CHAPTER 62 - A Battle of Endurance

I stared at Frillish’s Pokeball and clasped it tightly before sending him out. His eyes glinted as he floated upward. The crowd gasped and started whispering, probably questioning me sending out a water type first against a grass type specialist. I could tell he was tense. His movements were tight, somehow, less fluid than they usually were.

“I believe in you, buddy!” I yelled out as encouragement. He stared back at me and nodded.

Gardenia brought a hand to her mouth as her hand hovered over her Pokeballs. I prayed internally she’d send out one of the Pokemon I wanted. The main reason for sending out Frillish first was to bait the gym leader into locking herself up into using at least one non-poison type since I had two Pokemon weak to the type. I hoped that by seeing Frillish, she would just hurry and send out a pure grass type like her Bellossom. The fewer poison types she used, the better.

Gardenia finally grabbed her first Pokemon and released a Lombre, which wasn’t ideal, but it wasn’t the worst-case scenario. I sighed internally in relief. Any verbal or bodily signal that I wanted this would seriously hamper me in the future.

“Begin!” The referee said, bringing his arm down.

“Lombre, Sunny Day!” Gardenia ordered.

The water type croaked loudly, and harsh sunlight began to bear down on the battlefield. Lombre was Gardenia’s main way of controlling the weather, and I already knew this had been coming. She’d be able to hamper Frillish’s water moves this way.

“Stay far away and Poison Sting!” I yelled out.

Frillish reared two of his tentacles back before throwing them forward, and poisoned darts flew off toward Lombre.

“Leech Seed!” Gardenia said, sweeping her arm.

The grass type tried to dodge, but it was too slow to avoid all of Frillish’s darts. It cried out as five darts buried themselves deep into him, but it immediately followed up by spitting out a series of seeds from its mouth at terrifying speeds. I couldn’t let any of those touch Frillish, not if I wanted my plan to work.

“Drop down!” I said.

Frillish deactivated his levitation and dropped to the ground, catching himself with a weakened Water Sport. I clicked my tongue internally. The sun was really going to screw with our mobility.

“Nature Power and then Leech Seed again!”

Fuck. Nature Power in this terrain always turned into Energy Ball. Green energy gathered in front of Lombre’s mouth and then rushed toward Frillish. It was too fast to dodge.

“Intercept it with Night Shade!” I screamed.

A shadowy version of Frillish appeared in front of him and flew toward the Energy Ball, causing it to explode mid-air. Smoke was obscuring my view, but I knew Leech Seed was next. I swore internally as Leech Seeds flew through the smoke and toward Frillish.

Alright, step one was done. I grabbed the water type’s Pokeball and recalled him. The seeds landed on the ground and sprouted.

I inhaled sharply. Actually being in the battle meant that plans would always go sideways. I hadn’t dealt the damage I wanted, but with Sunny Day, Frillish’s mobility was cut in half, meaning that approaching Lombre without getting hit was impossible, especially when I needed Frillish to be in the back of Gardenia’s mind. What I had come to realize during my training was that switch-ins were a resource in Pokemon battles, and I was cashing in my first one early.

It was time for step two of the plan to deal with Lombre. I grinned as I grabbed Tangela’s Pokeball. His Chlorophyll ability meant that his speed would be doubled in such harsh sunlight.

“You’re up, angel,” I firmly said. The grass type shivered and writhed, happy to be out in the sun.

I was unfortunately on a timer, though. Soon enough, Lombre would be able to change the weather again with Rain Dance, and it had the ability Rain Dish, meaning that it slowly recovered in the rain.

“Get up close and personal, angel!” I screamed.

“Get ready for him,” Gardenia said. “Bubblebeam while he gets close.”

Tangela ran faster than ever before, using his vines to push himself forward. Some of Lombre’s bubbles hit him, but the damage was negligible to the grass type and in the sun.

“Vine Whip, Bind, Mega Drain,” I said in quick succession.

Tangela’s vines were also moving faster in the sun, and I had taught him to respond quickly to his moves. He quickly extended seven vines forward. Lombre clawed the first two away with what I knew to be Fury Swipes, but one hit the Lombre square in the face, staggering him, while the other four grabbed and snaked around him.

“More vines!” I yelled.

Lombre was completely enveloped in Tangela’s vines, and they started the glow as he used Mega Drain to suck the water type’s energy.

“Squeeze tighter,” I continued. Tangela’s vines kept tightening their grip around Lombre.

Lombre croaked out in pain, and Gardenia quickly recalled him. Shit, I thought. Tangela had been supposed to take care of Lombre on his own, and I hadn’t been expecting a switch so early. I thought Gardenia would wait it out and try to change the weather again.

The only Pokemon that could deal with angel in this weather were poison types, so I already knew one was coming. The question was, which one?

Gardenia released her Roselia, and I had to stop myself from swearing. Even Gloom would have been better than this. Roselia was one of the most annoying Pokemon to deal with, since it had been trained to waste time as it watched you lose from status conditions.

I had to make a decision.

I grabbed Tangela’s Pokeball and recalled him immediately, meaning I was now out of switch-ins. Tangela would be needed for later. I couldn’t afford to let him lose against Roselia, because I knew he would. Even if he beat it, he’d eventually succumb to poison.

I grabbed Elekid’s Pokeball and released him with a flash of red. He announced his presence with a scream.

He was my only Roselia counter.

“Run up to it quick,” I ordered.

“Toxic, Rose!” Gardenia yelled out.

Roselia pointed one of her bouquets at Elekid, and huge pieces of sludge flew out of it. Elekid blurred, hoping to dodge, but one of the Toxics hit him, not dealing any damage right now, but over time? It’d stack up very fast.

“Ice Punch!” I yelled.

Even Gardenia’s eyes widened at the command. Elekid let out an evil laugh as ice surrounded his fist and hit the small Roselia’s chest, sending it flying against Kadabra’s barrier.

“Again,” I ordered.

Elekid kept going, ice still on his fist. He rushed toward the grass type.

“Magical Leaf, then Grassy Terrain!” Gardenia yelled.

Leaves surrounded by a multicolored aura appeared around the struggling Roselia and barrelled toward Elekid.

“Don’t waste energy trying to dodge, it’s like Swift!” I quickly said.

Elekid nodded and just pushed through the leaves as the grass began to grow taller and taller. I heard Roselia screech, meaning that Ice Punch had hit her again. And then again. And again.

There was a pause in the battle for a second.

“Roselia is unable to battle! Leader Gardenia, send out your second Pokemon,” The referee said.

Fuck yes! I had caught her off guard and dealt with a poison type, meaning Tangela or Togetic wouldn’t have to.

“Get back quick!” I told Elekid as Gardenia recalled Roselia, who was covered in chunks of ice, and grabbed another Pokeball. He was starting to slow and breathe hard from the poison. His time was limited, and I wasn’t going to be able to use him as much as I wanted, but Grassy Terrain meant that he would last longer than normal thanks to its regenerative properties. Gardenia really hadn’t expected Roselia to fall that fast.

A beautiful Leafeon materialized in front of Gardenia and immediately sunk into the tall grass that had grown from Grassy Terrain. Its steps were deafeningly silent, as if it was floating and not walking. I bit the inside of my lip. On one hand, the best strategy would be to wait here where the grass was low, and I’d be able to see what would happen, but on the other, Toxic’s damage was getting worse and worse.

“You’re gonna have to get in there and fight, hon,” I told Elekid. “Ice Punch as soon as you see it.”

Elekid nodded and ran into the grass. I watched anxiously for the next minute as nothing happened. It took a bit for me to realize that Gardenia was waiting us out. She had no reason to fight and risk her Leafeon getting hit by a super-effective move. All she had to do was wait for Toxic to take Elekid out, and I’d be screwed.

And I was out of switches.

Swift was unusable too, because the target needed to be in the user’s line of sight.

Arceus, damn it. I had been outsmarted and too excited from the quick victory against Roselia. Gardenia used that to her advantage, and now I was on the backfoot.

“Elekid, you’ve got to try to use Thundershock! Aim all around you!” I yelled.

I heard him agree with a scream and then that familiar whirring of his arms. Arcs of electricity flew throw the grass. I had hoped it would set it on fire and destroy the Grassy Terrain, but the move was apparently too powerful for that. Even after fainting, Roselia was a thorn in my side.

Gardenia was simply watching with a hand on her hip. I tapped my leg against the platform repeatedly, hoping for a hit, but nothing happened. I heard Elekid scream, and then he was thrown toward me. It looked like Leafeon finally decided to attack.

“Can you stand?” I asked worriedly. Elekid tried to stand up, but the poison had run its course through him. It’d be foolish to keep him in now. “Rest up, honey. You did great,” I said before recalling him before the referee even had the chance to say his line.

Who could deal with this Leafeon? I only had a few seconds to find out. Frillish was a no-go. Tangela could maybe, but he’d probably struggle to find the grass type. Fuck it, I had no choice but to send out Togetic. That meant that her last Pokemon would probably be a poison type, screwing me over, but if I had to choose between being screwed over now or later, I’d picked later every time.

I released Togetic, who chirped and clapped happily.

“Up high, princess!” I ordered. “Fairy Wind! Your opponent’s hiding in the grass!”

Togetic let out a happy giggle as pink wind began to gather around her. Off the top of my head, I remembered that Leafeon’s only long-distance moves were Swift and Leech Seed, so if it used any, princess would be able to find it.

Not that we needed that anyway. The Fairy Wind she was gathering was so thick and powerful that it would be able to sweep across the entire battlefield.

“Swift, then Quick Attack!” Gardenia yelled.

A series of stars flew up toward Togetic. Quick Attack meant that she wanted Leafeon to quickly change its position, but that wouldn’t work. Princess was too powerful, and Fairy Wind would encompass the entire width of the arena.

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“Release it!” I quickly said, knowing that getting hit might break her concentration.

The Fairy Wind tore through the battlefield and swept through the grass before slamming against the psychic barrier, revealing Leafeon’s position. The grass type lay down flat against the ground in order not to be swept away, and the stars hit Togetic in quick succession, not dealing that much damage.

“Thunder Wave!” I said, pointing at our opponent.

Now that Leafeon’s position was revealed, Togetic quickly cried out as electricity buzzed around her. She sent it away toward the grass type, who still couldn’t move because of the wind, and it started shaking wildly as it wrapped around it. The fact that we had perfected the move in so few days made me feel incredibly proud of my starter, but it wasn’t over yet.

“Fairy Wind again!” I yelled out, and Togetic started whipping up the attack once more.

Now Gardenia could only watch as I was about to take down her Leafeon. Of course, she could switch, but as morbid as it was to treat Pokemon as pawns, why waste her precious last switch-in for a damaged, paralyzed Leafeon? I looked into her eyes and knew she was thinking the same thing.

“Swift!” She yelled out defiantly. “Don’t let it charge up its move for free!”

Leafeon convulsed for around twenty seconds before finally using the move, and Togetic immediately released Fairy Wind without my command, once again dealing heavy damage to Leafeon in exchange for getting hit by a weak Swift. I knew that the gym leader hoped I would reveal some of my other moves, but I wouldn’t. All she would get was Fairy Wind. Information was the most precious resource in Pokemon battles, to be revealed at the best opportune moments, and I wasn’t going to give it up for free.

It took another two rounds of Fairy Wind before Leafeon finally fainted.

“Leafeon is unable to battle! Leader Gardenia, send out your third Pokemon,” The referee said.

Gardenia recalled her and grinned. Now, she would either send out her Lombre again or a grass poison type like Gloom, Foongus, Weepinbell, or Ivysaur—

I swallowed when I saw Sunflora materialize into thin air. All things considered, this was probably Gardenia’s strongest Pokemon that she used against trainers with one badge, and it was routinely a part of her team against trainers with two badges. That thing might have looked like a docile creature, but it was a monster. Not only did it have the Solar Power ability, meaning that its attack was raised in the sun, it knew Solar Beam. With that kind of boost, even typing disadvantages started to become irrelevant. Lombre’s Sunny Day was still fucking me over even this far into the battle. Not only that, but there was still Grassy Terrain that would further empower Sunflora’s moves.

All of the conditions were perfect for her. Had this been a part of her plan all along? Each one of her Pokemon completing a piece of the puzzle. Lombre with Sunny Day, Roselia with Grassy Terrain, and Leafeon’s relatively quick defeat to catch me off-guard when she revealed Sunflora right after, quickly altering my state of mind and destabilizing my train of thought. In many ways, the grass type was worse than any poison type she could have sent out.

I wiped the sweat off my forehead and calmed down. Panic would do me no good.

I exhaled sharply when I saw that the grass type wasn’t escaping into the tall grass. “Okay, princess, Thunder Wave!” I said.

“Ingrain, Growth,” Gardenia laughed. “Solar Beam!”

“Arceus damn it!” I let out. Solar Beam was faster in the sun, and Thunder Wave would take too long. I needed to interrupt this series of moves now. Solar Beam was far too quick for Togetic to ever hope to dodge, and far too powerful to ever hope to alter its path with Extrasensory or shield herself against it with Ancient Power. “Forget the Thunder Wave! Trip it up with Ancient Power!” I stammered.

Roots started to grow out of Sunflora’s feet, anchoring it on the ground, and then it began to glow. Togetic’s eyes shone brightly as she lifted the huge chunk of earth the grass type was standing on, but it was still attached to the ground.

“Send it!” Gardenia screamed wildly.

“Slam the rock against the wall!” I said, clenching my teeth.

A huge beam brighter than the sun flew from Sunflora’s vague direction. Togetic slammed the rock against Kadabra’s barriers, but I was too blinded to see anything. When the Solar Beam ended, I was surprised to see that Kadabra’s barrier far above me had been cracked and was slowly reconstructing itself. Sunflora got back up on its feet relatively quickly for a Pokemon with a chunk of its right side crushed and the upper half of its head bent at an unsettling angle. It ingrained itself again as it slowly began to recover its plant matter, combined with Grassy Terrain. My eyes darted around the battlefield for at least twenty seconds, looking for Togetic. I was about to call out when her head popped out of the tall grass.

“Solar Beam again!” Gardenia said, wasting no time.

“Fuck! Ancient Power in front of you, multiple layers!” I hurriedly said, my voice shaking.

Another bright beam exploded out of Sunflora as Togetic quickly raised six layers of earth in front of her. The Solar Beam reached her, but in a greatly weakened state. She cried out in pain, and her thin layer of fur was smoking and covered in burns.

“Thunder Wave before it attacks again!” I said, hoping that Sunflora would have a similar charging time.

“Seed Bomb!” Gardenia grinned, dashing my hopes.

“Fly up to dodge!” I yelled.

Togetic jumped and floated upward as five explosions rocked the earth where she had just stood. I needed to—

“Bullet Seed!” The gym leader continued, and a series of seeds faster than even Denzel’s Budew hit Togetic square in the chest.

Gardenia’s engine had started going, and she was leaving me behind. She thought faster than me at every turn, and she knew that she needed to stop me from Thunder Waving at any cost. All while this was happening, Sunflora was healing from Ingrain and Grassy Terrain.

It was time to forget fancy strategies and just resort to brute force as Cece had taught me and Gardenia was doing.

“Hit it with a quick Fairy Wind, and then get close!” I ordered.

“Razor Leaf, then Bullet Seed again! Keep attacking!”

I watched anxiously as Togetic quickly sent a weak Fairy Wind forward, not even powerful enough to disrupt Razor Leaf’s path. That was fine, the first attack was just a distraction, but I needed her to get in Extrasensory’s range.

Togetic narrowly avoided the Razor Leaf but was hit by another Bullet Seed, but she kept flying forward with determination.

“Extrasensory!” I said a split second before Sunflora was in range.

“Tighten your roots!” Gardenia said, not missing a beat.

Strange psychic energy surrounded the grass type, but it was deeply anchored in the ground. The good thing was that it couldn’t attack while it was focusing on not being lifted by Extrasensory, so that left me a few seconds to think.

Fairy Wind was off the table unless I hit the Sunflora with a status effect. It took too long to charge up if I wanted it to be powerful enough to deal real damage and all it did was leave Sunflora enough time to charge up another Solar Beam. One more of those would take Togetic out.

Ancient Power and Extrasensory were the strongest possible moves I could use in such a quick setting, but I also had—

I had it, I thought, clenching my fist.

“Lift it up with Ancient Power,” I ordered.

“Bullet Seed again!” Gardenia ordered.

Togetic quickly lifted the ground Sunflora stood on once again, screwing with its aim.

“Angle it away and bring it toward you,” I continued.

The chunk of earth quickly spun and moved toward Togetic. The thing I had learned about Ingrain through watching battle videos was that unless Sunflora was forcefully removed by an attack strong enough, it wasn’t able to remove the roots. That meant it was stuck there, facing away from Togetic, meaning that it wouldn’t be able to use Bullet Seed.

“Razor leaf backwards,” Gardenia said with a thin smile. I knew that was a possibility, but Togetic couldn’t dodge while she was concentrating this hard. This amount of fine-tuned control was new for her, and she was pushing herself harder than ever before.

The chunk of earth wobbled slightly as Razor Leaf hit Togetic repeatedly. Now, I could have ordered Togetic to slam it against the ground, but that was short-term thinking.

The long term called for this.

“Sweet Kiss!” I ordered.

Gardenia’s winced as a pink heart flew out of Togetic’s mouth and hit Sunflora. This had required Togetic’s utmost concentration, and she had succeeded in using two moves together for the first time. Praises would come later. Right now, I had a Sunflora to beat.

“Take it down gently… gently…” I started. Togetic slowly placed the earth back onto the ground, covering some of the Grassy Terrain. Any sudden movements might snap Sunflora out of its confusion. “Now, Thunder Wave,” I sighed in relief.

A cage of electricity surrounded the confused Sunflora, and it began to convulse and shake wildly.

“You’ve got all the time in the world,” I told Togetic. “Give me the strongest Fairy Wind you’ve got.”

I took deep breaths, finally relaxing for the first time while Togetic gathered enough wind to defeat the Sunflora in one hit. Sweet Kiss and Paralysis combined were too much for a Pokemon of our level to simply push through. There was only Lombre left after that, and I had three Pokemon to deal with it.

Still, I couldn’t get overconfident. It took two minutes for Togetic to finish charging up Fairy Wind, and by the time she threw it at Sunflora, I could barely see anything on the battlefield. It was all pink. Kadabra’s barrier bent when the wind hit, but it held. When everything dissipated, Sunflora was down for the count.

“Sunflora is unable to battle! Leader Gardenia, send out your last Pokemon,” The referee said.

One more.

Gardenia sent out her Lombre and didn’t waste any time.

“Thunder Wave—”

“Fake out!” Gardenia yelled out.

Lombre disappeared impossibly fast, and the next time I blinked, it was right above Togetic. The grass type clapped its two hands against her face, causing her to fall to the ground along with him.

“Get up ASAP and Fury Swipes,” Gardenia said with a strange calmness. She was losing, but her behavior wasn’t reflecting that at all.

Lombre’s red claws glowed brightly as he repeatedly scratched Togetic over and over, tearing through her skin and making her bleed.

“Extrasensory! Get it away from you!” I yelled.

The air around Lombre started to shift, but he quickly released a point-blank Bubblebeam, stopping princess’ attack and knocking her unconscious.

“Togetic is unable to battle! Challenger, send out your third Pokemon,” The referee said.

“Rain Dance!” She yelled as I recalled Princess. Clouds gathered, thunder clapped above the gym, and rain began to fall, meaning that Lombre would slowly recover from the damage Tangela had dealt.

“You did better than I could have ever imagined,” I told her. Standing toe to toe with that Sunflora was incredible. I grabbed Frillish’s Pokeball and released him. I’d be able to deal damage with Hex and Poison Sting, and I still had Mist and Acid Armor up my sleeve.

“Lombre’s the only one left,” I said. “Poison Sting.”

Poisoned darts flew off of his tentacles toward Lombre and hit his side, causing him to croak out in pain.

“Leech Seed barrage,” Gardenia ordered smoothly. Lombre opened its mouth, and a dozen Leech Seed flew like bombs toward Frillish.

“Fly up!”

With one smooth motion of his tentacles combined with a now fully-powered Water Sport, Frillish floated upward out of Leech Seed’s range. Or at least that was what I thought.

“Again,” Gardenia said.

If Lombre could keep using this forever, I’d never be able to attack. It was time to pull out Mist.

“Use Mist, Frillish!”

Frillish spun around, spitting out a cold mist that coalesced around him. It wouldn’t stop the grass type from using Leech Seed repeatedly, but at least his accuracy would go down. Suddenly, I squinted toward the Lombre. A small patch of its skin around one of the darts had turned pale purple.

It was poisoned.

“Use the trick!” I quickly ordered. A billow of smoke surged from the Mist, making Lombre throw more Leech Seeds toward what he thought was Frillish. Unfortunately for him, it was just a Night Shade.

“Now get in range and Hex!”

Frillish used the distraction to fly out of the mist with Water Sport. I couldn’t help but smile as I thought that victory was finally within my grasp. One boosted Hex would surely be enough to take down Lombre—

“Mega Drain,” The gym leader said.

Mega Drain? I panicked. Not Razor Leaf?! Shit!

That hadn’t been in the moves I had seen in her battling videos, and Lombre’s range was apparently better than Frillish’s. The grass around it began dying, and Frillish crashed to the ground. Acid Armor wouldn’t protect the water type against special moves.

“Razor Leaf,” Gardenia said.

“Acid Armor!” I tried, but it was too late. He wouldn’t be able to switch his state fast enough this close to Lombre. The leaves tore through Frillish, and I recalled him. “You were awesome, bud,” I said softly, ignoring the nervousness that was surging inside of me.

“Frillish is unable to battle! Challenger, send out your last Pokemon,” The referee said.

It was one on one now. I grabbed Tangela’s Pokeball and released him. The two advantages I had was that grass type moves would be neutral against Lombre and that poison was slowly coursing through his body.

“You’re the last one, angel,” I said. “I believe in you.”

His vines writhed around in response.

“Grassy Terrain, then Synthesis,” Gardenia said.

She wanted to mitigate the damage the poison was causing with Synthesis, Grassy Terrain, and Rain Dish. She wanted to last as long as possible to ensure she could still win. I didn’t know how much time Gardenia had left in the battle, but it couldn’t have been more than five minutes at this point. If the twenty minutes, ran out, I’d win.

I didn’t want to win like that. I wanted to win due to my own skill.

“Get close and Bind him! He can’t deal that much damage to you!” I ordered.

Tangela waded through the newly regrown Grassy Terrain, slower than he had been in the sun.

“Bubblebeam! Blast the whole perimeter!” Gardenia said. The water type reared his head back and then swept through the entire horizontal length of the battlefield.

It didn’t bother Tangela. The grass type just ignored the attack and burst through the tall grass before sending out vines to wrap around Lombre. He tried to fight them with Fury Swipes, but there were too many for him to fight. More vines than I could count bound Lombre tightly, and then I ordered the coup the grace.

“Mega Drain until it’s out,” I exhaled.

I watched with sweat dripping down my chin as Lombre slowly but surely had its energy drained from both Mega Drain, Bind, and the Poison. It took forty seconds, but it was over. Lombre fell to the ground, and Gardenia recalled him with a wide smile.

I became aware of the crowd around me just as it came alive with a roar. People were cheering and applauding so loudly that I couldn’t even hear myself think. I took a few deep breaths as the monumentality of the situation sunk in. Not only had I beaten Gardenia, I had beaten one of the strongest teams she could possibly have against a trainer with a single badge. I felt my heart pound against my chest and the blood pulse through my ears.

I had won.

I raised a fist.