Private/Closed Pokémon Zaffre

[~Nilion~]

Seventeen Years after the events of Red and Blue…

It was a beautiful, sunny day on the sandy beaches of Olivine City. Families waited at the nearby docks for their loved ones to finally arrive home, children played with their Pokémon at the shoreline, and every pop-up shop in the city was open along the beaches edge; hoping to take advantage of the nice weather and large crowds.

Beyond all this, a lone young man was walking along the stone path just to the side of the beach with a Teddiursa and Litwik accompanying him.

“Wiiiiiiik!!” Lumos cried while gesturing towards the beach excitedly.

“Not today Lumos, sorry. You know we’re about to head out for the next town.” Q replied impatiently whilst clicking and tapping on a large, bulky-looking wristwatch.

“Teddi…” Grendel, not interested in hearing either sides of the conversation, instead chose to turn his attention to the group of kids gathered along the shoreline.
They each had a single Pokémon out, all lined up in a row. Said Pokémon were doing various warm-ups and stretches while their owners talked amongst each other
Seeing this as the perfect opportunity to pick a fight, Grendel dashed off towards the group while Q and Lumos preoccupied one another.

“Huh? Grendel! No!” After a moment of delay, Q took notice of his partners antics and chased after him, tackling the small bear Pokémon to the ground right in front of the group of youngsters.

“Uh- you alright, pal?” One of the boys asked.

“You need to get out of the way.” A girl in the back shouted.

“Oh- right. Yes. I’m sorry. Grendel, here- he’s pretty competitive. He saw all your Pokémon and…” Q trailed off in embarrassment, not wanting to verbally announce that Grendel didn’t always listen to him.

 

[Hecotoro]

"Nothing beats the nice weather in Olivine huh?"

A young girl walked along the chore of the beach, a Totodile walking alongside her with serious feel around, as if he was the girl's bodyguard and was ready to pounce on anyone who would approach her. The girl wore a white T-shirt and red shorts, while her blue hair had a few strands of red to match her Totodile. The duo seemed a bit opposite of each other, the girl was happy to be out and about and the water type Pokemon was more concerned about the possible dangers of the sea.

"I have to say this is a nice place to start a journey, don't you think? You can take a ferry to another region if you want, you can cross the ocean to Cinnewood or go east to take on the many gym leaders waiting in that area." As she spoke, she would occasionally look down at her partner Pokemon, who would nod in return and then focus again on scouting the area around them. "Hey what's going on over there?"

The two made their way to the group of kids gathered around, they had Pokemon out with them. This was a perfect opportunity to see some new Pokemon in action for Rai, who wanted to learn as much about Pokemon as possible and for her Totodile, it meant possible enemies, which could be seen by the mean smug on his face as he eyed the competition.

"You guys playing a game or something?"

 

[~Nilion~]

Thankfully, Q didnt have to continue speaking, as an unknown girl broke away from the tourist crowd to see what the commotion was about.

“We’re actually about to have a race with our Pokémon-” a taller boy off to the side interjected; waving a small, white disc back and forth between his fingertips before continuing, “winner gets this. It’s a technical guide with instructions on how to teach your Pokémon the move Protect. You guys wanna join in?”

“Oh… I uh- don’t know about that- I don’t- I’m not really that experienced.” Q mumbled out a messy reply, finally stepping back out from the middle of the groups path.

“Teddi…” Grendel wriggled about in Q’s arms, managing to free himself so he could hop down and face the boy challenging them, “…Ursa!”

“Your Pokémon sure seems interested. No better time to start practicing,” The challenger piped up once more with a bright, friendly stare that punched right through Q’s objections.

“…alright, yeah. If Grendel wants to, I’m in.” The young Teddiursa trainer turned his attention to the girl with brightly colored hair, curious to see if she’d join as well.

 

[Hecotoro]

"Yeah that sounds like fun, might give my Totodile a chance to relax, what do you say?"

The Pokemon looked up at his trainer, she looked pretty excited to see him in action and who was he to disappoint her? Besides, this could maybe make him grow stronger and therefore his trainer or the pink floating thing they befriended earlier would have someone strong to protect them. The Totodile gave one firm nod and puffed up his chest.

"Looks like that's a yes! So what are the rules? Oh can I take a few pictures of your Pokemon also? It's for my research."

 

[~Nilion~]

“Uh- sure. I don’t really mind,” the boy replied, quickly pocketing the disc once more before continuing, “rules are simple. A race all the way from one end of Olivines beach to the other. Pick on of your Pokémon and you run with em’. It’s no-holds-bar, so you can use attacks to try and slow down other trainers. Entry fee of 2,000P.” As the boy finished speaking, he gestured to a hat sitting by a nearby fire pit with several bills already stuffed inside.

“Run with them?!?” Q’s heart sank as the rules of the race were laid out in front of him- a race he’d already agreed to participate in. He couldn’t say no, they’d all think he was a coward, and Grendel definitely wouldn’t be happy.
Hesitantly, Q made his way over to the hat, clumsily slipped two bills from his wallet, and tossed them in the hat.
Afterwards, he made his way over to the starting line, where Grendel was already waiting.

“Wikwikwik!” While all of this was occuring, Lumos could be seen off in the distance firing Ember off into the ocean; laughing in delight at the tiny steam trails left behind.

 

[Hecotoro]

"2000p?" Rai gulped, that was most of her money available. "Okay, no problem at all." She let out a nervous laugh while walking over to the hat and dropping in the money.

Totodile was ready to go, stretching his little arms into the air and then one of his legs towards the back as much as possible. Rai soon joined her partner, doing the same stretches he was, even moving her legs carefully as if she too had a tail. She was a strong believer that understanding your Pokemon would creator a stronger bond that could lead to unlocking her and Totodile's true potential. Once they were both finished, they set their eyes on the finish line, with a cocky smirk on their faces.

 

[~Nilion~]

“Alright. Everyone’s put their cash in? Let’s get started!” The ring leader piped up once more, causing everyone present to regain focus on the task at hand. Grendel was standing in ‘lane six’, with a Mareep on his right and a Magby just off to the left of that.

“Ready, and…” All the trainers lowered their stances, eyeing one another with varying levels of intensity.
“….Go!” In a flash, all six participants darted off the starting line and charged for the end of the beach.
The race started relatively even, but after just a short time, a youngster and his Magby had managed to get roughly a one meter lead.

“Not on my watch! Mareep, Thundershock!” The trainer running to Q’s left shouted out, causing his Mareep to send a small bolt of lighting flying right towards the Magby and it’s trainer.
In response, the trainer quickly scooped up his Pokémon and dove to the left. They managed to dodge the lighting, but they were instantly pushed to dead-last.

“So that’s how it’s gonna be, huh?”

 

[Hecotoro]

"I'm so nervous and excited at the same time." Rai said out loud as she took her spot at the starting line at the end of the group. "Oh sorry, I should try and focus."

She set herself ready to start running, imitating the same pose as her Totodile, leaning forward and arms stretched out backwards. She felt a bit silly using the same position a Totodile would use while swimming, to run, but maybe there was something in it that would help. The race began, with Totodile running ahead and Rai breaking her form and running the only way she knew how.

"You're leaving me behind!" She called out to her Totodile, who blasted ahead with an aqua jet.

That seemed to be the water type's plan though, as he quickly got ahead of the group, he used water gun to wet the sand in front of his opponents, except Rai's line. Allowing the girl to keep up her speed while the rest would have to walk through a muddy mess.

 

[~Nilion~]

“You want some too, huh?!” The Mareep trainer shouted to Rai as her Totodile blasted a few meters ahead of the pack.
“Mareep! Aim your Thundershock at the stream!” With that command, the girl’s Mareep released a small, continuous stream of lightning aimed directly for Totodile’s Aqua Jet.

“Grendel- grab it!” Q, who was now holding third just behind the Mareep trainer and Rai’s Totodile, order Grendel to grab hood of the actively attacking Mareep.

“Teddi!” Grendel smile, knowing what Q was up to. The small bear Pokémon proceeded to grip hold of the electric sheep just ahead of him, sending a small portion of the lighting coursing through him.
The shock caused Grendel to lock up and fall over, thankfully Q was just a few steps behind and scooped him up.

“You alright? Good. Did it work?” Q questioned in a labored voice. In response, Grendel look up at Q with glowing eyes- electric yellow in color, “Yes!” The Teddiursa trainer shouted whilst tossing his Pokémon back down on the ground.

“Teddi…Ursaaaaa!” Thanks to Mareeps shock, Grendel was capable of activating his Quick Feet ability, giving him a 50% boost in speed.

 

[Hecotoro]

Totodile kept, now running on his feet, swayed in a serpent like way, like if he was swimming. The incoming Thundershock caused him to halt to a stop though, a move like that could leave him out of the race. He did have a way to stop the incoming attack though, with a quick water gun to the sand in front of him, he created a Mud Slap, which worked as a wall against the electrical attack.

Rai on the other hand was on a full on sprint, breathing loudly, trying to catch up to her partner while the boy with the Teddiursa was ahead of them. She just had to outrun the boy, as long as she made it to the finish line before the trainer, they would still win right?

"One! Two! One! Two!" Rain said out loud, trying to keep a strong pace as she forced her legs to use everything they had.

Totodile on the other hand used his advantage once more to start using his Water Gun, like well, a gun. Shooting a strong stream of water towards anybody who attempted to get close, even one towards Q and Grandel.

 

[~Nilion~]

As Grendel darted off towards the front of the pack, Q was left behind by his starter, and forced to pick up the pace.
He was now running shoulder-to-shoulder next to the girl with the blue and red hair, meanwhile Grendel’s boosted speed was allowing him to gradually close the gap between himself and the her Pokémon.
The finish line was only a few meters away at this point, and the remaining four trainers weren’t quite ready to give in yet.

“Magby, use Smokescreen!” The girl in the middle lane shouted, causing her fire pokemon to cloak the path ahead of the pack in a thick layer of rolling smoke.
Q, Rai, and their Pokémon would all be consumed by this cloud, making it impossible to tell where they were running.

“Teddi!”

“Dile!”

Grendel and Totodile burst through the smoke cloud with a simultaneous shout. Both Pokémon blasted through the finish line simultaneously, both stopping to look back for their trainers

“Did they win?” One of the boys questioned.

“Not yet. Both the trainer and their Pokémon gotta cross. Someone could still beat em.” The other boy replied.
The group merely waited there in silence, until finally-

“Aaghu! Gha! Ahuhuhu!” Much like their Pokémon, Q and Rai both burst through the smoke, coughing and hacking as they tumbled across the finish line in one big heap.

“OOOOOOH THEY TIED!!!” The two boys spectating began cheering in excitement at the spectacle they’d just witnessed.
After a moment of celebration, the boys who’d initially started the race finally caught up, looking just as winded as the contestants, “Whew…well? Who won?”

“THEY TIED!” One of the boys shouted again.

“IT WAS AWESOME!” The other boy cheered on.

 

[Hecotoro]

Rai placed her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath, holding up a thumbs up before straitening herself up with a big grin. Her Totodile gave her a thumbs up, satisfied with the results. Once Rai had caught her breath, she waved her hand in front of herself to cool down while smiling at the person she had tied with.

"You're pretty fast, no offense but I was not expecting you to be as fast as me."

 

[~Nilion~]

“What…we won…?” As Q finished rubbing the smoke out of his eyes, he looked over to the two celebrating boys, the back to the rest of the contestants who were only just crossing the finish line.
The girl who he’s tied with complimented his skill, leading to Q onoy just realizing he was basically standing elbow to elbow with a stranger.

“Oh- what? Er… yeah. Surprised myself, too.” He responded nervously, taking an uneven step back to out a little distance between the two.

“So…you tied,” the boy holding the race piped up, interrupting the pairs interaction as he continued, “Normally id give you the TM and split the money 50/50. But because you both won, it’ll have to be split three ways.”
As he finished speaking, he quickly slipped a wad of crumpled bills from his pocket and handed Rai and Q 4000P each.

“Didn’t expect to double my betting money…” Q thought to himself while slipping the money into his pocket and giving Grendel a wink of approval.

“When it comes to the move- you guys will have to figure that one out for yourselves.” As the boy finsihed dolling out the prize money, he sat the TM on the bench behind himself and promptly walked away.

“…so…that disc”

 

[Hecotoro]

Ria put away the money in her Togepi shaped purse before stashing it back into her backpack. She then walked over and picked up the disc left behind. It was a very useful move and her team could definitely use it. It was also a TM, so it could be used as many times as they needed to. The issue was that it now belonged to both of them. The extra money had actually saved her from going broke early in her journey, so buying it from the boy next to her was not an option.

"We could battle for it." She finally said after a few moments of looking at the disc. "Winner gets to keep the TM, loser gets to use it before handing it over."

 

[~Nilion~]

In a flash, Q had pulled both of his Pokeballs out and quickly returned Grendel and Lumos to the safety and comfort of his jackets inner pocket.
His face had gone snow-white, and he appeared as if he was struggling to solve a complex math problem.
“I can’t… I don’t know how to fight. I just got lucky…” As he thought to himself, his eyes flashed between the girl, her Pokémon, and the disc repeatedly. He could feel his heart pumping in his ears as he considered his options.
Fight her and probably lose. Grab the disc and run… or just run.
Every possible outcome led to the public embarrassment he so vehemently wished to avoid. After several moments of awkward silence as Q had his internal struggle, the boy quickly blurted out the first thing he could thing of that seemed at least vaguely possible-

“We could travel together for awhile! Then just… split off once we’ve both memorized it…” Did… did he seriously just ask a stranger to journey with him, expecting that to seem less strange?

 

[Hecotoro]

Ria tilted her head to the side, while her Totodile puffed up his chest and gave Q a nasty glare. The growl coming from the Totodile grabbed his trainers attention, which potentially saved the young boy's life. The water type jumped up, jaws wide up, ready to snap at Q's face. But Ria managed to grab his chubby body mid air and keep him from reaching his target.

"Whoa! Sorry, sorry, he is really protective of us." Ria laughed nervously as she held the struggling Totodile in her arms. "But, despite my Totodile's opinion, a traveling buddy could work great for us. It's scary camping in the middle of the road by yourself, specially with so many biker gangs running around these days."

Totodile stopped his struggling and crossed his arms, his eyes glaring at the trainer in front of them. He already had to worry about taking care of his own trainer, now he had to worry about someone else? The boy gave clear signs of insecurity, which would make him more a chore than help. But if that helped Ria sleep better at night, he had no other choice.

 

[~Nilion~]

Q braced for the worst possible scenario. Everyone laughing and pointing at his absurd idea.
But to his surprise, it didn’t happen. Instead, something worse occurred.

“Ah!” The boy fell back flat on his butt as the viscous little Crocodile Pokémon jumped up and tried to snap his nose clean off.
The boys face remained snow-white and his gaze distant as the girl continued on with the conversation. After a few moments, Q finally blinked, then replied, “….oh, really?”

 

[Hecotoro]

Ria smiled and set her grumpy Pokemon down. "Yeah, come on, teamwork makes the dream work, right?" She helped the boy to his feet.

The girl turned her attention towards the city, before waving a goodbye towards the rest of the group. She had a confidence boost and she was about to use that to her advantage. "So, are you taking on the Gym challenge?" She asked in the most casual way possible. "I got a match schedule and should be heading that way soon. You can tag along if you want."

 

[~Nilion~]

“I am… though I haven’t gotten around to actually taking in any gyms yet.” No only had the young man never taken in a gym, he’d never even had a Pokémon battle- but he thought he’d keep that bit of information to himself for now.
“I’d love to watch, though. It uh- it would a good experience to see someone else battle Jasmine- she’s a powerful trainer.” The young man paused for a moment and opened his X-Gear, quickly locating the gyms distance.

“It’s not even half a mile that way, so you should get there in time.” And with that, the pair departed off towards Olivine City’s gym.

 

[Hecotoro]

Ria walked along Q towards the local gym. While she was busy enjoying the view of the city, her Totodile was busy glaring at the new companion, not too happy with his trainer's decision. The city was as lively as always, with the ports on full bloom and the shops doing their best to serve the endless waves of customers coming into and out of the city. Ria was tempted to rush off and spend her new earned money on so many things she didn't need, like a headset designed to look like a Krabby was on your head or a Tentacool hoodie. But, she had just avoided being bankrupt by lucky and was not about to risk it all.

"Alright, here we are!" Ria stepped into the gym, with a lot of spectators already at the bleachers around the arena, with her face and Jasmine's on the big screen, showing the scheduled match about to begin. "Wow this is so exciting!" She clenched her fist before waving towards Q. "I'm heading to the battlefield, see you afterwards!"

With adrenaline pumping through her veins, she and Totodile ran up to their side of the field, ready to face their first challenge.

@kyuukestu

 

[kyuukestu]

“Welcome challenger. Is this your first gym challenge?”

How rare. it wasn’t often that trainers chose Olivine city from their first gym, the difficulties of the gym's type tended to turn them away. However, those that dared to brave those challenges, especially so early on in their careers, were often exceptional.

Now that both challenger and leader were present, the match referee announced the rules.

“This will be a two-on-two battle, challenger Ria against the Olivine Gym Leader Jasmine. The battle will continue until the Pokemon on one side are unable to battle. The challenger is allowed to switch Pokemon at any time.”

Jasmine stepped forward, a Pokeball in hand.

“Please allow me to introduce myself again. I'm Jasmine, the Gym Leader. I use the...clang! Steel type! ...Do you know about the Steel type? They are very hard, cold, sharp, and really strong! Um... I'm not lying! I’ll show you.”

Jasmine’s Pokeball soared and with a steely flash appeared...Magnemite!

The referee’s flag fell.

“Let the battle begin!”

 

[~Nilion~]

As the pair entered the gym, Ria immediately headed off to get in position, while one of the referee’s ushered Q to the stands with the other spectators, where he awkwardly squeezed his way between two trainers so he could be seated in the front row.

Psshh~

Grendel and Lumos both burst out of their Pokéballs and onto Q’s lap. Grendel was pumped- excited that he finally had the opportunity to just witness a proper battle.
Lumos? She was just happy to be there.

 

[Hecotoro]

Ria nodded and took a deep breath. She wasn´t sure how she was going to defeat such a strong gym leader like Jasmine was, she was probably not ready for such a challenge, but she had to try.

"Hi I'm Ria! Nice to meet you!" She removed her backpack and took out a small Pink Pokeball with a heart on it. "I will start with this one, go Iggly!"

The ball opened and out came a round pink Pokemon, slowly floating towards the ground as she giggled all the way down. Once she landed and set her big eyes on the Magnemite, she inflated herself as the battle began.

"Okay we'll go first, Pound!"

The Igglybuff moved slowly, each step giving it air time as she hopped towards her opponent. Once close enough, she took a bigger jump, the air in her body allowing her to float above the Magnemite while she raised her hand and got ready to drop it on her opponent.

 

[kyuukestu]

An Igglybuff. Not the best match-up, but in spite of that, the trainer-pokemon duo took the offensive. As Ria called for pound, Jasmine made her move as well!"Properly tempered steel won't be made rusty by things like this! Withstand it and counter with Supersonic!"

Magnemite's magnets spun, a slowly building speed as Igglybuff approached, its single eye focused on its target. The pound landed hard, the added weight forcing magnetite to the ground. It was a powerful blow, but the magnet pokemon quickly responded, leaving Igglybuff little room to evade. Its magnets spinning wild, metal grating against metal, to produce a confusion inducing Supersonic attack.

 

[Hecotoro]

"Oh no, Iggly try to focus!"

The Igglybuff floated around, releasing air every moment or so and crashing to the side walls of the arena or to the ground, like a balloon with a small puncture causing it to spin out of control until it was out of air. The pink Pokemon finally crashed to the ground, looking confused and her red eyes watery as if she was about to burst into tears.

"You're okay, just a few bumps! Now, copycat!"

The Igglybuff's body began to glow as it analyzed her opponent and then proceeded to spin her little arms and her red eyes began to glow as she began to emit the exact same sound that had caused her to crash all over the arena earlier.

 

[kyuukestu]

"Hang in there Magnemite!" A well-timed usage of copycat had the intended effect, Magnemite whirled around the field in confusion, quite the copycat itself as it mirrored Igglybuff's earlier actions—crashing into the arena walls repeatedly until it eventually came to its senses.

Jasmine offered an appreciative smile.

"That was a good move, but let's see how you handle this! Magnemite, use Magnet Bomb!"

Magnemite soared into the air, steely sparks flying from its body and gathering into several orbs of grey-blue energy. They moved in jagged paths, releasing a metallic hum as they zoomed in on Igglybuff, attracted to the round fairy type like opposite charges of a magnet. It was a difficult move to evade!

 

[Hecotoro]

"Magnet Bomb?"

Ria didn't have a change to try and avoid such a move, the magnet bomb hit directly on a curled up Igglybuff. With a loud cry, her body released any remaining air as she rolled unconscious towards her trainer. With an astonished look on her face, Ria returned the small round Pokemon back to her Love Ball. She gave the pink sphere a quick peck before kneeling down and putting it back into her bag.

"Okay Totodile, it's up to you, ready?"

The water type gave his trainer a firm nodded and rushed towards the center of the arena, his head tucked and his arms pressed against his body, moving in a swaying way until he reached his spot. He glared at the Magnemite, it was Totodile's life duty to protect his trainer and her team and that Magnemite had just crossed the line.

"Okay, we're ready!" Ria once again seemed filled with confidence. "Let's go Totodile, Water Gun!"

The little crocodile Pokemon stood his ground as he unleashed a power stream of water aimed straight for the Magenmite.

 

[kyuukestu]

"Magnemite, evade!" Despite its best efforts to follow its trainer's orders, the powerful water gun still clipped Magnemite, sending the magnet mon spinning. Jasmine knew Magnemite couldn't take too many of those water guns, they weren't as easy to absorb as pound. Fortunately, she wasn't out of options.

"Alright Magnemite, Light Screen then Thundershock!"

Psy-power gathered into a translucent barrier that hovered protectively in front of Magnemite and the magnet pokemon followed up with a quick electric discharge, sending a bolt at the small croc pokemon.

"Now what will you do, challenger?"

 

[Hecotoro]

"We faced a similar challenge a few moments ago, we're ready!" Ria aimed at the ground in front of them. "Do that thing you did earlier against the Mareep!"

Totodile stood his ground as the Thundershock was sent towards it. However, he aimed at the ground and stomped on the ground, lifting up sand, following up with a shot of water, creating a Mud-Slap that shielded it from the Thundershock attack.

"Now go super fast like in the race!"

Totodile the rushed ahead, taking a few steps, his body leaned forward, moving as straight as possible while a whirl of water created around him then shooting him forward like a bullet. He moved straight through the Ligth Screen and Aqua Jet directly at the Magnemite.

 

[kyuukestu]

Jasmine was stunned. It wasn't until Magnemite had been knocked into the far side of the battlefield, slumped unconscious, that she recovered. "That was...creative?" She wasn't sure water gun even worked like that, but clearly, it did. Returning Magnemite to its pokeball, Jasmine brandished her final pokemon, her ace.

"Let's go, Aron! Start off with Rock Tomb!"

As the Iron Armor pokemon took to the field, it released a raspy cry and stomped. Stone tore themselves from the ground, levitating in the air before they threw themselves at Totodile in an attempt to crush it!

 

[Hecotoro]

Ria cheered for their quick victory, but she didn't get to celebrate much as the ace emerged, a Pokemon she had never seen before. Without getting a moment to try and luck it up, the battle had begun. Totodile avoided the first two stones, but he accidently landed on the very same mud he created, allowing the third stone to fall on him.

"No, Totodile! Um, push it off, Water Gun!"

The water type shot a stream of water to get the boulder off of him, but the damage had already been done to his leg.

"Okay, be careful with those, use Water Gun again!"

Totodile took in a deep breath and shot a string of water, that became thinner as it went through the Light Screen.

 

[kyuukestu]

The water gun scored a direct hit on Aron pushing the iron armor pokemon to the edge of the battlefield. It was a powerful attack, super-effective at that, but Aron's study ability kept it fighting. Jasmine noted the stones that still lay around Totodile and directed another move. "One more time Aron, Rock Tomb! Go straight ahead!"

Without delay, the earlier scene repeated itself, rocks unearthed themselves from the battlefield and launched themselves at the injured Totodile. While the rocks soared, Aron advanced positioning itself for its next move.

 

[Hecotoro]

Ria gulped as once again her Pokemon was in trouble due to the moving stones. She wasn't sure if her Pokemon could take such a move again and his mobility was low.

"You can do it Totodile, try and break those stones!"

The crocodile Pokemon smirked, he thought it was funny how his trainer didn't know the names of his moves, but she had an idea of what she wanted him to do. For now, it was fine, he could fight on his own. In the future though, he hoped she would improve her knowledge on what he is capable of doing. He rushed forward, his right hand gaining a metallic like glow as he jumped forward and smashed the stone coming towards him, allowing him to bust through and avoid the Tomb Stone.

"Now, super water tackle!"

She meant Aqua Jet, but she was to nervous to remember the name of the moves. Totodile did just that though, a whirl of water wrapped around his body before he shot forward with all the moment he could gather, like a bullet heading directly at the Aron.

 

[kyuukestu]

Jasmine’s eyes widened; this was completely outside of her expectations. This was...quite a powerful Totodile; nonetheless, the Olivine Gym Leader wasn’t in her position without reason. She paused a moment, allowing the Totodile to gather speed, and then—“Protect!” A translucent green shield snapped into place right in front of Totodile’s Aqua Jet, allowing the crocodile Pokémon to collide head-on. At its speed, hopefully, it’d be dazed long enough for—“Now trap it with Rock Tomb!”

Quick with its moves, the Aron pounded the battlefield, several rocks unearthing themselves and rushing to trap the Toodile with a rocky prison. It wouldn’t be that easy to earn her badge!

 

[Hecotoro]

Totodile fell on his bottom, as he tried to recuperate from crashing into the force field from earlier. He didn't have time to react though as he was suddenly trapped by the Tomb Stone, one of the boulders pinning down his tail, not letting the struggling Totodile get back up as he squirmed desperately.

"I can't see what's going inside those rocks." Ria looked worried, she had felt pumped up a few moments ago, but now that she couldn't see her partner Pokemon, she was at lost as to what she could do to help. She tightened her fists nervously, her eyes set on the boulders in the middle of the field, hoping for some miracle or a sign that can tell her what the best move would be.

 

[kyuukestu]

It seemed the battle had reached its conclusion. With Totodile imprisoned beneath the rocks the outcome was set in stone (pun intended). Jasmine gazed at the unmoving rocks and decided to put Totodile out of it misery.

"Bowl it over Aron, use headbutt!"

Circling around to the Totodile's prior location, where the rocks of earlier rock tombs still lay, Aron use it's deceptively powerful body to send one of the rocks flying straight for the tomb that had trapped Totodile.

 

[Hecotoro]

Totodile squirmed and moved about trying to break free, but he couldn't think of a way out and it seemed his trainer was in the same situation. He hard the other Pokemon taking more commands, which meant he was about to probably be attacked. The Totodile in a panicked state, wiggled his legs furiously, the only thing he could think of doing at the moment was getting out and his body once again used Aqua Jet. The water swirled around him and boosted him upward, allowing him to get lose and shoot out of the tomb stone. He landed in front, where his opponent should be while the Aron smashed one boulder against the others. Totodile turned around, he was ready to launch into the offensive when.

"I give up!"

Ria raised her hand. She looked a bit sad and embarrassed as she lowered her hand. "I don't know exactly what I'm doing and I don't think it's fair my Totodile is fighting on his own. I want to try this again when we're a better team."

Totodile stopped on his tracks looking shocked and upset as he let his arms fall to his sides. He could've won on his own, what was wrong with that? He growled as he began walking back towards Ria.

 

[kyuukestu]

"Err—" Even the referee seemed caught off guard by Ria's surrender as he sputtered, then declared the results. "Then the winner of this battle is the Olivine Gym Leader, Jasmine!"

The Gym Leader in question looked thoughtfully at her former challenger, after hearing what she had to say Jasmine could only nod in approval. "Your Totodile has quite the personality, but If you and your Pokémon partner have a close bond, you can understand exactly what your Pokémon wants and how it wants to battle. A good trainer is able to harness their Pokemon's greatest strengths by listening to them. Isn't that right, Aron?"

The Iron Armor Pokemon gave a supportive cry and trotted over to Jasmine's side.

"Hee hee, what's that? You want to get polished some more? Don't worry—I'll make you shine even brighter today." While Aron ran circles around its trainer, the gym leader turned to Ria and smiled. "We'll be awaiting your next challenge."

 

[~Nilion~]

By the end of the battle, Q, Grendel and Lumos were all hanging over the rail with shocked looks on their faces.
Grendel and Lumos were just pumped to have witnessed a gym battle so closely. Q? He was absolutely petrified by the fact that Ria- someone who seemed so confident- went and gave up. If there was anything that would confirm he’s not challenging Jasmine yet, it would be that.

“…come on, guys. If we wanna make it to route 38 before the suns down, we’ll have to head out right now.” The trainer mumbled to his Pokémon while waiting to meet Ria at the edge of the ring.

 

[Hecotoro]

Ria picked up the grumpy Totodile, who didn't seem to mind, before waving over at Jasmine. "Thank you for the battle!"

The girl rushed over to meet up with Q, she had a smile on her face, unlike her Pokemon. "That was intense, I lost track of what was going on too many times." She held up her Totodile more, enough so she could nuzzle her cheek with the top of his head. "Totodile is so strong, I need to improve if I wanna keep up with him." She looked at Q for a bit and then randomly looked around. "So, what's next? You still want to travel together?"