Gold- A Pokémon Story

Chapter Thirty Five- Elite Four Rumble

I approached the man and handed him my badge case. He confirmed the badges were valid and then opened the door to the next room.

I walked inside and entered a massive battlefield. The field was made of stone tiles and was the size of two gym battlefields. There was some sort of glass off to the sides of my part of the battlefield. Wonder what that's for.

I walked a little further into the empty room when the other door slid open. From it, five trainers emerged. Four of them stayed back by the entrance while a man with spiky red hair walked up to me.

The man was dressed in a navy blue outfit with a red cape billowing at his back. The way his face was structured reminded me a bit of Clair. "Hello there challenger. I am Lance. We are the Elite Five."

My eyes widened and Lance chuckled slightly. "I'm sure it's quite a shock, but there are five of us. Bruno recently returned from a long absence and so we've changed our system to accommodate this."

Sure enough, the muscly man was standing in the back with the other three trainers. "So I have to fight five of you now?" I confirmed.

Lance shook his head. "Not quite. Allow me to explain, we've changed how the Elite Challenge works quite a bit. Now, you will battle all of us in rapid succession. Each member besides myself will use three Pokémon and you'll constantly be facing different members one after another. When you call back a Pokémon they're allowed to rest on the sideline." Lance pointed at the glass.

"Resting here will slowly restore their health and stamina." He explained. "But, if your Pokémon is defeated they aren't allowed to battle for the rest of the match. Once you beat all 12 of their Pokémon you will face me in one final battle and then you will be permitted to take on the Champion. Make sense?"

It was a lot to take in but I understood the basic idea so I nodded. Lance smiled again. "Good to hear! Now, whenever you're ready the battle will begin." Lance walked back across the battlefield and I got to my spot.

An older man dressed as a ninja with teal spiky hair called out the first Pokémon. An Ariados. The large spider Pokémon was mostly red with black rings around its body.

Koga's poison types were known for whittling down whatever Pokémon they hit, so I wanted to take it out as quickly as possible. I started off with Magcargo to accomplish this.

Koga folded his arms. "Ariados, use Sludge Bomb!" His voice was gravely and his gaze was sharp. Ariados fired a ball of poison at Magcargo

"Counter with Flamethrower!" I told him. Magcargo spewed flames from his mouth into the ball of sludge and overwhelmed it. The flames continued and slammed into Ariados. "Rollout!"

Magcargo began spinning just as Ariados landed from the last attack and barreled towards the foe. "Poison Jab!" Koga shouted.

Ariados tried slamming one of its feet into the incoming shell but the attack bounced off and Ariados was plowed into.

Magcargo turned around and landed another hit on Ariados. This was enough to defeat the Pokémon entirely.

Koga returned his Pokémon and Bruno stepped forward. "Hitmontop, let's go!" Bruno shouted and he sent out a brown and blue Pokémon with a top-shaped head.

Magcargo had stayed in his shell and another hit from him would be stronger than ever. "Rollout!"

Bruno closed his eyes as my Pokémon approached his and let Hitmontop he hit. Bruno's Pokemon went flying into the air and Magcargo prepared for another Rollout.

Bruno's eyes snapped open and he suddenly shouted. "Use Focus Blast!" A blue sphere appeared in Hitmontop's hands and he threw it down at Magcargo.