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Chapter 16, part 3
🕑 Added 2024-12-11 14:27:26 +0000 UTCFor a few long moments, Aria and Raticate stare each other down, mirroring their trainers as Ran looks hesitantly towards Whitney, who meets his hesitance with smugness. Of course, as long as nobody moves, with Raticate’s poisoning, things are shifting in Ran’s favor. But then, Whitney knows that, so she’ll take the initiative any second now. Which is enough to spur him into action.
“String Shot! Slow it down!” He orders frantically, beating Whitney’s call for a Quick Attack by a second.
Obediently, Aria fires off her sticky threads directly ahead of her. It’s not enough to avoid Raticate making contact, as the brown ball of fur slams into her and even despite its smaller size, knocks her out of its way. But once more, when it turns, thick gooey threads of string stick to it, noticeably hindering its movements. Ran’s focus is on Aria however, as she takes a long second to get up again, Raticate’s attack clearly having hurt her quite a bit.
She’s not shaky on her legs, once she stands, but there’s a clear wariness to Aria’s stance as she turns to keep Raticate, whom Whitney has test his speed by ordering him to start circling Aria, within her field of view. It’s a wariness Ran feels as well, as Raticate, despite the poison slowly weakening it from within, won’t need many hits to take Aria out. Still, if they can just slow it down enough…
Getting another Fell Stinger knockout might win them the whole match outright.
“Again!” He commands, not convinced by Aria’s ability to contend with Raticate’s speed advantage yet.
Aria immediately obeys, once more firing off a beam of sticky threads towards Raticate. Unfortunately, neither Whitney nor her pokémon are content to simply let the attack hit, as she gives out a series of orders which Raticate immediately starts to carry out.
“Dodge, then Take Down and follow with Crunch!” Whitney instructs in short order, giving her Raticate just enough time to leap out of the way of Aria’s attack.
Then it sprints towards her, not nearly as fast as when it’d used Quick Attack to become an unstoppable brown blur, but it’s still worryingly fast. On the other hand, Aria, for all her many qualities for which Ran cherishes her and appreciates her greatly, isn’t a fast mover by any means.
But if she’s going to get hit anyways, Ran intends to make the most of it. Maybe knocking Raticate out upon contact will dampen the blow Aria has to weather…
“Bug Bite, Aria! Knock it out before it can hurt you!” He orders, opting for raw power over the potential long-term benefits of Fell Stinger.
Aria hunches down slightly in preparation, her large mandibles glowing menacingly whilst her large abdomen rises up behind her, bobbing in place in anticipation. Raticate for its part glows white, looking increasingly like a falling star as it races towards its target.
Ran clenches his fists together anxiously, utterly powerless as he watches with bated breath. As long as Aria doesn’t develop greater mobility or greater speed control over her opponents, they won’t be able to avoid these kinds of situations. The thought is no comfort now, but it is something he silently castigates himself for, as both pokémon come together with a violent bang.
Raticate’s momentum is so great, that both pokémon are sent tumbling across the ground in a tangle of limbs. It’s impossible to immediately make out just who’s coming out ahead, but Ran still shouts encouragement towards Aria, knowing that of all his pokémon, she’s the one that needs the most positive reinforcement, “Come on Aria, hang in there! Beat it!”
Unfortunately, as their tumbling forms come to a halt, it’s to see Raticate, fangs already glowing with menacing dark-type energy, looming over a weakly struggling Aria. Before he can even think of withdrawing Aria from the match however, to spare her the pain of the final hit, she fires off a rebellious Poison Sting, unable to actually bite or jab at Raticate for a more powerful attack.
The small purple stingers strike its skin for under a second before it manages to Crunch down, Aria immediately fainting as the normal-type’s fangs hit her. Ran instantly recalls her, beating the referee’s raised flag to the draw. He worriedly pats her pokéball reassuringly as he clips it to his belt. She didn’t look terribly wounded at least, so he’s not actually worried about her like he was against Bugsy. The clear increase to her sturdiness is, in this moment, the one benefit of her evolution that he’s most grateful for.
Next, his hand shifts to Golbat’s pokéball. Just as he’s about to grip it, to send out his third pokémon, his eyes fall upon Raticate. Whitney’s second battler is clearly on its last legs. Aria managed to inflict a lot of damage throughout their fight, as evidenced by the labored breathing and the pained shivering running through Raticate’s form. The absolute anger in its gaze hasn’t dimmed one bit however, a clear reminder of its activated Guts ability.
If it manages to land even a single hit on Golbat, which it might with a Quick Attack before Golbat can get off the ground and high enough in the air, that might bite them in the ass in a major way against Whitney’s third pokémon.
So maybe he’s better off sending out Ekans? His hand shifts momentarily from Golbat’s ball to Ekans’, before pausing once more. Because Ekans already took some damage, a Guts-empowered attack might just be enough to take him out entirely.
Which means Golbat is absolutely the right call. His hand lands on Golbat’s ball once more and he’s just about to unclip it, when the referee’s voice rings out.
“Twenty seconds!” The ref calls in warning, looking towards Ran encouragingly, clearly having noticed the way he’s been hesitating in choosing between his two options.
A choice which he’s now made, so he could just send out Golbat immediately. Then again…
Ran waits, unclipping Golbat’s pokéball but otherwise not moving, as his gaze locks on Raticate instead. It really does look to be in a fair amount of pain. Even as he watches, pain wracks its form once more, the poison coursing through it thanks to the many Toxic Spikes that pierced its flesh continuing its unpleasant work.
“Ten seconds!” The referee calls out, voice a lot sterner now that Ran has clearly made up his mind and is deliberately holding off on sending out his choice.
The background noise caused by the crowd, previously cheery and enthusiastic, turns sour as they too catch on to his plan. Angry muttering overtakes good natured conversation as those that are a bit slower on the uptake are briefed by their more attentive neighbors.
“Five seconds!” The referee warns, even as Whitney, finally mercifully quiet compared to her earlier annoying behavior, crosses her arms and merely waits quietly for Ran to finally act.
“Four… Three… Two…”
He sends out Golbat with a mighty throw, ready to order him to immediately get into the air. At the same time, clearly considering Ran’s optimal usage of the rules as permission for her to do the same, Whitney is already calling for a Quick Attack from her Raticate.
It manages to advance maybe ten feet, before slumping onto the ground and skidding to a halt even as Golbat finishes materializing.
“Up!” Ran calls immediately, even as the referee raises his flag and declares Raticate out of the match.
Instantly, before Raticate has even been recalled properly, Whitney’s already sending out her third and final pokémon. The red energy solidifies into the unsurprising, yet still worrying, form of a Miltank. With Raticate’s pokéball still in her hand and whilst catching the rebounding ball she’d used to send out Miltank, Whitney still manages to give an urgent order.
“Rollout!” She barks out immediately, clearly looking to land a hit before Golbat can get out of reach.
“Greet her with a Supersonic, don’t let her hit you!” Ran retorts swiftly, watching anxiously as Miltank, which simply powers through the discomfort of the lingering Toxic Spikes to fall directly into a Rollout, rapidly picks up pace towards Golbat’s ascending form.
Whitney’s third battler is too slow however. Oh she picks up an admirable amount of speed and she even manages to bounce up impressively as she attempts to knock Golbat out of the sky. But even then she still misses out on even clipping the flying type’s feet by a comfortable margin. Additionally, as a beautiful bonus, the air around Golbat ripples, as he lets loose a powerful supersonic cry. It’s always hard to tell whether Supersonic connects and has the desired effect, but when Miltank’s Rollout continues, after a heavy landing, directly onward until she slams hard into the invisible barriers, Ran grins triumphantly.
The impact is great enough for Miltank to get knocked out of her Rollout, handily cutting off her ability to build up the attack’s momentum further. She’s slow to get to her feet, clearly hesitant and confused. At the same time, the poison inflicted by Toxic Spikes continues to weaken her from the inside. For a moment, the fight seems won.
Then Whitney has to rain on that particular parade with a command that Ran had completely forgotten about.
“Come on honey, you can do this! Use Heal Bell!” She calls out encouragingly, her warm tone seemingly enough to temporarily provide clarity for Miltank, as the Milk Cow Pokémon visibly perks up at the sound of her trainer’s voice.
Ran’s decision is instantaneous, as he hurriedly calls out a set of orders of his own, “Air Cutter! Don’t let her focus! Keep the pressure up!”
There’s some jeering and booing from the crowd, as Golbat obediently starts to pepper his opponent with cutting blast of wind after cutting blast of wind. Which is understandable enough, as it hardly makes for the most interesting viewing to have one pokémon firing away at one without any ranged answers of its own. That’s before getting into the unpopular nature of status conditions, as due to their largely invisible nature, crowds generally react poorly to the lack of spectacle they often bring.
Ran for his part is happy to let the crowd’s displeasure wash over him. If anything, it’s a sign that they’re winning.
Miltank does her best, the spherical end of her tail glowing for a moment as she clearly starts to perform Heal Bell. But then the first Air Cutter hits, disrupting her for a moment. Next, she visibly winces, as the poison racing through her causes a lance of pain to shoot through her body. The second Air Cutter makes contact just as the most recent burst of pain caused by her poisoning seems to fade away, delaying her further. Of course Golbat can’t shoot the attack off indefinitely, needing a moment to regather more flying-type energy after his first two shots.
So again, Miltank attempts to carry out a Heal Bell, only for Supersonic’s lingering effects to make themselves known as she visibly falters, tail lowering and glow cutting off before she can even get half as far as she did on her first try.
“Keep it up, you’re doing great!” Ran cheers Golbat, confidently following what is clearly a winning plan. The proud cry his pokémon lets out in response is a clear sign that they’re on the same wavelength.
Unlike Ran, Whitney doesn’t shout or command, instead, her voice softens, somehow still carrying enough to be audible, despite her clearly lowering her volume, “Miltank, calm down for a second! Listen to the sound of my voice. You can withstand these attacks. You’re tough. Come back to me. Focus on the sound of my voice, clear your thoughts. I trust you.”
Obediently, Miltank holds in place, sitting down with a heavy sigh as her heavy form hitting the ground throws up a small dust cloud. Golbat obediently fires off another Air Cutter, which slams into Miltank’s belly, but she doesn’t even acknowledge it, instead closing her eyes as she listens to Whitney’s insistent voice.
“Clear your head. Focus on your breathing. You’re in the Gym, battling a Golbat. They’ve poisoned you and confused you and they’re trying to beat you. But you won’t let them.” Whitney drones on, her Miltank obediently weathering another Air Cutter whilst Ran watches frustratedly as the damage inflicted to Miltank only seems to increase by small increments.
The temptation to send Golbat in with a Poison Fang is great, but it would forfeit the one enormous advantage they have. He’ll just have to be patient and trust in the plan. Whittling the opponent down is the whole point of poison-types. He can wait.
Even as Ran wrestles with himself and his own latent impulsiveness, Whitney’s voice suddenly sharpens into a whip crack, “Now, get up and use Heal Bell!”
Miltank jumps upright in a single smooth move, tail immediately glowing brightly. Before the next Air Cutter can even get half of the way towards her, the glow reaches its peak. Then she shakes her tail, a loud ringing reminiscent of a cowbell ringing out throughout the arena.
The effect is immediately apparent, as although Miltank has clearly taken a beating under Golbat’s sustained assault and the effects of her poisoning, she bounces enthusiastically in place. Then, her attention returns to Golbat, her eyes narrowing menacingly once she locks on to Ran’s poison-flying-type.
“Alright Miltank!” Whitney cheers, jumping in place with an enthusiastic fist pump as the crowd roars its approval.
Golbat doesn’t hesitate however, merely continuing to execute Ran’s command, as he fires off yet another Air Cutter. Lucid she may be - and with a surprising top speed - but nimble Miltank is not, so even as she tries to jump out of the way, she still gets hit by Golbat’s attack.
Whitney’s expression sours, as she looks towards Golbat for a moment before directing her attention to Ran, “Really? That’s the entirety of your strategy? Just stay out of reach and keep using Air Cutter? And you think that’s enough to deserve your third badge?”
Ran frowns, not wanting to get drawn into a discussion in the middle of a battle. Still, Whitney is the Gym Leader and it’s not as if he deliberately wants to antagonize her outside of their battle.
“As long as it’s working, why change it?” He asks rhetorically, continuing on before Whitney gets a chance to reply, “If my team and I have a good strategy that gives us a major advantage, it’s up to our opponent to fix it, isn’t it?”
“Alright, if that’s how you feel.” Whitney shrugs, before directing her attention towards her Miltank once more, something wicked in her eyes.
“Get ready to use Quick Guard, Golbat!” Ran calls immediately, admittedly wary at the sight of Whitney with some kind of ace up her sleeve.
Unfortunately, the ace in question isn’t one against which Quick Guard can help them, as Whitney barks out her order.
“Shock Wave!”
“Get in there and use Poison Fang!” Ran shouts immediately, even as Miltank visibly sparks with electric-energy as she prepares the unavoidable attack.
Golbat cries out obediently, aborting the early stages of his next Air Cutter to instead start a diving run directly at Miltank, large tongue lolling out threateningly for a moment, poison absolutely dripping off of it. He isn’t fast enough to pre-empt Miltank’s attack though.
Whitney’s final combatant sparks up brightly once more, before a spherical wave of electricity fires off of Miltank. It looks more impressive than it is, the sheer diffusion of Shockwave resulting in a lower energy concentration to something like Thunderbolt. But as Golbat flies directly into the attack, his pained screech is proof aplenty that the super-effective attack still hurts him badly.
Ran’s first evolved pokémon persists however, breaking through the Shock Wave which fades away behind him to close in on Miltank with a slavering maw. He bites down vehemently, as Poison Fang connects harshly with Miltank’s form, with all four of Golbat’s large fangs disappearing entirely from view in the pink cow’s thick fat.
She bellows out in pain, but it isn’t enough to knock her out on the spot. Then, before Golbat can pull back, Whitney follows up with a sharp command.
“Rollout! Take it for a spin!” She orders curtly. Before Ran can even muster a response, Miltank is already falling into a forward roll. Golbat, who is still attached by the teeth, gets dragged right along with her as she builds up both rock-type energy and speed.
Ran can only watch in disbelief as Golbat gets treated like a particularly stubborn piece of dough with Miltank as the rolling pin, as on every rotation her full weight compresses Golbat’s trapped form against the ground.
Still, Golbat’s pained cries make it clear that he’s still conscious and that means there has to be at least something they can do.
“Supersonic!” Ran gambles, hoping against hope that perhaps they’ll be able to knock Miltank out of her Rollout once more.
With the speed the pair has built up by this point, where neither pokémon is still properly distinguishable and they instead appear to be a single ball of pink and dark blue, Ran can’t tell if Supersonic connects. He can’t even be sure whether it gets executed. All he can really be sure of is that Golbat’s pained cries grow increasingly frantic and then, weak.
“Poison Fang, give me one more Golbat! She has to be at the end of her rope, hang in there!”
Whether Golbat manages it, he doesn’t know, as seconds later, his pained cries cut off entirely. Immediately, Miltank’s Rollout slows down slightly, enough for Golbat’s limp form to actually get thrown clear of his opponent’s body. Before Golbat’s flight can turn into a crash, Ran is already recalling him. Rather than focus on his defeated pokémon however, as a brief glimpse enough to assure him that Golbat didn’t suffer any damage to be truly worried about, he immediately sends out Ekans this time.
Because there’s once more a slight hesitancy to Miltank’s movements as she fully comes out of Rollout and stands up. Maybe Whitney’s also spotted it already, but Ran doubts it as she instead turns to the crowd to bow theatrically, to riotous applause. It’s understandable, considering the looming ‘comeback’, but this fight isn’t over yet and Ran is not about to give her the time to call for an uncontested Heal Bell once she realizes that her Miltank’s worse off than she thinks.
“Glare and get in there, Ekans!” He orders immediately, his starter obediently rearing up and locking gazes with the glassy-eyed Miltank, who seems to cower slightly in front of Ekans as Ran’s starter rattles his tail threateningly upon first laying eyes upon his opponent. Simultaneously, Ran can’t help but notice the slowly returning vitality Ekans seems to be benefiting from, as the hidden Black Sludge clearly does what it’s supposed to do.
“Shit! Snap out of it Miltank!” Whitney barks, turning from the crowd back to the field and clearly immediately catching on to her pokémon’s confused state.
She’s too late however, as Glare’s mysterious paralyzing effect sets in, causing all of Miltank’s voluntary muscles to lock up at the same time. Immediately, Ekans slithers forth, even as Ran hurriedly catches his starter up on just what he’s missed.
“Aria and Golbat are both out and Whitney’s also down to her last pokémon! We need you to bring it home for us, Ekans! It’s all up to you!” He hurriedly rattles off for his starter, who seems invigorated by the information that he’s being relied on to such a degree. If anything, his advance towards Miltank - confused, paralyzed and if Ran doesn’t miss his mark, once again poisoned - speeds up further.
“SNAP OUT OF IT!” Whitney shouts.
It’s enough to break through to Miltank, even as the crowd is stunned into total silence for the first time since the match began. Ran’s own attention also leaves the battling pokémon, as he looks towards the Gym leader in surprise. But Ekans has a mission and it’s one he won’t be distracted from.
Miltank shakes her head, clearly trying to clear away the cobwebs, but she isn’t fast enough, as Ekans, the only sentient in attendance that hasn’t been caught completely by surprise by Whitney’s scream, reaches his target. Immediately, he starts to wind up Miltank’s form, Wrap settling in as he starts to squeeze the life out of his foe.
“ROLLOUT!” Whitney screams once more, sheer volume and desperation seemingly enough to punch through both confusion and paralysis at the same time, as Miltank once more dives into a rolling tumble.
“Stockpile! Don’t let go!” Ran calls, hoping against hope that Ekans will be able to pull off the defensive move whilst using Wrap. It’s something they haven’t tested yet, but having seen the raw power of Rollout, it’s the only outcome he sees.
Miltank picks up speed once more, but Ekans doesn’t relent, remaining wrapped around his foe and continuing to squeeze away at her. Even as their entangled forms pick up speed, both pokémon once more becoming harder to distinguish from each other, Ran can see the purple color of Ekans slowly intensify and darken, as he clearly executes one Stockpile after another, even as he continues to squeeze away at Miltank.
But it just. Won’t. Go. Down.
Fortunately, finally, luck turns their way, as just as Rollout reaches top speed and Whitney calls for her pokémon to jump up to slam down on the ground with full force, Miltank’s Rollout breaks off prematurely, as Glare’s paralysis-effect finally reasserts itself.
Ekans looks a lot worse for wear, clearly battered and hurt by the repeated squishing into the ground inflicted on him by his opponent. But it’s nothing compared to Miltank, as she finally shows the strain of everything that’s been inflicted on her so far. Her whole body is scuffed and bruised, her eyes are glassy from confusion and her current pose is clearly unnaturally maintained as her muscles are locked up. Finally, her body bulges out unnaturally around Ekans’ form, as Ran’s starter cinches in ever-tighter where he’s wrapped around her, leading to obscene bulges of Miltank’s flesh between the tight cords of purple hide as what gets compressed desperately seeks an escape.
Still, the fight isn’t won yet, as Ekans is clearly straining to hold on to his Wrap, the demands placed upon his own core muscles, which have to constantly keep up the pressure without a moment to relax, clearly pushing him to his limits. So, Ran goes for the finishing blow.
“Spit up! Finish it!” He calls sharply, Ekans’ whole body shivering as he clearly processes the command.
A gasp goes through the arena as everyone finally catches on to just how many Stockpiles Ekans’ managed even as he stayed wrapped around Miltank. Miltank keens desperately, futilely trying to move or break free but, under the weight of everything that’s been inflicted on her, utterly defenseless for what’s coming.
It starts at his tail, as Ekans’ body bulges slightly, before the bulge starts to roll up the inside of his own body, moving along from the tail and towards his head. As it moves, the bulge grows incrementally, the initially minor and near-unnoticeable bulge first becoming larger, then properly large and then almost obscene. Where it passes, Ekans’ scales lighten, as the energy imparted upon them by Stockpile gets carried along with the bulge.
As the bulge reaches Ekans’ head, it seems impossible that it’ll be able to pass through without outright breaking something, so distended is his body. But then his maw unhinges completely, a gaping dark chasm opening up which is immediately lit up by an intense white light that might well rival the Hyper Beams that are surely thrown around in this Gym at the eighth-badge level. Ekans’ head swings around, as he locks eyes with Miltank, his coils shifting slightly downwards with tremendous effort, to ensure that he won’t deal himself any self-inflicted damage.
Then, two things happen at once.
One is Miltank dissolving into red energy as Whitney recalls her third and final battler at the last possible moment. The other is an explosion, as an enormous beam of normal-type energy blasts right through the red energy.
Not encountering any resistance, it blows right past and towards the barrier. The referee frantically releases two more Mr. Mimes, even as the one on duty turns from his previously lazy miming to a frantic dance, the barrier visibly intensifying in the half second it takes Ekans’ Spit Up to traverse the worryingly short distance to the barrier.
The attack connects, the barrier immediately shooting through all the colors of the rainbow in a single second, before shattering like glass. The audience cries out in fright as the attack appears to continue towards them unimpeded, only for two significantly stronger barriers to appear between them as the two freshly-released Mr. Mimes hurriedly perform their craft.
Still, the barriers once more pass through all the colors of the rainbow, though at least it takes them a few long seconds this time, Ekans’ jaw finally closing as his attack terminates whilst he sags onto the ground. The first barrier cracks visibly, a singular loud ‘snap’ ringing out from it before, finally, Spit Up is overcome by the combined efforts of the Mr. Mimes.
Everyone in the room, from Ran to Whitney to the hundreds of spectators, looks towards Ekans in visible awe. Because unless Ran misses his mark, the two Mr. Mimes that got released there are meant for far stronger pokémon that a third-badge challenge should have.
Finally, it’s Whitney who, disbelievingly, shatters the fragile silence, “Spit Up? Really?”
It’s an utterly innocuous thing to say under the circumstances, but it’s enough to open the floodgates, as the audience breaks into raucous noise, a mixture of awed cheers, frantic weeping and furious shouting intermingling to form an indistinguishable wall of noise. Not that Ran pays them any mind, as he has just enough presence of thought to wait for the referee to raise the flag signifying Whitney’s defeat, before he’s racing onto the field.
He slides painfully - dirt not being a great surface for such things - on his knees before embracing Ekans just under his head, as he presses his starter’s tired form against him.
“You did it! You did it, Ekans! That was amazing! I can’t believe what a monster that Miltank was but I knew you could do it!” Ran raves enthusiastically, drawing a proud hiss from his starter, before Ekans suddenly bucks oddly in his arms.
Surprised, Ran releases his first pokémon for a moment, so he can lean back and look properly at his starter, only to have to avert his eyes as Ekans’ whole body glows so brightly as to be painful to his eyes.
“No way…” Ran mutters softly, voice trailing off in disbelief as Ekans, in their moment of triumph, finally evolves.
His body shifts, lengthening but especially thickening as his mass expands prodigiously. Starting at the head, his previously round form flares outwards into a wide hood whilst the rattler at the back of his tail smooths out to become a proper part of his full body.
Gradually, the light fades away. First, the hood’s new beautiful patterns become visible, the light there dimming at different speeds and showing off the ‘face’ there. Then, as the body itself becomes fully visible, the disappearance of the previous yellow markings and the intensifying of the previously light purple color into a more regal tint become clear.
Arbok rises up in place, the front of his imposing body rising up to loom over the field. Ran hurriedly stands up, still needing to crane his neck backwards to look at his starter’s face. Arbok lowers his head slightly for a moment, offering his trainer a brief headbutt, which is clearly intended to be gentle but actually pushes him back a step due to Arbok underestimating his newly gained muscles.
Then, he rises up once more before glancing around the room at the awed audience. The hiss he lets out as he announces his evolution to the world is threatening enough to send a shiver down Ran’s spine. At which point he’s got to wonder just what it does to the other people in the room.
The only person in the room who seems entirely unaffected is Whitney, as Goldenrod’s Gym Leader chooses that moment to leave her own trainer box and step out onto the battlefield. Immediately, Arbok’s head shifts towards her, his tongue darting out as he locks on to the approaching trainer. In the moments immediately following evolution, his instincts are clearly flaring up, but after a moment, as Ran’s hand comes up to rest against his starter’s side, Arbok visibly relaxes, coiling up in place as he lowers his head to rest on his own body.
Absent-mindedly, Ran starts to trail his fingers over the scales under his hand as his own attention also shifts to Whitney, whilst the crowd finally breaks out of yet another stunned silence to start muttering amongst themselves once more.
“As the Goldenrod City Gym Leader, I hereby present you with a truly deserved Plain Badge!” Whitney announces loudly, the badge already in her outstretched hand following an impressively swift display of sleight-of-hand.
Ran eagerly accepts the badge, even as Whitney continues to run through the public part of her speech, “You showed a clear plan, the ability to think on your feet, heart and well-trained pokémon. Your performance here is a credit both to them and to yourself. Though your battling style won’t win you many fans, unless you start pulling more flashy stuff like that finisher of yours, because ho-ly what was that?! Seriously, Spit Up of all things? That was just awesome!”
Goldenrod’s Gym Leader seems quite ready to get completely sidetracked in her raving over Ekans’ inspiring showing, but she seems to catch herself just in time. Clearing her throat awkwardly, she continues speaking loudly.
“Ahem, you ultimately needed an ace in the hole because I had a few tricks of my own you hadn’t accounted for, but your approach was solid from start to finish. You won’t be winning any popularity contests by relying on status conditions, wearing your opponents down and denying them a straight-up fight, but pokémon battling isn’t supposed to be a popularity contest! If anything, I believe you are a true personification of just what the Plain Badge means! Flashiness is nothing compared to efficiency! For an inspiring showing, I believe you deserve a hearty round of applause!”
Ran flushes slightly under Whitney’s praise, unable to keep meeting her gaze, even as the crowd obediently starts clapping. The Gym Leader isn’t done however, as the only slightly older young woman takes a small step forward and leans in to offer the private part of the traditional advice.
“That was genuinely a solid showing, Ran Carr. The Toxic Spikes are a new addition, right?” She asks, looking at him taxingly.
Ran nods in mute agreement, unsure just where Whitney’s going with her seemingly innocent question.
“Yeah I figured, otherwise my assistant would’ve given me a Pidgeotto or something, instead of a Jigglypuf.” Whitney huffs to herself, leaving Ran trying to connect the dots at the seemingly nonsensical statement.
Noticing his confusion, Whitney lifts a single eyebrow, before asking a leading question, “You know how I won my Conference?”
“You heavily researched your opponents and came up with a meticulous counter-strategy for each of them.” Ran replies immediately, not even needing to think about the question for a second.
Whitney nods approvingly, “Exactly. But obviously as a Gym Leader I can’t do that, so I have an employee who does that for me. Just a quick study based on known team composition, results in previous Gym battles, that kind of stuff. Obviously with as green as you are he didn’t have a lot to build off of just yet, but I figure he would’ve noticed Toxic Spikes and given me at least one counter to them if you’d shown them off before.”
“Ohhh… that’s why you used a Raticate with Guts.” Ran sighs in realization, as the dots finally fully connect.
“Got it in one,” Whitney agrees with a sly smile, before raising her voice once more as the crowd, by this point finished clapping, is allowed to listen to their conversation once more, “But you had a clear plan and enough flexibility within that plan to overcome the odds. Which is why I also award you this TM for Attract and the third-tier badge cash prize will be transferred to your account. Congratulations on your accomplishment and thank you for one of the more fun battles of my week!”
For once, Ran is left feeling rather positive about a Gym Leader, as he accepts Whitney’s praise and his reward with a proud smile, “Thank you, it’s been an honor and a pleasure to fight you.”
“I imagine it was, yeah,” Whitney winks coyly, drawing a slight flush from Ran - after all she isn’t known as the Incredibly Pretty Girl without reason - before she continues, though he can tell that she’s entirely genuine in speaking the normally rote words, “I’ll be waiting for word of your accomplishments, Ran. I expect you to impress us all at the Conference at the end of the season!”
The crowd claps once more, though there are some mutinous jeers and boos mixed in. Ran doesn’t let any of it distract or bother him however, attention firmly on the Plain Badge in his right hand.
Comments
ted bridgman
Also, this seems like a more realistic take on pokemon fighting. Ran's probably nervous of his team (which he has been friends with for a couple years now) getting a career ending injury not even halfway through the circuit.
TempestK
To be fair most of his pokemon aren't particularly bulky until after evolution and he's still adjusting to the change in the nearly two year status quo.
Heraclitus
True. Eldoon Regnad is better.
ted bridgman
As a final thing (hit post on accident) I really like how Whitney is the gym leader who finally told Ran it doesn't matter if his current status effect style is popular with crowds. She's just encouraging him to grow as a trainer first, and it really pushes the difference in her values over what we've seen currently from the more 'traditional' gym leaders.
ted bridgman
I really enjoyed this battle. Ekans going for a ride with Miltank was probably a bit much, but overall I thought it at least made sense, and who knows if that did more or less damage than just taking the hits. Also, Arbok evo! Let's goooooo! I actually really like the name Caesar, because I feel like it fits with Aria's name. I also want to point out how jacked Ran's team would look to some people. 3 badges and he has an Arbok, Golbat, Ariados, and a super rare foreign pokemon in Skorupi. Along with whichever Nido he wants to eventually get with that Moon Ball. That's a whole lot of nope on one team.
MaliMi
I do not think that Eldoon is a name Arbok would be comfortable with.
Kris Boxall
Thanks for the great chapter, I like the sound of Caesar :D
The Dave
He'll improve with time, but it's a valid point.
Mrsean22
Honestly this was a good battle. Ran made some mistakes but pulled through. Ekans even evolved. Whitney giving some good praise compared to Rans previous gym battles. Now to see how Josie does at her second attempt.
TempestK
Okay, that was a very good battle. I like that while Ran made a misstep, Whitney's aide also goofed. The fact that she tailors her team to her opponents is interesting as well, it makes her a lot harder to anticipate than Bugsy (who literally went out of his way to break his standard second badge team composition when fighting Ran). Ran keeping his cool was well handled, though emphasizing that he hesitated for a bit was a good show that he's still working on honing his instincts. And Whitney being genuinely complimentary afterwards was a nice change from the interactions with Falkner and Bugsy. Spit-Up being that powerful is quite nice. Is there a limit on how many times a mon can use Stockpile like in the games? Also Ran's not really at fault for the near-miss with the barriers, he and Ekans both expected Miltank to be the backstop for the attack. And Spit-Up is actually twice as strong as Hyper Beam at its most potent. 300 vs 150. It's getting the set up for that much power that's the real bitch to do. I wonder if Ran will be able to train Arbok to use Coil and Stockpile at the same time in order to hide the set-up. Kind of thinking of doing another omake with a three-way call between Bugsy, Falkner and Whitney where she got called in to weigh in about Ran by Falkner.
DiscoT
Caesar is such a good name for a pokemon with the purple tint of royalty aswell. I like the battle overall, felt a bit iffy on him sorts acting like his pokemon are made of glass but it was a satisfying conclusion.
Heraclitus
I vote for Eldoon, since it's Noodle spelled backwards.
The Dave
There'll definitely be an aftermath and it'll definitely be big in some ways, but I'll say here and now that there won't be any major blow-up / altercation or anything. She's not the type to misattribute blame.
Heraclitus
The only thing to sour how awesome this battle was, is the looming angst and drama of reuniting with Josie. I can't see the aftermath being easy to overcome. Josie doesn't seem like a person that will handle a blow to her ego with grace. In many ways she's similar to Spencer, I think.
The Dave
Well there it is! I hope this lives up to everyone's expectations, it's a pretty dang big one if I do say so myself. The secret about Whitney's monster rep, not just talent but also flat out hiring someone to do a weaker form of her own conference level prep work is out! Of course, there'll be a name vote related to *that* evolution, so please get your suggestions in now. I've been using the placeholder "Caesar" in my working doc and that'll definitely be in the vote because I quite like how it's somewhat close to the sound Arbok made in the anime (or at least in the version I watched of the anime). But all suggestions welcome, best ones will go on the Contributor-poll, which'll go up in the next few days so that we can settle the vote by next Wednesday, when the naming scene should be going up.
