Chapter 7

The roaring waterfall echoed through the cave the Cyllage city gym was built into. Atsumu turned his head upward to look at the large mountain in front of him, fitted with multiple rock climbing walls.

' The gym leader is at the top. There's differently an elevator I could take...' Atsumu thought, ' But I didn't do my daily climb a cliff in a while so...'

Atsumu walked to the first climbing wall, a smirk on his face as he grabbed the first placement with his right hand, then his left, and began to climb. A fond smile appeared on his face, as a burst of adrenaline rushed into every part of his body. He walked around the ledge, calculating the correct path to take.

" Found it! " Atsumu exclaimed.

With a grin on his face, Atsumu excitedly grabbed onto the next wall and began to blitz up the wall. He soon reached the top, laughing in the pure happiness of the rush he experienced at feeling the somewhat familiar feeling of climbing.

" Oh, that was fun. Shame they had to build rock climbing walls instead of just having a regular mountain. " Atsumu mused.

"EEEEEEEEEE..." Grant squealed as he rushed towards Atsumu, who was informed of Grant's existence by his high-pitched scream.

" Oh my Arceus! Finally, someone has the same thought process as me!! " Grant gushed as he got close to Atsumu, exceeding his limits for Atsumu's limit for personal space.

"Woah dude, Too close. " Atsumu said as he gently pushed Grant away and took a step back to make some distance after getting startled.

" Sorry about that. " Grant said sheepishly.

" There haven't many people who enjoy climbing up the mountain to have a gym battle with me. Even then, I haven't had many good fights to give me the rush I've been looking for. " Grant explained.

" And the other gym leader won't agree to have at least one simple battle with me, just to alleviate my boredom. They are too 'busy'. " Grant said, expressing the use of air quotes with his hands.

" Huh. Okay... but..." Atsumu said, slowly nodding his head as he stared cautiously at Grant.

" You appeared!! " Grant said, running up to Atsumu, with tears of joy running down his face.

" It's been so long since I had a challenge that could make me feel so damn hype!! " Grant said, clenching his hands in excitement, a broad smile on his face.

" So let's not waste any more time and battle, Atsumu Miya!!" Grant exclaimed, challenging Atsumu.

" Heh. Alright then. " Atsumu said with a smirk.

" Let's freaking do this. " Atsumu said with a cocky smirk.

" That's the spirit! " Grant said with an excited smile on his face.

" Oi, Josh! Act as the referee! " Grant called out.

" Yeah Yeah, I know! " Josh snapped back. " Just get to your positions! "

Grant happily ran to his side of the field while Atsumu lightly jogged to his position.

' I'm so excited!! The best part, once I win, all my boasts to Viola about my victory won't be all talk! It'll be fun rubbing this victory in her face. ' Grant thought.

"Alright. This is an advanced gym battle between the Cyllage Gym Leader Grant and the challenger Atsumu Miya. This is a 3v3 battle, with both sides being able to switch pokemon. With that said, bring out your first pokemon." Josh said, raising his hand in preparation.

" Rock and roll, Coalossal! " Grant yelled out as he a Coalossal appeared from his Pokeball, slamming on the ground, making its presence known with a deafening roar. Atsumu smiled at the sight, grabbing a Pokeball and throwing it into the air.

"Ageislash, you're up. " Atsumu said, as Aegislash appeared on the field, calmly opening its eye slowly to stare at Coalossal, giving off an aura of superiority. Coalosaal grinned, its eyes gleaming with joy as he stared at Aegislash, considering him as prey.

' Aegislash huh. He's diffently got, King Shield. ' Grant thought with a smile.

' Coalossal. A rock and fire type. Aegislash, be ready to use King Shield. ' Atsumu thought.

' Understood. ' Aegislash responded.

" Both sides ready...and BEGIN!" Josh yelled, chopping the air.

"Rock polish. " Grant said.

" Rain dance. " Atsumu commanded.

' Rain dance. That will weaken Coalossal's fire-type moves, making Aegislsash safer from fire-type attacks. ' Grant thought as Coalossal used rock polish, increasing his speed as a dark cloud appeared above the arena, blocking the view to see the ceiling.

Droplets of water started to pour down onto the battlefield, soaking both trainers along with everything else.

' Goddammit. ' Josh thought, surrendering to his fate of getting soaked.

" Aegislash return. " Atsumu called out as he returned Aegislsash to his Pokeball, catching Grant and Coalossal off guard.

' A switch!? This early. So is this rain dance a setup for the next pokemon to have the advantage then? A water ghost type should come out. ' Grant thought.

" Go Palossand. " Atsumu said, releasing Palossand onto the field.

' A Palossand!? ' Grant thought in surprise. ' Why would he send it out? The rain would make it hard for Palossand to keep its castle form! What is he up...'

" Sand tomb. " Atsumu called out, snapping Grant out of his shock.

" Dodge! " Grant said as fast as he possibly could.

Coalossal reacted quickly, jumping away from the sand tomb that had appeared in the spot it was just in.

' Is that mud!? ' Grant thought with a nervous smile on his face as he looked at the arena.

' He must have used the rain dance to drench the ground before having Palossand make use of all the water to make mud by controlling the ground and mixing them! ' Grant thought.

" Psychic. " Atsumu called out, Grant stopping questions and reacting to the new command.

" Protect! " Grant yelled out.

Coalossal stared with wide eyes as he saw the large fist of mud right in front of his face and quickly used Protect to block the attack as Grant watched on from his spot.

' Shit! I'm in quite the pickle. ' Grant thought with a nervous smile.

' What should I do? ' Grant thought.

" Sand tomb and drag him in there with psychic. " Atsumu commanded.

" Wait but protect his still active..." Grant muttered before looking at Coalossal's feet, his eyes widening in realization.

" Coalossal return! " Grant called out, reacting immediately. Atsumu's eyes widened as he watched Grant return Coalossal.

" Well, that was unexpected. I didn't think you would return Coalossal at that moment. " Atsumu said innocently.

" Yeah...hehe..." Grant said as he tried to relax his breathing.

" That was way too close. I should I switched the moment you sent in your Palossand. " Grant stated as he took out a different Pokeball and chucked it into the air.

" Come out Drednaw. " Grant called out, as a large quadrupedal pokemon appeared on the field.

" A water type huh. Possibly has the ability swift swim to take advantage of the rain, but the rain will stop soon... " Atsumu said muttered out loud enough for Grant to hear.

" Liquidation! " Grant called out, in a hurry.

Drednaw rocketed forward towards Palossand at an incredible speed.

' Swift swim. ' Atsumu noted.

Water swirled around Drednaw, just before he slammed into Palossand. Grant's eyes widened as he watched Palossand be blown into pieces of sand, scattered across the battlefield.

' What!? How did?... ' Grant thought as he stared in shock. Drednaw had a similar expression to Grant. He knew he had hit Polassand, there was no way that he could dodge the attack but why did he get smashed into pieces.

" Giga drain. " Atsumu commanded.

Grant stared inside shock as his thoughts were halted by the voice of Atsumu, causing him to falter in his thought process making him slow in reacting to give a command.

Roots wrapped around Drednaw and held him in a vice grip, lifting him off the ground. His legs were spread apart, unable to reach the roots and reach the ground. Roots wrapped around its mouth, making it unable to use its jaw.

The roots then drained Drednaw of its energy, as Drednaw struggled to get out of its situation but couldn't while Grant was in a state of panic, his thoughts clashing with each other, making him unable to make a decision.

It didn't take long for Drednaw to go limp as all of its energy was drained, causing it to faint. Polassand removed the roots, letting Drednaw fall to the ground.

At the same moment, the rain finally ended. Grant watched as Palossand come up from the ground and looked towards the large pieces of Palossand that were scattered from before.

' A decoy! ' Grant thought in surprise, his head being overwhelmed by the amount of info his eyes witnessed.

" Drednaw is unable to battle. " Josh announced, before muttering to himself. " At least the rain is over"

Grant took out his Pokeball and slowly recalled Drednaw.

' Damn! What happened? He did one thing after the other and I got lost in the sheer amount of stuff happening. ' Grant thought as he clicked his tongue in annoyance.

' Screw it. Trying to understand his plan had only made me lose focus and unable to take charge. So now I'll just go all out with brute force!! ' Grant thought as he brought out his next Pokeball.

" Go Aerodactyl!! " Grant yelled out, chucking his Pokeball in the air. A large Aerodactyl appeared, growling as he surveyed his surroundings, his eyes narrowing on a tiny little sandcastle down below, a shiny orb embedded in a neck brace caught Atsumu's gaze.

" Both sides ready... battle begin! " Josh said.

" Aerodactyl! Time to mega evolve. " Grant said with a smile as he revealed his keystone. which was on the handle on his neck.

Bright lights erupted in strands from the keystone and mega stone, connecting before causing Aerodactyl to bask in bright light, his form changing before everyone's very eyes and soon ended, leaving Mega Aerodacyl in its place. Aerodactyl let out an earsplitting roar, causing the entire arena to shake.

" Aerodactyl, use Crunch! " Grant called out.

" Iron Defense. " Atsumu commanded.

Aerodactyl roared as he dived down, straight towards Palossand at a breakneck pace, its mouth covered in dark type energy, a super effective move that would get a boost by Mega Aerodactyl's ability Tough Claws that increases the damage caused by physical moves.

Aerodactyl's jaws slammed around a Palossand while the sandcastle had used iron defense, and had almost no reaction to the attack landing, except for a small flinch. Atsumu saw occur, but did;t say a word as he let the events unfold.

" Use Brutal swing! " Grant called out.

Aerodactyl threw Palossand onto the ground, before slamming one of its large claws on his wings into the sandcastle, slamming it into the ground. It then went for another swipe with its claw, slamming into Palossand again before smacking him with his tail.

" Shore up. " Atsumu said.

Palossand quickly pulled itself back together after Aerodactyl thrashed it by using Brutal Swing earlier and gained back most of its health in the process as stood ready in front of the large aggressive pokemon.

" Iron Tail! " Grant called out, in annoyance.

Aerodacyl roared as he swung his body, his tail being coated in steel-type energy, whipping it straight into Palossand from above and slamming it down onto Palossand. Palossand didn't move as he took the attack head-on, a large dust cloud forming from the impact.

" Fly and ram into him at full speed! " Grant called out.

Aerodactyl took the skies at full speed before making a u-turn and rushing straight down towards Polassand, who was just staring at the incoming attack. Aerodactyl slammed his body against Palossand, causing another dust cloud before Aerdactyl showed itself by flying into the air.

" Shore up and then sandstorm. " Atsumu commanded, his voice dry and monotone as he stared at the field.

A few seconds after his command, a large sandstorm comes to life as it covered the entire battlefield. Grant covered his eyes to stop sand from hitting his eyes as he grits his teeth in annoyance.

' How is still able to battle!? He should have fainted from those attacks even before using shore up, yet he took those attacks! ' Grant thought.

Unknown to Grant, Palossand made use of his ability, water compaction, to increase his defense. The rain dance at the beginning should have made it hard for Palossand to keep its shape since its made of sand. Turning the ground into mud didn't have much use in offense, but was still effective since Coalossal is still weak to the attack since Atsumu's intent was to make Grant question the reasoning of why Atsumu would want mud.

The mud was used to make the decoy that Drednaw destroyed, a stand-in while Palossand went underground to avoid the rain during his fight with Coalossal and controlled the situation from below. When the rain ended, Palossand absorbed the water, more specifically the moisture, in the mud with its ability, boosting its defense, and allowing it to take hits from mega Aerodactyl.

" Aerodactyl, locate Palossand, and use Crunch! " Grant called out.

As a rock type, Aerodactyl benefitted from the sandstorm and wasn't affected by it. Locating Palossand would be easy...

But Aerodactyl's eyes widened in shock. Its senses were telling him that Palossand was surrounding him, swirling around him in the sandstorm.

Palossand's biology has a statement that says that each sand particle that makes up the sandcastle has its own will, so taking advantage of that, Atsumu trained Palossand to have full control of its biological advantage, and by using sandstorm, Palossand can use it to travel, as it controls its body.

" Hy...HY...Hypnosis. " Atsumu whispered.

In a split second, Palossand's eyes alone appeared in front of Aerodactyls eyes, staring right into them and using hypnosis. Aerodactyl felt his mind becoming foggy, having the sudden urge to sleep as his surroundings started to become black. Aerodacytl fell from the sky, slamming onto the ground below.

" Aerodactyl!? " Grant called out, but Aerodactyl didn't respond.

" Palossand, return. " Atsumu called out, loud enough for them to hear.

' He's calling Palossand back? Is he switching or did Palossand faint? But Josh hasn't declared anything yet, so he must be switching. ' Grant thought.

Referees are given special goggles that allow them to see the fights without being hindered by any conditions that don't allow others to see what's happening, such as a sandstorm blocking out the view.

" Aegislash. You're up," Atsumu said.

" Aerodactyl! Answer me, buddy! Are you okay? " Grant called out but got no response.

' Josh hasn't said that he fainted but he isn't answering. Uhh... think Grant, think!... Wait, he could be asleep! ' Grant thought before starting to panic at the implications of that situation.

' Swords Dance. Then use Shadow Sneak. ' Atsumu said, dispassionately.

' Understood. ' Aegislash responded.

' Aerodactyl needs to wake up! Even if I switch him out, ill have to wait for him to wake up then too. Should I switch or just wait to see how long he stays asleep? But Aegisalsh is out right now. ' Grant thought to himself as sweat formed on his face. He lifted his hands and slapped his cheeks.

" Aerodactyl, return! " Grant called out. " Go, Coalossal. "

" Use Burn Up! " Grant commanded.

Coalossal's eyes gleamed as it gathered it gathered in energy in its core, the air around him heating up, turning into steam before Coalossal released an earth-shattering roar, flames being released similar to a bomb exploding. The flames blasted through the sandstorm, removing it from the arena, as everything went up in flames.

' Woah. ' Atsumu thought with a grin at the beautiful sight. ' Brings back some good memories. '

As the flames died down, Grant unshielded his eyes to look around for Aegislash but all he saw was Atsumu staring at him from the other side, a ghost of a smile on his face as he looked back at Grant.

" Sacred sword. " Atsumu commanded.

From the shadows, Aegislash emerged in its attack stance and slammed its blade, glowing with a light blue hue, straight into Coalossal's stomach, rocketing it backward towards grant, who watched in shock as Coalossal bounced on the ground before skidding to a stop.

" Coalossal is unable to battle. " Josh declared.

' Shit! ' Grant thought as he returned Coalossal to his Pokeball. He grits his teeth as he stared at his last pokemon.

" Go...Aerodactyl. " Grant said as he sent out Aerodactyl.

Aerodactyl appeared on the field, still asleep as Grant stared blankly.

" Iron Head. " Atsumu said simply, as there is no reason to drag out this battle. Aegislash had maxed out his attack by using Swords Dance while using the sandstorm as a cover and having Aerodactyl fall asleep.

Aegislash went up to Aerodacytl, went up to its head, and slammed its head onto Aerodactyl's head while using Iron head. Unprepared for the pain, Aerodactyl fainted in one hit from Aegislash, returning to his regular form.

" Aerodactyl is unable to battle. so the winner of the battle is Atsumu Miya. " Josh declared, as Atsumu gave off the tiniest hint of a smile at the conclusion.

Grant held up his Pokeball, returning Aerodactyl, placing him on his belt and Atsumu did the same as Aegislash went into his Pokeball. Walking up to meet each other, Grant gave Atsumu his gym badge, the cliff badge. Atsumu looked at the badge and placed it into his badge case.

Atsumu looked at Grant, who was just standing in front of Atsumu, trying his best to not show his inner feelings at the moment. Atsumu raised his hand for a handshake. Grant stared at his hand, his hand shaking as it clasped with Atsumu's.

Similar to his match with Viola, Atsumu walked away from Grant to the elevator close to the arena, unsatisfied with the battle. Stepping inside, pressing a button, the doors closed as the elevator went down to the ground floor.

" Another badge won. Nice. " Atsumu muttered dryly, with disappointment painted on his face.

Grant stood with his head down, his shoulders slumped, a somber atmosphere surrounded him as he sat down and laid on his back on the field, staring up at the ceiling.

He lost.

And it wasn't even close.

___________________________________________________

Sup everyone.

It's been awhile. Newest chapter is a gym battle against Grant.

How was the chapter?