Chapter 9

“Cut it down, Leif!” his trainer ordered.

The Grovyle sped toward the Rock Tomb, his leaves extended and sharpened to their sword-like quality. He quickly slashed to pieces the twin walls of stone that shielded them for the Lairon to now become vulnerable. The Golem was further to the left than the Steel-type. Leif lunged out of the way as he heard the gushing of water behind him.

The Hydro Pump consumed the Lairon until it was invisible within the descending liquid. When the water dispersed the Pokemon’s outer steel shell was all that remained. Its face and legs seemed to have disintegrated with the metal hump sitting in a pool of water.

Another waste of life by these humans. Leif thought with grief. Whether it's my forest, this mountain or a Pokemon they do nothing but take life...even using others as shields to do so. What made a species so devious they could do such a thing?

“Hydro Pump!” Emerald ordered.

The Grovyle glanced to find the Gyarados attempting to fire another blast of water again but little more than a light spray came from its maw.

“Looks like you’ve used up all your Water attacks,” Roxanne said. “Rock Blast!”

The Golem smiled as he fired three stone plates directly from his chest at Madelyn. She was struck in the lower jaw, midsection and one tooth before she crumpled to the ground. The impact she made on the cave floor caused a rumblign that could be felt throughout the entire tunnel.

“But Rock-type moves are quite a bit more expandable,” the Gym leader gloated.

Emerald returned Madelyn to her PokeBall, the Grovyle noticing her the red half of the PokeBall blinking blue. Leif turned to face the Golem in front of him. He thought about slashing the areas of the Rock-type’s body that had been removed of stones only to find the Golem was regenerating them. He regretted not striking faster before realizing that the rocks would grow faster than Leif could close the distance between them.

Not to mention getting too close would put me in killing range of his attacks. He thought. Us Grovyle have frail bodies, only able to survive due to avoiding direct attacks. I’ll have to strike sooner than Roxanne gives another order if I’m to avoid taking a Rock attack.

“Rock-!” Roxanne shouted.

Leif lunged at the Golem to come face to face with the Rock and Ground-type. The enemy Pokemon was taken aback by the Grovyle getting so close to him, clearly surprised and intimidated by his gall. Leif understood that if he could instill a sense of psychological audacity it could psyche an opponent out.

With the Golem temporarily stunned by the Grovyle, Leif then slashed at the midsection of his body with his Leaf Blade. However, he found it did not even scratch his body. With his keen eyesight he could not find so much as a dent in the stones that armored him. However, Leif did find the stones he slashed at had grayed.

My Leaf Blade did no physical damage. He thought. But due to striking with an elemental advantage over Rock and Ground my leaves absorbed nutrients from his body. All Grass moves naturally attempt to nutrients from the target like plant roots seeking sustenance with earthen and Water elements being especially vulnerable. Interesting...I can’t pierce its body...but I can deteriorate it.

The Golem then launched several stones from his body that the Grovyle barely managed to dodge. The rocks grazed past his head with enough force to take it clean off his neck. Leif found himself jumping backwards quite a ways, panting from fear and not tiredness. The Golem smiled smugly at the Grass-type.

“I see you have found my body completely impenetrable,” he said. “No force can pierce my hide as I am stronger than even bedrock. Us Golem are the pinnacle not only of the Rock-type but all defensive Pokemon that exist.”

The Grovyle leered at his opponent. Leif began examining the Rock and Ground-type’s body to attempt to find any weaknesses. It was the last resort kind of strategizing one only did when one was facing a truly desperate situation.

“Why do you seem so proud of fighting for that human?!” Leif shouted, the last word downright venomous in his mouth.

The Golem merely laughed.

“I fight for the human for no other reason than she made me strong,” he said. “I have achieved my peak level of power and for her I am grateful. A creature’s purpose is only fulfilled when it has grasped its highest level of strength. I am fulfilled.”

Leif was disgusted at the Golem’s reasoning but found a certain weakness in its body. The Grovyle leapt forward at full speed as the Golem, knowing it wasn’t fast enough to react, opened its arms at him. The Rock-type was so confident in his strength he embraced any attempt to pierce his ultimate defense.

The Grovyle slashed in between the rows of stone plates on its body. The Golem gasped in pain and shock as his Leaf Blade cut in the tight spaces where the rocks were knit together. Leif found relief at his scream of pain to find his leaves had actually managed to pierce the interior of his body. Not only that but the space they had struck was indeed grayed from being drained of nutrients.

“Gah!” the Golem shouted in agony.

He fell to its knees as Leif laughed while he continued slicing into the thin gaps of rocks. With each successive slice the Grovyle found soil leaking from slashes in the Golem’s body. He took this as a good sign as Leif was aware soil functioned as blood to many Rock and Ground-types. The Golem’s entire body soon began to gray into an ugly white husk.

“Get up, Golem!” Roxanne shouted. “I thought your defense was impenetrable!”

“It is-!” the Golem said before rolling onto its back.

Leif then finally stabbed his Leaf Blade into the front of the Golem’s body. Once his Leaf Blade pierced the Golem through the very center of his body his eyes bulged before his limbs went limp. Leif smiled as Roxanne returned the Rock-type to its Pokeball, the Grovyle noticing the red half of the PokeBall turning completely blue. It did not even blink blue, merely darkening as the Gymm leader looked absolutely furious. She began to reach for another PokeBall around her waist.

“Yeah!” Emerald shouted. “Good going, Leif!”

“Looks like your impenetrable defense had a very unnoticeable but important weakness,” Leif said smugly. “Objects thin or fine enough to penetrate the spaces between its plating.”

“Kabutops!” Roxanne shouted. “Aqua Jet!”

Leif leapt at Roxanne to kill her as the Kabutops became engulfed in water. The Pokemon that had previously been working on the wall closed the distance between Leif and itself. One moment the Grovyle had his sights set on killing the Gym leader and the next the enemy Pokemon had rammed into him.

Propelled by the water flowing from his body, the Kabutops slammed Leif into the cave floor. The Grovyle jumped to his after hitting the cave floor, far more in pain from the initial collision. His botanical body absorbed the water of the Aqua Jet so the hit was not life threatening. The opposing Pokemon stood eye to eye with the Grovyle.

“You intend to fight me even though I could have killed your taskmaster?” the Grovyle asked.

“You cannot defeat her,” he said. “Her final Pokemon that she saves for emergencies only would have taken my place. And then I would have been in trouble.”

“Seems to me like you’re making excuses for your cowardice,” Leif said.

“Night Slash!” Roxanne shouted.

The Kabutops’ bladed arms took on a slightly dark tint to them as it neared him. Leif slashed with his Leaf Blade to find the Kabutops parried with his own blade. The Grovyle began to counter by parrying with his Leaf Blade to find himself in a sword fight with the enemy Pokemon. Their slashes were blinding they were so fast, Leif’s keen eyesight the only way he could keep up with such agility. However, as each Pokemon began to wear down the other’s stamina, Leif saw Roxanne open up her last PokeBall.

The Groyvle attempted to strike the Kabutops’s main body but found it impossible. His opponent’s bladed arms seemed to be almost as sharp as Leif’s Leaf Blade. However, as the battle went on it became more and more clear that the Grovyle’s lack of experience in armed to armed combat was to his detriment.

Leif made one false move, parrying slightly lower than he should have to allow the Kabutops to slash his arm. The Grovyle screamed in panic as the tip of the enemy’s blade traveled down his chest. The Grass-type’s instincts took over so that he jumped back to avoid further contact with the Kabutops.

He gasped in pain as he began bleeding profusely. He could see Roxanne smiling at him from behind the Rock-type. Her formerly agitated expression had regained its originally calm and stoic appearance.

“Aqua Jet!” Roxanne ordered.

Takim grabbed the Armaldo attempting to slash at her again. Now that she had his right arm and left arm in her grip, Hariyama could prevent him from escaping. She then flung the Bug and Rock-type into the ground with all the force she could muster.

The Vital Throw was of such impact it left a crater in the cave floor where the Armaldo landed. Tikam began panting in exhaustion as she looked down at her opponent. He struggled to get up but Takim merely pressed down harder.

“Don’t. Move,” she said. “And if we defeat Roxanne...you can leave to pursue your own life. No longer be a trainer’s pet.”

The Armaldo looked up with gratitude before nodding.

“Play dead,” Tikam ordered.

The Bug-type let its arms go limp as he panted in exhaustion. He wasn’t just playing dead but legitimately very tired as Takim had been careful to mostly stop his attacks than retaliate. Due to Armaldo’s incredibly sturdy body, The Hariyama decided that she would do her best to tire the Armaldo over the course of the battle. This worked and now he barely had any energy to even stand up.

The Hariyama wasn’t very tired as Takim had been careful to conserve her energy, only blocking her opponent’s attacks. However, the punctures to her body meant she was wincing in pain with every movement. Whenever Takim attacked with her right hand that had been sliced open she was forced to grit her teeth in irritation.

After defeating the Armaldo, Takim surveyed the cave around her to find Leif on the losing side of a battle against Kabutops. She watched as he jumped back after being sliced by the Shellfish Pokemon to find him holding his arm in pain. He was clearly heavily damaged by the Night Slash he’d been hit with.

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The Hariyama knew she wouldn’t be able to make it in time to defend Leif. The Kabutops was clearly faster than Takim could ever hope to be. She was already slamming her open palm into the ground by the time Roxanne gave her next order.

“Aqua Jet!”

The energy of the Force Palm sent toward the Kabutops knocked it off its feet. The Hariyama was not particularly skilled in that technique so her lack of precision caused Leif and Roxanne to fall to the ground as well. While the Kabutops was attempting to stand up, Takim was already racing toward the Rock and Water-type.

He attempted to slash at her again, his rightmost arm blade turning slightly darker in doing so. The Hariyama deflected the Night Slash by slapping the Kabutops arm blade out of the way with the back of her hand. A single Arm Thrust was enough to send the Kabutops flying backward, hitting the cave wall behind him. A crater formed upon impact against the stone surface before he slumped against it. The Grovyle turned to the Hariyama and smiled at her.

With his opponent out of the way, Leif raced forward at Roxanne but she had already opened her last PokeBall before he could close the distance. Takim began looking at a very strange creature.

Its short blue body was offset by its pillar-like, stubby limbs. At the center of its body, below two black eyes was a large red nose that was almost as big as its entire body. Its entire form was very angular as if it was carved directly out of sheer rock. Just as Leif leapt at Roxanne the strange Pokemon had already begun using Sandstorm.

Grains of sand began whirling around the Rock-type before it blasted at the Grovyle. The whirlwind of sand spiralled around the Wood Gecko Pokemon, eliciting cries of pain from him. He disappeared within the Sandstorm before being slammed into the cave floor. After leaving the whirlwind of sand, much of Leif’s lime green skin had been ripped off the surface of his body.

Takim raced toward the Rock-type as it tried to attack her with the same move. The Hariyama used Force Palm to blow the tornado of sand apart before charging headlong at it. Takim used Arm Thrust, successively slamming her open palms into her opponent. Takim was surprised to find its body surprisingly resilient. After five Arm Thrusts its skin was barely even dented.

Its body is harder than Golem’s! Takim thought.

“Nosepass, use Stone Edge!” Roxanne yelled.

The surface of the Nosepass’s right and left sides began to break into small pieces of blue stone. The sharp pointed rocks flew at Takim as she slapped them away with the back of her hand. The Hariyama sighed in relief.

However, it doesn’t seem to have as much power as other Rock-types. Takim thought. It’s just a wall that soaks up hits.

She looked to her left to find Leif charging forward with full speed at the Nosepass. He slashed at the Nosepass with his Leaf Blade more than a dozen times to leave shallow cuts in its stone body. Takim felt she was getting somewhere with the amount of damage they were dealing until Roxanne said her next order.

“Pain Split!” Roxanne ordered.

The Nosepass pointed its body directly at Leif before the Grovyle began to seizure in pain. Takim stared on in perplexity as he fell to the ground, rolling on the stone floor as he bled from his previous injuries. She then turned to find the Nosepass’s injuries suddenly healed. Every single one of the dents and slashes in its body were covered with blue stone. After the stone grew back over its body, Emerald returned Leif to his PokeBall.

“What-?!” Emerald shouted. “It’s fully healed!”

“Exactly,” Roxanne explained. “That is Nosepass’s ultimate move. Pain Split. It allows the user to exchange its lost health with the target before regaining health itself.”

“But your Nosepass regained all its health!” Emerald shouted.

“It’s called move advancement,” Roxanne replied. “It's when a Pokemon practices an attack so often that it actually learns to mitigate the disadvantages of said attack. My Nosepass has learned to do so through intensive training sessions.”

Takim found her trainer to be frazzled. Upon explaining the effect to him he looked visibly afraid. Emerald’s knees began knocking against another, beads of sweat wetting his forehead and arms. The Hariyama was confused as to why Roxanne would explain her Pokemon’s power to him before realizing this was the effect she desired on Emerald. That he would lose the will to fight.

The Hariyama then rushed forward at Roxanne. She knew that Pokemon like Nosepass with such strong bodies usually weren’t fast enough to intercept chariing Pokemon. But Roxanne looked unafraid as Takim ran towards her.

“Use Sandstorm on me!” Roxanne said.

Sand erupted from the back of the Nosepass before forming a great cloud that the Gym leader disappeared in. Takim thought Roxanne was crazy at first as the blackish-grey grains swirled to consume the entire portion of the cave behind the Nosepass. The thick wall of sand that was impossible to see through the tower over Takim.

“Did-?!” Emerald said. “Did she just commit suicide?!”

“Nosepass!” Roxanne’s voice could be heard through the Sandstorm. “Thunder Wave!”

The Rock-type turned toward Takim to emit a wave of blue electricity from its nose. Takim clapped her hands together just as the Thunder Wave neared her, the resulting force dispersing the electricity. However, just as she used Fake Out to stop the attack, Roxanne made her next order.

“Head Smash!” she cried.

Blue electricity ran directly beneath the Nosepass’s stubby legs before the burst of energy launched the Rock-type towards her. The Hariyama was stabbed through by the Nosepass’s angular head in the stab wound the Armaldo had given her. Takim screamed in pain as she was forced backward into the rightmost cave wall.

The injury had previously not been that deliberately and didn’t bleed much but now blood was flooding from her chest. As she slumped against the cave wall, Takim was very surprised that such an attack could pierce her thick body. She shook not only in pain but panic, gasping for several moments before she could even think straight. Takim looked to see the Nosepass merely standing there lifelessly as it made no attempt to further attack her.

“What’s going on?!” Emerald shouted. “How-how can you be able to see and speak through that?!”

“Oh you’re so stupid, Emerald,” Roxanne said. “You didn’t really think you could defeat a Gym leader after a single victory against Ruby, did you? Pretty arrogant.”

Emerald looked like he was about ready to pull out his hair, tears streaming from his eyes as his face turned red.

“How is this possible?!” he screamed.

Takim stood up, careful to hold the wound made by the Head Smash. She was losing blood as evidenced by the fact it was waterfalling from her body down her left leg. She panted in exhaustion.

“This is why I had to evolve before facing her,” Takim said. “While I never knew how true it was, there were rumors that certain high ranking Team Magma members had access to strange powers.”

“Powers?” Emerald said.

“Yes,” the Hariyama said. “Certain Magma members had the power of Pokemon themselves. While they had selected Pokemon out they gained superhuman abilities. It seems Roxanne’s is the Sand Veil ability that rare Ground Pokemon have, allowing them to become virtually intangible within it while able to hear, see and talk.”

“I thought we were more discreet about that,” the Gym leader said. “After disposing of you two I’ll have to reprimand my subordinates for letting that secret slip.”

“Takim!” Emerald said. “Any ideas on how to get out of this one?! Any last minute techniques?”

She sighed in exasperation, her mind still foggy from the pain. Takim had grown used to bearing pain but no matter how well-trained she was there was little fighting against her body’s instinct to rest after being hit. The Hariyama forced herself to stand up and examine her opponent.

While the Nosepass was by no means a mobile Pokemon in the past, something about it that seemed off. Roxanne wasn’t even attempting to call out another attack. The Gym leader wouldn’t give them a chance to attack unless there was nothing she could do.

That Head Smash must be a move that temporarily immobilizes the user. Takim realized. There are certain attacks like that with such severe drawbacks they are used sparingly. They’re usually powerful but either damage the user or force it to recover. It would make sense that a move like that would be what it took to pierce the layer of fat protecting me. In other words...this is the best time to strike.

“I got one,” Takim said. “That might work.”

“Can it kill it in one shot?” Emerald asked. “Because that’s what it’ll take to beat that Nosepass!”

“No,” she said. “But it could definitely immobilize it.”

The Hariyama lunged forward, something especially daunting considering it made her bleed more. What energy that she had left after the battle was quickly being drained from her. After Takim got close enough to stand in front of the Nosepass she began squeezing her left arm with all the power she could muster.

“Nosepass!” Roxanne said. “Thunder Wave!”

The Rock-type attempted to but all it led to was a single spark of electricity zapping the tip of its nose. It clearly was incapable of moving still. The Hariyama readied her Dynamic Punch by concentrating as much kinetic energy within her body into her left arm. This caused Takim’s left arm to violently shake to the point she almost lost control over it.

“Yeah,” she said. “Just one though.”

Dynamic Punch requires so much force to be administered into one’s arm they can’t contain it. She thought. It’s less a punch and more an explosion contained within one’s limb. Taylor tried to teach me this move in hopes that I’d eventually master it but it requires a true master to teach such an unwieldy technique. It’s so hard to properly use that one can easily miss an opponent standing perfectly still.

She swung her fist at the Rock-type but missed. Her arm swerved out of the way just as Takim moved it, causing it to land just beside the Nosepass. The reverberation of the punch was strong enough to cause shockwaves to resound throughout the cave. The walls behind the Nosepass cracked with its destructive power.

“Nosepass that’s Dynamic Punch!” Roxanne shouted. “Use Thunder Wave!”

But the Nosepass was still incapable of moving. All it could do was rock back and forth as any attempt to conjure a Thunder Wave caused electricity to useless glow on its nose. However, it was just now beginning to gain some mobility back.

Seeing as how she had a narrowing window of opportunity, the Hariyama did her best to focus more of her energy into her left arm. Takim only had enough force in reserve for one more. The stamina that remained was quickly dissipating as the result of a prolonged battle with powerful opponents.

The next time she swung her lift fist the Dynamic Punch hit. Just barely though. As Takim’s arm trembled violently she nearly lost control of it, causing her fist to land a glancing blow on the Nosepass’s nose.

However, even a graze was enough to do the job. The Nosepass’s nose shattered and so did much of its body behind its nose, the resulting blow creating a shockwave that made Takim wince. The resulting blowback reverberated throughout the cave as it caused Emerald to land on his face after knocking him off his feet. She could feel bones in her left arm snapping once the Dynamic Punch landed.

But it was all worth it after being punched the Rock-type began shaking violently. It could not keep its body still as it began teetering back and forth. The Nosepass rocked to the sideways before being lifted off the ground for a moment. After being airborne for a moment its stubby legs slammed into the ground before spinning in a circle. Its body was perfectly out of control as it was thrown every which way.

This was the true purpose of Dynamic Punch. There were plenty of moves that were strong enough to potentially kill a Pokemon in one blow but this was special. Dynamic Punch channeled all the kinetic energy the user stored within its fist into the target. This caused the target to not only become internally damaged but would throw it around like a ragdoll. The attack was not meant to kill in one blow but inflict a debilitating status condition that the target couldn’t escape from.

“That’s great Takim!” Emerald shouted. “You won!”

Takim then began slamming her open palms into the Nosepass. This was especially painful with her right palm cut open and her left arm broken but Takim forced herself through it nonetheless. Each Arm Thrust chipped away more and more of the blue stone of the Rock-type’s body, the Nosepass either trembling or spinning all the way through.

“Nosepass!” Roxanne shouted in panic. “Use Pain Split!”

But the Nosepass was not in control of its body the entire time Takim used Arm Thrust. Her physical attacks were so powerful and she was hitting it so many times that half the Nosepass’s body had been turned to rubble within a minute. Takim recognized this as the Nosepass’s interior body not being as tough as its most surface layer, a common feature of most Rock-type Pokemon. The final blow with her open palm shattered her opponent, her left arm’s bones snapping in two.

The Pokemon was soon turned into an unrecognizable heap of blue rock shards at her feet. Takim began panting after the final Arm Thrust as she attempted to resist the urge to fall over. Her body was beginning to give out as she had lost too much blood to continue fighting. Her left arm hung lifelessly next to her as Takim was unable to move it. Her rightmost palm was ripped open from using Arm Thrust so many times and bleeding almost as bad as her gut wound. Her blue legs were drenched in dark red blood from how much was spilling out of the front of her body.

And she was so thirsty. Takim’s body ached for water, the Hariyama feeling the urge to lap the blood on her hands in desperation. Sweat drenched every part of her skin as she began to feel lightheaded. Takim began to feel herself swaying before she was temporarily brought out of her funk by Emerald’s voice.

“Takim!” he yelled. “Look at the Sandstorm!”

She turned to see the sand had stopped moving. The whirlwind had dissipated as the grains of sand that had been flying fell to the cave floor in heaps. Roxanne was left standing amongst the mounds of loose dirt, cowering in disbelief.

“You...you defeated-” she sobbed. “M-my st-strongest…”

“The Sandstorm must only be able to be maintained so long as Nosepass is conscious or alive,” Emerald theorized. “Quick, now’s your chance Takim!”

She collapsed to her knees, unable to stand anymore. Takim stared at Roxanne as her legs began to move on her own. The Gym leader crying as the Hariyama approached, paralyzed by her own fear, Takim trudged in a pool of her own blood to near her.

She had no will at this point, only the distant feeling of anger fueling her. Takim attempted to slam her with her right palm but collapsed in mid-swing. She lost control of herself and fell onto Roxanne’s, her own body weight more than enough to squash the woman like a grape. Her blood burst open like a balloon beneath the Fighting-type as Takim lost consciousness, her final thought before going dark a happy one.

I am a savior. She thought. No longer a murderer.