Roark apparantly wasn't just the gym leader of Orebourgh, he was also the foreman of the mines. "Ah so you have been in the mines, challenger? Then you must realise by now that I use rock type pokemon. How about a one on one?"

Kjolmar petted Noibat's cheek. "Why don't you sit this one out, buddy?" Noibat rolled its eyes shortly but then nodded and complied. It flew over to Aro, where it landed next to Luna in order to watch the battle.

Looking at his belt with pokeballs, Kjolmar frowned. "Eevee isn't a match for rock types either, specially since I haven't trained him yet. That only leaves one option."

Roark sent out Rampardos. 
"This guy only evolved earlier today but you will notice his immense power from the start."

Kjolmar closed his eyes while grabbing the pokeball he needed. Upon throwing it up, he opened his eyes and yelled "Gyarados, I choose you!" A massive Gyarados appeared and let out a loud voice. It was so intimedating that you could tell it was stronger than the average Gyarados. Around its neck was a collar with gyaradosite.

The battle was quite the sight as both pokemon seemed to be powerhouses. Gyarados looked to be a bit stronger than Rampardos but those headbutts sure hurt a lot. When both of them grew exhausted from fighting, Kjolmar held his right hand on the watch he was wearing on his left wrist. For a second he considered using the key stone that was in the watch but he changed his mind. Gyarados could do definitely win this one without mega evolving. "Hyper Beam, then finish it with Hydro Pump!" Rampardos fainted.

Gyarados let out a victorious cry and then moved its head towards Kjolmar and rubbed it against his body. Kjolmar rubbed Gyarados' head and whispered "Well done, I am once again proud of you." Despite its seemingly brutal nature, it appeared to be very loyal and even submissive to Kjolmar. 

Roark walked over to hand Kjolmar the Coal Badge. "That is an impressive partner you got there." he said while reaching out his hand to pat Gyarados. But Gyarados pulled away and growled fiercly at Roark. "Easy boy." Kjolmar said and retreated Gyarados. "I am sorry about that but he doesn't trust anyone but me. He has an extreme complicated history and I have been with him ever since he was a Magikarp."

The moment Kjolmar received the badge, the egg in his backpack started moving and cracking. It was almost as if the victory had triggered it. Kjolmar gasped and put it in front of him while it hatched. Two blue paws reached out that seemed somehow familiar. They pushed against the cracked shell in order to free itself completely. It was a Riolu! It hadn't opened its eyes yet but slowly got on its feet. When its eyes opened, it looked directly at Kjolmar. In slow motion, its gaze turned to Luna and then back to Kjolmar. 

"Whoa, it seems we both have a Riolu now. Welcome to the team,.. hmh.. Apollo!"

It jumped into Kjolmar's arms and obviously wanted to be carried. Quite different than Luna for example. Then again, Apollo only just hatched so it was a bit younger than Luna. While in Kjolmar's arms, he looked at Luna again and started to glow. Were they commmunicating?

Noibat had started to hover around Kjolmar to get his attention. There was a possibility that she was jaleous that Apollo was being carried by Kjolmar but there was no way to be sure, as Noibat could be quite the showoff.

Roark cleared his throat and coughed. "Uhum. I don't want to interrupt this beautiful moment but is the next challenger ready?"

Kjolmar reached out his arm in front of Aro. "He will be right after he told me who Cyrus is." he said with a friendly tone.

[img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/dbc28103-f8d4-40f2-8a7d-d87930767558.png[/img]