Into the Dark - A Pokemon Isekai

Gardenia’s Cherubi was fast, for a Cherubi.

That sounded dismissive, but I was genuinely impressed at how quickly it sped up, dashing forwards towards Zetian. Cherubi weren’t known to be particularly fast, just the opposite in fact, since their stubby legs didn’t lend themselves to speed or maneuverability.

It was remarkable that Gardenia’s Pokémon was able to move so fluidly, but it wasn’t Zetian.

Zetian had been ecstatic ever since I had told her the plan, and how she would be the lynch-pin in the fight against Gardenia. She had been vibrating more than usual with excitement, and I’d had to tell her multiple times that she needed to rest and save her energy.

She wasn’t bothering to save her energy now.

Zetian zipped forwards like she had been shot out of a cannon, her stinger primed and ready. Our strategy was simple by design - Zetian didn’t know many moves, only Sweet Scent, Gust, Struggle Bug, and Bug Bite, and she wouldn’t learn any more until she evolved. It was better for her to keep moving and hit as hard as she could then, using Bug Bite as her strongest move to whittle down Gardenia’s Pokémon.

I felt something change, and I looked up from the two rapidly closing Pokémon to see the smile still firmly in place on Gardenia’s lips.

Something’s wrong!

“Zetian! Wave off!” I called, but it was too late.

Her stinger came slashing down, and the Cherubi squealed in pain as a large chunk of the leaf on its head was torn away by the blow. But the seeds that had been held in place underneath the leaf also came away with the blow, latching onto Zetian.

They pulsed green as Zetian beat back into the air, away from the Cherubi, and the little Combee staggered in mid air.

On the ground, a smug looking Cherubi also pulsed with a green light, and it stood a little taller than it did before.

Leech Seed!

It was then that I realized the critical error that I had made. I had never paid too much attention to Gardenia’s gym, always knocking it out early with only a little bit of effort before moving on to more important things in the games.

But Gardenia’s Gym had another theme beyond just making a challenger fight all of the Gym Trainers - she liked to use status effects and the weather to power up her own Pokémon.

A Leech Seed wouldn’t do much damage to Zetian, it was weak on two fronts, but even a little bit of chip damage could swing the tide of an entire battle.

We were now in a race against time.

“Sorry about that!” Gardenia called, in a tone that told me she wasn’t really that sorry. “But I heard interesting things about you, and I wanted to make the fight a little more fun!”

I ground my teeth. “Zetian, end this quickly!”

Gardenia pouted a little bit. “No witty banter? Shame. Ref, I’m using my switches. Sakura, return!”

Zetian dived, but the referee blew a whistle, and she pulled up, glaring at Gardenia. In a flash of light, the Cherubi vanished, and Gardenia held up another Poké Ball.

“Genbu! It’s your turn!”

A Turtwig appeared on the battling court, opening its maw and roaring. It was a bit high-pitched, this wasn’t a Torterra after all, and I couldn’t help myself.

I may have squealed a little bit at how absolutely adorable it was.

I loved Turtwig. It had been my first Starter when I’d played the Generation 4 games, and even though I had played with the other two Starters in my later playthroughs, I always kept returning to the little grass turtle.

Zetian shot me a look with one of her faces, and I promptly tried to get myself back on track.

The referee looked between us, and nodded. “Resume!”

“Genbu! Sunny Day!”

My eyes widened. “No! Zetian, don’t let it get that off!”

The Turtwig nodded, bracing all four feet on the ground as it looked up at the skylight.

Zetian tried her best to get to the Turtwig before it got its move off, but she was too late.

I wasn’t sure exactly what it did, or how the move actually worked, but in a second the entire stage changed. The sunlight streaming in through the glass ceiling felt somehow stronger, more oppressive.

A moment after the Sunny Day took hold, Zetian was diving down onto Genbu. Her stinger flashed and flailed as she tried to get through the shell on the Turtwig’s back.

Thankfully it hadn’t hardened into the stone-like shell of Torterra, and I could see the stiletto-like stinger sink into the gaps between the plates of Genbu.

The other Pokémon cried out in pain, and I tried to stop myself from feeling guilty.

It’ll be fine. I told myself. This is a Gym Leader’s Pokémon, it’s used to battling like this. Besides, it’s not like this is life or death.

Not like fighting Kane.

Then the seeds still attached to Zetian pulsed, and she quivered in pain.

“Razor Leaf!” Gardenia called.

Genbu cracked its neck like a whip, the small twig on its head glowing green in response to the command, and a vivid leaf spun like a spinning saw blade at Zetian.

She took the hit well, but I could see that it still hurt her, pushing her back from the turtle-like Pokémon.

A thought crossed my mind, a potential way out of the situation.

“Zetian! Use Gust! Underneath the Turtwig!”

Zetian didn’t bother to question the strange command, rearing up and beating her wings even more viciously at Genbu, the gusts of wind almost visible with the Flying-type Energy infused into the move.

Even from this distance I could see Gardenia’s eyes widen as she realized what I was trying to do.

Genbu, bless its little heart, didn’t have a chance to react.

The gusts of wind didn’t hit the Turtwig directly, instead they smashed into the ground just below its stomach.

If it was a normal wind, that would have been the end of it, and nothing of any note would happen as the small localized gale of wind dispersed off of the floor into the surrounding air.

But Pokémon had a way of changing things, and the energy that had been infused into the blow made it much more like a physical object.

I didn’t know exactly what Type Energy was, or how it worked. As far as I knew, nobody really did. It was something that Pokémon, and some humans, could harness and use to power up things that normally shouldn’t work.

A Pokémon pulling a blizzard in the middle of a desert, for example, or a human reading people’s minds and levitating objects.

People had been working on the problem of how to explain Type Energy for centuries in this world, and none had ever fully understood it. I wasn’t a physicist, or a biologist, or anything else, so I didn’t even bother attempting to figure it out. All I knew was that it made the impossible possible.

The Gust of wind ricocheted off of the ground, slamming into Genbu’s stomach, picking the Turtwig off of the floor and throwing it onto its back.

Its little legs waved wildly as it tried to right itself, and I was sure that with enough time it could have accomplished the feat. Zetian didn’t allow it to have that time.

She practically teleported on top of the flailing Turtwig, and without a single order from me she jabbed the stinger into the much thinner shell on its stomach.

The Leech Seed pulsed again, sucking more of her vitality out of the Combee, but it wasn’t enough to save the Turtwig.

With one last jab from the stinger, the Turtwig went limp.

I’d made sure to educate Zetian that this wasn’t like the fight against Kane, and thankfully she pulled away once she noticed that Genbu was unconscious.

“Leader Gardenia’s Pokémon is unable to continue battling!” The referee called. “Leader Gardenia, please recall your Pokémon and send your next one out!”

Genbu disappeared into Gardenia’s Poké Balls, and I blinked at their appearance. They were… green?

I didn’t know of any green Poké Balls, but they looked good, and I mentally made a note to see if it would be possible to ask Gardenia where she had gotten hers.

Gardenia held up the Poké Ball to her mouth, muttering something to it quietly, before putting back on her belt. She then pulled off another, and Sakura returned to the field.

The little Cherubi staggered a little as it came out of its Ball, but then steadied. It raised its face to the ceiling, and let out a small cry of excitement as I realized why Gardenia’s Turtwig had focused on setting up Sunny Day instead of trying to take out Zetian with more attacks.

“Leader Gardenia, are you ready?” Gardenia nodded.

“Challenger Knighton, ready?”

I gulped, but nodded all the same.

“Let the battle continue!”

“Zetian, end it quickly! Gust again!”

“Sakura, Morning Sun.”

Cherubi’s ability was Chlorophyll, which doubled the speed of the Pokémon in harsh sunlight, which the interior of the Gym definitely now counted as. Where Sakura had once been much slower than Zetian, its leaves now almost shone with inner light, and when Zetian beat her wings to release her attack, the Cherubi easily danced to the side, letting the wind howl harmlessly nearby.

Motes of light seemed to gather around Sakura, the sunlight filling its body and restoring its heath. Then the green Leech Seeds on Zetian pulsed once more, and as the light faded, the Cherubi looked completely unharmed.

I grimaced, and looked over to the referee.

“I’m using a switch!”

The ref blew their whistle again, and Zetian spun to look at me with various expressions of dismay and frustration.

I recalled her into her Ball, and the green seeds that had been stuck onto her body fell off, turning brown and rotten as they dropped to the floor.

“Trust me.” I said to the Poké Ball. “This isn’t the end of it for you.”

The Ball wiggled, but Zetian accepted the maneuver, and settled down as I placed her back onto my belt.

I really didn’t want to do this, but if we wanted to win…

Releasing Venus, I knelt down by her side, looking the already injured Pokémon in her eyes.

“Trainer Knighton-”

“It’s okay.” Gardenia interrupted. “Let her have a moment.”

The ref grumbled, but quieted down.

“Hey girl.” I said softly. “We’re in a bit of a tough spot. Gardenia’s one Pokémon down, but her Cherubi is back at full health, and she’s gotten a buff from the sunlight.”

Venus cocked her head, and while I could tell she was confused at some of my terminology, she seemed to get the gist of it.

“Zetian had some Leech Seeds on her that could only be gotten rid of by switching her out. She’s still our best bet to beat Gardenia, but… we’re out of switches.”

I took a deep breath.

“You might get knocked out during the fight. Please, don’t think of this like I’m sacrificing you, because that’s not what I’m-”

Venus rolled her eyes, and leaned forwards, bumping her head against my nose and cutting me off.

“You’re… okay with this? If you’re not, we can stop the match right now.”

She batted at me with her paws, and I felt some of the tension seep out of me.

“Okay. I’ll trust you.”

I stood back up, and looked at Gardenia, who had a complicated expression on her face that I couldn’t quite read.

“Ready?” She asked, and I took another deep breath, before squaring my shoulders and nodding.

“Ready.”

The referee looked a little annoyed, but called for the match to continue.

“Venus! No need to get fancy!”

A flick of her ear was the only sign that she acknowledged me, and was off to the races against the Cherubi.

Even with all of our speed training, with the sun streaming down through the skylight, Gardenia’s Sakura would be faster than Venus was, if not for the simple fact that Quick Attack was, well, quick.

Venus blurred into a line of light as she streaked forwards, smashing into the Cherubi’s side and knocking it to the ground.

Sakura was experienced however, and it turned its body as it fell, falling on the smaller cherry-like head/fruit thing attached to its stem.

The little head gave a small cry of panic, but the maneuver caused Sakura to bounce back to its feet.

“Leafage!” Gardenia called, and the leaves on the stem glowed brightly before a hail of energy burst off of the little Cherubi.

They smashed into Venus, who whimpered with pain as she was pushed back by the sheer weight of the attack.

Small cuts opened up underneath her fur from the dozens of razor sharp “leaves,” but I was less worried than I could have been. Just before they’d hit, I’d noticed that the energy leaves had dimmed in brightness, losing some of their potency.

After all, this was a competition battle, not a fight to the death. Otherwise I’m sure that the attack would have left much bigger wounds.

Even still, Venus was wobbling on her feet after the attack, and I resisted the urge to withdraw her right now and take her to the Pokémon Center.

She wouldn’t be able to take another hit, and I was out of switches.

“Again!” I called, and Venus zipped forwards in light.

The exchange played out almost the same way, but this time when Venus was hit by the Leafage, she collapsed.

“Challenger Knighton’s Pokémon is unable to continue battling!” The referee called. “Challenger Knighton, please recall your Pokémon and send your next one out!”

“You did amazing.” I said to Venus’ Poké Ball once she had been returned.

The ball didn’t wiggle, and I tried not to worry too much.

“Zetian!” I called, throwing her Ball onto the field. “I choose you!”

The Combee didn’t bother with showing off at all, and even from behind I could tell that she was furious. Zetian was badly hurt, but Venus had done some damage against Sakura as well.

This would be resolved in one, maybe two exchanges.

The world slowed down to a crawl, and my focus narrowed entirely onto the battling court in front of me. There wasn’t much I could actually do right now, it was all up to Zetian.

The referee’s arm lowered.