Hey guys! Legacy back with a bit of a shorter chapter. This will be the conclusion of Ava's gym gauntlet at the Malie City Gym. I didn't want to keep you guys waiting too long and I was pretty excited to write this battle so I here ya go! But first, let's respond to some reviews from the last chapter.
ShadowWolf223: No, they really don't. They'd get along great with Mr. Crocker.
Steelrain66: I feel you, they're definitely one of my favorite types too.
To answer last chapter's QOTD, my favorite type has to be between steel or dragon. I enjoy pokémon with these types in pretty much every aspect. I like most of the designs of steel- and dragon-types and I find myself gravitating to both those types when building teams. There's an old pokémon with a Galarian form in Sword and Shield that looks dumb but I love the concept behind the evolution's design. Not really spoilers since we all know that some pokémon got Galarian forms in Sword and Shield so I didn't feel the need to attach a spoiler warning. Now onward with the chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters. These are the intellectual properties of Nintendo and the Pokémon Company.
Aether Academy
Chapter 5
After Ava had defeated Ryuki's gym trainers, she had a few moments to spray Neo, Firewall, and Petey with healing items that she carried in her purse. Eric left his seat during this intermission and went down to the battlefield to offer Ava some advice for her next battle. The girl noticed him approaching and smiled gently, though that smile quickly faded when she looked back at her pancham, whom she had been healing. Eric's face too became serious as he stated, "You've seen how he battles. What's going through your head?"
"To be honest, I'm kind of just ready to be over with this whole ordeal."
Eric nodded. He would have offered to battle Ryuki himself but he knew that Ava would refuse. In fact, she might have felt disrespected and belittled. The possibility kept him from offering. Instead, he pointed out, "Remember that he's a pretty aggressive battler."
"Yeah. I'll have to play it defensively and wear his pokémon down."
"Alright, sounds like a plan." He gave her a kiss on the forehead before making his way back to his seat. "You've got this!"
When Ava finished healing all major injuries that were inflicted upon her pokémon, she called them all back into their respective poké balls and stood ready to battle. Ryuki clapped his hands once, the sound reverberating throughout the hall and calling everyone's attention. "Well then," he began. His eyes were sharp and alert like a predator's. "Are you ready to begin?"
Ava simply nodded. She reached for a poké ball and brought it forward. Ryuki also pulled one from one of the two belts crossed over his waste and held it out. "We'll each be using three pokémon." Again, Ava nodded. Ryuki then pulled it back and as he tossed it out, he yelled, "Let's gooooooooooo!" Ava threw her poké ball out as well and two flashes graced the field with light. As the light faded, Eric and the gym trainers could see that Ava decided to start with her porygon2 and Ryuki with his garchomp. The shark-dragon roared menacingly but Ava's porygon2 simply bobbed back and forth, not bothered by the jagged teeth, sharp claws, and fierce grimace.
"Firewall, use psybeam!"
"Talica, don't let it touch you!" Unlike Firewall's previous opponents, this garchomp was fast - very fast. He had sidestepped the psybeam and charged forward before Firewall's attack had reached the dragon's original position. "Sand tomb!" Talica swung his good arm, kicking up a dust devil that surrounded Firewall, pummeling it with grains of sand.
"Use conversion 2!" Firewall digitized itself into segmented blocks of data before rearranging itself with a green motif. The sand tomb did much less damage to it as the particles were caught on its new grassy surface.
"It's a grass-type now? That's wicked!" Ryuki shouted. "But it won't do you much good. Talica, poison jab!" Talica began releasing powerful toxins from between the scales around its good claw and drove it into Firewall's body, injecting poison into it.
Though it did not cry in pain, Firewall's ever-rotating legs spun out of control. Though she did not feel comfortable with the sight of her pokémon, she had to admit that had it been one who could yell or cry, she probably would not have been able to keep herself composed as well as she did. "Convert again!" Ava ordered. Firewall one again broke itself apart and reconstructed itself, this time with a metallic sheen.
"Earthquake!" Talica lifted its foot and then stomped down, creating a powerful seismic shockwave that everyone, except Firewall, was rocked by. This was merely part of Ryuki's plan, however. "Now take down!" it was too quick for Ava to react. Before she knew what was going on, Talica had lunged at Firewall and brought it down to the ground, allowing the seismic activity to rupture its metallic hide. "And just for an added bonus, use crunch!" Talic lifted its muscular neck before sinking its sturdy teeth through the weakened armor.
"Push him off with psybeam!" Ava yelled. She waited a few moments for Firewall to follow instructions but when it did not, she asked, "Firewall, what are you doing?! Use psy-" Talica stood up, revealing that the porygon2's original color had returned. It was unconscious. Without another word, Ava recalled Firewall into its poké ball and reached for the next one.
"Go, Astra!" Ava's second choice for this match was her beheeyem, another levitating pokémon. "Stay away from the ground, Astra!" The psychic-type emitted lights from its hands to communicate with her trainer. Astra seemed to understand since she rose in the air. "We're going first this time. Astra, use confusion!" The beheeyem locked onto the garchomp and emitted a concussive wave of psychic energy. Talica was incredibly fast, however. He had blitz across the field before Astra's attack reached him. That speed is going to be a problem. We're going to have to aim our attacks to where he's going to be instead of where he is. "Astra, use miracle eye!"
Astra's light twinkled. She then lifted her hands to her forehead, closed her eyes, and concentrated her mental energy until a third eye opened on its forehead.
"What's this now?" Ryuki asked.
"This is the key to our victory."
"We'll see about that. Talica, run around her beheeyem and use sand tomb!" The garchomp whirled around beheeyem, lost in a blue blur. A sand tornado kicked up with similar ferocity, spiraling upwards until Astra was surrounded by the violent twister.
"Psychic!"
Despite being so fast, Talica found himself stuck and unable to move. He felt as though he was trying to move through hardening cement. He could budge but despite his strong muscles, he could not push through this invisible bind.
Ava smiled as she triumphantly said, "Got him. Astra, use hidden power!" Astra nodded. She then concentrated her energy from a deep pool in her genetic make-up, once lost to time in her ancestry. She pulled that hidden power out and manifested it into an icy blue crescent wave that sent shivers up Talica's spine. The once proud and triumphant beast now cowered in the face of its greatest weakness: ice. As the crescent slammed into him, he was chilled to the core, unable to stay conscious through the freezing cold. When Talica went limp, Astra set him down gently so that Ryuki could return him into his poké ball.
Ryuki said nothing. He looked to Eric and said, "She's prepared for a duel with dragons, isn't she?"
"She has to be if she ever hopes of overtaking me as champion."
"I see...well then. I'm impressed by what you've shown me so far. But can you handle the heat I'm bringing you? Acidici! Let's turn it up! Yeeeeeeaaaaah!" Ryuki brought out his turtonator, who spat crackling embers into the air. "We're going to fight ice with fire."
"In that case, we'll refrain from that."
"I think you'll find it hard to. Acidici, use fire blast!" The turtonator charged a ball of swirling flames in front of him and shaped it into the kanji for "fire" as he launched it forward.
"Don't let it hit you! Catch it with psychic!" Astra concentrated her psychic energy on the fire blast to try and stop it. The burning plasma's loose matter made it difficult for her to completely contain it. Astra only managed to hold together some of the flames but the rest slammed right into her, knocking her out of the air.
"Scorch the ground!" Acidici shot a flamethrower and the ground, transforming the field into a stove. The hot surface burned Astra so even though she was able to pick herself back up from the ground, the damage had already been done.
Ava thought to herself, He's right. I'll have to use hidden power to fight the hot with the cool. "Astra, use hidden power!"
Astra shot out another icy attack but it was met and overtaken by a fire blast. Ava anticipated this so she had Astra moved out of the way and then use psychic to lift Acidici off the ground. Just as Ava and Astra thought that they had gained some ground in the battle, Ryuki ordered his turtonator to use overheat. While still the air, Acidici emitted an aura of fire around himself, which grew in intensity as he shot out a blast of heat in all directions. The area became so hot that everyone in the area started to sweat and they were forced to shield their eyes from the burning sensation that tickled them.
When Ava felt the temperature come back down, she looked at the battlefield to find Astra laying on the ground. She had been defeated, leaving Ava with only one pokémon left and she only had one choice. Ryuki knew this too and his thoughts were confirmed when Neo came onto the field across from Acidici.
The primarina landed on the dirt field with a thud. He straightened himself out to face against the turtle-dragon. Ava knew that Ryuki had seen her singing strategy one-too-many times so she would have to keep him on his toes with shouting direct orders and using her songs.
"We've got the advantage in typing so let's use it, Neo."
"Rina!"
"Your primarina may be at a complete advantage against my turtonator but there's no way that we're not putting up a fight against it, right Acidici?" The turtonator blew out a small puff of flames in response.
"Let's see how you handle this then. Neo, use sparkling aria!" Neo graced the area with a harmony that sounded as if a siren were singing through the waves of the ocean. Water escaped from his mouth and gathered in a dense ball until he felt that it was large enough. "Now throw it!" Neo swung his paws outwards, pushing the sphere towards Acidici.
"Fire blast!"
The collision of the water- and fire-type attacks created a thick cloud of vapor, eclipsing the two pokémon from the trainers and spectators. Ava took advantage of the smokescreen and told Neo to stay on the move. Despite not having much mobility on land, Neo was able to move within the cover of the vapor cloud to avoid any attacks that their opponents would aim his way. When Ava heard her pokémon cry to confirm that he understood, she began to sing. Neo followed and synchronized his melody with hers, which had Acidici scrambling with haphazard flamethrower blasts that were meant to interrupt the melody. The heat only made the shroud thicker, especially with the sparkling aria spheres that Neo would create as a shield when she felt the fiery stream nearing her. Eventually, Ava and Neo changed the melody to make Acidici drowzy, which made it hard for him to shoot proper flamethrower attacks. When the steam faded enough for the trainers to see inside, turtonator was revealed to be fast asleep.
"Looks like Acidici is unable to battle," Ava pointed out. "You'd better start thinking of who your last pokémon will be." The girl could not help but smile as she said this. Her pokémon were all tired, despite having been aided by medicine, yet they were all performing very well against a gym leader. Not just a gym leader, but one who specialized in a type that was difficult to train. She was confident in her ability to win this.
Ryuki was silent as he called Acidici back into his poké ball and replaced it with another, an ultra ball. From it, came a large dragonite, one who could tower over most others of his species.
"Ready to finish this, Aero?" Ryuki asked. His voice was gravely and menacing. The dragonite blew smoke from its nostrils as it glared down at Neo. "Dragon rush!"
"What?! That won't work on a fairy-type!"
After coating himself with a layer of draconic energy, Aero shot forward and slammed into Neo. The aura may have been neutralized by Neo's natural immunity to dragon-type moves. This did not protect him from Aero's large shoulder from slamming into his face. Neo rolled around on the floor, unable to stop himself. When he finally flopped onto his back, Neo tried to lift himself up but was met with a powerful thunder punch to the chest which sent him reeling back again.
Ava was wide-eyed. "This is bad! Neo, use disarming voice!" Neo could not even lift his head. He was left gasping from the powerful blow to his chest, which left his lungs hungry for air that he could never get enough of. "Neo! Do something! Sing! Water gun! Pound!" Ava was talking for her health. Neo could barely lift himself up. He could no longer defend himself and without hesitation, Ryuki ordered Aero to use thunder punch. This one was a right hook to Neo's face, which knocked the primarina out cold. "Neo!"
Eric stood up from his seat and gripped the rail tightly. He trembled with anger and it was all towards Ryuki. When he looked over at the gym leader, the man said, "Now that I've defeated your partner, it's time that I get the prize I've thirsted for for so long. Face me."
"No." Ryuki turned back to Ava who was hunched over Neo on the ground. She had a fierce look in her eye, one that Ryuki liked. "If anyone is going to face you, it's going to be me."
Ryuki crossed his arms and laughed. His gym trainers joined in on the laughter. "I've already defeated your best pokémon. You can't offer me the thrill of a challenge I seek."
"Not yet." Ava stood up from the ground and called Neo back into his poké ball. "I'll be back for that book, though."
Ryuki shook his head. "Like I said, you had your chance. The Dragon Prince will be my next opponent. That is if you want the book."
Ava looked over at Eric, glaring at him. He knew what that look meant. Eric told Ryuki, "I won't battle you. The book isn't for me. This is something she has to earn."
Ryuki looked into Eric's blood red eyes. It was a long while that they stared at each other. Eventually, Ryuki understood that Eric's resolve was rock hard like a geodude. He would not face Ryuki. The gym leader laughed and said, "In that case, I will offer her one more opportunity to win this book herself. If she fails a second time, you will face me, Dragon Prince."
"I only need one more chance," Ava said flatly. "I agree to these terms." She looked over at Eric who then turned to Ryuki and nodded.
"Me too," the crimson-eyed boy said.
"Don't keep me waiting too long, now, girl."
"I won't."
Eric and Ava exited the room together, leaving Ryuki alone with Aero and the gym trainers. His lips curled into a toothy grin.
"E-everything okay, boss?" Elvis asked.
"Not yet, but it will be once I've gotten the challenge I deserve."
Outside, Eric and Ava walked toward the ferry to go back to Aether Academy. At least, that's where Eric thought they were going. When Ava started walking to the ferry to Melemele Island, Eric questioned her. "You're going home?"
"I'm going to Wentworth Labs. There's something there that I need to get."
Eric went for Ava's hand. "You're going to use medicine? Don't tell me you're going to use X-items."
"No, nothing like that. There's something else I need to get from there. I'd prefer to go alone." Ava pulled away from Eric, allowing her hand to slip from his fingers. He said nothing else and watched her walk away.
Bet you all thought Ava would win, didn't you? Not today! She's going to get some character development before she gets to take on Ryuki again.
QOTD: What do you guys think Ava is going to her father's lab for and why?
I won't be answering this question in the author's notes of the next chapter. The chapter itself will not contain the answer either but it will be answered within the next few chapters, for sure. Anyways, that's it for this time around. This is Legacy signing off. Until next time!