Desmond nodded in response to April's answer, understanding her reasons. As she started walking, he followed, figuring this would be an interesting to witness. He was, however, surprised as they exited the School, only to see the crowd that obviously yelled that it was the Gym. He was confused on how he missed it, but figured it just meant he needed to be more aware next time. "I have no idea." He responded, shrugging at the sight. He began trying to follow her as she made her way through the crowd, occasionally losing sight of her. Thankfully for the most part her path managed to be his own, though he occasionally had to request for others to move, a number of apologies coming from him as he tried to reach the front. Once he managed to push through, he was taken by surprise by what was happening; There wasn't two people battling, but four. Desmond found this strange, considering Grant always battled solo, and began assuming there was something wrong. He was about to ask April about it, but saw the look on her face and became silent, looking to where she was. _'Is that her father?'_ He wondered, noticing the injuries on the man's Ninetails. It wasn't in good shape, and didn't look like it should still be going. A large amount of concern crossed his mind as he shifted his view back and forth from April and the battle. --- **"And here I thought this would at least be somewhat of a challenge... I always get the boring jobs."** The Grunt spoke with some disappointment, seeming to see the approaching Ninetails to be a pathetic display. What did this breeder intend to do with such a beaten Pokemon, get it killed? He'd be happy to help the man with that, if he was going to get in the way. **"Bergmite!"** The Grunt called, staring at the Ninetails. **"Take Down!"** The Grunt's command caught the Bergmite's attention, as it was staring at Nina coldly. It wasn't in the best condition against the evolved fire-type after exchanging a few hits, but wasn't planning on backing down. It let out a small cry as it charged forward, though it didn't move as fast as Rick's Ninetails. The Grunt was more concerned about his superior... And the little runt Pokemon she used. Her display was embarrassing, but he figured saying anything would just get him in more trouble than he needed, so he focused on his own part of the fight. --- **"Icebeam?!"** Viola was taken by surprise when she heard this, glancing up at her Vivillon which was focused on the Cubchoo after the callout. Did it really have such a move? It seemed so incompetent up to this point that Viola assumed she was bluffing. While this was a chance to strike, she was feeling terrible about attacking the poor Cubchoo. It didn't seem to really want to be in it's current position, but it was stuck in the battle anyhow. At the same time, the situation required Viola to win. She couldn't allow this woman to take her Pokemon, and couldn't risk this Cubchoo possibly using Icebeam as Vivillon was weak against it. She knew she needed to take action quickly, before she was put in a dangerous situation. **"Alright, Vivillon! Use Energy Ball!"** Vivillon let out a loud cry as confirmation concerning Viola's command, it's wings fully open as a light-green ball of energy formed in front of it's mouth, only to be fired off towards the Cubchoo moments later. --- Desmond, at this point, couldn't even speak. He was confused, excited, and somewhat fearful all at the same time. His eyes locked onto both sides and he observed them carefully, as he was unsure of where this was going. He occasionally glanced back at April to make sure she was alright, but wasn't certain if she was okay on the inside. He wasn't even certain of how he himself felt about this.

Rick and Grunt His eyes narrowed as he heard the command from the other trainer. **"Nina, dodge left and Attack A!"** He called out to her, his voice loud and clear despite the shaking in his hands. Nina nodded very shallowly and bolted for the left, darting around the Bergmite with relative ease. As she did so, she jumped up and over the Bergmite from it's left side, releasing a torrent of flames on it's back from her mouth. Rick let out a sigh of relief and called out once again, **"Good job! Formation B, now!"** As he did so, Nina seemed to read his mind, stepping on the pokemon's back as she bolted back towards Rick. She skidded to a stop, kicking up dust around them as she turned and took a defensive stance in front of Rick. The dust billowed and floated in the other pokemon's direction. --- Caroline and Viola Cubchoo sent a hateful glance at Caroline and then looked back at Vivillion. He huffed a bit and turned his head again. Because of this, April suddenly came into his view. But before he could run over to her, he felt the energy ball hit his side. It knocked him down, causing him to slide a ways away. The crowd moved back a bit, giving the little guy some room, however he didn't seem to be getting up. **"No!! Dammit!"** Carolina cried out, stomping the ground with her foot. Without returning the pokemon to his ball, she pulled out another and threw it out there. **"Get her, Lapras!"** She called out, clearly getting angry. The blue sea pokemon let out a roar as he was released from his pokeball. **"Use water pulse!"** She called out and returned to her usual act of spinning. The young Lapras nodded and took aim at the defending pokemon, releasing a strange sound it's way. --- April Relaxing a bit after watching her father and Nina a bit, she realized what he was up to. However, a loud crash to the right of her cause her to jump and turn her head. Surrounded by a crowd of people was a small defeated Cubchoo laying on the ground. Her eyes widening, she rushed over to it and began ruffling through her bag for supplies to revive it. She spent the next few minutes checking it over, putting medicine where it needed to be. She still hadn't even looked at the fight Viola was undertaking.

**Rick and Grunt** Confused by the sudden command, the Grunt was taken by surprise by the Ninetails' attack, simply staring. **"Damn...! Where did this come from?"** He questioned, watching the sight of his Bergmite flailing about due to the flames. It wasn't long after that his opponent simply used Bergmite as a stepping stone and made it's way back to it's trainer, only to kick up dust in their direction. He was slightly irritated now. **"Get your act together, Bergmite!"** He yelled, though the Pokemon was in a panic due to the flames. Quickly, Bergmite jumped and flipped over in mid-air, the flames still melting it's back as it landed on it's tip on the ground. It cried out as it's ice dripped onto the ground, before beginning to use Rapid Spin. The tip of his iceberg shell dug into the earth like a drill, causing the Grunt to get angry. **"W-What the hell are you doing?! Stop!"** Bergmite didn't listen, and kept going. Even more dust kicked up as he spun about, until finally, under it all, he was stuck in the ground. Not that anyone could see it until after the dust began to clear. --- **Caroline and Viola** **"..."** Viola, even if she knew it had to be fought, still felt bad after hitting the poor Cubchoo. Vivillon wasn't acting much different, also finding the poor thing to not be wanting to fight at all. Though neither had time to ponder on it, as Ms. Spin-A-Lot threw out another Pokemon faster than expected, and ordered it to fire off a Water Pulse attack. Before Viola could even attempt to command Vivillon to dodge, the attack connected. Causing her to cry out as the sound rang in her head, disrupting her flight. She began slowly descending as she wasn't able to keep in flight, but thankfully she wasn't plummeting strait down. **"Vivillon! Are you alright?!"** Viola called out to her Pokemon, but it simply shook around and cried out as it continued getting lower and lower to the ground, turning into nothing but a slow-moving target. Viola frowned, the situation seeming dark. **"She's confused...! That Water Pulse was more effective than I figured it would be..."** She muttered to herself, watching on with a worried expression. --- **Desmond** Desmond watched April's Father with amazement; He had thought the two were in danger, but they make sure a quick turnabout that he hardly was able to realize what had happened. He was impressed beyond any of his expectations, but had to shift his eyes to Viola's battle as the dust kicked up from the Bergmite's Rapid Spin, and was met with a soul-crushing sight. "Did she just ignore her own Pokemon?" Desmond asked himself, eyes narrowing at the stomping mad woman as she sent out her Lapras and kept fighting. He hated people like that; Inconsiderate, uncaring... He shook his head, rushing over to April to ensure the Cubchoo was alright. He slowed down as he approached, seeing her taking care of the poor thing. A small smile crossed his face as he watched, feeling a warmth in his heart as he witnessed her taking care of the poor, downed Pokemon. This was interrupted by the sound of Vivillon's cries, which made Desmond look back over at the battle. He swallowed hard at the sight of the slowly descending bug type. "That's not good," He commented, concerned about what was going to happen.

**Rick and Grunt** Rick and Nina stayed their ground as they waited patiently for the dust to clear. Rick would have given the command, but he wanted to see what had happened. The Grunt's gave him an idea of what was happening. The poor thing was scared to death and trying it's best to quell the flames on it's back which happened sooner than it probably expected due to the water being let off. Still, he watched, his eyes trained on where he thought the pokemon was, Nina doing the same. --- **Caroline and Viola** **"Hah!"** Caroline called out, a wide smirk on her face. **"Go, my lovely pokemon! Use Tackle!"** She called out again, grinning from ear to ear as she watched her Lapras rush at the confused Vivillion. --- **April and Desmond** Satisfied with her treatment of the pokemon and that he would make it, April turned to look up at Desmond and then to the battle at hand. A smile came across her face as she looked back up at Desmond. **"I believe in Viola. She can do this. Vivillion is strong too."** She told him, turning when she heard the call the ice woman had made. Her eyes were trained on Vivillion, every part of her body wishing the butterfly pokemon would snap out of it soon...

**Rick and Grunt** As the dust cleared, it was easy to see that Bergmite was stuck in the ground. It wiggled about, unable to get free and was too wedged in to start spinning again. The sight was sad, and with no real way of escape, he was an easy target. the Grunt stood there and sighed. **"Damn, you aren't getting out of there, are ya?"** The Grunt questioned, seeming to be a little amused by Bergmite's stupidity. It simply let out a drawn-out cry, apologizing while also being somewhat embarrassed. **"Idiot."** The Grunt grumbled, pulling out Bergmite's Pokeball. He was quick to return the Pokemon, but had no intentions of sending it back out. He heard some cheers from the crowd and simply shrugged at the praise Rick was getting. **"You won against me, but my boss is going to pummel your Gym Leader into the ground."** He planned on leaving, but figured it'd be best to observe what his superior was doing, giving she had an actual Pokemon out now. --- **Caroline and Viola** **"Vivillon! Snap out of it!"** Viola shouted towards her Pokemon, as it continued to squirm and not know what to do. At this point it was on the ground, wings twitching as it hopelessly laid there. As the call for the Tackle attack came, and the Lapras approached, Viola figured it was over, and didn't want her companion trampled. It was a loss, and as she reached for her Pokeball, she accepted it. At least, until she heard a small cry from Vivillon. **"Vivillon?"** Viola seemed surprised by the small sound, and her eyes widened as the bug Pokemon lifted herself up with her wings, leaving her to glare at the approaching Lapras, her eyes glowing blue. Caroline's Lapras began becoming outlined in a light-blue color, as Vivillon attempted to use Psychic to throw the Pokemon back towards it's side of the field through telekinetic force. Viola smirked. **"Picture perfect, Vivillon! Send that Lapras and her trainer strait out of frame!"** She yelled, feeling foolish for almost throwing in the towel on her friend. And confident that she could fight the Lapras back. --- **Desmond** "W-Woah..." Desmond stared, unsure of what to say. It managed to snap out of confusion, and fight back against the Lapras before the tackle connected! Desmond wondered to himself just how he could win against Pokemon with such resolve? There had to be a way, but as of now, he was unsure of exactly what kind of strategy he'd need to stop that powerful, determined Vivillon. He looked back at April, seeing the smile on her face. He couldn't help but keep a smile himself.

**Rick and Grunt** Letting out a soft sigh, Rick smiled down at Nina and called her over to him. She limped over, having lost the will to pretend she was fine any longer. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her neck into his arms, hugging her tightly. She let out a small whimper and he let go, smiling softly. Pulling out his bag, he began bandaging her up, ignoring the event around him for the time being. --- **Caroline and Viola** **"No, no, no!"** Caroline called out as Lapras came hurling back towards her. A loud huff could be heard from her as the large blue sea pokemon crashed into her, sending her flying into the wall of a nearby building. **"GET OFF OF ME!"** She screamed, squirming under the weight of her knocked out pokemon. --- **April and Desmond** **"YES! GO VIVILLION!"** April shouted and threw her hands up in the air in excitement. A wide smile was glued to her face as she watched the two, trainer and pokemon. She glanced over in time to see her dad hugging Nina after their win, the smile unfading. She turned back to face the cubchoo when she heard a small sound coming from below her. The cubchoo was looking at her with tears in it's eyes. Suddenly and without warning, the small ice bear pokemon jumped up, making a ruckus and running circles around April. **"Uh... What? This... is weird."** She blinked, watching the pokemon run circles around her. As it did so, a soft glow began to emit from him as he changed forms. Soon, a large beartic was standing before her, it's arms encircling her in a hug. **"D-Did it just e-evolve?"** She asked, wide eyed. **"And why is he... hugging me?"**

**Viola** As Vivillon managed to knock out Lapras, cheers came from the crowd all around, celebrating the victory. Viola ran up to her Vivillon and crouched down, the bug Pokemon looking her way as it lowered it's body onto the ground to take the pressure off it's wings. Viola couldn't help but laugh, the situation being both amazing and terrifying. **"You cut it a little close that time."** She said, her laughing continuing. Vivillon just sighed, having been terrified of getting ran over in the first place and was currently trying to enjoy the relief of not being trampled by a Lapras. Viola soon stood, pulling out Vivillon's Pokeball. **"Return for now, Vivillon. Get some rest."** She spoke softly, and a small cry of agreement was all that came from Vivillon in response. After returning Vivillon, Viola put a hand on her hip and stared over at the sad sight of Caroline being squished by her Lapras, with only the Grunt trying to help. Sighing, she walked over to Rick and figured for the moment they weren't going anywhere. She simply smiled at the man and Nina, happy that the battle was over. **"Sorry I didn't finish it sooner. You two alright?"** She asked, concerned about Nina's bandages, and the wounds underneath. --- **Desmond** Desmond crossed his arms, thinking to himself as the crowd cheered for Viola. He was excited too, but he had things to think hard about considering that Gym Leader. It was a mistake thinking that she'd be weaker than Grant; But he felt that was a good thing. He needed to overcome these hurdles if he wanted to be strong, and he wouldn't be able to do it unless he put everything he had into it. He was somewhat tense, but also extremely excited for his chance to battle against her. That'd have to wait, though... Hearing April, Desmond looked down at the Cubchoo, noticing what it was doing. Before he could speak, however, it began to glow softly. His eyes widened as it suddenly evolved into a Beartic, and began hugging April. Desmond simply laughed as she questioned it. **"I think it's taken a liking to you, since you were so kind to it, unlike that woman."** He said, figuring it to be the honest truth. He stared at the Beartic curiously, thinking about his sudden change. **"He must have been holding back this evolution from her so she wouldn't have access to his full potential. Yet he's pretty open with you."** He said, smiling softly and enjoying the cute sight.