion, and dark ink begins spouting from it. It dilutes somewhat in the water, but it does cloud things enough that it might be difficult for Hoku to find the Seadra to hit her again.
Hoku hits the water with a splash and sinks below the surface along with the Seadra, waving his arms about as he steers himself toward the evolved seahorse pokemon. He accidentally swims right into the dark, murky cloud and halts. "Hyra?" He inquires with a flash of his central core, concentrating deeply and using his psychic abilities to target the Seadra. For some reason, the opaque ink obscures his thoughts as well. He is unable to find the other water type. With a bit of a shrug, he begins to rotate around his axis rapidly, turning into a purple ball. The ink cloud gets pulled in, wrapping around the whirlpool he creates. A dark column develops -- with the Starmie somewhere inside. "Hyra!" The invertebrate pokemon calls out with rapid pulses of his jewel, releasing a volley of golden stars in every direction in hopes that at least one strikes the opponent. Zeph watches uneasily at the surface, biting his lip down even harder as the water begins to darken. "Uh oh..." He murmurs. He has no idea what is happening down there.
Lily doesn't bother to make any sounds as she peers into the water and tries to see what's happening. While the Seadra can't actually see the Starmie, he can't see her either, so she's able to dodge the stars pretty easily. Then, however, she hesitates for a few moments, perhaps unsure of how to find her opponent now that she's murked up the water. Finally, however, she makes a decision. A globe of blue and white forms about her snout, and she shoots another Dragon Rage towards the approximate center of the dark column of inky water being twirled about the Starmie.
The Starmie within the ominous, rotating column begins to rise at the right moment out of sheer luck. The Dragon Rage blasts through the cylindrical shape, grazing the lower part of the starfish. With his doubly coated body, it does not cause any serious harm. Zeph watches as the water in the center of the pool surges upward. "That's it, Hoku. Hydro Pump." He mumbles with wide eyes. The Eevee stares with wide eyes as well as the water type performs his most powerful and difficult attack. A whirlpool begins to develop in the small body of water, creating a brisk current. Hoku moves at top speed, trying with all of his might as he tries to actually lift a small column of water upward. With any luck, the Seadra may accidentally get caught in the rotation and get siphoned right out of the water -- or at least get bumped around a bit.
A smaller pokemon would most likely have problems with the small maelstrom. A unevolved Seadra, a Horsea, wouldn't have a chance against it. However, this Seadra is large, well-trained, and while somewhat injured, isn't at the point where she's too tired to swim out of the current. She sweeps her fins through the water, moving backwards until she's out of the pull of the whirlpool. With a puff of her cheeks, she then sends out a large stream of Bubbles, sending them towards the Starmie in such a way that the whirlpool should suck them in towards the evolved water pokemon.
The ink is diffuse enough for the Seadra to be able to faintly see her opponent, and, more important, the shining beam that comes heading towards her. She uses the last bit of her Agility that she built up earlier in the grueling battle and dodges to the side, just barely avoiding being blasted by that deadly beam. In return, she swiftly swims closer to her opponent, another large ball of white and blue light forming at the end of her snout. When she gets closer, she lets off that blast of energy in the form of a Dragon Rage attack, trying to end the battle with the tough Starmie.
The Starmie, too busy performing the psychic attack, does not detect the incoming seahorse. "Hyra!" He shrieks with a flash of his glittering jewel as the powerful Dragon Rage strikes him and slams him against the wall of the pool. The sparkling stone sparkles no more. Instead, the jewel pulses on and off. Hoku floats upward, lying helplessly across the surface of the water. "That's all right, Hoku. It's all right. I know how well you battled. Just rest. Return." Zeph states solemnly, jerking his arm forward and recalling the defeated creature back to his pokeball. The trainer then returns the red and white sphere to his belt and nods to the gym leader. "Thank you for the battle, miss. It was quite an honor." He says quite sincerely, although he is obviously very disappointed as well. The Eevee droops his long, brown ears. "Eevee." The normal type yips sadly, staring up at his trainer with watery, dark eyes.
"Like, you're welcome," Lily responds easily, though her eyes still search for the form of her Seadra in the darkened waters. Finally, though, the horned head emerges from the water, obviously tired, but well. "That was, like, a totally awesome battle. You have really strong pokemon," the girl says, now turning her head to look at Zeph and smile. "Your Lapras totally took out my Squirtle. It was, like, impressive."
Zeph bows courteously to the gym leader. "Thank you. But obviously not good enough to defeat the pokemon of the Cerulean Gym." He states with a bit of a sigh, pursing his lips and turning around. "Come on, Eevee. We're going to stay at the Pokemon Center tonight. Perhaps we can think of a name for you to spend the time." The trainer informs the small, normal type as he hops off of the float. He once again turns around to look at Lily. "Maybe I'll try again one day. One day. But now I have to take my pokemon to the Pokemon Center. Thanks once again." He states as he ascends the short flight of steps and opens the door, letting the Eevee exit first as he leaves.
Lily
Zeph
Obvious exits:
Out