Chapter 25 - Stun Bomb

Hello, and once again sorry for the long and uncertain hiatus I had on this story. As I said I'll be aiming for a chapter each week, but once I get a stockpile going I'll try and see about more updates. If you notice any mistakes, please don't hesitate to let me know.

Thank you all for reading this chapter, and have a nice day.

-JohnMichaels

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In order to find a stronger trainer to battle against, Quinn set his sights on the Rustboro Gym- of course, his goal is not to battle the gym leader, but instead to battle the apprentices of the gym.

The rules here are much closer to the setting in the game. Trainers who challenge the gym need to battle several of the apprentices in the gym to prove their strength is enough actually to challenge the gym leader.

Maybe the gym leader can't handle so many challenges? Or maybe they just don't have enough time? Of course, the situation of each gym is different. The conditions for obtaining a gym badge don't necessarily need to be defeating the leader in a battle- but can instead be getting their approval.

This kind of win happened when Ash challenged the Pewter Gym and lost twice, but Brock gave him the badge anyways.

After expressing his intention to challenge the gym, Quinn was immediately led to a room that resembled a practice field. Without much waiting, Quinn saw his first opponent- a young man wearing a gym uniform and a red headband.

Approaching the opposite side of the field, he said, "I won't let you get the gym badge so easily!"

Quinn simply remained silent while thinking, 'Silly boy, my goal is not the gym badge, but you!'

(E/N -- Sounds a little wrong there Quinn...)

The other gym apprentices gathered around the field to watch the battle. One of the apprentices approached to act as a referee. The apprentice announced, "The rules of the match are one on one, and each person is only allowed one Pokémon!"

As soon as they finished saying the rules, a whistle was blown. Hearing this, the red headband threw his Pokéball, and a Zigzagoon appeared on the battlefield. Responding in kind, Quinn also released Budew onto the battlefield.

"Go Zigzagoon, use Sand Attack!"

Sand Attack, a Ground-type move, the effect in the game is to throw sand in the opponent's face- reducing the hit chance of the enemy Pokémon. But in reality, the move raises a cloud of dust on the field, blocking the sight of the opponent's Pokémon, and the Zigzagoon can use the fact it knew the move was coming to sneak attack Budew.

Looking into the dust cloud, Quinn commanded, "Budew, use Stun Spore!"

"Bud!"

The light yellow spores shot forward from the bud on Budew's head and began to move into the dust cloud, becoming almost impossible to distinguish from each other.

The red headband, who was about to order Zigzagoon to make a sneak attack, quickly swallowed the words, muttering to himself, "Using Stun Spore as a protective move? This way Zigzagoon can't launch a surprise attack. This trainer seems to be a bit smart..."

On the viewing venue on the side of the field, other gym apprentices watched the battle with interest. At this moment, a young man in a red jacket walked into the room.

Seeing the young man, the apprentices exclaimed, "Gym Leader!"

(E/N -- One of the main reasons this chapter was so difficult was THIS MAN. I couldn't find a thing about previous gym leaders in Rustboro so I just took this as Roxanne's dad or something of the sort...)

Before they could make any further commotion, the gym leader interrupted them with a hush and pointed toward the battle on the gym field.

Sand Attack isn't a field move, so soon the sand knocked in the air by Zigzagoon fell to the ground, revealing his position to Quinn and Budew.

Noticing Zigzagoon through the fading sand, Quinn quickly commanded, "Use Seed Bomb!"

The gym trainer, after seeing the stun spore still drifting in the air commanded, "Zigzagoon, hold your breath and use Headbutt!"

Not a moment after the trainer spoke, a green seed shot towards Zigzagoon- who responded in kind by running towards it while charging his Headbutt and jumping just as the attacks connected.

Seed Bomb and Headbutt collided mid-air. But before Seed Bomb had time to explode, it was knocked away due to the Headbutt and exploded off to the side of the field. But even after knocking away the Seed Bomb, Zigzagoon still had enough momentum to collide with Budew!

Budew let out a painful cry and was knocked back several steps.

"The Stun Spore had almost no effect, and the Seed Bomb seemed a bit weak..." One of the other gym trainers in the viewing area said, "Budew doesn't have many moves before it evolves, right?"

"Yes, it doesn't have many, unless this trainer can do something unexpected he's going to lose."

'Sure enough, compared with the younger trainers outside, the apprentices in the gym are on a different level.' Quinn thought.

After watching the Seed Bomb get knocked away, a new idea emerged in Quinn's mind, 'What if the explosion time is controllable? It may be a bit difficult to actually have the explosion hit as it is, so can it be made to explode as soon as it hits?'

However, now's not the moment to think about it, the battle is not over yet.

Focusing again, Quinn commanded, "Budew, use what we've been practicing!"

Budew gave a cry of confirmation, and another fist-sized seed began to condense above its head.

"Another Seed Bomb?" The gym trainer sighed, saying, "Alright Zigzagoon, attack with Headbutt! Let's end this!"

A familiar scene emerges, Zigzagoon and the Seed Bomb collide in mid-air. Everything seemed the same, but in the next second, a cloud of spores quickly explodes out of the Seed Bomb, covering Zigzagoon!

"That's..!"

"Stun Spore!"

"How is it possible? How did he fuse Stun Spore and Seed Bomb?"

A surprised expression appeared on the faces of everyone watching. The Gym Leader also looked at the battlefield in shock. Even if fusion moves are well known, it's difficult for even some Elite Trainers to use them!

The situation was reversed instantly! Zigzagoon, shocked at the explosion of spores quickly fell to the ground, paralyzed.

"Budew, follow up with Seed Bomb!" Quinn commanded.

Not hesitating, Budew quickly fired a full-power Seed Bomb at the paralyzed Zigzagoon.

When the attack connected, a cloud of smoke overtook the field. The smoke faded away, revealing the fainted Zigzagoon.

"Zigzagoon has lost its ability to battle, the challenger is the winner!" The referee said, raising the flag on Quinn's side of the battlefield. Looking toward Quinn, he asked, "Do you want to continue your challenge?"

Quinn waved his hand in denial, his goal had already been achieved. Moreover, if he hadn't caught the other trainer off guard with Stun Bomb, he wouldn't have won the battle in the first place.

Watching Quinn leave, the Gym Leader smirked while thinking, 'What an interesting kid.'

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Quinn returned to school and began looking back on the battle. Budew has a very small move pool at the moment, and there wasn't much he could do to remedy that. Instead, Quinn began to seriously think about the feasibility of a timed and instant explosion with Seed Bomb.

He explained his idea to Budew, who tried a few times to adjust the move with little effect.

"If we can't change the move itself, then how about controlling the Grass Energy within the move?" Quinn said out loud, thinking.

Nodding to himself, he took Budew and Cramorant to the River to attempt this new idea.

While he developed theories and ideas, Budew experimented with the idea on their own. Continuing this until Christmas Eve, they finally successfully developed a variant of Seed Bomb.

By strengthening the Grass Energy within the move and reducing the thickness of the shell, as long as the move makes contact with something it will explode immediately! Compared to an ordinary Seed Bomb the move's power has taken a step forward.

Trying to delay the explosion has left them with no progress yet, but Quinn has a theory about the possible issues with the current strategy. Because the Pokemon can't influence the move once it's been fired, Budew can't delay the explosion.

Scratching his head in frustration, he said, "I feel more like a researcher than a trainer these days..."