Warren moaned as the light assaulted his eyes the second he opened them.
"Good sleep?" Warren bolted upright at the sound of a girl's voice, then scowled as he saw Liv sitting on her bed, an innocent yet completely evil smile on her face.
"Nice PJs," she commented, "I especially like the Jigglypuff design." Warren growled as she smirked, then scooped up his clothes and marched over to the door.
"I'm going to get dressed," he spat as he walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Storming through to the bathroom, he hurriedly got dressed into his regular white t-shirt and jeans, then got a shock when he looked in the mirror. Normally, Warren was a skinhead, but over the last few weeks his hair had begun to grow back and his scalp was almost hidden again. He wasn't entirely sure of his new hair but it was definitely different.
Walking back through to the lobby, Warren saw Liv standing there with his coat and bag.
"I thought you'd want to get off," she smiled and Warren nodded, glad that she seemed to at least have stopped teasing him.
"I don't know who to use for this gym battle," he explained as he walked straight past the gym, "Beedrill and Poliwag are my best fighters, but they're both at a disadvantage. Bellsprout resists electric attacks, so it's my best bet, but it needs a little more training before its ready to face Lieutenant Surge." Liv nodded,
"So, we're heading to Route 11 to fight some wild Pokémon?" Warren nodded and Liv stopped walking.
"Well, I think this is where we split up again, for now. I'm going to the gym to challenge Surge." Warren smiled, unsurprised that Liv was rushing straight into the battle.
"I'll see you later then," he called as Liv turned and slowly walked back to the gym.
A few minutes later, Warren had found the Pokémon he was going to challenge to a battle. The Diglett was just sitting in the middle of a small clearing, munching on a root with its back to Warren.
"Let's go, Bell sprout!" he shouted and Diglett spun around in shock as the living plant burst from its ball, vines already flailing. Before it had a chance to react, it was slapped across the face and squealed in pain.
"Wrap it up!" Warren shouted and Bellsprout obeyed, encircling Diglett with its long body and squeezing hard. Diglett promptly shot underground and Bellsprout almost fell over. The mole resurfaced right behind Bellsprout and threw sand in its eyes as it turned.
"Don't you dare give in that easy!" Warren bellowed, "Sweep the ground with your vines!" Bellsprout bent down low and spun in a circle, its vines trailing across the ground until they smacked straight into Diglett. Defeated, it retreated underground and didn't resurface.
"Nice one, Bellsprout," Warren called, "Let's find some more weak Pokémon to beat up!" Rather disturbingly, Bellsprout heard this and cheered with glee.