Chapter 18

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The crowd surrounding me was huge; bigger than any crowd I had ever seen at a gym before. Their cries and roars were deafening, and I almost was afraid for a moment. I'd never battled with that big of a crowd watching me in a gym battle before, and Salazzle was utterly exhausted from her time rounding up the Wooloo with me, which was definitely not ideal.

Being the dual Poison/Fire type she was, she would have twice the advantage over Milo's partners, and the only other Pokemon I had that could combat his Pokemon was Skrelp. But, he was very fragile, and would be at a slight disadvantage being on land AND being a Water type as well as a Poison type.

So, I pulled out a Tamato Berry and offered it to her, which she gratefully accepted and scarfed down. Now full, I put her back in her luxury ball to rest for a short while, took a deep breath and walked out onto the field.

"Hello again," Milo greeted me as we met on the pitch. I nodded in return, and gave a small smile. "Don't want to speak today, huh?" Milo chuckled. "You must be plotting away one heck of a strategy."

You have no idea. I just shrugged, turned and sashayed to the other side of the field.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls," the announcer boomed, evoking another round of cheers from the audience. "Let us commence the first Gym Battle for Challenger Dharmira!!! Give her a hand!!" As the audience screamed their approval, I looked back at Milo. He smiled warmly at me, before launching an ultra ball onto the field and releasing a Gossifleur.

"And Milo sends out his Gossifleur! Who will Dharmira call forth to challenge his first Pokemon?!"
"Espeon, let's go," I yelled, throwing her luxury ball onto the field.

Espeon was one of the few Pokemon I had on me that could be found in Galar; if I used someone like Skrelp or Shelgon, people might give me unwanted attention because of my rare partners. And I was not stupid enough to draw attention to myself so soon in the game; that would come later. "And Dharmira responds to the challenge by sending out an Espeon," the announcer yelled. "I wonder how this will play out!"

Dan, the blonde man from before, came floating down to the field on his Aegislash and stood there, waiting. It took a moment to realize the horizontal black and white stripes meant he would be the referee.

"Alright; BATTLE BEGIN!!!"

"Gossifleur, use Magical Leaf, now," Milo ordered, and immediately glowing foliage surrounded his Pokemon. "Espeon, let's kick this off strong with Future Sight," I responded. Espeon's eyes glowed bright blue, and immediately portals opened up above us. Spheres of psychic energy the size of bowling balls materialized and flew into them before they winked out of existence.

I barely had the time to praise my partner before Magical Leaf came flying at us like an army of green bullets. "Dodge it, Espeon!" I yelled, and she leapt over them. But, they immediately stopped, turned tail and came racing back, and Espeon cried out as they struck her in the side.

"And it's a direct hit for Milo's Gossifleur!! Will Espeon be able to continue?!"

"We're tougher than we look," I shouted in the direction of the speaker's box, and the crowd went wild. "Espeon, use Psychic!!"

Espeon's eyes lit up again, but this time, Gossifleur squeaked as she was lifted off the ground by an invisible power and slammed back into it repeatedly. This continued for minutes, repeatedly tossing the poor Grass type all around the stadium like a ragdoll. Crashing into the walls, throwing her to the floor and spinning her around, then repeating the process all over again. After I was satisfied, I put up a hand to signal Enough.

Dropping Gossifleur, Espeon trotted back over to me and I rubbed behind her ears. "Good job," I whispered, giving her much affection for her effort. Dan zoomed over to where the Pokemon was laying, dazed and unmoving on the field. "Gossifleur is unable to battle," he shouted.

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