//------------------------------// // Fourth Gym Battle. Speed is key // Story: My Little Pokémon // by Amarvax //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash's Fourth Gym Battle has arrived. Located in Fillydelphia, this gym is all about speed. So quick Pokemon are bound to be apart of this gym. The group arrived at Fillydelphia, standing before the dome-shaped gym. Rainbow Dash has had plenty of time to train her Pokemon so that they're up for this. "Okay. I'm ready." Rainbow Dash shook her head, pumping herself up. "Just relax, Rainbow Dash," Twilight spoke. You've had all this time and a few weeks to prepare, so you're more than ready to take this gym on." "You're right. Let's go." Rainbow Dash opened the door with her hooves, revealing the inside of the gym. The appearance it had was full of slides and ramps. They were everywhere. On the walls, ceiling and floor. Not only that but there were skid marks everywhere as if something fast had skidded on them whilst moving. This was definitely a gym about speed. And standing there was the gym leader. Zecora. "Zecora?!" They all shouted. "Surprised by this, I can see. The fourth gym leader...that is me." "But how come? You're okay with leaving your hut?" Fluttershy said. "BigTime Ben recommended me this role. There is shame in leaving your comfort zone." "I'd never take you for a Pokemon trainer, Zecora. Let alone a Gym Leader." Rarity commented. "I too can have fun, Rarity. The Pokemon I have are fast, that is a certainty." "Hold on...Zecora always talks in rhymes...which means that before she even gets to attack, my Pokemon can get some hits in while she's trying to finish her rhyme!" Rainbow Dash thought as she rubbed her hooves together. "This is gonna the be the easiest gym badge I've ever earned yet!" "I can see that you are acting brash. An unwise decision against somepony you have yet to face, Rainbow Dash." Zecora smiled as she walked to the other side, already preparing herself for the battle. "We'll see about that." Rainbow Dash flew forward, standing at her side of the arena. Ash and the others took their seats, ready to watch this go down. The referee pony walked forward, looking at the two. "The battle between Challenger Rainbow Dash and Gym Leader Zecora will be a 4 on 4. The battle will be over once four Pokemon on one side are all unable to battle. Only the challenger is allowed to substitute for this challenge." "Fine by me. I'm gonna make sure this isn't a repeat of Sunset Shimmer. I'll start off with you. Go! Whirlipede!" Rainbow Dash started off with Whirlipede, hoping to have a speed advantage with the move speed boost. "My first Pokemon is a great example of being fast. I shall send you out, Ninjask." Zecora sent out her first Pokemon, Ninjask. "Nin!" "Check this one out..." Rainbow Dash took out her Pokedex. "Ninjask. The Ninja Pokemon. Ninjask moves around at such a high speed that it cannot be seen, even while its crying can be clearly heard. For that reason, this Pokémon was long believed to be invisible. Hearing its distinctive cries for too long induces a headache. Because of this quality, this Pokémon is said to be one that puts the Trainer’s abilities to the test. It congregates around tree sap." "Woah. She's not kidding when she says it's fast. It's so quick it's invisible..." Rainbow uttered. "But I'm banking on Speed Boost to help me through this." She still had confidence. And she still believed that Zecora's rhyming would end up being her downfall in a match. "Battle start!" "I always love to get the first hit off! Whirlipede! Let's start off strong with Rollout!" Rainbow made the first move as always. Whirlipede started to pick up speed as it raced towards Ninjask. She was sure that Zecora couldn't act fast due to her rhyming...but she was in for a surprise. Ninjask had ended up intercepting Rollout by using Fury Cutter. And this was done without Zecora making any commands at all. Ninjask's bug hands clashed with Whirlipede as they both cancelled each other out, proving to be equal in strength. "What the? She didn't even say anything." Rainbow Dash said. "I can see you're surprised by how that was done. Allow me to tell you something that is a guaranteed stun. I have been learning about Pokemon involved many days and weeks. I ended up learning about their instincts and how to use it as a technique. My Pokemon and I bonded on a mystical level. Although it did have its fair share of disapproval." "Amazing...Zecora and her Pokemon are bonded on a mystical level?" Twilight spoke. "Not the first time," Ash said as they all looked at him. "There are some trainers that can connect with their Pokemon with their minds. Most of the time its Psychic-Types. But when they do connect with them, they can give off commands without even saying it." "So that means...Zecora's talking without rhymes in her mind, and speaking rhymes with her mouth." Twilight responded. "Once I evolve my Eevee into an Espeon, I'm definitely going to try and achieve that." "Mind stuff isn't gonna stop me. I've still got Whirlipede's Speed Boost on my side!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "Venoshock!" Whirlipede shot out toxic venom towards Ninjask. The Ninja Pokemon avoided it by flying into the air, as it was moving much faster this time. Ninjask then struck Whirlipede with Aerial Ace, dealing some big damage. "Your Whirlipede is not the only one with Speed Boost, you see. Ninjask naturally has it and some of my other mons to a degree." "It has it too?! Oh...this is gonna be a problem. Whirlipede! Pin Missile, rapidly!" Whirlipede shot out missiles of sharp pins towards its fellow Bug-Type. Ninjask looked back at Zecora as she nodded her head. The Ninja Pokemon used Fury Cutter to knock the missiles back at Whirlipede. The Curlipede Pokemon took its own pins, dealing damage to it as Ninjask came flying in with Aerial Ace. "Iron Defense, quick!" Whirlipede reacted quickly as well, enveloping its body with steel energy. Aerial Ace still hit its mark, but the damage was nullified a small bit. "Come back for now Whirlipede." Rainbow returned her Whirlipede, knowing that it's already taking too much damage now. So a break was needed. "Feeling overwhelmed at the first few minutes, are we? There's more where that came from, I can guarantee." "I'm not gonna let it be a repeat of the last gym. Let's go! Luxio!" Next up was Luxio. Electric-Types are always a good choice for fast Pokemon. "Luxio! "Alright, Luxio! You're new to gym battles, but I know you'll do great here! Let's go with Wild Charge!" Luxio's body was engulfed in an electric energy field as it charged forward. Ninjask saw this coming as it flew up in the air to avoid it. Ninjask had then flown back down, going straight for an X Scissor. "Use Wild Charge again!" Rainbow saw this as an opportunity. Ninjask are Pokemon that are mostly used to getting up close and personal. So Luxio charged at Ninjask, hitting in the Ninja Pokemon square in the face with its own. Zecora gasped as Ninjask was sent rocketing through the area, crashing down, but not out yet. "Nin!" "Awesome! Now use Discharge!" Rainbow Dash was about to follow up. Luxio stomped its paws on the floor, causing an electric discharge to spread across the room. Ninjask's eyes opened up as it had suddenly gotten faster thanks to Speed Boost. It could hear Zecora telling it to use its fabled invisibility speed. So that's what it did. Flying up and avoiding Discharge, Ninjask started to dash around, moving at even greater speeds, more than Rainbow Dash expected. It was moving so fast that it was living up to its dex entry of it being invisible. Luxio couldn't keep up with it at all. All it saw were afterimages and blurs just passing by it. The Ninja Pokemon was circling around it while flying. Even Rainbow Dash was struggling to keep up with it. She had never seen anyone move that fast other than her. But she could still see it moving around. After all, Ninjask is the second-fastest Pokemon in existence. "That speed is ludicrous! Luxio! U-" Before she could finish her sentence, Ninjask struck Luxio with Fury Cutter. The amount of speed it picked up was so great that a weak move like Fury Cutter was strong enough to launch Luxio. "Oh, no Luxio!" Ninjask followed up. It chased after Luxio, hitting with Fury Cutter over and over again. Very soon, Luxio was being smacked around like a pinball. Each time it looked like it was about to hit the ground, Ninjask flew down and knocked it back up, and each time went high up, Ninjask flew up and knocked it back down, and the cycle kept repeating. Rainbow Dash was stumped. She was struggling with finding a way to break this cycle. Shinx was getting punished left and right, taking all those hits. "If you will not make your move, then you will not have a gym badge to prove." Zecora commented. Rainbow Dash put her hooves on her head, thinking and thinking. She didn't want to lose horribly like Sunset Shimmer, so she had to do something. That's when it hit. A risky strategy that would require a fast reaction time for her Pokemon. "Luxio! Discharge in the air!" She gave off the command, but Ninjask kept hitting Luxio all over the place. "Don't let it get to you! Unleash it!" Even though it was getting punished by Fury Cutter, the Spark Pokemon unleashed all of its energy right after the previous hit. This gave it a small amount of time to shock Ninjask once it got too close. Ninjask was finally hit, and it felt all that electricity hit. Luxio only needed that 0.1 second moment of freedom. After all, not even Ninjask, the second-fastest Pokemon in existence can stop electricity. And as a bonus, Discharge managed to paralyze Ninjask, which made Zecora gasp in shock. "YES! Now use Ice Fang!" Luxio dealt the next hit by chomping on Ninjask's wings with its icy fangs. Ninjask couldn't avoid it in time due to the paralysis, and this caused the nimble and fast Ninja Pokemon to fall and faint. "Ninja..." "Ninjask is unable to battle! Luxio wins!" The Spark Pokemon landed back down, breathing in and out as the aggressive Fury Cutter assault was finally over. "Lux..." "Awesome job, Luxio!" Rainbow Dash cheered. "Phew. That was aggressive." Twilight let out a sigh of relief. "The speed in this gym is no joke. I'm actually terrified of what might be next." "See that? Even stuff that moves faster than I can see won't stop me! Your move Zecora." Rainbow Dash had a smug grin. "The next one will indeed puzzle your thoughts. Come on out, Whimsicott." Her next choice was the Windveiled Pokemon. "Whimsi!" "A Whimsicott? Heh. I battled one back at the festival. This thing's speed ain't all that." "Speed is not just its speciality. Allow me to speak with a Solar Beam." The first command that Zecora spoke was Solar Beam. Whimiscott was gathering up all the solar energy from the sun, but it would take a while. And this gave Rainbow Dash all the time in the world to strike. But maybe not with Luxio. "Return Luxio. You deserve to take a break." She returned Luxio and immediately sent out Whirlipede for some major poison damage. "Now Whirlipede! Venoshock!" Whirlipede was about to drench Whimsicott, but the Windveiled Pokemon had already gathered enough sunlight. Celestia was in her favour today. And just like that, she unleashed a powerful green beam of solar energy that raced towards Whirlipede! The Curlipede Pokemon took the hit as an explosion of green energy occurred after the impact. Whirlipede was still standing thanks to its type-advantage, but the damage had been dealt for sure. Whirlipede still continued its attack by shooting venom towards Whimsicott. The Grass-Fairy-Type flew over the venom, making sure to not get taken out in one hit. It then unleashed Gust, whipping a strong gust of wind towards Whirlipede. "Dodge it!" The Curlipede Pokemon rolled out of the way, avoiding Gust, but Whimsicott started to chase it down. Whimsicott unleashed a continuous barrage of Gusts that were constantly hitting the floor. Wind pressures were formed around the arena, blowing Rainbow Dash's and Zecora's manes. Whirlipede managed to avoid the gusts, and with Speed Boost, it was starting to outpace Whimsicott. Zecora saw how fast Whirlipede was moving and realise that she wasn't getting anywhere. So she looked at Whimsicott and it looked back at her, nodding. Whimsicott utilized what it does best, spreading cotton everywhere. It flew all over the gym, leaving its cotton on the floor and even on the ramps and slides. Whimsicott always leave balls of cotton every time they pick up speed. Soon there was cotton everywhere on the floor, and this proved to be an issue for Whirlipede since it ended up crashing into one of the cotton while rolling. "Whirl!" Making contact with it cause Whirlipede to lose balance as the cotton vanished. "Oh no, Whirlipede!" Whirlipede was getting hit by cotton, no matter where it went. Every time a piece of cotton knocked it back, it kept making contact with the next one. Now Whirlipede was experiencing the same thing Luxio felt. Smacked around like a pinball but with fairy cotton this time. Rainbow Dash saw an odd opportunity though. Despite her Pokemon being smacked around by cotton, the more it hit them, the fewer cotton was left on the field. "That's it...Whirlipede! Roll forward!" Whirlipede opened its eyes as it managed to roll into space where there was no cotton, freeing it from the assault. Whimsicott however, caught Whirlipede off guard by firing a Gust at it. The Gust hit its mark, blowing Whirlipede back as it crashed into the ramps. But this knockback was somewhat of a blessing, as Whirlipede was rolling on the ramps. With its perfectly circular body, it rolled on the ramps effortlessly. Rainbow Dash took this opportunity as well. This time she wasn't going to let Whimsicott get the better of her. "Pin Missile!" As Whirlipede was on the ramps, moving, it fired pins towards Whimisicott. The Windveiled Pokemon only managed to avoid a few of them as the rest hit their mark. Whirlipede's speed had increased greatly and was at its top speed thanks to all that Speed Boost. Soon, Whimsicott was taking all the Pin Missles. And no matter what, it couldn't move out of the way. Whirlipede was too fast, so it could fire Pin Missiles for days. Eventually, Zecora realised that throwing attacks wouldn't work, so she made her Whimsicott go for a move that can change the course of this battle in one go. Tailwind. Whimsicott had taken all the pins, but it was able to kick up a powerful Tailwind by harnessing its Fairy magic. Tailwind changed everything. Now the speed was in favour of Whimsicott. And this made able to avoid the pins, now being much faster than Whirlipede. "Oh come on! Tailwind?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "The wind blows in our favour. Now say farewell to your victory, for it is mine to savour." Zecora said. "I won't let this get the best of me! Whirlipede! Iron Defense!" Rainbow Dash went on the defensive side this time. Whirlipede was engulfed by steel energy as its defence had been greatly increased. Now it was time to strike. "Get up close and person and use Pin Missile!" Whirlipede was on the move once more, but this time, it wasn't moving as fast. Instead, Whimsicott was faster now. And to Rainbow Dash's surprise, it was headed straight for Whirlipede. The reason being is because it was aiming to use Gust at a much closer distance. And it did just that. Whirlipede was hit straight in the face with Gust as Whimsicott effortlessly avoided all the Pin Missiles. This Gust was enough to finally knock Whirlipede out, making it faint. "Whirlipede is unable to battle! Whimsicott wins!" "Down that one goes. And with Tailwind, my speed grows." "Aw...you did good Whirlipede. Return." Rainbow Dash sighed, returning her Pokemon. "That Tailwind's gonna be a problem. And I can't bring out Altaria for a Pokemon like Whimsicott. So I'm gonna have Braviary take this one!" Next up was Braviary. Once that Pokeball was tossed forward, the Valiant Pokemon erupted with a mighty cry. "BRAV!" "Alright, Braviary! Let's not hold anything back! Go wild!" "Braviary!" "Head in with Steel Wing!" Braviary used its newest move, Steel Wing. Its wings gained hard steel energy around them as it flew forward. Whimsicott did the same, but it flew back, trying to get its distance from Braviary. But to its surprise and Zecora, Braviary was outpacing it. It's like Tailwind wasn't slowing it down at all. Whimsicott sent some cotton balls forward to try and slow it down, but Braviary cut right through it with Steel Wing. Whimsicott gasped as before it and Zecora knew it, Braviary struck it right in the gut. The impact was so immense that it caused a wind pressure that rocketed Whimsicott towards Zecora. Zecora felt her Pokemon crash into her as it fainted. "Whimsicott is unable to battle! Braviary wins!" "Holy moly! That was intense!" Pinkie Pie shouted. "It didn't even care about Tailwind. Amazing." Fluttershy commented. This was Braviary's recent Gym Battle in a while after it evolved from a Rufflet. And its immense strength had shown just how far it had come. It was here to carry its trainer to victory, no matter what. "What strength. The force it wields is great. But this isn't over yet. Just you wait." Zecora got back up, sending her Pokemon back into its ball. The next Pokemon she sent out was a Weavile. Another Pokemon that was quick on its feet. "Weavile!" "Weavile, huh? I've got just the move that can take care of it. Braviary! Get in close and use Superpower!" Rainbow Dash outstretched her hoof, sending her Braviary forward. Braviary's wings and claws were enveloped in intense raging energy. One hit from it and the result would be devastating. Weavile was already ahead of Braviary as it jumped over Braviary, avoiding the Super Power. The Sharp Claw Pokemon then used Ice Beam on the slides and ramps. The reason being is because Zecora had planned for Weavile to skate on the ice to pick up more speed. Braviary turned around to see the Dark-Ice-Type skating about. "That's so cool!" Rainbow Dash was in awe but she snapped out of it. "Fly towards Weavile and use Superpower one more time!" A second attempt at Superpower was made. Braviary swooped towards Weavile who was skating about. Weavile smirked, leaping over Braviary as it looked down at the Valiant Pokemon. And then, it struck Braviary on the back with a Dark Pulse, sending the Valiant Pokemon down to the ground. A smoke cloud emerged from the hit, but Braviary quickly got back up, blowing the smoke away by spreading its wings. "Good! Use Brave Bird!" Braviary took the skies, surrounding itself with brave energy. Weavile, who was still airborne had responded to this by unleashing an Ice Beam. "Dodge it!" Braviary swiftly avoided the Ice Beam as it hit the floor instead, turning it all into ice. Braviary managed to get a good hit on Weavile with Brave Bird. That one hit was enough to launch Weavile higher into the skies. "Now finish it with Superpower!" Rainbow was planning to end this quickly by having Braviary deal devastating hit. The Valiant Pokemon zoomed towards its opponent, but Weavile and Zecora weren't done yet. The Sharp Claw Pokemon turned the tables by using Double Team. It split itself into afterimages, making Braviary hit one of them and missing the real one. With its guard down, Weavile then used Night Slash but swinging its sharp claws at Braviary's back. The impact of it was critical as Braviary definitely felt all that damage. Weavile landed back down on the icy floor, looking up at Braviary. "It seems our Pokemon are both even in speed. This will be a great battle indeed." "Yeah. One that I'm gonna win!" Rainbow Dash declared as she stomped her hoof on the icy floor, breaking some of the ice on it. Both Pokemon and trainers were dead set on winning this. And with their Pokemon so far seeming to be equal in both speed and strength, there's no telling the outcome. Chapter 113 End!