Jump 7: Pokemon Anime (Plot)

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(Chapter 1)
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One bright and sunshiney morning in the pleasant town of Twinleaf, a very odd bunch is going through their morning preparations. The scent of adventure is right on the horizon however, let's peek in and see what developments are happening right as we speak!

“Gooood morning hon.” A professional looking man descends the stairs of his home, adjusting his tie with one hand, carrying a suitcase with the other.

“Morning dear.” Says the blonde woman preparing pancakes at the kitchen stove top. A Chikorita sleeps next to her feet.

“How are my exeggcuties today?” He gives a passing kiss to the top of his daughter's head as he passes the table, and attempts to do the same with his wife, only for her to quickly turn her head and take it on the lips. “Oh, tricky aren't you?” The two pass each other a grin as the girl at the table gags.

“Why are you two always so gross when I'm eating!” The daughter complains. “You want seconds Spora?” Her Paras cheers lightly in front of an empty plate, as the girl cuts off a piece of pancake.

The woman hums, ignoring the girl for now. “I'm fine dear. Waiting for breakfast today?”

“Solrocky, but I think I'm supposed attend an early meeting today.” The man appears genuinely sorry, before another smile creeps onto his face. “I will wait for another smoochum though.”

“Hmhm, I bet you would.” The two pass another kiss. “Go see to that meeting now dear, see you this afternoon. Love you.”

“Seeya then hon.” As he passes the table, he ruffles his daughters hair. “And I'll be back to see you off too sweetie. Love you both.”

“Seeya then daddy.” She groans out. “Love yooou.”

Without one more passing moment, the man leaves to start his day, gently closing the door behind him. The soft sounds of his shoes on the planks of the front porch seeing him off.

. . . .

The matriarch of the house and her daughter freeze, eyes widening somewhat as they look at each other. Rapid footsteps signal the patriarch's return as he slams the door open. “New world!” He calls out, suit no longer as straight as it was before.

-----

Fuck yeah, fuck yeah, fuck yeah, fuck yeah Pokemon. “Who remembers what?” I asked, excitement plain as can be.

“Weird stuff.” Dahlia spoke. “Really confusing weird stuff. Am I princess?”

“You are absolutely a princess sweetheart.” Let's get that out of the way right now. “Both figuratively in that you'll always be my princess and literally in that we were royalty. Sha?” I point to her.

“We live in a ranch tending for creatures known as Pokemon.” She began to count on her fingers. “You work locally to teach children about the basics of Pokemon care so they can go on to become trainers.” She looks confused for a moment. “We don't know anyone resembling Maou or Rukia?”

“They'll turn up eventually, they're smart and we never end up too far away from each other.” Hopefully that resolves with Maou not having beaten the crap out of anything or anyone before figuring out how things work. “Today was important, I think?”

“I'm gonna be a Pokemon trainer and go on adventures today!” Dahlia spoke up. “Spora and I are gonna kick butt and stuff.”

My daughter was gonna be a Pokemon trainer. She already had a partner and everything. “That is really, really cool.”

“You seem rather excited dear. Is this like Batman by any chance?” Sha was catching on!

“Yeah, I grew up in my original world on Pokemon games. I used to be totally obsessed.” Loved monsters, loved Pokemon. “Do you two want to turn it into like, a full family adventure?” The other two became quiet though.

Sha hesitantly speaks up. “I believe I'll take a pass this time dear. This world is peaceful, and my memories of caring for the little ones outside were enjoyable.” She strokes the Pokemon in her lap. “I don't have much interest in being much of a trainer or coordinator either. You should still go if you're this excited though.”

Well that was kind of a bummer. Still, father daughter time? “What do you think Doll? You alright with me tagging along?”

Dahlia still looked pretty perplexed about the situation. “You need a partner to be a trainer though daddy.”

Wait, partner? Shit, I didn't have a partner, no Pokemon. Why didn't I have one when I taught kids how to care for them for crying out loud? “Well, you're the experienced one here hon. Would you like to help me out and catch one?”

“Oooh, that sounds like fun.” She rocked in her seat, and Spora seemed excited too.

-----

After I called in saying that I probably wouldn't be returning to work, the two of us set out to the woods nearby. Once we'd walked deep enough in to see some random wild Pokemon wandering around peacefully, Dahlia put a hand up to stop me. “Okay, so the first thing about being a trainer is to. . .” She looks thoughtful. “We have to find the Pokemon you want to catch.”

“Sounds smart so far. What do we do then Doll?” I already knew all the basics, but letting her take lead made her feel extra important, and that was fun. “After we find the Pokemon?”

“Oh, then you throw a Pokeball at it! If the balls stops shaking, that means you caught it.” She reaches up and pats the Parasect sitting on her head, Spora. “If it pops out then you could try asking it nicely, or Spora and I can try to beat it in a battle. We're super strong though so that'd be mean.” Ho ho, haughty already. I like it, she should be confident.

“Super cool hon. Let's go find a cool Pokemon to become friends with.” We give each other a high five and start to look around.

“What about a Starly?” She asks, pointing at some of the little birds sitting on a nearby branch, watching us. “They grow up strong.”

“Could be good.” Not really my first pick, but they do end up cool. “Let's keep looking around for now hon.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She slowly walks with me, the two of us looking around. “Oh, look daddy, a Kricketot. You like bugs, right?”

Hah, it was kinda cute. “I think we might be getting warmer.” She looked a little excited at that.

As we walked, a small fuzzy gopher Pokemon crossed our path. “Mmm, Bidoof?” She asked me.

I pat the fluffy little bastard, which it seemed to appreciate before going on its own way. “Nah, too peaceful. I want to get into battles and stuff like you hon.”

“Oooh, I get it. Let's try to look for something tough then.” She was getting super determined.

The two of us continued to march and look around for a bit, before coming upon a small clearing. “Look! There's loads of Pokemon here, you gotta like one, right? There's some Growlithe over there and a Seedot over there and a Natu and more of the ones we saw earlier.”

“Yeah, they're super cool hon. You sure know a lot of Pokemon, huh?” I asked her, pretty impressed that she knew all these by name.

“You and mom told me about all of them though silly.” Huh? We did? Oh, this world's memories. I suppose we did and just. . .missed it. That was a bit depressing now that I think about it. I was shaken from my thoughts by Dahlia gasping beside me. “What is it Doll?”

“Purple Zoroark.” She was just pointing into the clearing, at the big, fluffy fox that had recently walked into it. “Purple Zoroark. Catch it, catch it!” Well it was super rare I think and my daughter was telling me to do it. How could I not in this situation? “Here, throw!” She passed me a Pokeball, cheering me on.

“Hahah, I'll give it my best shot hon.” How hard did I want to throw this? It did look pretty strong, but I think I was a lot stronger. How much would be enough to weaken it for capture but not enough to actually, really hurt it?

“It sees us, throw the ball!” At the urging of my daughter though, I took a pitcher's stance and just guesstimated something, releasing the Pokeball with mighty force at my target.

A lot of things happened in sequence. The Zoroark narrowed its eyes on us in confusion, then cried out with a sound that sounded vaguely like ‘grwygyc’ as the Pokeball smacked into its face. The fox Pokemon began spinning in the air like it just got hit by a truck before being converted into red energy and sucked into the ball. The other Pokemon cleared out of the clearing from the loud smack.

One shake.

Two shake.

Three shake.

Ding!

Caught it! “Caught it hon!”

She had a look of vague concern. “I think you threw it too hard daddy.”

Well now I was concerned. “It's probably alright, right?”

Dahlia continued to look thoughtful for a moment before turning to me. “You should apologize.”

“Yeah that's probably appropriate.” This was not a good way to start a relationship.

After picking up the Pokeball, I called out the newly caught Pokemon, who was laid out on their back with eyes open. I. . .I didn't kill it, right? “You okay?” Its eyes locked to mine as it shot up, rubbing its jaw. Oh fuck yeah, not dead. After a ribbing by my daughter, I'm reminded why I called it out. “Sorry for throwing the ball really hard.”
It just kept looking at me for a moment, before tilting its head. Once it collected itself, it walked up to me and started sniffing me, poking me with its foot at strange angles. “Can I help you?” Finally it grabbed my arm, squeezed it, then looked at me skeptically.

It walked around a bit, before finding a good sized rock and walking back to us. It then put the rock in my hand and pointed at the tree line. “Zo-zoro?” It gestured as if throwing. “Zoroark?” Then it ran to a tree and pointed at it. “Zoro!” It called out again, before returning to our side.

Well, that was pretty clear, throw the rock. Trying to keep it light so no collateral is incurred, I lightly pitched the rock, allowing it to punch through the tree. . .and the one behind it. . .and the one behind it. In response, Dahlia threw her arms out. “Daddy, why'd you go and hurt the trees?” Zoroark just kept looking back and forth with a gobsmacked look though, ignoring her as she ran off to help them.

It didn't have eyebrows, not really, but I could swear it was raising one as it looked me up and down. Then it started grinning this crazy grin. “Zoroark.” It said its name with a pleasant tone while offering a clawed hand.

Ah, I get it. “Alexander, Alexander York.” My introduction and hand were offered, and a handshake locked in. I think I found myself a new partner.

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(Chapter 2)
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Dahlia points dramatically. “Spora, use Fury Cutter!” Her Paras takes on a dramatic look, throwing herself forward with all the grace and speed it can muster. “Go, show Lotad we mean business!” Said Lotad looked equally as determined on the other side of the field, near pond's edge.

Zoroark and I watched from the sidelines. Then we continued watching. Spora wasn't very fast so her top speed was more of a determined march. Zoroark passed me a look in reaction to the progressing battle. “Just wait and watch, she's doing it.” I tried to alleviate things.

The two of us looked backed to the battle, seeing the Lotad lightly spray Spora with a stream of water. “Spora, are you okay?” Spora was just lightly waving its claws, trying to make the stream stop going into its eyes. She didn't seem to actually be getting hurt though. “Keep pushing!”

Zoroark once more gives me a look, throwing her arms at the display. No words were spoken, I just pat Zoroark on the shoulder.

Dahlia and I have been on the road for a good two weeks now, seeing the sites, camping out, checking out new and exciting Pokemon. It was good father daughter bonding material. On the other side of this experience though was Zoroark, who seemed dreadfully bored by the sedate pace of it all.

“Use Absorb to heal off some of the damage just to be safe!” Dahlia called to Spora, who had finally reached the Lotad. The two of them glowed red as Lotad cried out in what appeared to be pain. “That's good, you're kicking butt!”

Looking up from Zoroark, who was starting to take a nap, I decided to throw in some advice. “Good job Doll. Spora should be stronger than Lotad up close.”

“Thanks daddy, I know.” She throws me a thumbs up, not looking at me.

Maou and Rukia were nowhere to be found when I looked before, so Sha had extra reason to stay behind. While she'd wait if they ever swung around, I could keep looking with Dahlia. Not like it was much of an active activity, they could take care of themselves after all. “Nice hit Spora.” My eyes watched Lotad fly through the air from a good, hard Fury Cutter. “I think you can catch it now.”

“Yeah! Watch this!” Dahlia said, digging a Pokeball from her bag. She took a look of concentration, reared back, and tossed it. The throw was true, and Lotad was sucked up. “One, two. . .three! Yeah! Did you see?!” Dahlia was jumping around in excitement.

“Watched the whole thing hon.” My pride was likely sinful at this point. When I was her age I was barely catching Pokemon in a game. “How about you introduce yourself properly now?” She nodded, running up to the Pokeball before sitting near Spora.

“Come on out!” Lotad shot out of the ball, landing in front of the two. “Hey Lotad, do you want to join our team?” Lotad had a blank look on its face, perhaps contemplative, perhaps that's just how they looked. “What about nooow?” She slowly removes a berry from behind her back.

Lotad looks between her and the berry, before cheering, making Dahlia and Spora cheer too. “See, that's fuckin cute, right?” I asked, only to get a snore in return. Giving Zoroark an annoyed look, I kicked them in the butt to wake'em up. “Highly rude Zoroark, highly rude.” Zoroark jumps a bit, looking at me with an annoyed look.

Lotad and Spora take turns lightly wining as Dahlia goes back and forth, treating their wounds with a potion. “Hey, do you want a name?” Dahlia asked Lotad after putting the medicine away. Lotad tilted its body at that. “Can I name you Billy?” Lotad seemed to nod. “Do you want to train with me Billy?” Billy tilted his body again, turning to look at Spora.
It made some sounds like its species name, then jumped once. “Yeah Spora can train with us too! Let's do stuff!”

Dahlia looked like she was gonna be busy, and Zoroark still seemed bored as hell, so I called out. “Hey hon, Zoroark and I are gonna go train over here out of your way. Come tell me when you're ready to hit the road, okay?” Zoroark perked up at that.

“Alright daddy, I'll come get you.” Dahlia was sidestepping back and forth with her Pokemon trying to emulate her.

With a gesture towards my partner, the two of us cleared away from the clearing. My daughter and I were currently sitting on route 203, so while Dahlia and her Pokemon trained at pond side, Zoroark and I were scouting out a decent spot near the craggy border separating the town behind us, and the town ahead.
Trees to the left, rocks scattered about, a steep facing to the right, this spot offered a good variety. “Alright Zoroark, do you want combat trainer, or the hammer and helmet?” I asked, said implements dropping from the trees above into my hands. Zoroark jumps a bit at their sudden appearance, but just a bit. I've already pulled this trick one too many times.

“Zora!” Zoroark shouts, kicking her legs a bit before taking a stance and throwing on a grin.

Her decision made, I throw the training tools to the sides and take my own stance. “Ready whenever you are!” Zoroark started sprinting towards me, throwing herself into a spinning kick. In that moment a great explosion sounded off from the crag, smoke billowing from the nearby cave at the end of the path.
While Zoroark behaved as if she slammed into a brick wall and just dropped to the ground, several people ran screaming from the cave. “Hey, what happened in there?!” I called. No one responded, continuing to flee. Well, that wasn't very helpful.

“What happened?! What was that?” Dahlia ran up, with Spora riding a galloping Billy.

“Something inside, I'll go check it out and make sure it's safe, alright hon?” Patting her head, I turn to Zoroark. “Training later. Stay with Dahlia.” Zoroark obtained a look of mild disgust.

Dahlia got a look of indignation. “What? Why? I wanna see what's going on.” Zoroark stared at her wide eyed, before looking at me, gesturing at Dahlia repeatedly.

“Pleeeease stay right here. Cave ins aren't laughing matters and I want to focus on whatever the problem is here.” I pat her head again. “Stay.” Without another word, I sank into the ground.

-----

“God damnit Zoroark.” There wasn't any real anger behind it though. Dahlia, her Pokemon and Zoroark followed me immediately. It's not like I couldn't protect them, but it'd be a bit more difficult to feel around when I'm also focused on them. “So, what were you expecting?”

“Not as much water.” Dahlia deadpanned, staring at the underwater lake illuminated by her flashlight and my magic. Zoroark quietly agreed beside her.

Looking out at thin rock walkways, and the lantern light of several explorers still stuck down here, I took note of the fact that I couldn't quite see anything that could cause the disturbance from before. Either it was someone's Pokemon, explosives, or in what I thought was the most likely case, whatever it was was underwater. “Alright, you guys aren't going back, so let's go get this done.”

“Let's go save Oreburgh Gate!” “Zora!” Alright, the synchronized cheering was helping me smile a bit. Now, let's see here.

The musings in my thoughts were disrupted by a giant, explosive beam going off further in the cavern. “Alright, that's probably the problem over there.” Fallings rocks were broken and deflected before the others noticed them. “After you, Doll.” I pointed towards a nearby path that definitely didn't exist before, formed from falling debris and magic while no one was looking.

“Oh, right, hurry!” Dahlia was a bit confused over the path, but started running along it anyways. “What are we gonna do when we get there?”

“Well you're the trainer in charge, right hon?” What was she thinking? I wanted to know where she'd be going with this.

The group of us raced deeper into the cavern, and I was starting to get a clearer idea of what exactly was going on. “Go back! There's an enraged Gyrados!” A heavy set man warned us.

“We're gonna stop it! You can escape that way!” Dahlia pointed at the path I'd made.

“It's too dangerous for normal people down here, we have to get out.” He tried to make his case again.

“Excuse me sir.” I started to loosen my tie. “I'm about as close to an expert as it gets, and my daughter is learning on the job.” Rolled up sleeves. “I ask that you follow her advice so that everyone can remain safe as this incident is deescalated.” Remove glasses, serious eyes.

“O-of course.” He turns back to her. “Where did you say the path was?” Hot diggity that actually worked.

With the explorer making his way out, and other trainers still down here being pointed away left and right, our little group was able to progress to the back of the cave to find an angry Gyrados thrashing around in the water, and another Gyrados glaring at it from nearby. Now what pissed them off, each other? “It looks confused!”

“Run that by me again?” How could she tell?

“Gyrados get super mad, but this one isn't trying to attack anyone, it's confused!” Bit of a leap, but I'll run with that.

“Alright, what do we do hon?” I could just knock it out with a rock or something, but this seemed like a great field lesson.

“Umm, Spora! Spora could use Stun Spore to make it stop, then we can give it medicine!” Dahlia was excited about her plan.

“How are you going to do it from here? It's too dangerous to get Spora up close with Gyrados attacking things at random.” As if to punctuate the situation, I lifted a small wall of earth to protect Dahlia and her Pokemon from a stray hyper beam sweep, Zoroark dodging on her own. “We've got a bit of time now actually, it can't rapid fire those things.”

Dahlia stared for a moment, Gyrados's writhing becoming a bit more subdued. “Spora, latch onto my head.” Dahlia picked Spora up and put her on top of her head. She then rolled up her sleeves, took a few steps back, and then sprinted towards the edge, jumping to dive into the water. “Just watch me!” Zoroark was pissed though, stomping mad at not being able to get in on this.

Alright, my daughter had guts, I'd give her that. “I'm pulling you back here if things get hairy, hon!” She paddled like a water type, speeding through the underground lake to the writhing Gyrados. Some energy was starting to return to it, and I began to rev up my winds. “Not much time left, Doll!”

“It's okay, I got it! Spora, Stun Spore!” Spora began to vibrate, the mushrooms on her back suddenly producing a thick cloud of spores that blanketed the writhing Gyrados. When it cleared, Dahlia was, with a great deal of effort, slowly dragging the tired and paralyzed Gyrados back to the shore, one arm grabbing its horn, the other stroking like no tomorrow. “It's really heavy!”

I elbowed Zoroark. “See, that's what happens if you let me use the hammer.” She glared at me and kicked my foot in retaliation, shaking it out from the unrelenting impact after. “Dahlia, look out!” I called out to her, the second Gyrados slowly rising up from the water behind her. Alright, Zoroark wanted action then? “Get ready to kick it.” Zoroark gave me a look as I picked her up and lightly tossed her.

“Can't move any faster!” Dahlia called out. “Whoa!” She cried, seeing something fly over her head in the dimly lit cave, and the explosive impact that sounded out behind her.

Zoroark, with maddened glee, planted its feet in the second Gyrados's face. A hyper beam that was being charged instead goes wide. As the sea serpent roared in pain and fury alike, Zoroark was flipping around to land on the first Gyrados's prone form. “Zoroark, protect Dahlia as she makes it over here! Use Night Daze when Gyrados pops back up!”

Zoroark just bounces in place, kicking at random to work out some nervous energy. She was happy though, real happy. “Zo! Zo! Zoroark!” When Gyrados started to surface again, rushing towards the group, Zoroark spun on her heel and back flipped. Off of a Pele kick, she released a concentrated wave of darkness that slammed into the angry Gyrados's face. “Zoroooo!” It howled in excitement.

Gyrados wasn't as phased by this attack though. Even as darkness clung to its face, it knew the target it was aiming for, roaring as it leapt from the water. “Sorry, minor interruption here!” Gyrados halted as if struck by an invisible force, dropping back into the water. Zoroark rounded and started loudly complaining about the fight interference. “Sorry but you can fight fair later!”

Finally Dahlia dragged the first Gyrados back to shore, coughing and sputtering a little as she climbed back onto solid land, before jumping up and flexing. “Did you see me!? Spora too!”

“Yeah you kicked major ass hon. Still have a situation though.” The other angry Gyrados was already back up from my taps. Zoroark flipped onto land and started taunting it. “You try to calm down that other one, I've got this here, can you handle it?”

“Definitely!” She started digging through her bag. “Don't worry big guy, I just don't want you collapsing the place, okay?” The Gyrados growled lightly while staring at her. “Spora, use Sweet Scent please.”

While that was going on, Zoroark was flipping around and dodging the lunges of the second Gyrados, thoroughly pissed at the proceedings so far. Zoroark couldn't keep it up forever though, and eventually was snapped up in the jaws of the Gyrados attempting to use Crunch. “Zoroark, get out of there.” The most sarcastic sounds I've ever heard were thrown back at me.
Zoroark was propping Gyrados's mouth open with her legs, doing vertical splits  that left its most powerful weapons occupied. “Low sweep one of its teeth!” Zoroark gritted its teeth, dropping its position into a spin and slamming a foot into one of Gyrados's fangs as commanded. Gyrados recoiled from the sudden pain, spitting Zoroark out into the ground.

Zoroark bounced once before regaining her balance, flipping into a new stance tired but happy. Before the fight could continue though, the roaring of the first Gyrados took the two's attention. “Medicine and candy worked!” The First Gyrados looked, well, pissed, but Gyrados always looked like that. In contrast to its face, it wasn't attacking, instead gently roaring at the second Gyrados.
“It was really grumpy, but I don't think it was bad, daddy.”

Watching the two carry out a conversation in a language I didn't understand, you could probably convince me that was the case. “Look at me. You did great hon.” I dropped to a knee and put my hands on her shoulders. “Never do anything that dangerous while I'm not around though, okay? You have a lot of freedom to act recklessly while I can bail you out, but you have limits by yourself.”

“I did good though, right?” She asked, expression innocent even though I was suspecting she was just trying to downplay previous events. “Look, Gyrados isn't causing anymore trouble.” The two of them, after a moment, began to dive back down into the dark waters of the cavern.

Undeterred, I just kept up the stern dad act. “Your mother is going to love this story.”

“Nooo, I get it, I'll be safe.” Shangreela was overprotective to the nth degree, she'd instantly run to join us if she found out. “You said I did great though.”

“You did do great, your average ten year old would never be able to drag a Gyrados through the water, or be fine when blanketed by a Stun Spore.” I gave my daughter a hug. “Just because you can, doesn't mean you always should though.” Dahlia groaned, but returned the hug anyways.

As the two of us hugged it out, Zoroark was on her knees by water's edge, hand out as if trying to grasp the departing sea serpents. Sorrow was in her tone, over the battle that ended prematurely. “Zooo. . .”

Zoroark's worthy foe slipped through her fingers. “Do you want in on this hug? Get in on this hug.” Zoroark kicked a rock at my face for the question. “Well alright then. Now I suppose the only question is why it got that way.”

“That would be my fault.” The man cowering behind a nearby boulder spoke up.

“Who are you?” Dahlia spoke up, as we stood to meet the man. “What did you do?”

Judging by the prodigious amounts of khaki and huge backpack, this man was an explorer of some kind. “My name is Jason, I'm an explorer of some kind.” Called it. “After hearing about the cavern system beneath Oreburgh Gate, I decided to try my luck looking around and seeing what might be down here.” He sighed. “After seeing one of those Gyrados rise from the waters, my Zubat got scared.”
He gestures to the bat in his hat, lifting it up so we could see its shaking form. “It used Supersonic, and the Gyrados was rampaging, at least until you came and calmed it down! The two of you were amazing, I've never seen anyone that strong before.” Ah, so he got a few peeks in while hiding.

“Oooh, I get it now.” Dahlia surmised out loud. “Is Zubat okay?”

Jason nervously laughed. “He'll be fine after we get out of here.”

Something needed answering. “Why didn't you get out a bit sooner? It didn't seem like it would be too tough when Gyrados was aimlessly thrashing and attacking in the water.”

“I was too scared to go out in the open.” Jason freely admitted. “Ah, were you two going to Jubilife or Oreburgh, it had to be one of the two if you're here, right?”

“Nowhere in particular.” “Oreburgh City.”

I'm gonna have to read the story of Red Riding Hood to Dahlia and explain the lessons inside. “Oreburgh! My brother lives there, studies fossils. If you tell him Jason sent you I'm sure he could show you around.” Oddly convenient.

Ah whatever, I can bail us out if things get weird. “Alright, just tell us the way then.”

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(Chapter 3)
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“Excited?”

Dahlia and I were standing outside the Oreburgh Gym, and she was looking nervous. “Yeah.” Not too spirited.

“You want to battle the gym, right?” She hadn't really been talking it up, so now I'm not so sure if she's doing it because she feels like she has too, or if she's just been thinking about other things. “You know we can just pass through and check out other sights, huh?”

“No, I want to beat strong people. That's what trainers do.” She was pulling her shirt, making fists. “We did a bunch of special training and everything.”

“Yeah, but you don't have too. There's also contests, adventuring, just going around and looking at things.” I pushed a bit more. “You won't be wasting anyone's time, not mine, not your Pokemon.”

“There won't be a lot of people watching, right?” Aaah, so that was it. Stage fright. “There were a lot of people watching battles on tv.”

“Just Zoroark and I will be there, and nothing will keep us from cheering.” Zoroark started to look away but a light kick to the leg. She hopped around a bit before agreeing.

She looked down at the ground for a bit, before pumping her fists. “Let's go kick butt.”

There we go. “Alright, let's go kick butt.”

Dahlia and I walked inside, Spora on top of her head, Zoroark beside us. “Hello, and welcome to the Oreburgh Gym. Are you here to issue a challenge?” A receptionist or something like it spoke to us from behind a counter right inside. At Dahlia's nodding, she looked sympathetic. “My apologies, but Roark is currently out at the mines.”

“The mines?” Right, Gym Leaders did tend to have other jobs or eccentricities. “Any idea when he'll be back?” Well I'll just psych Dahlia up if it takes too long.

“He normally checks for any challengers around this time, if nothing particularly eventful is happening in the mines.” She gestures to the seats in the room. “Please, have a seat until he arrives.”

Dahlia, Zoroark and I find some seats, placing our bags at our feet. “Don't worry hon, you've got two aces up your sleeve. Just think about how to use them while you wait.” After patting her on the back, I just started feeling out the area, leaving her to her thought since she seemed stuck in them.

Mmm, she didn't have too long to think about it though. A few minutes passed, before a vaguely familiar man walked in. “Ah! Roark, you have a challenger waiting.”

A young man with a mining helmet, slightly dirty, turned to us with a smile on his face. “Is that so? Pleasure to meet you two, my name is Roark, the Oreburgh Gym Leader.” He offered his hand, which I shook.

“My name is Alexander, and this is my daughter, Dahlia. She's the one issuing the challenge.” Ah, Dahlia was standing up, determined look in her eyes.

She took a deep breath, staring up into his eyes. “I want to fight you in an official battle and get your badge.”

Roark laughed, and returned her look. “I like your spirit, but I'm pretty strong. Are you sure you can handle me?”

Dahlia grabbed his hand to shake it, imitating the act between us just a moment before. “I'll do more than handle you. We're gonna win.”

Ho ho, fuckin bringing the smack talk. Now that's my girl. “Alright, let's get things started then! Follow me.” Roark led the way further into the gym, taking us to a rocky battlefield with the offical league lines drawn around and through it.

Seeing the empty bleachers to the left and right, Dahlia let out a breath she probably didn't even know she was holding. “No one here.”

“What was that?” Roark asked.

“Nothing. Um, how do we start? I've never done this before.” Maybe my pep talk should have included a breakdown of gym battles. Ah well, I didn't know how things really worked either.

An officiate with two flags walked up with a smile. “I'll be standing to the side and watching the battle. It will be a singles match with three Pokemon allowed to each trainer. That means you both send out one Pokemon at a time, and when one of you beats all three of the other's Pokemon, that person wins.” Pretty succinct explanation.

Roark spoke up after. “As the challenger, you're also allowed to switch your Pokemon out at any point in the battle.”

“We have to remember to thank Argo again later, huh?” Argo being the name of Jason's brother who lived locally.

“Yeah! Okay, I get it now.” Dahlia was getting hyped, which was making me hyped.

The officiate began to walk away. “Everyone please evacuate the battlefield.” Roark walked to his position on one side, Dahlia to hers on the other, and Zoroark and I jumped up into the bleachers to have a seat. “The battle between Oreburgh Gym Leader Roark and Challenger Dahlia begins now!” He slices down with one of his flags.

“Go, Billy!” Dahlia sends out her Lotad, caught back on Route 203. “Let's do this!”

Roark confidently smiles. “Come on out Onix!”

Billy audibly gulped upon staring up at the giant rock serpent that appeared in front of him. Dahlia looked a bit nervous, but wanting to help Billy, cried out. “It's okay Billy, just remember our training! Mist!” At her command, Billy expels a dense fog from his mouth, blanketing the field.

“Onix, raise your head above the fog and look around for your opponent!” From the side, Zoroark and I watch Onix's great form rise from the cloud. “Use stealth rock while you're still looking!”

“Hit him with a water gun!” Dahlia calls out immediately after. As Onix expels glowing rocks from its mouth into the mist, a jet of water spurts out of the mist and smacks the side of Onix's face. “Run away and do it again, it's super effective!” Twice, three times small jets of water come from the mist.

“I can't allow that to keep happening. Onix, use slam!” With what looks like monumental effort, Onix leaps, then slams its tail into the ground. The movement makes the ground quake and pushes the mist away, exposing Billy, much to the Lotad's shock. “Onix, use slam again!” Onix spins around, getting ready to smash its opponent with its tail.

“Sidestep it Billy!” Dahlia calls out. When Billy barely evades the downward slam, stumbling a bit, Dahlia follows up. “Use absorb if you can!”

Roark smiles at the battle's progress. “That's some fancy footwork your Lotad has! How many times can it do that though? Onix use slam again!”

Before Billy can waddle up to the half-buried tail and use its move, Onix retrieves it, and brings it down once more. “Look out Billy!” Dahlia calls, but it's too late, as Billy is smashed by Onix's attack. Not out of it quite yet, Dahlia calls something new out. “Use Astonish and try to get some space!”
Onix, who brought its face close to see if that last move had done it, is unimpressed when Billy jumps at its face while shouting, the mild tap doing little.

“Onix, show that Lotad a real battle cry with screech!” Billy hesitantly backs up as Onix glares, building up a white light in its mouth before roaring. A beam of light and ear shattering scream slam into Billy, sending him head over heels into the wall, falling down unconscious.

“The challenger's Lotad has fainted! Please send out your next Pokemon!” The officiate raises his flag with the announcement.

Dahlia recalls Billy, looking sad. “I'm sorry Billy, you did really good. We'll take you to go get fixed up soon.” Taking a deep breath, she puts Billy's ball away and brings out a new one. “Alright, time to see what you can do Ivy!” Dahlia's second Pokemon was obscured by rocks suddenly rising from the ground and collapsing on it. “Ivy, are you okay?”

A cloud of dust is kicked up. “You won't mind if I keep up the offense, right? Onix, use double edge!” Roark confidently pushes with another attack.

“Ivy, use Giga Drain!" Onix, as if hitting a wall, stops upon striking whatever was inside the cloud. Its body is then covered in a red glow before it goes limp. “Heck yeah Ivy!”

“Whoa, what was that?” Roark's confusion was evident, who wouldn't be at the sudden turn around? “Sorry Onix, I should have had you rush in.”

“Gym Leader Roark's Onix has fainted. Please send out your next Pokemon!” The officiate again waves his flag.

The dust settles, and an intimidating figure reveals itself swaying inside. Purple body, shiny tendrils, concealed black face and bright yellow eyes. “A Lileep? One that appears in remarkable condition too. Have you been training it long?” Roark casually put Onix away, grabbing a new ball. “Come on out, Geodude!”

“Nope!” Dahlia replies quickly. “New lady on the team! Ivy use brine!” Ivy makes a bubbly sound as it sways its head, before aiming it at Geodude and letting loose a big gush of salt water.

“Dodge it!” And then Geodude dodged it. “Hidden Power!” Yellow light surrounds Geodude, shimmering blue balls popping into existence.

Before Geodude can continue its attack, Dahlia shouts out a new command. “Ancient Power!” Light surrounds Lileep as the ground begins to rupture and crack. Large stones fly out of the ground towards Geodude as it begins launching its own attack. Geodude's balls of light collide with the rocks one after the next

For some reason an explosion goes off from the attacks colliding, and the field between the two Pokemon is once more. Everything is still for a moment, before Geodude plows through the smoke towards Lileep. “Seismic Toss!” Roark roars. Geodude grabs Ivy before she can react, ripping her from the ground with a great deal of effort and tossing her through the air.

“Ah! Ivy, catch yourself!” Unfortunately, Ivy has a somewhat awkward body and takes the full brunt of the landing. “Urgh, use ingrain to recover!” After righting herself, her body glows green. From my position, I can sense a root system spreading out from her suctioning feet.

“Make that Lileep regret anchoring itself! Use rollout!” Geodude tucked its arms in, beginning to roll around the battlefield.

“Hit it with brine before it can get to you!” A trade began, as Geodude nimbly rolled through Ivy's brines, evading the attacks as it hits her once, then twice. “Urgh, use alright, stop that and brace yourself!” Geodude starts to roll back around for another strafing run. “Now! Catch him with constrict!” Ivy leans down, extending her tendril-like petals.
Although Geodude is spinning and hitting with great speed, Ivy latches onto his arms, throwing itself backwards and slamming Geodude into the ground behind it to lessen the recoil. “You got him right where you want him, mega drain!”

“Shake loose Geodude, get out of there!” Dahlia's new team member asserts itself as a powerhouse however, the two being covered in red light as she once more slams Geodude into the ground. Ivy comes out looking refreshed, while Geodude is left fainted. “Geodude, return!”

“Gym Leader Roark's Geodude has fainted. Please send out your next Pokemon!” Once more with the flags.

“You're so strong Ivy! Woo!” Dahlia cheers her new Pokemon on some more as it sways to some nonexistent breeze. “Let's go!”

“You did just fine buddy.” Roark whispers to his Pokeball. “Well, it's gonna be pretty embarrassing if I lose to my own specialty. Let's see how your fossil deals with mine!” He whips out a new ball, calling out his final Pokemon. “Come on out Cranidos!”

Roark, once having the advantage, is now forced on the backfoot from one of Dahlia's surprise trump cards. “Alright Cranidos, we have some work to do.” His miniature dinosaur roars the best it can. For a tense moment the trainers and their Pokemon stare their opposition down. “Run circles around Lileep, approach carefully!”

“Keep your eyes on him, use Brine if you think it'll work!” Dahlia gives her own commands. Ivy was now rooted in place, slowly healing but unable to dodge. That said, she was so slow that dodging wasn't much of an option anyways. Cranidos ran around Ivy, getting closer, ever closer. “Now!” Dahlia shouts, Ivy following the command to violently gush at the little dino.

“Dodge and use headbutt!” Cranidos shows off surprising agility, stopping short of the shot Ivy was aiming for, turning towards her and slamming head first into Lileep. “Now get out of there!” Cranidos jumps back while Ivy is still reeling, Roark had learned already that staying in close with this Pokemon wasn't for the best.

“It's okay Ivy, we just have to be patient! Keep watching Cranidos carefully!” Not quite hon. You're in a pretty dangerous spot now, and it looks like Roark noticed. “Wait for the right moment and hit him with brine Ivy! You can do it!”

“Cranidos, we'll do the same as before. Circle around, and get closer!” Cranidos starts running again, making slight progress. “You see ‘that spot’ Cranidos?” Cranidos took a moment to respond, before crying out something that sounded positive. “Wait for my command and use zen headbutt at that spot!”
Dahlia was looking visibly concerned, trying to figure out what ‘that spot’ was. Not entirely sure what she'd be able to do if she knew. “Now, rush forward!”

Still confused, Dahlia responded with the option she had. “Stop him with brine!” Cranidos's head was covered in glowing light as it rushed forward. Ivy responded in kind with another stream of salt water. “What the heck!?” Dahlia's surprise was out there, as she watched the stream flow over Cranidos's head. “Oh no, brace yourself and try to grab him!”
Too later did she realize that Ivy's posture was tilted after the first headbutt shifted the root anchored ground beneath her, and her aim thrown off as a result. Cranidos with zen headbutt was able to divert the attack somewhat from this angle, and slammed its head a second time into Ivy's prone form. The force further shifted the ground, with Ivy almost horizontal now.
With some luck, Ivy's petals wrapped around Cranidos's limbs. “Mega Drain! Turn this around!”

The two Pokemon began to get covered in red light, but Roark's confident expression was sending off warning bells. “Finish this with flamethrower, Cranidos!” Cranidos surprises Ivy and Dahlia both as it opens its mouth and blankets Ivy at point blank range with a gout of fire.

When the attacks ended, Cranidos was standing triumphantly next to the now unconscious Ivy. “The Challenger's Lileep has fainted. Please send out your next Pokemon!” The officiate waves his flag. “The result of this final battle will decide the match!”

Dahlia recalls Ivy back to her ball. “I'm so sorry Ivy, that was my fault.” Nope, that wasn't happening.

“Hey, you did great hon! You tied things up with one Pokemon and Cranidos is weaker now!” I took a stand from my seat, calling out over the railing. “Don't you start beating yourself up yet, you can do this!” Zoroark jumped to the railing and started cheering too, excited about the conclusion of the battle.

Dahlia jumped a bit since I'd been mostly silent so far. She was starting to look a bit misty eyed now, but just wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. “Okay Spora, let's finish this!” As Spora was already out and on top of her head, Dahlia just plucked her off and gently tossed her onto the battlefield. “Block the rocks!” Once more Onix's stealth rocks pop up and collapse on Dahlia's Pokemon.

It was going to hurt, it did hurt, but Spora revealed herself with a determined look when the dust cleared. “You really do train some pretty slow Pokemon! I won't let up though!”

“Bring it, punk!” Dahlia's outburst made Roark laugh a bit, the both of them putting on smiles. “Alright, here we come, Cranidos use another flamethrower!”

“Sidestep!” Spora burst into movement, skittering to the left to avoid the gout of flame. “Keep dancing like we trained Spora!” Spora dodged two more gouts with speedy sidestepping.

Roark strokes his chin, still confident. “Not as slow as I thought, huh? Cranidos, close the distance, it'll be harder for that Paras to evade!”

Cranidos continues to get closer, releasing wave after wave, Spora dodging more and more tightly. “Dodge around and use sweet scent!” Spora's mushrooms start to vibrate as she begins to sidestep around Cranidos, pink clouds billowing off of her as she moves. Cranidos, exposed to the scent, starts to get a pleasant look on its face. “Now use stun spore, followed by a fury cutter!”

“Cranidos, shake out of it and blow those spores away with flamethrower!” Cranidos is a bit slow to respond, but follows through, sweeping its flamethrower around to burn and blow away the clouds beginning to surround it, both yellow and pink. With most of the cloud dispersed, Cranidos starts looking around for Spora. “Behind you!”

Spora, with the clouds as cover, used her short height and small frame to sneak up on Cranidos, striking it in the side with a glowing claw. “Nice hit!” Dahlia encouraged, but Cranidos didn't seem too hurt from the hit, rounding on Spora with an angry look. “Uh oh, sidestep and use another fury cutter!”

“Counter with a headbutt!” Roark calls over. Although Spora's crabwalking is good, Cranidos is too close to evade, and meets her attack with his hardened cranium. The force sends her rolling away, hurting. “Run in with another headbutt, don't let up!”

“Spora, just use another fury cutter” Spora rights herself, claw glowing, and she runs to meet Cranidos once more. The result wasn't a repeat of last time though. Their attacks meet and both are blown back. “Spora, are you alright!?” Spora rolls back over, looking less spirited than before. Dahlia seeing Spora rub one of her claws cries out an apology. “Sorry, stick to moving for now, no more fury cutters!”

“Cranidos, are you still ready to fight?!” Cranidos stands to its feet, coughing up some purple gas. “You used the successive hits to build up enough force to match Cranidos's attack, and he's even poisoned now? This isn't good.” Spora's ability activated by the looks of it.

“Effect spore, woo! Check it out Spora, you've got this!” Dahlia was getting hyped again. “Just stay away and we win!”

“I'm not about to let that happen! Cranidos, your opponent is weaker than you! Close in and finish this with a zen headbutt!” Roark throws his hand down, his final command.

Dahlia threw her finger forward, but hesitated for a moment, seeing the tired look on Spora's face. “We'll end it here too Spora, then a big rest! Use our secret weapon!” Dahlia gestured with a thumbs down.

Spora began to glow with an orange aura, sticking her uninjured claw out towards her quickly approaching opponent. Dahlia and Roark stared each other down, determined. Closer and closer their final Pokemon become until finally meeting in a shining clash. The result wasn't quite what Roark expected though, surprise taking over his expression.
Spora didn't budge an inch, while Cranidos bounced off the weakly held up claw like it just got hit by a truck. After rolling to a stop, the swirls in its eyes showed off that it wasn't getting back up. “Gym Leader Roark's Cranidos has fainted! Challenger Dahlia York is the victor!”

Dahlia and Roark didn't move at first. The thing that broke the silence was applause from the bleachers. Dahlia, finally realizing she won, started running towards Spora. “Yeeeeeeah!” She screamed at the top of her lungs, sliding to her knees to scoop up her partner. “That was awesome! You did it! We did it!” She started laughing like a loon at her first big victory.

Roark walked up, sighing, but with a smile on his face. “Well, I have to hand it to the two of you. That was a great battle. What was that final move though?”

Dahlia smiled up at him, then down at Spora, then back to him. “Counter. My dad and his Zoroark helped us learn it.”

He let loose a small laugh, adjusting his helmet to cover his eyes. He then offered her a hand to help her up. “Sounds like a pretty good father to me.” After she was up, he reached into his jacket, pulling out a small metal pin. “As the Gym Leader of Oreburgh City, I present you with the Coal Badge. You earned it.”

Glistening eyes returned as she looked at her badge, showing it off to Spora who looked pretty happy. “Don't you cry, you're gonna make me cry!” I called out from the stands. Zoroark looked embarassed, like she wanted to be anywhere else, while everyone else in the room started laughing. “Come on hon, let's go celebrate and tell your mom!”

Dahlia looked at Roark one more time, grabbing his hand and forcefully shaking it. “Thank you for the battle, I hope we can do this again!”

Roark pulled his helmet up, smirking. “Well, I'll be right here waiting for you, and the results won't be the same next time.”

“Yeah!” Dahlia waved him bye as she turned around to join me. “Daddy, aren't you going to challenge him too?” She mumbled after joining me.

“Mmmm, maybe tomorrow.” I shrugged. “Today is all about you. Let's go to the Pokemon center, and then a real nice place to eat.”

Dahlia hummed, placing Spora on top of her head as usual. “Hey, wait a minute.” I turned to look at her as we stepped out to the streets, seeing a confused look.

“What's up hon?” Have something in mind?

“You don't have anyone else on your team besides Zoroark, and official matches have three Pokemon on each team. How are you gonna challenge Roark?” Huh, she raised a good point.

“Well, maybe Zoroark will just have to beat up Roark all by herself.” Zoroark, hearing that, puffed out her chest in pride. “She is pretty strong you know, especially with my ‘special’ training.” My hammer kicked all sorts of ass.

“You gotta do it right though, or it won't count!” Dahlia was really determined about this, huh? “We have to go find more people for your team!”

“Alright, alright hon.” Hey, if that's what she wanted, I'm not about to tell her no. “We'll go ask around town to see if anyone knows some strong wild Pokemon Zoroark can fight, see if they want to join. We'll make a day or two out of it. Sound good to you two?” I looked back and forth between my daughter and partner, both cheering. “That settles that then.”

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Dahlia has overcome an intimidating hurdle, standing triumphant in the end. With today challenges out of the way, our heroes already make plans to seek out new and exciting challenges tomorrow! What will they do when we join them next? There's only one way to find out, in the next chapter of Pokemon!

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