Chapter XI: Gym battle bravado

       This level of the tower was different from the others in that the floor was made up of a platform shaped into something like a stage with a bridge connecting it the stairs. Where the lightwood boards weren't, dusty support beams glared up at us, separated from one another by a brown sort of plaster. Simple carvings of Bellsprout decorated the walls from floor to about a metre up and the windows and ceiling were entirely the same - aside from the trap door we'd just stumbled through, that is.

       "Just two rules, before we begin." Said the monk, his hand halting just short of the single Pokéball peeping through a fold in his robes, "First, no Pokédexes. This is a tower of spiritual values, not the information provided by the brain of a machine. Second," his eyes glittered strangely at us, as though he knew something we apparently thought he shouldn't, "we don't want the battle to be too heated… so physical attacks only."
       Knowing that a certain level of respect was due for a monk, I managed to stop my face from morphing into a nasty sneer, knowing full well the reasons for that little rule.
"The could have written that somewhere," I heard Alan's voice mutter sourly behind me, sharing my thoughts on the situation by the sound of it.
"Somewhere we could see it, even."

       Walking to the opposite side of the main square of platform from my monk opponent, I nodded in agreement with his rules. Hades, although obviously tired from our encounter of the digestive kind, managed a wag of his stubby tail and situated himself in front of me, waiting to see what he was going to be up against. Bless him for his loyalty, from a quick glance at the rest of my team I'd be doomed if it weren't for trusty ol' Hades. Arina was still passed out at Fidranger's feet; Polienix was giving me an encouraging look from her perch on the fence surrounding the edge but was still looking ready to pop it at any time; and, finally and probably most surprisingly, Raijin had allowed himself to sag slightly against the wall, raising his long nose only to hiss at Cerberus when the dog came too close.
       "Hooooooo!"
The cry of a tiny brown and tan owl jerked me back to the battle. Hopping bouncily from one pink toned foot to the other the bird Pokémon blinked lamp-like red eyes in Hades' direction and twitched two bunches of feathers that stood out from its forehead in the shape of the hands on a clock. It wasn't anything I'd ever seen before, not even from my mother's books, and I couldn't help but be a bit taken aback… Maybe this opponent was exclusive to Johto or something?

       I didn't have time to ponder though; my opponent was already ordering the first attack.
"Defend yourself with reflect," he intoned calmly, as though he did this all the time. Maybe he did.
As the owl Pokémon spun its stubby wings in quick circular directions, its red eyes lighting up as a glittering shield formed around it, I found myself protesting angrily.
"I thought you said physical attacks only!" I spluttered, throwing my hands in the air, "That doesn't look physical to me!"
       "The keyword here is probably 'attacks', Raven." Jay pointed out coolly from behind me, adding irritably, "If you'd let me handle this I could have dealt with it."
'Stress makes people stressed.' I reminded myself though gritted teeth, 'Including me.'
Trying to ignore my companion's jagged tone, I focused instead on the battle, which was getting harder by the second.
       "Hades, bite through that reflect!" I ordered, glad to see him instantly respond.
As Houndour leapt, the other Pokémon reacted. Pumping its tiny wings, it launched itself straight into the air and straight into a Double Team evasion tactic. Ten versions of the little brown bird flitted around the ceiling and the sage's head, who gazed on impassively as Hades landed heavily, his jaws a good foot short of grasping one of the many birds.

       "Don't worry," I assured the confused dog, "If we just bite them down, one at a time…" Still looking discouraged, Hades crouched low and waited for one of the clones (or maybe the real one, neither of us could tell the difference until he hit one) to fly close enough for him to catch it. For a while they took it in turns to dive close - but not close enough - to the demon puppy until the leader's attention span started to shift and one of the copies flew straight at Hades. The Houndour leapt as soon as it was in range, his sharp teeth puncturing through feather and skin alike so that the spherical bird…

…shattered. A fake, of which many more still crowed the air.
       "Okay, okay, it's alright, just try anoth-"
The sage cut me off: "Hoothoot, mass peck!"
Suddenly every single bird barrel-rolled downwards, converging on Hades and surrounding him in a tangle of beating wings. Cries of "hoot hoot hooo" practically drowned out everything else, but if I listened hard enough I could just make out the frenzied snapping of jaws and little whimpers of pain as the real 'Hoothoot' struck its mark.

       "Hades!" I cried as he let out a much louder bark, "Use… use InfernoCrunch!"
I knew it was against the rules, I honestly did, but one of the moves I'd been working with him on back on Route 31 (with limited affect, I'll add) was the first thing that popped into my head as the black puppy dog was thrown out of the swirling cloud of talons and beaks, thin red lines all over him.
       "That… That is against the rules!" the monk exclaimed as Houndour gained his paws, staggered up and dove straight at the nearest owl, flames drizzling from his jaws.
It was the real one. I knew because of the sound it made as the mixed attack of bite and ember caught it in mid-air, right around the middle, and all the clone disappeared with a pop. It screeched in agony, both talons slashing through the air in an attempt to make Hades let go, before landing a hard slash of claws right in his face. He let go in an instant, blinded momentarily, and his feathered quarry hopped back, hovering just in front of the fencing…
       "Hade, NO!" I cried, seeing the muscles rippling under his pelt as the puppy prepared to leap.
Too late - suddenly intent on revenge and still partially blinded by the scratch to his eyes, Houndour bounded forward. At the last second Hoothoot shot out of the way, Hades trying to bend in the air to snap at it. All he succeeded in doing was to bash his whole side on the thick wood of the fence and tumble to the floor.

He twitched, once, twice…. And lay still.

       For a second I froze, not quite believing that I'd just lost, before lurching forwards and crouching next to my most loyal of companions.
"Hades… hey, Hade…" I murmured, patting his head in concern.
The battered hound stirred under my touch, but he wasn't getting up soon. Gathering him up into my arms dejectedly, I turned to the sage, who was congratulating his Hoothoot on a job well done. My momentary lapse out of the world of rules didn't seem to be bothering me right now, as he petted his victorious Pokémon and offered it a fat yellow berry which it chomped down straight away.
       "Well," he offered finally, as if only just realising that I was still there, dog in arms. "I suppose you cannot be entirely blamed for being an amateur. But you still lost and are not allowed to be on this floor."
He gestured towards the door almost apologetically and I followed the pointed order, keeping my eyes trained on the ground as I passed my friends.

       My first loss! I'd only been on the road for a sliver of time and I already had a 50% loss rate. That sucked. Especially, I realised as I sulked my way to the Pokémon centre, mumbling out a goodbye to Alan as he dashed off to his aunt's house, since I happened to be a very bad loser.
       Jay and I made a beeline to the Pokémon centre, all our Pokémon but Hades himself - who I refused to let go of - returned to the safety of their Pokéballs. The tawny-haired boy looked like he wanted to say something along the lines of how he could have handled that battle better, but snapped his mouth shut as we sat in silence on a red sofa near the main desk of the 'centre.
"Cheer up," he advised after a while of waiting, "You can't exactly expect to win them all, can you? To tell the truth," he continued with a badly disguised blush, "I lost my first few battles completely."
       I couldn't help but raise an amber eye at that.
"Percentage?" I inquired, unable to stop myself.
"Ah." He replied, the floor tiles suddenly interesting, "I'd hardly say that-"
"Percentage." I repeated, trying to make it clear that I wasn't taking no for an answer.
"Alittlelessthanfortyfivepercent." He finally muttered darkly, "But only because I've always ended up fighting people much stronger than me! I'll have you know I've yet to loose a gym challenge!"
"Oh? And how many have you challenged?" I pressed slyly, feeling better by the second.
       Slowly a grin spread across his face and he pushed back his sleeve to reveal a thick band of dark green velvet tied around his wrist. Undoing the tight not with relative ease, he carefully unrolled the swath until it was lying flat on his lap, a rectangle of about ten centimetres by five. There, pinned through the material, gleamed a double-feather shaped badge, a badge resembling a flattened ladybird and yet another badge I instantly recognised as Whitney's plain badge.

       "Three?!" I exclaimed, my loss now banished completely from my mind, "THREE?! I thought you said you started only a few days before I did!"
Jay was now looking distinctly sheepish.
"I was on the road for just a bit longer than I let on, I'll admit." He muttered, rolling up the emerald material and wrapping it back around his arm to be covered up by one white sleeve "So what? I still only have a-a fortyfivepercentvictoryrate."
       When I opened my mouth to argue he raised a finger to my lips and stood up.
"The Pokémon will be healed soon, I suggest you take the time to change, we do kinda stink."
Although I wasn't ready to drop the subject, my dear devious pal had a point. Still equipped with the key for the room I'd slept in last night, I promised him adamantly that "this conversation isn't over!" and made my way into the annoyingly cheery room, with its buttercup yellow walls and pale blue carpeting. Although I didn't want to make more work for the maids, walking across that bloody carpet, leaving a trail of gooey purple footprints, gave me so much sadistic pleasure I found myself pacing back and forth before snatching my only other outfit, comprised of black t-shirt and long jean shorts entirely inappropriate for the dropping temperatures of autumn, and treating myself to a much-needed shower.

       Once the last bit of Bellsprout juice had disappeared off to sewer land I dressed and dropped the dirty clothes down a chute in the wall to be washed by Pokémon centre staff. I felt almost pampered… And so did my Pokémon, apparently, because when I arrived downstairs I found Raijin stretched out and the biggest and comfiest couch in the place, his long, scaled tail drooping over the arm, twitching lazily. He kept getting shot venomous glares by trainers hanging about waiting for their Pokémon to be healed - as long as he was there they were confined to the older, shaggier sofas and a straight-backed plastic chair sitting forlornly in the corner.
       Trying to ignore the glares of my fellow trainers as they realised I was the one responsible for the space-wasting Mydral, I trotted over to him and put my hands on my hips.
"Where's everyone gone?" I demanded, "And what gives you the right to that sofa?"
One golden eye opened a slit as Raijin turned his attention up to me, sinking deeper into the sea of cushions he'd amassed.
       "To the gym, I suspect." He yawned lazily, apparently not bothered enough to be stubborn or mysterious, "Ahside from thaht snivelling Spinahrahk, who hahs been confined to her Pokebahll. Ahs for my rights… You wouldn't understahnd. Ahfter ahll, you've never hahd the ahdahvtahge of being ahble to knock ahnyone unconscious with very little thought." he gave the nearest trainer, a short girl with curly purple hair a particularly nasty look as he said the latter, looking extremely pleased with himself.
"Of course, I'd only ever give them the tiniest of shocks…" he pledged, although the sinister look remained in his eyes.

       I sighed in exasperation, although I felt as jittery as ever under that golden stare, and took a step away from Raijin.
"If they've gone to the gym, we're going with them." I insisted, "And you're coming with me, to fight for the Zephyr badge."
Mydral snorted at this, as though the very concept itself was foolish.
       "You're wrong, humahn." he informed me icily, "I shahll not be doing ahnything for you, leahst of ahll fight ahfter ah dahy such ahs this."
My eyes narrowed, "Do I have to drag you?"
Another snort.
"Do I hahve to shock you?"

       "So," Jay laughed, "What was that you said about making him into an 'asset to your team'?"
I was finding it excruciatingly hard not to rip out his throat at that very moment, now standing outside the gym with all of his Pokémon, Hades and Polienix. I'd stomped all the way out here, having been beaten in the threatening game by that infernal dragon, only to realise that I'd left Arina behind and thus only had two Pokémon to fight against the gym trainers with. Not that my nervy Spinarak would have made much difference anyway, but fighting with only two Pokémon made me feel somewhat pathetic.
       "Oh, he'll be an asset." I muttered, glowering, "I'll buy some thumbscrews, then he'll have to respect me."
"Just make sure they're plastic," Jay advised, still grinning obnoxiously, "Or else you'll only make the situation worse!"
"Thank you for your words of wisdom, oh great one." I growled as Polienix landed on my shoulder, "I'll remember to ask you next time I need advice on how to get stuck with a 45% win rate!"

       With that I bolted into the gym, Hades at my heels, and gazed about before Jay could say anything in reply. The inside was much larger than I'd anticipated, with a high, flat ceiling and blue slate flooring that seemed to be giving off heat. Twin pillars guarded the end through which I had just entered, the names of those trainers who had defeated Falkner inscribed in neat lettering down each. Peering closer I saw just how many names there were, taking reassurance in their number. This guy couldn't be too strong if he'd lost that many times.
       I stepped out of the shady sidelines just in time to see a girl who looked about eight have a final blow dealt against her Bellsprout (argh…) by a guy’s Pidgeotto, smashing the plant Pokémon into the wall with a strong battering from its wings.
“The round goes to Violet gym defender Abe!” the ref declared, jabbing his green flag in the direction of the dungaree-clad boy.
       The girl’s lip trembled, tears welling up in her eyes, before she rushed onto the field, gathering up her Pokémon in surprisingly strong arms and sprinting through the heavy swinging doors. I watched the doors swing back to resting position before gathering myself and speaking out.
“I’d like to, uh, battle for the Zephyr badge.” I told the gym in general, feeling small at my own inexperience.

       ‘Abe’ returned his Pidgeotto to its ball, gesturing to a redheaded girl on the sidelines.
“Well, you’ve gotta beat one of Falkner’s junior trainers first.” she declared, “To qualify, if that makes sense?”
I nodded, yes, dragging my fingers through Polienix’s feathers self-consciously. She chirped reassuringly, apparently not even fazed by the curious stares she was receiving from these bird fanatics.
       “Well then,” said the girl, straightening her stiff blue gi and stepping fully into the light, “Let’s get started, huh?”
The referee, an Asian boy with thin black hair jelled into spikes, raised the flags above his head as I accepted again.
“This is a one-on-one qualification battle between the challenging trainer and defender Jean Willis of Violet gym.” he announced, “Each may use one Pokémon only! Begin!”
Jean grinned, chucking a customised white Pokéball with sky blue markings onto the field.
“Go! Fearow!” she hollered as a gangly looking brown bird with a fearsome looking beak formed in front of her.
       “Feeeear!” it squawked, sharp talons digging into the ground as if it were bare soil rather than grey slate.
I bit my lip as I realised my predicament; I was going to have to beat this girl at her own game. I was originally going to let Hades have a stab at it but now that I saw the flooring I could just picture him slipping over and over again. Thoughts of how effective Raijin's electricity would have been I cursed inwardly. Stupid dragon and his stupid attitude…

       “Pol, let’s do this.”
She blinked, not expecting me to choose her for obvious reasons, but flared her wings and fluttered into battle position on the ground. In my mind I was desperately trying to remember flying type’s weaknesses in case there were any I could exploit but my mental probe drew only blanks aside from electric and rock, neither of which were at my disposal for this battle.
       “The challenger makes an interesting decision with the rare psychic and ice flyer, Polienix!” the ref cried like an announcer to an invisible crowd, “Will size or strategy win this battle?”
I struggled not to laugh; yeah, me, strategy pro. I'd only been on the road for nearly two weeks! Not that strategy wouldn't help…

       "Arrow, speed things up with agility!" Jean ordered.
"Feeeaaarr!" it croaked in response, fired up its wide wings and taking flight.
Although the ceiling stopped it from going too high, the huge brown bird seemed used to such close quarters, using the heated floor to maintain height as it picked up speed and circled the arena. Polienix looked worried, but ready.
       I almost ordered a sand attack but, quickly realising there was no sand around to attack with, I swapped it into a command for Powder Snow. Again the temperature dropped as Pol started to concentrate, the room becoming colder and colder before white flakes started to gather.
"What a cool idea!" the ref joked rather pathetically, "I'm shivering in anticipation!"
       Looking just as disgusted as I felt, Jean ignored his commentary as it ran on through word-pun bliss and called out her counter attack.
"Stop it from concentrating with fury attack, Arrow!" she called to her bird, "If you do the temperature should rise again."
Its wings beating harder now, Arrow battled to gain just a bit more height before diving straight at Polienix just as the little bird decided to gain some height herself to whip up a gust to propel her summoned snow. The big Fearow missed her by mere centimetres as Pol rose faster than Arrow had anticipated, forcing the enemy to make a hasty slide-landing that just avoided twisting back and snapping its talons.

       "Look, look, it's on the ground!" I cried crazily, jumping up and down and pointing like a madwoman while it struggled to get back into the air with very little success, "Get it while it's down, Pol!"
Flapping her little wings, Polienix whipped up just enough of a breeze for her psychic strength to be able to maintain it, the snow swirling around in a mini-twister. A twist in the air and she was facing the grounded Arrow once again, looking one hell of a lot more confident now that she had the upper hand.
       "Damn it, watch out girl!" cried Jean, her fists clutched tightly at her sides.
"Forget about taking off again, just brace yourself!"
Lowering her head on her long neck, Fearow did just that, curving her wings like two great feathery shields as Polienix's powder snow pounded at her defences. The individual flakes bounced off her body, picked up again and thrown straight back, without much effect from what I could see. But inspiration struck…
       "Pol, let the snow build up on her!" I hollered, suddenly beaming like some sort of demented Mr. Mine, "It might slow her down enough to get in a heavier hit!"
"Ah, an interesting tactic from the challenger!" that irritating announcer-referee hybrid was commenting, "It looks like our fearless Arrow is about to find herself a bit under the weather, if you get my drift! Hahahaha!"

       Wincing (from the most recent wisecrack or the cold wet stuff currently building up on her Pokémon I couldn't tell), Jean was not looking happy.
"That's it!" she yelled, face contorting into something red and furious as her Pokémon's red head crest disappeared under the growing mound, "Arrow, Get out and use Mirror Move!"
"Ah, she'll never get out that… easily?" I stuttered in amazement as Fearow threw her wings open, a good deal of the snow flying off her feathers and plastering itself to Polienix's face.
       With an ear-rending squeak, the bigger bird whipped up a much stronger wind of her own, blasting all every last flake of Pol's attack right back at her in a terrifying snowstorm.
"Cold!" Polienix cried, a comment I couldn't help but thing was stupid coming from an ice type, folding her wings and diving under the flurry to the safety of the ground.

       "Good job!" Jean encouraged from the sidelines, "Now get in there in hit her with that Fury attack!"
With the snow gone, Fearow seemed to find it much easier to fly, something I couldn't help but think strange. She hurled herself forwards, slamming into Polienix with her beak and peaking up a storm before either of us could react. I heard a whine at knee-level as Hades hid behind my legs but ignored it.
       "Scratch!" I chanced, hoping my first Pokémon could buy herself enough time to escape the barrage.
Meanwhile, my mind was churning.
'Why? Why faster… does it have to do with the snow? Or the temperature? Or the…'

       Raijin was the worst though. His enormous wingspan just wouldn't allow him to get into the air and there was no way he was latching onto Cerb like Hades and Fidranger had done. Instead he struggled, hissing at Jay when the boy moved to help him out, and muttered angrily about "no bloody updrahft" and "pahthetic slahve dog".

       "No bloody updraft!" I choked suddenly, earning myself a strange look from the male gym trainer and the ref that I missed entirely, "That's it, that's IT! Polienix," I called to the little bird as she fled Arrow's beak, "Freeze the floor! Its warm and its letting Fearow fly well inside!"
The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Polienix and Butterfree had flown fine inside the Bellsprout because they had their minds to help them but Raijin, with his larger size and wider wingspan, had been completely and utterly ground-bound.

       "Hot damn, or, rather, cold damn, there's a strategy if I ever did see one!" whooped the announcer bloke, for once widening my grin rather than forcing it into a wince, "Let's see if Falkner's apprentice Jean and her Fearow Arrow can think a way out of this!"
"Shut up Gov, just shut the heck up!" Jean roared at the boy, who shrunk back from her invoked wrath, "You're a referee, not a bleeding announcer!"
Giving her an angry sniff, he shut his mouth even as Polienix fluttered about like a crazed Venomoth near a lamp, cooling the floor down as best as she could with concentrated bursts of snow and ice.
       "Arrow, we've got to work fast. She's flying about, she's psychic type, there's only one thing for it!" sneering at Polienix as though she were some sort of scum, Jean shouted, "PURSUIT!"
"Ohno." I squeaked, as the gangly bird gathered her deepest reserves of strength and forced herself into the air, "Pol, fly faster! That's a dark type move!"
Seeming to realise her predicament, did exactly as she was told, continuing to cool down the floor as though her life - or at least consciousness - depended on it. Arrow was fast though, now that she had only one target in her mind the big Fearow didn't seem to mind that her wings were beating at top speed just to stay aloft, or that the ceiling wasn't as high as she would have liked. Powering her way along, she had only victory in mind.
       "Use agility to speed up!" Jean commanded, although it didn't take a genius to see that her precious Fearow was at top speed already.
And gaining, I realised with a gulp, gaining fast.
"Polienix, if you don't speed up she's gonna-" "I know, I know!" the little creature responded, "Trust me!"

       Dropping the cooling beam, she put full attention into flying, using her psychic abilities to perform otherwise impossible turns. Arrow, tight on her tail, was having a hard time keeping up even with the steadily warming floor but each foot lost just drove her to try harder. As she reached the wall behind Jean, Pol changed direction again, flying straight back at Arrow. At the last second she dove, talons scraping harshly along the ground, and ducked right beneath the bigger bird to fly back towards the gap between winner's pillar and the wall. Arrow barely turned in time to avoid the wall but came tearing back as though her tail feathers were on fire, careening towards the gap… a gap Pol herself could barely squeeze through…
       "Arrow, NO!" Jean cried out in horror, seeing all too well what my surprisingly devious little bird had cooked up.
But she was too late; Polienix clipping in her wings and soared out the other side while Arrow the Fearow, with a resounding crunch, smashed one wing off the pillar and tossed herself at full speed into the wall. She toppled, breath harsh in the back of her throat, to the ground and lay there with even less motion than Hades had retained after his scrap with the Hoothoot.

       "ARROW!" Jean screamed, sprinting from her position on the other side of the arena before the ref even started to announce her defeat, "Oh gawd, Arrow…"
As she lifted the Fearow's head into her lap I felt a wave of guilt - it was my fault that bird was in such a state. But then, would Polienix have gotten off any lighter? I doubted it. While Jean returned her well and truly beaten Pokémon to her ball, I let Pol land on my shoulder and stroked her feathers gently. Her chest was still heaving from exertion, but there was an ecstatic look of victory glowing in her eyes.
       "I like this!" she chirped enthusiastically, "We have to go far if I can fight more battles like that! Did you see me beat that great big bird? Did ya? Did ya?!"
"Beat is a bit of an understatement," I responded with a grin, "You thrashed that big buzzard."
Practically beaming with pride, Polienix kept her head held high as the referee walked over with some sort of stamp pad in his hand.
       "That was fab!" he told us, "Absolutely marvellous!"
I found myself expecting a 'darling' tagged on the end and when it didn't come felt a bit let down. Eccentrics were hard to come by, but extremely entertaining, as my father always said. I glanced at the stamp pad.
"Uh, what's that for?"

       He blinked, for a second shocked out of his over the top personality, "You don't… know?"
"No, she ahsked you just for the fun of it." a familiar voice drawled.
I raised an eyebrow at Raijin, who was giving Gov the referee a dead stare.
"I thought you weren't coming?" I asked of the self-centred dragon who, to my amazement, seemed to blush.
"Stupid old lahdy with her stupid photo ahlbum…" he grumbled under his breath, scales sticking out in a fluster.
       "Ahem." Coughed the boy, making sure we hadn't forgotten about him entirely, "The stamp is given to trainers who beat one or the other of Falkner's junior trainers. As long as it stays on your hand you may challenge him, understood?"
"So that means I have how long…?"
"Considering that it's fairly late right now, darling," a silent 'yesssssss!' on my part at the sacred word, "You probably only have about three tries at most. You'd be surprised how easily these things come off while you're asleep." He continued conversationally, taking my pale hand in his and stamping a blue image of the Zephyr badge with the words "approved" written underneath in block capitals onto my skin. I peered at it in interest, titling my hand back and forth under the lights of the gym, before nodding my approval.

       "You up for it?" I asked of Polienix, a bit worried that she'd be too tired to fight after both the events of earlier and the fight against Arrow.
Her eyes glinted almost scarily; I'd never expected this cute looking baby bird to be so fight-inclined, "Yup!"
Hades just wagged his tail when I asked him the same, stopping only to growl at Raijin, who, in turn, gave me a look of pure 'fine, damn you.' The other junior trainer - Abe - stopped us as we neared the stairs even though he'd watched the fight already.
"Protocol." He muttered, before stepping back and allowing my Pokémon and I to proceed.
       We immerged in a fairly posh study, quite dark aside from the lamp turned on low in one corner. A young man with glossy black hair sat in a black leather chair underneath it, deeply engrossed in a thick book bound in brown material. With its royal blue carpet and dark wood trim, the room gave me the impression of a rich executive's quarters, not a gym leader's pad.
       Feeling fairly uncomfortable, I fake coughed to get the man's attention, his head snapping up instantly.
"Sorry," he apologised, holding up the book for me to see before slipping a long brown Pidgeotto feather in the pages to keep his place and putting the book carefully on a desk.
From the way he skirted around things and stepped especially cautiously, I got the impression that Falkner was about as comfortable as I was in here. Dressed in a plain white uniform, oriental in style, he didn't really fit in with the room and seemed off-put by the fact.

       "You're here to battle, I suppose." He assumed, dark green eyes shifting from my face to the curious bird on my shoulder in fascination.
"Is that a Polienix, by any chance?" he inquired, reaching out a hand when I nodded, "Could I hold her for a second?"
"You'd have to ask her-" I started, but my Pokémon had already hopped from shoulder to offered arm and was studying Falkner with as much interest as he was showing her.
       My discomfort increased as he hmmed softly while inspecting my first companion without a glance in my direction. Raijin yawned.
"Hey," I finally interrupted, when Hades suddenly expressed an interest in the taste of an expensive table leg, "This stamp thing won't be here forever, you know." I realised how rude I Must have sounded, by the flying gym leader looked so far off in his own little word that I doubted he'd even noticed.
"Oh, of course." He muttered, proving me right as he handed over my Pokémon with a dazed look on his face. Shaking it off, the man continued in a more down-to-business tone, "This way, please."

       The next flight of stairs was much more practical than the last, plain grey concrete leading up to a rooftop covered in packed dirt. Out here I knew that updraft would be coming off the building itself so Falkner must have decided to help his birds out by giving them an easy to grasp surface to fight on. Fair enough, all my Pokémon were clawed too and could easily use this terrain to their advantage.
       After surveying my team, Falkner nodded to himself and strode over to one of the two trainer platforms sticking out of the ground. Huge and solid, the two platforms had ladders at the back and safety barriers all around to stop anyone falling off. Positioned at either side of the roof, they allowed a trainer to have the best view over the fight as well as reducing the number of injuries caused by stray attacks. I couldn't help thinking that, in this gym, height perhaps wasn't the safest way to go but climbed up to mine anyway, returning Hades to his Pokéball to get him up there while Raijin and Polienix flew.
       "Ready?" Falkner called, throwing a black luxury ball onto the field when I gave the affirmative nod.
The familiar flash of scarlet lit up the field, building up to form the distinctive shape of a Pidgey. With short legs, stubby wings and brown and tan feathers, Pidgey were both extremely common and extremely stubborn fighters. What they lacked in strength they more than made up for with sheer tenacity.
       I looked down at my team, "Any takers?" Hades let out a short yap, his tongue lolling out of his mouth, and stepped up to fight. Polienix looked slightly upset that she wasn't the one fighting, but Houndour seemed to want to make up for his earlier failure now.

       "Alright Pidgey, start off with a quick attack!" Falkner ordered, his arms crossed over his white-covered chest.
The bird Pokémon leapt straight into the air, the sun behind it making me squint as I tried to keep tabs on the small creature.
"Don't let it hit you! Use a smog attack to limit its vision!" I ordered, suddenly feeling extremely tense. I think my brain had finally recognised that, yes, this was a gym battle and, no, I couldn't afford to loose.
       Detecting the urgency in my voice, Hades drew in air before expelling it hard as a thick green gas, one that spiralled up towards the diving Pidgey.
"Pidge-yah!" it squawked, disappearing into the cloud of poisonous gases.
I could hear it coughing and spluttering within the cloud, the odd feather appearing through the edge of the fog before being sucked back in.
       Falkner frowned, letting his crossed arms fall to his sides in a less confident position.
"Clear the smog with gust attack, Pidgey!" he commanded, "And try not to breath in too much of that stuff."
"Oh no you don't, Hades! Ember!" I snapped gripping the railing that surrounded my platform.
Pidgey flapped hard and well, the great gusts of wind coming off it dispatching the gas straight up and off into the atmosphere. But it had only just gotten rid of the last few puffs of the smog when Hades' well-aimed ember soared up from his jaws, a roaring fireball that slammed right into its feathery chest, sending the creature spinning head over tail backwards.

       "Aaaand bite!" I cried, punching the air enthusiastically and nearly dislodging Polienix from my shoulder.
Before Pidgey could recover it found itself snatched out of the air in Hades' powerful maw and thrown into the base of Falkner's platform as he landed hard on all fours and released his grip at the last moment. For a second I thought the bird was knocked out, only to be corrected as it extended one wing and heaved itself back onto its talons. Pidgey looked well under the weather by this time, panting like a dog with its wings spread on the ground in front of it. Still, it looked like it was ready to go to the ends of the earth for its trainer, making me wonder exactly how Falkner did it.
       "It's weak now, Hade." I told him, "It won't be hard to finish it off."
But Falkner was shaking his head.
"Pidgey, return." He ordered, holding up the ball as his bird was absorbed in a brilliant beam of red light. Seeing the confused look on my face he continued, "I can afford to be one Pokémon down. This next one will be able to make up for it. Go, Hurricane!"

       From the resulting burst of light came a much larger bird than Pidgey had been, with the same tan and brown feathers and black markings around the eyes I could tell that it was an evolved form.
"Pidgeotto." my Pokédex identified it as, "The Bird Pokémon. Very protective of its sprawling territorial area, this Pokémon will fiercely peck at any intruder."
The medium sized flyer was currently raking its pale pink beak through the golds and reds of its tail feathers, preening for all it was worth. It glanced up when the entry ended, eyes glinting. But suddenly it blinked, its head jerking back, before taking to the air to peer into my trainer's box. The glint quickly returned and I swear that thing smirked (although it had a beak, making such an action impossible) before setting back down on the ground.
       "Okay Hades, it can't be that strong." I assured him, flicking my ponytail over the shoulder not taken up by Pol, "Ember that Pidgeotto to kingdom come!"
"Oh no you don't! Hurricane! Sand attack!"
Pidgeotto did more than a simple sand attack. Soaring high over the offending ball of fire, it flew down right in front of Hades, whipping up a huge cloud of sand that it threw into the puppy's eyes. With a yelp of surprise and pain, the Houndour stumbled backwards, eyes clenched shut, and hadn't the time to even start to defend himself before Pidgeotto's beak found purchase on the scruff of his neck. A yelp of fear was all he managed as the scarily strong Hurricane hauled him into the air and just kept going higher!
       I wanted to order a defence of some sort, anything to get rid of the advantage that bird currently had, but they were now about twenty feet up and I just couldn't risk it.
"Feeling a bit airsick?" our enemy crowed, suddenly performing a loop-de-loop in the air that sent Hades into a whimpering fit, "Ah, don't worry. You can kiss the ground soon enough."
       With that he dove, Hades dangling beneath him, swooping past Falkner and covering half the arena before releasing the dog and sending him tumbling across the packed dirt. Hades kept sliding all the way to the edge of the rooftop before slamming into the safety railing with a heavy thud. I ran to look down at him, a ting sounding behind me of claws on metal.

       "I see you're ahs pahthetic ahs ever, Hurricane," Raijin sneered, front paws up on the railing as he criticised the other Pokémon, "Still cahn't fight ah strahight fight."
"And I'm sure you're just perfect now, Jin-Jin." Hurricane spat right back, "Unless I'm much mistaken you've many more marks to your name than I do, dear chum."
My head turned slowly to look at them as Hades managed to stand up again on the lower level. Confusion blossomed; did these two know one another?
       "I'll show you whaht-"
Hurricane merely laughed, "You? Show me something? I hope you don't mean on the battlefield, Jin-Jin, because I assure you that I will not be the one learning." he paused for a second before snorting out, "I could, of course, learn a lot from you about failure… You know what I mean, eh?"
       I thought I'd seen the worst of Raijin's fury, but I knew just how wrong I was now. Not attacking, not yelling or anything of the sort, Raijin simply turned around to me and said, "Let me fight him."
I was surprised he'd asked, but it quickly occurred to me that perhaps he wanted a proper trainer battle to make sure that any victory he might gain was official. I'd seen fighters at my dad's gym do the same, something of a grudge match.
       But still… I shook my head, "No way! You won't even obey me and this is my first ever gym battle!"
"Fine!" he snapped, "I'll obey you just this once and only if you give me decent… commahnds."
'Oh, yummy.' thought my mind as I leapt at the chance to have my electric-type Pokémon actually obey in a flying-type gym.
I held out my hand without a moment's hesitation, "Deal. Hades is tired anyway, he needs a break."
Raijin's long nose wrinkled at the offered hand, "Just becahse I'm obeying you doesn't meahn I hahve to touch you." he spat, spreading both wings and leaping from the platform as Hades grudgingly allowed himself to be recalled into his Pokéball.

       "That probably wasn't the wisest thing you've ever done," Falkner informed me, giving Raijin I good long stare, "You had a two-one advantage that you just threw out the window."
"Says he who returned his Pidgey." I muttered darkly in response, my tone changing to one of 'wow-this-is-so-cool' as I yelled to Raijin, "Agility!"
To my surprise - but not necessarily dislike - the powerful Mydral did as he was told instantly, throwing himself into the burst of speed he forced his muscles to provide. He started running a figure eight pattern, little more than a purple blur, as Hurricane glided lazily above him on outstretched wings.
       "Knock that Mydral off-course with gust." Falkner commanded his ruthless Pokémon, arms crossed once again.
Hurricane ignored this command entirely, saying only, "Wait a second, Falkner, I know what I'm doing."
The gym leader's jaw dropped, quite literally. His calm composition gone, he simply gaped at the Pidgeotto flying above. I got a sneaking suspicion Falkner was in no way used to being ignored. Myself on the other hand… I was just enjoying this rare spectacle of draconic obedience while it lasted.
       "Alright, Headbutt!" I called, hoping to put all that speed to use.
This time Raijin did hesitate for just a fraction of a second before acquiescing to my request. He charged 'round the curve of his figure eight, dug in all four sets of golden talons and flew from the ground, huge gashes in the packed earth left from each claw. He was moving at quite a speed, only spreading his wings once he reached the top of his jump, and fought hard to maintain that speed as he flew at Hurricane.
       "You can do better than that!" the Pidgeotto exclaimed, flapping up a quick gust as he propelled himself out the way.
"Indeed." Raijin agreed with a sadistic smirk, suddenly flaring his wings as if to stop and letting the gust flip him in the air.
Like the bullwhip I so often compared it to, his long scaled tail sailed through the air as Mydral spun, lashing out and making solid contact with Hurricane's chin.

       I saw my chance, that physical contact would multiply the strength of Raijin's Thundershock by a lot, and called out the order for an electric strike. Before Hurricane could move away, he wrapped his tail was around the Pidgeotto's wing and sent a full jolt of electricity straight into its body.
"Pidgeoooo!" Hurricane screeched, the sparks setting every feather on his body on end so that he resembled a flying fluffy toy.
       Forced to release his prey to avoid falling, Raijin allowed himself to go with the flip and used his momentum to turn back the right way up, wings catching the wind and billowing out like two huge sails.
"That was superb!" I called up to him, "Now if you could just-"
"Pidgeooootto!" screamed a furious bird, slamming his entire shoulder into Raijin's midsection before the dragon could do anything to stop him.
       Raijin's instant response was an uncontrolled burst of Thundershock, one that ran through both Pokémon and caused them to split apart, smoking slightly.
"Quick attack!" Falkner tried again, this time eliciting the desired response from Hurricane, who charged forwards before Raijin could regain his lost breath.
He cried out, wing edge just clipping Pidgeotto's face as he was thrown out of the air and into the metal railing in the same way that had knocked out Hades earlier. For a second it looked as though he'd been similarly affected, but the mass of purple struggled stubbornly up just in time to leap out of the way of a secondary strike that nearly brained Hurricane as he shot between rail and rooftop. Banking hard out over Violet, he cleared the rail on the way back, only to collide with Raijin as he performed a flying tackle at my command.

       "Aerial Ace!" Falkner suddenly barked, confusing me.
How did…?

How didn't matter.

Hurricane had hit the ground aft being knocked out the sky by Raijin but now leapt up the meet the dragon, wings, beak and talons all smashing into his side. Letting out a roar of agony, he landed hard and staggered, rivulets of blood spilling from the inflicted wounds.
       "Raijin!" I called to him, "We can quit, you know that we can-"
"Shut up humahn!" he snarled in response, wincing as the inflation of his lungs sent spikes of pain through his side, "This fight shahll not be lost!"
With each shuddering breath he took Raijin was wincing, but even without his words I could see that he wasn't giving up. Claws still dug into the earth, wings slightly open, tail thrashing… he didn't look anywhere near beaten.
       "Quick, gust again and finish him!" Falkner bellowed, a winner's glint in his eyes.
As determined as he was, I could see the tiniest bit of indecision in Mydral and snatched up the chance to prove that I wasn't just a human burden.
"Use your wings!" I hollered to him, smiling encouragingly as his scaled head swung around to look at me in confusion, "Shield yourself with your wings and attack as soon as the winds let up!"
Raijin raised his chin and for a second I thought he was going to ignore me but then, almost imperceptibly, nodded in agreement and curve both leathery appendages up and around as living protection just like Arrow the Fearow had done earlier. I could only hope that he came out better than our feathered opponent of downstairs had…

       Right now I couldn't tell. Wind and dust pummelled the stretched membranes, bouncing off like tiny ricocheting bullets as Hurricane urged them on. Pidgeotto didn't look like he was going to ever let the winds die down, his wings beating almost manically as he hurled the last of his strength at Raijin's defences. It was then, watching the two of them with my lip being gnawed on by my teeth, that I noticed the tiny bit of forward movement on Raijin's part. It was almost unnoticeable, but when I turned all attention to the electric dragon I was absolutely certain that he was edging towards his opponent.
       I was so busy staring, in fact, that I didn't realise that Falkner was staring at me until some forgotten part of my mind registered the eyes boring into my head. I jerked back into reality, looking up just in time to see the flying-type gym leader's dark green eyes flicker to Mydral, a sort of understanding lighting up in their depths.
       "Hurricane." He called almost quietly above the moan of the winds, "Be careful."
His Pokémon risked a glance up at his trainer, wondering what the hell he meant, but it was a risk he shouldn't have taken.
"NOW!" I bellowed, surprising Polienix right off me, and Mydral shot forwards like a coiled spring let loose.

       The primary impact winded Hurricane, smashing him onto his back in the dirt where he writhed in a failing attempt to right himself.
"No! Not you!" he shrieked with the last tiny bit of breath in his compressed lungs as Raijin towered over him.
"Yes, me." the dragon bragged, lifting one clawed paw and placing it on his fallen foe's heaving chest.
       I decided not to shout any further orders, letting my Pokémon perform the final blow. The air around the triumphant dragon crackled and snapped as he prepared to finish off Hurricane… when a bolt of red shot out and stole the fallen bird from under his claws. Raijin whipped around to face Falkner angrily, blood still seeping down his side, and let out a low growl.
"I won." he declared, "Now let me finish whaht we stahrted."
       Falkner shook his head, looking almost disgusted.
"A Pokémon battle isn't about making the other side faint, as such. You've already won, why put Hurricane through any more pain just to prove what has already happened?"
"I didn't see thaht sort of compahssion from you when the humahn girl's slahve dog wahs on the receiving end, humahn leahder." Raijin snarled straight back, "It is my right."
       "Call him off." Falkner ordered me in a strained voice as Raijin started to stalk towards him, eyes fixated on the Pokéball in his hands.
I coughed in embarrassment, "I'm not sure I can… Raijin, leave off. You don't want to stoop to that bird-brain's level, do you?"
The dragon stopping in mid-step, shivering with exertion as he fought not to collapse.
"Who says I'm not alreahdy on his level, humahn?" he finally inquired slowly, head not turning to face me.
"I didn't see you dangling any helpless puppies twenty metres in the air." I pointed out as calmly as possible, "Unless you did that behind my back…?"

       Raijin snorted, apparently taking this into minor consideration. As he glanced back at me, I saw Falkner mouth "return him" to me across the field but didn't comply. If there was one way to make Mydral mad, that was it.
"Fine." The irate dragon finally snapped, stalking back to my side of the arena, "Consider yourself lucky: two fahvours from me in one day."
Although the tiny matter of his nearly killing me earlier instantly leapt to mind at this statement, I knew when I was pushing it. This was one dragon who would not put up with being messed with any more than he already had.
       After recalling Raijin to his Pokéball, explaining that it would probably help avoid worsening his wounds, I climbed carefully down the ladder of my platform, the sky darkening overhead. I glanced up as I shook hands with Falkner to see a thick layer of black clouds taking over the sky, quite clearly threatening to rain.
'How fitting,' I thought sourly as the first big drops of rain started to fall and we both made a dash for the stairs, 'My first gym badge and the sky decides to celebrate in such a jolly fashion. Lovely.'

       Back inside that hated posh study, Falkner slid open a drawer in a big oak desk to reveal a whole lot of mess and a bow full of Zephyr badges. I fought not to let my feeling of individuality and greatness slip as I saw those, an effort aided by my pride as he slid the thumb-size silver badge into my palm. The same shape as my stamp - two angelical wings folded side-by side and joined at the base - the badge was cool and smooth to the touch, a few lines carved in for effect.
"You might want to work on getting that Mydral to obey you though." Falkner advised as he showed me out, "Otherwise he might actually turn on you one day." Trying not to let him see my flaming cheeks at his very accurate observation, I stooped my body over Polienix and sprinted out into the rain that was now coming down in stair rods.
       Ducking into the Pokémon centre I found Jay and Magenix seated in the restaurant area, a familiar Pokéball sitting on the seat beside my male friend. He looked up as I walked over, dripping but still beaming.
"You won then, I suppose?" he said, my expression revealing all.
"Of course," I responded brightly, wringing out my hair onto the floor and earning myself a dirty look from a passing Chansey before plopping myself down across from Magenix.

       After sliding my new badge into my pocket for safe-keeping, I leant forwards and started to replay the two battles to Jay in great detail, feeling the happiest I had in ages. This journey was even better than I'd imagined it to be. No complaints from me… even about draconic enigmas.

      I hjave no idea what's causing it. Maybe it's the sudden relief from writer's block, maybe it's that I just started a crazy rating movement at SPPf (see link of the chapter) or maybe it's that I got my first two reviews on this site in AGES! Mega thanks to Celebi and DigiX, you guys made my day. On the subject of boxes with red crosses in the corners, embaressing author's notes and somewhat wacky early chapters, my remedy for all that is the great and all powerful re-submission. I still have the originals, in their ugly font and scary author's notes, saved to my PC an I have to say I have benefitted well from Jolt's kindness and the power that is Photobucket. ^.~
      I hope this chapter was somewhere near as interesting as random eating by pillars (it's the dreams! A blame it all on them!) although I'll admit that battle-writing doesn't seem my strongest point. I tried to build up suspension, think out good battle plans etc. etc. but I'm not too sure it worked... but at least I tried. Next chapter has left me wondering what to do though... I have Goldenrod all planned out so maybe I should just skip the route trip entirely and describe it as a "after three days travelling, training and battling we arrived at" rather than any drawn out scene. Maybe, or maybe not. Buchos Machias (and don't ask what that means since I don't know),

~Obsidian