Virah closed her eyes and took deep breaths to calm herself.

This was already her second time waiting for a gym battle to start and she still couldn't help but shiver in fear when thinking about the upcoming fight.

Chuck was tough, and even though both her Pokemon had typing that resisted his specialty, Virah still couldn't help but be nervous at the thought of him using moves to specifically counter Nitro and Jet's secondary types.

Bug and Flying were weak to Rock, a sadly common tool used by Fighting Type for coverage.

Which means she'll have to play things safe, ensure that nothing surprises her, and watch out for anything that might cause her to lose.

'Easier said than done,' Virah thought in despair as she opened her eyes.

Beyond her lay a path shrouded in darkness, the only source of light were the two blue bulbs on either side of her, the light they emitted washed over Virah in waves, their supposedly calming hue only serving to drown her out.

She started tapping her foot in impatience, the rhythm offering help to her mental state in such a trying time.

'It'll be fine,' Virah thought to herself as she waited for the lights of the gym to flicker on and the announcer to call out her name.

"And coming from Goldenrod with an undefeated win streak!" Virah inhaled, then exhaled, here it goes, "she's a prodigy nurtured by Eggtech itself! A promising researcher, move tutor and even trainer!"

A drumroll washed over the stage, "we have… Virah!!!"

The poison specialist heaved as the lights flickered up above turned bright, lighting up the path before her.

Virah started walking, continuing even as a choking feeling enveloped her throat, the road was narrow, choked between two claustrophobic walls with only one way out, the direction she was going was a harsh fight, one that she willingly signed up for.

She could run- she wanted to run, but her fear was consumed by her growing anxiety whispering things to her, telling her that if she runs now, her reputation would plummet and she'd become a laughing stock.

It alternated between that and…

Virah's eyes looked to the bleachers, Grene already won, and Whitney was strong and prepared, Virah had no doubt that the pinkette would win as well, what if she didn't?..

Would she slow them down? By what? Two more days? A week?

Virah feared for the worst as she stepped into the podium, "and she might seem familiar to you all!"

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The announcer's booming voice made Virah flinch, "it looks like she's friends with our previous challenger!"

Virah inhaled, that's right, she's friends with Grene, they won't leave her here, they'd wait, but that also meant she had to meet them halfway and ensure that they didn't have to wait in the first place.

Virah glared at the spot where Chuck would be as the light once more turned bright, this time it was on the gym leaders side and just like with Grene's fight, people went wild when his name was announced.

Chuck walked to his podium and grabbed a single PokeBall, "welcome challenger!" He grinned, "I know this might be a bit strange, even unfair in the eyes of some people but that's why this is tier is called a challenge," Chuck tapped his Pokeball, "inside of this sphere waits a Poliwrath,"

Gasps rang out from the audience, the sound waving from left to right, the entire thing was drowned under Chuck's hearty laugh, "I know, I know, it's unfair- which is why I will only be using this one Pokemon!"

Chuck presented the Pokeball, "are you ready challenger?!"

Virah nodded, "I'm ready,"

"Good!" Chuck pulled his hand back, so did Virah.

They both threw the Pokeballs in their hands at the same time, and just like their actions, their commands were in perfect sync:

"Rain Dance!"

"Nitro! Use String Shot! Don't let that thing get a speed boost!"

Nitro spat out a thick ball of webbing from his mouth, his precise aiming and adept skill at using the move allowing him to strike the Poliwratch even from a great distance, if his opponent didn't cancel its dance in favor of dodging, Nitro's attack would have landed, changing the course of the battle.

"Aqua Jet!."

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case and the Poliwrath wasn't slowed down, and although it was slow compared a Beedrill, the fact that it has a priority move bridged that gap, even for just a single moment.

A veil of water washed over the Poliwrath, the liquid thickening around his skin, building layers until it was covering the Water Type from head to toe, it invigorated the Poliwrath and strengthened its muscles.

'It's also acting like fat cells,' Virah considered as the veil of water visibly shrunk the moment the Poliwrath took a step.

The Water Type's movement couldn't have been caught with the naked eye, in one moment, it stood still, then in the next, it turned into a stream of viscous water that slowly dried out as it traveled the distance, the iconic blue color of the Poliwrath's skin started to show within the blur as it neared Nitro until eventually, there was no longer any water left.

'It's just enough to cross the distance,' Virah thought as she ordered Nitro to counter the resulting Waterfall with Bug Bite.

The Poliwrath's fist met Nitro's mouth, and the two collided into a torrent of water that caused the muddy arena to splash against the barrier.

"Nitro, String Shot point blank!" Virah commanded.

"Don't let it hit you! Waterfall on the ground and jump back!"

Mud flew from the Poliwrath's directed attack, blinding Nitro just for long enough to miss his attack, Virah watched on calmly, thinking up of anything that might work against their opponent.

'Would putting strings on the ground cause it to use up more Water Type Energy for Aqua Jet?' Virah theorized, she decided to put it to the test, "Nitro, String Shot on the ground,"

"Aqua Jet."

Nitro spat in front of him, the thick ball of string resulted in the mud being covered in viscous webbing. When the Poliwrath struck the Beedrill, Virah ordered him to use String Shot point blank again and Chuck ordered his Pokemon to jump back.

They repeated the song and dance until the ground in front of Nitro was covered in webbing, preventing the Poliwrath from taking unnecessary risks.

"Now Nitro! Use String Shot over and over again! Don't stop until it's been hit!"

Chuck laughed and shook his head, "guess I deserved this," the Gym Leader grinned, "Poliwrath! Use Aqua Jet into Waterfall!"

Virah silently watched on as the Poliwrath's body collided against Nitro's carapace, her Beedrill took in the hit just fine but that was from Aqua Jet.

Virah feared for the worst as the Poliwrath built up Water Type energy on its arms, the slowly thickening stream flowing down from the top of its shoulders and down to its fists.

Nitro spat his webbing, it finally landed on his opponent.

"Electroweb!" Virah quickly ordered, not wanting to lose a single second.

The Poliwrath raises arms gooped in water as electricity crawled from Nitro's mouth and into his strings, a thick hammerfall pumped with invigorating yet damaging water fell from the skies as the Poliwrath attacked.

Water sizzled as currents ran through both Pokemon, damaging them both at the same time, when everything stopped, the two Pokemon stood still, though their trainers didn't.

"Fury Attack!" Virah quickly ordered.

"Take down!" Chuck followed suit.

The Beedrill and the Poliwrath moved even as sparks of electricity crawled along their limbs and body, they raised drills and shoulders that glowed white from Normal Type Energy, and then, they started pummeling each other.

The Poliwrath's quick and powerful attack made Nitro falter but the Beedrill still landed three strikes in spite of it, and when he finished, he collapsed, fainted.

Virah recalled her Pokemon, she whispered a thank you to her Pokeball and then swiftly, she tossed out Jet.

All it took to take down the Poliwrath after that was an easy dodge from a sloppily tossed Rock Tomb followed by a precisely struck Aerial Ace.