If you ARE lucky enough to score a booking, you'll be shown to the battlefield located inside the factory. It's a surprisingly simple arena lined with metallic bars and a smooth floor of cold sheet metal. There's a scoreboard overhead as well as a set of stairs leading to an upper area for those observing. Best of luck!
Laram pushed open the front door to an old, abandoned factory. He knew that it wasn't abandoned anymore. Now, it housed Nix City's gym; with Harvey Wellspring as its' leader. He was both excited and nervous. He'd never taken on a gym before. Bobbie had told him about what to expect, but it was another thing entirely to experience it. The trainer was greeted by a completely empty corridor in front of him. That struck him as odd."Hello? Is anyone here?"Silence. So he moved farther in and tried again. This time, a voice came over a PA system that the trainer couldn't see.
The proximity alarm tripped in Harvey's office and he sighed. Just another distraction from his work, he was sure. Especially since he didn't have any deliveries due for today. He walked over to his security system and flipped on the view screen. What he saw surprised him. Usually, it was children coming into his gym, but this was a fully grown man stepping through his halls. He was intrigued, but only slightly. He pressed a button, turning on the radio. "What do you want? If you're here for a delivery, take the first door on the right. If you're here for anything else, please go away. I'm very busy.
A voice came rang out from invisible speakers, which made Laram jump in surprise. He wasn't there for a delivery, but he was determined to take on the gym challenge. [colo=black]"First door on the right huh? Sounds good to me." Laram walked a little farther and found the specific door the voice had spoken of. He pushed it open and entered a very large room with a dirt floor in the middle of it. It looked very plain, what with the concrete floor and walls everywhere. The room looked more like a battlefield than anything. It must have been where trainers battled the gym leader for his badge. A little excited, Laram called out again. "Alright, I'm here. What do you want me to do now?"He didn't want to give away that he was there to challenge the gym. He didn't want to be turned down just yet.
Harvey took a long drag of his cigarette and sighed. Judging by the man's actions, he could tell he wasn't a delivery person. Only one other type of person bothered him. Trainers. After Harvey had become a gym leader, he had been hounded by an endless barrage of challengers wanting to test their metal against a gym leader. He knew that the quickest way to get rid of them was to give them the battle they wanted and push them out the door. He sighed again and clicked off the monitor screens. Straightening his shirt and vest, he took one last puff of his cigarette before extinguishing it in the ash tray. "Alright, let's get this over with." He exited his workshop and took the long hall that led to the gym. As he opened the doors he sized up his challenger and took his place at the end of the battlefield. As he stood there, he lit another cigarette and placed it in his mouth. "Okay, let's hurry this along. You stand over there and call out your first Pokemon. I'll do the same." As he spoke, Harvey unclipped a ball from his belt and threw it on to the field. Out of the red light, a Magnemite formed and floated around in mid air. Harvey just wanted to get the challenge over as quickly as possible and get back to his work.
Laram watched a well-dressed enter the room and stand at the end of the dirt patch. He must have been the gym leader because he released a Pokemon and commanded Laram to do the same. He seemed to be annoyed by what was transpiring, but Laram didn't care. He was getting what he wanted. He took his place at the other end of the field and weighed out his choices. He had fought Magnemite before, so he knew its' typing and weaknesses. Jack would have been a good choice, but thinking about it, Laram had a different idea. Laram had spent the past month really training Firnen up, and the small lizard packed a lot of firepower. Which was excellent against a steel foe. He was also quick enough to dodge its' electric attacks. Firnen was the obvious choice here. Nodding to himself, Laram retrieved Firnen's pokeball from his pack and released the fire type Pokemon out onto the battlefield. The gym leader didn't seem to want to waste any time, so Laram attacked first. Magnemite were annoying to deal with because they could float around at ease. So Laram wanted to stop its' movement from the get go."Firnen, Fire Spin, then Inferno!" The Charmander reared his head back and bellowed a spiraling flame towards his opponent. Then, breathing deep, loosed from his maw another flame, this time blue.
A decent start. That was all Harvey thought as he saw the Charmander's attacks heading his way. He thought it strange that the creature was yellow, but didn't pay too much attention to it. Flames engulfed his Magnemite, forcing it to stay in one place. But the inferno combined with the fire spin drenched his Pokemon in flames and burned it. It wasn't ideal, and his Magnemite winced from the pain. But the flames weren't too much of an issue for a Pokemon who could levitate. "Magnemite. Fly above the flames and use magnet bomb." The metal Pokemon followed orders and floated above the reach of the roaring flames beneath it. Once out of harms way, the magnets on either side of its' body glowed light blue, and an orb of energy formed between them. Magnemite fired three of these off in rapid succession. As they flew towards the Charmander, Harvey thought to himself, Let's see how you deal with that. After all, it never misses. Harvey wasn't concerned with winning or losing. He felt that his job as a gym leader was to test and assess a trainer's reaction to different challenges in front of them. If this trainer showed that he had a good head on his shoulders, Harvey had no problem giving him his badge.
Laram watched the Magnemite get hit and mentally celebrated a little. A direct hit was a good thing. But as his excitement died down, he watched the Pokemon rise above the flames and fire projectiles at Firnen. He had to think fast, but luckily, he had spent the last month training with Bobbie. It had taught him how to react when the enemy attacked back."Firnen, Air Cutter and Flame Burst. Aim for those orbs."Firnen nodded and sliced at the air with his claws, light-blue waves of energy flew out in an X shape and collided with the first orb; exploding on impact. Then, the Charmander looked towards the ceiling, forming a ball of flaming energy above his mouth. Throwing his head forward, he launched the attack at another of the remaining orbs. Once again, the attacks collided in mid air and caused a small explosion. But the flames dispersed, hitting the other orb and igniting it too. Laram had successfully warded off the attack. But the smoke gave him an idea. Harvey and his Magnemite had the advantage, flying in the air. But Laram had thought of a way to level the playing field a bit.Firnen, use Smokescreen."The Charmander bellowed out of his maw, black smoke. It was enough to cover roughly half the size of the battlefield. Laram nodded to his partner, who responded in kind. Who then proceeded to enter the black smoke covering the field. Laram hoped that the smoke would cover Firnen's presence long enough to get a good hit in. But first, he had to distract them."Firnen, run around and don't stop moving. Use Ember."The trainer's hope was that the attacks from all sides would keep his opponent distracted long enough for his Charmander to attack him from behind.
Keeps calm when faced with a tough situation. That's good. Although his next move wasn't really thought out, Harvey could see why he made it. The only problem was that each time his Charmander attacked, he gave away his position. It was a simple matter to dodge the embers being shot at Magnemite, it was floating after all. "Magnemite, Lock-On and Mirror Shot." With the Charmander's constant movement stirring the smoke, and his attacks giving away his position, it was a simple matter for Magnemite to use Lock-On to hone in on his location. Once it was aware of its' opponent's location, its' eye flashed white and it fired a translucent, green beam of energy. Lock-On made it so Mirror Shot was straight on target. How are you going to deal with your plans failing? Are you able to keep your head?
"Firnen, use Flamethrower. Stop that attack."Laram's Charmander flipped around and sucked up air into his chest. But it was too late. The Mirror Shot struck true, and Firnen was thrown backwards by the blast. Laram gritted his teeth.Think damn it. Think. It's body is made of steel, so physical attacks don't do much. It's weak to fire, but it's doing what it can to stay out of reach. It can float, so all it has to do is stay up there and launch attacks, while we're stuck dodging or blocking. We have to limit its' movement, but how? I've only ever seen Fire Spin used on something on the ground. But we have to try.Laram made up his mind. He didn't have many options left. If Magnemite was going to remain out of reach, then Laram needed to make sure he controlled where it was going. The trainer realized he didn't have a proper answer to flyers, he needed to figure that out. But that was a problem for another time."Firnen, get right underneath it. Fire Spin, then Flamethrower."It was a simple plan. Block the opponent from moving, then hammer it hard. Laram hoped that it would work. The Charmander positioned itself exactly where his trainer said, then loosed a stream of spiraling fire around his opponent. Then breathed deeply and loosed from his maw, a large flame. Firnen was fired up now, so he was giving everything he had.
Falls back to something that worked before as a crutch. He's green. But, that's okay. He's a good trainer, he just needs more experience. Harvey was getting impatient. He needed to get back to his work. But he hadn't seen enough from this trainer to give him his badge. He was confident that he would win. All he had to do was tire out his opponent by making him attack again and again. It was a simple enough strategy, but one that would take up too much of his time. So he made a choice. Probably one a different gym leader wouldn't, but gym leader wasn't all that he was. He decided to take the attacks from his opponent. As the flames spiraled around his Magnemite, the other attack hit it head on. It was intense. The Charmander had a lot of strength in him. As Harvey watched the flames dissipate, he noticed that his Magnemite had taken a considerable amount of damage. But the Pokemon was not ready to give up just yet. Harvey admired its' tenacity. "Okay Magnemite. Use Discharge." Magnemite began to glow yellow and released multiple beams of electricity from its' body in all directions. Harvey was annoyed, he simply wanted to get back to his work, but he wasn't going to shirk his responsibilities as a gym leader. He was going to give this trainer a proper battle at least.
Firnen's attack was a direct hit. But Laram felt off about it. Something about the gym leader's behavior seemed off. It was almost ast if he allowed the attack to happen.But why would he do that? That doesn't make any sense.But the trainer had a more pressing matter to deal with."Firnen, dodge it."There were multiple beams of energy approaching Firnen, and he managed to dodge the first two. But the third struck him and the Charmander yelped out in pain. The force of the electricity knocked the Pokemon to his knees."Come on Firnen, you can do this. Get up."The Charmander growled in confirmation to his trainer, and as he stood, he gave his best roar. The flame on his tail burned larger than it ever had. Laram took a step back in surprise. He took out his Pokedex and scanned his Charmander. According to the machine, it was his Pokemon's ability called blaze. With that, Laram knew they could win."Alright Firnen. Use Inferno. Let's finish this."Firnen growled again and loosed a large, blue flame from his maw. It was larger than Laram had ever seen before.
This is interesting. An all-out attack, using his Pokemon's ability. At least he knows his Pokemon. I guess this will decide it. "Magnemite, use Flash Cannon." Magnemite brought its' magnets together and formed a silver ball of shining energy. It then fired that energy as a beam towards its' enemy's attack. The collided in midair, but the flames were too strong. They beat back the attack and struck the Magnemite full on. It was too much for the Pokemon, and it fell to the ground, unconscious. Harvey returned the steel Pokemon to its' Pokeball and nodded to it. "Thank you for your help Magnemite. Rest now, I will get you fixed up later." The gym leader turned his attention to the challenger. "You're doing well. Here's your next challenge." Harvery reached to his belt and grabbed another Pokeball, and released his next Pokemon onto the battlefield. "This is an Aron. You can keep fighting with your Charmander if you want. Or you are allowed to switch. It's your choice. I leave it up to you." The gym leader stood there, waiting for the trainer's decision. He was interested to see what he would choose.
Laram Knight generated a random number between
1 and 100 ...
75!
Laram looked at Harvey, then to Firnen. The Charmander looked determined, but exhausted. He was panting hard, and the flame on his tail was flickering. He was too worn out to continue, and Laram knew it. He didn't want his partner to get hurt needlessly. So he decided to call him back."Firnen, come back."The Charmander turned and looked at his trainer quizzically. Laram nodded to him and opened his arms. That was one thing the Charmander couldn't resist. He loved being held in his trainer's arms."Char! Char!"The lizard Pokemon ran and leaped into his trainer's arms, nuzzling the man's chest as he did. Laram smiled and pet the Pokemon in his arms."You did so well. I'm proud of you Firnen."While one arm held his Pokemon, Laram reached to his belt and retrieved a new Pokeball. He knew exactly who he wanted to use to fight Aron. He had fought one many times in the past month, and he was ready. Laram held out the capsule and released Jack, the Bunnelby, onto the battlefield. But the jackrabbit was clutching something in his arms. Laram rolled his eyes. He didn't know how, but Jack always seemed to find random items wherever they went. Kneeling down, Laram accepted what looked like a potion from Jack and nodded towards the battlefield. The bunny nodded in reply and took his place in the dirt. Laram didn't want Harvey to get the upper hand, so he went on the offensive."Jack, use Mud Shot, then Dig."Jack formed a golden sphere between his ears, then launched several globs of mud at his opponent. After he did this, he dug into the ground and disappeared from sight. Laram was taking a page out of Harvey's playbook. Stay out of reach of your opponent.
A Bunnelby, interesting. He's certainly using typing to his advantage. I need to be careful of those ground attacks. Harvey's worries were correct, because Laram immediately attacked. "Aron, dodge it with autotomize, then use iron defense." The steel Pokemon shook itself, and it could be seen what looked like flecks flaking off of it. As the mud projectiles closed in, the Aron jumped to the side, avoiding all of them. Once his feet were planted again, he began to glow a light blue color as he stared out into the field, waiting for his opponent to strike. I can't attack you underground, but that doesn't mean I'm going to just take your attacks Laram. "As soon as he shows himself, use iron head." How are you going to overcome this impenetrable defense? You're close to earning my badge, don't let me down.
