Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Pokemon Quest ❯ Second Gym Battle ( Chapter 9 )

Pokemon Quest

 

Since there was no contest going on in town, Izy and Anna were both there to watch Jacob's gym battle. The boy felt a little more at peace with them around.

 

Jonathan stood tall with his creepy smile on saying, “You'd better not disappoint me, Jacob. If you do, it won't be nearly as fun.”

 

Jacob had no intention of doing that as he felt very prepared. Jonathan was clearly a fan of bug types. How did he know this? It wasn't because Jacob used a bug type to help defeat Team Advent yesterday but rather the fact that the entire gym was an indoor forest. There were trees, pebbles and even a small pond. This was the perfect environment for bug types to fight in.

 

Jonathan whipped out a Pokeball and hurled it shouting, “GO LEDYBA!!!” the ladybug Pokemon appearing from its ball.

 

“I was actually expecting something new,” Izy said, feeling rather disappointed while Anna's eyes were sparkling as if she'd never seen the Ledyba before, Izy slapping her forehead.

 

Jacob grinned, knowing exactly which Pokemon to use. Lucario simply stood there, feeling a big helpless as Jacob hurled a Pokeball sending in Chimchar who did a happy dance of some kind.

 

“Not bad,” Jonathan said rubbing his chin, “You took full advantage of the fact that fire types have an advantage over bug types. This should be good.”

 

“CHIMCHAR, USE EMBER!!!!” Jacob spat as Jonathan simply shouted his own command, “LIGHT SCREEN!!!!”

 

A bright light surrounded the ladybug as the flames hit, causing it to cringe. Yes it was still able to move as its shell opened up, its wings lifting it into the air.

 

“I see what he did there,” Izy stated, “Light Screen cuts the damage dealt by special attacks in half, and since Chimchar's fire attacks are special attacks, Light Screen works well to negate the effects of them.”

 

“Now that we got you an edge, let's do some damage,” Jonathan said as he shouted a command, Ledyba soaring towards the monkey for a Tackle Attack.

 

Let's not forget that Chimchar was a monkey, therefore she was a fast Pokemon, so she easily dodged to the side as Ledyba simply shifted its body in that very direction the second Chimchar dodged.

 

The monkey and Jacob were wide-eyed by this. It seemed as if Ledyba knew Chimchar was going to dodge to that very side. The two could have contemplated this further had Ledyba not charged up its fist for a powerful punch known as Mach Punch, sending the monkey crashing into a tree.

 

“This is not good,” Izy said with a look of worry. The smile on Jonathan's face may have just come naturally, but it looked as if Jonathan could read Jacob's moves. Sure, the ember at the start was obvious, but how could he predict exactly which side Chimchar would dodge to?

 

But Jacob saw this as an opportunity as he smiled and shouted, “Chimchar, use the tree!”

 

All but Jacob and Chimchar were surprised by this command as the monkey climbed up into the tree. Lucario watched this and figured that maybe he could do it too while Jonathan laughed.

 

“What a clever strategy!” he laughed, “I should have remembered that monkey could climb trees, but nevertheless, bugs can fly into them.”

 

Ledyba realized what its master meant as it flew into the tree. But was this really an advantage for Chimchar? The last time he'd been stuck in a tree with a bug Pokemon, he ended up beaten pretty badly.

 

But there were no fighting sounds coming from the tree. Perhaps Chimchar had hidden better than she had against Heracross.

 

The gym was silent as everyone watched, just waiting for this intense moment to end. After a few seconds, a scratching sound was heard as Ledyba fell out of the tree, a scratch on its face.

 

“Wow, not bad,” Jonathan said as he waited for Chimchar to fall out of the tree, but nothing seemed to be happening. It seemed the monkey was waiting for Ledyba to try again.

 

“So that's how that monkey wants to play it, eh?” Jonathan asked with a smirk, “Ledyba, flush it out with Silver Wind.”

 

This was pretty alarming as Ledyba flapped its wings hard, the wings turning silver for a moment. The momentum released energy waves that had the power of blades. As the energy hit the tree, the branches started to cut in half and this continued until there were hardly any branches or leaves left, Chimchar falling back-side first into the ground, a bleeding cut across her chest.

 

This turn to events was unexpected. But then again, Jonathan was a gym leader and gym leaders had to be tough. Izy started to look worried as Lucario clung to Jacob's leg. Hey, he's still an infant. How do you expect him to act? Anna had a rather neutral look on her face as if she was unsure of how this would end.

 

Chimchar tried her hardest to ignore the pain as Jonathan laughed shouting, “Come on, give em another one!”

 

Ledyba started to release more waves of energy as Chimchar was hit by an onslaught of powerful wind. Cuts opened up all over her body as she fell on one knee breathing heavily. It was as if she was on the verge of death.

 

Jonathan saw this as he shouted in a scared tone, “OH SNAPS, I DIDN'T MEAN FOR IT TO DO THAT MUCH DAMAGE!!!!” his creepy smile still on his face.

 

Izy and Lucario both trembled as Jacob's eyes went wide. How could he allow Chimchar to succumb to such power? Perhaps the best bet would be to return the monkey now and get it all over with.

 

“Chimchar, you did very well,” he said, “but now I think you should return.”

 

But the monkey used what strength she had left to leap away from the beam coming from the ball. Jacob gritted his teeth shouting, “DON'T TRY TO BE A HERO!!! JUST RETURN!!!!”

 

Jonathan nodded, still smiling while he said, “It's best you return to your Pokeball, Chimchar.”

 

But Chimchar glared angrily, refusing to back down now. Izy just had a pained look on her face and even Anna was frightened by the sight of Chimchar covered in so many cuts.

 

Surprisingly, Lucario wasn't all that scared anymore. After the event in the temple, he knew what Chimchar was feeling. The monkey didn't wish to let her master down, so she was willing to take in any amount of pain to make sure he earned his gym badge.

 

“If that's how you want to go about this,” Jonathan said, “Ledyba, knock Chimchar out with a light tackle. There's no way she can dodge it.”

 

And so Ledyba flew towards Chimchar who simply dodged to the side much to everyone's shock. And surprisingly, she made enough distance to avoid Ledyba unleashing plan B upon her. At this exact moment, Chimchar felt a great power flowing through her body.

 

Everyone stared in shock as her body grew taller. Her stub of a tail was now the kind one would expect from a monkey and the flame on her tail had doubled in length. Her small hands had become buff paws with fur surrounding the wrist unlike before when there was no fur at all around the hands. Her arms also had yellow stripes on them. Her legs hadn't changed too much but now her head was slightly bigger and more menacing and had a lot more fur on it. She also had blue and red markings like those of a baboon and a slick point of fur on the back of her head.

 

Izy's eyes widened as Jacob's eyes sparkled, the boy shouting, “My Chimchar's now a Monferno!” Anna's eyes sparkling as well.

 

Jonathan was truly impressed by this display. Such compassion Chimchar was showing for her master. She clearly wasn't going to stop until it was truly over.

 

All of her wounds seemed meaningless as she opened her mouth sending a flame around Ledyba's body. This was known as Fire Spin and it trapped the opponent within a ring of fire.

 

“Nice try,” Jonathan said, “but Ledyba can fly.”

 

However, Monferno had wanted the ladybug Pokemon to fly as she shot another ember attack, only it was much more powerful now that she had evolved. Despite the light screen's effect, Ledyba fell to the ground in defeat, Jonathan simply clapping with his smile still on his face.

 

“That was very well done,” he praised, “But you still have two more of my Pokemon to deal with.”

 

Jacob felt a little alarmed by these words, but he sighed as he figured he may as well go through with it. He pulled out Monferno's Pokeball and said, “I'm very proud of you, Monferno, but there's no way you can handle another opponent.”

 

Monferno nodded, knowing that she couldn't continue and allowed herself to return to the ball, accepting the fact that Jacob wouldn't use her for the remainder of the gym battle. Izy let down a tear of joy while Anna simply smiled her calm smile. Things were finally looking up.

 

But with Monferno gone, how long could this upper hand last? Monferno had an advantage over bug types while Jacob's other Pokemon didn't. Nevertheless, he knew that he just had to do this if he was to achieve his goal.

 

His next Pokemon was Heracross who flew into a tree with a proud look. Jonathan looked very impressed as he said, “So you've chosen a bug type of your own. Not bad. Let's see how he deals with mine.”

 

Jacob was a little confused by this statement as Jonathan threw a Pokeball releasing a Heracross of his own, this one with a bow tied to its horn. Jacob, Izy and Lucario were both shocked as Anna's eyes simply sparkled as usual.

 

Jacob blinked and said, “This is a shock,” Jonathan pulling off his usual shirt while the people all freaked out, Lucario confused to the whole thing. If Pokemon could be naked in public, why couldn't humans?

 

Luckily, Jonathan had another shirt underneath. This shirt had a picture of a Heracross doing a heroic pose while a light shone behind it and there were words below it: “Heracross rocks my socks!!!!”

 

Jacob almost felt like he was going to cry. He had an all new admiration for the gym leader, one of which he'd never felt before.

 

“THIS IS SO AWESOME!!!” he shouted happily running over to Jonathan with a pen and paper, “It's so great to meet a fellow Heracross fan! Please, may I have your autograph!?”

 

Jonathan happily signed the paper, both Heracrosses, Lucario and Izy just staring dumbfounded by all of this. The gym leader let out a laugh saying, “There is no Pokemon quite like a Heracross. Its majesty, its might, and the fact that it's powerful despite only having one form! In my eyes, the mighty Heracross is more impressive than even the likes of a legendary Pokemon!”

 

Jacob let down tears of happiness almost breaking out into waterworks as he shouted, “I never thought I'd find someone who loves Heracross even more than I do! Can you…” and with sparkling eyes, he smiled and asked, “Can you evaluate my Heracross to see if I've done a good job with him?”

 

This was ridiculous. This was supposed to be a gym battle. Izy felt very annoyed by this, Lucario just confused. But while Jonathan's Heracross seemed rather ashamed of her trainer, Jacob's Heracross was feeling nervous. He would be evaluated by the biggest Heracross-loving geek in the world. What if Jonathan didn't like his appearance? What if he was shut-down as an ugly freak? He did, after all, have a chip in his horn. That could have hindered the final verdict!

 

Jonathan looked Heracross over and said, “Not too shabby. He certainly looks strong.”

 

“Well, the first opponent he defeated under my wing was a rock type,” Jacob said as Jonathan had to admit that was impressive.

 

He examined it more saying, “His shell is very strong and his wrists are most impressive. I especially love that chip in the top right corner of his horn. It makes him look very tough.”

 

Heracross was so relieved that the gym leader thought that way that he let out a sigh of relief, wiping sweat off his forehead. Then Jonathan went back to his side of the gym while Jacob returned and the two bowed to each other, everyone else in the area just confused… except for Anna who thought the whole thing was touching.

 

“Let us begin, shall we?” Jonathan asked as he shouted, “HERACROSS, START OFF WITH LEER!!!”

 

“Use your Leer too!” Jacob spat as both Heracrosses' eyes glowed, each opponent's defense being cut in half. This meant the battle could end very quickly. Maybe even the first one to deliver a blow would end up the victor.

 

“Use Night Slash!” Jacob shouted as his Heracross slashed the female across the chest, but the female ignored the pain and heard her own master's command, delivering a fierce karate chop known as Brick Break.

 

Normally, this attack would deal more damage than Night Slash. Luckily, it hadn't dealt too much for bug types had an advantage over fighting type moves, so Heracross recovered far more quickly than the female had.

 

“Why did you think that move was a good idea?” Jacob asked as Jonathan replied, “That was just a test of endurance. Now for me to get serious. Heracross, use Aerial Ace!”

 

This wasn't a good sign. Aerial Ace was a flying type move, and bugs were very weak against these kinds of attacks whether a bird used it or not.

 

The male did his best to dodge it, but there was a problem with this. Aerial Ace could not be dodged no matter how hard the target tried. The only choice he had was to counter it, but before he and Jacob could even realize that, the male took in the fierce strike falling on his back and groaning in agony.

 

Now there was reason for worry again as Heracross had lost quite a bit of strength from that attack. Lucario was starting to look unsure while Anna had that neutral look on again. Izy put on a serious expression shouting, “Heracross can take more than that!”

 

Jacob smiled in response to this statement. Izy may have been right. Heracross could handle this sort of thing, and it was shown when the Hercules beetle stood up tall and proud clearly not letting up just yet.