Book 2: teravoltXturboblaze

29: Moving Forward

<<Rakutsu's POV>>

Let's just say Muro and Lith are very excited with another gym battle. Arceus, it's been a long time since I last challenged a gym! We ran past a couple of houses and greenhouses on the way to the airport, where Leader Skyla apparently resides. There were a lot of airplanes and crop fields here in Mistralton and my team and I admired the peaceful scenery as we headed to the gym. Lith gave a huge grunt as a plane passed us overhead. Some locals and children glanced at us, staring at the rare Gigalith and Samurott running beside me. 

"Come on Lith, it's exercise!" I cheered my new buddy as he lagged behind, probably because cave Pokemon like him just live a sedentary lifestyle in the dark. Muro also gave a cry of encouragement.

"Hey, we're almost there!" I pointed to the huge building/airport ahead of us. My Pokémon stared at the huge planes parked on the tracks. We didn't waste any second to rush past the gym doors and enter the arena....

And almost got blasted away by a strong wind coming from very huge fans. 

"What the heck?" I struggled to shield ourselves from the wind behind a metal wall. 

"Welcome, challenger!" I heard a female voice, possibly Leader Skyla's voice, booming in the speakers. "I've heard a lot of stories about you. You look like a tough Trainer who can face the wind and not get blown off your feet! I'm kinda excited about this battle! Why don't you and I have some fun?" 

Much to our surprise, the fans shut down. "Hurry up before they turn on, again!"

Muro and Lith didn't need a second warning. The three of us raced to the nearest wall several meters away just in time before the wind sent us flying. What a gym. After a moment, the fan shut off again and we raced towards the other wall, repeating the process until we reached Leader Skyla.

"That was quite..." I panted. "...an exercise."

Leader Skyla gave us a smile. "Well, it ain't over yet! Swoobat, use Acrobatics!" 

The sudden attack caught us off guard. The flying-type glided in the air and critically smashed Muro without any warning.

The gym leader laughed. "Don't forget! Once you get in MY arena with your Pokémon out of their Poké balls, the battle automatically starts! I may not be a fire-type gym leader but I sure like things hot!"

"Maybe it's time for you to cool down a bit," I replied. "Muro use Aqua Jet!" The water attack hit Swoobat critically, sending it flying. However, Skyla's Pokémon quickly regained control.

"Well played. Swoobat use Heart Stamp!" My Samurott braced for the attack which hit him right in the face. Thank Arceus Muro was ready for it or else he would flinch.

"Counterattack with Surf!" I shouted. Sure enough, the opponent was hit with a torrent of water. "Finish it with Scald!" Without letting the Swoobat rise from its fall, Muro hit it with a splash of boiling water, making it faint. 

"You like to play with water, eh?" Leader Skyla returned Swoobat and released a Swanna. "Air Slash, Swanna!" my Pokémon took damage with the flying-type attack.

"Muro use Ice Beam!" I said. I knew I hit the jackpot when it hit Swanna midair. With its frozen wings, Swanna fell to the ground, making it an easier target. 

"Use Roost!"

"Blizzard!"

As Swanna tried to heal itself, my Samurott conjured a snowstorm. It did some damage to the healing Pokemon but not that much for it to faint.

"Use Air Slash!" 

"Ice Beam again!"

The attacks passed through the falling hail of the blizzard. However, the Air Slash did not only sent a painful wind to Muro but also sent several pieces of hail towards my buddy. Being vulnerable to ice moves, Samurott had no escape to the flurry of wind and hail, sending him skidding on the arena floor, very near to fainting. Talk about bad luck and timing. Fortunately, the ice beam hit Swanna and with additional damage from Muro's Blizzard, fainted.