The Destined

Chapter Twelve

This gym battle wasn't going as I planned.  Lucario's Inner Focus made it so my plan of lowering its stats fly out the window.  And I still haven't figured out a way to counter that Meditite's Rock Tomb.

"Monferno, Flame Wheel!"

"Haven't you realized yet?" Maylene asked.  "You'll have to do a lot better than that to finish my Lucario." "That's true," I smirked. "But why don't you take a closer look at it?"

"Huh?"

It looked like Lucario was doing fine, but then it winced as if it took pain as little particles of bright orange fire emitted from it.

"What?! Lucario, what happened?" Maylene panicked. "Heh. I knew attacking again wouldn't do much since Lucario had too much health, so I decided to chip away at it bit by bit. Monferno's constant Flame Wheels were too hot for Lucario to handle. As a result, it was burned," I explained.

"Urk, no Lucario! Hang in there and use Force Palm," Maylene continued the assault. "You're on a timer now! Monferno, keep dodging and don't get up close!" I ordered. It's only a matter of time, but I still have to keep my guard up. "Great job, Monferno! Return!" I called.

"Staravia, come on out. Wing Attack!" I called. Maylene looked confused as to why I switched Pokémon, but I wasn't about to tell her that it's because Staravia can dodge easier since it's always flying fast.

"Lucario, quick! Aura Sphere!" Maylene called.

Lucario was getting weaker and weaker, so I decided to end it. "Staravia, great work. Now finish it off with Quick Attack!"

Lucario fell to the ground face first. "Thank you, Lucario. Return," Maylene said. "Since you defeated Lucario, I have no doubt that you won't beat this one. But that doesn't mean we're not backing down. Go, Machoke!" She yelled.

"Staravia, keep your guard up with Double Team," I commanded. "Machoke, Cross Chop now," Maylene ordered.  "Argh!  I forgot that Staravia already took lots of damage from Meditite.  In that case, return.  Go, Kirlia!" I called.

"Machop, use Brick Break," Maylene commanded. "Dodge, then use Psybeam!" I called. "Since when did you have Psybeam?" Maylene asked. "I planned ahead and bought one at the Department Store yesterday," I answered.

"Smart, but you can't keep dodging forever. Dynamic Punch!" countered the gym leader. She's trying to attack everywhere to be certain Kirlia will get hit. Well, two can play at that game! "Oh, yes I can. Make it hard for it to hit you using Double Team!" I said.

"Finish this with Psybeam," I ordered. An explosion of smoke erupted from contact. "Machoke no," cried Maylene. "Good job, but you probably forgot I had this one left. Meditite, come on out."

"I've figured out a way to take that out. Kirlia, Confusion," I commanded. "Meditite, Detect!" Maylene exclaimed. "What does that do?" I asked. "You'll find out," she taunted. "We'll finish it before I do! Psybeam!" I exclaimed. But it looked like Meditite didn't seem fazed at all.

"Does Detect protect the Pokémon from attacks?" I asked, shocked. "Now you're starting to catch on. Hidden Power (dark), please," she requested. "Alright, this is starting to wear me out now. Confusion," I said.

"Meditite, use Cross Chop," said Maylene.

"Hello? Earth to Meditite. Cross Chop," she tried again. It Cross Chopped all right, but not at Kirlia.

It hit itself because Kirlia's attack confused it. "Way to go, Kirlia!" I cheered. "Finish this battle with Psybeam!"

Just like that, I won my third gym badge.

"Here: the Cobble badge. It lets you use the hidden machine Fly whenever you want. That was a great battle! I'm looking forward to the next one." She walked over and handed me the third badge. "I am, too. Thank you!" I responded.