Luke shifted uncomfortably, waiting for Shade to reply. After about a minute of awkward silence, Luke realized that he wasn't getting a reply out of Shade. He crept backwards slowly, then briskly walked towards the gym, that looked more like a big meat freezer. Aurus jogged after him. He stepped into the gym, and nearly froze. Ais and Glace were talking at the back of the gym.
"H-H-Hey!" Luke called, walking over to them.
"Whoa! Watch out!" Glace yelled. Luke raised an eyebrow, confused. Then, he lost his footing, and fell over. Black ice.
"BWAHAHAHA!" Ais howled, "That was PRICELESS!"
"Oh. Heh heh," Luke chuckled, sheepishly.
"Wait a second," Glace said, "I know you. You're that kid who Katia was taking care of."
"Yeah. Th-that's me," Luke nodded.
"I assume you're here to challenge me," Glace guessed.
"Sure. Whoever is-s avail-lable," Luke said.
"Well then yes. You'll battle me!" Glace cheered.
"Uh, no," Ais said, shaking his head, "You had the last challenger. This one's mine."
"Uh-uh! No fair! You totally battled the last challenger!" Glace complained.
"Did not."
"Did too!"
"DID NOT!"
"DID TOO!"
Luke scooted away uncomfortably.
"Don't go!" Glace yelled, turning to Luke, "Wait. I have an idea. Ais, why don't we both choose three Pokemon, and battle him as a tag team?"
Ais just grinned, and nodded.
"Kid, you can use all of your Pokemon. And use two at a time," Ais explained.
Luke smiled.
"Let the Berg City Gym Battle begin!" Ais called out. He threw Mamoswine out. Glace flung a Pokeball that released a Aurorus.
"G-Go Doragon! Y-You too Caesar!" Luke said. Doragon the Kommo-o and Caesar the Infernape leapt onto the ice. They slid around a bit, but Doragon's claws helped him get a grip.
"Mamoswine, use Blizzard!" Ais ordered.
"Aurorus use Hail!" Glace called.
A Hail/Blizzard combo. Aurorus screeched, and hail began shooting down from the ceiling. Mamoswine roared, and creating a vortex of freezing winds, that whipped the hail pellets around. Caesar blew fire around him in a circle to help weaken the hail before it reached him. Doragon curled up in his scales, but the Ice attacks were still super effective. They had to end this quickly.
"D-Doragon use Drag-gon Claw! Caesar use F-Flare Blitz!"
Caesar nodded, and took off like a bullet across the ice. Flames erupted from his fur, and he slammed into Mamoswine at full speed. Then, in mid air, he flipped around, and sprang off of Mamoswine to land a punch of Aurorus. While Aurorus was distracted, Doragon slammed his massive claws down on her. Mamoswine shakily got back up, but Aurorus was defeated.
"Return Aurorus. Go Cryogonal! Use Ice Shard followed up by Rapid Spin!"
"Mamoswine use Mud Bomb!" Ais ordered.
Mamoswine hurled a glob of mud from his mouth, that hit Caesar's feet. It hit Doragon in the face, knocking him over. The mud quickly froze into place, and Caesar couldn't move. Then, Cryogonal grew dagger-like icicles along his sides, and spun around. The icicles flew off of Cryogonal at record speeds, and plunged into Caesar and Doragon. They both fainted.
"R-Return y-you t-t-two," Luke said, "G-Go H-Horus and Ursa! Horus use Psychic on Ur-rsa's Hamm-mmer Arm!"
Ursa grinned, and her arm stiffened. Horus cawed, and his eyes turned purple. So did Ursa's arm. Ursa zipped through the air like a superhero, and smashed her fist into Mamoswine's face. Mamoswine flew backwards, and crashed into the wall, unconscious.
"Return Mamoswine. Go Walrein! Use Ice Fang!"
"Cryogonal use Sheer Cold!"
Cryogonal shivered, and released a blast of blue energy. The energy dissipated, and floated upwards. Walrein, however, charged at Horus with glowing blue tusks. Ursa jumped in the way, and used Hammer Arm on Walrein's tusks. Walrein's tusk got stuck in the ground, and Horus easily landed a Psychic attack. Then, Horus used Future Sight. Cryogonal flew towards Horus and Ursa. The two Pokemon looked at each other, and nodded. They knew what to do. When Cryogonal got close, Ursa snatched it out of the air. Horus immediately began jabbing at it with its beak. Then Horus finished Cryogonal off with Psychic. By the time Cryogonal fainted, the Future Sight attack hit Walrein, and knocked him out as well.
"Well, well," Ais grinned, "You've gotten us down to our last Pokemon. Unfortunately for you, we saved the best for last. Go Abomasnow!"
"Go Glalie!" Glace called.
Then, in unison, the two gym leaders thrust their arms upwards. They brought them down to chest level, and tapped on a bracelet. Energy made up of many colors shot towards Abomasnow and Glalie. Then the two Pokemon began to change. As if it were evolution. Mega Evolution. Abomasnow was not hunched over on all fours, and Glalie had a horn of ice jutting out from her forehead.
Luke gulped.
Mega Abomasnow used Icy Wind as Mega Glalie used Blizzard. It was like a Mega Blizzard. Horus and Ursa braced themselves. Horus was knocked back immediately, and pelted with little bits of ice at high speeds. He fainted. But Ursa pulled through.
"Return Hor-rus," Luke said, "Go Aur-rus!"
Aurus sprang onto the icy battlefield, and closed his eyes.
"W-What are you d-d-doing?" Luke asked.
Aurus's lips turned upwards in a little smile. Then, he lifted one leg, and put his paws together. Meanwhile, Mega Glalie was beating down on Ursa, and Mega Abomasnow was charging straight at Aurus. When Mega Abomasnow was mere inches away, Aurus tilted his paws outwards, and released a barrage of Aura Energy. Mega Abomasnow was blasted backwards, through the wall of the gym. He was defeated. Then, Aurus collapsed, drained of all energy. Both Pokemon were returned to their balls. Now it was just between Ursa and Mega Glalie.
"C-Come on Ursa! Y-You can do this!"
Mega Glalie continued jabbing Ursa with her horn. Ursa had had enough. She used Thrash, and went wild on Mega Glalie. She grabbed her, and slammed her against the ground. In a few moments, the battle was over. Ursa was standing over a regular Glalie. The Mega Evolution had faded after her defeat.
Ais and Glace just stared on in shock.
"I guess you win," Glace said.
Ais slid across the ice, and handed Luke a jagged blue badge.
"This is the Ayz Badge," Ais said, "You earned it."
"M-M-My eighth badge!" Luke cheered, hugging Ais out of the blue.
After a few congratulatory statements from Glace, Luke headed back to Katia's home.
