Time was proving inefficient in this battle, and just as Red had declared that Erika would use healing tactics to bring back Vileplume's energy, he meant what he said. The creature bounded closer toward my Pokémon, surrounded by thousands of vines that took away her energy. Luna was not in the best place; she was closer to losing all her power if I allowed her to remain in the battle.

I wonder if I can keep her out there, and hopefully, she'll wake back up.

Two possibilities remained for my strategy to count. If I kept Luna out there, there's a seventy percent chance that Vileplume's Mega Drain'll take her out. However, the other possibility was that she could wake up next turn and recover from the ensnarement, and I could then counter with another Ember.

She's slowly whittling damage down, even though it's an ineffective move against Fire-Types. It helps her stop the fox from throwing super effective moves in her direction. If I can keep her out here for the thirty or so percent chance that she does recover, I might have another shot of her using her Fire-Type moves and whittle down effective damage to Vileplume.

Vileplume had a ton of defense already. Luna's super effective moves would prove a lot more difficult based on the Pokémon's battling experience.

"Leaf, I would recommend you retrieve your Pokémon and use someone else from her status infliction," reasoned my friend Red from the sidelines with a concerned look in his eyes.

"I would like to switch out, but what if I try waiting it out? Luna has the type advantage."

Erika laughed at my rather silly game plan; she thought I would recall my Pokémon, given my poor choice of keeping Luna out on the battlefield thus far.

"Do you really think that you'll get out of this move on the next two turns? Luna looks to be in very bad shape. I'd do as he suggests Leaf."

"Not yet."

"Huh," tilted Erika with a confused look.

"I believe in my Pokémon." I replied with a slight smirk.

After giving my opponent that gentle smile, I reached into my bag to pull out an item given to me by Dr. Fuji. The craftsmanship of the flute was still intact after carrying it in my bag for so long after the journey; I unfurled the ribbon, gently pulled the golden flute out of the box, and started playing a little song. After blowing through the wooden instrument and strumming through several notes, they seemed to play a somewhat calming and soothing melody that echoed inside the gym floor.

"What is that?" Inquired Erika after watching Luna open up her eyes and gently pull herself up from the ensnarement of the roots.

"This here is a Poké Flute given to me by Dr. Fuji himself."

"Mr. Fuji, huh? I never thought a man like him would make such a beautiful instrument, and it seems to have also given me a bit of energy." Regarded the narcoleptic as she continued to eye the instrument with a curious wonderment."

"It is an awakening tool, any Pokémon that falls asleep can be brought back even from a deep slumber. Now that my Pokémon have awakened, it's time to use another move that can add more fuel to the flame. Confuse Ray Luna!"

My six-tailed Vulpix nodded and lunged herself a few feet after Vileplume, exhuming a powerful beam of light that seemed to flicker with enormous brilliance. The light was so bright that it nearly disoriented even Erika, but she regained her composure. Unfortunately, Vileplume was not so lucky this time as she made a mad dash toward the tree before her, releasing the vines and holding my Pokémon down on the ground. Luna could snap all of them and break free from below the ground.

"Luna! Ember attack now!"

With a burn and confusion on top of her Pokémon, she shouldn't have any field advantage.

The burn seized upon Vileplume once more, and the fire thrown her way from Luna had physically singed her blue skin. It was super effective and with the added damage of her confusion and the burn. Vileplume's energy was nearing an end.

One more move, and I will meet Victreebel face to face, where the REAL challenge begins.

Red was just as amazed at the healing response as Erika was. It was a strategy that proved effective since Fuji recently gave us these items to counter the sleeping Pokémon blocking our paths. It was risky, but now we know that these instruments work on bringing Pokémon back from their sleep without the need for Awakening sprays in the middle of battle.

"Well done Leaf, honestly I am with your friend Red on this one, based on his smile I can tell you have made great progress. Hold on out there Vileplume, let's see if we can land another Mega Drain to try and break free from the confusion."

"Vi!" Nodded the large, plump flower from her command as she readied her stance for another Mega Drain.

"C'mon take it, take it!" I shouted anxiously toward my Pokemon as the vines barreled toward her once more for one final move.

Their energy had depleted so much that any one of them at any moment could faint from exhaustion from their attacks. I just prayed that Luna would be able to hold out, and sure enough, as the ineffectiveness of the move would prove; she did take the hit from the absorption.

"More energy! Suck the life out of her fox once more!" Lamented Erika as she watched helplessly as her Pokémon on the field struggled for one final move.

Vileplume bounded toward my Pokémon, and just as she was about to use her vines to try and pull my Pokémon down toward the earth. Her vines had receded, and she ran to her left and staggered towards a grouping of trees. Slamming head first into the trunks of three varied sets, she rebounded backward and fell into an exhaustive state.

Vileplume could not battle, and I had been declared victor over two of her Pokémon.

"Unbelievable, Vileplume. I am so sorry you overworked yourself, please rest in the ball for a bit." She moaned after retrieving her prized catch from within her spherical capsule.

She then reached for her final Pokémon and looked directly into my eyes. Furrowing them with an intense glare, she was somewhat defiant of my retaliation against her. Still, she now realized that there was nothing else she could do other than release Victreebel for one final shot.

"I've been disappointed in how these battles have ended, I wish we could continue battling on and on, but Victreebel has been dying to meet you again. Yellow was right, you do have some heart in you, but I want you to prove it to me." She paused. "Prove to me that you are no longer The Black Clover and that the one person I am battling is Leaf." She said after carefully kneeling on the ground to roll her final ball; the capsule jolted with blistering light as one mighty flower Pokémon emerged from the porcelain device and glided briskly along the floor.

His form towered over Luna, and his x-like scar under his left eye looked down upon the fox with a calm temperament about him. He seemed poised to fight, but his anger seemed reserved, and Victreebel was rather more focused.

"Wrap!" She asserted with an order.

Victreebel obeyed her order without question and unfurled his vine that protruded from his back and coiled hard along my six-tailed fox's body, dragging her along the knoll of the battlefield.

"Luna!"

"Pull her and throw her against the bush, she's no longer conscious."

"Vic! Victree!" He obeyed as he tossed Vulpix swiftly into the brush as laced branches pierced along her coat and tangled her body in place. Vulpix was exhausted from the heat of battle and was defeated quickly by the Victreebel once again.

"L-Luna, I am sorry," I said with a calming voice as I carefully retrieved her from her home.

"I'll do better next time, I promise," as I gazed back at Victreebel, patiently awaiting my next Pokémon.

This one would be unorthodox, but it was worth a fight. My Venasuar had not seen much action from trainers; not since he faced Jack's last showdown, it was time he got the spotlight for this battle. It was an ineffective choice but one that I had been longing for. My starter was primed and ready.

I tossed the ball with a loud whistle, the capsule spun and lit brightly, and my four-legged, flower monster jolted with a loud bang onto the field. His red eyes gazed into Victreebel's as he let out a growl that shook the entire Gym.

"Grrreeeeeeewoooowwllll!"

"Grass on grass? You sure you want to do this?" Asked Erika, hoping I would want to rethink my decision.

"He's been asking for it all day, so I'll let him go for now." I reasoned.

"Very well, Wrap attack!"

"Vic!" Decried her Pokémon as he spun his vines from his back to wrap them around the ferocious dinosaur quickly.

"Grrrreeeeeeooowwowooolll!"

"Tackle Ivy!"

He bounded toward Victreebel regardless of being held by the multiple vines; he moved his hind legs with so much strength backward that he imitated a truck towing a trailer, only this trailer was the Victreebel. The flower relented to try and avoid the Lizard from pulling him forward, but this was a mistake on his part. He sprung forward and landed against Ivy's forehead, and then my Pokémon used that momentum to plow him swiftly toward the most prominent tree that Erika rested upon.

Victreebel slammed so swiftly against that tree that it caused a considerable amount of damage to him.

"Unbelievable."

A critical hit!

"............................." Smiled Red with joy as he watched the battle with tremendous enthusiasm.

Victreebel recovered and bounded along the knoll of grass back toward his opponent; he was not pleased that he got struck by my own Pokémon's moves, so he was willing to return the favor right back at him.

"Razor Leaf!"

"Vicccci!"

The Victreebel had sharpened his two leaflets underneath his flower trap stomach and released them with a fury that I could only describe as terrifying and ruthless; he showed an indomitable spirit, one that didn't like to lose or get hit so hastily. Those leaflets released and flew with such power that they cut along the bushes that lined the maze-like hedges like a heated laser cutting iron.

"So fast!"

The leaflets returned after cutting through the maze hedges again. They struck my brutish, teal-green Pokémon from where he stood, withstanding the attack with cuts that seemed to have destroyed some of his leaflets, and Victreebel sliced Ivy's rough, scaly skin from the attack.

"Hang in there Ivy, Vine-Whip!"

"Grwoooowwwoll!

He flung his vines and struck the bottom of the flytrap's stomach; he was blown back from the hit and sustained considerable damage but regained his place. Despite these being ineffective hits among Grass-Types, the critical damage they were receiving was off the charts.

"C'mon Victreebel, you got this! Wrap again, let's hold him down!"

"Vic! Vicciii!" He nodded with a broad smile to his trainer.

Using his vines, he pulled Venusaur back in and receded his vines as if I was watching many anchors recoil back into position. He then motioned himself to the right, holding his grip with his vines around the monster lizard's round body. He spun the Pokémon around with a tremendous heaving motion. He used the strength he needed to hoist the monster off the ground so that gravity could take hold and swing him against the tree on which he made an impact.

My Venusaur collided against the same tree that Victreebel had landed on and fell to the ground with a loud thud.

"Ivy!!"

"G—grrr!"

"Hang in there buddy! Let's finish him off, Wrap attack again."

Please hang in there.

Victreebel used ten extra vines to grab the Lizard and hoisted him upwards, throwing him down with a loud slam that seemed to crater in and spray turf and debris from the bluntness of this impact. It became apparent that I was worried about whether Ivy would make it out of these attacks in one piece.

Come on, Ivy; you can't be down and out.

Just then, I could tell that my Pokémon was still conscious after hearing him breathing.

"Razor Leaf!"

"What!?" Yelped Erika with shock.

"Groooooowwwooowww!"

He bellowed after arming his leaves off his flower bard for one final swing. I could observe that Victreebel was getting tired, and since my Pokémon was tired, Razor Leaf hopefully had to do the trick.

"C'mon, c'mon!" I gripped my fists with crude desperation.

I was hoping, pleading, that this one move would count.

You expected a fight, Victreebel, and now you made this fight more difficult than I expected, but you will lose here!

Ivy had unleashed four of his barrages straight at Victreebel; those leaflets flew at such miraculous speed that it was hard to keep up where they went from my gaze. They flew like bullets, striking one by one, and each time they hit Victreebel, he flew back within several feet, then after the final one hit with ferocity. The force of that final leaflet blasted him backward, and he bounced four or five times along the ground; his eyes went out, and his mouth started to ooze poison as he rested along the rough, ragged terrain below him.

This powerful display of endurance dumbfounded Erika; I assured her final Pokémon would be defeated, even if it meant going all out with the first Pokemon I obtained back at the lab.

"....................."

She retreated her Pokémon, and I retreated mine, and it seemed like we both had exerted ourselves along with our Pokémon. Erika certainly felt that she didn't expect me to get this close.

"I um-hah," She panted.

"I am so glad that there are strong Trainer's like you Leaf Green." She smiled.

When she proclaimed that I was a strong trainer, I felt something within me that brought me so much warmth and comfort. The love she shared with her Pokémon had mirrored mine with singularity from her perspective that she couldn't help but share the sentiment right back at me. It certainly was training, a pageant if you will, demonstrating the strengths of our friends. I couldn't help but smile back at her; my heart was filled with gratitude that she finally gave me a second chance.

After trying to catch my breath, I raised my head and pulled my hair back to prevent more sweat from dripping down my face.

"Thank you, you certainly are a powerful Gym Trainer yourself Erika." I shared with gratitude.

"As thanks for proving to me that you are no longer a member of Team Love, I must confer to you the Rainbow Badge of Celadon." She motioned forward, placing the badge within my palm and carefully closing it within my hand.

"With this badge your Pokémon as they gain more strength will obey you. It will also allow your Pokémon to learn the Hidden Machine move Strength in and out of battle. Also, please take this with you," She continued after reaching carefully within her Kimono to pull out a brand-new Technical Machine.

"The TM is called Mega Drain, half the damage that move inflicts is drained to heal your Pokémon, maybe that would be a good move to teach to a powerhouse like your Venusaur."

I nodded in agreement after receiving this new prize in exchange.

Venusaur would undoubtedly benefit from this TM.

"Oh and one final thing...."

She reached down and clasped hold of Victreebel's Poké Ball. A sudden rush of tears flooded my eyes, and I quickly fell to the floor, sobbing and smiling as she held my hand with all apprehension that fell across my face.

Victreebel wants me? But why? I don't deserve this.

I gently reached across and clasped hold of her Poké Ball, pulling him in with the most heartfelt plea that I could muster as I clutched him toward my chest.

"I-I'm so sorry, hic-I will always take care of you.... Please forgive me, Victreebel, please?"

Then just as soon as I pleaded for Victreebel with all my heart. He leaped out of the Poké Ball and smiled, rolling his vines gently around my waist, and he pulled me in for a hug and I happily embraced him for what felt like ten minutes or more. I needed this; this was my only Mega Drain, and I desperately wanted Victreebel to know that I loved him.

"Vic!" He shouted with forgiveness in his voice.

Red also joined in, placing his hand along my shoulder and, with a broad smile, proclaimed.

"...............Leaf, I am proud of you."