章 7: Virbank III: Gym(Edited)

Monday April 4th, 2012

Richard's blue eyes radiated confidence as he look at himself in the mirror.

The teen had an athletic build, he didn't have as much muscle that one would have with the "Ripped" type of body build but he was definitely more muscular than the "Swimmers" body type that was commonly found in fanfics he read in his old world.

He wore his standard "Gary Oak" style of outfit, though the colors were different as he was sporting a maroon colored polo and shoes with grey jeans.

Richard quietly left the Hotel and walked to the Gym to take on Roxie and her Poison Types.

He arrived at the gym an hour prior to his appointment at 3pm. He spoke to a man at the desk whom had a Large Spiked Pink Mohawk hairstyle. Richard then handed both his Boldore and Gallade to be evaluated as is standard procedure in every Gym.

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From what Richard learned aside from the first gym and some leaders personal preference for 1v1. The typical battle format for trainers challenging their second, third and fourth gyms is 2v2. The norm for the fifth, sixth and seventh challenges is 3v3, while the eighth challenge is a 4v4. So for the next few gyms the young trainer will have to use both Boldore and Gallade. As he doesn't plan to use his Honedge in a Gym battle til it evolves into a Doublade or at least nearing it's evolution, which will take some time.

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As there is no elevator in this Gym he had to take the stairs to the bottom floor where the battles take place. As he walked along the weirdly long corridor that was plastered with many posters of Roxie, Her Band and Poison Type Pokemon found around the world.

As he walked through the door leading to the spectator area he saw an elevated battleground with concert stage decked out with musical gear on one end where Roxie was standing looking bored and occasionally strumming her bass while casually beating low-level aspiring gym challengers and nothing of note on the other end of the battleground but some stairs where a challenger can quickly scram out if they lose. Well that was that side of the stage looks like to Richard. The underground gym itself was quite spacious not like it was depicted in the games.

There was one more battle before Richard's scheduled match happens. This battle was featuring what seems to be fresh academy graduate in his first Gym Challenge. Richard thought this way because he seems to recall seeing this boy's face online as one of the top 6 rankers from this years Elite Academy's graduating class, so essentially Richard's Junior. Though our blue-eyed protagonist didn't truly interact with many students outside of his class on a personal level during his time at the Academy so this so-called Senior/Junior relationship is shared in-name only.

What Richard wants to know about this "Junior" is how well this kid battles and what Royal Pokemon he chose as his starter for being a Top 6 Ranker. Only 6 Royal Pokemon are given out each year for these "Exam Winners". These Royal Pokemon are all trainer friendly and of an age where they immediately start to train and battle once they get a trainer.

Richard is truly trying to keep an eye out for trainers like this as they may be people he faces during this upcoming League Conference. This is including two of the top 10 rankers of his graduating class of 2011 that did not partake in the last year's Gym Challenge/League Conference.

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Roxie threw out a Level 26 Whirlipede(Gold) while the Violet-Haired Trainer tossed out a Level 25 Pignite(Diamond). Both Pokemon had plenty of moves at the intermediate rank. Especially the Pignite, it even has two Innate moves on the Advanced Rank. These moves being Superpower and Body Slam.

'Despite only having around a month of training together, this trainer must have had his starter battle a lot without much rest. Though gains seem to be worth it from him as his Pokemon seemed to gain around 4-5 levels per week.' thought the blonde trainer.

Though he mused these thoughts while watching the battle, he wasn't uncomfortable with how he chose to train his starter despite it having the same talent grade. It is truly a safe bet to have some types of Pokemon like Psychic and Dragon accumulate energy and bond with their trainers so they don't go berserk due to improper training or battling prior to reaching a stable age.

["Psychic and Dragon types need to reach at least 1 yr before battling" -Professor Cedric Juniper]

The Violet-Haired teen shouted out a final command to his Pignite.

"Use Flame Charge Consecutively!"

His Pokemon cloaked itself in fire energy and charged at Roxie's Whirlipede landing two hits over a short span, knocking out the opposing Pokemon. Though the Whirlipede managed to get off a Venoshock which almost knocked out the Pignite but it held on strongly.

"....And the winner is Carlos Staton from Virbank!" the referee sounded out via his wireless microphone.

_________A Few Minutes Later__________

"Our next Challenger.....Hailing from Aspertia City....Richard Rutherford versus the Unovan Queen of Punk Rock Roxie Melody!" the referee introduced the two battlers to the audience.

"Roxie!....Roxie!" her fans sounded out in unison

"Hey, as the old man said I AM ROXIE! Let's have a fun battle. Don't go cryin' if ya lose." Roxie said throwing out a 🤘 hand-sign then she proceeded to strum out a few chords on her bass.

"Don't choke on those words" the blonde said with a slight hmph in his voice.

'Aye, this is just how this Gym Leader is.....don't be too petty." Richard consoled himself in his heart.

Richard threw out his Boldore while Roxie release her Garbodor. This Garbodor(Gold) of Roxies' was Level 38 and armed to the teeth with many good Special Attacking moves such Sludge Bomb, Belch, Toxic, Venoshock and even Cross Poison a Physical move.

'Boldore should be in for a good match even though its a bit under-leveled' Richard thought this way because Boldore is resistant to Poison types and knows a few Ground type moves which are effective against Poison types.

"Boldore setup a Stealth Rock" [Richard]

"Garbodor use Acid Spray to clean up those rocks" [Roxie]

As soon as Boldore spat out the rocks, the acid from his opponent melted any rock as soon as it formed.

'I should probably focus on training Boldore til learns Sandstorm after this as only having Stealth Rock as a setup move isnt going to cut it' Richard thought as he commanded his Pokemon to make its next move.

"Trap it with Rock Slide, then hit it with a Bulldoze."

"Counter with Sludge Bomb" [Roxie]

Boldore's crystal shone with dense rock energy as it indiscriminately rained rocks down everywhere near Garbodor. The stickiness of the Sludge Bomb nailed several rocks to the battlefield. About 5 of the rocks hit Roxie's Pokemon causing it to flinch for a second allowing Boldore to deal a good chunk of damage.

Both Pokemon traded all-out blows for a few more minutes. It was a pyrrhic victory for Boldore as he was barely standing at the end of it. Richard quickly returned the Ore Pokemon to its ball and thanked him for a good battle.

Richard sent out his Ace Gallade while Scolipede was sent out by Roxie. Scolipede(Gold) was level 39. This specific Scolipede is armed with TMs like X-Scissor, Venom Drench and Throat Chop.

'I gotta end this quick' he thought

And quickly ended the battle did. Gallade got in close with Teleport landed a Psycho Cut and Fire Punch. It evaded two Venom Drenches. Landed another STAB super effective Psycho Cut but took some damage from a point blank X-Scissor. Gallade teleported away, regrouped and then ended his opponent with a Fire Punch.

Richard gave Roxie a handshake and a professional smile, as she deserved some respect as a Gym Leader even though she doesn't watch her words with her opponents.

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Richard went to the Pokemon Center to get his Pokemon healed up and checked. Everything was normal in that regard. Boldore just needed a day or two of rest and he'll be fine.

After a short stay at the Center. Richard went back to the Hotel ate a 500$ dinner and went back to his room to see if his Pokemon had any gains from the battle.

*Training/Exploration/D-C Grade League Missions Arc starting next chapter*

*Possible Rival?* Who knows? 🤔

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Badge Count: 2

Balance: 27,034,200$(-500$ Dinner)