"I return Jolteon to the field."

Throwing his Pokeball far away, a familiar spiky yellow cat appeared at the other end of the field.

"Jolteon, pin missile!"

As the spiky cat began glowing in green, Onix roared in defiance from the other side of the arena.

'I should use this time to let Onix rest...' Bannock judged, "I will use my first return."

With his Onix now sluggish, and out of position, Bannock really didn't wish to see his ace slowly pelted down by long-range pin missiles. Onix was clearly too tired to chase, but that didn't mean he couldn't sway the battle later on.

Having a minute to choose, Bannock picked a Pokeball after careful consideration but still hesitated, 'His Jolteon should still be a little slower after releasing so much energy. Even if Rhydon is extremely weak to fighting type attacks, the threat of an earthquake should still seal Jolteons double-kick...'

But what if that was not the case?

"Rhydon will be my third!"

Aiming as close to Jolteon as possible, Bannock wound back and threw the ball like an expert pitcher.

As the large horned pokemon exploded in the air, Bannock roared, "Rhydon Earthquake!"

But Davos was prepared, "Jolteon, it's coming, agility now and back off!"

Cloaked in purple energy, the swift-footed cat was already leaving afterimages as he leaped through shrapnel and boulders alike to gain distance.

The expected earthquake never came, but sand began to pick up instead.

"Not bad old man..." Muttered Davos, he then gave an order, "Jolteon, double kick, lay him flat!"

"Finish the sandstorm Rhydon!"

Bannock chuckled inwardly, 'Youngster, you aren't the only one who can play tricks.'

Boosted by the agility, Jolteon charged into the sand, but suddenly there was a loud boom.

Jolteon managed to back off in time, but his left leg took a nasty hit when a stray stone charged with rock energy clipped him.

'So, the order to continue the sandstorm had actually been a feint to swap to a quick earthquake' reasoned Davos.

With the sandstorm continuing to bellow again, Davos cursed for falling into the old man's scheme, "If only I still had Kingler, I could have washed away the sand with rain dance."

Unable to do anything, for now, Davos could only wait for the sandstorm to complete.

Twenty seconds later, visibility was restored, but the entire arena was now enriched with large amounts of rock energy.

Jessica was feeling extremely smug, "Grandfathers got him now!" meanwhile Jared had an ugly expression.

"Jolteon, pin missile"

Opening his eyes, and breathing in the air, Rhydon felt more alive than ever. With the natural richness of Pewter Gym combined with the enrichment of sandstorm, the rock energy coursing through his veins filled his old bones with excitement.

"Rhydon, rock tomb-like sandstorm, then rock blast"

Released from the yellow cat, the thin needles of bug energy struck true on Rhydons hard body, but Rhydon easily held on. Controlling the plentiful sand energy in the air, Rhydon then willed it to congregate around Jolteon.

If before the air was like a weak net that restricted movement, now it was more like a wall of water.

Left with few options, Davos could either use his second swap or deal as much damage as possible.

Choosing the latter, he yelled, "Continue to pin missile!"

Beginning to feel uncomfortable with the constant suppressive fire flying into his hide, Rhydon grabbed a rock and crushed it into pebbles. He then reared back before throwing it at the annoying cat.

With a yelp, Jolteon was knocked back when several charged stones impacted several parts of his body.

"Rock throw again!"

Rhydon performed the same action.

With another round of stones painfully striking the cat, Jared had expected the pokemon to finally fall, but he was surprised to see the stubborn electric type still getting up and firing back with a hiss.

Bannock had assumed he held the advantage. With the empowerment of the rock energy, and the gym, as well as the dampening of all other moves. With all these factors combined, he assumed Rhydon would easily win the exchanges, but was he wrong?

The distance separating the two was too considerable for an earthquake, but seeing Jolteon not falling, and his Rhydon growing more sluggish, Bannock was getting concerned.

"Rhydon, get behind cover, and move in closer!"

However, before anything could be done, the build-up of bug energy invading his body actually caused Rhydon to fall unconscious!

Many in the crowd were confused, but a few in the know already understood that the old gym leader and his pokemon no longer had the stamina for slugfests.

Breathing heavily, corroded by rock energy, and bleeding from popped bruises, Jolteon continued firing pin missiles at the downed pokemon. He wouldn't stop until his trainer gave the order!

Bannock let out a long sigh.

"I call Rhydons defeat."

Returning Rhydon to his Pokeball, Bannock grabbed another, "My fourth will be Golem!" and then he immediately sent the pokemon out in an attempt to finish off the battered Jolteon.

Jared had seen this pokemon before. This large pokemon only had its head, arms, and legs visible. it was like a monster trapped in a rocky egg.

"Golem magnitude!"

Appearing far away, Golem oriented itself towards his foe and immediately began channeling rock energy into the ground below.

"Jolteon pin missile!"

.

After tanking three rounds of long-range pin missiles, Golem roared as the ground began shifting in front of him. In a cone, the ground began mellow, but picked up pace as the attack seemed to gain momentum.

Having seen earthquake in action, Jared, as an observer quickly realized the difference between magnitude and earthquake. While earthquake was stronger the nearer to the pokemon you got, magnitude seemed like the polar opposite. It needed momentum!

"Well, this is going to be bad", whispered Jared.

A second before the fearsome rumblings of the earth could connect, Davos called Jolteons defeat and returned his pokemon to his ball.

Meanwhile, the earth continued to rumble.The ground may have been cracked and broken now, but whatever the barrier containing the arena was made of, it didn't even crack from the powerful attack.

During this time, Jared noticed a Onix had been warily eyeing the approaching earth in the stands. When bits of rock erupted forth, the pokemon had deftly intercepted and deflected the shrapnel with his enormous tail.

While waiting as long as he was legally allowed for the sandstorm to dissipate further, Davos finally declared, "My third shall be Fearow!"

Davos was smiling from ear to ear. While golem was extreamly strong defensively, easily being able to take many attacks, most Golems suffered from a flaw. Although a golem's arms were strong beyond belief, and can deliver life-threatening rock throws, their range of motion can easily be exploited by a fast flying type.

He knew his opponent wouldn't swap out, and that's because Bannock was under the pretense that Fearow would have to get in close, and exchange blows.

Smirking, Davos threw his Pokeball into the air, and a long-necked bird with a mean streak flapped his strong wings.

Hoping to take the initiative before the pokemon was ready, Bannock had already called for a Rock throw!

Shooting through the air like a comet, the large agile bird narrowly dodged the projectiles, while angrily glaring in response.

Davos clicked his tongue at the sneaky attack, but soon gave his own order, "Fearow, fly right above him."

With a few flaps, the Fearow was already sharking right above the giant stone ball.

Smirking, Davos asked his opponent, "Not gonna switch out yet?"

Bannock just gave a pensive stare, so Davos decided to give the old man a little surprise he had been cooking up.

"...Fearow. Twister."

Bannock was shocked. He knew Fearows moves inside and out. They were all used repeatly during the gym challenges against his son. It was also a fact that Fearow were all notoriously bad at learning ranged attacks!

As spiraling light blue energy descended straight down, Bannock shouted out, "Golem, defense curl flow to stone!"

Rock energy was hugging closely to the Golem, while the round creature tucked in and braced for the attack.

"Flow?" Jared was fascinated as he heard a new term. He had assumed pokemon moves were a static thing, but time and time again, his logic had been broken. The Kingler had turned a bubble beam into a land mine, the Golem turned the rock tomb into something else. Sure, he hadn't seen what those attacks looked like without being 'changed,' but he felt there had to be something to this!