Lucas got his team healed by Nurse Joy. Lucas considered going back to their room and waiting a bit before trying to challenge Crasher Wake. Lucas considered the fact that Rotom and the rest would likely be in their room…

  Lucas walked right back outside as soon as Nurse Joy gave his team back.

  “HEY!” A shout got his attention as soon as he exited the Pokemon Center doors.

  Marching up to him was just the Gym Leader he was hoping to see, but…

  Wake laughed. “Looking for Barry? He ran off into the Great Marsh on me! But I did manage to get out of him what was going on with your little battle. That kid, I tell you… Palmer really needs to set him straight! But anyway, given what he told me, you were probably looking to challenge me, right? Have you gotten your team all healed up? If you’re ready, then SO AM I! HAHAHAHAHA!”

  Lucas flinched at the sudden increase in volume, but Crasher Wake didn’t seem to notice, patting him on the back and pushing him forward.

  “Walk with me!” Lucas would have regardless, but with the giant hand on his back he didn’t have much choice. “You see Lucas, I’ve actually been looking forward to your challenge! You’re a common topic of conversation among the Gym Leaders, you know! Everyone goes on and on about how they didn’t challenge you enough, how there’s rumors about Cynthia having her eye on you, how your record is yet to feature a loss! And ya see, I CAN’T BE HAVING THAT SORT OF THING! NOT IN PASTORIA!”

  Lucas wasn’t sure how to feel about this little monologue. The way he was being talked about behind the scenes sort of creeped him out, but if it meant he’d get a real challenge, then he couldn’t say he was entirely against it. Some of these Gym Leaders had been pushovers, especially that Maylene chick…

  “From what I’ve heard, your pathing through the gym circuit has been a little strange, but I can’t complain about that. Just means I can go EVEN HARDER AGAINST YOU! So I hope you’ve been training, because I’m ready to CRASH RIGHT INTO YOU and show you the real power of Water types!”

  Lucas found himself grinning. He had sort of assumed that the Pastoria Gym would be a cake walk, given that he’d gone with the Grass type starter from Professor Rowan, so this was a welcome surprise!

  …assuming Crasher Wake was more than just talk, anyway. It wouldn’t be the first time that someone went into the battle with a lot of confidence just to end up losing against him.

  He wasn’t overly impressed with the Gym itself as Crasher Wake led him back to it. The building was pretty simple and plain, with only the Gym symbol over the entrance signifying it as anything more than office space.

  Walking inside was a bit of a different story, though. Stands for the audience lined two sides of the building, but the battlefield was less of a field and more of a huge pool. A few platforms made of… bamboo? Floated in the water and provided a spot for Pokemon not great with water to stand.

  “Get yourself ready kid, BECAUSE I’M RARING TO GO!”

  Lucas considered his options as Wake made his way to the other end of the pool.

  Yeah, the man had said he was prepared for this battle, but what could he really do to prepare against Torterra? There were Pokemon like Empoleon who had the secondary Steel typing to negate the Grass weakness, but that just opened up a weakness to Torterra’s Earthquake. The number of Water types who could handle both was… well, Lucas could probably count those on his fingers! Maybe even one hand!

  Satisfied with that line of thought, when Crasher Wake held up a pokeball and called the start of the battle, Lucas sent out Torterra. The hulking Pokemon made the platform he landed on bob and sway under his weight, looking at the pool warily before he steadied himself. He’d just do the usual routine of having his starter make a mess of the opponent’s team and then send someone else in to clean up if something went wrong.

  Crasher Wake sent out… huh. As he watched it land on a different platform and dance around, Lucas wasn’t sure that he actually knew that Pokemon.

  It was green. A very, uh… rotund Pokemon with stubby legs and big hands that looked like mittens. Its mouth was a big orange beak, its fur sort of looked like… some sort of coat, maybe? There was also a big leafy hat looking thing on top of its head.

  “Ludicolo is a Grass and Water type Pokemon with abilities that may enhance its speed or recovery when under rainy conditions.” Porygon2 helpfully explained to him.

  Huh. Not even needing to scan a Pokemon with his Pokedex manually… he could get used to that.

  For now, though, he needed to get to work. Torterra may not have an advantage in this matchup, but the same would be true for Ludicolo. He and his partner could probably still make quick work of this.

  Clap, three fingers on the left hand, snap, clap, clap.

  Torterra shook the tree on his back, and a flurry of sharpened leaves shot out, quickly cutting into Ludicolo. A few stuck into its skin, making it hiss out in pain briefly, but the attack didn’t seem to do a significant amount of damage.

  “LUDICOLO! RAIN DANCE!”

  Ludicolo quickly shrugged off what pain there was, breaking out into a dance that caused a cloud to appear up above them, brushing against the raised ceiling and blocking out some light from various windows.

  Lucas frowned. Water type moves being powered up would be annoying, and Synthesis would be less effective… but it was nothing Lucas couldn’t handle.

  Maybe they could even use this to their advantage? If Torterra could use the rain water instead of having to generate some himself, Withdraw might take less out of him. Lucas started giving out the order, hoping to bulk up Torterra’s defenses and lessen the need for weakened Synthesis attempts-

  “ICE BEAM!”

  The freezing stream of energy shot out in an instant, leaving no time to react, no room for a counter or defensive maneuver. Torterra let out a choked gasp as the greenery facing Ludicolo was covered in a layer of frost, wilting and discoloring at an astonishing rate. The water flowing over him quickly became an icy encasement over his head and forelimbs, further cooling him and hindering any movement.

  Lucas grit his teeth. Ice beam?! He hadn’t been expecting a move like that, especially not from a Grass type!

  Clap, two fingers on the left, snap, clap. Clap, left hand pointing at the ground, snap, clap.

  He could only hope that Torterra could understand the orders through the ice. He wasn’t sure how well the Ground type would be able to see or hear, but Torterra was probably smart enough to piece together his intentions with even a partial command…

  “OH NO YOU DON’T!” Wake let out a booming laugh. “LUDICOLO, GET IN CLOSE AND HIT IT WITH ANOTHER ONE!”

  Ludicolo was fast. Wake’s Pokemon practically ran across the water’s surface, a wake left in its path, before stepping onto Torterra’s floating platform. The extra weight caused it to start sinking beneath the surface, water rushing in to cover Torterra’s feet before another Ice Beam hit flashed out from the Water type’s mouth from behind, locking Torterra into place as the water froze around his hind legs and the relatively healthy leaves left on his tree yellowed.

  Lucas waited for a moment, looking for something, anything, to indicate that Torterra could keep going, but his starter was frozen solid.

  Gritting his teeth, Lucas recalled his Pokemon. The platform popped back up to the surface now that it only had to support Ludicolo’s weight, and the Water type danced in the rain. “Colo-colo!”

  “BWAHAHAHAHA! THERE WE GO LUDICOLO! Been a while since I used you for a regular Gym challenge, eh? Hard to think that you kids don’t expect us to cover our weaknesses, though! We’re Gym Leaders for a reason, you know! WE’RE THE BEST OF THE BEST, AND DON’T YOU FORGET IT!”

  This was bad. Lucas had fully expected Torterra to tear down most of Crasher Wake’s team, not get hit by his biggest weakness and go down before accomplishing much of anything! Preparing for Ice type moves was something he’d planned to do on the way to the Snowpoint Gym! And for Ludicolo to get the freeze on top of that…

  What should he do now? Bibarel was usually who he went with after Torterra, but Ludicolo’s Grass typing took her out of the running. She’d be more effective against Wake’s other Pokemon, whatever they were.

  Biting his lip, Lucas called on Eevee. Of his remaining options, Eevee was the most experienced in combat. He would have the best chance of breaking through, at least without relying on Metronome.

  “Vuii!” Eevee’s fluffy tail wagged back and forth as he leaned down on his forelimbs, prepared to pounce.

  Clap, okay symbol, snap, clap, snap, clap.

  Eevee blurred in his vision as the Quick Attack propelled him straight into Ludicolo.

  Lucas made full use of the fact that Ludicolo had come to Torterra. Eevee’s limited range would normally have been a hindrance in a water based battle, but in close quarters combat it meant that the Normal type had free reign to attack, while Ludicolo’s moveset seemed more geared towards setup and range, only coming in close to find a better angle.

  Eevee was by no means a powerhouse, but as Ludicolo took blow after blow from repeated Quick Attacks, stumbling and failing to swat the Normal type away, Lucas grew more confident that they could handle this matchup.

  “WELL DON’T JUST STAND THERE AND TAKE IT!” Crasher Wake called out. “WE PREPARED FOR THIS! FOCUS BLAST!”

  Lucas’ eyes widened as a sphere of brownish Fighting type energy coalesced in Ludicolo’s mouth, building in power as it ran over the water to another platform and only being released as the Water type turned, facing Eevee with an attack bigger than him.

  Had Crasher Wake seriously taught his Ludicolo moves to counter his team specifically?!

  Lucas could only watch as Eevee tensed, prepared to take the hit–

  …only for it to go wide and put a huge dent in the wall of the building behind Lucas.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  The battle stopped for just a moment as everyone looked at where the Focus Blast had landed., far, far away from Eevee.

  Crasher Wake took in a breath of air loud enough for Lucas to hear it on the other side of the pool.

  “AAAAAHHHHHHHH! I KNEW IT! I KNEW WE SHOULD HAVE GONE WITH BRICK BREAK! WHY’D I LET THAT SALESWOMAN UPSELL ME?! IT DOESN’T MATTER IF IT DOES MORE DAMAGE IF IT DOESN’T EVER HIT! THIS ISN’T CANDICE WITH HER STUPID BLIZZARD, WE DON’T EVER GET AN ACCURACY BUFF!”

  Ludicolo sagged a bit as its trainer raged at his poor choice in TMs, while Lucas and Eevee shared a look, knowing that this was their chance to close the distance again.

  A Quick Attack fueled jump allowed Eevee to clear the water to Ludicolo’s platform, bouncing off of it just once before slamming into Crasher Wake’s Pokemon once more.

  Hit after hit after hit landed, Eevee having no problem landing blows on the much larger target, even if it was moving quickly in the rain. The problem was with the inherent power discrepancy. Lucas could see spots where green skin was starting to discolor, but Ludicolo seemed to shrug off the attacks well enough. Would this really be enough to take it down? Lucas wasn’t so sure at this point, but it’s not like they had much of a choice. Eevee’s movepool at the moment wasn’t exactly very diverse, and Quick Attack was probably his most damaging move.

  “You’re not gonna get far with that, kid!” Crasher Wake chided him. “My Ludicolo is made of sterner stuff! We spent a lot of time and money on that move, though… LUDICOLO! JUST SPAM IT UNTIL IT HITS! MAXIMUM POWER! CRASH AGAINST THAT EEVEE!”

  Lucas grimaced. A move like that would do serious damage to Eevee, and as they watched the ball of energy form in Ludicolo’s mouth once more, he started to worry that for once, it would be the opponent that swept a battle he was in. This Ludicolo was no joke.

  Eevee seemed to share his concerns, picking up the pace, slamming himself into Ludicolo faster and faster. Hitting the hat thing on top of its head, trying to knock it over. Hitting its stubby legs, hoping to trip it up. Hitting it with glancing blows, hoping to spin it to the side. Nothing seemed to phase Ludicolo as the power built and built.

  Growl wouldn’t help against a move like that. There was no sand to kick up and make its aim worse. Lucas gripped Eevee’s pokeball tightly, waiting for what felt like an inevitability.

  The Focus Blast grew even larger than it had the first time, and Ludicolo gave Eevee an expression that almost looked like pity.

  At least until Eevee launched himself at Ludicolo’s beak, forcing it shut around the Focus Blast.

  The resulting blast sent the surrounding water flying, obscuring Lucas’ vision of the match.

  When the water settled, Ludicolo was laying on its back, clearly unconscious but seemingly not having been too messed up by the blowback of its own attack.

  Eevee was… where did–

  “You may wish to recall Eevee.” Porygon2 interrupted his thoughts. “Over to the left.”

  Lucas’ eyes darted over to the left, where he saw Eevee slumped against the wall just to the side of the audience seating, a small dent in the wall above him. He was wheezing, and he didn’t seem to have the strength to lift his head, but Lucas could see those brown eyes focused on him, happy to have accomplished this much.

  Both Pokemon were promptly recalled.

  “Your Pokemon is crazy, you know that?” Crasher Wake called out to him. “That could have gone a lot worse than it did. Luckily Ludicolo is a tough one, but…” He sighed. “Well, I can’t say I don’t respect that sort of fighting spirit! Hahahaha!” He pounded a fist against his chest. “If I’m being honest, I was kind of hoping Ludicolo would take your whole team out, really teach you a lesson! I wasn’t expecting you to have her take herself out! We’ll have to work to cover that weakness going forward… Oh well! Even the best doesn’t win all the time! Let’s get on with the next one, shall we? COME ON, GASTRODON!”

  A muddy brown on top and bright pink on the bottom, the slimy, blobby creature that Crasher Wake released was somewhat familiar. He’d seen a few Shellos here and there, and he knew this three-eyed Pokemon to be the evolved form of it. It was a bit strange, though. The pink ones were West Sea Gastrodon, weren’t they? They were from Lucas’ side of Mount Coronet. Lucas would have thought that Crasher Wake, being based in Pastoria, would have the East Sea variant. Strange.

  “Be advised,” Porygon2 spoke up, “some Gastrodon are known to have the ability Storm Drain. Water type moves may not be effective.”

  Lovely. Now would have been the perfect time to have Torterra use Razor Leaf. One, maybe two hits and this Gastrodon would have gone down. There was nothing he could do about it though, not with the way that Torterra had been frozen solid.

  He wasn’t about to use Porygon2 in this match. Mimikyu had “fixed” the Pokemon, but Lucas wasn’t entirely sure he trusted that yet and he wasn’t about to have it start spouting off Galactic stuff again while in a Gym battle.

  Bibarel… that might work? Sure, Water Gun wasn’t an option, but her Normal type moves might do something. Then again, Lucas had no idea what the last Pokemon on Crasher Wake’s team would be, and his only remaining teammate after that would be Togepi. With how random Metronome could be…

  Taking a breath to steady himself, Lucas released Togepi. Better to risk the randomness now rather than later. Maybe it would call a Grass type move and solve the problem of not having Torterra available. It had been fairly kind to him in Gym battles before, after all.

  “Priiii!”

  Gastrodon stared blankly while Crasher Wake sighed. “So that’s Togekiss’ little monster in the making is it? I guess it makes sense that the offspring of Cynthia’s Pokemon would be little terrors in their own right… well, whatever! WE’LL JUST HAVE TO CRASH INTO IT ANYWAY!”

  Togepi hadn’t gotten much training at all. It wouldn’t be able to take many hits. Lucas could only hope that luck was on their side today.

  “MUDDY WATER!” Wake called out, and Gastrodon bobbed its head up and down, letting out a strange gurgling sound, slapping itself against the water at the edge of its platform. The water quickly turned a murky brown, the discoloration blooming out around it before it surged up into a small wave, the mud riding on top of the pool towards Togepi.

  Togepi wagged his finger, and flames burst forth.

  That was probably an understatement, though. Togepi cried out in displeasure as flames erupted from around it, smoke billowing out as fire covered the pool. The inferno set a few of the bamboo platforms on fire, including the one Togepi was standing on, but that was a problem quickly solved by the Muddy Water and rain dousing them.

  When the smoke cleared, the rain seemed to go with it, and Gastrodon looked no worse for wear, while Togepi was laying on his back at the edge of his platform, struggling to get back up and now covered in all sorts of grime.

  “Not as destructive as I would have thought a Metronome-called Lava Plume would be to the user. Small mercies, I suppose,” Porygon2 commented.

  It seemed to have weakened Gastrodon’s attack, but not managing to do anything to Wake’s Pokemon wasn’t exactly a great outcome.

  “HAHAHAHA! WE WON’T MELT LIKE BYRON’S TEAM!” Crasher Wake taunted.

  “Pri!” Togepi cried out as he managed to right himself.

  He wagged his finger again.

  “Pri pri pri!”

  Lucas waited.

  “...was that one a dud or something?” Crasher Wake asked. “Eh, who am I to complain? Give them a Blizzard!”

  Lucas shot Porygon2 a look, hoping for an explanation.

  “I’m afraid I do not know what happened,” Porygon2 apologized. “Togepi asked Gastrodon something about a treat? Perhaps it is hungry? It is still fairly young, is it not?”

  Lucas slapped a hand across his face. That was not the kind of attitude he needed in a battle! If Togepi was seriously hungry, he could wait until after!

  He couldn’t do anything about it, though.

  Lucas simply had to watch as the air of the gym, only just cleared of rain, was filled with harsh snow and heavy winds, the chill biting at him and no doubt being much worse for the now damp Togepi. It lasted only for a moment before clearing up, but that was enough to do the damage needed.

  Togepi was shivering something fierce, crying out as he turned away from the battle, trying to run towards Lucas before slipping off the platform and into the water.

  Lucas recalled Togepi.

  “Uh, okay then?” Crasher Wake muttered, only barely audible from the other side of the pool.

  There was no point in letting him continue. Togepi was clearly done with the fight, and Lucas had a feeling N would somehow know if he pushed the Pokemon to keep going regardless.

  It seemed like Bibarel was going to have to handle the rest of Wake’s team on her own. The Metronome gamble hadn’t worked out, but some well placed Hyper Fangs and Headbutts should wear Gastrodon down over time.

  He released his last Pokemon for this Gym challenge, and Crasher Wake grinned. “See? Now THIS is what a Gym battle should be! Not the nonsense you’ve had up until now! Challengers should be on the backfoot, forced to overcome terrible odds!”

  Lucas wasn’t in the mood for his taunts and barbs.

  Clap, okay symbol, snap, snap, clap, clap.

  Bibarel dove into the water, quickly swimming over to Gastrodon’s platform.

  “Get ready to counter with an Earth Power, Gastrodon!”

  The Ground type didn’t acknowledge the command in any way as Bibarel burst out of the water, her teeth glowing brightly with the power of a Hyper Fang. She opened wide, biting down on Gastrodon’s gooey body…

  …and managed absolutely nothing.

  Gastrodon gave her an odd look instead of retaliating.

  Crasher Wake’s mouth dropped open for a moment. “That’s… new…?”

  Bibarel reared back, confused, and instead tried for a Headbutt. All she did was push her face into Gastrodon’s slime, not pushing it back or making it react at all.

  How?

  How could Crasher Wake possibly have countered Lucas’ team this time?

  Bibarel shot out a Water Gun, a glowing tail Rock Smashed, her teeth tried to Cut, and yet not a single one seemed to affect Gastrodon at all.

  “Searching the internet for abnormal interactions.” Porygon2 announced.

  “Do you know what’s going on? Because I’ve never seen this happen before! Gastrodon is bulky, sure, but this is something else!” Crasher Wake called out to them.

  Lucas turned to Porygon2, hoping the Pokemon could tell him something about how to get through this… whatever it was!

  “Ah. I believe I have discovered the problem.”

  Lucas didn’t like that tone.

  “It seems that the last Metronome called a move I was unfamiliar with. Trick-or-Treat apparently adds the Ghost type to a Pokemon temporarily according to the sources I was able to find.

  Lucas opened his mouth.

  Lucas closed his mouth.

  So.

  Gastrodon was currently immune to Electric, Water, Normal, and Fighting type moves.

  While up against his Bibarel. A Normal and Water type Pokemon.

  There was still…

  Clap, left hand into a fist, snap, clap.

  Bibarel curled up on herself, a brown glow overtaking her as she whirled around the platform, only just managing to avoid slipping off and ram herself into Gastrodon.

  That did damage. Maybe? Gastrodon grunted, frowning at Bibarel. That was more than before at least? If they managed to hit Gastrodon with enough Rollouts then maybe…

  “Is that all you can do?” Crasher Wake called out. Not as a taunt. Not teasing or gloating. As a genuine question.

  Lucas considered the situation.

  Torterra was down. Eevee was down. Togepi wasn’t going to battle anymore. Porygon2 he didn’t completely trust yet. Bibarel was going to be stuck using Rollout for like an hour to take down Gastrodon, if she managed it at all.

  Lucas hung his head, looking down at his hands.

  This… was he really…

  “In that case, I’m going to call it here. This was a very… strange way for a battle to turn out, but since I still have a perfectly healthy team member after Gastrodon, I’m afraid this is going to be your loss. Sorry, kid.”

  Lucas opened his mouth.

  Lucas closed his mouth.

  Lucas returned Bibarel and walked out of the Gym.

  He’d seriously just suffered his first loss…

  Originally I had this battle as the first half of the chapter and fallout from Rotom’s origin in the second half, but time slipped away from me. That’ll be next week, I suppose.

  Lucas was meant to lose here all along, but when I used the metronome randomizer, I did legitimately get Trick-Or-Treat and when I realized what that would do to Lucas’ team if used on one of Wake’s Storm Drain Gastrodons I simply had to make it what cost Lucas the win.

  Also, all my homies hate Crasher Wake. Ice Fang on Floatzel? Criminal behavior. The Ludicolo moveset featured here is not one found in the games, but rather a combination of the sets from Crasher Wake’s Platinum rematch team and his B2W2 world tournament team.

  As always, feedback is appreciated. (If you’re actually looking for a response, discord is the place to be)