That morning after they received all the Pokemon that were being taken care of by Nurse Joy the three trainers made their way outside and proceeded to play rock, paper, scissor once again. This time Paradox had been the victor. She jumped in the air with a victorious shout before happily entering inside of the gym.
Taking the advice of Elliot, Paradox had recalled all her Pokemon inside their pokeballs so that she wouldn't reveal all her cards to the gym leader right at the begining of the match. Only Maple stayed outside, having the fox walking beside her always make her feel safe and now that her trust with Elliot had been shattered she needed to feel safe now more than ever. if it gave her a disadvantage later in the match then so be it.
Once they were inside the gym all three of them were shocked at what they were seeing. They saw a man who looked like he was in his mid-twenties and he wore no shirt at all and his pants were tattered and barely held together, but that wasn't what was shocking. What surprised them was that the man was fighting a Primeape with bare hands.
Obviously the man was losing the fight but the fact that he could stand up to a Pokemon at all was impressive. Once he noticed he had company the two of them stopped fighting and the man started to chuckle. ''Oh hello there have you come for a Gym battle?'' At their nod the man grinned.
''Alright! My name is Chuck and as you probably guessed I use fighting type Pokemon. Now might I ask how many badges do you have?''
Paradox searched inside her newly aquired bag and presented the man with her two badges. They had lost all their badges in the shipwreck. But fortunately for them the league was smart enough to record what gym they had beaten and Nurse Joy had given them replacements for their badges. Paradox had never been more thankful for humans obsession with paperwork.
''Alright then! Since you have two badges this will be a two on two battle! Only the challenger is allowed to substitue their Pokemon.'' Paradox nodded so they weren't allowed to use more Pokemon than the gym leader anymore she guessed it was fair enough. ''Primeape I choose you!'' The Pokemon Chuck had been figting earlier sprinted into the battlefield.
Paradox considered her option and then chose a Pokeball. ''Vivi I choose you!'' She yelled as she threw the Pokeball into the battlefield. The Sylveon appeared in a flash of light and she smiled sweetly at her opponent.
''Let's have fun! Shall we?'' She said before breaking into a cute giggle. Which made the Primeape blush as he looked at the Sylveon with hearts in his eyes.
''Focus Primeape! She's the enemy you cannot by distracted by how cute she is!'' Chuck yelled at his Pokemon and the monkey shook his head before he glared at the Eeveelution.
''Vivi use Fairy Wind!'' Paradox yelled loudly with a grin.
But Chuck responded with a grin of his own. ''Primeape counter it with Pay Day!'' The monkey sent out an oval coin in the air. When it made contact with the wind both attacked scattered and coins fell all over the battlefield.
Elliot looked shocked at the turn of event. ''I didn't know Primeape could learn this move.''
Chuck turned toward the boy with a grin. ''Primeape doesn't learn this move naturally but every Pokemon have hidden moves they can learn throught hard work. Some scientists have tried to bring out these moves with some sort of machine but it was deemed too dangerous after a Rattata went into coma after using one of these machines, so you have to learn it the hard way or not at all.''
''Interesting, but we're till going to win this, Vivi use Baby-Doll Eyes!'' The Sylveon made the cutest expression she could managed and the Primeape completely stopped attacking as he stared at her with a blush.
But before his trainer could yell at him once again Vivi had arleady started her next attack. ''Sorry big boy but I intend to win this.'' she said with a wink before throwing another Fairy Wind attack at the monkey.
The wind managed to do a lot of damaged as the Primeape was sent crashing on the ground but he quickly regained his footing and charged toward Vivi with an enraged expression. ''This is the last time you fool me with your cute look!'' He snarled angrily.
''Oh are you sure? Because I was going to give you a little kiss if you were a good boy.'' Primeape frozed in place at her declaration and true to her words the Sylveon gave him a kiss on the cheek but what he hadn't noticed is that the kiss was draining all his energy and before he knew it Primeape fell on the ground unconscious.
Chuck sighed in disappointment. ''I really need to make him learn to keep his emotions in check.'' He muttered before recalling him in his Pokeball. ''Alright are you ready to fight against my strongest Pokemon? Poliwrath go!''
As soon as the Pokemon was released Maple got tense and she began to growl savagely. Paradox gabe her a bewildered look. ''What's wrong Maple?''
Maple looked at her with angry eyes. ''Don't you recognize him?! This is the same Poliwrath that tried to kill you when we first met!'' Paradox was shocked at the revelation and she began to glare toward the Poliwrath.
''Ahahahah! I never expected to see the two of you there! After your mother so kindly banish me from the forest I made great, I was recruit by this guy. Being a gym leader Pokemon is great! Everyday I get to crush puny Pokemon like the little Vulpix you have there. I can't wait to crush you for making me leave my home!''
''You deserved to be banished you psycopath! I can't believe a gym leader would use a bad Pokemon like you!'' Maple roared in anger.
Chuck raised an eyebrow at the exchange. ''Hey I don't know what's wrong with your Vulpix but I hope it won't jump into the battlefield before it's her turn, that is if you select her at all for this match.''
Maple glared toward her trainer. ''I want to fight him, I want to show him how much stronger I am compared to before.'' Paradox knew she would hear it for a long time if she didn't allowed her to fight so with a sigh she recalled Vivi and sent out Maple on the battlefield.
Chuck raised an eyebrow at this. ''A fire type against a water type? Are you sure you know your type matchup little girl?''
Poliwrath on the other hand had a thoughtful expression on his face. ''Hey weren't you male the last time we fought? Nah must have been my imagination.''
''Maple use Fire Spin!'' Paradox yelled.
''With pleasure.'' The Vulpix replied with a sadistic smile as she imprisoned Poliwrath in a circle of flames.
The water and fighting type chuckled in response. ''You think that will be enough to keep me contained? Hydro Pump!'' Not only did the attack get rid of the fire in front of him but it was heading straight toward Maple.
Paradox eyes widened in alarm and she yelled. ''Use Protect!'' The shield came just in time as a powerful stream of water hit the shield relentlessly.
Poliwrath chuckled. ''Good you managed to survive but you cannot use protect multiple time so my next attack is sure to hit.''
''Poliwrath use Submission!'' Chuck yelled at his Pokemon.
''That what I was about to do.'' Poliwrath replied with an annoyed frown. The water and fighting type was running toward the fox Pokemon his fist punching the air furiously. Paradox knew that if it managed to hit it would almost certainly spell the end of the round, but then she got an idea.
''Maple jump in the air as high as you can go!'' Chuck was confused what was the girl doing now? The Vulpix followed her command and jumped in the air so high she almost reached the ceiling.
''Alright now spit as many embers as you can in rapid succession!'' Paradox yelled. Maple got the idea and with a grin she created dozens of small ball of flames. The Poliwrath was pelted by the incessant stream of fire. But once the Vulpix landed he looked like he was still ready to fight thanks to his resistance to fire.
''Quick before the Vulpix can jump again, use Superpower!'' Chuck yelled and Paradox eyes widened in horror as she remembered how injured Maple had been from that attack last time.
''Maple use Protect!'' She yelled but the shield still needed time to recover and the poor Vulpix was hit by the devastating blow and she was sent crashing on the ground painfully. ''Maple! Are you okay?!'' She cried in concern.
Maple slowly rose from the ground but it was clear to everyone that she was standing only by sheer force of will and that another attack would take her down.
''Poliwrath finish this with Pound!'' Chuck yelled.
''Maple keep him at distance with another volley of embers!'' Paradox yelled, but instead of following her command the Vulpix looked like she had something caught in her throat. The Poliwrath chuckle at that as he ran toward her.
''Is that your definition of a volley little Vulpix? Give up now there now way you can win this, you're just as weak as you were ten years ago!'' But just before he could reach Maple she let out what at first glanced seemed like an ember attack but as the fire gained traction it grew bigger in bigger until it became as big as a human being and it's shape changed into a strange symbol.
And then the attack connected with the approaching Poliwrath and he screamed in pain as the fire overwhelmed him. Once the fire died down the water and fighting type was on the ground motionless and everyone looked at the Vulpix in shocked.
''I... I finally did it! I learned the Fire Blast! I knew I could do it you were wrong dad!'' Maple screamed in the air and let out a stream of fire as she celebrated her victory. But then the adrenaline faded away and the Vulpix fell on the ground too weak to stand up.
Chuck rubbed the back of his head and then returned to Poliwrath to it's Pokeball. He then walked toward Paradox with a grin. ''Congratulation girl using a fire type against Poliwrath was a pretty risky move but the two of you worked together as if you knew each other your whole life.'' The man said not knowing how right he was. ''As a reward for beating my gym I give you the Storm badge!'' He gave Paradox a badge that was shaped like a fist. The blonde girl carefully took it and place it in the case with her other badges. before putting it away in her bag.
Then she took a Pokeball in her hand and returned Maple. Elliot and Luna looked around waiting for anyone to talk Elliot was the one to break the silence. ''So... Do we need to come back later to get our gym battle?''
Chuck chuckled at that. ''No need for that! Unlike some gym leaders I know, I'm prepared to take multiple challengers one after the other, I have four other Pokemon with me so we can start your gym battle right now!''
''I think I'm going to go heal Vivi and Maple, see you at the Pokemon Center alright?'' Paradox said, the two other trainers nodded in understanding and the girl left the gym. As she walked out of the door she looked at Maple's Pokeball with a proud smile.
Elliot match was against a Hitmonlee The first Pokemon he had sent was Eve and she quite easily dealt with the fighting type with her Psychic powers. But then the gym Leader had sent a Breloom who managed to do not only poisoned her but also drained her life force with Leach Seed and the poor eeveelution had been overwhelmed.
Elliot then sent Mareep and at first the electric type had just as much trouble as Eve but then to the shock of everyone the Mareep had evolve in the middle of the match and managed to turn the fight around.
The newly evolved Flaaffy jumped around the joy. ''Yes finally I won't have to deal with all that wool during hot summers! Oh and I guess the power boost is nice too, hey maybe now that I'm more powerful Chikorita will finally admit her feelings for me!'' He said with a smile and the Chikorita felt a wave of disgust from inside her Pokeball.
Then it was the turn of Luna and she sent Snowbelle as her first Pokemon and Chuck had sent a Hitmonchan at first the fight had been very tought since fighting typoe had an advantage over ice type but the alolan Vulpix had managed to turn the match around when he learned the ability Dazzling Gleam and defeated the punching Pokemon.
But it was clear he was too tired for a second battle so Luna had returned him after his victory and Chuck sent out a Medicham. Luna had grinned at that and sent out her strongest Pokemon Noelle. The Froslass easily overwhelmed her opponent who couldn't even use fighting type moves on her and she had another advantage since she was a ghost and her enemy was part psychic type.
Chuck was a little vexed that he hadn't managed to beat a single trainer today. But then he smiled. ''With these three, the Silver Conference this year should be interesting. Especially with that Zoroark girl.'' During the match Medicham had noticed that Luna's mind was completely protected by a dark energy it was easy to put two and two together and she had communicated this to her trainer with telepathy.
Chuck didn't see a problem with letting a Pokemon become a trainer as long as she was competent and cared about the Pokemon she trained he couldn't care less about what species she was. Now if only those old coots at the league could get their sticks out of their ass.
The problem wasn't the Elite 4 or even the Champion they didn't see a problem with it either. Unfortunately the ones who had hired the interviewers for the league was the Prime Minister of Johto and that old fart had some controversial opinion about human superiority over Pokemon.
Honestly the only reason why he was still leader was because the other party wanted to unite Kanto and Johto into a single region and the people of Johto were way too proud of their culture to let something like that pass.
Chuck shook his head with a disgusted frown. ''Bah! I hate politic I should stop thinking about it, maybe after I drop my Pokemon with Nurse Joy I could go take a nice long swim it's been a long time since I had some time alone outside of this gym.'' With that the man walked out, but still... There was something special about that blonde girl too. She looked human in every ways but at the same time it felt like she could understand her Pokemon on another level just like the Zoroark, Maybe he was just imagining things...
- - - - -
Paradox smiled as her friend entered the Pokemon Center. ''So how did it go?'' Instead of responding they showed her their badge and then Elliot took a Pokeball and released a Flaaffy. Paradox gasped.
''Mareep- I mean Flaaffy you evolved! Good for you!'' She exclaimed happily.
''We could test this new body later, if you know what I mean.'' The sheep said before waggling his eyebrow. Paradox looked at him with a disgusted expression.
''No thanks I'm only interested in Maple and weren't you trying to get in a relationship with Chikorita?'' The Flaaffy grinned at that.
''True but until she finally confess her feelings I'm a free Pokemon.'' Paradox shook her head and sat farther away from the Flaaffy.
''By the way Elliot why don't you give names to your Pokemon?'' Paradox asked curiously.
The boy shrugged in response. ''I never felt the need to, I guess I always felt like any names I would give them would be worse than the name they arleady have.''
''I'm sure they would like any names you would give them beside isn't it weird that only Ivy has a name on your team?'' She asked to him.
Elliot frowned thoughtfully. ''Well she arleady had a name so it would be kind of insulting to not use it. I guess I could ask them if they want a name or not.''
''Personally I want to be called Lady Killer.'' Flaaffy said with an exaggerated wink. And Paradox shot him a confused expression.
''Why would you want to kill ladies? I didn't take you for a bad guy.'' Paradox asked and Elliot facepalmed.
''I don't even want to know in what context he said that but lady killer basically mean a man who is very attractive to woman.''
Paradox scratched her head. ''Humans have really weird expressions what next setting people on fire to mean you're doing fine?''
Just as she said that two teenage boys walked past. ''Man have you seen Lance during the Indigo League? He was literally on fire! Best champion we ever had since Samuel Oak!'' The boy besided him nodded exctedly as they walked toward the counter.
Paradox slammed her face on her hands. ''You humans are too weird, I'm going to bed.'' She muttered and Elliot was left chuckling to himself. But then he frowned for just a moment it had felt like the argument had never happened. But could he really let it go? Maple looked happy and healthy as far as he could tell but was that just an illusion?
Elliot didn't know, the world used to be simple. If someone broke the law arrest them, end of the story. But now his best human friend had broke the law, normally he would have reported her to the police by now. But for some reasons he felt like arresting Paradox would hurt Maple more than help her it was clear she cared about her trainer. He didn't know if that was stockholm syndrome or something else.
All Elliot knew is that he needed to make sure wether or not Paradox was hurting her Pokemon. If the fox Pokemon was really as happy as she seemed... Well he would cross that bridge when it came. But if she had hurted Maple like he had suspected she had. He would need to take her down by any means necessary...
Later that night Paradox heard the now familiar jingle that meant her Pokemon had been healed with an excited smile she made her way downstair and Maple immediatly jumped into her arm. ''You were amazing today Maple! You finally learned the ultimate technique of your pack.'' The Vulpix smiled proudly, then Paradox set the fox Pokemon down and began to dig in her backpack and she retrieved the fire stone Maple had rejected on her birthday.
''Do you want to evolve now? Or do you still want to wait?'' Paradox asked the Vulpix. Maple looked at the glowing stone with excitement and some trepidation, finally she nodded.
''I'm ready, I'm finally going to be a Ninetales.'' And then without any more hesitation she touched the Fire Stone with her paw. Everyone in the Pokemon stopped what they were doing and looked at them when they noticed the light of evolution.
When the transformation finished Maple howled as she felt the power coursing throught her body. But she restrained herself from throwing a Flamethrower at the ceiling. She didn't want to have any Nurse Joy angry at her, after all they gave the best massage in the world.
Everyone clapped and cheered at the newly evolved Ninetales. Most of them had been bored out of their mind so they were happy there had been something to break the monotony of being in a waiting room.
''How does it feel to evolve Maple?'' Paradox asked with a smile.
''It feel amazing! It's like the power I had inside of me has finally been released. It feel like I could do anything right now! So how do I look?'' She asked with a hint of nervouseness in her voice.
''You almost look like a younger version of Syrup.'' Paradox said with a grin.
Maple nodded her head at that. ''I guess that was expected I am her daughter after all.'' Paradox then looked toward the nine tails the Pokemon was named for and smiled as they waved lazily around.
''Your tails are beautiful. They always looked pretty but now it look like they are made of soft silk.'' Maple chuckled at that.
''You find my tails beatiful huh? That's probably the best compliment you could ever give to a Ninetales.'' At that Paradox smiled.
''I can see why you would be proud of them I want to touch them so badly but I know how Ninetales feel about that.'' Paradox said.
Ninetales blushed at that and in a small voice she replied. ''I'm okay with it as long as it's only you that touch my tails.''
Paradox looked at the fox Pokemon in surprised and then she smiled. ''Maybe I'll do it when we're officially mates.'' Paradox replied and Maple face flushed even more. They heard footsteps going down the stairs and when they turned around they saw Luna and Elliot walking toward them.
Both of them stopped and gasped as they saw the newly evolved Ninetales beside Paradox. ''Woah Maple is that you?'' Elliot asked in wonder but it quickly faded away when the fox Pokemon began to growl at him, the dark haired boy took a step back as he watched the Ninetales barring her teeth at him.
Paradox turned toward the fire type with a frown. ''Maple behave yourself Elliot won't attack us anymore, will you?'' She said the last two words with a dangerous glint of her eyes that made Elliot gulped nervousely.
''Yes, I should never have done what I did, by the way does your face still hurt after... you know'' He asked with a guilty expression. The black eye had faded away while they were travelling the sea with Lapras.
''It's still a little sore but other than that I'm fine. Just be sure to not do it ever again you were lucky Maple didn't curse you. Next time she probably won't be able to restrain herself and believe me your curse wouldn't be a pleasant one.'' The blonde girl replied with a shudder as she remembered what Maple had told her she was planning to do to the boy before she had been interupted.
''I-I'll keep that in mind.'' He replied with a nervous smile.
''So where are we going next after this?'' Paradox asked trying to change the subject.
''Well... I guess we should make our way back to Olivine City and continue where we left off. And then we should make our way to Blackthorn City.'' Luna gasped at that before she began to write in her newly aquired notepad.
'Blackthorn City?! I heard it was a city full of dragon masters! That's also where the new champion come from!'
''Dragons huh? They're a pretty tough type to deal with. Paradox you're pretty lucky, fairy type is one of the best counter to dragons. But that type is pretty rare in Johto and you have two of them. Granted Splash doesn't know any fairy type moves yet but she's still immuned to dragon.''
Paradox then gained a thoughful frown. ''By the way how are we getting out of here? Lapras must have moved away by now.'' Luna looked confused for a moment at the blonde girl statement but then realisation dawned on her face and she began to write down in her notebook.
'Wait didn't I tell you? I captured Lapras last night, I have decided to name her Aria.'
Elliot pouted a that. ''Oh man I always wanted a Lapras, you're so lucky.'' Luna grinned in response.
The three teens made their way close to the docks but before leaving they saw a small picnic table and decided to eat before starting their next travel. Elliot had prepared them a fruit salad with many berries like Oran Berries, Pecha Berries, Rawst Berries and even a few Sitrus Berries.
As they ate Paradox had a question. ''Hey it seem like we haven't eaten meat for a while I don't really care that much but why is that?''
Elliot looked guilty at that. ''Well before I met you it was easy to pretend like the Pokemon I ate were just some farm animals and I could put it out of my head. But with you there I realised every Pokemon are sapient... Except maybe Magikarp.'' He said after some consideration. ''And I admit what that Miltank said that night shook me. No beings should feel like they should die for their owners just because he gave them a good life before killing them.''
Paradox shrugged. ''It's your choice and I respect it, but I don't think I will become completely vegetarian if I can get meat from time to time I will eat it. Maybe it's because I was raised in the wild but I learned pretty early that predators got to eat and it's a sad thing when you see a prey die. But predators keep the balance of the world in check. If we didn't have them the prey would become too numerous and the plants would all vanished and then the herbivores would all die of starvation.''
''Wait didn't your mother protected the Pokemon in her forest from predators?'' Elliot asked in confusion.
Paradox shook her head. ''Yes and no she protected baby Pokemon. My mother always had a soft spot for children and she can't stand when a predator go after them just because they're a easy target. But when it come to adult Pokemon she let nature run it's course.'' Elliot nodded with a frown in response he guessed it made some sense. If Celebi stopped any Pokemon from killing each other, the predators of Ilex Forest wouldn't survive for long.
Paradox then sighed. ''I miss mom I wish we hadn't lost the Time Flute I'm gonna make that cloaked freak pay for making me lose such a precious item.'' She said with a growl. She then turned toward Maple. ''By the way Elliot and Luna what is your favorite berry? Mine is Sitrus Berry and I know that Maple favorite is Rawst Berry.''
Elliot shrugged. ''I was always a fan of a good old Oran Berry.'' Paradox nodded that was probably the most popular choice which is why the berry was so widespread many Pokemon ate that fruit and then spat the seeds everywhere which procuced Oran Berries trees everywhere.
Luna made sure that no one except the small group could hear her before speaking. ''I always liked Leppa Berries unfortunately they are kind of rare.'' Elliot made note of that after Paradox had translated for him.
Once the bowl of berries had been emptied the group of humans and Pokemon made their way to the docks and Luna released her new Pokemon. This time the Lapras complained a lot less since all their Pokemon were in their Pokeballs except Maple. ''So where are we going?'' Aria asked her trainer.
''We need to reach Olivine City.'' Luna replied the lapras nodded and began to swim. The travel was pretty peaceful they had to deal with a few Tentacool from time to time but Maple managed to sacre them away with her Flamethrower it didn't do much damage but it was flashy and wild water Pokemon weren't really familiar with fire so they probably didn't even knew they resisted it.
But the voyage became much more complicated once a thick fog began to permeate the sea all around them. ''Are you sure we're still going in the right direction?'' Luna asked her Pokemon with a worried frown.
Aria grunted in response. ''Yes I'm sure now let me concentrate I can barely see anything in this.'' They stayed in silence for a few minutes as the Lapras tried to make her way out of the fog but then suddenly a strident sound began to emerge in the distance, it sounded powerful and mysterious and it reminded Paradox of the sound Kyogre sometime made.
Then in the distance a massive shadow appeared in the middle of the sea. Paradox felt a pit of dread in her stomach. ''I-is that a Dragonite?'' She asked in a dreadful voice.
Elliot shook his head. ''It can't be, it's bigger than Goldenrod Radio Tower! Dragonite doesn't become that big! No Pokemon should be that big!'' He said in a panicked voice.
The giant creature let out another wail that made the entire sea vibrate. As she heard it Paradox became less afraid, was she imagining things or did it sounded like it was lonely? The titan of the sea made a step toward them unfortunately it had the unfortunate effect of creating a massive wave that headed straight toward them.
Everyone screamed as the wave sent them barrelling in the opposite direction. And everyone eyes widened when they saw they were going to crash against a massive wall of ice. ''What is that doing here? I didn't think the sea of Johto was cold enough to do something like this!'' Elliot yelled.
Everyone braced for impact before they hit the wall of ice. But much to the shock of everyone instead of crashing on the wall they harmlessly passed throught it. Once on the other side the fog had completely vanished the sun was in plain view and there was a lone island in the middle of the area.
On the island they could see a massive city even bigger than Goldenrod City and on the docks of the island was a massive sign that proudly proclaimed 'Welcome to Poketopia!'