With Charjabug down, Kenny sent out a Gumshoos next. The pokemon looked like a weasel that got confused and tried to become a businessman. It stood on two stubby legs, its long body hunched awkwardly as if leaning over a desk. It had tan fur that covered its body, culminating in a floppy tuff on its head that almost looked like a hairpiece.
Kenny’s new pokemon only got a few encouraging claps from the audience on his side of the small section of the arena. Most of the people in the gym today were here to cheer on friends and family, just like Cashe and Emilia were, and showed little interest in the battle. Cashe, Emilia, and Dalia made up for it by cheering loudly as Lindon made his attack, drawing several curious glances until the few people who were in the crowd returned their attention to the battles they came to watch.
On stage, Gumshoos was doing slightly better than Charjabug had done, but not by a lot. Gumshoos was still much slower than Magneton, and was on the back foot from the start. Lindon shouted order after order at his pokemon, and Magneton buzzed and hummed in response, sending bolts of electricity and flashes of steely energy beams at their opponent.
Gumshoos managed to dodge most of the attacks, only taking a few glancing blows and cutting the distance to Magneton significantly, getting in close. Lindon responded with a slow retreat, keeping his opponent’s pokemon at a distance as Magneton floated across the battlefield, peppering Gumshoos with lighter, faster attacks in order to create distance. A particularly quick Thunder Shock caught Gumshoos in the center of its chest and the weasel-like pokemon seized up as paralysis took hold.
Gumshoos struggled to move with the debilitating status condition inflicted on it, and Lindon took full advantage of the situation, striking with a powerful Flash Cannon. Energy gathered around Magneton and shot off, catching Gumshoos in the gut and tossing it across the stage.
“Lindon’s going to do it!” Dalia shouted. She was on her feet and leaning over the guard rail that separated the stands from the stage area below. She twisted her head over her shoulder to look at Cashe and Emilia for a second, her eyes gleaming with excitement, “Lindon’s going to beat Gumshoos!”
Cashe grinned at Dalia’s exuberance and shared an amused look with Emilia.
“Lindon is strong,” Emilia said, “But battles aren’t over until they are over.”
Dalia twisted back around to face the stage again. Gumshoos was pulling itself to its feet, rolling out of the way as Lindon sent another Flash Cannon at the pokemon. Kenny shouted out an order and Gumshoos managed to respond, falling onto all fours and slamming the ground with its forelegs.
Light brown energy gathered at the point of impact, rising up around Gumshoos in a wave. Lindon’s face paled visibly on the stage at the ground type attack, shouting a hasty order at Magneton. Magneton reacted, a storm of energy rising up around it. The air warped around it and Magneton rose further off the ground in an attempt to dodge the ground type energy that was cascading across the battlefield like a wave.
Lindon’s order was too slow, however, the attack crossing the distance between Gumshoos and Magneton before Magneton could get any significant height. The wave of energy caught Magneton with a terrible clang, the steel pokemon ringing as it was thrown into a tumble. Cashe winced as Magneton twisted and dented, its tough body malformed after the attack.
“No!” Dalia was leaning even farther over the railing now, eyes wide. Magneton was not getting back up. It made a few warbled screeches of pain, twisting where it lay on the stage, but did not return to the air. The league official stopped the match a second later, running into the center of the arena with her hands in the air.
“Don’t worry, Lindon, you’ve got this!” Cashe called out.
“He does?” Dalia turned back, looking at Cashe and Emilia with worried eyes.
“He’s going to be fine.” Emilia assured her, reaching out to pat her on the shoulder, “Just watch.”
Lindon was already choosing his next pokemon, deciding on Slowpoke and sending him out into the battlefield. Slowpoke took form and looked around in confusion, focusing on Gumshoos after several seconds. He trudged forward, moving into the center of the stage one slow step at a time, his tail dragging behind him as if he could not be bothered to lift it.
Dalia watched Slowpoke meander across the stage with a face full of doubt, “Are you sure Lindon is going to be alright?”
“Slowpoke just takes a second or two to get moving,” Cashe said, trying not to sound like he was making excuses, “But he’s a tough pokemon.”
“But Slowpoke are really dopey.” Dalia said, worry growing as she watched Slowpoke drool on the stage, his mouth gaping open in a gormless expression, “Is it a good idea to use them in battle?”
“Lindon’s been training him,” Emilia said, though she didn’t look so sure herself, “It will be fine.”
The battle resumed with a wave of the official’s hand and the pokemon sprung into action as best they could. At Lindon’s command, Slowpoke charged forward, the purple glow of psychic energy gathering around his head. His charge was excruciatingly slow, looking more like he was swimming through water than dashing across the battlefield, but Gumshoos wasn’t much better. Paralyzed and already slow to begin with, Gumshoos staggered as it tried to counter attack, limbs shaking as it moved to the side and out of the path of Slowpoke’s ‘charge’.
One benefit of such a slow attack, however, was that Slowpoke could easily redirect it halfway through, and did so, following Gumshoos as it tried to move out of the way. When slowpoke got within a few feet of Gumshoos, he accelerated in a surprising burst of speed, dashing forward for several steps and slamming his head into the already injured pokemon. The attack hit with a solid crash, Gumshoos’s body buckling under the power of the headbutt. Kenny shouted out a word and Gumshoos responded with an attack of its own, dark energy gathering around its mouth as it snapped its jaws at Slowpoke. The Bite landed, digging into Slowpoke’s skin and washing the area with energy. Slowpoke, whether through training or slow reflexes, ignored the attack and retaliated with another slam of his head.
With no chance to dodge, Gumshoos was tossed aside, falling into a battered, unmoving heap.
“See?” Emilia said, sound in no small part relieved, “I told you.”
“Yeah,” Dalia said, nodding slowly to herself, “Lindon is strong.”
“Let’s go, Lindon!” Cashe shouted out, “Just one more! You can do it!”
Dalia and Emilia picked up the cheers and Lindon glanced back at them, flushing in embarrassment.
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He didn’t have much time to get distracted, however, as the young league official was already signaling Kenny to bring out his final pokemon. Kenny tossed his ball into the arena with a look of frustration on his face. It was clear that the battle was not going the way he expected. His pokeball opened, revealing his final pokemon to be a Trumbeak. Trumbeak was a flying type pokemon, standing around two feet in height, somewhat resembling a woodpecker, with a long, multicolored break that ended in a sharp point. Black feathers made up the majority of its plumage with a few spots of white feathers brightened its chest and the underside of its wings.
Trumbeak eyed Slowpoke with suspicion as it came out of its ball, settling on the stage and puffing out its chest in an intimidation display. Slowpoke barely even registered it, only opening his mouth slightly wider at the appearance of another pokemon.
The official moved to the side and restarted the match, Kenny ordering Trumbeak into the air with a quick word. Trumbeak took off, taking to the air with a few quick flaps of its wings, its speed quickly eclipsing that of Slowpoke.
Lindon responded with a series of water attacks, Slowpoke gathering energy around its mouth and releasing a steady torrent of water into the air. Trumbeak dodged to the side with little effort, twisting and turning through the air to avoid Slowpoke's slow moving attack.
Kenny shouted out another attack, and Trumbeak dove, spiraling through the air to attack Slowpoke. The dive gave Slowpoke a predictable target, however, and he redirected his attack to meet Trumbeak as it dove. Trumbeak dodged to the side to avoid the jet of water, but it ruined the trajectory of its attack, leaving the bird pokemon only able to land a glancing blow.
Trumbeak spun through the air, coming around for another attack and Lindon shouted out another order. Slowpoke’s water attack stopped and the air around Trumbeak warped as Slowpoke used Confusion. The attack landed, causing Trumbeak to struggle to remain in the air, twitching and thrashing at random as the attack invaded its mind.
Kenny shouted and Trumbeak landed on the ground, preventing any crash, but Lindon was ready, and Slowpoke was already moving by the time Trumbeak was steady again, though did not make the expected attack.
“Did Slowpoke just yawn?” Dalia said, concern returned to her features, “He’s not going to fall asleep in the middle of a battle, is he?”
She glanced at Emilia and Cashe for reassurance and frowned, noticing a pair of amused expressions. Realization hit her a moment later, “Oh,” she said, cheeks flushing with mild embarrassment, “Of course.”
Cashe grinned as Slowpoke’s Yawn took hold of Trumbeak, the small, bird pokemon staggering as drowsiness hit it. Kenny was shouting at it, loudly enough that Cashe could make out a string of frustration induced curses. Trumbeak was fully caught by the drowsy spell, however, responding sluggishly, if at all. A second later, Trumbeak flopped onto the ground, fast asleep.
Lindon shouted an order and Slowpoke was charging across the battlefield for a final time, the dark purple energy of Zen Heabutt glowing from his forehead as he made his attack. The impact tossed Trumbeak through the air and into the stage’s barriers, but it was too late, the attack doing enough damage that the fight was over soon after.
***
“Lindon, that was amazing! You beat Kenny!” Dalia shouted, pulling Lindon into a tight hug as soon as he left the tunnel and entered the lobby of the gym. Moni was escorting him out, and smiled down at the display with a look of fond amusement.
For his part, Lindon didn’t hesitate to return the hug, a goofy grin splitting his face, “I told you I was a good trainer,” Lindon said, “You said you believed me.”
Dalia let go of Lindon as Cashe and Emilia joined her to congratulate him and Moni made herself scarce. Dalia flushed slightly, “Kenny always runs around the trading post bragging about how he’s the strongest trainer at his age in Iki Town, though,” Dalia murmured, “I was worried he might beat you.”
Lindon put his hand on his hips and puffed out his chest, “I guess I’m better than all of Iki Town then!” He laughed and Dalia giggled.
“Congratulations, Lindon,” Cashe said, “You’ve beaten a gym in the Third Circuit, just like Emilia and me.”
“Seven more and we will all qualify for the conference.” Emilia added.
Lindon grinned and looked away, rubbing the back of his head, “It’s not that big of a deal. It’s only the first gym, and Gym Leader Hau didn’t give me a tough trainer like he gave you and Apollo.”
“It’s his fault for underestimating you,” Cashe said, grinning, “Where I come from, we have an expression for exactly this kind of situation: We take those.”
“What?” Emilia laughed, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It’s just an expression, something you say when you get an easier win than expected.” Cashe said, “Your opponent makes a big mistake that gifts you with a free win? We take those. Your opponent gets disqualified for unknowingly breaking an obscure rule? We take those. The Gym Leader seriously underestimates you and pairs you up against an unprepared trainer? We take those.”
“Oh,” Lindon said, “We take those wins.”
“Exactly. A win is a win.”
“We take those,” Lindon said again, nodding to himself. He looked up at Cashe and Emilia, “We all beat the gym here! What are we going to do to celebrate?”
“You can choose because you won,” Emilia said.
“How about we go out to eat somewhere?” Lindon said
“You’re just saying that because it's your turn to cook,” Cashe said.
“No! This way Dalia can come too!” Lindon said, turning to Dalia, “You will, right? It’s our last night in Iki Town.”
“It is?” Dalia said.
“Lindon,” Emilia interrupted, noticing the bereft expression on Dalia’s face, “Maybe you and Dalia should celebrate tonight by yourselves. We can always celebrate together once we get back to Hau’oli city.” Dalia sent Emilia a grateful look at her words.
“But we were going to do that anyway,” Lindon whined, missing the interaction completely.
“Lindon,” Cashe said, pulling Lindon aside and whispering in his ear, “Don’t you think it might be a little awkward for Dalia to sit through a dinner with me and Emilia? She doesn’t know us very well and she’s not used to hanging around someone famous like Emilia.”
Lindon frowned for a moment and nodded, “You’re right. It might be weird for her. Thanks Apollo.”
“No, problem.” Cashe smiled and stood.
Lindon stepped away announcing loudly, “Alright. New plans. Dalia, come with me! I’m going to show you the coolest place I’ve found in Iki Town. It has this big waterfall that sparkles with a bunch of colors, it's super pretty!” Without waiting for a response, he grabbed Dalia by the hand and pulled her away. She hurried after him, a faint blush rising up through her features.
Emilia stepped beside Cashe as smirked as they watched Lindon walk away, hand in hand with Dalia, “I can't decide if he's the smoothest kid in the world, or the most oblivious.”
“Maybe a bit of both,” Cashe said, moving to follow Lindon out of the gym once the young trainer had disappeared through the doors.
Emilia walked with him, “You know, just because Lindon isn’t with us, doesn’t mean we can't celebrate.”
“Oh? What did you have in mind?”
“Well, I was kind of curious to see where you took Miss Moni for your night out.”
“I think you mean where Miss Moni took me,” Cashe teased. He gave Emilia a quick once over, “And it was a pretty fancy place. You’re kind of underdressed. I wore a tux.”
“Oh no,” Emilia scoffed, “That was because it’s the only halfway formal thing you even own.”
“That’s not true at all!”
“Oh yeah? How about this, we both wear our second best outfit and we see who gets asked to leave.”
“Instead of watching you embarrass yourself, we go to Tamil’s?” Cashe said quickly, “Fancy places aren’t for me anyway.”
“Is that what would happen?” Emilia smirked, “Alright, who’s Tamil?”
“He’s great. He works out of a tiny restaurant in the welcome courtyard. He only serves slow roasted meats covered in sauce. The first time I went there he almost kicked me out for asking for a napkin. It’s a complete mess. Best meal I’ve had in years.”
“Not fancy at all,” Emilia laughed, taking Cashe by the arm, “Much more my speed.”
*****