Maya paused in her sweeping, as someone rang the bell to signal it was noon. The ground was still damp and the sky remained overcast and dark as wind shook out the dripping wisteria trees. Despite all her best efforts the wrinkled and wet petals and flowers all over the ground refused to be swept into a pile and instead stuck the the stone or her broom. Deciding that was enough of that she propped the broom up against a trunk (make no mistakes she would be coming back once things were dry) and instead wandered off towards the gym.
While the town had certainly become more lively (ha!) and the ruins slowly gave way to new buildings it also meant more people had decided that devoting themselves to the temple would be good. So the temple bustled with new activity which meant there was less time to be alone and think... Although lately thinking had become a nuisance.
"It's not good to think too hard, priestess, or else your brain will start to drip out your ears." Said nuisance spoke, a soundless voice spoke to her.
"Quiet you!" Maya snapped in reply. "I don't the peanut gallery replying to my thoughts."
"What can I say? I'm bored."
"Then go bother someone else!"
It fell silent at that and Maya really hoped that she hadn't actually set an ancient Pokemon capable of ripping dimensions open on someone else. She groaned as she approached the flat and long gym and considered taking a nap on the wooden floor there.
Eira had come to the gym early that morning, unsure of the directions she had been given since they had been written in very sloppy handwriting. She honestly wasn't even sure she was in the right place as it was since she was so close to what looked a lot like some kind of sacred place. She wasn't really the type to do all out battles, but she couldn't be sure of how some of her Pokemon would react to being so far away from home. She herself was very nervous to be so far away, especially since she hadn't been away from Eirlys in so long.
She looked around when someone entered the room and cleared her throat. "Excuse me, are you the gym leader here?"
Maya jumped at the sound and zeroed in on the stranger in the gym. She resisted groaning as she kind of expected it to be empty. She straightened her back and cleared her throat.
"Er yes I am," Maya replied. "Gym leader and uh high priestess of Yūrei no Machi." Was that formal enough? "Are you here to challenge the gym?"
Maya was kinda surprised to find a person in here as it was pretty dark without the lanterns lit and the sky overcast as it was. As if on cue Elly popped in and with a flicker the lanterns burst into a purplish light giving the perimeter of the room a soft, if not eerie glow.
Eira's eyes adjusted to the new light in the room, happy to be able to see a little better even if she was used to lower amounts of light since the trees and blizzards of her home often blocked out the sun. Eira couldn't help but notice that the priestess was actually quite pretty and wondered what it was that she was a priestess of. They didn't really have religion of any kind in Eirlys as far as she was aware, so meeting a priestess of something was a new experience for Eira. She cleared her throat as she focused on the battle that was to come. "I am here to challenge you for your gym badge if you are available for a quick battle."
"Er... yes of course," Maya replied, adjusting her posture and straightening her clothes slightly. "You'll have to forgive me this is only my second gym battle as a gym leader. This is... rather new for me."
"Noob," the voice returned jeeringly. Maya had bite her tongue because talking to a disembodied demonic ghost out loud was not wise to do. That was the reality of a good chunk of Maya's life though. Already some of the groundskeepers were whispering about they find her yelling and shaking her fist at nothing in the garden. They seem to accept their weird and possibly crazy priestess though so... ok.
Ignoring the voice she gave her best smile and gave a sweeping gesture with her hand to the other end of the gym.
"Let me try again. I am Maya of the Yūrei no Machi Gym and friend of the frequently misunderstood ghost types and I accept your challenge." Good she didn't stutter. "We use two Pokemon in our battles and while our Pokemon are welcome to tear up and abuse the dirt center of the arena please try not damage the wood platforms around the perimeter." Thankfully it was a large arena so it shouldn't happen. "Shall we begin?"
"I am Queen Eira of Eirlys and it would be my pleasure to help you get experience as a gym leader," Eira said with a flourish of her skirt and a small bob of her head to show the priestess her respect. "I will try to keep my Pokemon from damaging anything here in your shrine and I promise to pay for the repairs of any damage done during this battle."
She pulled out the pokeballs for the Pokemon that she would be using before she paused. She was unsure of who would be the best in this battle if they were facing Ghost type Pokemon, especially if this gym leader had a lot of secondary typed Pokemon. Finally, she made a decision and threw one of the pokeballs towards the field, revealing an extra fluffy Altaria.
Maya gaped at the fluffy Altaria. It... is... so... fluffy! She just wanted to go over and hug the beautiful creature and fall asleep. Maya took out a Dusk Ball and considered it. It seemed like a smart choice to use but Wallace was... exceedingly tricky to use and Maya had never used him in a battle. Ever. He seemed content to be one hell of a butler most of the time.
She lobbed the ball into the arena and out popped her Aegislash, in shield form. He gave stiff bow, or as best as a ghostly sword could manage, before hefting up his shield defensively. So far so good.
"As the challenger you are allowed the first move," Maya called out.
Eira looked at the Aegislash with a moment of worry since she honestly had never come across a Pokemon like that before. She decided to be a little cautious until she knew more about this Pokemon, calling out to Cloud to use Cotton Guard to help boost his defense. Cloud gave a shrill call as it fluffed up its feathers to give himself extra cushioning against any physical attacks that may come his way, his feathers gaining a dark sheen to them. Cloud settled onto the field with a flutter of his wings, waiting to see what this strange Pokemon was going to do first.
Maya hesitated for a moment, seeing the Altaria fluffing itself up even more. Cotton guard. Hmmmm... best to tread carefully here. Maya called out for Shadow Sneak and instantly Wallace's Stance Change ability took hold and he switched into attack, moving his large shield to the side and revealing the blade body. It's one single purple eye blinked as he his shadow wavered and grew. Suddenly a clawed hand reached out from the blooming shadow and slashed at the Altaria.
Maya bit her lip as she considered the riskiness of this ability.
Cloud sensed the shadow coming near him before he actually saw the shadow reaching out, giving him time to try to fly up into the air to dodge the attack, but wasn't fast enough to get his exceptionally long tail out of the way as well. Cloud let out a shrill scream as his tail was caught by the shadow, turning his attention on the Pokemon that controlled the shadow with an angered look. Without waiting for instructions from Eira, Cloud began to charge up a dark purple aura in his beak before shooting it in a dark pulse towards the sword like Pokemon in pure rage.