Risen from Betrayal

Chapter 16 - Paul's 1st Unova Gym Battle

Shortly after arriving at Unova airport, Paul had obtained his map and brochure of the Unova region from the information centre. "Let's see," Paul thought. "The 1st gym is located in Aspertia City, which is not far from here. Perfect. I'll head there now." With that, Paul began to make his way towards Aspertia City, which took about 15 minutes walking time.

Upon arrival at the Aspertia City Pokemon Centre, it had started to become dark, so Paul decided to rest tomorrow in the Pokemon Centre. Due to his Pokemon already being fully healed since their last battle, there was no need for them to get healed again by Nurse Joy. After Paul was given his cabin key from Nurse Joy, he then headed to his cabin and decided to do a bit of research on the Aspertia City Gym Leader on his brochure of Unova.

"So Cheren's a Normal Type Gym Leader huh? Normal type Gym Leaders aren't as common as Gym Leaders of other types such as Water types. The only other Normal Type Gym Leaders existing are Whitney from Johto and Norman from Hoenn," Paul thought to himself. Later during the night, Paul had decided to choose which Pokemon he is going to use against his gym challenge tomorrow.

The next morning, after returning the cabin keys to Nurse Joy, Paul made his way to the Aspertia City Gym, which took about a few minutes of walking. Upon entering the Gym, he was greeted by a man with shoulder-length black hair, similar to Paul (except Paul's hair being purple), a white long-sleeved shirt with a red tie and also wearing a pair of dark blue jeans.

"Good day, challenger. My name is Cheren, the gym leader of Aspertia City. Are you here for a gym battle?" Cheren asked. "Yes, as soon as possible," Paul replied. "Understood, we shall have the battle now if you are ready," Cheren stated. "Sure thing. Let's get started," Paul said, as both people made their ways towards either side of the battlefield.

"This will be an 3 on 3 official gym battle between the challenger Paul and the gym leader Cheren. Only the challenger has the right to substitute his Pokemon and the battle will be over when all of one side's Pokemon are unable to battle. Are both the gym leader and challenger ready for the battle? the referee asked. "Yes," Paul & Cheren replied. "Alright, battle begin!" the referee stated.

"Weavile, standby for battle!" Paul shouted as weasel-like Pokemon with sharp fangs appeared out of its PokeBall and stood on the battlefield. "Cinccino, come on out," Cheren said as the chincilla-like Pokemon came out, with a white scarf wrapped around its neck and protruding from its back and ears.

"Weavile, Swords Dance," Paul commanded as the Sharp Claw Pokemon's white claws began to glow purple and started dancing and sharply raising it's attack. "Cincinno, use Work Up," Cheren said as a beam of red energy surrounded Cincinno, raising its attack and special attack.

"Weavile, use Swords Dance again," Paul ordered as Weavile's claws glowed purple again and sharply increasing its attack.. "Cincinno, use Sing," Cheren commanded as Cincinno began to sing a melody that approached Weavile. "Weavile, dodge it," Paul said, but it was too late as Sing had surrounded Weavile, putting it into sleep.

"Weavile wake up," Paul said, trying to get Weavile to wake up, but to no avail. "Now use Wake-Up Slap," Cheren ordered as Cincinno then gave Weavile multiple slaps on its head, causing huge damage, thus waking it up. "Damn, I got outsmarted," Paul thought to himself. "One more hit from that Wake-Up Slap would be enough to make Weavile faint due to having a 4 times weakness to fighting type moves that deal damage."

"Use Wake-Up Slap again," Cheren ordered, as Cincinno's scarf began to glow bright white and aimed towards Weavile. "Weavile, finish it off with Night Slash," Paul ordered as Weavile charged towards Cincinno and formed a bright purple sword on its claws ready to attack it. A dust cloud formed in the battlefield which dissipated half a minute later, revealing that both Pokemon had fainted from the impact of the explosion.

"Both Weavile and Cincinno are unable to battle," the referee stated. "Return, Weavile. You did very well, especially withstanding that Wake-Up Slap," Paul praised his Weavile as he recalled it. "You too, Cincinno. Thanks for battling," Cheren said as he returned his Cincinno.

"Both trainers please take out their 2nd Pokemon," the referee requested. "Watchog, get ready for battle," Cheren ordered as he took out the Lookout Pokemon. "Gastrodon, standby for battle," Paul said as he sent out the Sea Slug Pokemon from its PokeBall.

"Watchog, Work Up," Cheren commanded as the Lookout Pokemon began to glow in a red beam of energy, boosting its attack and special attack. "Gastrodon, Ice Beam," Paul ordered as the Sea Slug Pokemon aimed a beam of ice towards Watchog.

"Dodge, then use Crunch," Cheren said as Watchog effectively dodged the Ice Beam and began charging towards Gastrodon as its fangs started glowing white. "Not a chance. Use Muddy Water Counter Shield," Paul ordered. Unmoving, Gastrodon then released a spinning array of brown water, protecting itself as well as causing damage to Watchog.

"Now's our chance," Paul said. "Finish it off with Water Pulse." Gastrodon then aimed a blue sphere of water towards Watchog, who did not have time to dodge after recovering from the Counter Shield, and Water Pulse hit its mark, fainting the Lookout Pokemon.

"Watchog is unable to battle. Gastrodon wins," the referee. "Can the gym leader please send out his last Pokemon?" "Return Watchog, take a good rest," Cheren said as he recalled Pokemon. "Stoutland, I'm counting on you," Cheren said as a large canine-like Pokemon appeared of its PokeBall.

"Gastrodon, are you able to continue battling?" Paul asked his Pokemon, earning a nod in reply from the Sea Slug Pokemon. "Alright, use Ice Beam," Paul ordered as Gastrodon aimed a beam of ice towards the Big-Hearted Pokemon. "Stoutland, use Retaliate," Cheren ordered as Stoutland began charging towards Gastrodon through the Ice Beam, scoring a direct hit while taking a bit of damage, causing Gastrodon to faint from the impact.

"Gastrodon is unable to a battle, Stoutland wins. Can the challenger please take out his last Pokemon?" the referee requested. "Return Gastrodon. You fought well. Take a well-deserved break," Paul said as he returned his Pokemon. "Ursaring, standby for battle," Paul said as he sent out the Hibernator Pokemon from its PokeBall.

"Ursaring, use Bulk Up," Paul ordered as Ursaring began flexing up its muscles and a red beam of energy surrounded it, increasing its attack and defense. "Stoutland, use Crunch," Cheren said as Stoutland's fangs glowed white while charging towards Ursaring.

"Ursaring, counter with Slash," Paul said as Ursaring's claw glowed white and charged towards Stoutland's Crunch, causing an explosion to occur. Shortly afterwards, the smoke cleared, revealing that Ursaring was still standing while Stoutland faltered a few metres backwards.

"It's now or never. Finish this off with Giga Impact," Cheren commanded as Stoutland charged towards Ursaring at a high speed. "Ursaring, conclude this battle with Close Combat," Paul ordered. Once Stoutland was extremely close to Ursaring, the Hibernator Pokemon's arms began to glow white and started inflicting powerful punches on Stoutland while talking some damage from Giga Impact.

Another cloud of dust covered the battlefield, and after it dissipated, Ursaring was still standing while Stoutland had fainted from the severe damage caused by Close Combat.

"Stoutland is unable to battle. Ursaring wins. Therefore, the winner is the challenger Paul," stated the referee. "Well done, Ursaring. Your training really paid off," Paul said as he recalled Ursaring. "Return Stoutland. You fought well and take a good rest," Cheren said as he returned his Stoutland and approached Paul.

"That was a well-fought battle, Paul. Your Pokemon are really something. I'm really impressed how your Weavile managed to withstand that Wake-Up Slap despite having a 4 times weakness to fighting type moves. That Counter Shield completely took me by surprise and your Ursaring is very powerful," Cheren said. "Thanks Cheren. Your Pokemon are very well trained too," Paul said in reply.

"As proof of victory, I hereby give you the Basic Badge," Cheren said as he handed Paul the Basic Badge. "The next gym is in Virbank City, and the gym leader is Roxie, who specializes in Poison Type Pokemon," he continued. "Poison types, huh?" Paul asked. "Aside from Normal type gym leaders, Poison Type gym leaders aren't very common as well since the only other Poison type gym leader is Koga from Kanto. This will be interesting," he replied.

"Well, with the way you battled my Pokemon. I'm sure you should be able to win against Roxie and best of luck when challenging her, Paul," Cheren said. "Thank you, Cheren," Paul said as he walked out of the gym and began his plans for challenging the Virbank City gym.