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[Pokémon] Mentor (PG-14)

Dagzar

The Dreamer
444
Posts
15
Years
Don't worry, you two. The chapter is, like, 70% done so I'll be updating on Friday for sure. And the only way I would ever abandon this fic was if unexpected circumstances came up, so don't fear!

And Pikapip, thanks for reading and reviewing; I'm glad you're liking it so far. About finishing, uh... it'll probably be done by this time next year. *nods*
 

pikakip

The original DarkHeart
1,020
Posts
14
Years
wow. this time next year? this will probably entertain me for a while. im glad i'll have something to entertain me between the onslaught of homework.
 

Dagzar

The Dreamer
444
Posts
15
Years
Hopefully it'll keep being good. ;) The story will be about 84 chapters, so it'll definietly be a lot of reading. Heh, lucky for me, homework is hardly ever a problem... though that's more because I pretend it doesn't exist. <_<
 

Dagzar

The Dreamer
444
Posts
15
Years
Mentor
Chapter 30: Lt. Surge
-


Ah, Vermillion City gym. What an… interesting place it was.

"Whoa…" Ed said, a bit lost for words as he looked through the holes of the chain-link fence, his eyes pausing over the two men who were standing guard before the doors of the gym. "It's like an army base!"

And what a good descriptor that was. Well, maybe not an army base since it looked more like a bunch of warehouses, but there was something militaristic about it. Barbed wire was wrapped around the top of the fence, and the fence stretched all the way around the complex. The gym itself apparently consisted of one main building and two smaller ones, all which had only small windows at the very top of the walls.

"Oh, come on already," Leah said, her words finally pulling Ed away from the fence as she lead the way towards the entrance. "You can take a better look inside."

Ally followed close behind, but was also taking not-so-subtle glances at the gym.

"It doesn't look like a gym," she said.

"Oh, it is," Danny replied to Leah's left, looking around himself. He had an odd wistful look on his face. "It hasn't changed since the last time I've been here."

"You've been here before?" Leah asked.

Danny smirked slightly. "Oh, yeah; I love this gym. Why do you think I'm following you guys? When I heard that you were challenging Surge, I just had to come and see."

The group stopped before the gate, which was locked tight with large chains wrapping around the posts and with a large lock holding it all together. Attached to fence with wire hung a piece of wood that said in big white letters:

VERMILLION CITY GYM

Ed rattled the door, which hardly moved under the chains' embrace.

"It's locked!" He frowned, putting his mouth close to the fence and shouting over to the guards by the front door. "Hey! Can you unlock the door?"

Neither of the guards answered. They did look like they heard him though, as they seemed to hold onto their guns tighter and shift around a bit, talking quietly to themselves.

"It's probably closed," Leah said, and when she reached over to try the chains, Danny took her wrist. He shook his head at her confused glance and motioned to move away.

She did so, moving away and leaving Ed and Ally to try the fence by themselves.

"What's going on?" she hissed to him, and he shushed her, grinning.

"I've been here before," he told her, his voice quiet. "Surge doesn't make things easy for trainers. The gate was locked when I came here too. If people want to get in, they need to use their Pokemon to get past the gate."

Leah looked back over to Ed and Ally, to see that they were still trying to remove the chains by hand.

"What do you mean by 'use their Pokemon?'"

"I used my Swellow to fly over," Danny explained. "Most trainers just fly or teleport past."

Well, that was pretty unlucky. What Pokemon did the brats have? Paras, Ditto, Voltorb and Vulpix; nothing really useful there.

"What if they don't have flying or teleporting Pokemon?"

"Some trainers Dig or burn off the chains. It's not that hard to get past."

Leah watched Ed yell at the guards again. "Then why don't you tell them that?"

The older teen smirked and shook his head. "It's way more fun just to watch them try."

"We'll be here for hours then. Is that enough fun for you?"

Danny sighed loudly, and took out a Pokeball. "Fine then. How about we go inside? That'll give a good hint to the brats." He dropped the Pokemon, releasing it.

"Go Teddy!"

The Pokemon looked like Teddy, but was obviously not. It only had some resemblance to Danny's psychic-type, and seemed to have traded its helmet head and dress for a ballerina costume. The green part of its head had been rearranged to form two long pigtails with pink horn-like structures on each side of its head. Its white body had split in a tutu, revealing two skinny green legs that were once hidden.

Teddy stared up at its trainer with red eyes, standing on the balls of its feet.

"Touch his head and don't freak out," Danny said to Leah, and the girl hesitantly put her hand on the Pokemon's head, feeling its hair's softness.

Danny did the same.

"Alright, Teddy," he said, pointing to a patch of gravel on the other side of the fence. "Teleport us over there."

"Wait a minute-" Leah interrupted, but stopped herself as her vision shifted and suddenly, the ground wasn't where it should.

She stumbled forward, the gravel crunching under her feet.

"Hey!"

Turning, Leah caught sight of Ed on the other side of the fence, staring at her with an expression of betrayal.

"Cool, huh?" Danny asked, returning his Pokemon. "Teleport takes a bit of time to get used too, but it is way better than walking." He waved at the two kids, who were stuck staring at them.

"We'll be going inside," he said to them cheerfully. "Have fun!"

As they walked along the path that led to the main building, Leah grumbled, "What's the point of going inside? I'm not challenging him and neither are you."

Danny smiled. "There's way more things to do than just battling here."

"Yeah? And what are those?"

"If there's one thing that Surge is well known for," he started, "it's traps."

"Traps?"

He nodded. "Yeah, so be careful once we get inside; you might activate one." He smirked at the last part.

Leah kept silent at that, though she was a bit curious at what sort of traps the gym leader had set. She had heard that gym leaders set obstacle courses or traps in their gyms, but she'd never seen it. Apparently, Koga had some sort of mirror house, but that was obviously not the case. Besides, putting in an obstacle course didn't seem very practical. She doubted that older trainers, ones that prided themselves on being 'professional', would care for such a time waster.

As they walked further up the path, the two guards came into focus. They both wore the same green camouflage uniform, including a cap, and they stood stiffly with their legs together. They held onto their guns loosely, but those grips tightened as Leah and Danny got closer.

"Do you stand out here all day?" Danny asked them with a slight smirk, and Leah finally noticed how young they looked. Now, it was pretty obvious they weren't real soldiers, but only teenagers that were probably hired to look intimidating.

The two guards let them pass without comment, but under their caps, their faces had a tint of red, but if it was anger or embarrassment, Leah didn't know.

Danny opened the door and then stepped to the side. He held the door open and looked at Leah with a smile.

"Ladies first."

Leah only gave him a suspicious look as she passed and Danny let the door close behind him.

There were several things that Leah was suspecting from an apparent 'Trap Master', but a regular room, though, was not one of them.

"I thought you said there were traps here?" she asked.

Danny looked around, aghast, at the lounge before him, his eyes darting from the spread of chairs to the next.

"D- Did they remodel or something?" Danny spluttered. "Last time I came here, there were traps just past the front door!"

The older teen's loud voice was gaining attention from the few people in the room, but most of them turned back to what they were doing after the initial curiosity.

"Didn't you here, man?" one of the kids said, who was sitting in one of the plush chairs with two Pokeballs on his lap. "A few months ago, The Pokemon League forced him to get rid of his traps."

"What?!"


-


"I don't see why you're so upset."

"You don't understand," Danny moaned from a chair, his head in his hands. "I really liked this gym and now it's ruined."

Leah sighed, and half-heartily tried to lift Danny from his depression. "Look, they're just a bunch of traps. Wouldn't they just waste a bunch of time, anyways?"

"Only if you were unlucky," he replied with a nostalgic look. "Back in my days, gym leaders always used traps and stuff to weed out the weak trainers. Sometimes, they'd have the trainers fight someone else beforehand. This gym was probably the most fun gym I've ever been too." He paused. "Well, except for Candice's gym."

"Who's?"

He waved it off. "Don't worry about it." He paused. "It's kind of hard to explain since you weren't there, but… Have you ever had something that you did at school or had a TV show you really liked, and they were perfectly fine the way they were? But then, some people thought it was stupid or 'dangerous' and changed it to be more kid-friendly and retard-friendly?"

"Uh… not really."

Danny just sighed. "You don't get it, do you?"

"I get what you're saying…"

"Never mind." The older teen sighed and just looked down at the ground mournfully before turning back to Leah. "So, uh, how do you think the battles are going to go?"

"I don't know," Leah said, turning around to look at the front door, which hadn't yet open. "They're still outside. Besides, aren't you the one who's been here before?"

He nodded, his sour mood already forgotten. "Yeah, but you know their Pokemon. I want to know how hard they're going to get beat."

"You have that much faith in Surge?"

"Well, he was kind of easy to beat, so not really, but come on. You're not saying that those brats' Pokemon are tough, right?"

"Danny," Leah said, deciding to be blunt. "I've beaten you every time we've battled, and I lost most often then not against them."

Danny frowned. "That doesn't count. I mean, the only reason you've won against me is because of type advantages and that weird Fire Stone maneuver you pulled (seriously, how did that even work?)."

Leah huffed and crossed her arms. "Aren't you supposed to be some hotshot trainer that's training for some tournament? Shouldn't your experience in battling give you a big advantage?"

"… That doesn't count," Danny repeated, scowling.

"Sure it doesn't." Leah rolled her eyes and glanced at the door. "Look, obviously, I'm not going to convince you so you're going to have to watch for yourself-"

Suddenly, the front door opened and Ed stomped in with Ally trailing behind him. Coralie was sitting on his shoulder, half of its purple body falling down his arm, though the boy took no notice of it.

"Why didn't you Teleport us in?" Ed asked, scowling and stopping in front of the duo.

Danny shrugged. "That'd be cheating." He eyed the Ditto. "Is that how you got in?"

"Coralie Transformed into a key," Ally piped up. She added. "B-but she hasn't really Transformed back yet."

Looking at the Ditto, Leah looked at the key-shaped appendage that was hanging off of Coralie, which was flaked with bronze, but was slowly turning back to its original state. The key-shape swung in the motion of Ed's movements and Leah wondered if the key was particularly heavy since the goo holding the Pokemon and the key together looked strained.

"Using Ditto?" she asked.

"Yeah," Ed replied. "I called William and he said that Paras would be too slow for electric-types."

"And you think that an inexperienced Pokemon would do better?" Danny asked, eying the Ditto-appendage with an odd look on his face.

Ed huffed. "It's not inexperienced. We'll win. You just wait and see."

Ally interrupted the potential argument. "W-we should go sign the form," she told Ed, the slight quiver in her voice betraying her nervousness at the upcoming gym battle.

The boy agreed and the two went over to the counter, leaving Leah and Danny behind.

"They're so going to lose," Danny snorted, and then lowered his voice while turning to Leah. "Hey, you know that kid's Ditto…? Can it turn into objects yet?"

"No," she replied, thinking back to the numerous times that Ed had tried to get his Pokemon to Transform into weird things. "This is the first time I've seen it."

Danny frowned and then said nothing more.


-

Ed and Ally had rushed ahead, while Leah and Danny took their time. The shock of the missing traps had finally set in, and Danny kept sighing at every other second as they walked past every single corner.

Leah was honestly sick of it, which was why she was happy once they got to the arena.

The gym wasn't special. It was your regular arena; the same rectangular white box, but unlike the other gyms, it didn't seem to have that 'special' touch that made it unique. Blaine had the candles, Koga had those weird lamps, but Surge had nothing except for bright lights on the ceiling.

It was rather disappointing, to be honest.

Ed and Ally were already there, of course, and were talking to the gym leader. Really, you couldn't confuse the guy with anyone but the gym leader. An incredibly tall man, Surge towered over the two newbie trainers, and with his spiked blond hair and army clothes, he was easily the most intimidating gym leader yet.

Ed, however, didn't seem to notice.

"So that's the Thunder Badge," he was saying, looking at the small metal item that the gym leader was holding out with quite a bit of awe.

Leah blinked at the scene and voiced her opinion.

"There's no way you've won already."

Eying the new arrival, Surge asked, "Another challenger?"

Leah was quick to shake her head. "No."

"He was just showing us the badge," Ally answered to Leah's question. "We're going to start soon."

"Glad we didn't miss anything then," Danny said, looking around with a bit of disappointment. "Damn, this place has really changed."

Surge grimaced. "You're telling me. I had to take down everything because of those new safety laws."

"What safety laws?" Ed asked, his awaiting gym battle only temporally forgotten.

"Just laws that force everything to be retard-proof," Danny answered, rolling his eyes.

Leah sighed at Ed's blank look and suggested, "The Mentor thing?"

Understanding became present on Ed's face. "Oh! Is that why you have to come?"

"Of course. Why did you think this whole program was set up for?"

Ed only shrugged.

Surge turned away when another man came up (also wearing the military garb) to hand him three Pokeballs.

"Thanks," the gym leader said gruffly, before facing the trainers.

"Who's up first?"

Ed and Ally glanced at each other, the boy noticing his companion's nervous expression. After another moment, Ed stepped forward with a grin.

"I'll go first."

Surge stared at Ed, like he was sizing him up, before choosing one of the Pokeballs and releasing the Pokemon right in front of him.

It was easily recognizable with its small yellow body, long pointed ears and red cheeks. It had a lightning bolt shaped tail and brown stripes on its back.

"Pika," it said.

"It's a Pikachu." Ed smiled, kneeling down and trying to pet it. 'Try' being the key word as the electric-type hissed at the offending hand and darted behind Surge.

"Pikachu isn't a lap Pokemon," Surge told the boy. "He doesn't like to be petted." He then walked over to the opposing trainer's box, Pikachu following him. He turned to face Ed.

"Are you ready?"

"Yeah!" Ed said, stepping into the trainer's box, already taking out a Pokeball.

It was a hard choice, but Ed at least had some experience with Pikachu. He had battled one before, and his Paras didn't do too well against it. Pikachu were really fast, as he found out, and their electric attacks were really long-ranged. Even if Paras was getting stronger by the day, he had to admit that no matter how strong it got, his first Pokemon would always be slow.

Besides, William said not to use Paras and Ed knew that William's advice was always the best.

So…

"Go, Coralie!" he said, releasing his Pokemon onto the field. The Ditto jiggled to itself and didn't seem to notice its opponent.

"A Ditto, eh?" Surge asked to himself out loud, staring at the Pokemon. "Interesting choice."

He grinned.

"This'll definitely be an interesting match, then." He gave a signal to his referee. "Let's get it started."

"Yes, sir!" the referee said and raised his flags. "This'll be a match between Lt. Surge of Vermillion City and Ed Williams of Fuchsia City. There will be no-"

Surge held up his hand, interrupting the referee while chuckling to himself. "Hold up. Let's make this interesting, alright? Make it a time limit of, let's say… five minutes."

"Five minutes!" Ed yelped. "That's-"

The referee took no notice of Ed, and only continued, "There will be a time limit of five minutes. When it expires, the challenger will automatically lose. Now, let the battle begin!"

Surge didn't wait.

"Pikachu! Thundershock!"

Having no choice, Ed set aside his 'fears' for later and focused on the battle.

"Transform!"

Sparks of blue electricity danced on Pikachu's cheeks as the Pokemon seemed to grin. With one loud, "Chu!" the small spark ignited; engulfing Pikachu in a case of electricity, and the Pokemon sent the electricity surging across the fields.

Unluckily for Ed, Coralie wasn't that fast at transforming and was hit full blast by the surge.

'Not again!' Ed moaned to himself. His last gym battle against Koga started out this way too, with Coralie prevented from transforming. Luckily, though, he had an advantage. He didn't even study this time and he already knew what techniques Pikachu could learn. Really, who didn't know the moves of a Pikachu? The level was probably between two and three, so the Pokemon probably knew Thunderbolt by now. Let's see… Quick Attack, Agility, Light Screen, maybe… Did Pikachu even know Light Screen? It did seem kind of like a move they could learn…

Ed shook his head. He was getting distracted! He needed to concentrate on Coralie and get it transformed.

As the Ditto twitched like jelly, Ed shouted, "Transform! You can do it!"

Ditto seemed to sigh as it stood up straighter, trying to look at its circling opponent in the eye. But the Pikachu only grinned, lightning crackling at its cheeks, its tail bobbing in motion with its steps. As a hint of yellow started to show on Coralie's flesh and two points appearing on its head, Pikachu gave it another shock with electrical energy without stopping its motions.

"Chu!" Pikachu growled once the lightning calmed down. The Ditto shook it off and continued its technique, small bristles of hair appearing on its skin and an unmistakable lightning bolt tail appearing behind it.

Ed glanced at Surge, who was only watching with interest, apparently not interested in attacking the Pokemon while in the middle of a transformation. Pikachu, too, didn't seem like it wanted to continue its assault.

Finally, Coralie stood on its tiny paws, its huge ears twitching as the Ditto tried out its new body.

"Finally," Surge grunted, straightening his back as he looked over at Ed. "If you're going to use a Ditto, at least make sure it can transform fast. If I wasn't being nice, I would end this before your Pokemon could even start."

"Uh… sorry," Ed said, a bit taken aback that the gym leader was advising him in the middle of the battle.

Surge grinned slightly. "Then, pay attention and let's get this really started. Besides, I don't mind waiting. The clocks ticking for you, not me."

Ed gasped, his head wheeling around to look at the clock. He had completely forgotten that he was on a time limit! He couldn't waste anymore!

"Coralie! Thunderbolt!"

The Ditto seemed a bit uncertain at the electrical impulses that danced around its face, but put more pressure on it as its trainer commanded. The bright blue energy crackled and Coralie threw its head back before releasing the electrical storm at its opponent.

Who happened to no long be there.

Out of nowhere, a yellow blue slammed into Coralie, knocking the Ditto back and forcing the Pokemon to lose control of its electricity. Pikachu only let out a small cry, however, and it was one born more out of annoyance than pain. The electric attack was waved off and Pikachu continued its assault, head butting the Ditto hardly after it had gotten up from the ground.

"Quick Attack, Coralie! Don't let it touch you!"

Coralie growled as it jumped into motion, its small rodent body running faster than the Pokemon had ever run in its life. Its paws padded along the ground, its legs a blur. Since the fighting area wasn't that big, the Ditto was forced to run around in circles.

But Pikachu was right on its tail, almost literarily. Coralie was forced to change its path as Pikachu leapt right at its back, swiping at its tail.

"Pikachu! Double Team!"

It happened instantaneously. Suddenly, there were two Pikachu, each looking as tough as the other. One got in front of the Ditto and growled, but Coralie jumped to the side, avoiding the electric-type.

Out of nowhere, the real Pikachu stuck, tackling the Ditto and pushing it to the ground.

"Coralie!" Ed shouted, his eyes darting to the clock. His time was running low! What was he supposed to do? A direct attack, maybe?

"Slam!"

Coralie got back up, shaking its head with a low moan. It looked at its opponent with pitch black eyes before uttering a low and angry, "Chu…"

Then the Ditto was off, leaping forward and running directly at Pikachu with no regard for its own safety.

"Nice try," Surge commented, "but not good enough. Pikachu! Dodge, then Slam!"

Pikachu nodded and easily dodged the Ditto's attack, leaping over the transformed Pokemon and landing behind it. Crouching down, Pikachu sprang at its opponent, using its shoulder to slam Coralie back and off its feet.

Back in the trainer's box, Ed watched the display with a frown. His fists clenched as his mind raced, trying to find a solution. Nothing was working! He had tried everything. Well, not electric attacks, but it wasn't like they would work on a fellow electric-type anyways. Maybe a Thunder Wave? But he wasn't exactly sure it would work and Ed couldn't waste any more time!

What was he supposed to do? What hadn't he tried?

Well…

"Okay, Coralie!" Ed yelled, trying not to notice his Pokemon's ragged appearance. "Try a Double Team!"

Coralie looked a bit nervous at that, its ears flattening and eyes narrowing as it got back to its feet. Its body started to shake and a few sparks flew out of its cheeks. On either side of the Ditto, two clones started to appear, looking more solid as the moments past.

"Good job!" Ed cheered as the duplicate Pikachu started to look at each other and their original self with a bit of uncertainty. Coralie panted a bit, starting to get tired, but Ed didn't notice since a plan was forming in his mind.

The young trainer grinned.

"Alright! Now, Quick Attack! Run around a lot, okay?"

The Ditto nodded, its clones doing the same, and then the three leapt into action, their paws slapping the floor.

The gym leader's Pokemon didn't waste any time. The electric-type focused on one of the Not-Pikachu and went for it, sparks flying.

However, Ed didn't care since he could always make more.

"Coralie, Double Team again!"

Two more clones took the stage as Coralie raced, running beside the original and bringing the clone count up to four. Or three, if the poor duplicate that Pikachu attacked didn't disappear.

The clock was definitely on Ed's mind as he kept only one eye on the battle before him.

"Okay, Coralie! Double Team! Then, Double Team again! You can do it!"

And that's what the Pokemon did. Now four more clones were present and racing around, making the whole field blurred with yellow with only a single Pikachu (the opponent) standing still. The gym leader's Pokemon looked around, lowly growling as it tried to discern which Not-Pikachu was the real one.

Coralie was panting heavily now, and it took effort just to run in stride with its own clones, who all seemed to have a bit more energy than it did. Double Team took a lot of effort, but luckily, Ed didn't want anymore.

"Now!" Ed started. "Slam, then run!"

This time it was Surge's Pokemon that was on the end of an unexpected attack. Before the gym leader could give an order, Pikachu was hit was a living yellow missile, sending the electric-type flying. After landing, Pikachu got back up, seemingly scowling as it looked around for its disappeared opponent, who was hiding in the sea of yellow.

Surge thought for a moment. "Pikachu, stop and listen. When you hear the Ditto, Thunderbolt."

'Uh oh,' Ed thought to himself as his eyes widened. He was in trouble now. Clones mostly didn't make noise as they were just illusions. He supposed he could get Coralie and its clones to stop running, but then they'd just be picked off one by one.

What should he do…? Wait. He had it!

"Growl!" Ed shouted. "All of you, Growl!"

Coralie hardly paused in running at the new order, even if it wanted too, and offered up a small and tired, "Pika."

The clone offered their agreement.

"Pika!"

"Chu! Chu!"

"Pika!"

"Pika!"


"Chu!"

"Pika!"

Surge frowned, wincing slightly at the chorus of noises, looking at his Pikachu as it glanced around, no longer able to concentrate.

"Okay!" Ed said, grinning. That took care of that problem. Now, for the actual assault. "Now, Slam, Quick Attack, Slam! Don't let up!"

Coralie's chest heaved as it took in gulps of air, its yellow pelt damp with sweat and its eyes half-lidded. It stopped momentarily to catch what little breath it could before once again taking off at lightning speed, doing as its trainer wished.

"Pika!" Pikachu cried out as it was slammed into the ground face-first by a reckless tackle from Coralie. The Ditto paused again, panting, and then hit the electric-type again, this time with its tail. Pikachu got back on its feet, but the many Pikachu clones running around made it confused as Coralie got behind it and struck the weakened Pokemon while it was down.

"Keep going!" Ed cheered, his heart racing in the heat of battle. After another look at the clock, Ed turned back and said, "Now, finish it off with a Quick Attack!"

The Ditto's legs shook under its own weight and, around it, its clone started to fade away due to exhaustion. Though, it still had energy for one more assault and despite its body screaming, Coralie ran forward, blurring for just a moment and ran into Pikachu head first, throwing the gym leader's Pokemon back and to the ground.

Pikachu didn't rise.

And despite everything, Coralie didn't fall.

The referee came over, cautious, and knelt beside Pikachu, waiting for any signs of movement that didn't come.

Finally, he raised his flags.

"Pikachu is unable to battle. The victory goes to Ed Williams of Fuchsia City!"

Ed's smile grew bright as he pumped a fist into the air. "Alright!"

Out on the field, Coralie also realized that it had won, and let itself collapse on the ground, its mouse-like body melting into a pile of purple goo.

"You did a good job, Coralie!" Ed congratulated, at his Pokemon's side in seconds. "Good job!"

One beam of red light later and Ed stood up in time to see Surge's half-smile.

"Not bad," he said a bit grudgingly, looking at his watch. "Though a minute more and you'd be toast."

Ed only looked up at him expectedly. Surge sighed, reaching into his pocket to pull out the Thunder Badge and handing it to the boy.

Surge looked over at Ally, who was coming forward to congratulate Ed.

"You next?"

"Y- Yes!" Ally said, taking out the Pokeball of her already chosen Pokemon. She offered Ed, "Good job," before turning back to Surge.

"I-I'm ready!"


-


"I told you he would win," Leah said, rolling her eyes.

Danny, however, didn't look that impressed. "Yeah," he started slowly, "I suppose that it would count as a win, but not a really good one. Surge went really easy on him. He let the Ditto transform and he could have just used Thunder Wave on all those clones to get rid of them."

Thinking about that for a moment, Leah had to agree that he was right.

The older teen paused, glancing at where the two brats and Surge were talking. "You know, before today, I actually didn't think he was that type."

"What type?"

Shrugging, it was clear that Danny was deep in thought and after a moment, he shared them.

"You know, the type that doesn't care about their Pokemon and stuff."

Leah was baffled. "What? Are we talking about the same kid? Ed likes his Pokemon."

"Well, yeah," Danny agreed. "But only how a kid likes a toy."

"… I think you need to explain a bit more," Leah said, watching as Ed and Ally conversed over the badge. "I know him better than you and I know that he loves his Pokemon. He has them out a lot, spends time with them- Yeah, explain."

"Actions speak louder than words. You watched the battle, right? Didn't you see how he kept making his Ditto use Double Team, even when it was obvious it was really tired? He even made his Ditto use Quick Attack like it was Agility. Hell, I'm really surprised the Pokemon didn't faint until after the battle was over." He paused. "Judging by the way he acted, I always thought he was the hero-type, you know? Doesn't let their Pokemon get hurt or make them do something against their will, even if it meant losing a battle."

Leah thought back to the time, during that long, long trek from Fuchsia to Vermillion, where Ed kept trying to have his Ditto Transform into two different Pokemon at once.

"And," Danny said, throwing more evidence onto Leah's lap. "He used his Ditto to unlock the gate by making it turn into a key, right? Well, since the Pokemon couldn't really Transform into nonliving objects, it means the kid must have stuffed the Pokemon into the lock and forced it to turn semi-solid."

"I suppose that stuffing his Pokemon in might not be too good-"

The older teen shook his head. "You don't get it. By only being semi-solid when unlocking the lock, there's a good chance that the Ditto left some of itself behind."

"How do you know this? Do you have a Ditto?"

"No," he said, "but think about it. A lock has lots of gear-like things and stuff in it. Something's bound to get ripped off if he shoved something like a Ditto in there."

Leah was silent for a moment. "You're thinking about things too hard," she finally replied. "Besides, he's ten; he's just a kid. He doesn't know this type of stuff."

Danny smirked slightly. "And that's why he's getting let off."

"Let off?"

The older teen motioned to Surge. "It is really looked down upon in the Pokemon League to force Pokemon to fight until they faint." He quickly explained himself further when he saw Leah's incredulous look. "I mean, forcing your own Pokemon to fight until it faints of tiredness, not being knocked out. Sometimes, trainers can even have their Pokemon taken away under the title of abuse if it happens too often. But since the brat's a kid, he'll probably only get a warning or something."

"Really?" Leah asked, having not known that. But now that she thought about, when she was much younger (and years before that whole Journey Incident), she remembered always watching the Indigo Conference on TV with her parents. When the battles ended, she was always confused on why some trainers would return their Pokemon, even when they were still in some shape to fight. She remembered asking her parents about it, and they never really gave her a straight answer, or at least, one she could understand back then.

Danny nodded and then sighed, leaning backwards and stretching. "Well, that's one battle done, anyways." He grinned at Leah. "So, you think the other brat will win too?"

Leah didn't know how Danny could grin like that after talking about Pokemon abuse and the likes. It was something that she had never really thought about and it disturbed her to think Ed might be (unintentionally) doing something like that.

'I'll talk to him later,' she decided.

Looking down on the battling area, Leah gazed at Ally and hardly had to think about how she was going to do. She turned to Danny and tried to match his grin.

"Of course."



-



A/N: Sorry for the long wait, guys! Because of the length, Ally's battle will happen in the next chapter. I'm not sure I quite like the beginning (I was forced to rewrite it this morning and I'm still a bit annoyed at it because of that), but I like the chapter overall. I hope you enjoy it!
 

Venia Silente

Inspectious. Good for napping.
1,225
Posts
15
Years
Pending review!

DING!

Look who's here! It's-a-me! With a review!

Man, I've been waiting for the right time to make the next review and this seems like it.

All in all, a very well done turn of events and quite good ways of making the plot even more interesting. The Daddittions (thus nicknamed because they start with D: Ditto, Drowzee, Danny Ekans Kid) brought new facets of the characters which hadn't been explored before, as you shown in the most recent chapter.

I found some annoyances for my spellchecker and maybe one or two words that looked weired where they were, but nothing major. Things like these:

"Didn't you here, man?" one of the kids said, who was sitting in one of the plush chairs with two Pokeballs on his lap. "A few months ago, The Pokemon League forced him to get rid of his traps."
here → hear.

And a shame on the Gym. I loved it way back at RBY/FRLG.

Danny frowned. "That doesn't count. I mean, the only reason you've won against me is because of type advantages and that weird Fire Stone maneuver you pulled (seriously, how did that even work?)."
I unofficially name this bribery The Leah Maneuver.



You do a pretty good job on exposing this sensation of "ruined FOREVER!" that one might feel when comparing the old stuff with the new stuff, or when pondering the (debatable but in my eyes obvious) dumbing down and idiot-proofing of games nowadays. I don't know if it is intentional or if you yourself feel like this, but it is quite well done. Things like this:

"You don't understand," Danny moaned from a chair, his head in his hands. "I really liked this gym and now it's ruined."
Bolded and underlined for emphasis. ;)

He waved it off. "Don't worry about it." He paused. "It's kind of hard to explain since you weren't there, but… Have you ever had something that you did at school or had a TV show you really liked, and they were perfectly fine the way they were? But then, some people thought it was stupid or 'dangerous' and changed it to be more kid-friendly and retard-friendly?"

Surge grimaced. "You're telling me. I had to take down everything because of those new safety laws."

"What safety laws?" Ed asked, his awaiting gym battle only temporally forgotten.

"Just laws that force everything to be retard-proof," Danny answered, rolling his eyes.

Leah sighed at Ed's blank look and suggested, "The Mentor thing?"

Understanding became present on Ed's face. "Oh! Is that why you have to come?"

"Of course. Why did you think this whole program was set up for?"

I loved this. And I'm starting to love how this Ekans Kid thinks. I hated him before what with the Teddy, but seeing him complaining so blatantly about the entire thing, plus the background you provided during Koga's battles, make these parts very enjoyable.

Although, when bringing who Jade/Green is into the entire matter, I'm thinking that all of this dumbing down you are showing from the characters' perspectives aims to a completely different thing. I may be getting too far ahead in though about where the plot is going (again...) but it seems interesting to me how the E4's attempts to protect the Plates were portrayed when taking into consideration...


From previous chapters...

Actually, the girl would probably still be in Vermillion City, though he doubted that he would find her if he decided to look.
I'm thinking it's Vermillion → Vermilion, but wth... I've always written it with double-L as well out of custom and I am not really sure. Not even my spellcheckers are having it easy (both of them mark both forms as wrong...)

"That's not good enough. What am I paying you for?"
Wait... they're paying him??? I want that kind of job... seriously. The "secret society"-sort of characters in the fic I'm planning for next year aren't being paid (heck, they aren't even it our of "love for the art") so I'm feeling a bit sad. :D --no, wait, :(

Blue leaned in slightly, tightening his grip.

"Don't forget, Jade."

Then, he released her and Green stumbled back, holding her frostbitten arm and breathing heavily.

Interesting quasi-reveal since we don't know much of who Jade is, anyways, except for the important tidbit of information you let slip through sometime during William's chapters I think. Jade one of the highest rankings of the competition League, right? The one who's supposed to be ditzy yet still stands for things regarding to Pokémon abuse and the such? Interesting.






Blue clenched his hands into fists. What options did he have? Knife Giovanni? Hah, like that would do anything. He probably had a Nidoking around somewhere to gore him with its horn if he even tried that.
I... WANT... THAT.... SCENE!!!! :P

Giovanni's got to be quite dangerous when in his terrain, which is pretty much anywhere in a mainland so I'd say "Blue, just surrender now or prepare to fight!!! That's right!". The entire premise of Giovanni's sudden appearance is interesting, mostly because the way you first portrayed your interpretation of Giovanni, he didn't sound that much like a guy who would go head-first to arrange a meeting and expose a potential plan, no matter how much would he be faking it (like with Agatha during the S.S.Anne). I get to wonder, however, if he noticed Jade Green. Also... where did he got a Swablu from?

Oh, Pikachu. A good thing that that darn rat fell, you get bonus points for that. For some reason I like to see Raichu thrive and Pikachu suffer in fan fics. Call it being fed with the anime, if you will.

One thing I missed in this latest chapter was a "Lt. Guile" or "Sonic Boom!" -oriented joke. I mean, looking at HG&SS, Lt. Surge practically screams Street Fighter ripoff!!!!! in his new artwork, and when thinking that he has Voltorb/Electrode available for his Gym theme, it kinda makes it double fun for an available pun.

And one more other thing I missed was having to use Cut to get into the Gym. That kinda went with the territory since in the games it was the first time the player needed an HM for something serious and not for "lulz I wasted a slot and now I have an HM slave with Flash"- kind of stuff. The DittoKey was a nice, practical thing to show offscreen and Danny's comments on it (and on the guards-for-hire) more than made up for it tho.

Good chapters, then! And I hope they keep coming this way!

If I am lucky and our schedule won't get messed up, you'll get my next review as a gift for New Year's Eve!

:D

I have to go lunch now, so I'll leave this here as it stands and edit the review to complete it later during the day. How's that for niceness, uh? ;)
 

Dagzar

The Dreamer
444
Posts
15
Years
Hi, solvino! *waves* I'm glad you've enjoyed the last few chapters!

You do a pretty good job on exposing this sensation of "ruined FOREVER!" that one might feel when comparing the old stuff with the new stuff, or when pondering the (debatable but in my eyes obvious) dumbing down and idiot-proofing of games nowadays. I don't know if it is intentional or if you yourself feel like this, but it is quite well done.
W
hen writing that line, I was tossing up using 'ruined FOREVER' as an actual line, but decided I didn't want to be too trope-ish. I have mixed feelings on the fourth generation (it doesn't help that Sinnoh is my least favorite region), but I've never actually noticed it being dumb-ed down. Of course, I've only played through it a grand total of 2½ times, so I don't know it too well. Though I will admit, the new gym mazes are rather awesome.

Although, when bringing who Jade/Green is into the entire matter, I'm thinking that all of this dumbing down you are showing from the characters' perspectives aims to a completely different thing. I may be getting too far ahead in though about where the plot is going (again...) but it seems interesting to me how the E4's attempts to protect the Plates were portrayed when taking into consideration...
Heh, the Elite Four's attempts to protect the Plates, I will admit, are a bit biased since if they did their job well, poor Blue would be caught and then I'd lose my antagonist. ;)

I'm thinking it's Vermillion Vermilion, but wth... I've always written it with double-L as well out of custom and I am not really sure. Not even my spellcheckers are having it easy (both of them mark both forms as wrong...)
My spell-checker assures me that both 'Vermillion' and 'Vermilion' are correct. O.o I've always used 'Vermillion' and I'm pretty sure that's how it's spelled in the game, but that still leaves the question on what's up with 'Vermilion'. Hmm, this needs further research. <_<

Interesting quasi-reveal since we don't know much of who Jade is, anyways, except for the important tidbit of information you let slip through sometime during William's chapters I think. Jade one of the highest rankings of the competition League, right? The one who's supposed to be ditzy yet still stands for things regarding to Pokémon abuse and the such? Interesting.
I decided to reveal Jade here since, with her name, its rather obvious. So, there's no point in dragging it out (even if I didn't do anything with it at all). I pretty sure I didn't mention Jade at all during the Fuchsia arc; the first time I mentioned her was in the S. S. Anne arc, I think. And yup, your information is spot on, and more will be revealed later.

I... WANT... THAT.... SCENE!!!!
Haha, want gore that bad? Wait until later chapters where I up my violence factor and then we'll see what happens. ;)

Giovanni's got to be quite dangerous when in his terrain, which is pretty much anywhere in a mainland so I'd say "Blue, just surrender now or prepare to fight!!! That's right!". The entire premise of Giovanni's sudden appearance is interesting, mostly because the way you first portrayed your interpretation of Giovanni, he didn't sound that much like a guy who would go head-first to arrange a meeting and expose a potential plan, no matter how much would he be faking it (like with Agatha during the S.S.Anne). I get to wonder, however, if he noticed Jade Green. Also... where did he got a Swablu from?
I can't really talk about Giovanni right now, though I will say that he really keeps information close to his chest. Luckily for Green, Giovanni just missed her, and he has Swablu because he has an organization of thieves and criminals on his side. He can get a lot of Pokemon.

One thing I missed in this latest chapter was a "Lt. Guile" or "Sonic Boom!" -oriented joke. I mean, looking at HG&SS, Lt. Surge practically screams Street Fighter ripoff!!!!! in his new artwork, and when thinking that he has Voltorb/Electrode available for his Gym theme, it kinda makes it double fun for an available pun.
Unfortunately, I've never played Street Fighter, so I'm not really familiar enough with the joke to use it.

And one more other thing I missed was having to use Cut to get into the Gym. That kinda went with the territory since in the games it was the first time the player needed an HM for something serious and not for "lulz I wasted a slot and now I have an HM slave with Flash"- kind of stuff. The DittoKey was a nice, practical thing to show offscreen and Danny's comments on it (and on the guards-for-hire) more than made up for it though.
I was thinking about using Cut, but a fence is a bit more practical for a test and doesn't need to be grown back if cut down (though it might need to be bought). I was actually going to show Ed and Ally getting through the fence, but I wrote that whole scene the morning I posted the chapter and just thought, 'But I don't wanna write more. D:' And so, I listened to my laziness, and my chapter came out better for it.

Yay for laziness! :D

I have to go lunch now, so I'll leave this here as it stands and edit the review to complete it later during the day. How's that for niceness, uh?
Cool! Once you edit your review, I'll edit my post with new replies.

Thanks so much for reviewing! :D
 

Dagzar

The Dreamer
444
Posts
15
Years
Mentor

Chapter 31: Sparks and Flames




-


Ally took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. She stared at the gym leader opposite of her and wondered which Pokemon he was going to use. There were lots of choices, but Ally really hoped that it would be something like a Magnemite. A half steel-type would definitely make things easier.

"Go, Amber!" she called out, making the first move. The Pokeball flew in the air and released Ally's loyal Pokemon.

Looking around, Amber wagged his two (nearly four) tails. He sniffed the ground, getting the feel for the terrain before looking up, his small growl betraying his anticipation for the battle ahead.

"Vulpix, eh?" Surge said to himself, bringing out a Pokeball of his own. "Alright then. Go!"

The Pokeball flew in the air and snapped open, releasing the Pokemon in a display of white light. The creature released was certainly odd looking; it was completely spherical, not a single limb in sight, and was split between two colors, red on the top and white on the bottom. In fact, it looked quite like a mega-sized Pokeball except for its tiny slit-like eyes, which hardly glanced around before focusing on its opponent.

"… A Voltorb?" Ally asked herself, hardly daring to breathe. The only Pokemon that would be just as good as a Magnemite would be a Voltorb, because if there was one Pokemon she knew, it was a Voltorb.

The referee raised his flags and spoke loudly and clearly, "This is a battle between Lt. Surge of Vermillion City and Ally Anderson of Cerulean City. It will be a one-on-one battle, no time limit!" He lowered his flags.

"Let the battle begin!"

Surge started.

"Rollout!"

Obviously well-trained, Voltorb didn't hesitate. It just spun and took off, leaving a trail of upturned dust behind it. Amber watched the Pokemon coming closer in every passing moment and finally realized that it might hurt to stand in its way, so the Vulpix quickly leapt the side. Just in time, as Voltorb passed him without connecting.

"Keep it up, Amber!" Ally encouraged. "Wait until it comes to you, then Ember!"

Amber prepared himself and when Voltorb turned around and came back towards it, the fire-type was ready. Inhaling a fair amount, the Vulpix let it out in a single attack, the fireball bright and strong. It scorched the ground as it flew directly at the other Pokemon, but at the last minute, Voltorb swerved out of the way and immediately went back on track.

This time, the attack connected, sending Amber flying. The fire-type landed on the ground, but got back up quickly, a bit dazed. He shook his head, eyeing the gym leader's Pokemon with a bit more caution.

Back at the sidelines, Ally was in awe. She wouldn't normally be, but since she owned a Voltorb, she could understand how well trained the Pokemon was. To be so trained that it didn't act erratically like hers did- it made her feel weird and wonder why her Voltorb couldn't be like that. Sparks did listen, but only sometimes and he still wouldn't spend time with her. He would participate in battles, but only in the barest requirements.

Ally was so wrapped up in her thoughts, she had almost completely forgotten about the battle before her. It was only when Amber let out a cry, did the girl remember and looked up, just in time to see Amber get rushed again and thrown backwards by Voltorb's Rollout.

"Amber!" Ally shouted, kicking herself for not paying attention. Because she wasn't focused, Amber was getting hurt!

She couldn't let it happen again.

Thankfully, Amber seemed okay, getting back on his feet with a low growl, his attitude going beyond caution to outright annoyance. The Vulpix was small, so he usually got thrown around in fights, but not so violently and twice in a row.

"Um," Ally hesitated, a list of her Vulpix's moves present in her mind. The Voltorb seemed too well trained to get hit by a direct attack, so something indirect would have to do.

"Will-o-Wisp!"

It was an attack that Ally had never used in an official battle before, but not because Amber couldn't use it right. It was more because it was a technique that was rarely needed where an Ember or Quick Attack could do better. Attacking indirectly wasn't something that Ally often did, but this battle required special circumstances.

Slowly, at the end of each of Amber's tails (including the half-formed ones), a blue-white fire ignited. They glowed dimly, and looked more ghostly than something hot. Amber pointed all of his tails at his opponent, who was still rolling around and not staying still.

Ally found it frustrating, and wondered if that was what Surge felt when Ed used Double Team combined with Quick Attack. But since she wasn't on a time limit, she could wait until Voltorb came to her. Will-o-Wisp wasn't like Ember; it wasn't that straightforward.

Finally, Surge commanded, "Voltorb, attack Vulpix! Move carefully."

Instantly, Voltorb made a U-turn from where he was and headed towards Amber. The electric-type, however, was taking its trainer's advice to heart and was moving slower than before. A zigzag pattern was also developing, Voltorb making sure that it wouldn't be hit easily.

It can zigzag without its trainer telling it too? Ally thought to herself, frowning. Why couldn't Sparks do that?

But she didn't let those thoughts distract her for long, as the incident just a few minutes before was still on her mind. She waited for a few more moments, and when Voltorb rolled close enough, she shouted, "Go!"

Amber took a step back and whipped his tails forwards, releasing the small flames into the air. They didn't move in a straight line, but moved about as if centering on a target, following the electric type's movements with ease.

Voltorb dodged one, letting it hit the ground and burn itself out, but three more were still behind it. Swerving, the gym leader's Pokemon made another U-turn, taking out another flame that was just behind it. Now there were two that were slowly gaining speed, not falling for Voltorb previous tricks. They stayed faithfully on the opponent's tail, not letting up.

Even so, Ally didn't have much faith that the flames would hit, remembering how Voltorb had moved before. So, she decided to help out.

"Amber, Ember!"

Suddenly, Voltorb had another factor to deal with as the electric-type swerved to avoid the fireball that hit the ground in front of it. Unfortunately, that action put it in line of a different type of fire, and it was no longer one that it could dodge. The two blue flames hit Voltorb at once and then burst, setting the Pokemon alight with an eerily blue-white flame that rolled with the Pokemon as the electric-type tried to put out the fire.

Ally was about to call out, worried about the Pokemon's safety, but the flames died down on its own, revealing Voltorb to be okay. Well, okay as it could have been with such a nasty-looking burn on the top of its round body. It was black and shriveled, looking rather disgusting.

Glaring, the Pokemon showed its opponent its annoyance by lighting up, this time with its own energy. The blue current of electricity snaked over the electric-type's body before darting forward, too fast to track, and biting Amber with an electric shock.

"Vul!" Amber cried out, backing away and trying to shake the current off. His fur frizzled up, standing on end, and the fire-type eyed its surrounding warily, hoping that there wouldn't be another shock like that.

Not letting up, Voltorb spun again and set off, apparently not in pain by the black mark on its flesh.

"Get out of the way!" Ally yelled, and much to her relief, Amber jumped out of the way, Voltorb whizzing by him.

The Will-o-Wisp attack, Ally noticed, didn't seem to have done any good except make Voltorb angry. Attacking directly still probably wouldn't work, but luckily, Amber had one more attack that could do the job Will-O-Wisp couldn't.

"Confuse Ray!"

Another attack that Amber didn't use, but the Vulpix didn't show it. Instead, the fire-type closed his eyes and when he opened them again, they were glowing a bright purple. Like Will-o-Wisp, flames grew on Amber's tails, but the fire engulfed them all, not just the tips. The fire-type fanned his tails and swept them around, unleashing the purple fire at Voltorb. But fire wouldn't have been the best world, as they seemed more like a dense light and they slowly floated towards Voltorb like an impassible wave.

"Roll, Voltorb!" Surge yelled.

However, the Pokemon was cornered and not even its speed could get it away. The cloud of flames calmly took the gym leader's Pokemon in its grasp as it swept forward, not pausing until it faded away on its own, just a few meters over the white chalk boundary lines.

"Got it," Ally said to herself with a slight smile. Now, with Voltorb both burned and confused, she could go on the offensive again! This time, the electric-type wouldn't be able to roll away.

"Amber, don't let up! Ember!"

Surge was positioned half-way out of the trainer's box, having moved due to the Confuse Ray brushing his boots, but that didn't stop him from giving his Pokemon a few commands of his own.

"Dodge, then Charge! This had gone on long enough!"

Voltorb's eyes were tinged purple and the Pokemon wobbled slightly, as if swaying. Unfortunately for Ally, the electric-type proved it was still functional by rolling out of the way, the Ember barely scorching its surface.

Then stopping, Voltorb concentrated, glowing a faint yellow as electricity was gathered.

Now that was a problem. Charge was an attack that Ally was cautious with. It made electric attacks overpowered and it was very easy for it to quite literally blow up in anyone's faces. Now, she had to be careful. If she didn't, Amber could seriously be hurt. Like Surge said, the battle had gone on long enough.

"Be careful," Ally warned Amber, who was wisely keeping his distance, recognizing the technique as one that Sparks had used before.

Much quicker than she would of thought, Voltorb had fully charged and seemed to have an aura of electrical power. However, its eyes were wide and glazed over, like it wasn't quite aware of what it was doing.

The Pokemon rolled forward slowly, and Ally felt herself sweating. It was like a ticking time bomb; it could go off at any moment. Especially since she wasn't sure that the Pokemon knew Selfdestruct or not. Voltorb learned that attack just before level three, and it was possible that the gym leader's Pokemon knew it already. Either way, she had to be very, very careful. Even a Spark could knock Amber out at that point.

Suddenly, Voltorb jerked forward and Ally reacted.

"Ember!"

As soon the word left Ally's lips, she wanted to take it back. She couldn't help saying it, though. Charge really made attacks dangerous and she didn't want Amber to get hurt by an overpowered Spark. But still, Ally couldn't help but see it as a really reckless move; one she wished she had never said.

However, it was too late to take it back as the fireball rocketed towards the electric-type. It was a direct hit, the fire cascading over the Pokemon and pushing it back. Luckily, that saved the electric-type as Voltorb rolled out of the flames and slowly came to a stop a few feet away from the disappearing fire. Though, that didn't mean that the electric-type wasn't damaged. Its black burn at the top of its body had spread, now encompassing almost half of its red skin and just a bit of its white.

One of Voltorb's eyes, the one in the black area, was screwed shut and the other narrowed, not allowing its tiny pupil to be seen. It shuddered weakly, the burn finally taking a toll on its body.

Ally felt a well of guilt bubble up inside her. The poor Voltorb… even if it was a battle and making the opponent faint was what she was supposed to do, it didn't mean she had to like it. She would hate it if one of her Pokemon was injured like that.

Glancing over at Surge, Ally saw him staring at his Pokemon with a frown, arms held stiffly at his sides.

He's probably waiting for the confusion to wear off, Ally thought to herself. That also meant that she'd better get a move on. Confusion wouldn't last forever and if Voltorb hadn't fainted, that meant the battle still wasn't over.

One more attack should do it.

"One more Ember," Ally told Amber, who was waiting patiently for her command. The fire-type perked up, staring at his opponent as he gathered flames in his mouth.

Surge spoke up, "Move, Voltorb."

Voltorb stayed still, not hearing its trainer or seeing the signs that it was about to be attacked.

"Voltorb," Surge said again, emphasizing the name. "Rollout."

"Go!" Ally called out, not wanting to take the chance of Voltorb snapping out of it. "Ember!"

Amber moved first, unleashing the fireball. The flames raced across the ground, burning everything in its path. At the last moment, Voltorb finally got the hint, but by then, it was too late. The fireball hit it and pushed the electric-type back much strongly than the last time, thrusting it nearly five feet and past the white boundary lines, the Pokemon's ball-shaped body doing the rest.

Voltorb kept rolling until it smacked the wall, bouncing off of it until it rolled to a stop.

The referee approached, but kept his distance. He waited it for a few moments, but he finally said, "Voltorb is out of b-"

Then he stopped. Everyone's attentions were on Voltorb, who started to glow with an intense bright light.

Ally felt words form in her mouth, but couldn't speak them. She froze, only able to watch as the referee backed away, everything else forgotten. Distantly, she could hear Surge shout:

"Damn it- Everyone, back away and get down!"

The words circled in her mind, but no matter how many times they did, she couldn't get a grasp on them.

There was a rushing sound and a loud roar as Ally finally got her mind into gear. She dropped to the floor, her hands covering her ears and her eyes squeezed shut as the world seemed to end around her.

But as soon as it started, it was over.

Even so, she remained on the ground, her hands over her ears, until she felt hands grasping her wrists and Ed's voice in her ear.

"Are you alright!?"

Slowly, she opened her eyes and, with Ed's help, pried her hands from her ears. She leaned on Ed as she took a deep breath and shakily got to her feet.

"Y- Yeah," she replied, looking to where the Voltorb was. Black streaks surrounded the area of the blast, leaving its mark on the ground and wall. A few lone blocks of plaster laid on the floor next the indent in the wall, and a thin layer of dust floated freely in the air. However, the spot where Voltorb sat was empty, only leaving a light-colored imprint behind.

Ally gasped, hands going to her mouth. Where did the Voltorb-

But then she heard the click of a Pokeball and turned to Surge, who was putting the Pokeball back in his pocket. He approached both Ed and Ally with a bit of grimace.

"Are you alright?" he asked, the referee coming up behind him with a face of concern.

Swallowing, the girl nodded, her heard finally starting to let go of such a rapid pace. "I- I'm fine."

"Voltorb tend to explode when really surprised," Surge explained without prompting.

She nodded, having already been vaguely aware of that information.

"For beating me," Surge continued, making Ally look up. "You get the Thunder Badge." He held out his hand, revealing the sun-shaped orange badge.

After a moment of hesitation, she took it, her fingers feeling the edges of the cool metal.

She had won her third badge. Three down, five to go.

"… Oh!" Ally's head jerked up as she looked around. "Where's Amber?!"

Back at the site of Voltorb's Selfdestruct, Amber lightly sniffed the ground, examining the destruction left by the blast. His tails wagged as he nosed a piece of plaster, turning it over with his muzzle. Unfortunately for him, his examination was forcibly put on hold when a pair of hand came around his middle and lifted him in the air.

"Vul," Amber whined, Ally holding him in her arms and close to her chest.

"You did a really good job!" she said to him, beaming. "You deserve a treat!"

Suddenly, the Vulpix's examination being put on hold didn't seem like such a bad idea after all.


-


Danny got up, stretching and seeming not at all unnerved by the explosion. "That was a good battle!" he cheered. "Fire-types are always fun to watch."

"Y- Yeah, I guess," Leah said, frowning. She also got up, but wobbled a bit, still on edge from Voltorb's Selfdestruct.

Her unease apparently showed since Danny asked, "Never seen a Voltorb blow up before?"

"Not really. I thought it'd make a bit more destruction though."

She turned to look at the burned wall, a bit amazed since Voltorb sat right against it only a few minutes ago. She would have sworn the Pokemon would have blown right through the wall; it certainly looked like the Pokemon had enough power to do so.

"Nah, that's Explosion," Danny explained. "Selfdestruct is more about noise and a big bang than actual fire power."

"It could have fooled me," Leah muttered, but then brightened up. She turned to Danny with a smirk. "Hey, I told you so didn't I? Both Ed and Ally won their battles."

Danny waved if off, "Yeah, but only because it wasn't a fair fight. Surge went easy on both of them."

"They still won." Leah shrugged with a pleased look on her face.

"Yeah, yeah," Danny grumbled, letting it go. To protect his pride, he changed the topic "So, what did you think of the battle?"

"Pretty good. Ally works well with Amber. More than Sparks, anyways."

"Who?"

"Her Voltorb."

Understanding lit on Danny's face and he nodded to himself.

"What is it?" Leah asked dully, noticing the way that Danny's eyes darted to her meant that he probably wanted her to ask.

"I wondered why she was so careful," Danny explained, grinning. "She seemed a bit paranoid when Voltorb used Charge. Since she has a Voltorb, it explains a lot."

Leah shrugged, not really caring at the line of conversation. "I guess."

"Hey, I have an idea."

Looking over at Danny, Leah said, "What?"

"You should battle Surge next!"

Leah was taken aback at that, but quickly recovered.

"No."

"Why not?" he asked. "It'd be pretty interesting, don't you think?"

"No, I don't."

He persisted. "Aw, come on!" He paused, apparently trying to form an argument that would collapse her stubborn defenses. "You're going to go back home soon, right? This is their third badge and the next one will be with Sabrina…?"

"Misty," Leah corrected. "She's easier."

"Alright then, Misty. This is the perfect time for you to have a gym battle! You can't go back home without exposing yourself to the whole journey experience and that means you have to battle a gym leader. And isn't it convenient that Surge is an electric-type trainer and you have a Sandshrew! Perfect match; you even get a type advantage out of it!"

"I don't care," Leah replied, crossing her arms. "Badges are useless since I'm not competing in the Indigo Tournament. If I'm not doing that, then what's the difference between a gym leader and a normal trainer?"

Danny sighed. "It's a gym battle! When you think 'Pokemon journey', the first thing that comes to mind is gyms! You can't go back home without doing it at least once."

"Yes, I can."

"Aren't you the least bit curious at what it would be like?" Danny persisted.

"… No," Leah said, and then added, "It's just a trainer battle in a big fancy gym. There's no difference."

Mentally though, Leah could admit to herself that she was a bit curious. Of course she would never say that out loud; Danny would just take that as an initiative to keep going with his pleas. It was true what he said, though; Pokemon journeys went hand-in-hand with gym battles most of the time. When she was little, she always dreamed about having her first gym battle against Giovanni of Viridian City, and winning with no problem. Then, her younger self dreamed, she would beat all the others and win the Indigo Tournament and she'd be the best Pokemon Master in the world.

Honestly, did kids wish for anything other than that? Now that she was older, she didn't see the point anymore. Gym leaders, trainers… there was no difference except how 'official' the battle was. Sure, gym leaders were way more experienced, but could anyone honestly feel proud defeating a gym leader when it was pretty much a fact that they were going easy on you? She didn't need to beat a gym leader; she could just go against some random trainer.

There was no difference.

… Except, there was just something about a gym battle that made it so appealing. She didn't know what it was. Maybe it was just something society engraved in her, that gym battles would always be superior. What ever it was, it made her want to battle a gym leader, just to see what it was like. To see why people kept doing it other than to get into the Indigo Tournament. There had to be something that made fighting against them so appealing.

"Sure there is," Danny was saying when Leah's mind reentered the conversation. "You just haven't experienced one before so you don't understand what I'm talking about."

That was true. If she really was going to quit being a trainer after Cerulean, then this one moment was her only chance of experiencing a gym battle. She just couldn't turn around years in the future and challenge a gym leader when her curiosity overtook her. No, she wanted this gym battle stuff out of the way so it wouldn't bother her later in life. After getting that out of the way, there would be nothing holding her back once she moved on.

Well, not including for Sands, of course.

"Fine," Leah said, interrupting Danny in the middle of whatever he was saying.

Danny blinked. "What?"

"I'll do it." Leah turned away so that she didn't see Danny's face erupting into a grin.

Last chance, Leah told herself. You can take back the words now and deny that you had ever said them. You don't have to battle a gym leader. You don't have too.

But she wanted too.

Just this once.

"I'll challenge Surge."


-


A/N: What's this… A short chapter? It's a miracle! :D

Well, yeah, I suppose you can say this is the second part of chapter 30 since I wanted to end it right here last chapter, but couldn't finish it. So, I hope you enjoyed it.
 
Last edited:

pikakip

The original DarkHeart
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OHMYGAWD! SHE'S ACTUALLY GONNA DO IT!
awesome :D XD
I didn't notice any mistakes, but I'm not that good at Identifying them.
still, that was good.
 

Dagzar

The Dreamer
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Thanks for reviewing, pikakip! Yup, Leah's going to do something that she'd never suspect she'd ever do. Let's all hope it goes well. ;)
 

SethMetal37

I'm a zombie. BLARG!
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WOW, lol I always figured she would challenge one of them, just needed Danny to coax her into it. I think there was a couple errors like when danny said "Fire-type are always fun to watch, I think Fire-types would b more appropriate, but im not a grammatical genious so idk. Great chapters though
 

Dagzar

The Dreamer
444
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Yeah, I decided early on that I wanted Leah to battle a gym leader and Surge seemed like the right choice (that, and the chapters around pretty much every other gym leader are already a bit… busy, so it works out just fine).

And thanks for pointing out that mistake! I've purged it from the story. :D

Thank you for reviewing, Seth!
 

Giratina ♀

what's your sign?
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There is one word:

FINALLY.

Come on, Leah, kick some American Gym Leader tail! IN KANTO! seriously you had thirty chapters and you're just now fighting a leader? Ahem, anyway. Once again I found no errors in the chapter, so there's not much else to say than 'Keep writing!' and 'Don't you dare let this fall onto the second page again!'
 

Dagzar

The Dreamer
444
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Haha, yeah, let's all cheer Leah on! Yay, no errors! Wow, you know, in my first few chapters, I had tons of errors everywhere and recently, they've all ditched me for some reason. O.o They better not come back as it's a pain to kick them all out again. And don't worry, I'll be updating this week so the story will hopefully stay on the first page.
 

Giratina ♀

what's your sign?
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The errors clearly know you've grown far too awesome to be plagued by them and walk away at all lessened in your awesomeness. That's why they aren't showing up as much, *duh*. ;D
 

Dagzar

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Haha, maybe. ;) Though, I admit, I'd have tons more errors if I don't check over my story before I post it. The gender errors alone would make a sizable amount (I tend to automatically refer to all Pokemon in my story as 'its', no matter what gender they are. It's always very annoying to check over my story to see that I've labeled Sands as an it for an entire battle).
 

Giratina ♀

what's your sign?
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I hear ya! I sometimes keep alternating between genders and 'it', so I'm constantly thinking 'And it- He! No! And he aimed a Steel Wing at the opposing Pokémon, who batted it back at it- NONONO! Him! Murkrow is a guy!' during most Pokémon scenes. Truthfully, if they're opponent Pokémon I just use 'it'. Only Pokémon on the characters' team/main characters who are Pokémon really get genders.
 

Dagzar

The Dreamer
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Lately, I've gotten into the habit of using 'he' automatically sometimes too, but that doesn't help much since I've finally added a female Pokemon to the cast (Zee). <_< Though, I suppose it isn't that bad since Ed doesn't care about his Pokemon's genders, and therefore, I can just use 'it' for Paras and Coralie. Yeah, I also tend to use 'it' for one-shot Pokemon opponents except those who are only one gender (like those Nidorina/Nidorino).
 

Dagzar

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Mentor

Chapter 32: Sand and Steel

-

"You want to what?! Ed asked loudly, gaping. To his side, Ally was also looking on with wide eyes, her arms clamped around Amber.

"I've changed my mind," Leah repeated, looking at Surge and ignoring Ed. "I want to battle you after all."

Surge rubbed his chin in mock-thought. "Well, I can't see why not. I do have one Pokemon left, after all. Are you going to use a Pokemon at the same level as your friends'?"

"Not my friends," Leah muttered under her breath, grimacing. She raised her voice. "Yeah, my Pokemon's about the same level."

Ed interrupted, "Leah, what's going on?"

"Oh, go sit down and watch the show," Leah replied, finally paying attention to him only to wave him off. "I want to get this started already."

"Just what I was thinking," Surge said, grinning.


-


"I thought she hated battling," Ed commented to Ally as they took a seat in the stands.

Ally petted Amber, who was sitting on her lap and looking quite content. "Maybe she wants to try it out?" she guessed after a moment of thought.

There was no one more surprised than they when Leah came up to them all and announced her intentions of battling Surge. For someone like Leah, who hated being a trainer, to willingly participate in something that pretty much defined Pokemon training was a huge shock.

Danny turned to the brats with a fake surprised expression. "Leah hates battling?" he asked, with a questioning tone of voice. "Since when? She's always likes battling me."

Ed frowned. "But she always makes a big deal out of helping us train!"

"Well, yeah," Danny said. "You guys are probably really boring to battle. Unlike you, I throw strategies in, making things interesting."

"We have strategies," Ed argued.

"Maybe her," Danny conceding, motioning at the silent Ally, "but definitely not you. Making your Pokemon fight until they faint isn't what people would call a strategy." He sneered at the last word.

Falling silent at that, Ed pouted, crossing his arms. "I won the battle," he finally muttered.

Danny frowned slightly and questioned, "Was a little metal badge worth your Pokemon passing out?"

Before Ed could reply, Ally spoke up.

"The battle's starting..."


-


Why was she doing this again?

It was a very good question. Never in her life had she challenged a gym leader, but she supposed that was no longer true. She wasn't interested in gym battles, so why was she even trying? It wasn't like she would get any reward. Oh, sure, she'd get a badge, but what was she supposed to do with that? If she wasn't going to participate in the Indigo Tournament, there was absolutely no point in battling gym leaders.

But as Leah stepped in the trainer's box, she felt some excitement. She stared at her opponent across from her and wondered if this was the way trainers felt before gym battles… Not that it mattered, of course. She always felt anticipation for battle, no matter how stupid. This was no different than those times.

Taking out a Pokeball, Leah dropped it to the ground, releasing Sands.

Honestly, it was rather obvious what Pokemon she would choose. Not only did Sands have a type advantage, but he was rather well-trained in her opinion. He knew many attacks and she was proud to say he was a good fighter. Besides, she had never used Zee in a battle before, even if a psychic-type might be a good choice too.

Sands seemed to feel his trainer's restrained excitement as he paced back and forth, mirroring Leah's mood and waiting for a challenger to appear.

One that came soon enough.

"A Sandshrew, eh?" Surge said out loud, taking out his own Pokeball. "Lucky for me, then."

Leah tensed at the words and a suspicion formed in her mind. There was one species of common electric-type Pokemon that Surge hadn't used yet…

"Go!"

With white light, the opponent Pokemon manifested in thin air, but instead of dropping to the ground, it hung there, floating. Like Voltorb, its body was round, but it was made of a shiny steel that shone in the lights overhead. It had three screws attached to its body, one on its head and one on each side. It had only one eye that was unblinking, its pinpoint pupil looking straight in front of it. On either side of its eye were two magnets, each having a red and blue point.

Leah mentally groaned. A steel-type would have made things easier, usually, but not one that floated! … Well, actually, maybe it didn't matter too much. It wasn't like Sands knew any real ground attacks anyways. Besides, her Sandshrew knew some projectile techniques, so a floating Pokemon wasn't that much of a problem.

Over at the sidelines, the referee raised his flags.

"This is a battle between Lt. Surge of Vermillion City and Leah Gordon of Pallet Town! There is no time limit! Let the battle begin!"

And then there was silence.

Both trainers stared at each, both waiting for the other to make the first move. Magnemite floated lazily in the air, and Sands watched the steel-type curiously, like it was a big red balloon.

What move should I make? Leah thought to herself, her mind going through plans. Magnemite was a Pokemon she usually overlooked, so, because of that, she only knew its most basic moves. The only attack she supposed would be considered dangerous was Supersonic, a technique that could change the tide of battle in a single instant.

It was definitely something to avoid.

Finally, Surge realized that Leah was waiting for him, so he made the first move.

"Magnemite, Thundershock!"

Leah's eyes narrowed. Thundershock? Now why would he command something as useless as that–

A blue current of electricity sparked on both of the electric-type's magnets, making them glow with power. Surprisingly, the magnets moved to point at its opponent on the ground, the electricity still sparking dangerously. A moment hardly passed before the charge was ignited, sending blue bolts of energy down at the Sandshrew, making the ground-type wince at the small flashes of light that danced right in front of it.

"Sands!" Leah said, trying to gain her Pokemon's attention. She could see now at what Surge was doing. Due to her Pokemon being a ground-type, the electricity was only harmlessly bouncing off of Sands' thick tile-like hide, but not all of her Pokemon was covered in that light yellow coat.

"Defense Curl!"

Luckily, Sands heard her and immediately curled up on the ground, protecting its face and front from the electrical storm around it.

But that was just what Surge had been waiting for.

"Magnemite, Supersonic!"

With Sands trapped in the middle of an electrical discharge and curled tightly in a ball, speed wasn't something the Pokemon had on his side.

Magnemite held out its magnets straight at its sides and they started to vibrate, and did so at a faster rate at seconds past by. When they were only a blur, a piecing ringing sound developed, making nearly everyone in the room hold their ears, all except Surge and the referee, who barely flinched.

But as soon as it started, it ended, and Leah took her hands from her ears. She looked up at her Pokemon to see the damage the attack did and was not disappointed. The Pokemon was uncurling itself and getting up, brushing off any excess sparks. He looked around with wide eyes, apparently not knowing what to do with himself.

"Sands!" Leah called out, but the Pokemon ignored her.

She tried again.

"Sands! Listen."

But her Sandshrew didn't seem to feel like it. Though, after a moment, he looked back at his trainer with a confused glance, one of his paws brushing his tiny triangular ears.

Did the Supersonic make him deaf? Leah asked herself as a cold chill went down her spine. If so, that caused a lot of problems. She supposed that she could let Sands battle by himself, without her, but most Pokemon relied on their hearing. Without his hearing, he was rather handicapped.

Leah looked up to glance at Surge. The way the gym leader waited until Sands was curled into a ball before issuing a Supersonic… he didn't use tactics like that with the brats. It was like he was taking her seriously, or as much as he could with a low-leveled Pokemon. But why was he using layered strategies on her? What was different between her and the brats?

The answer wasn't that hard to come by, and with a sinking feeling, Leah thought, I'm fifteen; he probably think I'm an experienced trainer with five years under my belt.

If true, that notion changed a lot. It also meant that she couldn't just keep thinking about it. If Surge thought she was a good trainer, he wouldn't waste any time… And neither would she.

"Swift," Leah called out to her Sandshrew, but then mentally slapped herself. She had completely forgotten that Sands couldn't hear her commands!

Damn it!

Surge took advantage of her mental cursing.

"Sonic Boom!"

It was impossible for Leah to warn her Pokemon about the incoming attack unless he turned to her, and since he couldn't hear the high-pitched wail the sound the technique made, Sands was hit directly. He was thrown off his feet and landing a meter back, doing a full roll before halting.

Fortunately, her Sandshrew was now facing Leah's direction. She waited until Sands looked up to her before she put her finger to her mouth and tried to mimic something coming out of it. In a lucky break, Sands' eyes lit up in what the trainer hoped was understanding, and he got back to his feet, throwing a growl at his opponent.

Leah made a small sigh of relief. Her Pokemon had got the 'Swift!' message, so after that attack was complete (she didn't really know how effective it would be), she would have the think of a way to take out those magnets. Those magnets or Magnemite's eye were probably the electric-types weak point-

However, her mental musings were cut when she took a look on how the battle was going and was forced to double-take.

Sands was doing exactly what she motioned him to do: use a projectile attack. The only thing was that he had two of such techniques and he seemingly decided to go with the one which he knew best.

Which wasn't Swift.

Magnemite was forced to move, quickly dodging the hail of purple needles. Its one eye closed as it was smart enough to protect the biggest target. The few Poison Stings that hit its steel body only rickshaw off, making Sands to be quick on its feet unless he wanted to get hit by his own attack. And while the needles wouldn't hurt him much, Sands needed all the strength he could get.

A purple needle was shot near Leah's foot and it stood upright on the ground, vibrating slightly. She moved away with a distasteful glance at the sliver of poison.

"Damn it, Sands," Leah muttered to herself. If only her Pokemon wasn't deaf! The only hope she could hold onto was that Supersonic would ware off soon. She just had to be patient

Unfortunately, she could be patient, but Magnemite could not. The Poison Sting didn't even scratch it, but it was hard to tell by the way the electric-type was acting. The Pokemon seemed to take the attack as an insult, and its one eye glared down at its opponent as its magnets sparked.

"Out of the way!" Leah hissed at her Pokemon, even if he couldn't hear her.

Although, Sands looked in her direction at the words, his ears twitching, but still not looking like he understood.

As the ground-type's head was turned, Magnemite struck, hitting him with another Thundershock. The blue lightning made the Pokemon yelp as the force pushed him to the ground. The electricity leapt around his body, but remembering the last time, Sands didn't stay put, instead jumping out of the current with only slight injuries to its white underbelly.

Surge reentered the battle.

"Magnemite, Spark!"

For a moment, Magnemite floated silently, but then bright yellow sparks danced around the Pokemon's body, illuminating it and making the steel-type glow. For the first time during the battle, Magnemite came down from its safety in the sky and dived towards the ground. Sands tried to jump back, but the electricity clipped his foot as Magnemite went by, making him trip and sprawl to the ground. Faster than what the Pokemon looked like it could do, the electric-type came down for a second assault, tackling the Sandshrew with its steel body and the sparks surrounding it.

"Sands!" Leah shouted, concerned, as her Sandshrew was thrown back and landed near her, just in front of the white boundary line.

The trainer knelt down so she could take a closer look at her Pokemon and she had to admit, he looked pretty bad. The last attack must have done a number on him since Leah couldn't remember her Pokemon that hurt during the battle. Some of his hide was colored with pale red electrical burns and he looked beat up and tired, his chest taking quick and shallow breaths.

His eyes partly opened, looking as black and dark as usual, but seemed to hold an undertone of what could have been pain.

I'm not going to win this battle, Leah thought to herself, the realization making her feel cold. She hadn't gotten a scratch on the Magnemite and her Pokemon was handicapped, beat up, and didn't look like he could fight anymore.

There was no way she could win, and honestly, with Sands in front of her, she didn't feel like trying to beat the odds.

Leah stood back up and raised her hand, looking at the referee.

"I give up."

From where she was standing, she could hear Ed yell, "What?!"

But the referee nodded at her decision and raised his flag in Surge's direction.

"The challenger has surrendered! The winner is Lt. Surge!"

Leah ignored everything else as she gently felt her way around her Pokemon's body, taking note of where he flinched. His side was bruised rather badly, and she didn't want to risk injuring it further if she picked her Pokemon up.

Since she couldn't carry him, Leah returned Sands to his Pokeball, silently promising that she'd get him to a Pokemon Center as soon as possible.

When she stood, Surge was in front of her, his arms crossed.

"Not bad," Surge started, "Your Sandshrew was able to put up a fight, despite the odds."

Fight? Leah snorted. Sands hadn't even laid a scratch on the steel-type. The only thing that could possibly be said as a good thing was that Sands did last for more than five minutes. Though, that wasn't much of a victory.

The gym leader continued, "I suggest waiting until your Sandshrew evolves into Sandslash before challenging me again."

"… Sure," Leah said, shrugging. She didn't feel like disagreeing with the gym leader at the moment. She had absolutely no plans to challenge him again. Once was enough, thanks.

Besides, she didn't want to stay and chat; she just wanted to leave and get to a Pokemon Center.

"Why'd you give up?" Ed demanded, coming over to her with Ally and Danny.

Leah gave him a narrowed-eyed glance. "There was no way I was going to win," she explained shortly.

"You could have tried! How would you know if you just gave up?"

"I would know," Leah said, mentally telling Ed to shut up.

Danny came up to her to offer his own words. "Bad luck that it was a Magnemite," he said, apparently not knowing what to say since she had lost.

"I'm going to the Pokemon Center," Leah announced, brushing aside all other attempts of conversation as she walked out the door. After a moment, Danny followed her.

Ed and Ally were also about to, but Surge stopped them. Or rather, Ed.

"I want to talk to you for a minute," the gym leader said, looking grave.


-


Leah arrived at the Pokemon Center alone. Danny had been following her, but he had gone off to do… something. She hadn't asked and he hadn't told her. Well, actually, she had a suspicion that she had pissed him off with her attitude, since his attempts to cheer her up were rudely rebuffed, even in her eyes. So, he had stormed off in a huff and left her all alone.

But at that moment, she didn't care one bit. She just wanted to be by herself for a while; was that too much to ask?

It had hardly taken two minutes to drop Sands off at the nurse in the front. The whole thing was a bit of a blur and the next thing she coherently knew, she was laying on her bed in the room she shared with Ed and Ally.

The girl sighed, kicking her shoes off and throwing her jacket to the floor. Still laying down, she untied her ponytail and put the elastic on the sheets next to her. No matter how upset she was, she didn't want to loose another elastic; she went through enough of those already.

When she was finally comfy, she closed her eyes and wished she would fall asleep. She didn't feel like thinking, but it seemed her thoughts had other ideas as they poured into her mind from an unknown waterfall of emotion.

How could she think that going up against a gym leader would be a good idea? What, did she think she would win or something? And then go on to become a Pokemon Master? The whole idea was laughable. She, win against an experienced gym leader with nothing more than an inexperienced Sandshrew? Who did she think she was? Mary Sue?

It was bad luck that Surge had used a Magnemite. Any other Pokemon and Leah could see herself winning, even if there was a tight margin separating her victory from defeat. But no, it had to be a Magnemite, a half-steel and half-electric-type. A Pokemon that floated, a concept that was enemy of a ground-type. She had lost the battle before it even started.

How do they do it? Leah asked herself, thinking of Ed and Ally. How do they beat gym leader so easily? Ed had only lost once, and he still got a badge because Ally won her battle. Ally hadn't lost yet, though she had only won her battle with Blaine because of mere luck. They were ten, five years younger than Leah and they did better than her.

Leah was smart; she could think up strategies that would go over the mind of a ten-year-old. So why had she lost and they won? Well, she knew why she had lost, if that made any sense, but why did they win?

Gym leaders go easy on kids, Leah concluded. It wasn't just giving them a fair chance. Beating up a ten-year-old's Pokemon would probably make anyone feel guilty. So, younger kids won, whether the gym leader was being nice or holding back, most likely both. And if kids won, they would continue being trainers, because hey, who didn't like doing something they always won?

Leah sighed, not knowing where she was going with her train of thought.

There was no getting around it; she had to get it in her head: she lost, badly.

She lost.

So, what was she going to do about it?

Going back home would be a start, once she could ditch the brats someplace. Cerulean City was Ally hometown, if she remembered right, so that meant she could just ditch the two at Ally's house and stay at the Pokemon Center. Since the brats wouldn't beg her to stay with them (like Ed had done in Fuchsia City), she would only have to check up on them now and again. Once they got the Cascade Badge, she was home free.

Then what? So, if her goal was completed and she was back home, then what would she do? Listen to Jason Dare, go to school, watch TV, lay on her bed in her room, doing nothing… what she used to do, before this whole Mentor mess started. People would say her activities were boring, but Leah didn't see a problem with them. She liked doing those things. Unlike the average kid, she didn't really have any hobbies to talk about. Her lifestyle could even be called unhealthy since her lack of close figures in her life made her quite a loner. The only family she had left was her grandmother and a few other people she rarely saw or didn't even life in Kanto. And even then, her grandmother was never home.

Not that she really cared.

It would even be nice to go back to school, even if she didn't like to admit it. School gave her something to do, even if she didn't have any close classmates. Of course, she had already missed a week of school, but that wasn't too bad.

Going home, after all this time would be… nice.

Leah's eyes drooped, and for the first time in years, she took a nap.
 

Dagzar

The Dreamer
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"I think you did good," Ally said, sitting across the booth from Leah. Amber sat at the girl's side, gnawing on a bone-shaped treat.

Leah scowled at the window, watching her reflection's mouth turn into a sneer.

"Not good enough."

The younger girl wasn't off put by her Mentor's attitude and carried on.

"You did do good, though! Magnemite have an advantage over ground-types. Sands wouldn't have been able to win, no matter what you did-"

"Sands did his best," Leah interrupted, her voice practically a growl. "It's not his fault he wasn't able to win."

Ally swallowed and went silent.

The two brats had interrupted her much needed rest half-an-hour ago and proceeded to annoy her like never before. Oh, they weren't doing it on purpose, but it was the little things that were catching her eye. Ally had yet to put Amber away and was treating the fire-type with more love and affection than Leah thought possible. The girl was also in a talkative mood, her cheerful mood betrayed by the bright smile on her face.

Ed, on the other hand, wasn't acting as expected but he was still irritating. His victory glow was more on the thoughtful side as he kept staring at the damn Thunder Badge, turning it over in his hands and playing with the pin side of it.

"You can stop it now," Leah told Ed, who had the pleasure of sitting beside her. Scowling, Ed put the badge on the table, pulling his soda towards him and sipping at the straw.

"Hey, Leah," Ed said after taking a long sip of his drink. He seemed a tad nervous, eyes looking down at the table. "Uh… Do you think I pushed Coralie too much?"

"I dunno," the older girl replied, rolling her eyes, not caring for any question that came in her direction. "Why ask me? Go call William or something."

Ed apparently didn't agree with the idea by the way he pulled back.

"I can't ask Will!" he complained, aghast. "Then he'll know that I haven't been treating my Pokemon right! He'll be angry."

Suddenly, Leah put her hands on the table and rose to her feet.

"I'm going to go look for Danny," she declared to the brats, not waiting for a reply before turning with a swing of her ponytail.

She really wasn't in the mood for answering questions and giving advice. It wasn't her problem if Ed mistreated his Pokemon. She wasn't going to be around for much longer so why should she care?

Before leaving the Pokemon Center, however, Leah stopped by the front desk.

"Hey," she said, gaining the secretary's attention. "I brought my Sandshrew in about an hour ago… His name's Sands. Uh, do you know how he's doing?"

"Not sure, let me check," the secretary replied, looking at her computer and clicked a few times with her mouse. After a few more clicks: "It's only been an hour, so there's still healing to be done. Come back in a few more hours and he should be feeling better then."

Leah thanked the woman and left the Pokemon Center, walking outside into the cool autumn air. She looked both ways, her eyes scanning people's faces. When she saw Danny's was not among them, she started walking.

Honestly, she didn't know where Danny was, but he probably didn't go too far. Maybe he was checking out the Poke-Mart or some other such place; Leah couldn't really see him going somewhere that wasn't related to Pokemon.

After only a few minutes of walking, she got a lucky break and saw Danny a ways away, walking out of the doors of the Pokemon Fanclub.

Leah raised her hand, and Danny spotted it, coming over to her with a smile.

"Hey," he greeted. "Got bored?"

"A bit," she replied. Truthfully, she just wanted to get away from the brats. They were way more annoying than usual when hyped up after a win and it wasn't something she wanted to be around.

"Did you know they're selling Pokemon Eggs in there?" Danny asked, pointing to the fan club.

She shrugged. "Yeah. The brats wanted one, but I said no. What, you interested in one?"

"Nah, baby Pokemon can be pretty annoying."

Nodding, Leah smiled slightly. That was what she thought at the time.

"Though," he continued, "they were Cleffa eggs and those are pretty rare. The only place you can really find them in Kanto is Mount Moon." He scratched his head. "The only thing I'm really wondering is why they aren't just auctioned off. That'd be way easier than just to sell them individually."

"Maybe she didn't want them to go to bad owners?"

Danny shrugged. "Yeah, maybe. He paused. "Wait, 'she'? The person who was selling the eggs was a man."

"Really?" Leah said, frowning. She was pretty sure the seller had been a woman, though, now that she thought about it, she couldn't actually remember what she looked like. Pushing the thought aside, she said, "Must be more than one seller, then."

The older teen shrugged and changed the subject. "Have you had lunch yet?" he asked. "Cause there's a really good restaurant by the gym-"

"Already ate," Leah replied, her mood going sour as the gym was brought up. Her battle had hardly been two hours ago and she was still steaming over it.

Danny sighed heavily. "That's too bad. Well, if not that, how about a battle? You still owe me one, remember."

"Sands is too injured right now," Leah said, frowning.

"You have another Pokemon besides your Sandshrew, right?" He explained further after seeing Leah's odd look. "I got the information out of your little friends while you were battling. They said you had a Drowzee."

Promising herself to smack the brats when she saw them again, Leah said, "She won't be my Pokemon for long, I'm getting rid of her once I quit this whole trainer stuff."

"Really? That's a shame. How long have you had her?"

Leah thought back. "Almost two weeks, I think. Though it feels a lot longer."

"So, why don't you use her, then?" He persisted. "I'll use Teddy and it can be a psychic battle. Haven't you ever seen psychic battles on TV before?"

Leah had several times. Those types of battles were very fast-paced, the psychic Pokemon teleporting all over the place and only fighting with their mind. It was definitely a sight to see.

Still, she hesitated. "I don't know… I've never used Zee in a battle before."

"Come on, it'll be fun!"

It could be a good idea, she thought, Danny's pleading words getting to her. She needed something to get her out of the slump she found herself in. True, maybe battling so soon after her defeat would be a bad idea, but it would be Danny she would be battling. He never won against her…

"Fine," Leah said, rolling her eyes. "Just one battle."

"Sweet!"

Danny grinned and pointed down the street. "I know just the spot where we can battle. Come on!"


-


The spot he chose wasn't exactly what Leah would call perfect. It was off the street, true, but there were still people around the little grassy area and she hoped the people wouldn't mind if they got in their way.

But apparently, trainers randomly battling were common because a crowd was already starting to form around then. They hadn't even sent out their Pokemon and were already attracting viewers. The people were mostly younger kids with a few older folk (some were probably parents) thrown into the mix, and they were looking on in anticipation.

She had never battled in front of a crowd before (the brats and Danny didn't count as a crowd), and she gripped her Pokeball tighter, hoping they'd lose interest.

Danny, however, seemed right at home, not minding the onlookers, but instead greeting them with a grin.

"You nervous?" he asked her.

"Of course not," she replied coolly, being the first to release her Pokemon.

The crowd ooh-ed at the white light, but seemed to be disappointed in her choice of Pokemon, their voices lowering to whispers and chuckles.

Zee, like her trainer, seemed a bit uncomfortable with all the stares and whispering. She ducked her head as a particularly loud laugh came from the crowd and grabbed onto Leah's pant leg, like a scared child.

Ignore them, Leah sent, after putting a hand on the Pokemon's head. We're going to be battling now, so be ready.

The trainer wasn't sure if her Pokemon understood her message, but before she could confirm, Danny distracted her by releasing his own Pokemon.

Teddy brushed green hair from his bright red eyes, his appearance gaining much more appreciation from the crowd.

"Ooh, what Pokemon's that?"

"A Kirlia!? Those are rare!"

"It's so pretty! Where can I get one of those?"

Danny grinned at the comments, and looked up at Leah with pride on his face.

"Ready to battle?"

Pushing her Pokemon away, Leah waited until Zee had taken a few steps forward before saying, "Yeah, I'm ready."

And the battle began.

"Teddy," Danny started, "Magical Leaf!"

The two hairpins on the Kirlia's head started to glow a luminescent green, and his eyes took a faint emerald glow. The Pokemon raised his arms and ghostly crescents detached themselves from his horns and hovered in mid-air. With hardly a pause, Teddy pointed at his opponent and the crescents of green light shot off.

"Zee, dodge!"

The psychic-type shot her trainer a panicked look, not understanding. She turned back and raised one of her hands, mentally stopping a few of the closer leaves in mid-flight. The rest of the leaves, however, followed their original path, slicing into Zee and instantly dissolving on contact.

Leah kept a gasp to herself and walked a few paces to the right, getting a better view of her Pokemon's injuries. Her short-lived fright a few seconds before was unfounded, thankfully, as the Magical Leaf only left shallow cuts; nothing too harmful.

But that brought up another problem. Zee didn't get out of the way when she told her too. The explanation on why the Pokemon didn't was rather stupid, but Leah could forgive herself for it. Really! Other than Sands, who she got five years ago, she had never owned another Pokemon before. How was she to remember that not all Pokemon came with a full understanding of the English language? In the first few days of becoming trainers, Leah could remember quite vividly that Ed and Ally used much of their time just teaching their Pokemon basic attack names and commands. A process that was later followed when they caught new Pokemon (well, not Coralie, since she was already trained).

Zee, however, didn't know the names of her own techniques. That meant that Leah couldn't get involved with the battle and help the Pokemon through it. Like her gym battle a few hours before, it looked like her Pokemon was going to have to battle alone.
-
In a snap decision, Leah decided to continue the battle. Sure, Danny had a big advantage since his psychic-type was well-trained, but that didn't mean she was going to automatically lose. Zee was tough; she beat up hers and the brat's Pokemon that one night and it was only because Leah accidently caught her was Zee 'defeated'.

Besides, Leah didn't want to make a fool of herself in front of a crowd. One attack and she recalls her Pokemon? That'd be humiliating and she had already lost one battle that day by surrendering.

She refused to do it again, no matter the circumstances.

"Lucky Chant," Danny called out, making Leah refocus on the battle.

Teddy started to sway to music only he could hear, and started to hum an odd tune, his white skirt dancing with him. His red eyes glazed over as the humming got louder-

Suddenly, Teddy was pushed back, his dance broken and when the Pokemon looked up, he caught sight of Zee. The psychic-type was pointing at him with a single claw, her eyes narrowed, and not looking beaten, despite the small trails of blood that oozed out of her cuts.

"Hmm, nice one," Danny said to Leah, an eyebrow raised. "Just to warn you, psychic battles are way different from regular ones. You're not going to be able to win with a single Force Push."

For only a moment, Leah paused, but then an idea came upon her. With a slight chuckle, she grinned at him and said, "Oh, I know."

Danny paused at her odd answer, but recovered nicely. "Really?" Danny replied. "Then you better start getting serious."

Leah made a show of shrugging and shooting her Pokemon with a calculating look before turning back to Danny. "I already am. You just haven't noticed."

Frowning, Danny's eyes narrowed as he probably tried to decipher what Leah meant behind her words.

Making Danny overestimate Zee could backfire very easily. Leah didn't know how much the brats told him about Zee, but he didn't have to know that Zee wasn't trained in the slightest. All abilities and reactions she had were strictly natural. So, while Danny thought and over planned, she could take the advantage. Or rather, Zee could.

"Zee," Leah said, smiling. "You know what to do."

Leah might as well have not spoken, as Zee only understood her nickname and nothing else. But it wasn't really the psychic-type the trainer was talking too.

Zee lowered her paw and concentrated, eyes narrowing, as she stared into her opponent's red eyes. Slowly, Teddy started to unconsciously sway on his thin green legs.

Danny scowled and instructed, "Teddy, look away, Drowzee's using Hypnosis."

The Kirlia wretched his gaze from Zee's and put one hand to his head, the other pointing at the Drowzee. His eyes glowed a faint blue and pebbles that littered the ground were picked up by invisible hands. The little rocks were thrust forward, all zooming in at the Drowzee.

But this time, Zee wasn't going to settle for a partial block. Instead, she brushed all of them out of the air, the pebbles flying at the feet of the crowd.

"Teleport," Danny said.

Leah merely smiled at the command and said nothing.

As soon as Teddy disappeared, Zee froze, eyes darting around the small area. Though, since the crowd around them wasn't giving the battle space that it could have had, teleporting was a rather useless maneuver.

With a flash of light, Teddy reappeared a few feet to Zee's left, his hairpins already awash in a green glow. Several crescent blades materialized, flying through the air and since the space between the two Pokemon was so small, the Drowzee could only brace herself.

Between the flurry of green blades, Zee raised her paw, her own eyes turning a startling blue. But instead of the blades being stopped, the Kirlia was the target instead.

The opponent Pokemon seized up for a moment, arms held at his sides and head turning downwards, his eyes squeezing shut. Then, after a moment, the psychic Pokemon dropped like a marionette with its strings cut.

There were gasps in the crowd, but they turned into sighs of reliefs when Teddy got back to its feet, panting.

"What'd you do?" Danny asked out loud, visually searching his Pokemon for an answer that didn't come.

Leah grinned, staying silent and hiding her own confusion at which attack her Pokemon had used.

"Magical Leaf!" Danny called out, setting his hesitance aside. "Again!"

The Kirlia's horns glowed, but then abruptly went dark as Teddy held its head in pain, knees buckling, though it did not fall.

"Hey, Zee," Leah said, waiting until the Pokemon looked at her before the trainer put one of her fists into her hand, grinning.

Words were something the psychic-type couldn't understand but motions or symbols were another thing entirely.

Danny also saw Leah do the motion, and saw what was going to happen.

"Teddy! Teleport-"

Looking up, the Kirlia only had time to see the fist coming at his face before his vision cut to black.

Leah gazed at the fallen Pokemon, and grinned. "I win."

"Not again," Danny groaned, looking at Teddy for a moment before returning it. "I thought for sure I would win this time."

Leah shrugged, still grinning, and patted her Drowzee on the head for a job well done.

"You can't win them all," she quipped to him, even though she was sure that she would lose too.

Danny rolled his eyes. "I never win with you around."

Seeing the battle was over, the crowd slowly started to. Leah was a bit disturbed that some random strangers came up to her to personally congratulate her on the win, but she brushed them aside quickly.

After everyone had left, Danny said, "You had no idea what you were doing."

It was more of a statement than a question, and Leah just nodded. "Yeah, what gave it away?"

"You exaggerated your intimidation too much," he answered and grinned at Leah's surprised expression. "Hey, don't underestimate me. I notice these things."

"Well, I still won."

Danny waved it off. "I was going easy on you. All you did was get in a lucky punch. I'll totally win the next battle, though."

"Yeah right," Leah scoffed, smiling. "If my untrained Drowzee can beat you, you think you'll stand a chance against her when she's trained?"

The older teen opened his mouth, a reply on his lips, but closed it again, frowning. "Cerulean's not that far; will you even have enough time to train her before ditching the journey thing?"

Leah shrugged. "I'm going to see what I can do. It's been years since I've trained a Pokemon from scratch. Then, I'll just give Zee to Ally. I know she'll look after her."

The happy mood vanished and all that was left was silence.

"I'm not going to Cerulean next," Danny said quietly. "I'm staying here for a while before heading to Saffron. I don't think we'll have time for another battle."

Leah deflated, her enthusiasm gone. "We're leaving for Cerulean tomorrow," she replied, just as quiet. "The brats want their next badge…" She trailed off, because it was really she who told the brats that they were leaving tomorrow, though she wouldn't tell Danny that.

What was done was done. Soon, her journey would be over and she would go back home. She hated almost every minute of her journey, there was no denying that. But maybe, there would be some things she would miss.

"Visit me in Pallet Town?" Leah asked with a forced smile. "When you find the time?"

Danny's reply was instantaneous. "Of course!" His voice was loud, like he was daring Leah to deny the fact. "Give me your address and I'll come see you once I'm done in Saffron. Then, we'll have another battle and I'll win."

"You wish," Leah teased.

The tension was broken and Danny continued, "Hey, are you sure you're not hungry? Cause that battle made me really want something to eat…"

Leah made a show of sighing. "Maybe a little."

"Then I'll escort you to that restaurant I found," Danny said, holding out a hand. "Trust me, it's a good place."

Leah stared at the hand for a moment, like she didn't know what to do with it.

"I believe you," Leah said, rolling her eyes and putting her hand in his. Danny's grip tightened and Leah tried to keep her blush to herself.

"Alright then," Danny started with a grin, pulling Leah down the street.

"Let's go."


-


AN: And thus ends the Vermillion Arc! *faints of exhaustion* Sorry for the extra long wait! This chapter gave me some trouble, especially the gym battle, but I think it came out rather well, even if it shows signs of being rather rushed. And guys, I suggest you say goodbye to Danny, because he won't be appearing again for a long while (and I am not exaggerating).
 

pikakip

The original DarkHeart
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Posts
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Wow. WOW. That was one good chapter. I didn't notice anything that was a grammatical error, but this made me laugh:
Who did she think she was? Mary Sue?

I'm an RPer, so naturally the Mary-sue reference made me laugh.
 
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