Chapter 26- Overkill?

Entering the gym was just as nerve-wracking as it always was. There is something about sitting in a room with different people all hoping for the same outcome that was disconcerting. Some stood out by the sheer confidence they exuded. Even if outwardly, I appeared to be one of the calmer ones, only I knew how nervous I was for this gym.

Unlike the previous gyms, I did not have a specific strategy for this one which made me uncertain. Cheren was easy because I knew in advance what he would do. Roxie gave us a full week to prepare and we were two. But Burgh? All I knew about him was that I didn’t remember him much.

It wasn’t helped by the fact that the bug type was never known to be one of the more powerful types. In particular, the very common Pidove seemed to make this gym one of the easiest ones for new trainers. A fact that was irrelevant to me given my lack of a flying type. Now that thought of it, it was also the first gym where I didn’t have a clear type advantage. Sure, I had a couple of moves here and there with my Pokemon, but would that really be enough? Heck, if anything I was at a disadvantage with Nike.

Just remember type advantage is not everything. You have the coverage you are fine. You prepared the best you could.

I steadied my mind and let out an internal sigh. There was no need to go over things now. Any minute now someone will come and call my name for-

“Next, challenger, Nexon please follow me.”

The abrupt voice did cause my pressure to spike but I immediately calmed down and followed the Gym trainer. It was time to get the show on the road.

The entrance to the gym was a normal one as opposed to the hidden trapdoor that I had to stand on in Virbank which was nice to observe. Even nicer were the people in the arena. It was almost empty even counting Sera and Mathew. I got used to seeing a bunch of people in my previous gym battle so seeing mostly empty stands was refreshing.

Although thinking back it was my first two battles that were abnormal. Cheren had a match with his personal team the day before while Roxie was basically giving a concert between matches. That also meant that there were no over-the-top announcements when I entered which, again, was refreshing.

Burgh was already waiting for me in the arena while sporting a gentle smile that widened when he saw me step out of the shadows.

“Welcome! Welcome to the scene of our grandiose battle! I hope you show me all that you are capable of!” He declared while spreading his arms wide.

I was taken aback by his action. I knew he was supposed to be overly enthusiastic, but I didn’t think it would translate during a match for a third gym badge. Still, I quickly composed myself and answered politely.

“Likewise. Let us have a good match.” I shouted back. With the lack of audience, there was no need for microphones since there was no noise to drown our voices.

“A man of few words! I can respect that! Now then, shall we begin?” He answered with a flourish toward the referee.

Man of few words?

To her credit, the woman barely blinked and started the customary introduction. “This match will be between the Gym Leader Burgh of Castelia City and the Challenger Nexon for a third gym badge. Each trainer will use three Pokemon in a one-on-one format with the Challenger having two switches and the Gym Leader having none. The battle will end when all the Pokemon from one side are rendered unable to battle! Are you ready?”

We both nodded, which prompted the referee to continue. “Let the battle begin!”

As is custom, we both threw our capsules simultaneously. Skoll appeared on my side already rearing to go. Opposite him a small crustacean appeared, and I clenched my fist. Opening with Skoll was the safe play and seeing the Dwebble in front of us, it might have been the right move. Now was not the time to ponder advantages but rather seize the momentum.

“Use Bullet Punch!”

As soon as the command left my mouth Skoll was already moving toward the Pokemon that was posturing and skittering side to side in what was probably an intimidating display. He arrived before the bug type, fist coated in a steel luster.

“Withdraw!” was the only word Burgh spoke.

His Pokemon didn’t need to be told twice and just before Skoll’s fist made contact, it retreated into the rock that it uses as a shell. The rock now without any legs to brace was sent bouncing back before the Pokemon emerged back and continued its display. I was honestly speechless. I was not expecting it to shrug off the move like that.

Burgh then snapped his finger in an exaggerated motion. “Fury Cutter!”

“Fight it off with Metal Claw!”

What followed was a mix of trying to dodge and attack. While Skoll was faster, the Dwebble made use of its smaller size to duck under the blows while trying to attack as well. Skoll moving faster was then able to deflect or avoid the attack before retaliating. At first, Skoll was at a clear advantage with each blow pushing the Dwebble away slightly and delaying its attack, allowing Skoll to score a few glancing blows. That, however, soon changed as the green energy surrounding the claws of the opponent started to increase in intensity. And soon it was Skoll getting pushed back.

And that was an opening we could exploit.

“Detect into Bullet Punch!” I called out.

In the next exchange, where Dwebble expected to meet resistance or hit his opponent, it only slashed through thin air. At the last moment, Skoll had pivoted on his back foot, leaving the bug type sailing in the right in front of his chest. Not for long though. His glowing eyes were fixed on the airborne Pokemon, already seeing every move it could attempt. Then his fist blurred and smashed into the Dwebble.

It’s not for nothing that Bullet Punch is considered a priority move, and with the Pokemon being wide open there was no way it would be able to react. Getting the opponent used to a specific rhythm before switching it up… even if it was unintentional, it was quite the devious strategy.

However, even if it was a supper effective hit, it was nowhere near enough to end the battle, and prepared to give my next command… only to be thoroughly disappointed.

“Dwebble is unable to battle. Gym Leader Burgh, you have thirty seconds to send your next Pokemon.”

What?

Looking over to where Dwebble landed, I only saw it crumple to the ground and unmoving before disappearing in a flash of red light. That was… unexpected. However, looking over at Burgh, he didn’t look surprised. His smile didn’t so much as waver as he looked at Skoll.

“Quite the heavy hitter there. Still do not think it will be enough to earn the badge. I have my pride as a gym leader after all!”

No, no, I mean sure, Skoll is a pretty hard hitter but that shouldn’t be enough to knock him out in almost one shot. Or maybe it was?

Ignoring my internal questions, Burgh sent out his next Pokemon and it did surprise me a bit. Skoll for his part seemed more than excited about what was to come since it was his opportunity to have a rematch. The Pokemon he sent was none other than a Whirlipede. It did feel a bit weird to fight another Whirlipede after Roxie but there were absolutely no rules against it.

“Whirlipede, go all out and use Rollout!” Burgh shouted.

Did he just? Never mind…

I shoved any unnecessary thought at the back of my mind as I refocused on the fight in front of me. The Whirlipede was already spinning at great speed right for Skoll.

“Use Protect!”

Long before the Pokemon made contact with Skoll had already erected a barrier made of energy around him. Instead of hitting the Protect head one and stopping like I expected him to, the Whirlipede changed direction at the last second without Burgh even saying a word. As a result, instead of stopping in range for Skoll to counterattack, it simply bounced off before continuing to turn around and smack against the barrier.

I could already picture what would happen. Eventually, Skoll would tire out and the move which already had plenty of momentum behind it would simply wreck him, type advantage or not. which was something I was not too keen on. Burgh seemed content to just wait for that to happen, so, I simply waited for the next impact and turn-around before giving my command.

“Now! Quick Attack, up in the air!”

Just as the Whirlipede aligned itself to continue Its charge, Skoll dropped the Protect and was wrapped into a white aura before flashing upward and leaving a trail reminiscent of a meteor. Sure enough, with the expected impact not occurring, the Whirlipede rocketed past the position of Skoll and tried to reposition itself to face its opponent. Meanwhile, the momentum of the move meant that Skoll was still airborne. Which in retrospect was not the best situation.

“Use Venoshock!” Burgh declared in the grandest of calm.

Unfortunately, with Skoll being in the air there was very little opportunity to do anything.

“Protect once more!” I shouted hurriedly.

That, however, was not meant to be. The hurriedly constructed barrier looked to be barely hanging on already. It was then with no surprise that it was smashed to bits when globes of poisonous liquid started impacting it relentlessly. Skoll, to his credit, did try to reform the barrier but it broke immediately after.

He landed heavily on the ground and created a cloud of dust. Knowing the battle maniac that he was, I also knew that would not go down that easily, especially when he already lost to the same move before. The dust settled to reveal a panting Skoll holding his side. Yet the light in his eyes did not dim one bit.

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“Well done, Skoll! Now go all out with Bullet Punch!”

He did not need to hear this twice as he dashed forward. I knew very well that he was at the end of what he could do, I also knew that he would not be willing to withdraw since that was still a work in progress. Also, he took a nasty hit basically for free so isn’t it normal that he at least got a bit of revenge to go out with a bang?

The smile on his face told me everything I needed to know. And unfortunately for the Whirlipede, he held a grudge.

“Protect! Now!” Burgh ordered with more urgency in his voice. Skoll was far from slow after all.

Immediately the same dome of energy that surrounded Skoll earlier now surrounded his opponent. What’s more, it was obviously better made than his. Too bad that they showed us one way to deal with Protect.

“Keep going! They will have to let it down eventually,”

And that he did. Fists after fists slammed against the barrier, to the point I considered calling him back to avoid a situation where he would hurt himself. However, there was no way he would let it go that easily. Yet when I saw Burgh, I didn’t see the worry I was expecting, but rather a confidence that he knew how to deal with this.

“Time it and Skitter Smack.”

What do you mean by time it? Is he waiting for Skoll to tire himself out?

The realization that my thoughts were still naïve as I watched Skoll punching, only for the barrier to dissipate right before the next impact. That inevitably led to Skoll being unbalanced, and before he could steady his posture, the Whirlipede lunged forward, its entire body covered in Bug-type energy as it rammed into Skoll.

The impact drove the air out of his lungs, and he took a couple of steps back while clutching his stomach. Then he showed that he was truly a vindictive Pokemon. Without any command, his fist was coated in steel before driving it straight for the front-facing plate of the Whirlipede. The poison and bug type did not seem to expect that as it was sent stumbling back where it landed on its side. It was still clearly conscious as it wiggled its legs frantically to right itself.

Seemingly satisfied that his hit at least inconvenienced the Whirlipede enough, he finally allowed himself to faint with a satisfied smile on his lips. Also, something told me that from now on he might actually attack any Whirlipede in sight.

“Challenger Nexon Pokemon is unable to battle. You have-“

Without waiting for the referee to finish her sentence, I hurriedly returned Skoll to his Pokeball and a Premiere Ball flew out. Watching the still struggling Whirlipede, there was no way I would let Skoll’s parting gift go unexploited. And Burgh seemed to have expected this.

“Nike, Psybeam. Rapid fire.” I called out.

“Use Protect once more!” Burgh declared.

As soon as she appeared on the field and heard my command, Nike lost no time in firing short but consecutive Psybeam at the downed opponent. The barrier sprung up in a hurry but using the move so soon after its previous usage made it more fragile. In a repeat of what happened to Skoll, the barrier shattered almost instantly, and beams of pure psychic energy slammed into the Whirlipede that barely managed to stand up.

It went back to the ground once more, only this time it was fully unconscious.

“Whirlipede is unable to battle. Leader Burgh, you have thirty seconds to send out your next Pokemon.” The referee sounded.

The gym leader in question wore a self-deprecating smile as he recalled his Pokemon.

“Sublime utilization of an opening and ruthless delivery! You are quite the Challenger! But alas,” he paused with a grand gesture to open his arm before resuming, “All battles must come to an end and ours is soon approaching. Come and show them your love Leavanny!”

Continuing his theatrics, he threw out his last capsule, releasing a Pokemon that was almost emblematic of this gym. The mantis like Pokemon stood at more than one meter, antennas twitching, and scythe-like arms extended.

“Leaaa!” she practically declared her presence as she bowed in an exaggerated manner.

At that point, I wasn’t sure if I was in a gym battle or a contest. Still, there was no time to question further.

“Love, shower them with String.” He commanded.

As soon as he did, the head of the Pokemon snapped up, her mouth already opened.

“Nike! To the side” I shouted.

And just in time since not a second later a string of silklike material shot at an impressive speed and impacted the ground.

“Disarming Voice! Full.”

Hearing the last word, Nike did not bother trying to control the move in the slightest and simply let a scream boosted by Fairy energy. The Leavanny still attached to the string did not have the time to let go before the sound waves smashed into her, yet she kept on spewing strings.

Wait a minute! Why is she still attached? Normally the move just shoots a couple of strands, not a full-on rope.

“Nike! Stop! Get-” I was interrupted before I could tell her to get away.

“Wrap them,” Burgh spoke calmly while hugging himself.

The Leavanny kept the string attached and started running but not toward Nike. She went in a circle with the point of impact acting as a center, and Nike clearly on the path. With the speed of the Leavanny, they would soon have wrapped in a makeshift cocoon.

Oh no, you don’t!

“Up!” I shouted.

Before Leavanny could finish a single rotation, Nike was no longer where she stood previously, but was rather several meters off the ground and slowly descending. Now some people might question this choice since when Skoll did that he ended up shot out of the sky.

“Struggle Bug! Snipe!”

But there was one big difference between the two. Nike had moved from a distance.

“Disarming Voice!”

This time, she took her time to fully inhale while darts of bug-type energy manifested around Leavanny. Just as they shot toward her, she let loose. It was by far one of her most powerful screams yet to the point that I needed to cover my ears. The darts had no chance of even getting close to her as they were destroyed mid-flight. The impact lifted dust and once it settled, I found myself surprised.

Nike had to eventually land since she was not capable of floating immobile for long. Yet, right now her feet were wrapped in the sticky substance secreted by the bug type. As soon as Nike landed, she shot it toward her and was already running around. Soon she was completely immobilized. Evidently, the ‘Snipe’ was not referring to the darts.

“Untangle! Confusion!

Using her psychic move, she grabbed a hold of the Leavanny then kept trying to run circles and dragged her in the opposite direction. Yet the layers already connected stuck together and refused to budge.

“Smash her and Teleport!”

I honestly didn’t know if it would work but I wanted to keep my other idea as a last resort. The poor Leavanny who was in a weak psychic hold found herself getting more acquainted while allowing Nike to disappear once more.

“So that’s how she ended up so high.” Burgh mused aloud, “However it’s not that easy.”

As he said, Nike was still tangled in a lot more strands that stuck to the ground as soon as she landed. It was more manageable but still a pain. And she was getting agitated because it got on her hair. Well, at least now there was a better solution.

I hurriedly returned Nike to her capsule while the Leavanny was still getting up. The issue with this situation was that she was too fast for Nike to properly react. Then the solution was simply to slow her down.

“Tiamat, you are up!” I threw the Safari ball and my Trapinch materialized in a brilliant flash of white.

Her appearance did earn a raised brow for the gym leader, and I at least knew that he was somewhat thrown off his game. That was a nice outcome but not the primary one. I couldn’t stop myself from smiling when giving my command.

“Bulldoze.”

The move would barely inconvenience the grass and bug type, but again that was the reason I used it. Tiamat reared up, noticeably lower than she previously needed to, and stomped hard on the ground. The effect was immediate as a shockwave traveled through the ground, turning inside out and dragging finer particles to the surface.

As expected, the Leavanny's only struggle was to maintain her balance, and Burgh would not just sit and watch.

“Snipe them then Bullet Seed!” he snapped forward.

Rains of bullets were soon spat by his Pokemon after making sure that Tiamat wouldn’t dodge so easily. Too bad she didn’t need to. A

“Protect!” I grinned. This investment was already paying.

The dome of energy sprung around the ground type that was fixing her opponent. She had tried to position herself in Tia’s blind spot only for the ground type to demonstrate why having eyes to the side was beneficial.

Soon the barrage of seeds stopped and that was the moment we had been waiting for.

“Now!”

Without the need for a more elaborate signal, Tiamat finally opened her jaws, spitting a now dull Gem. At the same time, a dozen of what could only be described as boulders manifested above her before shooting forward in a scattered form around Leavanny.

“Dodge!” Burgh shouted.

The bug type, however, had no such luck. While the scattering of the rock might have seemed random, we trained hard enough to make sure that it was not truly the case. When she tried to go in a straight line to avoid a rock, she quickly found out that another one had smashed right in front of her. When she changed direction, she was clipped by another rock. It was really a tactic to box in fast Pokemon against that Tia struggled with, perfected thanks to Skoll treating it as an obstacle course for Quick Attack. And that was not the end.

See, going into the match, while I did not have a set strategy, there were still key points that were certain, such as Burgh using a Leavanny or its pre-evolution, Swadloon. For the latter, the strategy was more direct while in case it was the latter, the strategy shown was already part of it. We all agreed that Tia’s involvement in those battles would be risky and limited, yet she pushed herself and we came up with a solution for at least those two.

If Skoll was still conscious, he would have kept close while Nike was supposed to burn everything to the ground after a Calm Mind for good measure. Nike’s part was disrupted by the use of String Shot I had not expected and my unwillingness to reveal Mystical Fire without it having a guaranteed chance of landing. Which left us with Tia and her countermeasure. Box and Strike.

Despite taking hits from a super effective and gem-boosted Rock Tomb, Leavanny still posed a danger. A much slower danger, but a danger, nonetheless.

“Cut them down with Razor Leaf! Scatter them.”

I watched with a small smile as her scythe-like appendance started humming with power and sheer through the rocks like melted butter. They continued well past her range and flew in all directions. I, however, was as calm as a Zen mode Darmanitan. Because Tia was not anywhere near their location.

A frown formed on Burgh's face as he noticed that Tia was nowhere to be seen. And that was their issue, they were looking with their eyes, which couldn’t see underground.

The ground behind Leavanny cracked open and jaws popped out of them. Before the Gym Leader or his Pokemon could react, a couple of somewhat smaller boulders materialized from the type energy and toward the Pokemon. With the previous rocks having been cut to less than half their initial height, she avoided being pinned between two rocks. She did not, however, avoid being sent flying, allowing Tiamat to slip back into the ground.

“That was well played but far from enough. Magical Leaf, aim for the hole!” He smiled.

Well, shit.

With Tiamat being underground, I could not even warn her of what was coming. Sure enough, a staccato of muffled explosion soon resounded, with Tia cracking the ground not long after, pushed around by leaves controlled by Leavanny.

She landed on her back with a thud and was already unconscious. Leavanny fared no better either judging by her panting.

“Thank you, Tiamat, you did amazing,” I whispered my gratitude to the Pokemon before surveying the arena.

Rocks were strewn about making it more challenging to run about. She truly went above and beyond. Our worst-case scenario was Tia being unable to hit her opponent. Yet she pretty much exhausted the one we considered the biggest threat. I pulled my Premier Ball back out and sent Nike out.

Once she materialized, she took in her changed surroundings and her now exhausted opponent before sending me thoughts of betrayal. I couldn’t stop myself from smiling but soon corrected it. The fight was not over. Burgh seemed to share my opinion because he made the first move.

“Charge her! Fell Stinger!”

Immediately the tired Pokemon gathered its strength and charged Nike. Too bad the arena was now perfect for Nike to take advantage of.

“Keep away,” I spoke up, and Nike disappeared.

The confused Leavanny stopped dead in her tracks and started to look around to locate my starter. Said starter had teleported into the shadow of one of the rocks making sure to stay hidden. I sent her the signal and she started to use Calm Mind. We were going for a single final hit. Every time Leavanny got close, I sent her a signal to teleport once more.

Something about the situation must have awakened a fairy side because at some point she started giggling while teleporting around. When she got tired of running around, she fired Magical Leaf and scattered them around. Which is when Nike teleported above her. Burgh noticed her but I was faster.

“Mystical Fire!”

My voice was barely a whisper that was promptly drowned out by the roaring of purple flames. They blinked into existence right on top of her hat before washing downward. When the magical leaves that were scouring the ground level fell, she also let her attack dissipate.

On the ground lay the bug type, unconscious and with smoke wafting off of her.

Hum… Maybe we went too far??

---

Seraphina watched the end of the battle and was speechless. No that wasn’t true since her mouth let her thoughts slip.

“That was definitely overkill…”

Next to her, Mathew could only nod silently.