Lucas was standing in the lobby, with Seijo, waiting for Ellie to arrive after her win in the stadium. There did look like there were going to be a few interesting matches, but really they were only there to watch Ellie. And, it seemed like no other match that would play out could compare to that one, at least for Lucas and Seijo.
Lucas' eyes then spotted Ellie, who appeared from a door and looked around, as Lucas rushed over to give her a giant hug.
"You did it!", he cried as he hugged her tight for a second, then released what he had done and stepped back, saying cooly, "Good job."
"Thank you, uh, do we have anything we're doing for the rest of the day?"
"Well, me and Lucas have been talking.", Seijo started as he cut into the conversation, "We think that he should take his gym battle now while he can."
"Yeah, watching you got me fired up!", Lucas said excitedly, which caused Ellie to blush.
"I wasn't that good. But, yeah, I'd love to be able to watch you."
"Alright, then I guess I'll see you on the other side.", Lucas said as he approached the reception, then dipped down into the back room for his next match.
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Lucas emerged from the left side of the stadium, taking a deep breath before facing the crowd. He didn't have that unshakable confidence before, but he had hope that he would be able to get through this together. Torchic sat perched on his shoulder, although it wasn't able to battle. It had been a bit of a nightmare to convince the guard in the tunnel to allow Torchic through, but eventually, Lucas managed to get his partner to be able to watch at the sidelines. The crowd's eyes fixed on him, but Lucas remained focused on what was in front of him rather than whatever the strangers in the crowd thought.
Roxanne appeared from the other side, waving to the crowd and then fixing her eyes upon Lucas. Then, her expression turned into a bored one, as if she was annoyed that Lucas had come back for a rematch. However, it just made Lucas more determined to try his absolute best with his Pokemon together. The referee came in and looked at both of them, then declared.
"Both participants will use two Pokemon! The gym leader is not allowed to make substitutions but the challenger may. Now, Roxanne, please throw out your first Pokemon!"
"Geodude, let's do this!"
Geodude popped out and let out a cry, then let out an earth-splitting punch onto the ground. Lucas looked at both of the Pokeballs sat in his hand, each labelled with a black pen for which. He juggled them as he contemplated which Pokemon to pick, but eventually found one that he was sure would work.
"I choose you, Shroomish!"
The Pokeball opened, revealing Shroomish who looked forwards toward Geodude. It took a deep breath then smiled as it waited for the match to start. The referee looked to both sides yet again and yelled,
"Battle begin!"
"Geodude, lets start off with a Tackle!"
Quite unexpectedly, Roxanne made the first move. Maybe she was trying to end it early, but either way, Lucas had to deal with Geodude rushing down with an elbow barge. Lucas quickly yelled,
"Dodge!"
Shroomish looked to jump out of the way, but Geodude pushed forwards a bit faster and managed to knock Shroomish back with its arms. But, Lucas quickly replied,
"Headbutt back!"
Shroomish shook off the blow and rushed forwards towards Geodude, knocking it on the4 head then falling back. Geodude took a couple paces back to recompose itself, then slammed the ground again with its fists. Then, Lucas yelled out to Shroomish,
"Use Leech Seed!"
Shroomish began to spit out a few seeds towards Geodude, but Roxanne figured so and yelled,
"Rollout!"
The seeds that were stuck to Geodude's body split open as Geodude rolled into a ball and sped forwards, knocking Shroomish back again. Shroomish cried out in pain as it fell to the ground again, and Lucas yelled,
"Are you okay?"
Shroomish nodded as it got up from the floor with a bit of difficulty. Lucas knew that this battle wasn't going his way right now, and Roxanne looked even more bored by Lucas than before. She yawned, and Lucas looked to the rocks around for any sort of way they could be used for his advantage. Then, he found four rocks in the middle resembling the outline of a kite. Lucas looked to all of them and then yelled to Shroomish,
"Plant Leech Seeds on those four rocks that are shaped like a kite."
Lucas pointed, and Shroomish immediately rushed over. It plumed seeds out at each rock as it ran past. Roxanne was uncertain what he was trying to do, but she wouldn't stand for it. She yelled out,
"Roll after Shroomish! Don't let it plant those Leech Seeds!"
Geodude began to roll in the area like a kite, just as Shroomish placed down the third round of Leech Seeds. Then, it jumped over Geodude as it planted a fourth round of Leech Seeds at the other rocks. Then, it ran in front of one of the sides, just as Geodude began approaching.
"Dodge, now!", Lucas yelled, and Shroomish dived to the side. Then, as Geodude approached the side length of the kite, vines sprouted out. It bounced into them, then bounced off and into another side of vines. Then, the cycle continued as Geodude found itself unable to slow down as the speed increased and increased. It was sapped of a bit of its health at every stage, until it eventually bounced off of the far vine, heading straight towards the top rock. It smashed into the rock at top speed, and dust formed around Geodude. Then, when it cleared, Geodude had swirls in its eyes.
Roxanne stood in disbelief. Geodude had just been defeated like that when she had let her guard down. She looked at Lucas for a second time, but this time without the same bored expression. Lucas smiled at her and she smiled at him as well, almost laughing at herself.
"Geodude is unable to battle! Shroomish is the winner!"
Geodude was returned back to its Pokeball by Roxanne, and she whispered into it,
"I let my guard down. Sorry. But, we'll still win, I'm sure of it."
Roxanne brought out Nosepass' Pokeball and tossed it onto the battlefield, yelling,
"I choose you, Nosepass!"
Nosepass popped out, taking firm ownership of the ground that it stood upon. It towered above Shroomish, but Shroomish wanted to at least do its best to take down the rocky mountain. The referee called out for the battle to begin and Shroomish made the first move.
"Use Leech Seed!", Lucas yelled. Shroomish jumped into the air and plumed out a few seeds onto Nosepass, which sprouted into vines that sapped a tiny bit of health from Nosepass. Roxanne thrust her arm forwards as she yelled,
"Use Metal Sound!"
The metallic sound rang through the stadium, but the vibrations broke down the vines around Nosepass' body and around the rocks. It also stopped Shroomish in its tracks, as it felt the vibrations course through the ground and stun it for a little bit. Long enough for Roxanne to command,
"Rock Throw!"
Nosepass pounded the ground hard then pushed the rock towards Shroomish at top speed. It flew into the Mushroom Pokemon before coming to a halt on the ground, then threw away Shroomish from the rock. Shroomish slid to Lucas' feet, and Lucas recognised the swirls in its eyes.
"Shroomish is unable to battle! Nosepass is the winner!"
Lucas smiled as he returned Shroomish to its Pokeball, telling it,
"You did amazingly. Take a rest."
Torchic looked a little concerned for Lucas, especially after being victim to Rock Tomb and seeing that Lucas only had Zorua against Nosepass. Lucas looked down, knowing subconsciously that something was wrong, but put Torchic's worries to rest.
"We'll manage to beat it. Ellie has beaten it, Harry has beaten, so I can too. Now, Zorua, let's finish this!"
The Pokeball flew across the battlefield, opening up and revealing Zorua. Zorua skidded its foot along the ground with a smile on its face. The referee called for them to continue and immediately, Lucas opened the battle up by yelling,
"Fury Swipes!"
Zorua bounced across the battlefield at blinding speed, where it began slashing at Nosepass as it bounced around it in an attempt to stop any attempt to attack back. But, that one move remained a thorn in Lucas' side,
"Metal Sound!"
It was even louder next to Nosepass, causing Zorua to stop and cry out in pain. From there, Nosepass let out a hard Headbutt, sending Zorua tumbling across the battlefield. Zorua slowed down and then got back up, much to Lucas' delight.
"Keep up the pressure! Rush at Nosepass!"
Zorua jumped and began to run again towards Nosepass.
"Rock Throw!", Roxanne yelled out in response to Zorua's advance. Nosepass split the ground and threw it at Zorua. But, Zorua jumped over the rock with extreme agility and then was in for a free shot against Nosepass.
"Sucker Punch!", Lucas yelled as Zorua's claws became a dark purple, and Zorua threw its claw hard into Nosepass' side. Nosepass braced itself, but even that wasn't enough to stop it from letting out a cry of pain as the attack hit Nosepass extremely hard. But, Nosepass soon broke through it and retaliated with a Headbutt. It sent Zorua back to where it was before as if nothing had changed. Except, this time, Zorua was weaker in energy left for battling than Nosepass.
Lucas needed something to happen, and fast. He looked around the battlefield and hatched another plan. He called Zorua over in front of him and then told it the quick plan. Zorua nodded and jumped back into battle, first digging into the ground using Fury Swipes like a dog. The dust gathered around Zorua, masking it completely as the dust whipped up around the battlefield from the high-speed winds coursing through the stadium. Then, once the dust had cleared, Zorua was nowhere to be seen. Nosepass took a look around, but nothing was there other than rocks.
Now, Zorua had put an illusion on itself to blend in with the rocks. The dust helped to disguise itself even more. It had managed to hide its skin, but it couldn't hide its shape. But, neither Roxanne nor Nosepass noticed as they scanned the environment. Roxanne knew what she had to do,
"Metal So-"
"NOW!", Lucas cried from the sidelines as Zorua jumped out of the rocks, striking hard into Nosepass' side. It hit it hard, and its grip on consciousness was loosening. But, it didn't faint just yet. And, it needed to rid Zorua out of its territory. It grabbed Zorua and tossed it out, but Zorua landed smoothly away from Nosepass. Roxanne knew that one move would faint the other for either side, so she decided that the finisher was needed.
"Rock Tomb!"
The rocks began to pile up, just what Lucas had feared would happen. Torchic closed its eyes, it couldn't watch anymore. Lucas looked at the incoming rocks and took a deep breath. He looked for any way out of the situation. Attacking would do nothing if they didn't have a move like Rock Smash, dodging would only delay the inevitable. But, maybe, Zorua could do something other than dodging the Rock Tomb.
The first rock approached like a meteor, but Lucas was about to do something crazy. It was risky and honestly stupid, but it was worth a shot.
"Zorua, use those rocks as a stairway to heaven!"
Zorua looked to Lucas, and Lucas half-expected Zorua to refuse. But, instead, it grinned and crouched down. Then, it burst upon the first rock, climbing high from rock to rock. It ascended high above the battlefield, and both Roxanne and the crowd were left absolutely stunned by the show of athleticism. One after the other, Zorua found itself scaling like it was nothing. At one, Zorua jumped too far and almost skidded off, had it not quickly jumped to the next platform. Then, from the final rock, Zorua began to dive down on Nosepass like a skydiver. Roxanne snapped to her senses and yelled,
"Rock Throw!"
Nosepass stamped the ground with its foot and pulled out a giant boulder that it tossed straight towards Zorua. Zorua watched as the rock flew with intense speed, but Lucas yelled,
"Spin to the side!"
Zorua began to speed and eventually fell out of the way of the rock, but still managed to stay on course to hit Nosepass. Lucas yelled just before Zorua hit Nosepass,
"Sucker Punch!"
Zorua threw a hard punch into Nosepass' lower body as it went past, landing with a grin on its face. Smoke arose from Nosepass' body, but a thump on the ground told the referee all he needed to know. The smoke cleared as the referee declared,
"Nosepass is unable to battle! The winner is Zorua therefore the victor is Lucas!"
Lucas cheered for Zorua, and enthusiastically burst onto the battlefield with Torchic trailing by his side. Ellie clapped with a massive smile on her face, while Seijo cheered for Lucas along with the crowd. Lucas picked up Zorua, who had collapsed and was panting like a dog. Lucas gave it a head rub and Zorua smiled. But, it was clear that it needed to rest after that exhausting match. Lucas tapped it on the head with it's Pokeball and told it,
"You did amazingly. Take a long rest."
Roxanne walked onto the battlefield after returning Nosepass back to its Pokeball. She clapped slowly as she walked onwards, but she was sincere. She smiled and told Lucas,
"That was...incredible. I underestimated you, considering that first match. Firstly, I apologise for that. Secondly, here is your gym badge."
Lucas held out his hands and the badge dropped onto his palm. He pinned the badge onto his bag and then said to Roxanne,
"Thank you."
"No, thank you. This has been one of the most exciting days of my entire career. Just know that, you have potential, as do many of the challengers do, but four of you have potential unlike anything else I've seen."
"Well, I'll make the best of it. Because, I don't plan on giving up now."
"Good. Then, you'd best make you way up to Flannery in the fire gym, or Bolt in Mauville."
"I will. And, I hope to be able to battle you soon.", Lucas said with a smile as he walked away. Roxanne grinned as she turned around and thought to herself,
"This years Hoenn League is going to be interesting."
Notes:
Hey everyone, thanks for reading. Sorry that I couldn't update yesterday, I got caught up but I'm glad to update now. I'm also now negative for COVID, so I can finally go outside again rather than being stuck inside again. And, that means I have the energy to create more content. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you later!