"Swoopy, Simple Slash!"/"Tetsu, Ingrain and Iron Defense!"

The Swoobat sent out a sharp slice of air, most likely Air Slash. It also had a swirl of energy within it. Tetsu used Ingrain and was then hit by the attack. The energy in the slash washed over her and when she used Iron Defense, the silver color of the move looked sharper and more distinct.

I used my phone to check what happened and found that the special move the dude used was a mix of Air Slash and Simple Beam. So it causes damage and changes the ability of a Pokémon, that's very smart.

"Swoopy, use Fake Tears!" the guy called out. His Swoobat immediately began crying, and once Tetsu hesitated a bit at the act, it went in and tried to attack. I saw the red energy collect in its mouth, which probably meant Flamethrower or Heat Wave.

"Gravity!"

The guy smiled at my response, probably thinking it would just slow down his Swoobat. When it crashed into the ground and released the Fire-type move into the ground, his smile dropped. Ha, fucker.

"Alright Tetsu, finish it," I said calmly, not wanting to humiliate him any more than needed. Tetsu went in for a Vine Whip, bringing the Swoobat closer to her as she prepared Iron Head. The impact caused Swoobat to scream out in pain. It definitely broke something if the weirdly bent wing and dip in its shoulder was anything to go by.

"Damn, might have gone a little too far Tetsu," I told her, to which she just looked down towards the ground and lightly hummed. The guy was already leaving towards the PokéCenter lobby, probably to heal the Swoobat. I was going to follow but noticed he already paid me. Well, now I don't have to chase him down for my money.

I waited in the same place for the next person. This time time it was a younger kid, about 13 years-old. They didn't have any real defining features and looked very androgynous. The kid pulled out a PokéBall before quietly asking if a 3vs was alright. I nodded, and they released a Slugma.

The room immediately got uncomfortably hot, borderline sweltering. It then cooled down considerably after the kid said something to Slugma.

"I'm sorry, I just caught Mag," the kid said so low I could barely hear them. I nodded in acknowledgment and released Mudkip. This would be a good test to see where her battle instincts and reflexes were at.

I let Mudkip fight without any input from me because also I wanted to know what moves she preferred. Mudkip let out a Growl.

"Yawn," the kid called out. At least, I think. All I heard was a murmur and Slugma released a large cloud from its mouth that enveloped Mudkip. Mudkip shot a Water Gun, which missed by a long shot and fell asleep. Her snores were very loud and rhythmic.

I saw the kid's mouth move and Slugma was soon surrounded by a purple glow. Slugma's body then began to move around more like a slushie, less viscous than before. It still had a purple tint to its body, but Slugma moved more like water now. As it crawled closer to Mudkip, the same thing happened again.

"Ok, Clear Smog, please," the kid said, barely loud enough for me to catch it. Slugma sent out a ball of purplish brown mud that hit Mudkip square in the face. That woke up Mudkip, who looked very confused. As another glob of mud was sent towards her, I saw her realize she was getting attacked and immediately ducked under it.

Since Slugma was pretty close now, Mudkip's next Water Gun landed and caused quite a bit of steam to cover both Pokémon. We couldn't see much, but I definitely heard a few cries from both of them. The steam only condensed into a fog since Mudkip presumably landed several more Water Guns. Mudkip skipped happily back towards me with a bruised face and a burnt, red tail. I guess she got burned.

The steam dissipated soon after and revealed a fainted Slugma. The kid walked over and returned Slugma to its Pokéball. They then released a Gligar, who soared up happily before landing next to its trainer and rubbing its face on their arm. I released Tetsu.

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"You said this will be your second Gym battle, correct?"

The kid nodded. This wasn't even going to be a fight.

"I'm sure you'll be able to win against Gym Leader Ramos," I told them. "You fought pretty well with Slugma, though I just caught Mudkip as well. With Tetsu here, let me show you the level of strength you need to be at to continue past Ramos."

With both Gligar and Tetsu ready for the battle, we started.

"Glizzie, use Agility."/ "Tetsu, grab and slam."

Gligar started to boost itself, only to be grabbed by Tetsu's Vine Whip and slammed into the floor. Gligar was knocked out and bleeding from its head. The kid just stood there, not having fully processed what happened. I walked over to Gligar and healed it up with a Potion.

"What's your name?"

"...Kai"

"Kai, cool name," I said. "I'm sorry for that just now. I thought I should show you how strong the Gym Leaders are going to get, but it's not my place. Despite me just creaming your Gligar, I think you'll do fine for your second Gym Badge. If you get stronger and would like to test out your Pokémon, you can look up my Mission profile and send me a message."

With that, I left to grab a snack. I really don't know why I thought I should show Kai how weak they were; maybe I'm becoming a wuxia young master after interacting with the dude earlier. Oh well, it doesn't matter now.

I grabbed two slices of pizza from the canteen. The cheese here is fucking amazing. The fattiness of the cheese perfectly balanced the slight acidic and earthy flavor of the sauce. Each bite elicited the unbelievable stretchiness of the cheese, which quickly broke down into a salty, tangy, and creamy flavor once you started chewing. Topped with small pieces of Pomeg Berries, which added some spice and sweetness, and salted Lechonk, and you had my personal favorite pizza of all time.

I grabbed a few slices for the team. Nautilus loved it, Tetsu absorbed just about anything I put in front of her, and Mudkip poked it a few times before slowly eating the slice. So far, she hasn't been a fan of salty or fatty foods, instead preferring sweeter eats. I ordered a parfait to-go for her.

Once back, the last person who hired me for a battle was already waiting. This time, it was an older male with a buzz cut, dressed in brown camouflage. He wasted no time and released a Gigalith.

"Are you ready?" he asked in a gruff voice. Damn, no lube or anything.

"Yes," I responded as I called out Nautilus.

"Good, I just want to test out a move. No need for a real battle."

"Sounds good to me," I shrugged.

"Ok, here it is. Goliath, use Iron Power!"

"Nautilus, Endure."

Goliath let out a deep, rumbling croak before shooting forward. His body gained a rusty aura around him, which quickly mixed with a silver energy as he got closer. Most of it was concentrated around his head, which slammed into Nautilus. Endure proved to be the correct choice because he just barely avoided death.

The hit almost instantly broke through his chest, causing it to cave in. Nautilus flew through the wall on the other side of the room, leaving a trail of blood. I instantly ran towards him, a Hyper Potion ready in my hand. As soon as I got there, I could hear Nautilus wheezing. He looked a bloody mess. I sprayed the potion over the area where he got hit. It slowly healed, but I knew he wasn't going to be ready for any battles for the next few days, even after a trip to Nurse Joy.

After spraying the potion's contents, I balled Nautilus and walked back over to the asshole. I know I was out of line for basically doing the same to Kai, but this type of instant karma is too much.

"Good, you're back. We messed up the ending of the move, let's try again," he said with a serious look on his face.

"Try again? You almost killed my Malamar!" I yelled out. Who the hell would want to continue?

"I know, that's how we messed up. The move should've killed your Malamar even with Endure," he replied. What the fuck? Is he forreal? I released Tetsu, and told her to start setting up.

"It doesn't matter, Goliath and I are going to end you right here."

"Tetsu, Vine Whip!"

"Protect, then Bulldoze!"

Tetsu tried to hit Gigalith with Vine Whip, but it uselessly slapped against the white shield he generated. As Gigalith used Bulldoze, Tetsu used the vines to launch herself up into the air. Now that she was airborne, Bulldoze couldn't hit her.

"Heh, now you're a floating duck. Earth Power!"

"Iron Head, you know what to do!"

Gigalith formed a glob of Gound-type energy, which shot out very quickly towards Tetsu. She retaliated with an Iron Head, giving it a spin to go through the attack with minimal damage. She also applied Gravity and slammed into Gigalith like a giant silver and green meteorite. Tetsu then jumped away, using Ingrain for passive healing and Iron Defense to start stacking the boosts.

The guy returned Gigalith and sent out another Pokémon, this time an Onix. Despite what the games said, Onix here in real life had monstrous strength. It made more sense for them to be powerhouses than to have the same attack power as a large butterfly.

"Tch, you got lucky with that. You won't survive this. Onix, Earthquake!"

"Tetsu," I called out, "I trust you, take him down!"

I knew she could handle this herself and I didn't want to waste time calling out orders. My reaction time, though quite fast, was slower than hers and Nautilus. While Tetsu began to bombard Onix with Flash Cannon and dodging attacks with a combination of Gravity/rolling jumps and Vine Whip, I called Prof. Sycamore.

"Hey, Marco, I've been wondering wh-"

"Where the hell are those League trainers that are supposed to keep tabs on me?! I'm being attacked!" I shouted.

"Oh, hold on! Someone will be there soon."

I hung up as soon as I heard those words. Ain't no way I'm dividing my attention, even if just slightly. The guy released another Pokémon, a Barbaracle. He pointed in my direction and the Barbaracle took off.

Barbaracle zoomed in on my location, so I got into a sumo wrestler position to get ready. Once it got close enough, Barbaracle's right claw glowed lime green and slashed downwards. I sidestepped the attack, grabbing Barbaracle's arm with my right hand and placing my left on its shoulder. I pulled the arm and pushed the shoulder, sending it to the floor. I then kicked Barbaracle away from me, sending it crashing into Onix.

This helped Tetsu get enough time to use Iron Head on Onix, making him roar in pain. I released Mudkip and told her to take Nautilus' ball to Nurse Joy. She nodded and ran out with the Pokéball. I turned to see Onix's tail sweep towards me before slamming into my body. I shot through the air and into the wall, in too much pain to do more than grunt. I opened my eyes to see Barbaracle and Onix about to attack Tetsu from both sides.

Tetsu roared and rolled an oppressive wave of Gravity. Barbaracle sunk into the floor, but Onix still loomed over her. The man cried out in pain; Araceli had him on the floor, kneeling on him.