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MidReal Story
Elite Guardian of Cerulean: A Gym Leader's Secret
Scenario:I'm a Pokémon gym leader
Create my version of this story
Emily Larsen
Pokémon Gym Leader, friends with Blake and rivals with Clara, vibrant blue hair, determined and kindhearted
Clara Reyes
another Gym Leader and Emily’s rival, respects and challenges Emily often, long red hair in braids, ambitious and cunning
Blake Turner
fellow Gym Leader and Emily’s friend, competitive ally of Emily, short dark hair, strategic and loyal
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
I was in the middle of a Pokémon battle, and I was losing.
Alolan Sandslash was both Steel and Ice-type Pokémon, which gave it double-type resistance to Dragon-type moves.
Badly.
My opponent’s Pokémon had already knocked out two of mine, and my third one was on its last legs.
Which meant that it should have no problem taking on a Dragon-type Pokémon like Dragonair… right?
I knew I should have switched it out for another one, but I’d been too stubborn to give up on it.
"Use Iron Head!" Clara called out.
Now I was paying the price.
Sandslash raced forward, its body surrounded by a metallic glow as it rammed into Dragonair.
"Use Thunderbolt!" my opponent called out.
Dragonair let out a roar of pain as the attack struck home; it quickly recovered, however, and unleashed a powerful Dragon Rage on its Steel/Ice type foe.
The attack hit hard, but not hard enough; Sandslash recovered just in time to avoid getting knocked out by the move.
The Pokémon—a Raichu—obeyed, sending a bolt of electricity crackling toward my poor Vaporeon.
It didn’t stand a chance.
"Use Night Slash!"
The attack hit home, and my Pokémon collapsed to the ground, fainted.
Clara called; Sandslash obeyed, sending a flurry of sharp blades flying toward Dragonair before following up with another Iron Head.
The two attacks hit home… but even then, they weren't enough to knock Dragonair out cold.
It looked like Clara would need to rely on more than just Sandshrew's power to win this battle…
"Good job," I said.
"That was a great battle."
"Return!"
She said; her Pokémon was recalled back into its Poké Ball,
"I could say the same thing about you," Emily Larsen said with a grin.
She extended her hand, and I shook it.
"Mega Ampharos! Go!"
Her Mega Ampharos appeared in a flash of light, ready for action against the opposing Dragon-type!
Emily was one of the other Gym Leaders in our region—or at least, she would be once she got all eight badges—and we’d been battling each other for years now.
She was one of my toughest opponents, but she was also one of my best friends.
The two Electric-types charged at each other once more; Mega Ampharos lunged in the air before coming crashing down onto Dragonair’s head with a devastating Thunder Punch.
"So do you want to go again?" she asked.
"Challenge accepted," I replied.
She grinned and tossed another Poké Ball onto the field, revealing an Arcanine this time.
The attack hit hard, but Dragonair wasn’t ready to give up just yet; it let out a roar before unleashing a powerful Dragon Rush on its opponent.
I smiled as well and sent out my next Pokémon: a Dragonair.
Mega Ampharos quickly leaped into the air to avoid the attack; it then launched another Thunder Punch at close range, this time sending Dragonair flying backward from the force of the blow.
Which gave Clara an opening; Mega Ampharos lunged forward and tackled Dragonair before hitting it with another Thunder Punch, knocking it out for good!
Emily’s hand shot up, clutching her hat so that it didn’t fly off as she cheered for me at the top of her lungs.
Emily returned her fallen Pokémon to its Poké Ball, looking back up at Clara with a smile.
"That was a great battle," she said.
As expected, Emily was a tough opponent.
"Your Dragonair is pretty strong."
Clara nodded in agreement.
She was known for her Fire-type Pokémon—hence the Arcanine—but she’d also caught some other types over the years and added them to her team to make it more diverse.
It was a smart move on her part; while Fire-types were strong against Bug-, Grass-, Ice-, and Steel-types, they were weak against Water-, Rock-, and Ground-types.
"Yeah… she certainly is."
By adding other types to her team, Emily could cover those weaknesses and take on more opponents effectively.
She said, her eyes widening slightly as she stared down at her Poké Ball.
And once again, Emily couldn’t help but notice something strange about her friend’s behavior…
Not that she needed much help as it was; with all of the time she spent training and battling with her beloved Flareon (or any of her other Eevee evolutions), Emily could probably take on pretty much anyone and come out on top.
"I’ll be right back," Clara said as she turned around and raced toward the nearest bathroom, not even bothering to wait for Emily’s response.
Anybody except me, that is—I’d battled with Emily enough times to know what I was up against by now—and even then, you never knew what would happen in battle until you actually got into it yourself.
Case in point: the match we were currently battling in right now.
And once again… Emily couldn’t help but feel that something strange was going on here…
The two of us had battled plenty of times in the past, and while I’d been able to win my fair share of battles against her, she was usually a much tougher opponent than this.
My Jolteon was facing off against Emily’s Arcanine right now, and while Fire was weak to Electric thanks to the type matchups, I still wasn’t going to let my guard down for even a second—I knew from experience just how strong Emily’s Pokémon were, and they were all at least on par with mine—if not stronger than them entirely!
It wasn’t like her to get so distracted during a match, or so focused on one particular Pokémon—especially when it was an important match like this.
With that in mind—and the battle already underway—I decided on a plan of attack: go on the offensive before Arcanine could get its own move in first.
"Jolteon! Use Thunderbolt!"
She was usually someone who would do whatever it took to win, no matter what—or who—stood in her way.
I called out to my Pokémon; it nodded in agreement before releasing an electrical blast of energy from its body, sending it hurtling toward Arcanine with a loud crack of thunder…
So what the heck was going on?
I had no idea—but I intended to find out.
And just like that, Arcanine was fainted!
But first things first: I needed to focus on the battle at hand…
Clara returned her fallen Pokémon to its Poké Ball, sending out another one in its place: Dragonair!
I raised an eyebrow at this; while Dragonair was certainly strong enough to hold its own against Jolteon (if not stronger), I wasn’t expecting Clara to send out a Dragon-type at this point in the match—especially when her options for Dragon-types were limited at best!
"Mega Ampharos! Use Thunderbolt!"
But then again… she wouldn’t have sent Dragonair out without a plan in mind either way…
I called out; Mega Ampharos nodded as it unleashed an electrical blast of energy from its body, sending it hurtling toward Dragonite with a loud crack of thunder…
And just like that, Dragonite was fainted!
Which meant I needed a plan of my own if I wanted any hope of winning this battle!
"Jolteon! Return!"
I called out; Jolteon nodded as it returned to its Poké Ball's safety before tossing another one onto the field:
Alolan Sandslash!
I furrowed my brow, concerned by her tone. "What's going on, Clara?"
She glanced around to ensure no one was nearby before speaking. "It's Dragonair. She's been acting strange ever since we returned from the last tournament in Johto."
My heart skipped a beat. "Strange how?"
Clara hesitated, then whispered, "I think she might be... infected with some sort of virus or curse. She's been unusually aggressive and seems in pain during battles."
A chill ran down my spine. I'd heard rumors of such things but never encountered them myself. "Have you taken her to a Pokémon Center?"
"Yes," Clara replied, eyes wide with worry. "The nurses couldn't find anything wrong physically, but I can feel it—something's off."
I nodded, understanding the urgency in her voice. "Let's get her to Professor Oak's lab. If anyone can figure this out, it's him."
Clara's expression softened with gratitude. "Thank you, Emily."
As we made our way toward Professor Oak's lab, I couldn't shake the feeling that this was just the beginning of something much larger and more dangerous than either of us could imagine.
"Follow me," Clara said as she raced toward the nearest bathroom; I quickly followed after her, wondering what was going on.
When we arrived, Clara rushed inside and headed straight for one of the stalls; I waited outside for a moment before hearing her call out to me.
"Emily? Can you come in here for a minute?"
I furrowed my brow in confusion.
"Is everything okay?"
"Just come in here!"
Clara replied.
Slightly unnerved by her urgency, I followed after her and entered the stall.
Once inside, I found Clara standing in front of one of the mirrors with a strange expression on her face.
"Clara? Are you oka—" I began, only to trail off when she didn’t respond; she just stood there, staring blankly at her reflection in the mirror.
Her eyes were glazed over and unfocused, like she was lost in thought—or like she didn’t even recognize me.
Which was ridiculous; we’d been friends for years!
Worried that maybe she hadn’t heard me, I reached out and gently shook her shoulder.
"Clara? Is everything—"
But once again, she didn’t respond; she just kept staring at herself with that same blank expression on her face…
"Clara? Are you sure you’re okay?"
I asked again.
Still no response.
This was starting to freak me out; my friend was acting really weird all of a sudden!
Hesitantly, I reached out and touched her arm.
"Hey, are you—"
But the moment I made contact with her skin; she let out a blood-curdling scream as she staggered backward.
Shocked by this sudden reaction, I stumbled backward and fell onto the bathroom floor.
"What the heck is going on?!"
I cried as I looked up at her; Clara just stood there for a moment before turning toward me and racing out of the bathroom without another word.
In that split-second, I realized something was very wrong: When she turned to look back at me; I saw that there was something off about her reflection in the mirror…
It was almost like she wasn’t even there—like someone had erased her from existence!
