Leah had been training up her team for almost a week since she captured her Scatterbug. She had dubbed it Actias Luna. Zayn has been trying to convince her to stop and rest, but he’s had very little luck. She often went to bed rather late at night and woke up with the sunrise to train some more. Leah’s a hard worker and Zayn can respect that, but she won’t accomplish much if she’s bone tired. He worried about her. A lot. On the eve of the gym battle, Leah had stayed up a little later than usual to train some more, but instead of waking with the sunrise, she slept in for a little while.
Viola is a photographer, her attention to details is a trait that is required in her field and that makes her a formidable opponent. Leah knew this, that’s why she had been training, to build up her strength and plan out a strategy because going in and only using Mrs. Cuddletails for this battle was not a viable strategy. Let alone a good one. She and her friends were walking through town, looking for the gym when Mildred spoke up, “Hey Leah, I have a question for you.”
Leah perked up and turned to her friend, “Sure, go ahead.”
“How exactly did you meet Mrs. Cuddletails?”
“It’s a long story, but if you really want to know,” Leah sighed, “I was a child at the time and Gurkinn was watching me while my parents were at work. Korrina and I were playing hide and seek when Mrs. Cuddletails here barreled towards us in a panic.”
Leah held her Vulpix upwards, which prompted Mrs. Cuddletails to coo in response, “So I grabbed her and told Korrina that we should head back inside. Gurkinn wouldn’t have let us in if it weren’t for the state Mrs. Cuddletails was in. He managed to heal her to the best of his abilities and when my parents came back home, they allowed me to catch her.”
“No wonder you two are so close, Mrs. Cuddletails probably felt safe with you.”
The moment that Leah lowered the Vulpix to a level where its snout met her nose, she heard the click of a camera. She turned around and saw Viola looking satisfied with the picture she had taken. The gym leader approached the group, “Hi there! You must be here to challenge the gym aren’t you?”
“You know it!” Leah smiled.
“That’s what I like to hear.” Viola led Leah’s group to her gym, “Now which one of you will go first?”
Leah chuckled nervously, “Actually, it’s just me that’s challenging you.”
“Very well then, shall we begin, Leah?”
Leah nodded and sent out Scatterbug to start this battle. Viola sent out her Surskit which made Leah so happy that she didn’t lead this fight with Mrs. Cuddletails, but the little insect before her can pose a threat to Actias Luna. It knew Ice Beam which is one of the most powerful ice type moves out there, but it would be foolish of Leah to pit her Vulpix against a water type despite the bug typing it has. Her best option is her Scatterbug, but that would make for a slow battle and Scatterbug has been with Leah for a week, it hasn’t yet learned her way of battling, but this little team will have to make due with what they have. Despite her trepidation, Leah finally called out a command, “Actias Luna use Tackle and Stun Spore!”
The Scatterbug didn’t need to be told twice, it had been seeking out Leah’s approval and praise the moment it joined her team, one could say it almost envied Mrs. Cuddletails for the attention the Vulpix had from their trainer. The spores surrounded its body as it launched itself towards Surskit, it seemed like it was using the spores to imitate Mrs. Cuddletails’s Flame Charge. Viola nodded, “Interesting strategy, now Surskit use Ice Beam on the floor!”
“Oh no you don’t! Actias Luna use String Shot on Surskit!”
Leah’s quick action surprised Viola as Actias Luna had managed to bundle up Surskit in a silky string like a spider bundling up their next meal. If Surskit were to use Ice Beam, it would just freeze itself over and form an icy cocoon. Surskit was already paralyzed, its movements were limited. Viola found this to be quite the predicament, but if she didn’t try something, Leah would claim victory rather quickly and she wanted that battle to last a little longer so she took the risk to call out an Ice Beam which only solidified the cocoon of silky strings. Leah smiled, “I’m afraid you’ve fallen right into my trap. Now Actias Luna use tackle!”
The Scatterbug made haste and used all of its body weight to tackle the icy cocoon, the impact shoved it towards the wall behind Viola, thus breaking the cocoon and revealing a rather disoriented Surskit. Both Pokemon were in close proximity to each other. Any move could knock them both out simultaneously. Surskit summoned a blue wall, Viola had called for Protect, Leah could bypass that, “Climb it, Actias Luna, and then use Bug Bite!”
Actias Luna began climbing the protective barrier that Surskit had conjured up. Once it reached the top of the barrier, the Scatterbug leapt off the barrier and bit its opponent. That was all it took for Surskit to get defeated, but the battle was not over yet. Viola withdrew Surskit and Leah reached for her Scatterbug’s Pokeball, “Actias Luna return.” Both Pokemon were brought back inside the comfort of their Pokeball.
“I can tell that this Scatterbug of yours will grow to become a wonderful Vivillon one day. It shows its strength well, you had me cornered there, but I hope your Vulpix is ready for my next Pokemon. Go Vivillon!” Viola threw a Pokeball and a beautiful Vivillon with pink-coloured wings appeared.
Leah smiled, “She’s had a scuffle with a Combee a week ago so Vivillon is but a mere Tuesday for her. Isn’t that right, Mrs. Cuddletails?”
The Vulpix barked in response, its fur bristled as tiny sparks of flames could be seen flying out of its pelt. Everyone could tell that the Vulpix was itching to stretch its legs in this fight. The Vivillon flew down to greet its opponent politely, Mrs. Cuddletails responded curtly in kind with a short bark. That’s when the battle resumed. Leah did not hesitate to command the first attack, “Mrs. Cuddletails, use Flame Charge and then use Will-o-Wisp!”
Mrs. Cuddletails’s body was engulfed in flames and she quickly began running around, using the rocks in the lush greenery inside the gym to give herself more height before finally leaping to Vivillon’s airborne location and summoned a sinister bluish-white flame. The Vulpix shot the flame at Vivillon before tackling the butterfly-looking Pokemon in a flaming tackle. Vivillon came crashing down, but despite its injuries and its burn, it still got back up. It flapped its wings furiously, and on Viola’s command, summoned a strong gust of wind. Mrs. Cuddletails was not deterred, she held onto the ground for the duration of the gust. “Vivillon use Solar Beam!”
Solar Beam was a move that requires the user to charge up the sun’s power so they have to skip a turn unless Sunny Day was in action, Leah took this as an opening to have Mrs. Cuddletails use Ember. The Vulpix summoned a blanket of orange sparks towards Vivillon, it had done its job, but soon enough the Solar Beam was fully charged. Leah will have to go on the defensive and that she did, “Mrs. Cuddletails, use Fire Spin on the Solar Beam!”
With a howl Mrs. Cuddletails summoned a raging, fiery vortex. Its flames quickly engulfed the Solar Beam, causing both moves to dissipate in a sea of sparkles and embers. Mildred watched in awe and made a mental note to ask Leah about how Mrs. Cuddletails made such a spectacle, but not right now as Leah seemed rather focused on figuring out how to end this battle. The burn was dealing damage on Vivillon, all Leah had to do is plan one final attack and she’ll win that gym. In her pensive state, Leah hadn’t noticed that Vivillon had used Psychic to lift Mrs. Cuddletails upwards and throw the Vulpix around like a Growlithe playing with a stuffed toy. The moment Leah snapped out of it, Vivillon was done levitating the Vulpix, luckily Mrs. Cuddletails got back up. She shot an affronted stare at her trainer, but still awaited Leah’s command, “Sorry Mrs. Cuddletails.” the Vulpix huffed in response, accepting the apology, “Now let’s finish this off with Flame Charge!”
Once again, Mrs. Cuddletails’s body was engulfed in flames and ran around the arena and outside of it as well. She jumped on a rock and propelled herself backwards before using her hindlegs to kick the tree behind her which launched her towards Vivillon. Angling her body properly for the landing, the Vulpix, with its body still engulfed in an inferno, tackled Vivillon. The impact caused the butterfly-like Pokemon to plummet towards the ground at great speed. The Vulpix had also plummeted, but the Flame Charge took most of the impact of the fall. The flames around Mrs. Cuddletails’s body dissipated as she walked back to Leah. With Vivillon defeated, Leah had been declared the victor of this battle. Viola withdrew Vivillon and walked up to her challenger, “You have shown me your strength and as a result, you have earned the Bug Badge. I hope to battle you again someday, Leah.”
“So do I, but next time, I won’t get so easily distracted.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
With that Leah returned to her friends and they all made their way to the Pokemon Center to heal her Pokemon and to celebrate her victory.
YOU ARE READING
Pokémon: Leah's Journey {Rewrite}
FanfictionThree college students, Leah, Zayn and Mildred, are sent on a Pokémon journey across the Kalos Region. What was supposed to be a typical journey to help them learn something about themselves takes an unexpected turn.
