"You go in first," Lisa said. "Then I'll go in, then Brad will be behind me."

"Why?" Brad asked.

"Well, if a creepy passageway opened up for you, would you want to be first to activate all the traps, or last, for someone or something to squash?" She said indignantly. "Let's just go."

I walked in first, then Lisa came in behind me, then Brad came in. Some lights flickered on, and the door behind us closed.

"Eep!" Lisa yelped, jumping then holding onto my arm.

"Lisa..." I said. "It's probably just so other trainers won't find the way in before they can be smart enough to find all of the clues."

"I don't care. I'm still scared," she whispered.

We continued down the hall for a minute, then it opened up into a gym arena.

"Told you," I said.

Lisa finally let go of my arm, sighing. "I'm relieved."

We looked around, and none of us saw anyone. "HELLO?" Brad called.

A door opened up. "Sorry!" a woman said. " I was researching. My name is Lenora, the gym leader here!"

She was about 5'6, I think, with a huge bundle of blue hair. She was wearing some sort of apron that went almost all the way to the floor.

"Hi," Lisa said. "We're here to battle you!"

"Ok, that's nice! So who's going first?" Lenora shouted from the other side of the room.

"Me," I said, walking up to the challenger's platform.

Lenora walked to the other side of the battlefield. "Ok, let me find my husband... He's the referee, you know."

She pressed a button on the railing of the platform she was standing on, then said "It's battle time," then looked up at me. "He should be here in a minute. Until then, I may as well explain the rules.

"First off, it'll be a two-on two single battle. You can switch Pokemon as often as you like, but I am only allowed to switch when one of my Pokemon faints," Lenora started. "All items are allowed, and if you win, you'll get the Basic Badge, and you'll get TM67, which is the move Retaliate."

"That all?" Brad asked from the stands. I didn't notice them move over there.

"Yes!" Lenora said.

"Great," I said, reaching for a Pokeball on my belt.

"Not yet!" Lenora said quickly. "We have to wait for my husband to get here..."

So we waited for a minute, then he came running into the room.

"Sorry I was late," he said. "Anyway, you can start the battle now!"

I reached for a Pokeball again.

"This gym ain't big enough fer the two of us," I said in a cowboy voice.

"Actually, this room alone has 2,500 square feet, not including the stands where your friends are," Mr. Lenora's husband said. "The entire gym, however..."

"You know what?" I asked. "Just forget it. GO SPHEAL!"

I threw Spheal's Pokeball and the little pink and white ball creature popped out of the smaller red and white ball.

"Ooh, very classy," Lenora said, throwing a Pokeball herself. "But you are no match for my HERDIER!"

A big dog appeared and said "Herdier!"

I heard a bit of an inhale, and then I noticed Lisa's face. If my deduction was correct, she REALLY liked and/or wanted that Herdier.

"Is everyone ready?" The ref called. Lenora and I both nodded, and he shouted "Battle... BEGIN!"

That battle animation popped up, per the usual, and I decided to start with an Ice Ball.

So I said "Spheal, use Water Gun!"

"Herdier! Dodge, then use Bite!" Lenora commanded. (Ooh, strong verb)

"Spheal, use Powder Snow as a distraction then use Body Slam!" I shouted.

Spheal rolled away from Herdier, then shot a bunch of powder out of his mouth. The effect was perfect; the snow created a sort of smokescreen.

Only, you know, it's snow.

I could only see a very very dim outline of Spheal, but I did see him jump up and then I heard Herdier cry out.

"Dang," Lenora said through gritted teeth. "Use Retaliate!"

"Spheal!" I cried out because the snow was already fading. "Use Water Gun on the ground, then use Powder Snow!"

Lenora, unfortunately, saw what I was doing. "Jump, Herdier!"

Lenora, fortunately, didn't see my plan behind the plan.

"Now you're wide open!" I yelled. "Use Ice Ball!"

Spheal slid away on the ice, then launched a ball of it at Herdier, knocking him out of the air and onto the ice. He attempted to stand up, but slipped.

"Water Gun! Ice Ball! BODY SLAM!" I shouted in defiance.

Spheal launched a Water Gun at Herdier, which hit, then launched another ball of ice at him, which also hit.

Then Spheal jumped.

"Now, Herdier! Use Take Down!" Lenora shouted.

I knew we were done for. Herdier was low, but not so low that the retaliation would knock him out.

Herdier jumped and collided with Spheal midair.

There was an explosion (For no real reason at all, they just bumped into each other) and I heard two distinct thumps.

When the dust cleared, I saw the best sight I'd seen for quite a while.

My plan worked.

You see, my idea was that I'd make it so close that you couldn't tell that I'd switched for Jolteon. So when the dust cleared, everyone saw Jolteon instead of Spheal.

Lenora gasped at the sight of her fainted Herdier, and I smirked.

"Oh, kid. It won't be THAT easy," Lenora said, returning Herdier. "Let's go, Watchog!"

A really tall weasel appeared in a flash of light. "Hog!" It said.

I popped my knuckles and said "Oh, nice. Let's go with a Double Kick, Eon!"

Eon jumped into the air and started to kick Watchog with shining paws, but Lenora said "Watchog, use Retaliate!"

Watchog readied his fists and punched Eon a lot. When it finished, I saw that Eon was already almost out.

I gawked, and Lenora said "Yes, if you use Retaliate the turn after one of your allies faints, it's power is doubled!"

"Now I want that move," I muttered. "Eon, you down for a Thunder Shock?"

Eon nodded and blasted Watchog with some electricity. Lenora then commanded "Use Hypnosis!"

Watchog's eyes glowed, and I said "Use Detect!" but it was too late. Eon was asleep.

I returned Eon and sent out Spheal. "Spheal, make the floor ice!" but Lenora said "Sorry, but no. Use Retaliate!" And Watchog ran towards Spheal. During this while everyone was confused, I sprayed Eon with an Awakening. "I knew this would come in handy," I muttered.

At this point, Watchog was sliding around on the ice, trying to get to Spheal. "Use Water Gun to get into the air, then use Body Slam!" I yelled.

Spheal flew upward into the air, and for a second, Watchog was confused about Spheal's magic disappearing act. Then, he looked up, then Watchog received a smack in the face. Watchog acted on instinct and used Crunch on Spheal, and what little remaining health Spheal had disappeared.

"All right!" Lenora said. "Now it's just mano y mano, eh?"

"Not for long," I said. "It'll just be mano. GO EON!"

Eon appeared back in the arena and immediately started out with a Shadow Ball, but even Watchog knew it wouldn't affect him.

"Dang it, I thought that would work as a distraction," I said.

Eon jumped up and started off with a Double Kick, smacking Watchog in the face multiple times, but Watchog used Crunch on him.

I could just tell that both Pokemon were really low. It was more likely to be just one more move before the other Pokemon faints.

I started thinking. I know that Eon has Detect and Shadow Ball on all of his Eeveeloutions, but Jolton is the only one with a Fighting-type move. I know that Leafeon and Eevee have Magical leaf and Swift, respectively. Both moves always hit. However, I want this to be a fairer fight. I can only use Detect, Double Kick, and Thundershock on Watchog, since Shadow Ball is a Ghost-type move.

"Ok, Eon! I have a plan! Use Thundershock!" I shouted.

Eon nodded and launched a blast of electricity at Watchog, but he dodged. "Sorry, but it looks like I'm about to win!" Lenora shouted. "Use Retaliate!"

I waited, and then said "Use combo 4-2!"

Eon and I had come up with some codes for combos. Combo moves are simple enough, however, if you use a code, the other person won't know what it means. Each number stands for a move. 3 and 4 are always Shadow Ball and Detect, respectively, and on Jolteon, Double Kick is 2.

So Watchog was close enough to use Retaliate, then Eon used Detect. Watchog and Lenora were confused when I shouted out the combo, and Eon used that opportunity to use Double Kick, effectively knocking out Watchog and winning the battle.

"Ayyee fam, lit!" I said.

"What?" Brad shouted from the stands.

"I saw it on YouTube. Just forget it," I replied.

"Well, it looks like Lloyd, the challenger, is the winner!" The ref called.

Eon ran over to me and we fist bumped. "You did a great job," I whispered into his ear. "You can have some of Brad's food while he isn't looking."

Eon smirked, and we walked over to Lenora. "Well, you've certainly earned this badge," she told me, holding up a long, purple rectangle with gold trim and divided into 3 sections.

"Thank you," I said, taking the badge and placing it in my badge case.

"You're welcome," Lenora said. "You're a really good strategist."

"Thank you," I said.

"You're welcome," Lenora said. "You're really strong."

"Thank you," I said.

"You're welcome," Lenora said. "You're overall quite impressive."

"Thank you," I said. "Seriously, though, let's finish.

"Sure. So who's next?" Lenora asked.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Ayyee fam

lit

What's up guys, I know it's been about a month since I last updated, but I put a lot of effort into this one.

Over the past 2 days.

I'm sorry, I really am. It's just... Generic excuse, sad story, something about school, I'm not good enough, same generic excuse as before.

Anyway, thank you all for not giving up on me. Also, please don't ask to be in this book. I might take one or two suggestions, but only if I ask specifically, you won't be in here.

I'm serious this is a huge issue with my books

If you want to be in this book, you wait until I ask specifically. Also, no crazy insane ideas, like "I want all the legendary Pokemon" or "I want to travel with Lloyd and Brad and Lisa"

NO.

Now, I know what you guys all want, I've done it before myself.

But I know that I won't be accepted... Sob story, generic excuse, sobbing sounds from the shower

Seriously, don't ask unless I ask you to ask.

OTHERWISE, thanks guys for sticking with me

Irrational out.