"Vibrava? Why do you want to know about that thing?"
"Well, I've been thinking about what Flannery said about Vibrava, and I think that Vibrava does want a trainer that can prove itself to be strong. So, I want to prove my worth."
"Are you sure? Vibrava seems really powerful, even for you."
"Exactly. Which is why I wanted to ask you if you have any notes about its patterns of behaviour."
Ellie went over to her bag and plied it open, reaching inside and grabbing the notebook that sat right at the bottom. Then, she sat back onto the bed and slowly fluttered the pages in the journal-type book, until she finally arrived at an extremely detailed drawing of Vibrava, complete with notes around it.
"Nice drawing!", Lucas said with enthusiasm, but Ellie dismissed Lucas' compliment, although she did appreciate it.
"You didn't come here for a detailed drawing of Vibrava though. You came for the more useful stuff. So, sorry if it isn't that useful."
She had written a few things down like its ability to spit acid to make its prey easier to consume, a few of the moves that it knew for sure and its abilities in battle. Although, she wrote the thing that Lucas was looking for. Its main weakness: anger. In one of the corners of the page, Ellie wrote,
Seems to have a few anger issues. Gets frustrated easily when things aren't going their way. Almost like a certain bird that I know...
Lucas thought about it, and the more he thought about it, the more it started to make a little bit more sense. Vibrava was known to be quick to anger, although that was a risky strategy. It could lead to Vibrava being more powerful and using more energy, but that could also be used against it. But, considering Vibrava's sheer strength being on another level to Lucas', he needed a weakness to exploit. So, it was good to at least have one to use. So, he stood up from the bed, and the gears began to turn in his head.
"You thinking of a plan, I'm presuming?", Ellie asked, and Lucas grinned back. He grabbed a Pokeball and replied,
"Yes, and I think I know what Pokemon to use as well."
The Pokeball was tossed into the air...
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Then, it dropped back into Lucas' hand. He tossed the Pokeball into the air, while Ellie stood at the other side with a Pokeball in hand. Lucas gave her a thumbs up and Ellie sent the ball flying into the centre of the battlefield, then ran as far away as she could from the Pokeball. Soon, Vibrava appeared from the Pokeball, glancing around and looking for its prey. Then, its eyes gazed upon Lucas, who looked more than ready to fight against Vibrava.
"Vibrava! You wanted a strong trainer, so I want to show you just how powerful me and my Pokemon can be!"
Lucas threw out the Pokeball, and out popped Shroomish. The Mushroom Pokemon danced from foot to foot, then let out some spores that blew out into the heavens, breezing by Vibrava and causing it to sneeze. Ellie laughed, but her chuckle was cut short by a deathly glare from Vibrava. Then, it turned its attention to Shroomish who looked raring to battle. So, Vibrava wasted no time and started brewing up a Sandstorm, flapping its wings and sending streams of sand through the open air. Lucas had chosen an open-air battlefield on purpose, as he didn't want to obstruct Vibrava's abilities by having it take place where it couldn't use Sandstorm. But, it also allowed Lucas to try out a strategy against it with Sandstorm.
"Shroomish, send Spores flying through the Sandstorm!", Lucas called out, and Shroomish sent many a yellow spore flying through the raging storm. The sand and wind together picked up the spores and sent it spinning through the air, where the spores eventually collided with Vibrava, starting to inflict it with a special type of drowsiness. It wasn't quite asleep, but the Sandstorm was definitely starting to lose steam. It grinned to a halt, and Shroomish rushed forwards towards Vibrava, which was still a little woozy from the spores.
"Leech Seed!", yelled Lucas. Shroomish plumed out a few seeds, targeting Vibrava's wings mostly to try and constrict it as much as possible. The seeds eventually bloomed, sapping a little health and handing it back to Shroomish. But, the little shock also stopped Vibrava's slight slumber and made it finally wake up to break the vines wrapped around its wings. It managed to keep flying across the ground, not yet meeting the ground. But, Shroomish had taken it as a victory, taunting Vibrava by sticking out its tongue. Vibrava grunted and ran its wing across the floor, flicking the mud upwards towards Shroomish.
"Headbutt, Shroomish!", Lucas commanded and Shroomish stuck out its head against the mudslide, becoming coated in mud. It did take a little damage, but it minimised the damage that the Mud Slap dealt. And, a quick shake of its head helped the mud ease from Shroomish's head. But, Lucas wanted to avoid the damage at all costs. Vibrava scraped its wings against the ground again, bringing out a couple of waves of mud in the shape of a hand.
"Dodge to the side!", Lucas called out, and Shroomish dived to the side, just dodging the muddy attack. Then, Shroomish prepared for a counterattack.
"Leech Seed.", Lucas commanded, and Shroomish stuck some seeds to Vibrava's body. The seeds grew into vines that wrapped around Vibrava and constricted it, causing the dragonfly to flutter to the ground. Shroomish was already approaching, and Lucas yelled,
"Headbutt, while Vibrava's weak!"
The Headbutt landed squarely on Vibrava's head, the Pokemon being sent back far, crying out slightly, although it tried to muffle its signs of weakness. Then, it broke free from the vines to see Shroomish taunting it from in front. It stuck out its tongue and started doing a small dance. And, Vibrava looked at Shroomish, then to Lucas, who looked to be laughing at Vibrava. In reality, he was laughing at Shroomish's dance, but it didn't matter to Vibrava. It was angry. No, that's not right.
It was furious.
Vibrava's head suddenly became overcome with a blue aura as its dragon energy began to burn furiously. The rush became too much, and it soon found itself crashing forwards, straight towards the ground. Shroomish looked at the enraged Pokemon and cowered. But, Vibrava breezed past. It wasn't looking for Shroomish anymore. It was aiming at the trainer who was humiliating it in battle. The one who was beating it in battle. Lucas.
Lucas noticed it instantly but froze in fear as Vibrava aimed for Lucas' head. He closed his eyes and braced for the impact, but it never came. He slowly opened his eyes and found that the attack had been blocked. Shroomish stood in front of the attack, clearly overpowered, but so willing to help its trainer. Ellie dragged Lucas by the arm, pulling him out of the way. Shroomish was being pushed back, and into the ground of the battlefield. The battlefield began to crack as Shroomish was pushed further and further down. Vibrava needed to vent its frustration, and Shroomish was the only thing it could see in its blood-soaked vision. But, then, as Shroomish began crying, its body began to glow a luminous blue.
Suddenly, determination began to flow as Shroomish pushed against Vibrava harder. Its legs began to grow, its head sprouted, and it grew a pair of arms that helped push against Vibrava. Then, it held one hand back far and struck forwards with the quickest punch that Lucas had ever seen. Vibrava was smacked away from Shroomish, and stunned by Shroomish's transformation. The Pokemon's tail bounced as Lucas stared at the brand-new Pokemon in front of him.
"Shroomish evolved...", he said as he pulled out his phone to scan the new Pokemon.
Breloom, The Mushroom Pokémon.
Breloom closes in on its foe with light and sprightly footwork then throws punches with its stretchy arms. This Pokémon's fighting technique puts boxers to shame.
And, along with Breloom's new fighting prowess, it had learnt a move to go along with it. But, Breloom wasted no time and made use of it immediately. It bounced along the battlefield, delivering a hard blow to Vibrava's head, knocking it into the air. Then, Breloom used its footwork to allow it to spring upwards, above Vibrava. Then, it raised both hands and pummelled straight down. Vibrava was sent tumbling down to the earth, blasting into the ground like a rocket, where it lay on the battlefield, defeated.
Breloom bounced back and forth, throwing shadow punches, before falling onto its back, smiling. Lucas burst onto the battlefield, hugging Breloom and saying,
"You were amazing. You did so well, and you saved me from Vibrava. Do you want a rest?"
Breloom did a slow nod and Lucas extended his arm out, showing the Pokeball. Breloom tapped the Pokeball gently and was returned back to its home. Then, Lucas put away the Pokeball and approached Vibrava. It was slowly regaining its consciousness, rising from the ground and slowly beginning to fly. It looked down at Lucas with a glare, but Lucas stood his ground this time. He stared back, and Vibrava slowly lowered to the ground. Then, from there, it bowed to Lucas. It finally could acknowledge Lucas' strength as a trainer, even though it was a long way away from trusting Lucas, or being willing to use its full strength. But, Lucas simply smiled at the progress and ended up bowing as well.
"I'm glad you came around. I promise, I will do my best to look after you."
Vibrava nodded, but before Lucas could return it to its Pokeball, it had already returned to its home for now. But, Lucas didn't mind. It needed the rest, it had a big battle tomorrow. So, for now, Lucas turned to Ellie, who was standing with a warm smile,
"So, you've finally got an evolved Pokemon.", she said.
"Yup. And, it was good timing too. And, of course, I wouldn't be able to do it without you."
"Oh, I didn't do much. You put the plan into action."
"But, that plan wouldn't have came around without you. So, I suppose we can both thank each other."
"Alright, let's leave it at that. Though, I do want your notes on Bolt's Pokemon. I'm going to get that gym badge, no matter what."
"I like that spirit.", Lucas said as he pushed open the door that led into the Pokemon Centre, going into the reception and handing his Pokemon to Nurse Joy standing and waiting for something to do. So, she was more than happy to look after Vibrava and Shroomish while they rested. Then, Ellie and Lucas returned upstairs to their rooms. Ellie was the first to go, opening the door and then saying to Lucas,
"Well, I'm looking forward to watching your battle. See you in the morning."
"See you.", Lucas said as he handed the notebook back to Ellie, then dashed away in an instant. Ellie was going to ask if he still needed it for the battle tomorrow, but judging from his willingness to give it to her, she guessed not. Sat down on her bed, she placed down the notebook and began to study the page that Lucas had taken. It wasn't the most objective of information, but it was clear to Ellie that it was Lucas who had taken the notes. And, as she looked around at the small doodles or anecdotes in the notes, she smiled.
Then, in his room, Lucas collapsed onto his bed, before throwing up both of the Pokeballs he still had remaining. He sat up as the Pokeballs tapped gently against the floor, revealing Torchic and Zorua to the world. He then addressed them with confidence, saying,
"Alright, we have a big battle tomorrow. And, I want you guys on top form. So, I prepared a plan for you guys to perform to win us this gym badge. All I have to ask, is are you ready to listen?"
Torchic and Zorua nodded, with Lucas smiling and going into detail about the plan, his Pokemon and him talking, until the sun went down...
Notes:
Hey everyone, thanks for reading. So, finally, Shroomish has evolved into Breloom and Vibrava is beginning to listen to Lucas. Although, Vibrava is not completely on board yet with trusting Lucas. But, that's for another chapter. What I mostly wanted to talk about was the finale of Ash vs Leon. If you haven't seen it yet, then I'd suggest either skipping this part or coming back later once you've watched it. I'll add a link here to a Youtube video of the episode.
Alright, are we good? Did you watch it? Alright then, let's begin by saying. Oh. My. God. He did it. And the way he did it with Pikachu. Now, I am not the biggest Pikachu fan just because of how much I see that rodent literally everywhere. But, that battle was Pikachu's best. And, there was previously a debate about who is Ash's strongest Pokemon. But, especially now, I can say with 100% confidence that Pikachu is the GOAT. I previously thought it was Greninja with his Battle Bond but I think it's Pikachu now.
I'm actually kind of a Pikachu fan just because of how hype that battle was. Especially when Pikachu got visited by every single one of Ash's previous Pokemon. EVERYONE. Greninja, Infernape, Charizard, Butterfree, Sceptile. I'm saying it right now. Pikachu is the best of Ash's Pokemon. Then, the animation was clean as hell. Probably the best-animated fight in the entirety of Pokemon. And, heck, this might be the best battle in all of Pokemon. Seriously cannot get enough of it. Please, if this hasn't convinced you to watch the battle, then I have no idea how you are even reading this book rn.
Anyways, I hope you all have a great day and I'll see you in the next chapter. Bye!