"Gyarados is unable to battle, Scizor wins. Challenger, please withdraw your Pokemon," the referee declared and I recalled Stan as soon as he finished his ruling. "You've done a good job. That was just bad luck," I said to the ball, knowing Stan could hear me, before putting it away. I then took out Mothra/Butterfree's ball since she was my final Pokemon.
I was honestly not worried about Scizor despite its sudden advancement. Just because it managed to advance to the (mid) platinum stage did not mean that its wounds and the stamina/energy it had expended so far would magically fully recover. Well, actually, it would have gotten some extra energy if it had not been for one thing, namely the fact that it broke through in the middle of using a move, and not just any move, but a move like Hyper Beam.
Since that happened, the excess/extra energy went into the Hyper Beam meaning Scizor was just as exhausted as it had been before its advancement. No, scratch that, Scizor was even more exhausted than before since that Hyper Beam had not just been extra powerful but also extra draining. So yeah, I was not worried about Mothra beating Scizor. In fact, I was expecting her to have a relatively easy time doing so.
"Looks like you are down to your last Pokemon as well. I told you that the battle was not over yet," Stephanie said imperiously before switching to a more teasing tone. "I guess I have to thank you and your Pokemon for helping mine with breaking through and advancing," she finished, though I could feel that she was less enthused when she mentioned the breakthrough compared to the advancement.
She probably had her reasons for that, but either way, there was nothing anyone could do to change that. You know what, I did not want to tempt fate, so let me rephrase that. There was nothing any of us could do to change that. I did not need Dialga or some other random uber-powerful Pokemon with temporal abilities to show up and go "You sure about that?". Anyway, banishing that scary picture from my mind, I chose to focus on something more productive, like having the last word.
"Well, we had to keep things interesting, so you're welcome," I said before releasing Mothra onto the field. Mothra's reappearance triggered cheers from the audience, and Mothra waved happily at them, earning even more cheers. Seeing my actions Stephanie only smiled knowingly but remained silent, while the referee inferring that we were done talking resumed doing his job after giving Mothra and the audience a few seconds for their little interaction. He then requested everyone to focus on the upcoming battle. After asking us if we were ready and receiving our confirmation, he began the countdown before giving the starting signal.
"Air-, Protect," Stephanie began before she was forced to cut off her order to switch to Protect when Mothra directly fired off a Fire Blast after the referee gave the go. Not only that but while Protect and Fire Blast clashed, which caused the Protect to crack, Mothra initiated Flare Blitz and rushed towards Scizor. Moments before she made it there Mothra grew to her giant form.
She then first slammed into the Protect, which burst apart like a fly that splashed against the windshield of a speeding car, before crashing into Scizor. Unlike its shield, Scizor did not get splashed, but it got roasted by the Flare Blitz before being sent flying due to the difference in size as well as Mothra's momentum. Mothra shrunk to a tenth of her initial size and followed right after Scizor. She swiftly caught up with Scizor, her right fist blazing. Scizor tried to block her, but she flew straight below its pincer and hit it right in its belly section with a Fire Punch, causing Scizor to double over in pain.
Mothra's punch also ended up accelerating Scizor's meeting with the ground even further, and it crashed into the ground at a fast enough speed to cause a decently sized crater. Mothra who returned to her usual size sent a Flamethrower towards the crater, but a Flash Cannon rose to meet her attack. Despite the attribute disadvantage, the Flash Cannon managed to stall Mothra's Flamethrower, forcing a beam off, which bought Scizor enough time to dodge out of the line of fire. The Flamethrower, which was suddenly without any impediment, hit the area Scizor had previously been at, and Mothra upon noticing that her attack was missing cut it off.
She used Extreme Speed to appear beside Scizor, then before the other side could react, Mothra used Psychic to immobilize it and clamp its arms to its body. She then nailed it into the ground, right up until its chest, before using Hypnosis to lull it into sleep. Stephanie directly tried to rouse her Pokemon, but without success, and while she did that, Mothra forced a bunch of Sleep Powder into Scizor's mouth just to be sure.
After that Mothra used Nightmare, followed by Confuse Ray and Thunder Wave. Only after that did she release a near-point-blank Fire Blast. I saw/felt Mothra's surprise when she noticed that Scizor was still not beaten after that and that it was actually stirring, showing that it was about to wake up. Mothra naturally had no plan to allow that and she used Sing to lull Scizor right back into deep sleep.
Once she was sure that Scizor had gone back to sleep she gave a satisfied nod before taking off into the air. Mothra then began to grow until she reached her maximum size of 24 meters, which was already 50% bigger than her initial maximum a year or so ago. After turning into a giant, Mothra initiated Flare Blitz, lighting up with fire. Seeing her like this, one would think she was a Volcarona, not a Butterfree. Well, if the Volcarona in question was a Giant.
Anyway, just as Mothra was about to dive down, I saw Stephanie raise her hand. "I'm forfeiting Ronin," she loudly proclaimed, literally shouting, likely to guarantee that Mothra heard her, and my girl did hear her, though she only stopped diving but kept the flames active. "The Gym Leader has forfeited her Scizor, therefore Butterfree is the victor. Accordingly, the challenger has won the Gym Challenge," the referee declared after Stephanie's proclamation, and only after he did that, did Mothra disperse the flames.
Mothra then shrunk down to her chibi size and rushed towards me. She first hugged my face before taking her place atop my head to enjoy the cheers of the crowd. She laughed happily and waved at them, though she did briefly stop enjoying everyone's adulation to hug me when I praised her on the practical curb stomp we just witnessed. I joined her in waving at the cheering crowd after that. While we doing that, Stephanie recalled her Scizor and put its ball away before heading my way.
"Congratulations on your victory," Stephanie said with a gentle smile. "I have to say that it has been a challenge full of surprises," her eyes briefly turned to Mothra at that, "but I for one definitely enjoyed it," she concluded with a nod. Stephanie then waved towards her assistant, who came closer upon receiving her signal. He had a little cushion in his hands with a gleaming Badge on it. He held out the cushion after stopping beside Stephanie, and she took the Badge before turning back to me.
"You have definitely earned the Platinum Badge, and given your very impressive Butterfree, Mothra I think you called her, as well as your other Pokemon, you could have probably given my main team an interesting fight," she acknowledged before praising Mothra, who preened at Stephanie's words and puffed out her chest.
"Thanks, I'm really proud of them," I accepted her praise. "Though I believe that it's still too early for us to beat your main team," I said in response to her earlier words, fully knowing that she had not meant that we could beat her team. Stephanie just laughed at the little twist I made. "Do make sure to come back for a little private rematch once your Pokemon break through to the next stage. My Pokemon and I would certainly enjoy a proper chance to go all out," she added before handing me her Gym Badge.
The Badge itself looked quite interesting. It had the shape of an octagon, but its surface was divided into multiple layers with different colors. The outermost layer was bronze, then followed by a silver layer that had the form of a hexagon. After that came a golden layer shaped like a square, followed by a dark golden triangle. The final piece was a platinum (white/silverish) circle in the center of the triangle. A blue S had been embossed onto that circle along with 3 stars to depict the challenge I overcame to earn the Badge.
It was clear that those colors represented the challenges one could experience at the Gym. The fact that they also matched certain types of metals fit a steel-type gym quite well, at least I thought so. I was less sure about the shapes and what they stood for, but I had an inkling that it had to do with resilience/stability. Anyway, I passed the Badge to Mothra who had been watching it with sparkling eyes.
"Thanks for the Badge," I started with a bright smile. "I'll definitely take you up on the offer, though it might take a while until that happens," I addressed her offer for a rematch. "That's fine. We've got more than enough time. I don't mind waiting a year or even longer if that's what it takes," she said with a mirthful laugh and I nodded conceding her point.
"Alright, I won't keep you any longer. There are people waiting for you," she said her eyes glinting with amusement. Following her gaze, I saw my parents and friends waiting for me at the boundary of the stands. "Once again thanks for the badge. Now, excuse me," I said politely and she bid me to go ahead.
I watched as she turned around and walked away before turning around myself. I made my way to the area of the stands where my group was waiting and jumped up to join them. "Mika/Mikail/Son, congratulations," my parents and friends said together before Mom rushed up to hug me.
"You did brilliant, darling. I'm so proud" she said as she squeezed me before looking up at Mothra. "You were brilliant as well sweety," she told Mothra who giggled happily at Mom's praise.
"Your mom's right. That was a great battle, son," Dad, who came to our side said while patting me on the back. "I'm proud of you," he finished with a squeeze of my right shoulder. That opened the literal floodgates and once the two were done, the girls rushed up to me, with Rose at the forefront.
"Mika, you were incredible," Rose exclaimed while holding onto my right hand. "Oh, and you were awesome too, Mothra," she said to Mothra a moment later. Mom let me go and took a step back with a happy smile once the other girls arrived at my side. I heard Ace laugh at me and the other boys joined in as well after Ace said something, though I failed to catch what exactly it was that he said since the other girls began to speak up as well.
They all congratulated me before praising Mothra, which my girl definitely enjoyed. I naturally thanked Jessie, Weiss, and the other girls and we exchanged some more words before the girls made room for the boys. Ace spoke up first, teasing me by calling me a ladies' man before congratulating me on my sparkling new Gym Badge. Yu was next and the others followed suit as well, with Kinji speaking up last.
"It was a great fight, and we all greatly enjoyed watching it," he said with a smile while patting me on my shoulder. "And I'm sure that you are happy to be able to share this moment with us," he added, referring to our talk during the previous break, and all I did was nod since he was right. I was quite happy to share this moment with them after all.
"Alright, let's go celebrate," Dad said after he did a loud clap to get everyone's attention. "Son, you lead the way. You've been going on about all the restaurants you've been to, so choose one and lead us there," he said and everyone agreed.
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