Day 180

[from Pokémon xTreme]

Plucking the first Poké Ball from her belt, she held it out in front of her. "Go, Hoothoot!" she declared, and the Poké Ball opened in a burst of light. Hoothoot jumped forward, fluttering gently down to the ground and resting on one foot before tilting its head and hooting gently at Graham.

"Go, Venonat!" said Graham, throwing the first of his two Poké Balls. The purple-furred Bug Pokémon burst forth from its Poké Ball and focused its radar-like eyes on Hoothoot. The display screen indicated that Venonat was the faster of the two Pokémon, and so it would go first. Graham knew that he had to deal with the Flying-type Pokémon quickly, or it would deal major damage to his Pokémon. "Venonat, use Supersonic!"

Venonat swiftly launched a series of sound waves at Hoothoot, hoping to confuse it. Hoothoot, however, simply hopped out of the way, and was unaffected, much to Taylor's relief. "Two can play at that game," she said. "Hoothoot, use Hypnosis!"

"Hoot!" cried Hoothoot. "Hoo…" Using its large eyes, it tried to hypnotize Venonat into falling asleep. However, this also had no effect, and Venonat remained wide awake. After the first round, nothing had happened whatsoever.

"An exciting Pokémon battle is unfolding here," Brandon remarked sarcastically.

"Let's try something different, then," said Graham. "Venonat, use Poison Powder!"

Venonat shook its furry body and purple spores floated across the arena, drifting towards Hoothoot. This time, the effect took hold, and Hoothoot was poisoned. However, the effect didn't last for long, as Hoothoot took out its held item: a Pecha Berry. "I came prepared for that," said Taylor, as Hoothoot munched happily on the poison-curing berry. Graham scowled. It looked like he was going to have to win this the old-fashioned way.

"Alright, Hoothoot," said Taylor, once the Pokémon had finished eating its Pecha Berry. "Attack him with Peck!" Hoothoot hooted in acknowledgement, then flew over and attacked Venonat with its beak. Despite the move's type advantage, it didn't seem to faze Venonat too much.

"Venonat, use Tackle!" said Graham. Venonat charged Hoothoot, knocking it backwards. Sensing that her Pokémon was less durable than Graham's, Taylor decided to change tactics once again.

"Hoothoot, try using Hypnosis again!" she said. Hoothoot made another attempt at sending Venonat to sleep, and this time it was successful: Venonat fell asleep almost immediately, its compound eyes drooping shut. Realizing she now had the upper hand, Taylor let out a sigh of relief and pumped her fist. "We got this," she said.

Venonat spent the next three turns asleep, allowing Hoothoot to gradually whittle down its health with Pecks. However, this also gave Graham ample time to plan his revenge, and when Venonat finally woke up, he was ready. "If Venonat's going down, then so's your Hoothoot," he said, "Venonat, use Poison Powder again!"

Venonat launched its poisonous spores at Hoothoot once more, and once more they connected, only this time Hoothoot did not have a Pecha Berry to recover itself with. Taylor scowled, realizing things had just gotten a little bit harder. However, she knew she was still winning. "Hoothoot, use Peck!"

Hoothoot swooped in and, by sheer luck, landed a critical hit on Venonat, knocking it out. The first of Graham's two Pokémon had fallen, and Taylor still had all four of her Pokémon left, albeit with one of them poisoned. At this point, she was feeling fairly confident. However, one look at Graham's equally-confident face was enough to rattle her slightly.

"Not bad so far," Graham admitted, as he pulled the fainted Venonat back into its ball. "You're definitely Brandon's student, I'll say that much. But let's see if you really have what it takes." He plucked his second Poké Ball from his belt and raised it in his hand. "Go, Ariados!"

Ariados emerged from the Poké Ball, and immediately Taylor's confidence slipped another notch. Ariados was a much stronger Pokémon than Venonat, in terms of both attack and defence. She instinctively looked to Brandon for guidance and support, and Brandon simply nodded at her. "You got this, Taylor," he said. "Don't worry."

Ariados was also faster than Hoothoot - though only just - so Graham went first again. "Ariados, use Bug Bite!" he said. Ariados rushed forwards and gnashed at Hoothoot with its sharp mandibles, and this time the owl Pokémon was on the receiving end of a critical hit. It hung on, but only by a few hit points. Taylor realized that she only had one more turn before Hoothoot fainted from Venonat's poison, and she had to make it count.

"You did well, Hoothoot," she said. "Now, just one last move, okay? Hypnosis!"

Opening its eyes wide, Hoothoot unleashed its hypnotic rays once more, and just as Venonat had done, Ariados promptly fell asleep. Its job done, Hoothoot then succumbed to its poison and fainted. It occurred to Taylor that none of her Pokémon had ever fainted before; Brandon had always had a multitude of Potions on hand during their training sessions, and none of her opponents to date had been this tough. Trying not to let it get to her, she recalled Hoothoot and sent out the next Pokémon in her arsenal. "Go, Beedrill!" she said.

"Fighting fire with fire, huh?" said Graham, as Beedrill emerged from its Poké Ball. "Interesting. Alright, let's see what that Beedrill of yours can do."

Beedrill was a lot faster than Ariados, and so Taylor now finally got to go first. "Beedrill, use Fury Attack!" she said. Beedrill complied, firing five hard jabs with its stingers, of which three connected. Ariados, still asleep, could not retaliate, though the attacks did not seem to have done much damage to it.

Beedrill managed to get two more Fury Attacks in before Ariados woke up. The first connected only twice, though one of the blows was a critical hit, and the second connected thrice. Ariados then finally woke up, though with half its health now gone, it seemed that the battle was a foregone conclusion. Taylor's confidence returned twofold, and she felt that the badge may finally be in her grasp.

Graham was not done yet, however. "Use Bug Bite again!" he called out. Ariados leapt at Beedrill, gnashing at it with its mandibles, and Beedrill reeled back from the powerful blow.

"Fury Attack again!" said Taylor. Beedrill complied, and this time it struck Ariados four times, even managing to strike yet another critical hit. Ariados had now taken some severe punishment, and was clearly wounded, but somehow it now seemed even more dangerous than before. Its mandibles glinted dangerously, and there was a menacing look in its eye. Taylor had unwittingly activated Ariados' ability, Swarm, which increased the power of its Bug-type attacks when its health was low. In taking so long to defeat it, she had made it even stronger.

"You should've finished it off more quickly," said Graham. "Ariados, use Bug Bite!" Ariados complied, tearing at Beedrill with its sharpened fangs, causing severe damage to its opponent's health. Taylor winced, but not only did Beedrill hang on, it seemed to get stronger, just as Ariados had. Its stingers looked sharper and brighter than they had before. Taylor then remembered that Beedrill had the same ability as Ariados: Swarm. It was now a question of which Pokémon could hit first, and since Beedrill was faster…

"Beedrill, finish him off with another Fury Attack!" said Taylor. Beedrill promptly unleashed another flurry of blows, but to Taylor's horror, the attack missed completely. Now the ball was in Graham's court.

"Ariados, use Leech Life!" said Graham. Ariados had no such bad luck, and in a flash it drained the last of Beedrill's life force. The Poison Bee Pokémon crumpled to the arena floor and fainted, while Ariados recovered a tiny portion of its health. Taylor still had two Pokémon left, but she knew she had to end things fast.

Recalling the fainted Beedrill, she plucked the third of her Poké Balls from its belt. "Go, Eevee!" she cried. "Finish him off for real this time!" Taylor's starter Pokémon burst forth, energized and eager for battle. It too was faster than Ariados, and it too went first. "Use Covet!"

Eevee obliged, approaching Ariados with its usual wide-eyed, pleading expression. With Beedrill's defences down, Eevee swiped hard with one of its paws, cuffing Ariados round the face. Still Ariados clung on. "How strong is this thing?" she exclaimed in disbelief.

"You're about to find out," said Graham. "Another Bug Bite, Ariados!" Ariados promptly lunged straight at Eevee, and Taylor winced as her beloved starter was severely hurt. Eevee staggered backwards, its legs trembling, and for a horrifying moment Taylor feared that that one blow had been enough to knock it out. However, Eevee clung on, gritting its teeth in determination as it steadied itself for the final assault.

"Good job, Eevee," said Taylor. "Now, one last Tackle! Give it everything you've got!" Eevee bravely charged forwards and struck Ariados hard, wiping out the last of the Pokémon's health. Ariados' legs finally crumpled beneath it and it fainted, falling to the floor with a thud. Taylor breathed a massive sigh of relief, then raised a fist in the air in triumph. She had done it. The first Gym Badge was hers.

"Nice win, Taylor!" Brandon shouted encouragingly from the sidelines. "Knew you could do it!"

Graham gave Brandon another sour look as he recalled his fainted Ariados, then nodded at Taylor and gave her a satisfied smile. "I have to say, I'm impressed," he said. "You handled yourself pretty well there, even when things started to turn against you. You've definitely earned your first Badge. Come with me and I'll get it for you."

Taylor nodded, following Graham over to the console from which he had activated the arena. He pressed a button, and the arena section in the middle of the floor flipped back over again, becoming an ordinary section of floor once more. The video screen turned itself off, the words "CHALLENGER WINS" slowly fading away. Another section of the console contained a built-in healing machine, which Graham placed the two Poké Balls into, letting his fainted Pokémon rest for a while.

Now that she had the opportunity, Taylor decided to ask the question that had been on her mind since before the fight. "So what's up with you and Brandon?" she asked. "How come you don't seem to like him that much?"

Graham sighed, his expression growing sour again. "I'll be honest with you," he said. "I can't stand him. He's cocky, arrogant, loudmouthed, a total attention-seeker… he's probably signing autographs right now, the little-" Graham let the sentence trail off as he turned round to see that Brandon was indeed signing autographs for the gym's various patrons. "His attitude's just not good for the sport's image. Not to mention the Kalos incident last year…"

"What Kalos incident?" asked Taylor.

Graham paused, his hand halfway to the handle of a storage drawer. "You don't know about it?" he asked. "Well, I'm not surprised he didn't tell you about it… idiot probably doesn’t even remember it. Last year after the Kalos Masters, he went on a massive bender, trashed his hotel room, and assaulted a female hotel assistant who tried to get him to calm down. The hotel sued, the PTA got pissed, and he was banned from Masters tournaments for a year and forced to do community service-- by which I mean, training you."