Chapter 30

Joe and Byron faced each other on the field.

“This will be a standard three-on-three Pokémon battle!” the referee said as Joe examined the Gym field. It seemed to be made purely of metal. Kelly had informed him that Byron was changing his Gym from a Steel-type to a prehistoric Pokémon-style Gym, but he obviously hadn’t had time to renovate the Gym, as he had only just returned from Iron Island. “Only the challenger may substitute their Pokémon. The battle between Byron of Canalave City and Joe of Blackthorn City will now begin!”

“Go Armaldo!” Byron said, releasing his Pokémon.

“I choose you Plusle!” the small Cheering Pokémon shivered at the sight of the prehistoric monster before him, but pulled himself together.

“Use Crush Claw” Byron ordered. Armaldo’s claws begun to shimmer a bright, white colour as Armaldo leapt at Plusle, plunging its claws down on him.

“Dodge!” Plusle nodded and back flipped away, laughing at the sight of Armaldo with its claws stuck in the ground. “Now let’s work out a strategy. Armaldo looks like a Rock-type Pokémon, but I know it can use Water Gun, so maybe it’s a Water-type as well. We’ll use Thunderbolt from a distance, then try Iron Tail!” Plusle nodded and sent a high-voltage burst of electricity at Armaldo, but the prehistoric Pokémon simply shrugged the attack off as if it were nothing!

“He should use his PokeDex” Kelly said. “Then he would know that Armaldo is a Bug-type, as well as a Rock-type”

“Iron Tail!” Plusle slammed his glowing tail into Armaldo’s head, knocking it out of the ground and a few foot backwards.

“Fight back with Ancient Power!” rocks quickly begun to form on Armaldo’s left claw before Plusle was hit by the stony claw, slipping and sliding along the metal floor until he reached his Trainer.

“Get up and use Metronome!”

“Stop it from attacking with Water Gun!” the pulse of water hit Plusle before he could finish stimulating his power, causing him to spark with electricity.

“Since when was Armaldo faster than Plusle?!” Joe asked, shocked.

“Yeah, explain that one Kelly” Scars, who was meowing in Kelly’s lap, looked up at his mistress. The girl scrambled around in her bag before pulling out a Breeders magazine.

“Here we are, Ancient Power” Kelly began, but Byron cut her off.

“It’s a Rock-type attack that not only is necessary for the evolution of certain Pokémon like Tangela and Yanma; it also slows the opponent down”

“Well, just ‘cos Plusle isn’t as fast now doesn’t mean we can’t take you out! Thunderbolt!”

“You should’ve learned that that attack won’t help you against Armaldo. Use Protect!” Armaldo raised its claws in front of its face and created a clear, white barrier that blocked Plusle’s attack. “Now, Water Gun again!”

“Thunderbolt again!” this time Joe’s strategy was clear. By sending a burst of electricity through the Water-type attack, the current was seriously intensified and did amazing damage to Armaldo, who was unable to protect itself and was knocked out.

“Armaldo is unable to battle. Winner of the first bout is Joe and Plusle” Plusle cheered happily, dancing around with electrical pompoms in his hands and making everyone sweat-drop as Armaldo was recalled.

“Anyway!” Byron said, trying to get on with the battle. “I call Kabutops!” the Rock/Water Pokémon looked at Plusle menacingly while sharpening its scythes.

“Think you can take another one Plusle?” the Cheering Pokémon nodded before running forward with an Iron Tail.

“Stop it from reaching you with Protect!” another barrier, this one blue, appeared around Kabutops and Plusle bounced off of it, flying through the air.

“NOW!” Joe yelled at the top of his lungs “Use Encore!” Plusle nodded and clapped his hands together, but it sounded like a stadium full of fans were applauding. Kabutops blushed and tried hiding his large face.

“Hmph, what will that do? Use Slash!” however, Kabutops just used Protect again, this time blocking nothing. “Ha, I forgot about Encore. But still, you won’t be able to land an attack now!”

“Oh contraire, use Iron Tail!” Plusle dashed forward again and, once again, Kabutops created its barrier. This time, however, Plusle smashed through the barrier and landed a super-effective attack.

“What?!” Byron gasped.

“Oh, of course!” Kelly said suddenly, snapping her fingers and scaring Scars. “The chance of a Protect attack failing will rise if it used in succession! Joe’s made a foolproof strategy to take out Kabutops!”

“Iron Tail again!” Plusle landed several more Iron Tails before Kabutops was able to fight back.

“Use Mud Shot!” Kabutops fired a large stream of mud from its mouth, knocking out Plusle.

“Plusle must be really tired. Return!” Joe said. The little Electric-type had done an excellent job taking down one Pokémon and then almost defeating another, but after this he would probably have to switch for Luxray for a while.

“Make your next choice challenger” the referee said.

“I choose Roserade!” the beautiful Bouquet Pokémon took shape on the field and almost laughed when she realised she was up against a Rock/Water Pokémon.

“Hmm, a Grass/Poison type. This should be interesting. Show Roserade you’re Ice Beam attack!”

“What?!” Joe gasped as the jagged bolts of energy flew at Roserade. “Dodge and use Magical Leaf!” Roserade pirouetted to the left of the Ice Beam before sending a barrage of glowing leaves at Kabutops, who used Ice Beam again to block the attack. Roserade dashed at Kabutops, dodging Mud Shots and Ice Beams and got right under the exoskeleton-like creature and used a close range Petal Dance to send him flying upwards and knock him out.

“Winners of the second bout, Roserade and Joe!” the referee called. Byron grunted as he recalled Kabutops.

“Now it’s time for my main, and oldest, Pokémon! Come forth Bastiodon!” the prehistoric Pokémon that took shape was an, well, odd one. It had a huge, steel-head and a light, beige body with silvery parts and steel-like feet. “Let’s start his off right Bastiodon, use Gyro Ball!” a swirling orb of silvery energy formed in front of Bastiodon, who then head butted it straight at Roserade. Not expecting to get hurt much by the attack, Roserade didn’t bother to dodge. When the attack hit, Roselia felt like she was being crushed between two steel walls. The Bouquet Pokémon soared upwards before dropping to the ground, landing in a crumbled heap.

“Roserade! Get up and fight back with Magical Leaf!” Roserade, however, couldn’t move.

“Return Roserade, she obviously cannot continue” Byron smirked cockily.

“You’re right. I’m trusting you now Infernape!” Joe sighed, sending out his newly evolved Pokémon. He hoped Infernape would be able to handle this amazing prehistoric Pokémon. The Fire/Fighting-type chuckled, obviously confidant he could win this battle. “Use Flamethrower!” Infernape opened his mouth and sent a large jet of flames down on Bastiodon. The Steel/Rock Pokémon looked at the oncoming flames, conjuring a green protective barrier around himself to block the flames.

“Do all of his Pokémon know how to use Protect?!” Kelly sighed in an exasperated tone. Once the flames let out, Bastiodon wasted no time firing a Gyro Ball straight at Infernape, who used his gangly limbs to leap through the air, spinning through the air like a top and landing in front of Bastiodon and unleashing Close Combat. Although this weakened Infernape, it caused double super effective damage to the ancient Pokémon.

“Nice job Infernape, but now we have to be careful. You’re much more susceptible to attacks now. Better save Overheat and Flare Blitz for later and stick to Flamethrower!” Infernape nodded and sent the jet of inferno at point blank range. However, a silvery orb flew through the flames and slammed Infernape, knocking him back. The two continued to exchange Gyro Balls and Flamethrowers.

“Switch to Ancientpower!” several large rocks formed around Bastiodon before flying at Infernape, who dodged the first two but was hit by the remaining two, knocking him to the ground. Bastiodon seemed to glow a little as his stats were increased by Ancientpower.

“We have to use an all out strike! Close Combat!” Infernape dodged the oncoming Ancientpower attacks and landed an all out barrage of punches and kicks on Bastiodon, doing mega-damage. Infernape leapt away and for a few seconds, although they seemed like hours to Byron, Joe and Kelly, Bastiodon seemed to have survived the attack, but he soon fell to his knees, defeated.

After collecting his Mine Badge, Joe led Kelly out of the Gym, only to see Professor Rowan, Lucas, and his Piplup stood outside Canalave library.

“Lucas!” Kelly squealed in excitement, running up to her crush and hugging him tightly. Piplup, who was in her trainer’s arms, was being crushed by the two hugging Twinleaf natives, and unleashed a Bubblebeam on Kelly, knocking her back somewhat anime style.

“What are you guys doing here?” Joe asked.

“Team Galactic are on the move” Rowan sighed. “They have already captured the legendary spirit of Lake Valor, and at the moment are attacking Lake Verity and Acuity! Galaxia’s apprentice is leading the attack on Acuity 

while Galaxia’s two stooges, Amelia and Kurik, are attacking Verity. They’ve even positioned troops in Twinleaf and Sandgem.” Kelly’s fist automatically clenched.

“Mother” she whispered, releasing Sky from her Pokeball. “I’m flying back to Lake Verity and I’m going to fight them off”

“Let me come with you” Lucas said, recalling Piplup. “I want to fight for my home as well” Kelly nodded and the two climbed onto her Skarmory.

“What about me? I have no way of getting to Lake Acuity to battle Myer fast enough to stop him from capturing Uxie” Joe sighed.

“I will be arranging for you to have an accomplice of your choice joining you” Professor Rowan said. “You see, I have two protégé’s travelling the Sinnoh Region together at the minute, both of them are from Hoenn and both have already competed in the Hoenn tournaments. May is a powerful Coordinator, while Brendan is a powerful trainer. They are both here in Canalave and are both willing to help you”

“Whichever has a Pokémon that is strong enough to transport us both to Snowpoint City” Joe said exasperatedly. Professor Rowan took out a hand held machine and typed a few commands on it before putting it away.

“Currently, the only one with a strong enough Pokémon is May, the Coordinator, and her Pokémon is an Altaria, a Dragon and Flying type Pokémon that should get you up north in no time whatsoever.”

“Okay, call her” Joe nodded. About half an hour later May had arrived. She was a very pretty girl, wearing an orange top, black short and a green bandana over long brown hair.

“Hey, I’m May”

“I’m Joe” the two Coordinators smiled at one another before Professor Rowan told them to get on their way. May nodded and took out a Pokeball, sending out her Altaria. The Dragon-type was truly beautiful, serene energy seemed to radiate off of her. The two kids climbed on and set off north, Joe clinging to the Dragon’s warm, fluffy exterior as fear and anger gripped his heart, preparing him for the upcoming battle.