Valery did as what I told her and docked the boat to the farthest point. From there, Fletchinder flew around and scanned for the location of the Battle Tower. He reported this to Gardevoir and we were teleported to its gates thereon by her.
The battle tower ranged for three floors. It was stated in the brochures of the mechanics. We needed to defeat three powerful trainers, the strongest in the entire Arid with the one settling at the tippy top being the most difficult. If we win all three, there would be a prize. That might somehow be useful for Team Rocket's mission.
The style of the tower was the typical Pagoda towers with black stained roof made out of bricks and wooden walls. We pushed aside the heavy metallic doors with bullet like textures on them.
Valery and I were greeted by an old man wearing a neat tuxedo, white, and a soul patch moustache.
"Good day, mesdames. Welcome to the battle tower," he said. "Will you be here to challenge?"
"Yes!" said Valery with bulging eyes.
"Good, good. The mechanics are simple. It is a double battle with a one on one system. You will be facing former gym leaders by the way. They're known as the connoisseurs of Unova."
"The connoisseurs of Unova?" I said.
"Indeed. For the first round, you shall face against grass. For the second, water, and finally, fire types. Shall the mesdames take part officially?"
"Bring it on," Valery uttered with confidence.
"Alright. If that is all, please proceed to the next room. Once you win, you will be given access to the next floor. Good luck!"
Having heard the types wasn't as frightening as I've dealt with a lot of them before. Our current team would probably suffice, especially Valery's Emboar on the first round.
We entered the doors and were greeted by a man with green hair and eyes. He wore an apron and a bowtie and was proper and neat.
He brought out his Simisage and Grotle while Valery went for Emboar as I sent out Fletchinder.
The rounded ended up with us being the victor.
On the next round, it was a man with blue hair who accepted our challenge. Like the first guy, he was neat and proper.
He sent out Simipour and Slowking. It reminded me very much of Virgo's.
It was time that I used Zorua while Valery went for Seviper.
"Simipour, Acrobatics! Slowking, Scald!"
His Pokemon attacked.
Zorua dug to the ground to evade while Seviper twirled and dodged the move.
"Now Seviper, use Glare!"
Simipour was left paralyzed.
"Seviper, follow it up with Earthquake!"
"Wait, no!" I said but it was too late. Seviper had already released the attack, damaging gravely the opponent's Pokemon and my Zorua as well.
Zorua grew fierce upon knowing his own teammate dealt a ton of scratches to him. He began his revolt and charged to strike Seviper constantly with scratches.
"So, sorry! I forgot, I forgot, I forgot!" Valery squealed.
"You remind me of a girl with glasses," I sighed and said. "Zorua! Stop, at once."
Zoroua and Seviper didn't listen. Seviper had to retaliate after taking in not only scratches, but Tackles and Fury Swipes. Zorua even treated the whole thing as some sort of real battle, going to and fro the ground by using dig.
From the sky, Zorua landed unto Seviper's nape and bit it aggressively. Seviper tried to shake him off yet Zorua was sturdy. His eyes glowed red little by little until it encompassed his whole body.
"Hey! Hey! That's enough!" I said and sought to return him to his Pokeball but he just threw it back at me. Our opponenet on the other hand merely sat there and watched.
Zorua's eyes were glowing intensely until it began blinding us. As it reached its boiling point, Zorua's form changed.
Crimson and black accents emerged from him. He has a pointed snout and ears with red insides. He also has some red rimming its eyes and mouth. He has a large, red, voluminous mane with black tips, which somewhat resembles a ponytail, as a teal bangle down its length separates a mass of the mane from the lower portion. He has a black ruff on its upper body, pointed at the shoulders from which its arms extend. His upper arms are thin, whereas its lower arms, while still slim, are bulkier. His arms have spiky extensions of fur at the elbows, and it has red claws on its hands and feet. His eyes are red-rimmed with light blue irises.
"That's a Zoroark!" alerted Valery.
I took everything back. It was worth while that Valery's Seviper did do the earthquake, but in return, their argument continued until both fainted and their intensity settled in a draw. That, however, disqualified us from going further as Seviper's intentions with the second earthquake was to stabilize the former Zorua and not the foes.