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He heard the door open behind him, with howling winds behind it. It then closed, leaving nothing but the sound of laboured, exhausted breathing. Lucius turned around in his chair to see a girl, approximately ten years old, if he had to guess, standing in snow-covered clothes just in front of the door. She was shivering slightly, as most who came here were upon arrival.
“I suppose you’re here for a Gym challenge?”
She nodded enthusiastically, still panting from her hike. Odd. Challengers usually came during the day, not at this black hour. He hated to disappoint her, but with how many Trainers had come through that day, he and his Pokémon were near as tired as she clearly was. He stood up.
“Well, I won’t allow it, with the time it is and the condition you’re in. Given the wild Pokémon I set up along the trail, I imagine your team is in an even worse state.”
Her eyes finally met his. They were filled with pleading. “No, we can still battle! We just need a few minutes to rest up! Really!
He chuckled as he shook his head, his hands on his hips. “Really, now? Okay, I’ll test the truth of your words. Send out a Pokémon. Electrike!”
At his word, a small, green, quadruped Pokemon came bounding at him from another room in the building that acted as Lucius’ Gym, situated near the summit of Mount Regice. The Electric-Type went to tackle him affectionately, which he dodged with some difficulty. He generally appreciated the Pokémon’s rambunctiousness, but not in his current exhausted state. The challenger pulled out a Poké-Ball, and threw it, stating “Go. Golem.”
The Ground- and Rock-Type burst out of the ball, though not accompanied by the usual roar. This nearly confirmed Lucius’ hunch about the state of her team. If his estimate was accurate, this would be easy. “Electrike. Quick Attack on the Golem.”
Quick as lightning, almost literally, the Electrike jumped away from his side, and within less than a second was slamming into the significantly more powerful and better-trained Golem. The rock Pokémon fell over, out cold, its Trainer looking on gobsmacked.
“Point proven. There’s a spare bedroom for situations like this. We’ll have your Gym Challenge in the morning.”
The hermit Gym Leader of Mount Regice had slept like the dead, and with a quick check, confirmed that the entirety of his team had, as well. He exited his bedroom to enter the main area of the building, which was also his favourite part of the place thanks to the bright blue decorations all around. He took notice that the challenger was sitting on the blue couch. Her back turned to him.
“There you are.” She turned to face him at the sound of his voice. “We’re taking a quick hike to the summit. That’s where I do my Gym battles.
She didn’t seem too pleased by the idea of going back out into the blizzard, but then again, what Ice-Type Gym Leader would pass up a perfect battlefield for his Pokémon that was literally on his doorstep?
The trip was harsh and cruel to our unnamed challenger, but was little more than a quick jaunt to the Gym Leader in her midst. After roughly five minutes of the wind-carried snow blowing in their faces, they reached the very summit of Mount Regice, which was surprisingly flat compared to what one generally imagines when they hear the word ‘summit’. Lucius went over to the other end of the medium-sized, snow-covered battlefield and faced the challenger, who had taken a position on the other end of the field. “Just so you know, I do Double Battles! You ready!?”
She nodded, hair blowing in the wind. With this, he moved his cloak to the side to reveal five Poké-Balls. He reached for two and threw them. “Froslass, Abomasnow, come out!”
The two Ice-Types burst out of their respective Poké-Balls. The Abomasnow, which stood on the right, had already taken a battle stance, and had an intense, focused look, ready to meet its adversaries. The Froslass on the left had a calm, almost smug expression.
The challenger reached for two of her own Poké-Balls. “Go! Golem and Bronzong!” The two Pokémon appeared in two flashes of light, staring down the Ice-Type foes that each of them had a type advantage against. However, each of their secondary types gave Lucius an idea.
“Froslass, Shadow Ball on the Bronzong! Abomasnow, Energy Ball on the Golem!”
His ball-combo was executed successfully, with both being fired at the same time, just barely missing one another as they crossed paths. The Golem was eliminated immediately thanks to its double-weakness to Grass, though the Bronzong survived the Ghost-Type attack it had received.
Its Trainer was quick to react. “Bronzong! Iron Head, on the Froslass!”
Much to Lucius’ dismay, his Froslass wasn’t quite fast enough to avoid the Iron Head, which knocked it out cold. He would need to be more careful in the future. Regrets aside, he reached for another Poké-Ball. “Walrein! C’mon out!”
The blue Walrus Pokemon entered the battlefield just as the challenger shouted “Go! Charizard!” Her extremely rare Fire- and Flying-Type entered the battlefield shortly after, at a disadvantage against Walrein. It was faster, however, and delivered a Flamethrower to Abomasnow, eliminating it, shortly before it and its ally received a Surf from Walrein, both of them just barely pulling through it. The snowstorm, which was intense enough to act as hail, eliminated Bronzong before it could make its move. The challenger replaced it with a Lucario, and he replaced Abomasnow with his Glalie.
The challenger laughed at his choice of Pokémon. “Seriously, Walrein is your only defense against my Charizard? What a joke! Charizard, use Bla-“
She was stopped short by an odd noise coming from the opposing Glalie. An odd light was resonating from it, as well. What was going on? She looked over to Lucius, who seemed completely calm. Except, he had two fingers from his right hand placed on the back of his left hand, over…
Over a Key Stone.
This was quite possibly Lucius’ favourite part of his job, save for the isolation. No one would expect a Gym Leader to be capable of Mega Evolution! He looked on in glee as Glalie got shrouded in a familiar pink light. It lasted for several seconds, then was followed by a loud blast, leaving Glalie where it was previously floating, now as its Mega Evolution. The challenger was so shocked, she had forgotten to give an order. He took advantage of this. “Walrein, eliminate that Charizard with Brine!”
His Walrein fired briney water at the Charizard, taking it out. The challenger snapped back into focus. “Lucario! Use High Jump Kick on the Walrein!”
The Lucario charged at the Walrein and jumped, delivering a powerful kick to its face, eliminating it with the powerful-yet-risky move. Lucius ordered Glalie to use Sheer Cold, in an attempt to take out the Lucario with ease. It missed, however, as it usually did.
The challenger was now down to two Pokémon, and Lucius two. He sent out his last one. “Go! Glaceon!”
The quadruped fox-like Pokémon that burst out of the Poké-Ball was the first one Lucius had ever had. Though his Glalie beat it in the sheer power department thanks to Mega Evolution, Glaceon was the most experienced battler on his team. The odds were still in his favor, if only slightly. Glaceon’s Snow Cloak Ability made it harder to detect during hail or snow, offering it improved evasive odds. Even with it standing in front of him, in its battle stance, Lucius was having trouble keeping his eyes focused on it.
He would start off by making it even harder to hit. “Glaceon, Double Team.”
It began rapidly moving back and forth, making it seem like there were copies of it all around. This would certainly add to the difficulty of hitting it. “Glalie, Blizzard.”
Normally, Blizzard was a terrible choice thanks to its inaccuracy. But if used when there was already a blizzard enveloping the battlefield, it couldn’t miss, even if the target was using something like Double Team. Not that it hurt the Lucario terribly, thanks to its Steel-Type half.
The challenger was getting frustrated. “Metal Claw!”
Glalie was just barely able to dart out of the way to avoid the super-effective hit. Without being ordered to, it responded with a Headbutt, which became Ice-Type thanks to the Refrigerate Ability.
“Glaceon! Double Team! Glalie! Earthquake!”
Now this was certainly going to hurt the Lucario. Glaceon didn’t end up being hit by the Ground-Type attack, thanks to Double Team and Snow Cloak. After the rumbling stopped, the injured Lucario dashed up for a Close Combat, finishing the Mega Evolved Glalie with a critical hit.
This was going to come close. “Glaceon! Ice Beam!”
From seemingly nowhere, a beam of ice-cold energy struck the Lucario on the shoulder. Made wary by this, it stood in the middle of the battlefield, circling slowly, looking for its final adversary. Another Ice Beam came from the cover of the snow, hitting it in the chest this time. It wasn’t going to last very many more of those attacks. Then, its Trainer got an idea.
“Lucario, use Aura Sphere!”
Lucius’ eyes widened. How had he forgotten? Aura Sphere was an attack that damaged the spirit, rather than the body. Even if you dodged it physically, it would still connect. To summarize, no amount of Double Teams could help one to avoid it.
The Lucario held its hand in front of it, charging up the glowing blue attack. It was going to be super-effective, too. It fired in no direction in particular, since it was going to hit, regardless. There were a few seconds where nothing happened, where nothing could be heard but the howling wind. Then, a knocked out Glaceon went flying directly at the challenger’s stomach, connecting. She lay there, winded by the unconscious Pokémon. Lucius walked over to her and returned the Ice-Type to its Poké-Ball.
“You fought well. Good job. This here is called the Frostbite Badge. You may want to get back inside, before you get exactly that.”