Last time Taylor and Kopi had just entered the beautiful Eterna City, and now our young trainer is about to engage in a battle with the second gym leader of Sinnoh: Gardenia. Let's see if this seed can stand up to an oak!

Taylor Pov

If I've learned anything from my current battles, it's that I still have to get so much stronger if I'm going to try and keep up with Mr.Kopi. But that also meant that I couldn't mess up like with Roark. Lucky for me, my Speleology curiosity had an answer. Golett may have healed up, but he was at a disadvantage. Plucky was the exact opposite, but he doesn't have enough flying-type moves to win. Ziggy was raring to go as always, but I wanted to get some momentum before using him. Which meant-.

"Nadia, show your stuff," I said in a hearty throw!

Upon touchdown, Nadia owned the entire gym, roaring defiance to the crowd of Grass-type Pokemon! But that roar quickly fell silent when Gardenia's Cherbui came out, sparking the uproar that Nadia desired. Jealousy and anger quickly took over Nadia as she was seconds away from a tantrum, which is exactly what I wanted. Nadia started the battle with a vicious bite! All I could hear was a sickening crunch as soon enough; I saw Crebui flinch completely! Taking that small window, I seized the opportunity, striking back with consecutive double kicks!

Like a wild Vigoroth, Nadia jumped around the grassy plain wildly, striking from every direction while using a Tail whip to move around! The onslaught was so merciless I almost thought that I would get an early win, but I knew that was too good to be true. As quickly as Nadia started, the prideful princess suddenly stopped in her tracks. I didn't get what was going on until I saw the brush of vines wrapped around her body. Upon that discovery, a green aura erupted from Nadia and transferred to Cherbui! As Nadia screamed in pain, I realized all too late that Leech Seed had taken effect! Panic seeped into my body, but my heart screamed itself into action as I moved to my next play.

"Nadia, return, Plucky show your stuff with Aerial Ace!"

Like something out of a comic book Plucky seeped into action, zooming onto the grassy battlefield and hitting Cherbui while she made a strange motion! Once again, momentum went to my side of the battlefield as Cerubi hit herself against a tree! Seizing the opportunity, I decided to try and finish her off with a dramatic Wing Attack! In an eccentric manner, Ducklett swooped in, ready to embed Cherbui in said tree! But Gardenia was never easy as soon enough Cherubi vanished in thin air! Confused, Plucky stopped his attack, landing with grace as his eyes blurred across the now dense setting of trees.

Since I didn't even know what was coming next, I signaled Plucky to trust his gut. We've only known each other for a short time, but I've seen first hand he had a plan for misdirection. That proved to be true as Ducklett soon fired off a repeated stream of bursting bubble beams! Tension once again shook my body as I scanned the field to find where Cherbui went! But soon, it was so bright all of a sudden that it was distracting. Still, the adrenaline started the fuel in my body like a car engine, giving me the sight I needed to notice a small glint of light from the shadows!

I tried getting Plucky to move aside, but by the time he noticed, it was too late, meaning he had to brace the full force of a golden laser! A massive explosion burned a good portion of the terrain to ashes as Plucky soon flew out of the smoke to take a brutal fall!

"Plucky! Plucky," I said while screaming out frantically!

For once, Pucky didn't have a word instead of getting up through a pained grown while barely standing. Realizing the wealth of damage, I decided to call him back, hoping he could make it through another battle.

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"You're not the first Trainer to pull off that strategy of yours, and you most certainly won't be the last," Gardenia said warmly.

"What are you talking about?"

"What I mean is I've trained my fabulous Grass types to grow under any condition, including yours. Most trainers who come here are often confident over beating Roark, which means that they want to come up here hoping to win quickly with a wild offense, which often leads to making mistakes and getting easily shaken up. Your momentum is some of the best I've seen, Taylor but if you hoped switching in and out of the seemingly only Pokemon that has a type advantage would grant you an easy win, then you're mistaken. My adorable Cherbui's ability Chlorophyll makes it all the faster in harsh sunlight like this, making its awesome Solar Beam stronger. And with its cool Sunny Day move, I can unleash this at any time! So tell me, Taylor, how are you going to get out of this one," she said playfully.

Time started to move down like a crawl, as I realized she was a right as you can Beedrill. Between its abilities and moves, Cherbui can stick around with Leech Seed and ambush with a fast Solar Beam whenever it wants. Worst yet, Ducklett was my only special attacker! I have to change things up before it's too late!

"Ziggy, show your stuff with a head butt!"

As per usual, Ziggy came in ready to strike, closing in with rapid but sweeping jumps! Cherubi looked unimpressed, avoiding Ziggy's headbutt with ease! She tried countering with an aimed leech seed. Too bad for her I was used to high-speed mayhem! With a fast command, Ziggy used a fast sand attack that not only blocked her Leech Seed but quickly hurt her eyes. With that out of the way, I tried moving in with a Covet, but Cherbui still had one trick up her sleeve.

For some unknown reason, Ziggy zagged off course just enough to trip and tumble away. By the time Ziggy got his bearing back, Cherubi once again disappeared in the forest. It was then my eyes focused on seeing a small knot of grass where he tripped. However, at that point, a different idea struck my mind, one that will be the ultimate gamble: I told Ziggy to stay still.

For what felt like forever in Ziggy's mind, his body remained still to store his seemingly infinite energy. I swear I could hear his bones rattling over how fast they shook as his eyes darted like a machine gun. But this is exactly what I wanted because as soon as I saw the golden glint of light, I ordered Ziggy to move finally! Another huge explosion took place where Ziggy once stood, clouding the place in a thick layer of dust. I almost feared the worst until a blur got rocketed into another tree! When my eyes refocused, I realized that the blur was now a fainted Cherbui! An uncontrolled smile escaped my face as I couldn't contain my excitement any longer as I fist-pumped the air.

"All right!"

Mr. Kopi also cheered wildly at my victory, bringing me back to focus. With Ziggy sharing my excitement, I decided to keep in aim and change up my flow. Gardenia could only give a subtle smile as she said this.

"Excellent work Taylor. I can see how hard you trained. It looks like I'll have to show you the full power of my Grass Types!"

With another elegant throw, Gardenia brought out a fiery Cancea! Ziggy remained unimpressed as somehow even more jittery than before! His almost blurry body were equally matched by Cacena's rather cute and feisty attitude. When silence finally became all too much, Cacena struck first. The next thing I know, the entire battlefield got lit up like fireworks from a series of Pin Missiles! However, all these projectiles meant nothing to Ziggy as he blurred across the battlefield. I tried getting him to stop, but I was far too slow for him now as he closed in.

Still, his now predictable course was something Cacena took full advantage of, hitting Ziggy with a Needle Arm as if he expected it! My Pokemon yelped in pain as we sent flying into the air like a rocket completely in the air! Cacena then followed up the onslaught with another bombardment of Pin Missless. Needles struck worse than bullets as Ziggywas then landed on the soft grass in pain. But this Cacnea acted like he was owned by a criminal as he tried to close in with another brutal needle arm! However, Ziggy managed to answer my call, once again faded into obscurity! The next thing I know, Cacena was bombarded with three brutally fast attacks before he could even react!

At that moment, I realized that Ziggy's manic energy had entered a whole new tier. I don't know how it happened, but he's getting faster, so fast that I don't think I can keep up! Dazed and confused beyond belief, Cacnea stumbled blindly, and yet Gardenia's eyes sparkled with even more excitement; she wasn't in fear in the least bit.

"Cacnea Sandstorm!"

Before Ziggy could land another subsonic strike, Cacena's entire body vanished in a massive sandstorm that circled the gym. Through the storm I saw Ziggy in absolute confusion. I almost didn't know what had happened myself until he got hit with another runaway pin missile! That, combined with the damage from the storm, added to the damage as Ziggy laid down writhing. Still, he persisted, continuing his evolving speed but always ending up empty-handed. All I could do was guess that Cacena's ability made hiding in the sandy prison even easier than normal. The siege increased in ferocity systematically until the sandstorm suddenly ended when Cacena struck at Ziggy with a Drain Punch!

The blow honestly drained me more than Ziggy as he collided through a tree! Held back panic claimed my body as I lifted my Pokeball to return him, not wanting him to get hurt after so much. However, once I lifted my arm, I felt something, a spark that ran all across my body. Ziggy weakly stood up more determined than ever, his body shaking like an earthquake as a white light started to bathe across his body, followed by intense wind.

Ziggy's limits have finally broken?! Will this new phenomenon lead Taylor to victory or defeat? Find out next time as the journey continues.