Pokémon BW: whiteflareXblackbolt

23: A Rather Sweet Gym

Castelia City's gym is.......... too sweet for my liking.

The gym's walls are shaped like a beehive's comb and full of honey: walls, ceiling and even the floor! No wonder Burgh smell like he had just dived in a pool of honey. Good thing bug Pokémon from Pinwheel Forest is too far away from Castelia, or else... IT'S SPARTA.

To face the gym leader, a challenger has to press buttons on the floor and needs to pass through the thick, sticky honey walls. There were a couple of harlequins to battle, but they were easy enough. 

"Do you like my gym? Its so ssssssssweet isn't it??" Burgh said.

"Uh. Sure is," I mutter, tasting leftover honey from all the honey walls I just passed through. "How old is this honey anyway?!"

"Why!! I change it everyday!! Isn't it magnifiiiiicent??" Burgh laughed. "'Tis one of my greatest masterpiece!!"

"Well, congratulations on that!" I said. With all those honey, I already smell like syrup AND there's couple of honey in my hair! That would take HOURS to remove. "Anyway, let's battle!!"

"Fine," Burgh winked then sent out his Pokémon. "Whirlipede!!"

"Shiny!"

"Whirlipede, Poison Tail!"

Whirlipede was too fast, and within seconds, its poisonous tail hit Shiny.

"Eeeek!" Shiny squealed from surprise and pain.

"Shiny, use Swift!" Shiny released stars to Whirlipede.

"Whirlipede, use Poison Tail again!" Burgh said.

"Dodge it, Shiny!" Shiny managed to duck from the one-inch-close tail. "Now use Double Slap!" My Mincinno hit the Whirlipede two times.

"Struggle Bug!" the quick Whirlipede quickly recovered and slapped Shiny with its body.

"Use Swift while running backwards!" I have to make distance from this quick Whirlipede or else I would have the disadvantage! Shiny continued to move backwards, then slipped on a pile of honey! 

"What?!" Curse this honey! "Shiny on your feet!"

"Whirlipede, Poison Tail!" the spinning Whirlipede started careening towards Shiny.

"Shiny, Swift again while moving backwards! Use your tail to clean the honey behind you!" Shiny followed my exact orders so she didn't clean the ones in front of her.

As I expected and planned, the speeding Whirlipede slipped on the honey.

"Use Double Slap!" Shiny jumped towards the surprised Whirlipede, preparing to mount the attack.

"Whirlipede, Poison Tail!"

"Shiny change your course and use Swift!!" Shiny spinned midair then her stars hit Whirlipede, causing it to faint. However, Shiny wasn't able to dodge its poisonous tail. She was badly poisoned.

"You can do it buddy," I whispered in encouragement.

I know there's still enough health for Shiny to finish half of the battle.

"Dwebble, use Smack Down!" tiny rock bullets from Burgh's Pokémon advanced on Shiny.

"Shiny, move out of the way and use Swift!" Shiny dodged the bullet of rocks and used Swift.

"Faint Attack!" the Dwebble crawled on the honeyed floor fast to launch its attack.

"Jump, Shiny, then use Swift below!"

Shiny managed to dodge the attack, thank goodness.

Once Shiny went down though, the Dwebble had gained distance. There was no escaping now.

"Struggle Bug!!" the Dwebble hit my poisoned Mincinno critically and Shiny fainted.

"Great job, Shiny, return!" I took out Umbra.

"Umbra, Pursuit!" the smug Zorua hit Dwebble hard. 

"Use Stru-" Burgh started.

"No! Use Pursuit again!!" Umbra is very talented at speed, so it hit Dwebble fast and critically. The Dwebble fainted.

"On to the last Pokémon, eh?" Burgh took out his last Pokémon: a  beautiful Leavanny.

"Leavanny, use Razor Leaf!" the sharp leaves flew from the bug type towards Umbra, who was hit critically. 

"Umbra, use Fury Swipes!" the Zorua clawed at the opponent, destroying its leaf dress.

"Fury Swipes again!" 

"Protect, Leavanny!"

Umbra tried to attack Leavanny but somehow a force field blocked him for doing so. My Zorua growled in frustration.

"Don't stop using Fury Swipes!!" I ordered.

"Protect again!!" 

However, Leavanny failed to use Protect so Zorua hit her 7 times.

"Use Fury Swipes again!" 

"Use Razor Leaf!" 

Both attacks hit the two of them, damaging both.

"Fury Swipes again!" 

Finally, Zorua scratched Leavanny across its face. The Leavanny finally fainted. 

The smug Umbra barked and started to return to my side when he slipped on honey, hit his head and fainted!!!

"W-w-what??!!!!" I can't believe this!! I got tied because of those cursed honey! "B-b-but..."

"Hmm.." Burgh started. "You still deserve the badge. You did beat me after all."

Good. Thank Arceus. I thought I wasted my time just because of a stupid puddle of honey. I swear, I'm never going to eat anything honey-flavored! I had enough of this fiasco!

"Maybe you should not stick with honey," I suggested, trying to remove the honey off my clothes and my fainted Zorua. Now we're both gooey. 

"Yes... I have been thinking on using thread!!!!" he said. "I've already designed my plans but honey still smells better," he gave me the Insect Badge.

"Thanks," I pin my badge on my sweater, beside the Trio Badge and the Basic Badge.

"I guess you'll go to Nimbasa now huh..." Burgh commented as he sat back in his chair and started painting a random picture.

"Yep." 

"Well, I'll look forward to that!" Black suddenly arrived, honey sticking on his blue jacket and hair. "Look out Burgh! I'm a lot stronger than her!"

"Hmm..." Burgh grabbed his Pokéballs. "I'm not going to lose twice in a row!"