Alex continued battling random trainers one after another, making sure to alternate his Pokémon to give them ti to rest. They even stopped to have lunch along the way.
So trainers were difficult, with thoughtful party compositions and smart strategies, like those who used Rain Dance teams. Others were easier, like Marina, who had a single plan and stuck to it, even when it fell apart on first contact with the enemy. So trainers focused on unique concepts, like Gus, who only used Gyarados but made it work effectively.
In the end, Alex defeated them all with his team of four. It wasn’t that they were the strongest. They simply perford within the expectations of the gym.
Gyms were not ant to be impossible. Just challenging. A test to determine a trainer’s standards.
When they finally reached the last pair of platforms, Alex, Espeon, and the referee climbed aboard, coming face to face with the awaiting Gym Leader, Misty Williams.
She was a far cry from her ani counterpart, with long orange hair, a toned and athletic figure, and a modest chest. She wore a sleek white and blue one piece swimsuit paired with a matching jacket, presenting a confident and professional appearance.
“Welco, Challenger. You did well beating all of my trainers,” Misty said sincerely.
Alex made the effort to fight each and every one of the ten trainers on the floor. He could now confidently say he was familiar with water battles. Unfortunately, it did not teach him how to fight off an army of Gyarados. However, he did learn plenty about dealing with environntal effects.
For example, Ground type moves are harder to utilize. Electric type moves damage their user when subrged. Rain based abilities activate underwater but not when they are at the surface. The key is to completely cover the Pokemon in water which rain sowhat achieves.
“Just trying to make sure my team and I know how to handle water battles,” Alex replied.
“And? What did you learn?”
“That it’s exactly the sa as fighting regular battles. Now I just need to learn how to fight underwater.”
“Pro tip. Just let your water Pokémon do the work for you. They know best. I am Misty, the Gym Leader of the Cerulean City Water Gym. Are you ready for battle?”
“Yes.”
“Singles battle, 4v4. Gym Leader Misty versus Challenger Alex. Begin!” the referee called out.
“Go, Slowbro!” Misty said, releasing her Slowbro onto the surface of the water.
Across from her, Alex sent out Gyarados with a flash of light.
“Trick Room,” Misty commanded calmly.
“Crunch,” Alex responded without hesitation.
Slowbro began the slow process of casting Trick Room, but Gyarados was faster, lunging forward with a devastating, Dark energy-infused bite. Its massive jaws clamped down hard, tearing through a huge chunk of Slowbro’s health before the psychic field shimred into place.
“Iron Defense!” Misty called out quickly.
“Keep going,” Alex said, voice steady.
With Trick Room now active, Slowbro moved first. A tallic sheen coated its body as Iron Defense boosted its durability. Even so, Gyarados crashed into it again with another Crunch, the attack still strong enough to leave a mark.
“Iron Defense again,” Misty ordered.
Gyarados dove forward for another Crunch. This ti, the attack was noticeably weaker, but the secondary effect triggered, reducing Slowbro’s Defense by one stage despite the boost. Its effective Defense was now down to
3.
“Slack Off,” Misty said.
Slowbro's eyes beca vacant as it relaxed and glowed with healing energy, restoring half its health, just in ti to withstand yet another Crunch.
“Slack Off,” she repeated, and Slowbro healed again while Gyarados continued its relentless assault, circling and striking with another Dark-charged bite.
“Trick Room,” Misty commanded once more.
As the original Trick Room faded, the second one was established, buying Slowbro more ti. Gyarados landed another Crunch, slowly chipping away.
Despite Misty's best efforts to stall and heal, Gyarados refused to relent. Occasionally, one of its Crunches would strip away another layer of defense, forcing Misty to respond with yet another Iron Defense to stabilize.
The cycle repeated, Iron Defense, Slack Off, Trick Room. until Slowbro found a mont of breathing room.
“Future Sight,” Misty ordered.
The air shimred with latent psychic energy as the future attack was set. Then, the dance resud, Gyarados hamring with Crunch, Slowbro holding firm, barely staying ahead of the onslaught.
Then ca the turn Future Sight was to arrive which also coincided on the sa turn Slowbro could afford a free hit from Gyarados’s low damaging Crunch as well as the turn Trick Room would fade.
“Psychic!” Misty called.
But Alex’s eyes narrowed. This was the turn he was waiting for. A turn in which Misty let down her guard with regards to the state of Slowbro’s health and the state of Trick Room.
A pulse of energy rippled through the battlefield, striking Gyarados. He staggered as he took Slowbro’s first actual offensive move of the entire clash.
Imdiately afterward, Alex withdrew Gyarados back into its Poké Ball. In his place, Alex released Espeon just in ti to take the hit from Future Sight. The blow landed, but only dealt minimal damage.
“Magical Leaf,” Alex commanded.
Before Misty could fully process what had happened, Espeon fired a flurry of glowing leaves that struck Slowbro hard, far more severely than Misty had expected. She had calculated that Gyarados would be unable to finish off Slowbro as it set up Trick Room, especially with Slowbro’s increased Defense, but this new attacker surprised her.
Caught off guard, Misty watched as Slowbro fainted from the unexpected assault. Both Gyarados and Espeon had taken minimal damage in the exchange.
“Gah! You got . Well done. I admit I didn’t pay enough attention,” Misty said, conceding with a sigh before releasing Dewgong onto the field.
“Triple Axel,” she called out imdiately.
“Charm,” Alex replied.
Dewgong launched into a graceful spin, slapping Espeon three tis with icy precision. She had already been weakened, however, as Espeon had released a wave of soft pink energy monts earlier that dulled Dewgong’s strength, reducing her offensive power.
“Morning Sun.”
“Snowscape.”
Espeon recovered a significant amount of health, right before a blanket of snow swept across the field. With the weather now snowy, any future Morning Sun would provide less healing.
Unfortunately for Misty, the battle had reset in Alex's favor. Dewgong now stood on the field with her Attack reduced by two stages while Espeon was at full health.
“Psychic,” Alex commanded.
Dewgong still had access to Encore, which would be dangerous if Espeon used setup moves like Psychic Terrain, Light Screen, or Reflect. She also had Haze, making any attempt to stack stats ultimately pointless.
“Hydro Pump,” Misty called out.
She decided to fight head-on. At this point, she might as well pay the price for her earlier mistake.
The two Pokémon exchanged powerful special attacks in an epic battle for dominance. Their moves collided mid-air, canceling each other out in bursts of energy. Despite the stalemate, the advantage was clearly Espeon’s. Her superior Special Attack gave her the edge.
So attacks managed to break through, landing solid hits while most attacks cancelled each other out. In the end, Dewgong collapsed, fainted from the onslaught, while Espeon remained standing with roughly a third of her health remaining.
In a surprise turn, both Misty and Alex retrieved their Pokémon.
Alex didn’t want to risk Espeon, so she trotted back to his side while he released Milotic, who erged poised and ready for a challenge.
Misty, anwhile, sent out Gyarados. Its Intimidate ability imdiately triggered, lowering Milotic’s Attack. In response, Milotic’s Competitive ability activated, sharply boosting her Special Attack by two stages.
Misty was growing increasingly frustrated at being on the losing end of the battle again. It had been hard enough to swallow her earlier mistake, and now she was forced to play with yet another disadvantage.
Giving up on overthinking, she decided to take a page from Alex’s book and go all in on offense.
"Outrage!" she commanded.
"Draining Kiss," Alex countered.
Draining Kiss not only dealt damage but also restored health. With its increased power, it might allow Milotic to endure Gyarados’s assault.
Gyarados roared, Dragon-type energy rolling off its massive fra as it charged directly at Milotic. In response, Milotic gathered Fairy-type energy, ready to sap her opponent’s strength.
They clashed simultaneously. Milotic was a mont too late, taking heavy damage from Gyarados’s rampage, but managing to restore so health by draining a portion of it back.
"Advanced Proficiency!" Alex exclaid.
Gyarados’s Outrage surged with an additional fifty percent damage, making the onslaught even more devastating. After a quick calculation, Alex realized Milotic would not survive the third strike.
He planned to use Coil followed by Recover to endure Gyarados’s Outrage, then rely on the confusion afterward to stack up his stats when he was suddenly distracted by an incoming call from Rotom.
For Rotom to interrupt him during a gym battle, it had to be serious. At least, it had better be.
Alex answered the call, leaving Milotic to her fate, and was imdiately t with Nyx’s frantic voice on the other end.
“The farm is under attack!”
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