Clemont greeted me, which was followed by a roar from the audience.

"I guess I was right to advertise our battle!" Clemont chuckled. "Sorry about that. I heard about the spectacular battle you and Professor Sycamore had. I thought it would be a great way to make some extra revenue for my research and experiments. I guess it could also serve as you completing the Gym challenge. I hope you're ready for the battle."

"It's all good. Just a bit nervous at the jump in fame I'll receive after beating you," I replied coolly. I acknowledged my nervousness but just being nervous would not help. I framed it differently to get my blood pumping with adrenaline. That would help.

"Confidence and arrogance are not too far from each other. Whichever it is, I hope it stems from your Pokémon. Without them you wouldn't be here," Clemont said in response. A referee walked up to the middle of the field, giving Clemont a nod that he returned. A Hypno stood by her side

"This Gym challenge, initiated by Trainer Marco, will be a 3v3 battle. Only the challenger is allowed to make substitutions. Both sides are only allowed four moves per Pokémon. Healing items are prohibited. Trainers, are you ready?" she shouted out for everyone to hear. Once we both nodded, she teleported to the edge of the field.

"Trainers, release your Pokémon!"

Clemont sent out his Emolga. Emolga gave out a howl as it soared in the sky. I released Ferroseed, who hummed loudly and stared straight at Emolga. Once we had them out, a force field surrounded the entire field, stopping right in front of me and Clemont.

"Begin!"

"Mollie, use Agility!" / "Ferroseed, Iron Defense!"

Mollie the Emolga glowed a dull pink for a few seconds before zipping around at much faster speeds. Ferroseed glowed silver and continued sitting there. I had instructed Ferroseed to use Iron Defense while she could to increase her defense as much as possible. While she was attacking she had more freedom to choose her next action, though I had already told her she was limited to Iron Defense, Gravity, Leech Seed, and Tackle.

"Mollie, use Taunt." / "Ferroseed, use Leech Seed."

As Emolga sent out a wave of Dark-type energy, Ferroseed launched many spores out towards Emolga. Clemont smirked at the attack. I guess they had predicted it because Emolga began to move as soon as it released Taunt. Right after Taunt hit Ferroseed, she stopped spreading out the spores. Emolga flew higher and avoided the Leech Seed.

"Alright Ferroseed, roll around. Tackle the ground in front of you and see if it gives!"

This somewhat confused Clemont, but he paid it no mind. As Ferroseed rolled around, she would occasionally jump and Tackle the ground. I noticed that the ground slightly dented each time she hit the stage. I caught Ferroseed's stare and smiled, receiving a nod. I guess she knew what to do.

Meanwhile, Emolga used that entire time to set up Agility. After the fourth Agility, Emolga stopped and observed Ferroseed's movements. Ferroseed Tackled the same area a few times while rolling around and striking other areas. She tried to make it seem random, though Clemont probably saw through it.

"Let's go, Mollie! Aim true, Electro Ball!"

Emolga hovered in the air for a moment while charging up the attack. It had been about 16 seconds since Taunt was used. I figured it would last another four before Ferroseed could attack again. The ball of electricity streaked through the air, straight towards Ferroseed.

As the attack approached, Ferroseed hit a dip in the floor and jumped straight up, dodging the Electro Ball. This shocked, hehe, both Emolga and Clemont. It didn't take them long to recover though. While Ferroseed was in the air, Emolga sent another Electro Ball towards her.

Once again, RNG was in my favor. Ferroseed's eyes glowed pink momentarily before she shot straight down into the ground, causing the Electro Ball to miss.

"It looks like you got lucky again!" Clemont said, probably annoyed at my plot armor.

"Alright Ferroseed, it's in our favor now. Gravity on a wing!"

Her eyes glowed pink almost immediately and then caused Emolga to shoot straight down, landing on her left wing. Emolga struggled to get up but found herself unable to properly move the wing at all. Ferroseed took the opportunity and immediately began to bombard Emolga with Tackles. She held Emolga down with Gravity until she was close enough to use Tackle without missing. That was her entire strategy until she learned better moves. She didn't even bother with Leech Seed at this point. Her Iron Barbs ability dealt extra damage with each hit.

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After 30 seconds of a relentless beatdown, Emolga fainted. Kudos to Mollie, she toughed it out a lot longer than I thought she would. Clemont had given her orders the entire time, but the only thing Emolga could really do was send an attack that would either blow up in her face or hit the ground, or use Taunt and give Ferroseed a free ticket to jump into the air for a harder hitting Tackle.

"Emolga is unable to battle," the referee called out, "Ferroseed is the winner."

"Hmm, looks like Mollie couldn't bring down your Ferroseed. How about this then?" Clemont said while recalling Emolga. He then sent out another Pokéball.

"Alright, TonTon, show them what you got!" he shouted out as a Magneton materialized out of the red light. This is going to be tough. Magnezone is a Steel-type killer when trained right. Magneton could also get the job done for lower tiers. An unevolved Ferroseed could be considered a lower tier Pokémon.

Magneton was floating above the ground, its two bottom heads slowly spinning in place. Ferroseed looked on in anticipation. The previous fight had pumped her up.

"Are both trainers ready?"

"Yes." / "Of course."

"Battle, start!"

"TonTon, use Reflect!" / "Ferroseed, Leech Seed."

Magneton set up a yellowish force field that dissipated into the air. As soon as it finished, it received a faceful of Leech Seed. It shook off what it could, but the attack was successful. Ferroseed immediately began moving, rolling around and using the dents in the arena to jump or change directions.

"Alright TonTon, time to take care of this challenger, just like the rest. Magnet Pull!"

With that, Magneton began to shine ever so slightly. Ferroseed, who was rolling away, began to slow down. Eventually, she stopped and began getting pulled back and towards Magneton. She flew up into the air, where Magneton was waiting with a red-tinted glow.

This made me freeze. Magnet Pull as an ability only prevented Steel-types from fleeing or switching out. At least, that was the case in the games. It seems that, in the real world version, Magnet Pull is an ability that lets the Pokémon use its body as a magnet. It makes sense.

Fuck me.

"Ferroseed, use Gravity on yourself!"

Ferroseed immediately did so and began to sink down.

"Oh no you don't. TonTon, increase your magnetism!"

Magneton shined a bit more brightly. Ferroseed began to move back up at a quicker pace.

"Ok, Hidden Power!"

Magneton then had a faint red glow to it that began to condense between the three Magnemites. Shit, that was Hidden Power- Fire. Quad weakness.

"Use Tackle and then release Gravity!"

At my command, Ferroseed used Tackle, shooting forward quickly. Once she released Gravity, the previous downward force was gone and, with Magneton's increased magnetic pull, her Tackle was going to punch even harder. Ferroseed slammed into Magneton just as it released Hidden Power, engulfing the two in flames.

Magneton bellowed out a metallic shriek while Ferroseed's loud and reverberating hum let me know she took a lot of damage. Both Pokémon fell towards the floor and crashed with loud booms. When the dust settled, both were trying to recover from the collision. A green energy surrounded Magneton before drifting over towards Ferroseed. This had been happening the entire fight and allowed Ferroseed to hang on, even if just barely.

"Hidden Power again!"

"Ferroseed, Gravity on the top left magnet and roll away!"

At their commands, both Pokémon moved. Magneton tried to move forward and hit Ferroseed from point-blank, but it spun clockwise and missed. Ferroseed rolled towards the opposite direction, gaining more stamina and health as Leech Seed took effect.

"Alright, Gravity on yourself once again and keep rolling!"

Ferroseed as a species typically don't have great movement speed, but her training with Gravity has definitely increased her mobility. Under Gravity, which she was accustomed to, she could still move around freely, just slower. However, if Gravity was released while she was moving, the amount of force she was using to move around would result in an explosive burst of power and speed. Adding that to Tackle and Gravity if she were in the air, well, I doubt Magneton would be able to walk away scratch-free.

So that was the plan, which has become very predictable in my own opinion. But it worked and made for a decent strategy. With that, Ferroseed was moving much more slowly. Clemont noticed that and decided to take advantage of it.

"TonTon, use Lock-On. Follow it up with Hidden Power!" / "Ferroseed, you know what to do. Hit that bump at full speed."

While Magneton began its aiming, Ferroseed hit a bump right as she released Gravity. She flew into the sky and began zooming down. While Magneton had locked its aim onto Ferroseed, it couldn't move. Perfect. Leech Seed and Iron Barbs had taken quite a toll on Magneton, and Ferroseed, though healed up a bit, was in worse condition because of the Fire-type move.

Ferroseed, who was spearing towards Magneton with Tackle, applied Gravity to herself once again. She looked like a damn tank shell as she slammed into Magneton, who had just released Hidden power, and broke through the arena. That was gonna be an expensive fix.

Both Pokémon screamed out in pain. As the dust settled, a green energy could be seen moving from Magneton to Ferroseed. Magneton slumped onto the floor, its eyes spiraling. Ferroseed was standing, wobbling in determination and grit.

"Magneton is unable to battle, Ferroseed wins!" the referee once again called out my victory. I had ignored the crowd up until this point, but their cheers roared in my ears. Ferroseed also roared out and erupted in a bright white light. She slowly grew wider, three vines coming from the top of her head while a spike popped out. The vines had oblong masses at the end of them.

Once the light dimmed out, a Ferrothorn stood where Ferroseed was.

"FerroTHORN!" she roared before slamming onto the floor, unconscious. I couldn't help but laugh, both in joy of the win and utter amazement at Ferrose- Ferrothorn's tenacity.

"Trainers, release your Pokémon!"

I stopped laughing and focused back on the battle at hand. It was time to battle Clemont's final Pokémon, which would definitely be Heliolisk. As I only had Malamar left, this was it. One last battle until my first Gym Badge. It felt surreal. I had only ever seen the Gym Badges in the games, yet here I was. At the cusp of earning my first badge.

"Brilliant! What an inspiring battle. You, Marco, are definitely aware that in Pokémon battles, collaboration leads to success. I have learned the same for science. Now, time for our scientific bond to show you what we can really do," Clemont exclaimed. "The future is now, Heliolisk!"

With a flash of light, a Heliolisk came out with a challenging hiss. I was so pumped, I could hear N's battle theme during the final battle with him. I was excited.

"Let's go, Malamar, show them who's boss!"

"MARRR!"

We both had our Pokémon out. Heliolisk stood proud and tall, observing his opponent with confident, yet cautious eyes. Malamar floated a few inches off the ground, an arrogant smirk on his face inviting a challenge. The air between was tense, ready to snap at the tiniest disturbance. I wasn't sure about Clemont, but I was confident Malamar could win without my help. That was noticed by Malamar, who looked at me with eager and expectant eyes. I gave him the slightest nod, my permission.

"Trainers, let the battle start… Now!"