Chapter 202

Chapter 202

CHAPTER 202

Three days had passed since Maeve had lost to Maylene, and she was planning on leaving with Louis today. It had been sudden, but we all knew she needed to leave if she wanted to have a chance at the Conference instead of waiting out the two weeks here. She was going to go right to Sunyshore and challenge the gym there, and although I told her that Pastoria would give her an easier time due to her Pokemon's types, she wanted to stick to Sunyshore and try there first, at the very least.

Pauline had won her gym battle yesterday and her Rufflet had evolved into a huge Braviary that was at least twice the normal size somehow. I saw her up close once and she was a whopping 9.2 feet tall, dwarfing her Charizard by more than two feet. Apparently it was some freak gene that her Braviary had, or at least that's what the Nurse Joys said, but needless to say, after the evolution, she easily mopped up her gym battle. She had won 2-4, only losing Gothorita and Charizard in the battle. Her fighting style had pleased Maylene so much that the Gym Leader had been smiling by the end of the fight. If I had to guess, I'd say that she was currently the strongest of our friends that were one badge behind— well, we technically had the same number of badges now, actually. Maybe Justin could rival her, but I hadn't actually seen him battle yet. Lauren had also won her gym battle 4-6 and her Duosion had also evolved. Denzel's own battle was today. It was hard not to feel left out or like I was falling behind, but I knew that was just my brain being stupid.

It was okay to go last, and it wasn't like I was being idle.

My new strategy was starting to pay off, and Princess could draw upon the number of pillars we needed without exhausting herself too much with Angel's help. Now all we needed was to iron out everything and we'd be as ready as we could be. I had also battled a few trainers at Sunshine's level, including Zachary again. We unfortunately lost the majority of the battles, but we had a few surprising wins, notably against someone with a Druddigon. The more we battled together, the less awkward it was and the more he regained his muscle memory, so we were improving at a rapid pace even if he threw a hissy fit after each loss that I had to soothe him out of.

I sat in the stands with Cecilia, Pauline and Emilia as we waited for Denzel's turn to come. The latter had also come to see Pauline's battle and had been in awe of how much her girlfriend had progressed. Mira was spending as much time with Louis and Maeve as she could before they left, so they were out having fun.

As Denzel walked onto his platform, my eyes locked onto Maylene.

—

"This will be a five-on-five battle with four switches allowed..."

Four? That was unusual. Denzel shook his arms to get his blood pumping and rolled his shoulders. He wasn't as nervous as he usually was for a Gym Battle, but maybe that was a sign that times were changing. Before, they had been a monumental event that made him unable to sleep at night. Now? It was just another battle. Another fight that he needed to win. The custom-made jersey all of his sponsors had made clung and caused his skin to itch. His battle was early in the morning and there weren't that many people here, meaning that he could see his friends in the stands.

Maylene finished reading out the rules, and Denzel sent out Milotic. The water type coiled around, his eyes and body exuding nervousness. It was his first gym battle, after all, and Denzel knew he did not want to disappoint.

"You'll be fine!" He reassured. "I believe in you."

That made him calm down some. Maylene, for her part, released a Poliwrath onto the field. The stout fighting type flexed, showing off its muscles with a fierce look in its eyes. Denzel's eyes narrowed at the choice. Poliwrath were known to have Water Absorb, but he wasn't sure if this one had it or not. Milotic dwarfed it as well, but he knew not to underestimate fighting types because of their size.

"Begin!"

"Earth Power!" Maylene ordered.

And just like that, the arena broke. Giant geysers of heated earth and rock spewed into the air, creating enormous craters and rifts that Milotic would have trouble crossing. He was fine with that, however. Denzel clenched a fist and grinned.

"Surf!"

He'd taken inspiration from Cecilia and Lauren's battle for this one. Gallons of water poured out of Milotic's mouth, the small spaces in between his scales and he used the small pond on their side of the field to flood the field as well. The craters filled up with water and an elaborate system of streams replaced the chasms Poliwrath had created. They would both benefit from this no doubt, but he was okay with that.

"Get close," the Gym Leader said.

"Water Gun," Denzel continued.

Milotic spat out a weakened jet of water that had no effect on Poliwrath, confirming the fact that it did have Water Absorb. He was surprised Maylene hadn't even ordered it to dodge. Maybe she was still assessing his skills and thought that he deserved a freebie? Either way, he'd take advantage of the situation.

"Twister! Don't let it reach you!"

Milotic drew on the draconic powers that lay deep within him and sang a song. A tornado appeared in front of Poliwrath— small at first, but then it grew and grew until the water type was forced to dive deep into one of the rivers Denzel had created to take cover. He ordered Milotic to keep the Twister going at all costs. Even in the water, it would deal damage. Maylene was the one who needed to come to them, not him.

Denzel's eyes snapped to the left when he realized Poliwrath had come out of the river from a completely different spot. The fighting type pushed forward and it closed half the distance in one leap.

"Dragon Breath and run into the water!" Denzel yelled.

The beam hit Poliwrath in the arm, but it didn't stop him from running. Milotic slithered away, secreting water from his scales to facilitate his escape, but there was no way he was going to outrun Poliwrath. Just as Milotic dove into the water, Poliwrath grabbed his tail and pulled.

"Smash it!" Maylene yelled.

Poliwrath spun Milotic around and slammed him against the ground so hard that it created a small split in the earth, but he didn't let go. In fact, he continued smashing Milotic like a rag while the water type could only retaliate with the occasional Dragon Breath. Twister would have been possible, but it'd hurt him as well.

Denzel recalled Milotic and his throat suddenly felt very dry. It was true what they said about Maylene.

One grab, and you were done for.

He knew what he had to do now. The plan had been to make Maylene run out of Pokemon before he employed his main strategy so she would have fewer tools at her disposal to retaliate, but with Poliwrath benefiting so much from the terrain, there was only one possible choice. His secret weapon for the gym.

Froslass appeared in the sky in a flash of red, and Maylene's neutral stare turned into an intense frown. Denzel knew she hated ghosts. The ice type flickered, disappearing and reappearing at random and she exuded an aura of frost all around her.

"Blizzard!" He snapped.

"Mudshot!" Maylene yelled.

Globs of hot scalding mud flew out of Poliwrath's mouth, but Froslass simply disappeared out of the way as snow slowly began to fall. She was actually easy to track, spreading ice wherever she went even when she wasn't in this plane of existence, and Maylene knew it. The water under her began to freeze, as did the ground itself.

"Again, follow the ice!" She yelled.

Denzel didn't have time to see if they'd hit or not, because an enormous Blizzard engulfed the entire arena.

"Will-O-Wisp," he whispered. "Find it, then load up another one."

A small amount of cold spread onto his fingers, letting him know that she'd heard him. Denzel wasn't taking any chances. When he'd heard that Maylene despised people who fought 'dirty', he came up with a plan that would let him do so anyway without her knowing. The blue flames didn't even giggle as they appeared in the Blizzard next to the barrier.

Denzel shivered, but smiled as another burst of cold hit his hands thirty seconds later.

Contact.

As soon as the Blizzard began to weaken, another one snapped into place. Somehow, while he hadn't been looking, Froslass had turned into Denzel's ace. Their tactic was not impossible to counter, but it was mighty annoying, especially against fighting types with very few ranged attacks.

Case in point, Denzel's smile faltered when he saw a stream of flames fly high up in the sky, and then turn into a literal ball on the ground. Maylene issued some kind of order, but he didn't hear it through the cold wind.

Fire exploded in all directions with an explosion so loud that Denzel's ears started to ring. The Blizzard melted away and Froslass' body caught on fire, but she quickly extinguished herself by drenching her body in snow.

The entire battlefield had turned into something akin to Candice's arena. It was covered in snow and ice, but Maylene had switched at some point during the Blizzard and brought out an Emboar. The fire type huffed, expunging hot air from its nostrils.

Denzel noticed two things. One, he didn't think Maylene had noticed that her Pokemon was burned. They couldn't communicate, and he'd made sure to train Froslass to have a tight leash on the spirits so they wouldn't make any noise. Two, that had apparently not mattered, since Maylene had supposedly disliked him chaining Blizzards and hampering her visibility and hearing so much.

So the situation was bad, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

"Shadow Ball!" Denzel yelled.

Emboar was a slow, lumbering Pokemon, which meant it was a perfect target for Froslass. The ice type weaved the shadows into a ball and—

"Flaming Rollout!"

Emboar bunched up into a ball and somehow rolled to dodge the attack, melting any snow and ice on his path. While it rolled, it spat out flames toward Froslass at random intervals— probably whenever it had an angle with its mouth. Denzel clicked his tongue when Froslass winced in pain. She didn't even need to get hit by the flames. Just them being near hurt her enough, and she would eventually go down. There was Double Team available, and she'd already used it once, but that had been when she'd been in the Blizzard, hidden both from him and Maylene's judgemental gaze.

Denzel recalled Froslass. It'd be best to keep her healthy for later in the battle. He was no doubt on the backfoot, but an idea that went beyond using Milotic again for the type advantage popped into his head as he sent out his next Pokemon. Emboar was a threat, and massively so, but Sylveon stared at it like a bug when he first laid eyes on the fire type.

Some of the snow had melted, but most of the ice still remained, giving Denzel an easy picture of where the craters and small rivers used to be.

"Get close, take it slow," Denzel said.

A terrible decision in any other circumstance, but this was Sylvi we were talking about. The fairy type silently prowled through the snow and approached Emboar, who grunted and slammed its fists together while it waited.

That's right, Denzel thought. Wait right there.

"Now!" He yelled. "Play Rough and Disarming Voice! Keep him there!"

Sylveon blurred with Quick Attack, letting out a heartwrenching cry as some of his ribbons extended and wrapped around Emboar's arms while the others flexed and whipped against his entire body.

"Fight back!" Maylene yelled.

"Get it on the floor!"

Sylveon tilted his head as Emboar's fists slammed against his armor— the glamour he easily manipulated as he wanted. Another ribbon grappled Emboar's leg, tripping him, and the fire type fell on the ice.

It began to melt.

Denzel eyed Maylene as Sylveon manhandled a Pokemon three times his size to see if she was about to recall it. When it started to sink into water, she finally retrieved him as she bit her lip.

Yeah, she was angry. This was good, though. So long as he kept cycling through her switches, he knew she wouldn't be able to pull any bullshit out of nowhere later in the battle. This time, a Toxicroak landed on the field. The claw on its knuckle secreted a poison so potent that it pooled into the ground. Sylveon was at a disadvantage here, and he was fine with using another switch if it meant he'd stay healthy.

Now came the dicey part of the battle.

This really wasn't a Gym Battle where Lopunny could shine. Everything she did, Maylene's Pokemon could do better, but that did not mean she was useless. Still, as morbid as it was, he could afford to lose her here so long as she got some damage off. Denzel took a deep breath and leaned against his knees.

"Bounce!" He yelled.

He couldn't approach because of Smog. Disarming Voice wasn't an option.

Flamethrower dealt more damage than Swift, and using Detect would just delay the inevitable.

"Fuck it!" Denzel snapped. "Get in there and give it everything you have! Disarming Voice!"

His head screamed at him for giving that order, but his gut told him it was the right choice. Indecisiveness meant losing, and he would rather make a wrong choice than do nothing at all and have a guaranteed loss. Sylveon flashed a grin and rushed forward with Quick Attack while Maylene ordered Emboar to use Smog once more, although it had been weakened by Sylveon's Disarming Voice. The fairy type immediately started coughing and could barely keep his eyes open in the toxic smoke, but he wrapped his ribbons around Emboar, soothing him in the process as he began another Play Rough.

The Smog grew too thick for Denzel to even see what was happening, but he heard multiple blows being exchanged. Every time Sylveon grunted or yelped, he winced, but he could only hope.

His shoulders sagged when Sylveon flew out of the purple haze, his body limp.

"Sylveon is unable to battle. Challenger, send out your fourth Pokemon!"

Denzel rolled his shoulder and smiled nervously as he clenched and unclenched his fists.

He was in quite the predicament, wasn't he?

He released Milotic, this time on his side of the field, but Maylene immediately recalled Emboar and sent out her last Pokemon instead. A tall Pangoro that would be able to grab onto Milotic and treat his body like a rag.

If he ever got close enough, that was.

"Aqua Ring and Water Pulse, rapid fire!" He yelled. Surf would have been more powerful here, but he had to think about Roselia's ability to fight afterward. It would do him no good to flood the field further than it already was.

A blue light shimmered around Milotic, and his previous bruises slowly began to heal. He reared his head back and shot out Water Pulse after Water Pulse.

"Get close," Maylene simply said.

The rings of water exploded against Pangoro's fur, drenching and slowing it in the process. Pangoro's legs flexed as he jumped over one of the two rivers, took more Water Pulses and then jumped over the other. Just how bulky was this Pokemon?

"Keep going," Denzel muttered.

"Bulldoze."

The floor shook, throwing Milotic's aim off and hurting his scales as Pangoro approached. This time, however, they wouldn't waste their chance to run.

"Escape into the water," Denzel shouted.

"Grab it!"

Milotic slithered away as he drenched his path with water. Pangoro jumped, but Milotic was already out of reach and it fell flat on its face. Denzel relaxed slightly, but this was far from over. A few seconds later, Milotic appeared down the river. He peeked his head out and continued pestering Pangoro with Water Pulse.

"Grab a rock and throw it!" Maylene barked.

Denzel's eyes widened. That wasn't even Rock Throw. Pangoro's arms tensed as it ripped a chunk of earth from the floor and threw it at Milotic, who quickly ducked underwater to dodge. Another Water Pulse hit Pangoro's face, this time coming from under the surface. Denzel frowned. Even if Maylene had planned to grab Milotic again, this was too easy, something was going to happen soon.

He got his answer when Maylene ordered Pangoro to Bullet Punch.

The dark type blurred, entering the river faster than Denzel could see. A half-hearted Twister came out of his mouth, and Milotic began to create the tornado just as Pangoro began to hit him with a flurry of punches and then grabbed him by the throat to lift him out of the water. The draconic tornado stopped him in his tracks, but he didn't let go.

"Aqua Tail!" Denzel quickly said.

The Twister engulfed them both, but water wrapped around Milotic's tail and exploded when he slammed it against Pangoro's gut. This time, the fighting type let go, but both of them were still stuck in the Twister.

"Wrap and Dragon Breath!" Denzel yelled. He was going all in.

With a nod, Milotic wrapped around Pangoro and constricted him as tightly as he could as a Dragon Breath charged up in his throat. Pangoro flexed and pushed against the Wrap, but the Twister kept him off-balance. The blue stream of energy hit Pangoro in the face, and the dark type stumbled back into the water.

He had it, Denzel thought with a clenched fist.

Thirty seconds of violent thrashing later, Milotic brought Pangoro's unconscious body ashore and quickly sank back into the river to let Aqua Ring do the job. If Denzel had trained more, he could have had Recover down... damn it.

"Pangoro is unable to battle. Leader Maylene, send out your fourth Pokemon!"

She obviously sent out Poliwrath, who had barely seen any fighting. Maylene's eyes narrowed when she saw the cold ghostly flames burn around the water type, but it wasn't like she could do anything about it.

"Dragon Breath!"

"Mud Shot! Make it a stream!"

Both attacks clashed mid-air and exploded. Denzel wiped his upper lip and kept a hand on Milotic's Pokeball. So long as Poliwrath wasn't hurting him, he would keep Milotic in the field.

"Dive in the water and grab it!" Maylene yelled. "No holding back!"

Poliwrath broke into a run that was somehow even faster than before while he was burned, and Denzel counted the seconds as he ordered Milotic to retaliate in any way he could. Twister was too slow to form around an opponent moving that quickly, so he deferred to Dragon Breaths until Poliwrath jumped into the water. Denzel quickly recalled Milotic, using his last swap of the battle.

Now, it was Roselia's turn, and she was perfect for what he needed.

"There's a Poliwrath in the closest stream to you. Use Venoshock and poison the water— not the crater, the river," Denzel said.

Roselia corrected her course, and Poliwrath quickly had to exit the water to avoid getting poisoned. He tried to jump into another pool of water, but Roselia poisoned it again. They would keep the water type from hiding anywhere as long as it was needed.

"Seed Bomb!" Denzel yelled.

"Mudshot!"

The teenager clenched his teeth as both Pokemon traded blows. Roselia was too slow to hope to dodge an attack as fast as Mudshot, but Seed Bomb's explosive range meant that Poliwrath could hardly do any better. Five seeds landed next to the water type, each explosion being so violent that it stopped him from moving for a few seconds.

"Toughen up and keep going!" Maylene yelled. "Earth Power!"

Fuck! "Leech Seed!" He yelled.

A pillar of earth erupted under Roselia's feet, but not before two small seeds landed on Poliwrath's body. Thorns grew from the seeds and wrapped around the water type like a vice. Roselia landed with a soft thud, and she struggled back to her feet.

"Again!" Maylene yelled.

"Spore Bomb!"

Roselia would go down faster than expected, but she would leave Maylene a parting gift. A tightly packaged lump of spores flew out of both flowers, and she was again hit by Earth Power. The spores exploded next to Poliwrath, and the water type coughed as it began to wildly shake and inhale more poisonous spores.

Maylene's face scrunched up in anger, but it wasn't like she could screw him over. All she had left was Poliwrath and Emboar.

"Roselia is unable to battle! Challenger, send out your last Pokemon."

Milotic emerged onto the field as close to him as he could. Around half of the water pools and one of the two rivers were poisoned to some degree, so hiding in the water would take some more effort if they ever needed it, but this was the best bet he had of winning.

"Aqua Ring."

A little stalling never hurt anyone. He could stop holding back now that Maylene was out of options. He calmly watched with his hands in his pockets as Milotic slowly healed up the damage he had taken from his previous fights and Poliwrath slowly succumbed to Leech Seed, Poison Powder, and Will-O-Wisp.

"Poliwrath is unable to battle! Leader Maylene, send out your last Pokemon."

Maylene let out a haughty huff as she released Emboar.

"Surf," he simply said.

"Get close and Flame Charge!" Maylene yelled.

Milotic sang, and all of the water on the field pushed against the fireball that Emboar had turned into. Most of it instantly turned to vapor, but some of it hit, and that was what they needed. The fire type struggled to move forward, its past wounds from its previous fights coming back to bite it. Milotic continued the Surf, including with the poisoned water, but he manipulated a small space around himself so he could be free from any damage.

Emboar fell at Milotic's feet. It hadn't gotten a single hit off.

"Victory to the Challenger!"

Denzel pumped his fist and loudly exhaled as the adrenaline slowly left his body. He grabbed his badge from Maylene, who all things considered didn't look that pissed now that the battle had passed. The prize money was very appreciated, and so was the Drain Punch TM. He'd teach it to Lopunny ASAP.

Five badges now.

The Conference grew closer.