I Sting (Pokemon Poison Type Specialist)

Even though this is her first gym battle, Virah sure had the gall to make everything harder.

'I shouldn't have tried to banter,' why, of all things, did she impulsively think that challenging Warley was "bantering" she didn't know but somehow she's here, battling a Milktank with her Beedrill.

Virah inspected the two combatants.

Physically speaking, the Normal Type had every advantage and despite her rotund nature, the Milktank's bulk was larger, stronger, and more durable than Nitro's.

She knew that her Beedrill didn't stand a chance, which leaves her with only one option for a win condition; poison.

How she'd poison the Milktank was a good question, it was one that Virah decided to repeatedly consider as the start of the battle drawled on.

Her eyes scanned the battlefield, it was sandy, with no obstacles between her starter and his opponent.

Nitro was hovering a few feet off the ground, his drills and stinger pointed directly at the Milktank.

Said Milktank stood up moments prior, she was waving her body from left to right, her expression looked lax but her eyes looked focused, Virah rightfully assumed that she wanted them to lower their guard.

'What kind of tools does she have?' Virah considered all the possible moves a Milktank can learn and Whitney told her that…

Wait.

She eyed the Pokemon again, this time with scrutiny and a general lack of panic, as the haze in her head dissipated, she saw the Milktank in a new, yet completely familiar light.

The two of them locked gazes and the smirk of the Normal Type says it all.

'You-' Virah shakily thought.

She was fighting Whitney's guardian, the pinkette had told her all the major moves that this particular Milktank had and thus, Virah knew that she had the typical moveset of most competitive Milktanks.

Those being Rollout, Defense Curl, and Milk Drink.

She probably had more, but those three had the biggest impact, especially in a lower level battle like this one.

"Okay…" Virah inhaled, "Nitro! String shot!"

Her powerful voice echoed across the gym, signaling the start of the battle.

Warley, seeing that his opponent has made their move, did the same, "Defense Curl,"

Virah glared at the Milktank as it shrugged off Nitro's strings, a metallic sheen grew on the bovine's skin before tapering off seconds after.

So she either had to immobilize the Milktank now, or attempt to inflict poison while Nitro could still do damage.

Virah stared at Nitro's back.

On one hand, she could prevent the Milktank from moving for a few turns if she commits to immobilizing it but on the other, if she doesn't poison it now, then she may never have the chance to.

'Yeah but it also knows Milk Drink…' Virah decided to pick one option over the other, 'here goes nothing,'

"Nitro, stop using String Shot and go for Poison Sting, I want that Milktank heaving by the halfway point of the battle,"

Her started nodded and did as told, he and the Milktank exchanged moves, with the cow going for another Defense Curl and Nitro landing a powerful hit thanks to his ability.

There was no poison, but the way Nitro's attack ignored the Milktank's heightened defenses must've made a difference right?

Virah hoped so, "again!"

Another Poison Sting got shot and as luck would have it, it poisoned the Milktank.

Virah thanked Ho oh as she watched the Milktank rub the area that was just struck. She composed herself and called out for another series of String Shots to disable the Milktank, and if that's not possible, then slow it down.

She knew that at some point, the monster in front of her would use Rollout and all the strings attached to it would get shredded from the sheer momentum but that was fine.

At some point, the Milktank had stopped looking like a Milktank and more like a ball of webbing but it didn't seem to care, it continued using Defense Curls until finally, their counter attack began.

"Now, Milktank, I'm sure that the audience had been anticipating this haven't they?" Like a proper showman, Warley faced the crowd, who all responded with energetic yells.

"Let's not keep them waiting, shall we?" Warley raised his hand high, "ROLLOUT!"

Virah raised her hand, "switch!"

"Oh?" Warley hummed, then nodded, "alright, Milktank, roll in place,"

Virah hastily recalled Nitro and tossed Jet in his place, she looked to the side, where the massive screen displaying the combatants' statuses shifted, the icon on her side went from a Beedrill, to a Zubat.

"Jet, Supersonic, confuse it and then fly around with Quick Attack! Don't let the Milktank hit you!"

"Rollout."

As the Milktank broke out of the webs like they were nothing, Jet released a screech that caused the pink ball hurtling towards him to suddenly swerve, the Zubat then followed it up by glowing white and zipping back and forth around the arena.

"Aerial Ace!" Virah called out, she wanted to strike while the Milktank was still wondering which way is right and which way was left.

Like a Pidgeot about to kill its prey, Jet flew high, a light blue aura surrounded him, then he dived down.

It happened in a flash, and to Virah's untrained eyes, her Pokemon was high on the air one moment, then in the next, he turned into a blue streak that struck the Milktank and bounced away.

Despite that, the Milktank continued her move, rolling as though it wasn't poisoned, confused, and attacked.

"Milktank! Go ham!"

With a roar that melded well with the excited cries of the audience, the pink ball on the arena suddenly picked up speed, it went faster and faster until it struck a wall.

Virah thought that was the end of it but the ball bounced, it went high.

"Jet! Quick Attack! Go left!" Virah hastily called out, she fueled her Pokemon with Poison Type Energy as he followed her orders, "good! Now dodge the attacks!"

Virah felt her heart skip a beat as Jet barely dodged the rolling Milktank, and this went on several times, with her fueling her Pokemon to keep him in top shape as he strained himself from dodging.

'He can't dodge forever,' Virah thought grimly as she watched the ball go even faster.

She now had a choice between letting Jet get hit, or recalling him.

'Or maybe…' Virah remembered the burst of speed Jet had when using Aerial Ace earlier and had an idea.

"Jet, Quick Attack! Go to the top of the area!" Unless the Milktank was extremely lucky in her bounces, she would need to hit the center of the arena directly to reach jet.

The general shape of the arena was to their benefit right now but it wasn't as impactful as Virah wanted it to be, the Milktank was no longer confused, so it now direct its rolls so Jet wasn't safe.

'But that's fine,' Virah put all her focus on observing the Milktank's trajectory and the moment that it bounced from one wall to head straight to the center, she quickly initiated her plan.

"Use Aerial Ace to dodge!"

Was she quickly enough? Virah worried for the worse as the Milktank reached the center, the pink ball bounced off of the ground, then in the same instant, Jet turned into a streak of light that moved away from his spot with seconds to spare.

Virah sighed in relief, "keep it up Jet! Dodge her attacks with your current speed!"

The Rollout must be dying down by now right? Virah eyed the speedy ball as it chased after Jet, the two of them went so fast that they were nothing more than blurs within the arena.

Jet's reaction somehow kept up with the Milktank's speed which Virah thought was the only reason why he wasn't hitting the barriers in the air like his opponent.

Virah kept fueling her Pokemon as the stalemate went on and before long, the Milktank finally slowed signs of slowing down.

After that, it only took another minute for the bovine to finally stop rolling.

"Milk Drink!"

Virah clenched her fist, "hit her Jet!"

The streak flying across the arena suddenly swerved, and, like last time, it went high, then dived.

Like lightning, a line ran from the top of the arena to the Milktank below, it struck the cow and a thundered roar ran throughout the gym.

A cloud of dust got kicked up and a tense few seconds passed as people waited for the results.

Jet flew out of the cloud with a proud screech and the audience cheered, Virah bathed in their elation as she eyed her Pokemon.

'That was Brave Bird just now…' she thought in amazement.