Battle Against Gym Leader, Brock (4)

Both Mareep rushed over to the stone behemoth, alternating between each other with well timed zigzags in an effort to confuse the Onix even further, before the clone finally fizzled out as Storm canceled the technique and climbed onto Onix's rocky body.

Iron Tail at the ready, Storm slammed the attack down onto Onix, another furious roar of pain erupting from the creature's mouth.

As the roar died down, Cinder did his absolute best to ensure that Storm could hear him as he cupped his hands and called out.

"Get to the top and strike it on the head!"

Following up on its successful attack, Storm flipped himself over with his hooves as Brock frantically shouted orders. Before Onix could do much, Storm brought his tail down again, inciting yet another roar of pain, and then used the momentum from the blow to scale even higher.

Landing on all fours, Storm dashed up Onix's body and then leapt up with a flip, somersaulting in the air as he ascended over the beast's head.

"Smash that sheep with your tail!"

Storm had froze up, or at least been nervous, about being so high in the air. Nevertheless, did his best to stabilize himself mid-air. Cinder felt apprehensive, he shouted out.

"Reflect quickly Storm!"

As Onix raised its head towards the sheep, its tail was ready with a metallic luster not unlike the Mareep's, then it whipped it towards Storm. Raising his hooves somewhat infront of the incoming attack, Storm shielded himself from the attack because of the Onix's overpowering weight as transparent screens reflected the attack, deflecting the Iron Tail before they could strike the electric mouse. The force of the attack propelled Storm upwards, and the sheep did a backward flip to angle himself, landing on all fours on the rocky behemoth, hanging on near the top of its neck.

"Burrow underground with Dig!"

Cinder snarled at Brock's order, realizing that he was trying to force Storm off now like what he did earlier with Hercule. "Iron Tail, and quickly!"

As Onix prepared itself to dive downwards, Storm was by his side immediately, raising his grayish silver glowing tail and slammed it into the back of the behemoth's neck.

Not allowing the angered roar of pain from the flinching beast to deter him, even when he was so close to the source of the sound, Storm made his move, once again flipping himself over with a somersault as he rose over the behemoth's head.

This time, there was nothing stopping him from bringing his metallic tail down.

BAM!

The massive beast reeled from the mighty blow, the impact pushing Onix's head, along with the rest of its upper body, forward as Storm descended into free fall. Somersaulting downwards, the electric-type struck the ground with yet another Iron Tail, breaking his fall from over two dozen feet high in the air.

Scaling the beast's body would have been a lot more difficult for the Mareep about a week ago. But after all of the climbing training that he had done since he became a pokemon of Cinder, it was now doable, at the very least.

For once, Storm did not run as he returned down to all fours, instead taking the moment to catch his breath.

It was a breath, Cinder realized quickly, that the sheep pokemon had very clearly needed. Between maintaining Agility for as long as he had, usage of Double Team, and the numerous attacks that he had launched, not to mention the blow to the side that he had received from the shockwave of Onix's Slam attack, the young sheep was letting out deep breaths, panting as he gazed down at the rocky ground.

Cinder grimaced. This battle was taking its toll on Storm. The adrenaline rush was simply doing a good job at hiding it. Not to mention that Onix's thunderous roars couldn't possibly be very good for Storm's sensitive ears… Not only that, they still have another adversity... In the form of Geodude, if they ever get past this Onix.

Over on Brock's side of the battlefield, Onix had finally recovered from the painful blow that Storm had slammed into its skull, having shaken its head back and forth for a good few seconds in an effort to get the pain to go away. Now it leered down at the sheep, the size of its head and its height preventing Cinder from noticing the deep gash that the Iron Tail had left behind.

Onix had very clearly taken a lot more damage than Storm in this fight so far, but as far as stamina was concerned, Storm seemed to be declining faster.

Brock seemed to take note of this, of course. "Your Mareep is clearly determined, Cinder." His voice remained stoic. "But, it's clear that it's reaching its limit. How long do you think it can keep this up?"

Cinder's fists were clenched as he glared across the battlefield at the Gym Leader.

He wouldn't throw in the towel now. He had faith in his starter. 'They have to finish this past when the battle is currently in our favor.'

"As long as it takes." He said matter of factly. Glancing over to the young sheep, he smiled encouragingly. "Right, Storm?"

"Mareeep!!" came Storm's determined response as he quickly glanced back to his trainer.

Brock's lips tugged upwards. Cinder couldn't tell from this far away on the battlefield, but this time, the Gym Leader's smile was not an antagonistic one.

"We'll see." The Gym Leader simply responded. He raised his voice into a shout. "Dragon Breath!"

Cinder inwardly started. Onix could use dragon-type moves?!

Apparently it could, because the stone behemoth complied. Opening its humongous mouth, the serpent of stone fired a purple stream of flames that descended downward towards the sheep.

Storm broke into Agility yet again. Ignoring the fatigue, and having spent several moments gasping for air in an attempt to regain its bearings, the sheep's break was over. Once again, it sprinted across the battlefield at the fastest speeds that it could manage, as a huge explosion of dust erupted from the part of the battlefield that he had just been standing on mere moments ago, having been struck by the powerful Dragon Breath.

"Fire your attack across the battlefield! Rapid fire! Prioritize the boulders!"

Storm was left scrambling as blast after blast descended upon the battlefield, their targets being nothing in particular. Massive boulders shattered into huge clouds of dust upon the impact, and as his vision on certain parts of the battlefield became more and more obscured, Cinder quickly realized what Brock was planning.

Storm could no longer see where he was going, but Onix was still in its natural element. The young rookie wasn't sure if Onix could see very clearly either, but nevertheless, the changes to the battlefield would be less jarring for the mountain native creature. A clear advantage.

But there was something else that Cinder hadn't considered, something just as important.

As the clouds of dust entered Storm's path, and the young sheep found himself blazing right through them, Storm's running began to slow, as the electric sheep began coughing as the dust entered his lungs, squeezing his teary eyes shut as the dust burned into his pupils.

The sheep no longer able to pay full attention to his path, distracted by both the pain and the dust clouds, the Onix finally hit its mark.

Storm's blood curdling scream left Cinder shivering, the hairs on the back of his neck beginning to raise as the purple flames landed upon the young sheep. Cinder frantically shouted words of encouragement to his starter as Storm sank to the ground in pain.

"This is the end, Onix! Snatch that Mareep up with Dig!"

Onix's blaring roar filled the air as the beast descended downwards. Diving towards Stoem, it opened its maw wide for what was sure to be the final blow.

Storm's surroundings turned to darkness as the behemoth's shadow enveloped him. He could hear Cinder calling out for a counterattack.

Images of Hercule's determination flashed by the young sheep's mind.

This Onix was ruthless. It was almost like the pokemon that the young sheep had known as a research experiment. The aggressive troublemakers with little sense of reason or control. And this fight was the most brutal that he had ever been in before. Everything that Cinder had said to warn them about the intensity of Gym Battles had been true. But that hadn't stopped Hercule or the sheep from giving it their all and doing everything that they could to get this far.

Storm, especially, couldn't let this stop him either. Cinder had said that the young sheep would last long enough to win this battle, no matter how long that it took. And Storm was going to do just that. He would return his trainer's faith in him. And he would pay back the efforts that his teammate had put in.

That week of training since they started… would not be for nothing.

Powering through the excruciating pain in his now scorched back, Storm pressed an Iron Tail down against the ground, and launched himself forward to the side. Although the shockwaves of Onix's dive slammed into his backside, and once again propelled him through the air, the sheep had avoided certain defeat.

As the rest of Onix's body sank into the ground again, Stoem landed with an Iron Tail, launched himself forward, and then took off sprinting.

He was no longer able to run at full speed with the pain and exhaustion that he felt, but if he really pushed himself, he could still come close.

Feeling the tremors of the ground increasing nearby, Storm quickly changed direction as the Onix erupted out of the ground, roaring the mightiest of roars as its eyes darted across the battlefield for its prey.

Doing his best to avoid the dust clouds, Storm made his way back to Cinder. Behind him, Onix began to resume its barrage of Dragon Breath attacks at Brock's command.

Cinder was racking his brain for solutions to this. Onix was fast, despite its size. Onix was powerful, just as its size would suggest. And Brock was the most ruthless trainer that he had ever faced.

And their strategy was on point, too. With those dust clouds…

With those dust clouds…

Cinder was going to hate himself for this.

As Storm stayed as close as he could to Cinder's side of the battlefield without staying in place, Cinder raised his voice. With any luck, Storm could hear him over the sound of the explosions, but Brock, being much farther away, couldn't.

This last tactic needed to be kept a secret.

"Listen, Storm! I can only say this once, so…"

It took only a few moments to explain the plan, Storm being able to decipher the implications as Cinder simplified the description of the strategy to save time.

It was a risky plan, for more reasons than one, but it was the only way to gain the upper hand in this situation.

And although Cinder knew that Storm was terrified of the strategy, the young sheep complied, once again putting his full trust into his trainer, as he bolted right into the dust clouds. The dust had been growing as Onix assaulted the battlefield with more and more Dragon Breath attacks, aiming for Storm a good chunk of the time, and aiming elsewhere purely for the sake of kicking up the extra dust clouds in the first place.

Cimder gulped, and suddenly found that he could no longer breathe.

This was it. It either worked or it didn't. They either won or they lost.

Would Brock see through his strategy? Would he fall for it? Somewhere in between? Only time will tell.

Onix caught sight of Storm as the young sheep exited the mass of dust clouds and advanced towards it. It leered down at its prey, and suddenly, the look in its eyes grew triumphant as it saw how much slower the young sheep was now moving.

Brock grinned viciously on the other side of the field.

"It seems your pokemon has finally run out of steam, Lark. It's not even moving half as fast anymore."

Cinder's nerves was back. His nerves froze him up as his spine ran cold.

"You've all fought hard today, but hopes and dreams just don't cut it in my Gym. My only advice is to train harder if you decide that you want a rematch." He cupped his hands and raised his voice. "Onix! Put Mareep down with Rock Slide!"

Cinder's heart almost shot out of his body as the series of boulders materialised in the air. The rocks descended downwards, and Storm was now too slow to avoid them.

Forrest watched as the electric sheep helplessly found the boulders closing in. It was a shame that it had ended this way, after all of the effort that they had put into making a comeback.

But that was just how Gym battles went. You needed to be more than a good trainer to earn your badges.

Everyone watching in the stands seemed to have realized that it was over as well. That Brock's latest challenger had just barely come up short, and that their Gym Leader had scored himself yet another victory. Everyone knew that the battle was now over.

Until the first boulder landed right on top of Storm… and the electric sheep fizzled out of existence.

And Cinder just grinned.

With the dust clouds obscuring so much view, Brock had no idea… that Storm had used Double Team.

Cupping his hands, Cinder shouted as loud as his lungs permitted him.

"Storm, NOW!"

The real electric sheep blitzed out of the mass of dust clouds as Onix remained off guard.

Waiting in the dust clouds for Cinder's signal had been murder for the young sheep.

But for Hercule's sake, for Cinder's sake, Storm had persevered.

Storm closed in fast as the last of the Rock Slide descended onto the ground. Weaving in between the falling boulders, the young sheep lunged forward, a glowing tail outstretched as he slapped Onix with the strongest Iron Tail that he could muster. It connected with ferocity.

Onix reeled back at the impact, and Cinder capitalized as he attempted to shout over the beast's roar of pain.

"To the top! Now!"

Storm didn't need to be told twice. Quickly climbing on top of Onix's body, the young sheep darted upwards with Agility. The electric sheep was a blur as Cinder's starter blitzed his way up Onix's body, scaling the serpent as fast as its exhausted yet determined body could muster.

It seemed just like yesterday that Cinder and his starter had just met and began forming.trust with one another. And yet, in this moment, it had almost felt like years had gone by.

Neither member of the duo would forget their start. Not because they had enjoyed it, but because they formed the team that they would help grow in the future. Because it had been important. Important for them to never take their newfound synchronization for granted. They knew what it was like for a trainer and a pokemon to be unable to cooperate with each other.

And as they closed in for the finish, both of them knew that they would never let it happen between the two of them ever if they ever experienced a setback. And this battle had solidified that.

Storm reached the top of Onix's head and launched himself upwards. Somersaulting through the air, the young sheep descended downwards towards his target. Towards the end of the battle. Towards their first ever Gym badge.

"Let's win this!" Cinder shouted.

"Oh no you don't!" Brock was frantic now. "Rock Blast!"

"Thunder Shock!" Cinder countered as quickly as possible.

Onix's last minute blast of stone shards was quickly met with a blast of lightning that triggered a small explosion. Storm, too close to avoid the shockwaves, was painfully propelled upwards, but steadied himself as he continued to descend, his tail already glowing in its metallic aura.

Storm's electricity couldn't harm Onix, but it could still most certainly be used to defend against attacks.

"IRON TAIL!"

Storm closed in on his opponent, swinging his tail downward as hard as his body could muster, as the electric sheep let loose the greatest bloody war cry that his vocal cords would allow.

"REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!"

BAM!

Onix was sent reeling backwards as Storm's final attack struck the side of its head.

Cinder gaped in awe as the beast descended towards the ground. A behemoth over two dozen feet tall. A behemoth made of stone. A serpent larger than life. An Onix.

Slammed towards the ground by a tiny sheep.

The greatest tremor of the entire battle rocked the battlefield without mercy as the serpent came crashing down to earth. Cinder could see the barriers shimmering from the impact as Onix's landing created an explosion of dust that obscured his vison from most of the battlefield. He couldn't see Brock anymore, and the dust rose higher than any of it had ever done so previously.

Storm somersaulted through the air as he descended downward, the shockwaves from Onix's fall painfully launching him forward. As the sheep sailed back towards Cinder's side of the battlefield, he instinctively slammed one last Iron Tail down on the ground.

But this one was not strong enough to completely break his fall. His energy mostly all used up, Storm was lightly propelled into the air, bouncing painfully on the stone battlefield and rolling head over heels towards Cinder. He stopped just at Cinder's feet, and, now in a sitting position, gazed up at his trainer, his head and wool bloodied with cuts, and his back burnt with charred, crispy fur.

Cinder's eyes met with Storm's. The sheep looked exhausted, everything about his posture indicating a creature that was positively spent. Eventually, Cinder moved his gaze upwards after a few seconds, surveying the battlefield. Taking deep breaths, the sheep turned his head backwards, taking in the battlefield just like Cinder was, not moving from his sitting position. He was out of energy. Out of just about everything.

The dust was beginning to clear, but it was doing so painfully slowly. A devastated arena filled with shattered boulders and holes from where Onix had burrowed.

But as the dust finally, slowly but surely, began to clear up just enough for everybody to take it in, the greatest sight of all, was the unconscious Onix sprawled out across the terrain.

It was a sight that Cinder could not process. Something too good to be true. An outcome that was only possible in his personal fantasies.

Until Forrest's voice filled his ears, and triumphantly brought him back to the real world.

"Onix is unable to battle! Mareep wins!" The young boy gestured over to Cinder's side of the battlefield. "Gym Leader, Brock, please call upon you last pokemon against the challenger!"

That's right... They still haven't completely won yet, there's still Geodude...

But then, Storm released a cry of trump as his body glowed with...