บท 59: Ch 59. The whereabouts of the gym
(Unedited)
Waking up as soon as the sun rose, Ares and Jenny spent the day going shopping, as their supplies had become rather sparse after their journey across the sea. They needed to get it replenished if they were going to move on later. Items like food would have to wait for the day of departure, but medical supplies and other items were being bought when they had time, like they had today.
Yet, how did it come to this?
"Ares, what do you think of this? Is it pretty?"
Ares was sitting in one of the more popular clothing stores, waiting till Jenny was done with her shopping. It was a brand that was popular amongst women, as was apparent with the clientele currently shopping here. As he had become aware when he was young, women always took their time shopping for clothes. Leaf liked to fit on every item that was to her liking, causing him and Gary to wait on her for hours on end till she was finally satisfied. They had only been dragged along to help carry the bags.
Now he was once again back to that time, as he looked at Jenny fitting on the third dress out of nine, already feeling himself fo numb.
It was decided.
Once she got back in, he was going to leave. She would have to carry her bags back herself. he had no intention to help at all.
"It looks fine."
An answer he had said multiple times today.
"Oh, then I will try on the next. Its a blue colored sporty variant of this one. While they might look the same, they have a different appeal."
Jenny got back into the fitting room, giving Ares the time to escape.
The idea of traveling with someone else was becoming more and more tedious. It seems their parting would arrive earlier than expected. If this was going to happen everytime they passed a city, oh boy, he would leave her there in that fitting room without so much as a thought.
Going to the volcano, Ares planned to get some last finishing touches on his training before the big battle that was coming. Something he looked forward to if he had to be honest. His goal had grown from just finding out about himself to truly getting to know his pokemon, bonding with them and enjoying battling.
Training alongside his pokemon was a thing that truly made him feel alive!
Calling out all of his pokemon, except Lapras as she could not really climb with those flippers of hers, they were soon covered in sweat, with the exception of Charizard. A perk of him being a fire-type.
"Okay guys, let's get back to training. We've got a gym battle on our doorstep. Let's get used to the heat and persevere!"
His plan for today was to traverse up the volcano, getting used to the increasing heat around them. He had no doubt that they would battle at a literal hotspot, as he had a clue as to where the gym would be.
Naturally it would be a volcano, considering the hints the riddle gave.
The only question was where the entrance is.
So, that was also part of the objective of today. Training and finding the gym.
"Come on guys! Let's hurry up."
Jogging a bit in front of them, Ares wiped the sweat from his face, looking back at his pokemon as they ran up the volcano behind him. Lucario and Beldum seemed to be hit the hardest, as they lagged behind.
Being a steel-type didn't help in the current situation. The heat was really getting to them. They weren't showing any signs of giving up, both adamant to keep going.
Doing a lot better were Umbreon and Pikachu. These two were agilely running upwards, jumping on rockery to give them a bit of footing to launch themselves even further up the volcano. They were traversing the terrain with ease, despite the heat.
None of them were giving up, no matter how hard it was to keep on running, as the hot air seared their throats with every breath, leaving them parched. Unfortunately the heat was only increasing, forcing Ares to protect himself with aura as they got closer to the top.
From above, Charizard and Pidgeot were cheering them on, bringing much needed fresh air as they dove down from time to time.
Running as hard as they could, it was only natural if one of them fell behind. In this case it would be Beldum.
Beldum was young and weaker compared to the rest, yet it tried to keep pace, flying just a bit behind Lucario. Yet with every few feet they advanced, it kept increasing only in the distance between them.
It's gaze became a bit hazy, blinking its eye slowly, as the backs of its friends slowly but surely became smaller.
"Don't push yourself too far. Everyone has his own pace."
Hearing a voice beside it, Beldum glaced to the side to see Ares walking besides it. Ares was keeping his pace to Beldum's running beside it to keep it company and cheer it on.
Beldum cheered up, the feeling of being tired fading a bit.
Increasing their pace, they caught up with the rest again and continued on to the top of the volcano.
There, they were bound to be amazed.
The treck up the volcano had taken a while, the footing being bad and the ground being loose, the time they spent had been more than just a few hours.
The treck was however totally worth it.
All the way on the top of volcano was the crater, which was filled with lava. Pillar-like structures were pointing upwards from the big pool of lava, making for many yet small footholds. If he had to guess, charizard would fit twice on one of them.
But this wasn't an official gym battle field.
Of that he was sure.
So this wasn't the gym and he would have to look further to find it.
But he wouldn't let this trip be wasted. The terrain in front of him would make a perfect training ground. What better place to train in the heat than a crater of a volcano?
"Alright guys. Time to get to work. Charizard and Pidgeot are on sweeping duty. You guys will catch the others should they fall off the pillars. The others will simulate a battle, all the while on the battlefield in front of us."
When he spoke, his pokemon looked backwards at the bubbling lava, already hesitating. Who was even crazy enough to attempt that?
Yet the first to step on the battle field was none other than Beldum, the one who was currently the weakest of them all.
Beldum carefully hovered from one pillar to the other. It didn't like the surroundings at all. It hated the heat, the sense its body was about to melt and even more so the fact that it had hesitated to train.
Looking at the others, Beldum's eye was urging them to come forward as well. It wanted to start the training, to get stronger even faster and evolve. Maybe it was a hopeless dream to have, but Beldum had a feeling it would happen.
So Ares sat on the side, watching as his pokemon switched partners every now and then. They battled it out with wits and strategies, outsmarting the others while also being outsmarted themselves.
The ones who suffered the most under this were Beldum and Pikachu. They were by far the weakest pokemon on his team, as they were still in their first and second evolutionary stage respectively.
Pikachu had decided to remain so by choice, though it was only as a procastination, Beldum was close to evolution. Its main moveset was just horrible, as Beldum didn't have a lot of moves they could learn in their first stage.
This training was mostly for them, as he wanted Pikachu to get stronger as she was, while he wanted to give Beldum the push it so needed to evolve.
Beldum now faced his fourth opponent, having been defeated all the times before this. Now however, he was facing his rival, in both size and tenacity.
Pikachu was charging up her cheeks, sparks of electricity flying around her. She stared at Beldum, waiting for it to start attacking. It was a strategy it had used again and again, most likely due to the lack of variety in the moves it could use.
A point she would take advantage of.
Seeing Pikachu waiting for it, Beldum had finally come up with a strategy. Its previous battles were against its seniors, the pokemon of Ares that were far stronger than it. It had charged forward, testing the waters everytime, only to be put down with ease.
While hard, the experience had taught it something. Beldum had processed each battle in its head, always searching for its own weaknesses and of its opponents. Now it was ready to face of against Pikachu, who had a lot more moves than it had, as was she faster.
Rushing forward, Beldum could see Pikachu charging her attack, electricity sparking forward. Having calculated the trajectory the thunderbolt would take, Beldum dodged the attack, finally landing a hit in its fourth battle.
Having landed the take down, Beldum hummed in happiness, glad its effort was paying off. While it was getting easier, the influx of information was a lot to take. It was even harder to put it into practice what Beldum had learned, so it was very proud of itself that it worked.
Pikachu got up, shakking her head and stared at Beldum. The new guy had become stronger. Finally. If it wanted to be of help to its trainer, that would be the only path it could take. Just like she was doing her best and giving it her all in her training.
Crouching down on all fours, Pikachu charged the electricity all around her body, zapping at a remarkable speed towards Beldum as she executed her strongest attack, Volt Tackle.
Beldum saw her coming, but it didn't have a strong enough counter. It charged up Iron head, just to make a stand and block it. Electricity shouldn't give it too much damage, but it would still hurt.
The two moves collided, sparks flying everywhere as the surroundings went white.
Ares stood up, his eyes transfixed at the clash of the two, the other pokemon stopping their battle momentarily to watch the result.
As the light faded and the smoke settles, Pikachu was panting, the sparks of the recoil still flickering across her body.
Opposite of her was Beldum, its head gleaming in a steel gray color. It had taken the hit, but it was still painful enough to wince with the smallest movements. Seeing it was still standing, Beldum cheered in joy, a white glow expanding from its body as it suddenly began to increase in size.
"And so it begins. I was waiting for you, you slowpoke."
Ares chuckled, waiting in excitement to see the final form of the now evolving Beldum.
"A magnificent sight."
Standing next to Ares without a single sound was Old man Blaze, who had popped up out of nowhere.
Not knowing what to say to the sudden appearance of the inn owner, Ares just nodded.
The light intensified, as Beldum increased in size. Its one body began to contort, as a large circular body took up the center spot, two Beldum shaped arms exstending outwards. A big spike grew on the front of the main body with claw-like protrusions extending from both sides of his body.
The light finally faded, revealing the form of a silvery white Metang.
Shouting after the surge of energy left its body, Meeting flew towards Ares, happily hovering around him. It was showing of its new form with pride, something it didn't have before.
"Say, it seems like you are close enough for me to ask."
Old man Blaze began, staring at the happy scene. He clasped his hands behind his back as he stared at Ares's pokemon.
"How many badges do you currently have?"
Wondering why Old man Blaze would even ask, Ares showed him the six shining badges.
"How serious are you about the gym challenge?"
"Enough to want to participate in the pokemon league."
Ares replied, a thought having emerged in his mind as he stared at Old man Blaze.
"Great. Then I will accept your challenge as the Cinnabar city gymleader."
Ripping of his wig, a gleaming bald head blinded them. If that wasn't all, Old man Blaze, now Blaine, laughed loudly in excitement. His hands were shaking as he stared at Ares's pokemon. He couldn't wait to face them in battle.
"Come to the hotsprings tomorrow at dawn and I will guide you to the gym. I can guarantee it will set our battle ablaze!"
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