Last time on our journey Taylor managed to begin her triumphant battle with the owner of the Oreburgh City Gym! With most of their roster down and out it's time for this climatic first outing is about to begin!

Taylor Pov

Even with the score now up and the discovery of victory so close I can taste it, I still felt sucky about it. Because just like before in Sandgem, I had messed up and got freaking lucky. So lucky that I don't even know if I could even-.

"Bring it on home Taylor, do your best!"

And as I heard Mr.Kopi's praises from far away, I realized what had gone wrong. This is still my journey, and yet I made it all about Trixie like I always did. So I think now was the perfect time to stop that. Because this is my journey and right now, I'm fighting for me! Through my still hurting ears, I gave out my warriors cry as I threw Golett with all my might! In light of such a throw, Golett pumped his fist in the air rapidly in a triumphant pose! With the pose, I quickly realized the Stealth Rock had finally vanished completely. Noticing this development, Roark's eyes lit up with fiery intrigue.

"I knew you were special, but this is unreal! I've always wanted to see a Golett up close!"

"Well, you're going to be seeing a lot of it real soon Roark, let's finish this!"

Roark giving a coy smile answered back, "Fine then, let's!"

In that instant, Roark unleashed his most powerful Pokemon: a hulking Rampardos! I didn't even have to be near it to know that it was not only tough but experienced. Either way, I didn't give him any chance to gain composure, quickly starting our battle with a small volley of rocks sent by a barrage of pounds. Roark countered it perfectly with a surprising flamethrower that pushed it back. But the cover of fire was a perfect set up for a crippling astonish that leaves him reeling! Another small volley of Pounds peppered Rampardos's body until a focused leer gave him the opening for a crushing zen headbutt! Just in time, though, Golett used a reactive Defense Curl that cancels the effects as it got sent flying!

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

Not even wasting a second, we both fired off our long-range attacks: one a shadow punch and another flamethrower that collided with them both! The blow manages to send Golett through several big rocks, and while they didn't hurt them that much, the next attack very much did. With its superior speed, Ramprados made a crushing Pursuit attack that violently rang my ears! Even with the super effective move, Golett instantly countered back with another shadow punch! This deadly dance continued for several minutes, with all of us being pushed to our limits. With the specific ringing in my ears, I was getting a headache, and Golett was starting to falter. That all culminated in one final Pursuit attack that caused a sickening cracking sound across the battlefield!

At that moment, Golett's liveliness ceased, instead of ceasing all forms of movements. My aching head got even worse as I saw Golett's eyes slowly fade to black. Almost in vain, I called out his name over and over, pleading to fight, pleading to keep fighting!

"C'mon Golett get back up! Please don't let it end it here!"

And it was through those choice words, Golett backs up with a power I thought I'd never seen again. It's once lively spirit returned ten fold, bathing the entire stadium in a warm aura! In this sparkling development, Golett made his message all the more clear in one definitive roar!

"GOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEETTT!!!!!!!!"

All at once, the tide of battle shifted greatly as he used Roark's shock to deliver a pound attack that sent Ramprados flying to the roof of the building! It was in that hit Roark managed to gain his composure, deciding to use his speed weight in one last powerful Zen headbutt downward. By his challenge, Golett answered with a powerful Shadow Punch twice his size! The two attacks collided in an equally matched stalemate that completely diffuses both of their momentum. Golett, not taking any chances, jumped straight towards a suprised Rapramdros with a pound attack that launched him into the ground below! The attack must've been critical because as soon as he connected with the ground, the battle was all over.

As suddenly as it began, Golett's aura once again vanished, leaving him in a crumpled heap. The development was so mystifying that I had to have Mr.Kopi spell it out for me.

"Woooo! You won Taylor!"

Those words echoed again and again in my mind almost constantly until my body responded before my mind did!

"I won. I won my first gym battle. I won the Coal Badge, Omg I got my first gym badge!"

At that moment, I launched into a mindless victory dance, finally not caring who was watching. Instead, only thinking about myself for once. Even more surprisingly, Roark was even more surprising as he managed to ask me a flurry of questions about my Golett. I almost had to remind him to give me the badge as he realized that he needed to depart to some other duties, which means we might be sticking around Oreburgh just a little bit longer. However, those were worries that I'll just have to push till tomorrow because today was cause for celebration.

Unfortunately, I made that promise far too early as before Mr.Kopi and I could even head out the gym, Trixie gave me one last seething tirade.

"If you think that fluke of a match makes you a trainer, then Roark's helmet must be fused with his head."

"I won that match fair and square Trixie, this medal proves it!"

"If you really believe that then prove it, 3 days from now let's meet right back here and I'll show you just how far apart we really are," she said as she decided to walk off in the seemingly new world ahead of me.

Taylor might have won her first badge, but another pressing challenge awaits. With more mysteries and battles about to commence this journey is continuing ever forward at breakneck speed!