Weathering The Storm... (A Pokemon OC Story)

Chapter 51: Flame Meet Flame!

The Next Day...

With the grand re-opening of the Lavaridge Gym, the streets once again filled with younger trainers, and business boomed along the street leading up to the gym. It was a far cry from the deserted ghost town it appeared to be when the gym was closed, and it showed how important it is to have the gym open. And, of course, the lobby in the gym swelled with lots of people trying their hardest to make it to the front desk for a battle. Eventually, when the path cleared, Ellie and Lucas went forwards and placed their gym badges on the table.

"Sign us up.", Lucas said, and the receptionist nodded, alerting them of their match in about an hour. Harry was chilling behind them, still hanging out with them despite not necessarily needing to be there. It's just that he hadn't watched any of Lucas' gym battles and wanted to watch one. Then, there was Seijo, just there as usual to watch over Ellie and Lucas. But, now, since they had an hour to kill, they went back to the Pokemon Centre for some warm-ups.

Harry went up against a few of Ellie's Pokemon, most namely using his newly caught Numel against all of Ellie's Pokemon so she could get better practice for the Fire-types that Flannery would inevitably use. Mudkip had an easy time sweeping through Numel, Ralts took it out with a little damage, while Taillow struggled against any Pokemon that Harry threw out, regardless of type matchup. It was a scrappy bird, not giving up until it fainted, but that didn't help when it didn't take much to cause it to faint in the first place. But, Ellie didn't mind all too much. She was just happy that Taillow was listening to her for once.

Meanwhile, Lucas practised relentlessly with his collection of team members. Shroomish practised its Leech Seed, using it to make barriers and walls against incoming attacks. Zorua worked on its quick movement along the battlefield and ability to catch an opponent off guard with Illusion. Then, Torchic learned more about Flame Charge and using it in combination with an Aerial Ace by using Flame Charge to burst off of the ground, or using it to carry enough speed to fire off safe Embers against its opponents. Just seeing his team on display, despite not having any Pokemon that were particularly well suited against Fire-types, he had confidence that he'd be able to win regardless.

The clock struck 9:45, 30 minutes before Lucas' match against Flannery was supposed to start. By that time, each other's Pokemon felt warmed up and ready to go, so they decided to watch a couple of Flannery's matches while they awaited their match. Taking a seat in the quite packed crowd, they watched two different people play their match. One was a familiar face, the guy who had used all trade evolutions to win his matches. And, to say it was a fiery match would be an understatement. Each exchange between the two teams was interesting, and it seemed that the person using trade evolutions was a master of switching Pokemon when it mattered the most.

Then there was another that was opting to use exclusively Water Pokemon to beat Flannery. Harry knew that this is the sort of trainer that Flannery was talking about before, but this time, Flannery was able to take out the monotype water team rather easily by making good use of sunny days and hard blows whenever she got the opportunity to attack. Now, Lucas was more confident that the type matchup wouldn't matter, while Ellie was a bit more nervous that Mudkip might not be able to do as well as she previously thought.

Eventually, the time reached 10:10, and Lucas disappeared from the audience, down into the lobby where the receptionist directed him to where he could go. Now, he was in prime time to take down another gym leader and get his third gym badge. All he had to do was be confident in his plan, and in his Pokemon, and he should be able to win. At least, that is what he told himself.

Lucas walked into the limelight of the stadium, smiling from ear to ear as he waved to the crowd. He knew that a very small minority would know about him based on his previous battles, but still, it just felt like a courtesy. And, especially, to wave to the main people in his life cheering him on. Then, Flannery walked steadily into the centre of the ring, spotting Lucas and smiling wide. She'd been waiting for a challenge from him all morning, and from Ellie too. She looked up to Ellie, Harry, Seijo, and then to Lucas as she selected her first Pokemon. Lucas did the same. Now, it was just time to fight.