Sitting down, I watched Roark, the rock-type gym leader step up to his position on the opposite side of the field. He took a moment to look Dawn over before speaking.

“Welcome to the Oreburgh Gym,” His voice was calm and steady, but projected easily throughout the gym, “You are registered as being at B-Rank and having two pokémon, is this correct?”

Dawn nodded sharply, “Yes, it is.”

Roark smiled reassuringly, “Good. In that case, I will be using two pokémon as well, both ranked at B.” He gestured to the side, making a gym attendant I hadn’t even noticed before step forward.

The attendant raised a hand, holding a blue flag, “I will be refereeing this match today. This will be a two-on-two battle between Challenger Dawn and Gym Leader Roark. This battle takes place at B-Rank. The Challenger may switch their pokémon once, the Gym Leader may not.”

He glanced between the two, ensuring they were listening. “Should you see my flag raised at any time, you are to command your pokémon to retreat from the battle so the issue may be resolved, or a defeated pokémon may be returned safely.”

Both Dawn and Roark agreed, making the attendant nod. He raised the flag into the air, “Release your first pokémon in 3… 2… 1!” He brought the flag down with a sharp crack.

Two bright flashes of light erupted from Dawn and Roark, quickly forming into Tidal on one end and a surprisingly large Geodude on the other. A brief split second passed as everyone took in the sight of their opponents and made snap decisions.

“Bubble Beam!” Dawn shouted quickly, causing Tidal to begin building a ball of bright blue energy.

“Sandstorm,” Roark ordered calmly, the Geodude crying its name out in response. A moment later, the dust and small rocks across the arena began lifting up and swirling around. I leaned back defensively, only to stop as I noticed a barely visible purple glow surrounding the arena. I resisted the urge to closer examine the forcefield around the arena.

A sudden blast of blue shot through the arena, the Bubble Beam easily scything through the Sandstorm and slamming into the Geodude’s side.

“Rock Polish,” Roark ordered again. The Geodude snatched a flying piece of debris from the air and used it to polish its exterior, the dull brown glow of rock-type energy suffusing its exterior.

This time when the Bubble Beam shot through the Sandstorm, the Geodude moved fast enough to dodge it.

“Switch to Water Gun, keep firing, and don’t let up!” Dawn switched gears, deciding that Bubble Beam took too long to fire. Then again, Tidal had only had roughly a day to practice with it, so it would only get better.

“Harden, into Rock Throw.”

“Dodge the Rock Throw and use Pound to bat it away if you can’t!” Dawn called out in response.

Tidal managed to land a Water Gun as Geodude used Harden, and the super-effective damage started to add up. A moment later, the Geodude ripped a chunk of rock from the ground and hurled it at Tidal.

I noticed Tidal’s eyes widen before his flipper glowed bright white and he slammed the Pound into the rock as he tried to dodge. Despite the partial dodge and block, the thrown rock still knocked Tidal back a little way. I also began to notice the small bits of damage the Sandstorm was doing.

“Renew the Sandstorm, then Bulldoze.” Roark’s voice cut through the slowly dying down storm, making the storm pick up again.

“Keeping moving around and firing Water Gun! Don’t let it get close!”

Tidal began running towards the side, charging and firing two Water Guns into the storm, only one landing a hit.

In response, the Geodude floated out of the swirling sand surprisingly fast, rearing up and slamming its hands down. The floor heaved in response. A big chunk of the ground shot up and slammed into Tidal, throwing him back a good five feet.

I winced as I saw that, but I also noticed the slight blue aura around Tidal. His ability boosted his water-type attacks now that he was damaged enough.

Tidal scrambled to his feet, “Surprise him with another Bubble Beam!” Dawn called out, her expression focused intensely. Tidal’s Bubble Beam formed faster now, his ability helping him. The sudden change was enough to catch the Geodude off guard. The Bubble Beam slammed into the Geodude and sent it flying back before it floated to the ground, its energy exhausted and unconscious.

The referee’s blue flag shot up, making Dawn call Tidal back a little bit. I let out a little breath, happy Dawn was halfway through, but also surprised at just how close the fight had been.

Roark smiled softly as he recalled the Geodude. He nodded once at the referee, before releasing his second pokémon. The bright energy coalesced into a much biggest pokémon this time. At almost six meters long, the Onix was far larger than Tidal, making the little Piplup release a small chirp of dismay.

Down the referee’s flag went, indicating the start of the second round.

This time, Roark managed to get his command out first, and it was a surprise, “Curse, into Rock Polish.”

I winced, Curse would boost the Onix’s physical attack and defense, but slow it down. The follow-up with Rock Polish though, would not only negate the lowered speed but actually boost it.

I could tell Dawn came to the same realization, “Water Guns as quick as you can! Try and interrupt it!”

Almost before she could finish speaking though, the ghostly black and purple energy of Curse enveloped the Onix, making my eyebrows shoot up. Apparently, the Onix was very well trained, if it was able to use its moves that fast.

Dawn grimaced, but couldn’t do anything about it. A moment later, a Torrent-boosted Water Gun slammed into the Onix, making it shake. Unfortunately, it was not enough to interrupt the Rock Polish. The tell-tale brown of rock-type energy suffused the Onix.

Fortunately for Dawn, a moment after it finished another Water Gun landed, doing quite a bit of damage to the doubly weak Onix. I suspected this was an Onix on the edge of being an A-Rank. It somehow managed to push through two different boosted attacks that it was doubly weak to.

It was Roark’s next command that made me swear softly though, “Dig.” Using its boosted speed, the Onix quickly disappeared underground, Tidal’s third Water Gun missing just a second later.

Dawn called out frantically, “Prepare a Bubble Beam and hold it as long as you can, fire it at the first hint of Onix!” Tidal hunched his little shoulders and prepared a Bubble Beam that he just barely managed to keep control of for a few seconds.

The ground beneath Tidal cracked. Without hesitating, Tidal fired straight down, landing a glancing hit on Onix as it slammed into him from below.

A moment later, Tidal fell over, unconscious. Though, the Onix looked on the edge of fainting as well. The Referee’s flag went up, and Onix quickly moved back toward Roark without being commanded.

Dawn looked pained as she returned Tidal, though her expression eased slightly as she noticed the Sandstorm finally fade. She took a long breath, before releasing Zephyr. The little Starly appeared in a flash of light, looking around the field critically before its gaze fell on Onix.

Down the referee’s flag snapped.

“Into the air, and Double Team!”

Roark frowned for the first time, “Rock Throw, find her.”

Zephyr immediately took off, her image blurring and separating into two different Zephyrs. A moment later, she split again into four.

On the other side of the field, Onix reached its tail out and connected with a rock before it flung the stone into the air. The rock sailed through one of the Zephyrs, dispelling it.

Dawn narrowed her eyes, “Detect, then Air Slash!”

Air Slash had been the focus of the majority of Zephyr’s training. She could barely use the move and it took a while to form, but she had managed to learn it. The three copies of Zephyr all had their eyes glow white before a crescent of condensed air formed and shot out at Onix.

Onix was in the middle of another Rock Throw. Unable to dodge, it was hit and I watched it almost fall unconscious before it visibly forced itself to stay awake. The rock it had thrown sailed through the air, dispelling another fake Zephyr.

Luckily, Dawn had noticed how close Onix was. “Gust!”

Zephyr allowed the last copy to fall as she gathered wind together in front of her, and flapped her wings as hard as she could. The wind glowed with wispy flying-type energy and slammed into the barely awake Onix, knocking it out.

The referee’s flag shot straight in the air, “Challenger Dawn Wins!” His voice boomed out. I grinned as I watched Dawn quickly shriek, “Yes!” Before coughing and trying to act like she hadn’t just done that. Zephyr was flying quick circles and loops in the air, her voice singing in happiness.

Roark smiled for a moment before returning Onix. He glanced to the side and pressed a few buttons hidden on his side of the arena, causing the forcefield to deactivate and ramps to descend from the trainer’s platforms. It took Dawn a few seconds to notice both the dissolving of the forcefield and the new ramp. Once she did, she quickly calmed herself down and called over Zephyr. She spoke quietly to the still exuberant Starly before returning her.

Following Roark’s example, she made her way down the ramp before her and met Roark in the middle of the battlefield. Roark held out his hand and Dawn shook it happily. They spoke quietly, my position in the spectator seats not close enough to hear, so I simply sat back and considered what I’d just seen.

Some of the strategies Roark had used would be relatively easy for Adamant and Ladon to deal with, while others would not be. The Sandstorm and Digging Onix would both be relatively easy for Adamant to ignore, and Ladon should be able to weather both with relative ease.

I noticed that Roark tended to have his pokémon set up specific types of boosts. Perhaps I should try and attack quickly? Knock his pokémon out of their set-up phase and keep the pressure on? Adamant didn’t really have a way to do that, so it would have to be Ladon… It was tough to decide. And it was necessary to remember that I was technically ranked higher than Dawn, meaning Roark would be using a stronger team and would be more ruthless.

I was snapped out of my thoughts by Roark speaking up, “You did well Dawn. For having defeated the Oreburgh Gym, I hereby award you the Coal Badge!” He took out the small, unassuming shape of the rather plain badge. He smiled and nodded before handing it to Dawn, who was grinning as wide as she could, completely unable to keep her cool. “Well done, Dawn.”

Roark then glanced up towards me, making me straighten up, “I’ll need a few minutes to get everything set up for you,” He said.

“Alright, I’ll wait. No problem,” I responded, slowly making my way off the stands and down towards Dawn. Only a few minutes later, I pushed out of the doors leading to the small room between the gym’s waiting room, arena, and spectator stands. As I did, I got nearly run over by Dawn as she hugged me excitedly, letting go a moment later to gesture excitedly.

“I did it, Daniel! I won! I got my first badge!” Dawn was very nearly dancing in excitement. I grinned slightly before nodding, “Yeah, you did. That was really cool to watch! Tidal really took those hits and kept going, didn’t he?”

Dawn calmed down a little but still nodded vigorously in response, “Yes, yes he did. He did wonderfully and he definitely deserves something for how well he did. And did you see Zephyr too?! She did everything right, got into the battle, and stayed out of range while confusing her opponent!”

I laughed softly, “You did great together Dawn, as a team.”

Her grin softened into a smile, “Thanks, Daniel.”

She was just about to say something when the gym attendant poked his head out of the arena’s doors, “He’s ready in here.”

Taking a long breath, I nodded before looking back at Dawn for a moment. She smiled again, “Go on, you’ve got this. Adamant is tough and Ladon is crazy powerful, you can do it. Besides, I’ll cheer you on, okay?” She bobbed her head toward the spectators stands behind me.

I laughed, “Alright, thanks.” I watched her disappear through the doors before I took another deep breath. “We’ve got this…” I murmured to myself. A second later, I pushed the doors open and strode through.