We all woke up roughly at the same time...I guess my moving around made them all snap awake or something. But, whatever the case we just got up, got cleaned up and ate well. At least Pokemon Centers provide decent food for a pretty good price, I ended up with a platter of pancakes while my friends all got specially made food for each one of them. After eating, we went to the gym and walked up to the leader. She grinned at me and I swear I could see fangs in her mouth...the lights slowly dimmed and a spotlight went up on the middle of a battlefield I didn't notice before.
I sent out Vishnu to start us off while she sent out a Geodude. It...was over quickly and horribly. Vishnu was buried under a mountain of stone with her broken wings and antennae poking out from it's depths at unnatural angles. Octavia went next and with a powerful Confusion attack and the accompanying light, the Geodude went down without fuss. Next came another. It moved faster than I could see and rammed it's fist straight through Octavia's middle with a horrible cracking of bones and tearing of flesh. She looked up at me and mouthed out what could have only been the word 'why' before she bled out on the ground.
I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't do anything but send out the next one. Fluffy. She growled at the Geodude and ran forward and the rock pokemon grabbed her tail and head with both hands and hoisted itself on top of her to pin her down. It slowly and methodically went down her body, bouncing on each of her vertebrae with a sickening pop each time while she yowled in pain. Soon, she was left crumpled on the ground completely broken and unable to battle. I could hear laughter in the back of my mind as the Geodude lifted her up by the tail and and head and pulled...and pulled...and pulled until with one last snap, she was in two places at once and the Geodude was covered in her blood and guts.
Zippo came next despite my mute protests. He was spared the torture of Fluffy and simply went down like Vishnu...but the Geodude fished his corpse out of the rocks and wrenched his head off his neck with a loud pop and a spray of blood. He brought the head back to his trainer and returned to the battlefield. Rover was last...and the poor guy tried his best, but instead of missing a paw he didn't have his entire back half. He came out sliced in half already and the Geodude played with the bits that were hanging out of him for a while until seemingly getting bored and snapping his neck. And then...it turned towards me, completely covered in the life of my friends. I could hear the leader laughing and slowly the Geodude advanced at me, his hands coming up to my throat.
I woke up screaming. I was screaming and I swear I could still feel those hands around my throat squeezing tighter and tighter...but it was Octavia holding me - she was the only one with arms and the only one who could. All my friends were alive and well and looking very worried and scared up at me. I could hear the door open behind my head, but I didn't care. Something alien but oddly friendly brushed across my mind like a fingertip and I knew who it was. I forced her out. I would never share that dream with them. Never with anyone. I looked around and the door had clicked shut already - apparently the Nurse was just making sure I was alright. I looked down at everyone and I shook my head. All of you...I don't want to see you hurt. So...we're gonna train a little bit more.
I had Octavia translate that thought to everyone else - she did it more or less automatically now, really. But then Rover drug himself forward once it got to him. He growled and barked at me and showed me his stump of a paw. The sight of the Geodude playing with his innards again got to me and I nearly vomited what I had for dinner right there. I stood up and recalled each of them to their pokeballs one by one except for Rover. I waved at him to follow me and we stepped out of the little room. I had a nurse to find.
It didn't take much to find her. I spoke with her, showed her Rover's paw and talked about what I wanted to do. She was reluctant but...Rover helped her decide. She knelt down in front of him and asked him very sweetly what he wanted...and he barked and growled a few times, and she seemed to understand. Hooking her hands beneath him, she lifted him up and said that she'd do this for free provided I took excellent care of him. I nodded and fished that claw out of my pocket to hand to her - she understood what I wanted immediately and just nodded as she took him to the back. I was told a little bit later this would take a good portion of the day, so I decided to head out and train with them for a while.~Training Montage~She learned Gust here.Got her to 14 too. She forgot Tail Whip for this. Pickup being awesome.Almost to Double Kick~~Training Montage Over~I came back when the sun was setting against the horizon and blinding me as I walked back into town. Everyone had improved a bit...and Fluffy had found a few very nice things some travelers dropped. Vishnu had learned to buffet things with her wings, which wasn't really much use against a rock but I could see how it could definitely come in handy. Fluffy had taken to kicking up sand in her opponents faces, too. She didn't like being hit, and I definitely see uses for it.
We went back to the pokemon center and as I handed my friends to the nurse, she grinned at me and told me the operation was a success. She handed me back one more pokeball than I gave her and I gulped slowly. I made my way to the back where my room was and one by one called out everyone, saving Rover for last. As he appeared in the normal burst of red light he barked up at me happily and turned himself around so I could see his leg. Instead of the rotting hunk of flesh and fur that was there before, there was a new paw grafted to his leg with that claw I gave her acting as one of his normal ones. It was an uncanny resemblance...unless you were touching it, you wouldn't be able to tell it was anything but natural. The metal felt warm to my touch and he reacted to it. He could feel. Perfect.
We all went to sleep together again. There were no nightmares this time.
We went out the next morning bright and early, heading to 116 again for Rover to get accustomed to his prosthetic. The results were...amazing. He used a Sand attack immediately, kicking up a massive amount of dust, dirt, and sand with only his back legs then ran around at a high speed, barking all the while. He then ran forward and leaped in the air, biting down with his powerful jaws on the air. He barked fiercly at me and if he could grin, I swear he would be.We came back to the pokemon center after letting him get used to his new foot and the Nurse waved me over as I walked in. She smiled at me and asked how Rover was and he stood up on his hind legs in response, barking happily up at her as he did. Good, very good...the operation was a complete success. Alison, sweety, so you know. Rover won't be able to evolve thanks to that prosthetic. It won't grow with the rest of him, so he's gonna need to stay like this. Understand?
I said I did and smiled at her before I did something that surprised me. I wrapped my arms around her in a tight hug and screamed thank you at the top of my lungs before I jumped back like I was shocked. She seemed to be taking it well enough though, just giggling softly and patting me on the head. I got the feeling this wasn't the first time some trainer hugged her.
I recalled Rover and slowly made my way to the gym. My mouth felt dry as sand as I walked in the dimly lit building. It looked the same as it did before and I made my way to the leader, Roxanne. She smiled at me politely and I didn't see fangs this time. Welcome to the Rustboro Gym, my name is Roxanne. You're here to undertake the challenge, correct?
Y-Yes, my name is Alison. I'm the daughter of the Petalburg Gym Leader, Norman.
Alright then. As Gym Leader, I accept your challenge on behalf of the Pokemon League.
And just like that, we were in a battle...was it this easy to challenge a Gym Leader every time? No time for that...I sent out Rover first. He growled at the Geodude and before it could do more than flex it's stubby arms, Rover leaped out at him and buried his snout into the Geodude's eye, snarling and tearing at whatever he could get at. The battle was over there.Unseen: Rock tomb and about a dozen sand attacks.Her second Geodude came out then and I thought it was time to put my plan into effect. I called Rover over to me and summoned Octavia to stand next to me as well. I had her transfer my plan to him and he nodded a few times before bounding back into battle as Octavia wrapped one of her arms around my leg.
He immediately went to work, kicking up a truly massive amount of sand and dust that went into the Geodude's overlarge eyes, making it howl in pain while it flailed around and tried it's best to hit the attacker. Rover's time was over now, it was Octavia's time to shine. After the switch Octavia went to work immediately, making copy after copy of herself while the Geodude flailed around blindly, trying to strike his opponent with it's arms or rocks it tossed around.Multiply by this as many times as it takes for it not to work anymore.Soon enough, there was a literal army of Octavias standing around the arena with the same identical grin on her face showing her small teeth. Each one of them focused the Confusion attack again, and it was over after two bursts making the Geodude's eyes explode out of it's head with a thick deluge of mud.
She sent out her last now. Nosepass...I didn't know much about this one, but I knew that any of a Gym Leader's last pokemon was their strongest. I knew that from Dad's Slaking. Octavia put phase two into effect. She started growling softly, small bursts of light coming from her horn each time while the massive pokemon tried it's best to crush it's small opponent to no avail. Each time it hit one, it's attacks would just pass through like mist. It's attacks were slowing as Octavia 'sang' at it, and I knew the effects of this one. Growl targeted the muscle control of the target, making themselves harder to control and weakening what they could do. Very soon, it was all it could do to move enough to propel itself, forget about attacking.I do not play fair.Octavia put the last phase of the plan into effect now. Her horn glowed with that bright otherworldly light, and gave a sharp pulse as the massive pokemon howled in pain. Again, and again, and again until it finally collapsed to the floor in a heap of rubble with mud seeping from it's mouth and nose and eyes. Octavia's illusions disappeared once it was clear the battle was over and she ran forward, climbing onto the Nosepasses body and playing fort with it. Crying out little happy sounds and using some of the sand that had piled up on it's body to build something.But like I said, you can't really argue with results. The little bit of damage is from tackle, by the way. Congratulations. You showed an amazing amount of resourcefulness...most trainers simply use a water or grass type pokemon, such as a Marill or Shroomish. Very interesting...I can't wait to see how far you go. Here is your prize, the Stone Badge.
She handed me the small thing and I pocketed it without much thought. She then grinned at me and said that she would teach one of my pokemon her specialty move, Rock Tomb if I'd like. I told her I'd think about it...I could barely breathe right now. Did I just...win my first gym battle? Without losing anyone?