Grey's POV
We continued with our training, and I left Rock Tomb and Brick Break to Fraxure and Heracross to manage for the ones who were currently practicing them. I decided to focus on checking on the Teleport training for Exeggutor and Cloyster.
The two were currently battling it out with each other while relying on Teleport more often to practice the move in an actual battle.
I watched them for a while before deciding to pause their battle for now.
"Exeggutor, how well can you manage Teleport outside of battle? Can you teleport to Pewter City if I ask you to?"
Exeggutor informed me that he couldn't do that yet, but it was only a matter of time before he reached the level where he would be able to teleport that far.
I thought about it for a moment before asking another question.
"Then can we teleport towards Pewter in bursts? As in, half the distance or even a quarter of the distance, and then keep teleporting one after another until we reach there?"
Exeggutor told me that should be possible.
Great.
With this, we wouldn't have to retravel all the distances we had already covered before. Besides, I wasn't exactly interested in battling the same trainers along the path again. I would have to go all the way back to Saffron after this for my next gym badge anyway, passing through Pewter, Cerulean, and Vermillion before using a different path to reach Saffron.
If Teleport could cut down that travel time, then why the hell wouldn't I use it?
I told Exeggutor and Cloyster to continue their training. As for me, I had already made up my mind.
I would challenge Steven tomorrow.
Steven had said he would be staying in Heart Village for a week, and I wanted to challenge him at least once during that period. Challenging him tomorrow also gave me a backup plan. If I lost the first battle, I would still have enough time to prepare and challenge him again before the week was over.
Of course, if I won tomorrow, there would be no reason to stay for the entire week.
I would stay one more day, make sure everything was settled, and then leave.
—————————————————
Third Person POV
The next day arrived, and Grey wasted no time.
Since there wasn't exactly a proper gym building for Steven, Grey first had to ask a few people around Heart Village about his location. After getting a rough idea of where the archaeologists had been working, he made his way toward the mountainous areas surrounding the village.
Eventually, Grey found Steven.
The Rock-type specialist was standing with a few archaeologists, talking about something that had apparently been discovered during their latest excavation. From the looks of it, they were more interested in gossiping about their discoveries than actually working at the moment.
Grey walked over.
"Steven."
Steven turned around.
"Oh, Grey. What brings you here?"
"I came for the gym battle."
Steven blinked before looking around at the mountainous terrain.
"Sure. I'm free right now anyway."
Apparently, that was all it took.
There was no need for a gym building, no need for some elaborate preparation. Steven simply agreed to have the battle right there in the mountainous area where they were standing.
Grey was perfectly fine with that.
One of the archaeologists even volunteered to act as the referee, and soon both sides moved away from the others and took their positions.
After a little waiting, the referee raised his hand.
"Begin!"
Both trainers immediately released their Pokémon.
Steven sent out Claydol.
Grey sent out Exeggutor.
The moment the battle began, Grey gave his first command.
"Sunny Day!"
"Sandstorm!"
Both Pokémon immediately began manipulating the weather.
Claydol was faster, and the Sandstorm started forming first, the winds beginning to pick up around the battlefield.
But Exeggutor's move came right after.
The sunlight broke through the gathering sandstorm, and within moments the weather changed.
The battlefield was bathed in bright sunlight.
Steven narrowed his eyes.
Exeggutor was slower than Claydol, yet the order of the moves meant that its Sunny Day had overridden the Sandstorm.
He couldn't simply go for another Sandstorm.
If he gave Exeggutor enough time to set up the weather again, Claydol could end up taking a clean hit while trying to establish the Sandstorm.
"Psychic!"
Claydol immediately fired a powerful psychic force toward Exeggutor.
"Teleport!"
Exeggutor disappeared.
The psychic attack passed through the space where it had been standing.
A moment later, Exeggutor appeared behind Claydol.
Before Steven could even give another command, Grey shouted.
"Giga Drain!"
Energy surged through Exeggutor's heads as vines of green energy wrapped around Claydol. The Grass-type attack began draining Claydol's energy, pulling it into Exeggutor and restoring its own strength.
"Rock Tomb!"
Claydol reacted quickly.
Rocks rose from the ground and shot toward Exeggutor from multiple directions.
"Teleport!"
Exeggutor disappeared again.
The rocks crashed into the empty space where it had been standing.
Steven looked at Exeggutor carefully.
He had already figured out the problem.
With the sunlight boosting its abilities and the weather no longer being Sandstorm, Exeggutor was faster than Claydol.
But Steven didn't look worried.
Instead, he gave Grey a small smile.
"Two can play that game."
He signaled to Claydol.
"Teleport!"
Claydol vanished.
Grey's eyes widened slightly.
A second later, Claydol appeared directly in front of Exeggutor.
"Ancient Power!"
The ancient rocks of energy surged toward Exeggutor at point-blank range.
"Reflect!"
Exeggutor immediately raised a psychic barrier.
The Ancient Power slammed into the barrier, with Exeggutor reinforcing it with Psychic to withstand the attack.
But even with the defensive response, some of the attack managed to get through.
And then something unexpected happened.
Claydol's body began glowing.
The ancient energy surged through it, strengthening every part of its body.
Attack.
Special Attack.
Speed.
Defense.
Special Defense.
All of them rose.
Grey's eyes widened.
An omni-boost.
He had gotten lucky.
Very lucky.
Grey didn't waste time thinking about it.
"Grassy Terrain!"
Exeggutor released a wave of Grass-type energy across the battlefield.
The rocky ground began transforming as grass spread across the area, covering the battlefield in a layer of green energy.
The terrain would strengthen Exeggutor's Grass-type attacks, provide gradual healing, and most importantly, reduce the effectiveness of any Ground-type attack Claydol might try to use.
And Steven immediately took the bait.
"Earth Power!"
Claydol unleashed a powerful Ground-type attack.
Grey didn't even bother ordering Exeggutor to dodge.
Instead, he shouted,
"Psychic!"
Exeggutor's psychic power surged forward, locking Claydol in place.
The Earth Power struck Exeggutor head-on.
The Grass-type Pokémon barely reacted.
The Grassy Terrain had done its job.
And before Claydol could recover, Grey gave his next command.
"Giga Drain!"
The energy surrounding Exeggutor surged toward Claydol.
Green tendrils of energy wrapped around the injured Pokémon, draining its remaining strength and feeding it into Exeggutor.
Claydol was already on its last legs.
Steven realized it as well.
"Explosion!"
Claydol immediately disappeared with Teleport.
Grey's eyes widened.
The next moment, Claydol appeared right beside Exeggutor.
A massive amount of energy began gathering around it.
"Protect!"
Grey's command came instantly.
The battlefield erupted.
A gigantic explosion swallowed Exeggutor and Claydol, sending rocks, dust and debris flying in every direction.
The archaeologists watching from the side instinctively covered their faces as the shockwave spread through the mountainous area.
For several seconds, neither Pokémon could be seen.
Then the dust began to settle.
Grey's eyes widened.
Exeggutor was standing there.
Completely unharmed.
A green barrier surrounded the Pokémon.
Grey couldn't help but grin.
Just this morning, Bill had delivered the Protect TM.
Grey had immediately transferred the TM knowledge to Exeggutor.
The move wasn't perfect yet. Exeggutor couldn't maintain a flawless Protect barrier.
But it had managed to pull it off.
The barrier was visibly cracked from the force of the Explosion, but it had absorbed the majority of the attack.
And whatever the imperfect Protect had failed to block, Exeggutor had used Psychic to hold back.
Most of the explosion's force had been stopped.
Exeggutor hadn't even taken enough damage for Grey to be worried.
Steven recalled Claydol.
Exeggutor remained on the field, with the Grassy Terrain slowly restoring its health.
Not that it needed much healing after shrugging off the majority of an Explosion.
Steven reached for his next Poké Ball.
Grey's expression became serious.
This wasn't over yet.
Steven released his final Pokémon.
A Cofagrigus appeared on the battlefield.
Grey immediately became alert.
He knew this Pokémon could cause some problems.
And Steven wasted no time proving him right.
"Trick Room!"
The battlefield warped.
The air itself seemed to distort as the strange dimensional effect took hold.
Grey immediately understood what had happened.
Trick Room.
The slower Pokémon would now move first.
And unfortunately for Exeggutor, that meant the speed advantage it had gained from the sunlight was now working against it.
Steven had completely changed the battlefield.
But Grey wasn't going to stay silent.
"Solar Beam!"
Exeggutor immediately began charging.
The sunlight made the process much faster, and enormous amounts of Grass-type energy gathered between its heads.
A massive beam of energy formed.
"Fire!"
Exeggutor unleashed Solar Beam.
Cofagrigus raised its barrier.
"Protect!"
The Solar Beam slammed into the Protect barrier, the enormous beam spreading across its surface but failing to break through.
Cofagrigus emerged from the attack unharmed.
Then it suddenly seemed to disappear.
Grey's eyes narrowed.
At first, it looked like Cofagrigus had used some sort of Teleport.
But Grey quickly realized what had actually happened.
It was simply moving extremely quickly under Trick Room.
Cofagrigus appeared directly in front of Exeggutor.
"Shadow Ball!"
A Shadow Ball formed at point-blank range.
"Psychic!"
Exeggutor tried to block it with Psychic, but the distance was simply too short.
The Shadow Ball slammed directly into Exeggutor.
The impact forced Exeggutor backward.
"Giga Drain!"
Exeggutor immediately counterattacked.
Green energy shot toward Cofagrigus.
But Cofagrigus moved out of the way with its increased effective speed under Trick Room.
"Will-O-Wisp!"
A blue flame shot toward Exeggutor.
The flames wrapped around the Grass-type Pokémon, burning it.
Grey frowned.
The battle had changed completely.
Cofagrigus was using Trick Room brilliantly.
But Exeggutor had one advantage that Cofagrigus couldn't easily account for.
Teleport.
"Teleport!"
Exeggutor disappeared.
Cofagrigus turned around.
Exeggutor reappeared directly in front of it.
The moment it appeared, energy began gathering inside its mouths.
Cofagrigus recognized what was coming.
"Protect!"
Cofagrigus began forming its barrier.
But Grey had anticipated that.
"Kevin!"
One of Exeggutor's heads immediately acted.
Psychic surged from Kevin's head and struck Cofagrigus's forming Protect barrier.
The barrier shattered before it could fully form.
The psychic force then continued, locking Cofagrigus in place.
"Solar Beam!"
The massive beam fired at point-blank range.
Cofagrigus had nowhere to run.
The Solar Beam slammed directly into it.
The Ghost-type Pokémon was blasted backward, its body heavily damaged from the attack.
But Steven wasn't giving up.
"Shadow Ball!"
Cofagrigus gathered the last of its strength and fired.
The Shadow Ball flew directly toward Exeggutor.
But at that exact moment, the distorted space around the battlefield began returning to normal.
Trick Room expired.
Exeggutor's natural speed advantage returned.
"Teleport!"
Exeggutor vanished.
The Shadow Ball passed through empty space.
Exeggutor appeared to the side.
"Giga Drain!"
Green energy surged forward.
Cofagrigus was too injured to evade this time.
The attack struck directly, draining the last of its remaining energy.
Cofagrigus collapsed.
The referee immediately raised his hand.
"Cofagrigus is unable to battle! Exeggutor wins! The victory goes to Grey!"
Grey let out a breath.
Steven then went towards Grey and gave him the Ruin Badge for victory against him and explained this badge would be counted in the indigo league for the gym badges to register.
Author's Note: Have been very busy and will continue to be not sure if the chapter is good or not as havent done a cross reference still here it is