Eevee Therapy for Little Magi Chapter 54: Second Spark

Elesa smiled as she saw the group of trainers enter, her focus on the girl wearing a witch’s hat and a small, confident smile. Stepping forward, she gave Rin a careful look. “Two weeks, and you’re back again,” she challenged lightly, eyebrows raised.

“I am.” Rin replied firmly, arms folded across her torso as she stared back challengingly. “I’m back to challenge you, as promised.”

“Good. However, I gave you a pass on my gym challenge last time; this time, you’ll need to complete it before our battle.” She took a step back, gesturing to the roller coaster that dominated the center of the building. “The rules are simple; ride the coaster, deal with the vertigo, flashing lights, and bright noise, while your Pokemon hit at least half of the targets throughout the course. It tests accuracy and adaptation to rapidly changing conditions.”

“Or it’s just an excuse to have a roller coaster,” Sakura snarked.

“Or that,” Elesa smiled.

Rin paused. “Do the Pokemon I use for the shooting challenge have to participate in the battle? This seems like something which could wear down my team.”

“Good catch. And no, you do not,” the gym leader responded.

“Good,” Rin nodded firmly. “It’ll be a good chance to work Carrol through his paces.” She headed over to the cars of the coaster, and set about strapping herself in. Behind her, both Sakura and N both followed, clambering in behind her. “Umm…”

“We get to ride a roller coaster, and give you moral support,” N said simply, Zorua returning himself to his pokeball.

Rin nodded, and released Carrol, the Sprigatito looking around with a perfectly suitable feline grin. “Right, Magical Leaf is our best bet. I’m going to have to return and release you in rapid fashion, unless you have a way to hold on during the loops?” She asked, ignoring the Gothitelle which had sat herself in the front of the train.

“You could simply hold me, could you not?” Carrol replied, head tilting to the side as the cat sent his trainer a look. “Though your method is also an eminently viable solution.”

Rin paused, then nodded, reaching out and letting Carrol hop into her arms. “You may not be able to aim properly if I grip too tightly, so I’ll return you if necessary. Alright?” He nodded. “Good.” The ride began to roll forward, and Rin began to peer around for targets, immediately spotting a glowing circle formed out of red Reflect barriers. “There!”

Carrol swiped one paw, a burst of razor-sharp leaves piercing through the barrier and taking it out. As the cars began to accelerate, he shot down two more before the ride began to twist. “Okay, so far so good, can you spot for me?”

“You got it!” Rin nodded immediately, eyes snapping around for more targets. For a while, things continued as best they could, Rin calling out targets while Carrol nailed them with moves. Of course, it wouldn’t be a gym challenge if it stayed relatively simple, however.

The targets started moving first, then started coming in pairs or trios. Rin grimaced as she realized something. “This challenge is meant to be faced with multiple Pokemon… but we need to conserve energy.” She paused, then smiled, reaching into one pocket to produce a handful of quartz beads. “Nothing saying I can’t help out,” she muttered, before flicking her wrist to send a magic missile through one of the targets. “Alright, that’s one.”

Between the two of them, they managed to shoot down all of the targets before coming up on the final stretch, a long tunnel with targets on either side– outside. Rin grimaced. “Carrol–”

“Throw me up, I’ll run up the outside and shoot them down! Go!” Rin nodded, immediately flinging him up onto the pipe before the cars entered, Carrol darting up and blasting away the last of the target before leaping off to rejoin Rin just before they hit the final drop. With a loud cry, trainer and Pokemon both took a second to enjoy the ride before it came to a halt.

Elesa clapped politely. “Well done, though you didn’t need to waste your ammunition like that. You only needed to hit half the targets, remember?” she teased.

Concealing a blush by tossing her hair primly, Rin looked away. “... I have high standards for myself, and I may have forgotten.”

Elesa chuckled. “You managed to not reveal any changes you’ve made to your team, so there’s nothing lost. Come on, it’s time to start the match.” She waved them over to the same battle court, both N and Sakura taking seats on the half-full bleachers as the gym leader crossed to her side of the field.

The ref raised his flag. “This will be a three vs. three match, with a one switch restriction for the Leader.” Rin perked up, noting the differences in the rules for this match. “Trainers, please ready your first Pokemon.”

Rin smiled down at Carrol. “Thanks for your work,” she said before she returned him. She palmed her first Pokeball, glancing at her opponent. Elesa let nothing slip as she gripped her own choice, and both tensed slightly.

“Begin!” The referee called, dropping his flag. Rin threw her ball, releasing Libra onto the field. Across from her, Elesa let out a tiny breath of disappointment as a Galvantula appeared in front of her. “Set up Sticky Web, try to slow her down,” she ordered briskly.

Rin snapped out her own command. “We have the advantage, Libra, hit him with a Flamethrower!” She nodded, then inhaled, before blasting out a cone of flames which scorched Galvantula, at the same time he blasted clouds of webbing over the battlefield. Libra’s form was covered in sticky strands, her movements slowed, yet Galvantula was scorched and hissing.

“Electroball. Don’t give Lampent space to breathe.” Elesa commanded coolly, professional voice firmly in place as her eyes tracked the ghost. Heeding their trainer’s command, Galvantula formed and threw a condensed ball of electric type energy, the sphere rapidly closing the distance between it and Libra. She tried to dodge, but only managed to shift enough to take a glancing below instead of one head on, shaking from the heavy hit.

“Calm mind, then hit him with another Flamethrower,” Rin ordered. “Shift the balance of this trade.” Lampent nodded, body surging with pink energy as she tightened her focus.

“Keep up the pressure.” Another Electro Ball slammed into Libra, the little ghost-type shaken but not taken down by the hit; she released another gout of flames, this one enough to send him to the floor, out cold and smouldering.

Elesa nodded as she returned her first Pokemon, ignoring the judge’s raised flag. Without any fanfare, her next pokeball was sent to the field. “Lanturn, you’re up. Bubblebeam.”

The anglerfish-like pokemon hit the field, immediately surrounding itself with a veil of water, a furious deluge of bubbles erupting from them and streaking across the field to slam straight into Libra. The bubbles popped all over her, forcing condensation on the inside of her globe, her fire reducing to a flickering ember as she collapsed.

Rin returned her first Pokemon, eyeing Lanturn for a few seconds, wincing as she spotted Lanturn pulling back in the tiny discharges he let out. “Volt Absorb… Gordon, you’re up.” She tossed out her little electric type. “Close in, keep the pressure on, and don’t be afraid to cut loose. No sparks.” She rattled off her orders, even as Gordon’s legs touched the webs scattered about before using them to pogo off towards his opponent.

“Ice Beam, Lanturn,” Elesa commanded, the aforementioned pokemon tracking Gordon as he bounced between the various webs littering the field, before lancing out with a beam of Ice Type energy. The cold blast clipped the bug, sending him spinning in a burst of light– a burst which only grew in intensity as he bounced off the floor again.

Midair, one pound became thirty. Lanturn tried to swim backward, but the newly evolved Galvantula slammed into him with enough force to drive him out of his water bubble, the collision and the Mega Drain delivered right at its heel both damaging the now floundering water-type.

“... Continue to barrage.” Elesa commanded, amusement flickering through her voice in the same measure as irritation and excitement. Lanturn lashed out with another blast of ice, this time his attack connecting with much more force, since he was able to better focus on the much larger target.

Rin’s gaze narrowed as Gordon fell back slightly. “Don’t give him distance. Mega Drain him, keep him tied up in melee; if your hits keep connecting, his healing will be outpaced by yours.” The newly evolved Galvantula nodded, barely stumbling over his longer legs as he sprung back into melee, his fangs flashing as he landed another Grass-energized bite.

For a moment, it looked as if Elesa would be content to leave things as they were, an attritional clash that would end in her favor. Then, with a smile, she intervened, "Lanturn, return.” The fish was sucked back into the pokeball, and another one hit the field instantly. “Pawmot, you’re up. Fire Punch.”

The fuzzy fighting type materialized, immediately darting across the battlefield and slamming Gordon with a blazing fist, the impact nearly sending him skidding before he anchored his legs. Rin grimaced, eyeing her Pokedex for a moment to get a quick evaluation of her opponent before she produced her own ball. “Gordon, come back.” The bug-type vanished, and seconds later Agate hit the field, split tail waving.

“Revival Blessing,” Elesa ordered in the short window, Pawmot clapping his hands together with a happy cry. Seconds later, the ball on her belt containing Galvantula was hit with a shining orb of white light.

The ref watched the exchange, then raised a flag. “Leader Elesa is back up to three Pokemon! No more revival techniques will be allowed by the leader this round.”

Rin’s jaw dropped. “That’s… ooh, that’s going to be bad,” she muttered. “Agate, Psybeam, keep him off you; this one’s a melee fighter. Pop off if he closes the distance.”

Agate nodded, her brow glowing as she blasted at Pawmot with a beam of purple energy. The little brawler darted aside, getting clipped in the process, then darting in with a Mach Punch. As he closed the gap, Agate fired off a Teleport, causing him to stumble into one of the few remaining patches of webbing. As he burned away the sticky mess and came upright, Agate landed a blast into his side, smiling as she sent him tumbling.

“Close the distance with Mach Punch, and follow up with Fire Punch,” Elesa barked, eyes fixed on Agate. “Don’t give her space to breathe.” Pawmot nodded, his fists blurring as he sped across the battlefield, fists leading to land a pair of punches, one barely scuffing Agate but the second landing with a blaze of flame, causing her to flinch. Before he could land another paw, she blasted him with another psybeam. After a few seconds of standing with his paws raised, the fighting type slumped over backwards. A beam of red light sucked him back into his Pokeball a moment later, Elesa giving the ball a consoling pat before she immediately flung out her next Pokemon, Galvantula once more hitting the field. “Bug Buzz, box Espeon in. Use the webbing to your advantage.”

“A good strategy, but I still think it’s cheating.” Agate grumbled, teleporting back to her starting position, breathing heavily as the space she’d once occupied was blasted with discordant, hungry noise.

“Not cheating, but not good. Stay in, Calm Mind to tilt the odds, then hammer him with Mystical Fire,” Rin ordered, her Ace taking a moment to close her eyes and center herself, energy from within pooling through her limbs and focusing on her forehead gem.

As Agate once more began to buff herself - flinging Mystical Fires towards both the webbing that was supporting her foe and her foe itself, Elesa watched silently. For now, it would come down to simple attrition. It was a brutal calculus, sure, but such was what some Pokemon battles boiled down to. Not the sharpest commands, not clever tactics, but sheer power.

Agate’s flames scorched her opponent, who faltered under the flames, but still released bursts of sibilant hisses which wracked Agate in turn, the tired Pokemon taking more hits. After one last clash of fire and noise, she slumped, a combination of exhaustion and damage dragging her out of the fight. Her opponent was no better, Galvantula slowly shifting between burned and battered legs, trying to find a set of limbs which didn’t hurt to lean on.

Rin returned Agate, releasing Gordon, who immediately launched off a Discharge. 

“Close. Poison Jab. Finish this as fast as possible.” Elesa commanded, reacting as the tide of the battle shifted immediately. Galvantula tried to rush forward, but a second hard shock laid him out. With a grimace, Elesa released her last Pokemon, the wounded Lanturn forming his water bubble even as Gordon hissed once again.

Rin nodded as she took in the field. Gordon was fresh from his ball and had taken only a few hits he’d healed up with Mega Drain; Lanturn was still sporting the sluggishness she’d expect from a Pokemon who’d taken a few hits. “Close the gap, Bug Bite.” She ordered.

“No need,” Elesa spoke, smiling as she withdrew Lanturn into her Pokeball. “I concede. You have passed the test I have set out before you, and I see no reason to force Lanturn to fight a battle he cannot win.”

Rin blinked, then smiled. “Thank you for the match, then.” She walked across the battlefield, looking regretfully at Gordon as he advanced at her side. “Well, your days of riding under my hat are over.”

“Was always going to happen, lass. This was as good a time as any to evolve, and I don’t regret it,” he responded simply.

Elesa smiled. “It is always good to see Trainer and Pokemon getting along. Even better now that we can more easily understand them. Something I believe we have you to thank for, Rin.”

“It’s a work in progress, but with modern tech and a little magecraft…” Rin said, slipping into an investor pitch for a moment before relaxing. “Thank you for the battle, and for the lesson. I think I needed the wake-up call.”

“You trained your team well to respond to the wakeup call,” Elesa commented, walking towards her former opponent. “The Bolt Badge is yours. Along with the technical machine for Volt Switch. May it serve you as well as it does I.”

As Rin slipped the TM into her pocket and inspected her new badge, she heard two sets of footsteps behind her. Turning, she was a little surprised to find N preceded her sister onto the battlefield, his brows furrowed and one tooth snagging on his lips. The green-haired child passed Rin to stop before Elesa. “Leader Elesa? I…” He took a deep breath. “My team would like to challenge you to a battle.”

“A surprise.” She acknowledged, smiling towards the young boy, “But a welcome one.”

“I’ve seen Rin and Sakura challenge a few gyms by now, but it’s never quite the same each time, so do I need to come back another time, or can we just…” He raised a hand and kind of shook it around the room.

“I don’t believe I have another match scheduled.” Elesa blinked, looking towards the ref, who also shrugged. “If you’d like to do a challenge now, I would not be entirely opposed, N.”

“Thank you,” N responded. “I have two teammates.”

“So a two-on-two.” Elesa looked over, a gym trainer in a silver and yellow dress coming out of a side door carrying a tray of Pokeballs. She deposited her wounded team on the tray before selecting two of the balls, moving over to her side of the court. “Ref?”

“This will be a two on two, first badge challenge between…” The ref peered at his smart watch for a second. “Natural Harmonius–”

“N, please,” N said, readying his ball.

“Trainer N versus Gym Leader Elesa.” The ref dropped his flag. “Begin!”