I sat in the waiting room of Blackthorn City’s gym silently. One of my legs bouncing restlessly despite my attempts to calm myself down. My fists were laced together tightly, knuckles bone white, a grim expression carved on my face. I probably looked like I was attending the funeral of someone dear to me, rather than waiting for a Gym battle.

  Every single one of my family members were in their designated Poke balls. Fully rested after three days of intense training, and reworking our strategy.

  They trusted in the plan that I had haphazardly stitched together, even though it was a monumental gamble, one that could drag us to victory or a catastrophic defeat. Sure, we could rechallenge Clair after a week-long grace period, but every plan I devised for each of my team members would be expected from then on.

  Our best shot for a win was now.

  The floor shook the entire waiting hall, rattling the metal benches and briefly shaking the entire building. The current match that was happening in the Gym’s arena was reaching its finale. I lifted my to stare at the metal doors that separated me from the battlefield.

  A few minutes later, the conclusion of their fight had been decided. The floor shuddered one last time, and the metal doors slid open. A Trainer burst through the hallway, rushed out of the waiting room, and out of the Gym without a word. I could see her unshed tears as she frantically exited the building to get her Pokemon healed.

  ‘Well, ain’t that reassuring.’ I said in my head, my hands– already cold from the stress– were now outright frigid.

  One of the Gym’s staff stepped into the waiting room. “Leader Clair will take a ten-minute break before your match.” He announced. I could only manage a stiff nod in reply before he turned and left.

  ‘Wonderful. Exactly what I needed– extra time to overthink myself into an early grave.’ I grumbled sarcastically in my head. But more time to think didn’t sound all that bad.

  I looked down at the seven Poke balls clipped to my belt and smiled, looking back at the week of preparation. They had pushed themselves harder than before. Our family had poured their hearts into training for this battle. Their dedication had pushed me to work twice as hard to craft a strategy that would lead us to victory. I couldn’t be prouder of us.

  We clawed our way up to this point through sheer, collective willpower alone. The beginning years were brutal.

  No one wanted to travel with us. “You’re just not someone we’d travel with.” They’d say.

  No one wanted to sponsor a Poison type Specialist. “You and your Pokemon just aren’t marketable enough.” They’d insisted.

  There was no support. No one took a chance on us.

  But we endured.

  We pushed through the hardest of challenges, the harshest of routes, survived from the brink of collapse, picked ourselves back up and pressed on.

  Every victory was an answer to everyone who had doubted us, dismissed our strength, called us forgettable.

  They’d say “No one outside of Fuchsia’s infamous ninja clan of Poison experts had taken the type this far. No outsider had ever reached the Indigo Plateau or the Silver Conference using Poison types other than them.”

  ‘I’ll– No. We’ll prove them all wrong.’ I thought, even as the anxiety was beginning to twist my gut. ‘We didn’t need travelling companions, we didn’t need a sponsor, and we certainly didn't have a clan to support us to make it this far… We’ll prove ourselves today. I’ll prove myself to them. T0–’

  “Sir, Loki.” I snapped back from my thoughts as the Gym staffer re-entered the waiting room. I rose to my feet as he handed me the customary lapel, standard issue for every Gym battle to amplify a Trainer’s voice so their Pokemon could hear their commands clearly while in battle.

  “I’ll give you the signal when it’s time to walk out.” He said.

  I nodded, clipping the small microphone on the collar of my jacket.

  A few short moments later he lifted his hand in a wave, signalling for me to walk. I heard the echoed cheers of the audience thunder in the hallway. ‘Here we go,’ I breathed in as I stepped forward. ‘Time to slay titans.’

  I stepped out to only a few cheers compared to the roaring applause from moments before. I stood on the elevated metal platform overlooking the battlefield.

  The terrain looked similar to a barren wasteland, small hills jutting up from random places, jagged stalagmites protrude from the ground in clusters, a perimeter of glowing, magma-like liquid encircled the field, and a small lake at the center for Water types. A faint psychic barrier enveloped the arena, maintained by League trained Mr.Mime and Alakazam, shielding both trainers and the audience from stray attacks.

  Standing at the opposite side of the battlefield was her. Clair Blackthorn. Draped in her classic attire, sleek bodysuit, tall boots, the classic Blackthorn cape sweeping dramatically to the side. She cut a striking figure under the sunlight from the Gym’s open roof.

  She looked sharp, focused. Wearing that same confident smile for when she appeared in public.

  The thought that she might remember me had me on edge, but she gave no signs.

  “Challenger,” Clair spoke, her voice commanding, carrying effortlessly across the entire arena. “This match is for your eight and final Gym Badge. This’ll be a six-on-six battle with only three switches allowed.”

  Her gaze sharpened, focused. “You must clearly declare whether you are switching or withdrawing a Pokemon from the field.”

  Then her tone became cold. “Killing any of my Pokemon will result in an instant disqualification from qualification to the Silver Conference and a ban from participating in the Gym challenge until the remainder of this season.”

  I gave a nod. Standard Gym battle rules, nothing new. Yet, despite that, a quiet smile crept onto my face. Beneath all the ‘Mightier than thou’ facade, the love she had for her Pokemon was still unmistakable.

  “Challenger,” She said, eyes locked on mine. “Send out your first Pokemon.”

  I nodded, unclipping Kite’s Great ball before tossing it high in the air. The sphere burst open in a flash of red, and my Crobat emerged, wings slicing in the air as he hovered above the battlefield.

  My gaze flicked back to Clair, watching for any sign of surprise. If she’d done her research, and I knew she had, she’d be expecting my standard lead. Scorpio, my Toxapex. ‘So why not change the script?’

  She showed no sign of shock, her gaze locked on Kite to recall her research in a glance. Then, without hesitation, she hurled an Ultra ball skyward.

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  It burst open in a flare of red light, and from it surged a towering Dragon. Green scales gleaming beneath the sun, red goggle-like eyes sweeping across the battlefield. Rhombus-shaped wings unfurled, casting a menacing shadow over the field.

  ‘Flygon. Ground and Dragon type.’ I couldn’t stop the sigh that slipped past my lips. ‘Of all the options she had, she chose the one with the type advantage. As if battling you wasn’t tough enough already?’

  “Trainer’s ready?” The referee called.

  Clair and I nodded in unison.

  He raised his arm up, held it for a heartbeat, then brought it down in a clean arc. “Begin!”

  “Tailwind!”

  “Dragon Rush.”

  I shouted as soon as the match was officially underway.

  Kite answered with a piercing screech, his wings beating hard as violent winds surged forward, kicking dust up in the air.

  Clair’s own command was calm and focused.

  The Mystic Pokemon was wreathed with majestic blue flames of draconic energy. The violent flames crawled across its scales as it surged forward, slightly slowed, as the Tailwind pushed it back.

  “Make distance!” Crobat responded instantly, clicking his mandibles as he used winds to maneuver faster across the battlefield.

  “Scale Shot.” Clair’s voice rang out. Flygon hissed as it closed in on Kite, curling its body tightly before bursting outward in a brilliant display. Dozens upon dozens of its flaming scales tore free, flying like shards of shrapnel.

  “Acrobatics to dodge.” I countered.

  Crobat clicked rapidly, twisting and weaving expertly in the air as he dodged. My eyes narrowed as the flaming scales that flew passed him seemed to turn and streak toward him again. ‘So they can hone in, huh? That’s just unfair.’ I complained in my head.

  “Dragon Claw.” Clair followed up, the Flygon burst forward, draconic energy flaring in both of its claws.

  “Can’t outrun them forever.” I muttered. “Bombardment!” I commanded. My voice sharp.

  He understood instantly, soaring high in the sky as Poison coalesced beneath his wings. Once at a great height, he began slicing through the air, raining massive streams of toxic liquid down onto the battlefield, intercepting both Flygon and several of the incoming scales.

  The dragon growled, swiping at the downpouring poison, and sending a few bursts of draconic flames of his own.

  Kite titled expertly to the side, continuing to unleash the relentless toxic bombardment on the ground below.

  ‘Time to get annoying.’ I smirked. “Double Team!” I shouted just as Flygon lunged, claws aimed at Kite. In an instant, the Crobat blurred out of its vision, multiplying into indistinguishable copies that circled the dragon.

  Clair remained unshaken. “Scale Shot.” She repeated. Flygon curled into itself again.

  No doubt the shards would have eviscerated the surrounding clones.

  ‘Not like I’d let you.’ I thought.

  “Confuse Ray!” I followed up immediately. Every pair of eyes from all the Crobat that surrounded Flygon shimmered and swirled, as hypnotic rays shot out toward it from all directions.

  Flygon roared as the Confuse Rays struck, its focus shattered. The build up for Scale Shot fading as the dragon flailed in the air erratically. Pulses of raw Dragon energy crackled from its body, the Dragon Rush engulfing its scales flaring brighter than before, heating its scales up and causing damage to itself.

  I knew the confusion wouldn’t last forever. We had to strike while we could.

  “Sludge Bomb, Shadow Ball!” I yelled.

  Kite’s many clones responded, unleashing a barrage of poison bombs and ghostly orbs that struck the flailing dragon.

  Flygon let out a pained growl as the barrage of attacks struck simultaneously, but its imposing form barely flinched. The confusion had already subsided, and the dragon refocused and built up another Scale Shot.

  I shouted for Kite to dive, and all the Crobat plunged down to avoid the incoming attack. Yet despite several of the clones flying in to intercept the blazing shards, and Kite expertly maneuvering the air. His original body was clipped and Kite screeched sharply.

  I gritted my teeth. I hoped to keep him out a bit longer, but I wanted him in the back of Clair’s mind, being a constant nuisance. “I switch.” I said to the referee, he nodded, raising a hand up to pause the battle.

  I smiled up at Kite as I recalled him in his Great ball. ‘You did well setting us up.’ I thought as I tossed my next Pokemon toward

  “How delightful. It’s my turn already?” Cassian’s voice chimed pleasantly in my mind as he emerged from the red light of his Quick ball.

  A ripple of murmurs rolled out from the audience that had not seen me battle before, taken aback by the sight of the unique form of my Slowking as he playfully waved at a group of children watching from the front row.

  The referee brings down his hand, signaling for the battle to resume.

  “Bring forth an Earth Power” Clair ordered, and Flygon followed instantly, plunging toward the earth to use for its attack.

  But I had a small advantage now. With Cassian on the field, I didn’t need to use my voice to issue commands. I could feel him sifting through my imagination, he already knew my intention before I could even voice them.

  “I know.” He said through our psychic connection as an abundance of Toxic Spikes, as large as the stalagmites that scattered in the Gym, formed from the poison scattered along the field.

  Before Clair could issue a retreat, Flygon was already impaled by Cassian’s creations, formed with precision to allow penetration between its hardened scales.

  “Calm yourself,” Clair commanded. “Break free– Dragon Rush.” The dimming embers on Flygon’s body roared to life once more as the heat began to soften and warp under the radiance of draconic energy, hissing as they slowly melted away.

  I thought of a way to stall them, Cassian was already in motion. “Already ahead of you.” He quipped calmly, a ball of frigid energy forming at his maw. The Ice Beam cuts through the distance, hitting Flygon dead on.

  The mist that followed the attack lingered, before slowly dissipating to reveal Flygon entombed in solid ice.

  “I know you can still fight,” Clair’s voice boomed. “Scorching Sands.”

  My eyes widened as the ice around Flygon’s maw glowed a fierce orange. Cracks spiderwebbed through the frozen block before it shattered, sending pieces of ice outward. A storm of superheated sand swallowed the battlefield as Flygon roared.

  Cassian quickly conjured a protective barrier around himself, but his reflexes weren't fast enough. A few glowing wisps of scorching sand slipped past his shield, searing his skin.

  ‘You gotta be fuckin’ kidding me?’ I fumed in my head. ‘All of that and you’re still standing?’

  “You’re tellin’ me, partner.” Cassian’s voice echoed in my mind.

  “Good,” Clair gave the dragon a faint smile as the last wisps of the sandstorm cooled down and dissipated. “Earth Power.”

  With a deafening roar, the dragon slammed its claws to the ground, cracks bursted outward, as a multitude of jagged spikes shot toward Cassian.

  Slowking remained perfectly still, unmoving even as the jagged earth spikes surged toward him. “Uh… Cass?’ I thought frantically.

  “Worry not,” he replied calmly, his feeling of amusement flooding in my mind. Just as the spikes were about to strike him, they abruptly stopped. I waited– and waited, then my eyes whipped to Flygon as it growled, then suddenly collapsed.

  “Estimations met. The medicine I injected has taken effect.” Cassian laughed in my head.

  I blinked as the realization hit me. The Toxic Spikes from earlier had actually poisoned Flygon? I hadn’t noticed because it felt like the dragon was still fighting with full strength.

  A sense of relief washes over me as the referee called it. “Flygon is unable to battle. Leader Clair, send out your next Pokemon.”

  Clair nodded solemnly, recalling the dragon to its Ultra ball. I saw her stare at it for a few moments before she fell into a contemplative stance.

  I shook my head, forcing myself to refocus. We were in the lead, yes, but it had taken the combined efforts of two of my team members just to bring that monster down. We had to be prepared for what comes next.

  Cassian stood in a shallow pool of poison, his burns from the Scorching Sands were slowly healing thanks to his innate ability, Regenerator.

  ‘Whatever she sent out next, we’ll be ready for it.’ I sent an encouraging thought to Cass.

  The eyes from his shell crown met mine, a smile spreading across his face. “We’ll prove it here today.” He replied back, determined, unshakable.

  I hope I kept you entertained with the first clash between Loki and Clair’s teams. This is my first time having to write a battle of this level, and I was having a hard time visualizing how I wanted both of their Pokemon to fight, and how I wanted to show Clair’s Flygon as the first wall of this challenge. So I hoped I successfully portrayed that here. As always comments, suggestions, and corrections are much appreciated :).

  I had to change around how Cassian’s Toxic Spikes and Regenerator worked. Apologies for the game mechanics elitists.

  Pokemon mentioned in the Chapter:

  Mr.Mime

  Alakazam

  Crobat

  Toxapex

  Flygon

  Slowking