With Aria heading off to pick up a room key, Glenn nodded at Fida, smiling. "I think I'm going to pick up a room and head out to do some more training. I've got a couple of ideas I want to work on. I'll probably be back late — so I'll say goodnight in advance."
And with that, he made his way to the front desk to pick up a room key of his own. He vaguely noticed Aria making her way to the vidphones as he turned to leave the PokéMon Center, Metalica still by his side. He had a feeling the Mawile preferred to stay out in the open, and who was he to deny her?
~*~
Night fell on Oreburgh City.
He made his way out of the city as fast as he could, taking in the chilly night air as he made his way back to the field on Route 207. He smiled to himself when he realized this field was far enough from the city for him to be able to see the stars. It also meant it was far enough for him to be able to sit down and play his guitar a bit.
He found himself a nice rock to settle down on and unloaded the guitar case off his back, opening it and taking the guitar out.
"Hey, Sieg, mind giving me some time with it?" he chuckled softly, the Rotom forming into the twin streams of energy and releasing itself, forming and turning an expectant look to its trainer, emitting a little array of synthesized-sounding noises.
"Alright, you two." Glenn smiled "I've got my own training to do… And while I am, I want you two to focus on the upcoming match. You've seen Fida and Aria's battles. They have an advantage we don't — they have more than three PokéMon. All I have is you two — so we've got to make this count."
He shot the Mawile a meaningful look. "Metalica, you're my lead in this one — We need to take Geodude and Onix out - or at least take Geodude out and put a major dent in Onix. Geodude's major strength is that Fire Punch maneuver... Keep it out of the ground as much as you can. Onix seems to like Earthquakes. A lot. So, we need to find some way to get over that ground weakness of yours. I have a hunch that electricity is the key, as crazy as that sounds."
He then turned to the Rotom, who seemed to snap to attention, turning him a look that could only mean "I'm listening."
"Sieg, I want you to focus on Rampardos — that's the most major threat. The big lizard has a head and it knows how to use it — so if you're going to mess with its head, do so from a safe distance. Focus on range."
Taking the guitar into his hands, he struck a chord — an E - just to see if the guitar was tuned. It was.
"Alright, guys. Let's hit it!"
He started slowly, with a few deep, low bass notes, setting a base to the rhythm. Then came a few high notes, setting into a frame. Slowly, he constructed a riff that grew more and more complex, becoming louder as it intensified. And as his mind was carried by the melody — he couldn't help but notice something.
Metalica and Siegfried seemed to be following the melody.
As the theme intensified, so did the Rotom's swiveling became faster, and sparks seemed to dance around Metalica as she seemed to attune her mind to minute electric fields all around her, a bright azure field of electricity taking hold of her form, sparking from point to point along her body... He had an odd hunch… And he had to test it.
He launched a single jarring chord and the Mawile seemed to emit a screech as she thrust her arms forward, launching a high-voltage beam of electricity at the Rotom. He broke the chord into a quick series of notes and saw — to his amazement - the Rotom swiveling around itself, taking in the Charge Beam attack and wrapping it around itself like a scarf, augmenting it with its own electricity. Another chord, and the Rotom launched its own Charge Beam — its power augmented by the Mawile's — back at the Mawile. Three chords rising in tone and the Mawile caught the Charge Beam and redirected it into her fists, throwing a devastating Thunderpunch into a rock, shattering it to tiny pieces, little sparks dancing between the pieces of shrapnel.
Glenn grinned brightly as he brought his melody to a pause, taking a look at the two PokéMon.
"I don't know what THIS was." He said "But I think I know EXACTLY how we're going to win this."
~*~
The morning air was crisp, and Glenn Hendrix seemed to be supercharged as he walked into the gym. He held Metalica's PokéBall in his hand, and smirked a little at the darkness.
"'Morning." He called out "Name's Glenn Hendrix, and I'm here to Rock. In more ways than one. Roark, I challenge you!"
The lights flared up again — revealing the arena and the Gym Leader that stood opposite to him — looking as refreshed and energetic as he did in the battles against Fida and Aria. This was the third time he's seen them do that — and Glenn couldn't help but think that for such a great performer on the battlefield, Roark sure could get better lighting people.
"Good morning. I accept." The gym leader replied "The battle will be three versus three and there is no time limit."
"Your gym, your rules." Glenn grinned "I'm afraid that I only have two PokéMon myself, but I'm sure they can handle your three, if that's okay with you."
"You're a confident one." The gym leader grinned in return "I'd like to see you back that up on the field of battle. As per tradition… I'll start this battle off with Geodude!"
There it was again, the Geodude. Defying gravity as Geodudes often did. Glenn seemed to size up the opponent, an almost predatory gleam appearing in his eyes for a moment.
"Alright, Metalica. Let's rock!" he said, casting the PokéBall into the air. The sphere snapped open, red energy coalescing into the Deciever PokéMon's form on the battlefield. Her eyes closed, her mind in focus.
"Let's get this started with Mud-Slap!" the Gym Leader called out — and the battle officially began.
"Iron Defense!"
Flailing an arm like a windmill, the Geodude dug its hand into the ground, flinging globs of mud at the Mawile. Without a moment's hesitation, the Mawile did a 180-degree turn. Like a strange tall shield, the Mawile's jaw-horns took on a more radiant metallic sheen as the biometal was fortified with more minerals. The mud-slap attack impacted, splattering harmlessly against jaw-horns.
"Interesting." the gym leader said "Guess I have to do better than that. Okay, Geodude, give it a Rock Slide!"
"Iron Defense again until the barrage stops!" Glenn commanded, and the Mawile's jaw-horns glistened even more with the glow of metal as the Geodude gathered his attack, launching rocks into the air and slamming them with a fist to shatter them into a great avalanche. The Mawile, in response, dove to the ground, covering her body with the metallic shield of her jaw-horns, channeling more and more minerals into them. The clashes of rock against metal were loud, but in the end, when the rock barrage relented, the Mawile remained relatively unscathed.
"Your Mawile has impressive defenses, but that won't protect you forever. Geodude, Dig!"
"Not this time you don't." Glenn grinned "Metalica, Bite and hold on to it!"
And the Mawile sprung to action, doing a 180-degree turn yet again and charging forward at the Geodude, which already began to make a dive for the ground. But the Mawile was slightly faster — and with a powerful twist and a snapping of her jaws, the Geodude had no where to run, the Mawile's jaw-horns clamping down on its rocky body like a vice, the sharp fang-like growths along their edges glowing faintly with an ominous dark aura.
The gym leader grinned "You walked right into it, you realize. Now how are you going to get out of this Fire Punch?"
"Who nose, Roark?" Glenn grinned "Metalica, Sweet Scent!"
Just as it seemed that Geodude's fists seemed to explode into flames, the Mawile emitted a little squee as some kind of vaguely pinkish fluid jetted in a fine aerosol from glands at the base of her jaw-horns directly into the face of the captured Geodude, and an intoxicating aroma filled the air. From a distance it would have been relaxing. Alluring. But to the Geodude, who was currently caught in the grip of the jaw-horns, it was completely overwhelming. The scent was assaulting the rock-type's senses, overpowering them — and the flames around its fists sputtered and died as the creature desperately tried to get its bearings….
"Now!" Glenn called out, bringing his hand down in an arc — and with a swift whiplash-like motion the Mawile thrust her head downwards, slamming the Jaw-horn — and the Geodude caught within it — powerfully on the ground in front of her. There was a loud, metallic clang and a sickening crunching noise as the Geodude's rocky shell cracked like a nut hit by a 10-ton hammer.
The Mawile pulled her head up, shaking her jaw-horn a bit, and snapped it open, allowing the Geodude to flump out of its grasp like a discarded rag doll. Deep cracks ran along the creature's shell and chips of rock and dust vaguely dislodged from its body — but it was clearly still alive and breathing.
But it wouldn't be fighting this battle anymore.
"How's that for a snappy comeback?" Glenn grinned.
"Impressive." Roark said, returning the Geodude its PokéBall. "So it seems you have a solid offense alongside that defense. But let's see how you fare against Onix!"
As the rock serpent materialized on the ground, bellowing out its cry of challenge, the Mawile relaxed her muscles, breathing in, focusing her mind on the hum of the electricity running through the gym. The lights flickered softly as a faint aura of lightning seemed to encompass the Mawile's form, her body becoming a conduit for the electric field, drawing extra power into her…
The gym leader smirked.
"Onix, Earthquake!"
The trainer's eyes locked on the serpentine creature as it moved, observing its motions. The creature swung its tail, slamming it against the ground, triggering a shockwave. As he felt the beginnings of the first tremors, the trainer narrowed his eyes and grinned, as if expecting this.
"Metalica…" he raised his hand slowly up like a conductor signaling the orchestra to play more loudly."Ride the lightning!"
It was as if the Mawile was waiting for that signal. Suddenly, the aura of azure electricity flared brightly, and the Mawile leaped off the ground, arms stretched to the sides, lightning arcing between them. Then she brought her hands down, launching rapidly upwards.
"Magnet Rise. Clever move there, Glenn." Roark said "But the ground is not the only thing you should worry about when tangling with an Onix! Stone Edge!"
With a loud bellow, the Onix seemed to become surrounded by rings of sharpened stones, its eyes glowing a bright blue as it launched them directly at the Mawile. The little Steel-type veered sideways and up in a spiraling path, attempting to evade the sharpened rocks - several of the shards grazing the Mawile's fur.
"Now, Metalica! Dive and use Brick Break!" Glenn commanded, and the Mawile went into a wild somersault, electric sparks still arcing around her as she used the energy of the Magnet Rise attack to gain more momentum with her dive.
"Not this time! Onix, Dragonbreath!" Roark commanded, and the serpentine PokéMon obeyed. Twisting its body, the rock-snake turned its head to intercept the Mawile's flight path, opened its mouth and spewed forth a stream of what appeared to be turquoise-green flame — or perhaps air laced with energy.
Not that this could stop the Mawile's momentum — her air-speed was already far too high. As her charged body cleaved through the stream of energy she curled up even tighter and rolled faster — until finally she smashed into the Onix's head powerfully. The Rock-type screeched in pain and frustration as the Mawile rolled down along its body and off its tail to hit the ground in a crumpled heap, her body twitching as she attempted to stand up, fighting off the effects of Paralysis.
"I expected you to do that. It's what I would have done too." Glenn grinned.
"So you made sure your Mawile will be in a position where it would still hit even if paralyzed… Smart move." Roark nodded "But I'd like to see your Mawile fly its way out of this now… Sand Tomb."
The Onix's eyes developed the bright blue glow again, as the ground underneath the Mawile seemed to disintegrate into fine sand, the little steel-type screeching as she felt herself sinking, finding herself waist-high in the trap before she could even move out of the way.
Now Metalica was caught in a way that seemed almost hopeless. Her body both paralyzed by Dragonbreath and trapped by Sand Tomb, it appeared to Glenn that there was little he could do.
"Just hang in there, Metalica…. And use Iron Defense as much as you can." Glenn commanded, and the Mawile nodded, wincing as the sand trap seemed to deepen, causing her to sink even further. She closed her eyes, sending her body into an almost meditative state, struggling against the numbness in her body to better disperse the minerals throughout the biometal of her form, bolstering her defenses.
"Aww, you're no fun." Roark raised an eyebrow, chuckling "Not going to attack? Well, let's make things more interesting, shall we? Onix, Curse!"
There was a moment of silence as the Onix's eyes seemed to glaze over, its motions becoming more and more sluggish — as sinister looking swirls of crimson and purple aura seemed to slowly entwine around the rock serpent's form. The creature was now moving as if within a dream, although the raw power that emitted from the creature now seemed to suggest that in its dream it was at least the size of the world and with the strength to crush even Arceus within its mighty shelled coils.
The battlefield seemed to be at a stalemate for a while — the Mawile, slowly sinking, was bolstering her defenses to the best of her ability while the Onix seemed to be drawing more and more energy onto itself, the more energy it drew, the more soulless its eyes appeared to become.
And Glenn was watching. He noticed the gym leader appeared to be waiting for something, though what it was he was waiting for — that was anybody's guess. He turned his eyes to the Onix as it moved in its dreamy fashion — and something clicked in his mind as he stared at it. There was a certain pattern in the Onix's coiling motion. It was subtle, but it was there. A systematic repetition. A rhythm.
His mind flew into his listening mode, tuning out the crowds, the atmosphere, the gym leaders, even the air itself. All he could hear now was the slow sinking of the Mawile in the ground, the vague flow of ominous energy around the Onix… And the minute sounds made by the grinding of rock against rock as the Onix's body segments rubbed against each other. And he couldn't help but notice that there was something missing. A sound that wasn't as sharp as the others.
There it is. he thought when his eyes sought out the origin of the anomaly — and found it. A crack in the Onix's shell, not too far from the head — making a gap between segments wider than it should have been.
A perfect spot to aim an attack. He found himself memorizing the creature's motion patterns, the exact moments where that particular segment gap will be open — a stitch in the armor that could take a certain attack that he had in mind…
Then a new noise caught his mind as his head flew back into the real world. Roark was grinning.
"Now, Onix! Dig and Rock Polish!" the Gym Leader pointed, and the Onix emitted a deep bellow and plunged into the ground in a corkscrew-like motion. There was a ripple in the earth as the Onix's figure slowly moved under the ground, the sounding of rocks grinding and crunching echoing through the gym as the rock-type's motions became faster and faster and faster, occasionally breaching out of the sand and diving in again, moving in circles that closed rapidly in on the trapped Mawile — up to her neck in sand by now — like a shark circling its prey.
"Game over." Roark announced, and the Onix — now polished so finely it almost looked like a streamlined bullet of rock wrapped in red and purple energy tendrils — burst out from underneath the Mawile with impossible speed, knocking her up to the air in a massive wave of sand.
It seemed to happen extremely quickly, and yet extremely slowly at the same time. The Mawile emitted a deep cry of pain — the Onix's curse raised its attack and defense sharply — certainly enough to counter Metalica's continuous Iron Defense. The Onix's Rock Polish countered the debilitating effects of the curse on the serpent's speed - and it seemed that with a super-effective attack like this, the Mawile's fate was sealed.
But Roark did not take one thing into account. Sure, the Onix's shell was more powerful than ever - but polishing a rock had its drawbacks. If a flaw existed, it would be enhanced. Emphasized. And rising tempo or not, the Onix's melody was still the same melody.
One… Two… Three…
"The gap! Sixth link down from the head! Now!" Glenn commanded, and the Mawile's paralyzed body burst into a vivid orange glow.
The grin on Roark's face faded.
The Mawile smashed into the Onix at the precise moment the gap in the creature's armor revealed. Rock shrapnel was flying everywhere as the gigantic beast toppled over like a pillar hit by a wrecking ball, raising a cloud of dust that seemed to almost blanket the arena for a moment.
When the dust settled, it was clear that the Onix was down and out — and that the little Mawile's Iron Defenses paid off, as she was still standing — barely, shakily, but still standing. Glenn smiled to himself, his little gamble paid off.
Facade was an odd move that Glenn's father was quite fond of - A move that had great power indeed — provided its user suffered from a status condition, turning a potential loss into a win. A great part of his training session that night involved developing the exact right angle of rollover when paralyzed, and teaching the Mawile that particular attack. And it worked like a charm.
Roark returned the Onix silently, nodding at the trainer.
"Very perceptive and resourceful. This battle definitely gave me something to think about. But I think it's about time we finish this, right?"
"Bring it on." Glenn grinned.
Roark nodded, releasing his Rampardos onto the battlefield, the dinosaur-like PokéMon roaring out a cry of challenge.
Without a word, Glenn took Metalica's PokéBall off of his belt and returned her into it, smiling. "You've done great, Metalica." He said softly, and placed the ball on his belt.
Then he did something unexpected.
The trainer removed the guitar case off his back, and set it on the ground gently, opening it. He reached inside and pulled out the guitar contained within, holding the instrument up and slinging its strap on his shoulders. He locked his eyes on the Rampardos, and then on the Gym Leader.
"Alright Siegfried." He said, striking a chord. "Let's rock."
The guitar burst into light as an ominous riff echoed through the gym — but this was not Glenn's doing — the Rotom emerged from the guitar slowly, a stream of sparkling energies, ending its short introduction theme as his form coalesced, locking its gaze on the Rampardos for a moment, before a gradual rotation on its side.
"That's a… unique… replacement for a PokéBall." Roark said, obviously surprised.
"You haven't seen anything yet." He grinned.
"Well then." Roark said "Let's start this off with Zen Headbutt!"
And Glenn's fingers plucked the first strings.
He began with a slow rhythm, almost like a heart-beat. One bass note repeated twice, slowly picking up the pace as once again, the Rampardos' domed head glittered and glistened with the blue nimbus of a psychic attack, flowing across its curves.
The Rampardos charged into the Rotom — but the Rotom was no longer there. An afterimage dissolved as the Rampardos hit it.
For indeed, ever 'pulse' of two notes, the Rotom moved, leaving a ghostly image in its wake. And the pulses became faster and faster until finally, there was a ring of Rotom afterimages all over the Arena.
"Stalling for time again?" Roark said, raising an eyebrow "This will not do. Rampardos, you see, has a special quality… its Mold Breaker ability will negate your Rotom's Levitation, making it weak to what I am about to unleash next! Rampardos, Earthquake!"
Glenn smirked as he wove a new theme into the rhythm — a little, seemingly random, almost discordant sting. As the Rotom continued swiveling, its shadow clones in its wake, it took on a bright purple glow, the clones following suit. Soon enough all the Rotoms on the field were glowing, and suddenly, there a near-simultaneous blast of swirling purple rays illuminated the room. Only one of the attacks was not illusory — but whichever one it was, it hit the Rampardos — and it hit it bad.
The Headbutt PokéMon couldn't even register its trainer's command as its mind was assaulted by afterimages. The Rampardos charged blindly forward, completely failing to notice a boulder directly in its running path. The large creature tripped, rolled to the ground and then stood up. It was convinced it was under attack — and Glenn's strumming began to take the nature of a hunting song.
The Ring of phantom Rotoms grinned predatorily, swirling faster and faster.
"Try another Earthquake!" Roark called out — but it seemed as if Glenn anticipated that as well. He struck an E chord and made it waver in the air a little. Sparks danced between the shadow clones, all reaching out a lightning tendril in unison and slashing the Rampardos with it from afar, discharging a weak electromagnetic wave. The dinosaur screeched as the Thunder Wave attack took effect, the collective assault on its senses intensifying even more. Between confusion and Paralysis, the Rampardos was completely lost in its own mental world, just waiting for the next attack.
"Rampardos, snap out of it!" Roark called out "Zen Headbutt, and run across the entire field if you have to. Take them out one by one, you'll hit the real one at SOME point!"
The Rampardos charged blindly, its charge being far slower than it could have been, its muscles still fighting the electricity coursing towards them.
Too slow. Glenn thought, as he shifted the melody a whole octave up and playing faster. As the Rampardos charged, its head glowing a radiant blue, the ring followed, keeping the monster as close to its center as possible, spinning more and more rapidly. The Rampardos charged again, in the opposite direction — and Glenn shifted the melody an octave down. Even though the confusion was clearing out of the Rampardos' head, the paralysis was still in full effect, and soon enough, the Rampardos found out that its muscles are not obeying its commands.
That was when Glenn burst into a rapid fire solo, rising slowly in voltage. Lightning tendrils from which there was no escape lashed out — Shock Wave attacks - striking the Rampardos from multiple angles, sapping its strength. Whenever the Rampardos even tried to charge, the melody would simply change and the Rotom would move with it. And if it was fast before — the pace it reached now was bordering on bloody madness.
Glenn knew it too — he felt himself sweating, his concentration slowly fading as he was concentrating on the melody moreso than on the battle — and he knew he had to finish this quickly.
Roark seemed to share the sentiment.
"This is it, Rampardos. We're taking this little ghost down! Give it an Earthquake it'll never forget!"
The Rampardos, mustering the last of its weaning strength, proceeded to leap off the ground.
Glenn struck a sharp jarring chord.
And as the dinosaur's feet came smashing on the earth, unleashing the wave of tremors, Glenn burst into a rapid, elaborate and ominous melody that seemed to float across the entire battlefield. The Rotom — and all its shadow clones — now swiveling so rapidly that you could not tell where one ended and where the other began, emitted a high-pitched, synthesized sounding wail, transferring parts of their mass into their lightning tendrils, becoming a small swarm of tiny whirlwinds, picking up and becoming a huge whirlwind. The shadow clones shattered, breaking into wisps of purple spirit energy and being absorbed by the vortex. And the vortex grew, seeming to draw in all heat from the gym — and particularly from the Rampardos trapped in its center. The wind wailed loudly, overpowering even Glenn's guitar. The ground was trembling like it was nobody's business, but the Rotom was far from the ground, spinning in its own vortex, sparks flying from the creature's body as the rapid dynamo effect supercharged it…
And at last, as the earthquake subsided, the Rotom came to an abrupt halt right above the Cranidos's head… And slammed onto it directly, discharging all the electricity it built up in one blindingly bright blast.
The melody faded.
The Rampardos collapsed to the ground, completely petrified, electricity running from point to point on its body, its eyes wide open.
The Rotom rolled away weakly, its aura of lightning dissipated, its body seemingly completely solidified. There was a vague flicker of a lightning tendril as the Rotom seemed to draw the excess electricity from the rock-type's body into itself, allowing the larger creature's muscles to relax and a faint glow to appear around itself. The Rampardos emitted a low growling-purring noise that sounded almost like it had congratulation and gratitude in it, and the Rotom responded with a silent buzz of approval, as the two PokéMon fainted, side by side on the battlefield.
Glenn collapsed to his knees, breathing heavily. What an exhausting way to battle he thought exhausting, but effective.
There was a moment of silence as the trainer placed the guitar back in the case, rose to his feet, closing his eyes and catching his breath. He heard — out of the haze, the sound of a PokéBall — the gym leader returned his fallen Rampardos. His eyes still closed, he pointed Siegfried's PokéBall to where he vaguely remembered the Rotom was, the sound of energizing and reabsorption confirming the creature's return.
Then, he opened his eyes, slowly, lifting his head up to look at the gym leader straight in the eyes.
"Now that." Murmured Glenn "Is what I call a battle."
"I'll say. I've faced quite a number of challengers before but never anything quite like this." Roark said, a little grin on his face "Using music to command your PokéMon. There's something you don't see every day. This is one battle I'm going to remember for a long time."
"Yeah… So am I." Glenn said "That Onix of yours is really something."
"Thank you." Roark smiled, and presented the trainer with a small badge "Now, I believe that I owe you this. Oreburgh City Gym's Coal Badge. You've certainly earned it."
"Thank you, Roark. Have a nice day." He smiled, and saying so, he closed his guitar case and slung it back over his shoulder. Taking a look down to the two PokéBalls hanging on his belt, he couldn't help but feel a wave of pride in his partners wash through him. He won. His first gym badge.
Glenn took off in the general direction of the PokéMon center, a grin plastered on his face. Now, the sooner he'd get his partners healed up, the sooner he'd be able to celebrate with them.
