Chapter 75: Duel

Happy New Year!

Hope you guys enjoyed the holidays.

Enjoy a few chapters!

Let's get those power stones rolling back in!

Release: 1/3.

*

Lieutenant Surge raised his two arms, extending them upward and crouched his back a bit. I then saw him start lifting his left foot, and then his right foot off the ground a bit, making sure they never stood still. He had entered a boxing stance of sorts. However I wasn't sure if boxing existed in the Pokemon World. Martial Arts did, but maybe it went under a different name here.

As for me, I now had my left shoulder facing Lieutenant Surge, with my left hand formed into a fist and extended out. My right arm wrapped behind my back. Very similar to how Sebas takes his fighting stance from Overlord, but mine was reversed.

"My apologies, but it looks like be the one to take the first strike.", I declared.

"Bring it, baby. I'll take any punch ya throw at me!", Lieutenant Surge said, taunting back at me.

It was these types of stances that it was better to wait for the opponent to move first and react accordingly, but I decided to make the first move. I swiftly stepped in, and swung my left fist hard. Lieutenant Surge brought both of his arms together, creating a shield. My fist was fast, but I poured my energy into it, and struck hard. Bang!

And not giving any time to spare, I jumped up and did a quick twist of my waist. My left leg spun around my backside as I flipped over. Lieutenant Surge was quick to react to where I aimed for my next strike, his shoulder. After blocking my first punch, he formed a palm with both of his hands and swiftly moved it to his shoulders to block my kick. The moment the sole of my shoe struck his palms, another loud echo resounded in the gym.

Unfortunately for me though, he grinned, and was able to grab a hold of my shoe once it was in his palm. With a fast jerk, Lieutenant Surge stressed his muscles a bit and took a firm stance into the ground. He then did a twisting motion, and flung me horizontally while I was still in the air. Yet I took this spinning and gained some momentum, swiftly rotating back around, and struck out with my feet again, aiming for his chest once more. Bang!

This time, I was able to use enough force to push Lieutenant Surge back a bit as he felt a strong impact strike against his chest. I was able to flip one more time, landing back on my own feet not too far away. I took this time to enter my stance again. But as I did this, the Trainers' eyes turned wide, seeing their Gym Leader get pushed back from that exchange just now.

"No way...The boss really got pushed back?", One of the Trainers uttered in surprise.

"Beedrill!", Beedrill also yelled out, excited as it buzzed around in place from the side. Raichu also had fun watching on.

Yet I only saw a smile appear on Lieutenant Surge's face.

"So ya do got some power in those strikes, kid.", Lieutenant Surge said as he felt his chest sting from that impact. He acted normally afterward though, and he started to hop back and forth again. Hearing that, I also grinned back at him.

"So you aren't calling me a loser anymore?", I asked back.

"Hahah! We will find that out kid. Let's see how you do up close.", Lieutenant Surge declared. And just like that, I saw him move swiftly, only taking a couple strides before he was right up to me.

I had little time to spare on my end before Lieutenant Surge started throwing rather quick jabs at me. Left, right, left again, he was very quick. And every time, more punching sounds would echo in the gym. Thankfully I was able to react quickly just like I had done before, and met my fists with his. We wore no fist guards or anything, so every punch we collided with, both of us felt heavy blows. His fists were quite larger than mine as well, so the effect was more on me. After a few exchanges of throwing punches, our fingers started to redden, and any more would likely cause blood to form and splatter.

This wasn't an all-out brawl, only a spar, so the moment I realized I saw this happening, the next strike we collided against, I managed to quickly retreat back by jumping. Seeing this, Lieutenant Surge smiled again.

"So ya can keep up with me in close combat too. Not bad, kid. You'd be great for a sparring partner actually.", Lieutenant Surge replied, giving a compliment.

"Thank you. You are quite good yourself. As expected of a military veteran I should say. Why don't we stop here?"

"So ya noticed that too? I was a bit rash to begin this spar so quickly, and forgot to bring out my training equipment. Sorry about that.", Lieutenant Surge said, apologizing while scratching his head. I saw his fists were quite reddened at this point too.

"Haha, it's fine. I could fight evenly against you, even if it was just for a little bit. I had fun.", I replied with a laugh.

"Same here, kid. Do ya want to rest up a bit before we start your gym challenge?", Lieutenant Surge asked.

"Nah I'm good.", I answered back.

Hearing that though, Lillie frowned.

"While that was fun to watch, we really should treat your fists, Itsuki. Look.", Lillie asked, pointing toward me with a worried voice.

We all looked down to have a look at my fists that received quite a few blows. Sure enough, in the next moment, the skin started to tear, and blood started pouring out. Perhaps it was the adrenaline from the spar just now, but I didn't feel any pain. It was more of a numbing sensation. (

"Guess I came out the victor in that exchange, kid, hahaha!", Lieutenant Surge let out another laugh seeing my fists start bleeding over.

Serena and Lillie didn't hesitate to come to my side after Lieutenant Surge said that.

"Are you alright, Itsuki?", Serena asked, also worried.

"Never been better. We probably should get this treated though."

"That's where I come in.", Lillie replied confidently.

I would often end up injured or end up falling unconscious during my training rounds with Master Hobbes. His training was a lot stricter than the spar I had with Lieutenant Surge just now, so I can handle an injury like this easily. Sure, I could let my Squirtle heal this wound up by calling him out, but Lillie spent personal time learning how to address wounds such as this one while we were together back then. I would always get treated by her, so this time was no less.

Lillie quickly got some bandages out of her own bag, and some medicine to treat my wound. After applying it, I saw white bandages get wrapped around my fists. Good as new for now.

"How does it feel now, Itsuki?"

"Feels great now, thank you. I may need help eating dinner later though, heh.", I replied with a retort.

"Hehe, I think we can make that happen.", Serena replied with a grin herself.

"Boss, are ya fine? How are ya fists lookin'?", One of the Trainers asked from his side.

"I should probably take a few minutes too. I'll meet ya guys back here in 5.", Lieutenant Surge answered. We nodded at his words.

A couple moments passed as Lieutenant Surge and Raichu exited the backend of the building. Both the Trainers from his side and us three waited in anticipation. Before long, we saw him come back, and it looked like he was ready to have a Pokemon Battle.

Seeing this, one of the Trainers went to the side again to be the ref. We didn't speak anymore, and we both looked on in anticipation, waiting for him to start the battle. In which, he spoke out in a loud voice.

"This will be a one on one Pokemon Battle between the challenger, Itsuki, and our very own Gym Leader, Lieutenant Surge! The last Pokemon left standing will be declared the victor! Battlers, bring out your Pokemon!", the ref announced in a loud voice.

"Let's do this. Go Raichu!", Lieutenant Surge said excitedly.

"Raichu!", Raichu yelled out, jumping in front of Lieutenant Surge, onto the battle field. It was just a stone field clad in a yellow design, and there was no obstacles. We were free to attack with what we wanted to.

"It's your turn for this one, Beedrill.", I answered back.

"Bee.", Beedrill replied, quickly flying out in front of me.

Seeing both sides ready, the ref spoke out once more.

"Let the battle begin!"

My third gym battle was now underway!

*

Release: 1/3.