บท 38: Ch 38. Ares vs. Erika

Arriving at the greenhouse, he was stopped at the entrance, as more than a few girls were looking at him from head to toe.

"No entrance for trainers who don't have a cute pokemon."

"..."

What the hell was going on in this gym. Seeing the girls behind her nod reaffirming, the leading girl waited for Ares to speak up, filled with confidence.

"What do cute pokemon have to do with challenging this gym?"

It was truly ridiculous to even refuse trainers who wanted to battle a gym battle, just because they didn't like your pokemon. What did it matter if it was cute to them or not. If he thought Umbreon and Lucario were cute, they were cute. What did he care if someone else didn't like them?

"Our gymleader likes cute pokemon, so we only want to show her cute pokemon. Show them or leave. It is up to you."

This gym was really messed up on their views. Too bad he had to earn the badge. The other gyms were at least a few weeks on foot away.

"Fine."

Grumbling a bit, he took out Pikachu, who happily greeted the girl.

"That is not a very cute pokemon, though I suppose it passes the minimum requirements."

The other girls behind her had a differing opinion, some shaking their head while others nodded in agreement.

Pikachu didn't like the statement at all, as she glared at the ones who nodded. She too thought they were being ridiculous. Huffing in irritation, Pikachu climbed up Ares's leg, hanging on his shoulder and waited for them to move inside.

"Since we passed, let me see the gym leader. I want to challenge her to a battle."

"You hear that girls? Miss Erika is about to battle."

The girls became excited as they rushed inside, leaving Ares with their spokesman behind.

"Follow me. I'll take you to the battle field."

Entering the greenhouse, Ares was led to the battlefield he had seen earlier. It looked the same as before, with no obstructions at all, as the ground was swept clear of any rocks or other objects.

Standing on the opposite side, Erika was already waiting, smiling gently at Ares.

"We meet again. This time as a gymleader and a challenger."

"It seems so. So, what are the rules for the battle?"

Erika chuckled as she looked at one of the girls on the side.

"I will act as referee for this battle. The battle will be a three-on-three Pokemon battle. The battle will continue until either sides pokemon are unable to battle. Only the challenger may substitute his pokemon. Are the rules clear?"

The girl looked at Ares, who nodded. The rules were as good as the same as in any other gym, so he had no problems at all.

"Then let's begin shall we."

Erika said as she send out her pokemon. Appearing on the battlefield was a pokemon called Tangela. It was a pokemon that was completely covered in blue vines, with only its feet and eyes peeking out. Its vines twitched occasionally, indicating it could move everyone of them without too much thought.

Deciding on his own pokemon too, Ares turned to his Pikachu, who looked at her opponent with interested eyes. This was the first time she had seen such a pokemon before, besides looking at it in pictures.

Still, she would do her best to beat this opponent.

Referee "Begin!"

"Tangela, Vine whip."

Erika called out her move first, her eyes following the flow of the battle precisely. Tangela stretched out a large amount of blue vines, all going into the direction of Pikachu.

Without even needing it to be said, Pikachu dodged the vines with the precise movements of a well timed Quick attack, leaping, ducking and rolling around the vines and expertly dodged every one of them.

"Thunderwave"

Unleashing a massive wave of electric energy, Pikachu quickly spread it across the battlefield, inching closer and closer to Tangela.

Running while continuing to use Thunderwave, Pikachu decreased the distance needed for the attack to hit, while also increasing the speed in which Tangela would be hit. At the same time Pikachu arrived in front of it, did the paralysis hit and take effect.

Feeling its body spasm from the electricity, Tangela's vine attack halted in the air, trembling slightly from the shocks. Not missing the opportunity, Pikachu increased her speed, using a strong Quick attack to hit Tangela.

Tangela was hit hard, sliding backwards from the force.

"Poison Powder, Tangela!"

Shaking of the paralysis temporarily, Tangela's body shook as a purple mist spread out around it. Like the Thunderwave, it soon spread across the battlefield, making it impossible for Pikachu to avoid.

Feeling the poison take affect, Pikachu gritted her teeth as an aching pain settled in her body. She glanced at Ares, motioning she was fine. Nodding in understanding, Ares looked at his opponent. Tangela didn't seem to be that well off either. It might be harder for him in the long run if this fight continued. Better to finish it quicker.

"Pikachu, let's finish it."

Agreeing wholeheartedly, Pikachu knew exactly what Ares had in mind. Smiling at Tangela in a provocative manner, Pikachu ran forward using Quick attack again, evading vine whip attacks from hitting her. At this point, Quick attack had become the to-go-to move to expertly avoid attacks from other pokemon.

Arriving a bit in front of Tangela, Pikachu jumped into the air, her tail glowing a metallic silver. Spinning forward, Pikachu increased her attack power as her speed was boosted by centrifugal force. Slamming down hard on Tangela's head, Pikachu quickly jumped back, waiting to see how Tangela would deal with the damage.

Tangela stumbled backwards, his eyes a bit unfocussed.

"Tangela!"

Tangela glanced backwards at Erika, wanting to react but fell backwards as he fainted where he stood.

Referee "Tangela is no longer able to battle. The winner is Pikachu."

Pikachu relaxed a bit, happy she won her first gym battle. Running back to Ares, she happily received his praise in the form of a headpat. Returning Pikachu to her pokeball, Ares waited for Erika's next move.

Erika silently returned Tangela to its pokeball, thanking it for its hard work as she took out her next pokemon.

The next pokemon to appear was a Weepinbell.

It was a plant pokemon, one that looked like a big flycatcher plant. Its two green leaves flapped a bit as a clear fluid dripped from its mouth, sizzling as it hit the ground. Surprisingly, a sweet scent spread instead, having the slightest hint of honey in it.

Taking out a pokemon as well, Ares called out his own pokemon as well.

In a flash of blue light, a big Pidgeot appeared on the battlefield.

Flapping his massive wings, Pidgeot looked down at his opponent, seeing it was just a Weepinbell. He had battled them before and knew what their general moveset was. Still, the pokemon of a gymleader was stronger than those from the wild, so Pidgeot was still cautious.

Seeing how Pidgeot handled this, Ares nodded in satisfaction. Seems like his Pidgeot knew not to underestimate his opponent, even with Pidgeot's big ego.

"Tail Wind, followed by Air slash."

Screeching loudly, Pidgeot whipped up a powerful wind, its power focussing on himself as it made his movements even faster. Flying upwards, Pidgeot unleashed multiple Air slashes upon Weepinbell, who watched them coming closer.

Erika "Weepinbell, Double team"

Weepinbell quickly moved, afterimages being formed as there were more and more of him apppearing on the battlefield. This didn't deter Pidgeot though, as he had a simple method to get past this. He just had to hit all of them.

Increasing the amount of Air slashes, Pidgeot accurately hit every Weepinbell in front of him. Eventually one hit the real Weepinbell, who had tried to protect itself with its vines, only for the Air slash to hit it hard instead.

And like that, Weepinbell was lying fainted on the ground.

'It is surprisingly weak'

Ares thought as he looked on as Erika returned Weepinbell to its pokeball and a frown had appeared on her face. She too had thought she could battle a little longer, even if it was a bad opponent for her.

Looking at Pidgeot, she knew that the next fight wouldn't be easy either, as her opponent was strong.

Then she let out her last pokemon, her Gloom.

It was a pokemon with a blue body, with a red flower bud on top of its head. A strong odor spread across the battlefield, making it a bit hard to breath. Pidgeot flapped its wings a bit harder, blowing away the pungent smell.

Looking up, Gloom stared at Pidgeot. It was big, with sharp looking talons and a pointy beak.

It shivered once, but still looked up with a determination that was expected from a gym leaders pokemon.

"Gloom, Sweet scent"

Gloom followed what Erika said, unleashing a sweet scent, trying to lure Pidgeot towards it. Pidgeot faintly smelled the sweet scent, sniffing the air a bit as he was a bit drawn to the source. He became a bit muddled by it, wanting to dive down to catch whatever released it and eat it.

"Pidgeot, snap out of it! Use gust"

Shakking his head in quick succession, Pidgeot managed to clear his head a bit, blowing away the sweet scent. Clearing up his mind entirely, he was met with a green blob of slime that was right in front of his face. Too late to dodge, Pidgeot did manage to avoid it hitting the head, as it landed on his talons.

Feeling a burning sensation set it, a sizzling sound audible from his claws, Pidgeot knew it had been hit by the move Acid. Glaring at Gloom, who now had a purple liquid in its mouth, Pidgeot screeched in annoyance.

He had been too muddleheaded to react. Flapping his wings harder, the last vestiges of the sweet scent had been completely blown away.

Looking down at his opponent, Pidgeot wanted to get back at it. Unfortunately he couldn't use any poison moves, so he had to do it his own way.

Knowing Pidgeot's thoughts, Ares shook his head. Pidgeot really was a bit to ruthless sometimes, but it was a good trait to have when outside of gymbattles. So as to satisfy Pidgeot just a bit, Ares went along with his pokemon's plan, only making sure that he didn't go too far.

"Aerial Ace"

Choosing one of the less heaving hitting attacks, unlike the moves Giga impact or brave bird, Ares still made sure it dealt enough damage.

Pidgeot dove down, white light surrounding him as he slashed hard at Gloom. The purple liquid created by the move Toxic spilled uselessly on the ground, as Gloom was slammed against a tree on the side. Under the force, a crack appeared in the bark, for the rest remaining unharmed.

Gloom fell to the ground, face first as the strength in its body had completely disappeared. The horrid stench from Glooms honey had disappeared as well, as Gloom had fainted.

Looking at the unmoving Gloom, the referee stated the results, though she did look a bit unhappy with them.

Referee "Gloom is unable to battle. The winner is Pidgeot. The victory goes to the challenger."

Stepping down, the referee quickly left as she ran to the other girls watching on from the sides.

Ignoring them, Ares walked up to Erika, who had returned Gloom to its pokeball. Pidgeot landed besides Ares as it waited with shining eyes for the badge it had so earnestly won.

Erika smiled at the behavior of Pidgeot and handed over the badge.

"It was a pleasant battle. I present you, the Rainbow badge."

Handing over a multicolored badge in the shape of a flower, Erika bowed slightly as she quickly left. Her pokemon had battled hard and needed to be tended to immediately. It seems she needed to spend a bit more time on her pokemon strenght, instead of her perfume. Fortunately she had perfectly capable staff to take over for her absence.

Not minding it one bit, Ares left the gym as he too needed to visit the pokemon center. Pikachu needed some care, as did Pidgeot after their battles. If he had to say something about the results of todays battle, it would be that he was proud of Pikachu for her first gymbattle. Of Pidgeot as well ofcourse, but he had complete faith in Pidgeot to handle it well. It had trained a lot for this, so it was only right for him to give Pidgeot that much.