The Eterna Gym didn't smell like battle. It smelled like wet bark, crushed leaves, and the kind of floral humidity that made you feel like the air was breathing with you. Orion stood at the entrance platform and let his eyes scan the battlefield: not a flat floor, but a living space. Moss spread across uneven stone. Patches of ferns and root clusters formed low cover. Thin vines hung from the canopy above. It looked like nature had been folded into a war zone.
"Three-on-three," the referee called. "Trainer Orion of Fallcreek, one badge. Versus Gym Leader Elira of Eterna. Battle initiated on full terrain rotation. Active camouflage permitted. Gym Leader will begin."
Across the field, Elira stepped forward. Tall, composed, wearing a cloak of braided vine cords. No words. Just a sharp nod. She tossed her first Poké Ball.
A swirl of green. A shimmer of leaves.
Lombre.
A semi-aquatic Grass-type with wide eyes and limbs built for slippery footwork. It landed lightly, already shifting from foot to foot.
Orion exhaled. "Tyrunt. You're up."
The fossil dragon hit the mossy floor with a rumble and a low growl. His eyes tracked Lombre instantly.
Elira moved first. "Fake Out."
Lombre flashed forward. Tyrunt flinched just a fraction as the slap cracked across his snout.
But he didn't fall.
Orion snapped his fingers. "Rock spread, now!"
Tyrunt roared and dug his claws into the ground. The moss buckled as jagged stones burst up around him—not as projectiles, but as territorial traps. Stealth Rock.
Elira's expression didn't change, but her Lombre faltered, clearly thrown.
"Bubblebeam."
The Lombre twisted and spat a high-pressure stream of bubbles that shimmered with inner force. Tyrunt braced, took the blast square in the chest, and slid two feet back, but didn't go down.
Orion narrowed his eyes.
"Charge and Bite. Right leg."
Tyrunt lunged.
It was not clean. Not elegant.
It was raw force.
Lombre tried to dodge, but the uneven moss and rocks disrupted its movement. Tyrunt clamped down hard on its thigh and dragged it sideways. The Lombre shrieked, firing a point-blank Bubblebeam into Tyrunt's eye.
He released, staggering.
Both Pokémon backed off.
Tyrunt was bleeding.
Lombre was limping.
They circled again.
Lombre tried a feint to the right—
"Block it. Tail now!"
Tyrunt spun and hit Lombre full-body, crushing it against a slope of stone.
The Lombre collapsed, chest heaving, and finally fell unconscious.
One down.
Elira withdrew it without a word.
She tossed her second Poké Ball.
Breloom.
Faster. Stronger. Mean.
Tyrunt growled but stayed standing.
"Mach Punch," Elira ordered.
Breloom vanished.
Tyrunt took the hit in the jaw before Orion could even shout. He flew backward into a tangle of roots, rolled, and forced himself back onto all fours.
His legs shook.
But he didn't drop.
"Roar," Orion snapped.
Tyrunt bellowed. Breloom flinched from the sudden burst.
"Tail sweep!"
Breloom tried to dodge—too late. Tyrunt clipped its feet and sent it stumbling.
But Breloom recovered fast. Hit Tyrunt with a counterstrike uppercut and followed it with Poison Jab.
That did it.
Tyrunt crumpled, panting.
Orion recalled him. "Well fought."
"Grotle. Your turn."
The turtle hit the battlefield and immediately rooted in. His eyes were calm.
Breloom came fast. Leech Seed.
Grotle didn't dodge. The vines hit, began to constrict—
"Absorb," Orion snapped.
Green light bloomed. Grotle took the Leech Seed energy and pulled it back into himself, reversing the drain.
Breloom reeled.
Elira narrowed her eyes.
"Poison Jab."
Breloom lunged.
Grotle met it with a full-body tackle, their bodies colliding in a burst of green and purple sparks.
They grappled.
Breloom pushed venom into the vines.
Grotle stood firm.
"Hold," Orion said, voice steady. "Shell twist."
Grotle twisted suddenly, slamming Breloom off-balance and into the base of a tree.
"Now. Absorb again."
A second drain.
Breloom staggered. Poison still flickering across Grotle's shell, but fading.
Elira recalled her second Pokémon.
Two each.
She looked at Orion for the first time.
"You fight like someone with three badges."
He shrugged. "You fight like someone trying to impress a tree."
She smiled faintly.
Then sent out her final Pokémon.
The arena dimmed.
And the weight of the Gym shifted.
Torterra.
Massive. Ancient. Covered in moss and stone. A forest on legs.
Grotle looked up.
And didn't flinch.
Orion inhaled.
"Let's end it."
Torterra moved first.
Earth Power.
The ground erupted. Grotle was lifted and slammed back down, shell first.
He groaned.
"Razor Leaf," Elira called.
Grotle staggered up—and was pelted by spinning blades of energy.
He took it.
And stood.
"Absorb," Orion said, softer.
Grotle glowed.
But the energy returned was thin. Barely enough to stabilize.
"Rest," Orion said, recalling him.
Last one.
"Luxio. Go."
The electric lion hit the ground snarling, claws charged.
"Spark."
He moved like lightning.
Hit Torterra in the flank.
Minimal damage.
Torterra turned.
And hit Luxio with Wood Hammer.
It was like watching a tree fall on a lightning bolt.
Luxio skidded. Rolled. Hit a root and stopped.
He rose.
Barely.
Orion clenched his jaw.
"Again. Spark."
Luxio surged. This time went for the neck.
Connected.
Torterra flinched.
"Bite!"
Jaws locked.
The giant roared.
Shook Luxio free.
He landed hard.
Didn't get up.
The ref raised a hand.
"Match over. Challenger's team unable to battle."
Orion didn't move.
Elira stepped forward.
"You fought like someone with three badges. You adapted. You overcame the terrain. You deserved that win."
He looked up, blood trickling from his lip.
"You going to say I earned it anyway?"
She smiled.
And handed him the badge.
"I'm not going to say it. I'm going to show it."
He took the badge.
Then picked up Luxio, who blinked once and then fell asleep.
The jungle had swallowed them.
But he came out with something more than a victory.
He came out worthy.