The Crystal League

[Gavin Luper]

Yes, I think it was deleted before, but I feel like posting it again, for the same reason that I wrote Only Human; to get more practise with writing in first-person writing.

So here's the Crystal League! Reposted and hopefully it'll last longer this time!

Cheers!

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The Crystal League.

Chapter 1


Weak sunlight struggled through the dusty windows of my dormitory. Outside, a young Dodrio struggled to squawk each off-key note without getting into a heated argument with it’s other heads. Inside, I struggled to break loose of my bed sheets; my feet were somehow stuck inside them.

“Help!” I cried, initially unaware that I had yelled it out instead of following my plan of whispering to Joey, the kid in the bed alongside me. After my scream, nine figures shot up in their beds, bolt upright, shocked at the literally rude awakening. I would have laughed at their befuddled expressions, if Mr Burnside hadn’t stepped down from the mezzanine floor at that moment. He was frowning at me so sternly that his forehead creased into a mass of wrinkles.

“Bryan Nolan,” he sighed, taking slow, menacing steps towards my bed. Joey, next to me, cringed as he strode past, but after two weeks at the camp I knew this guy’s style. He usually tried to intimidate, but when he finally spat out a few words I breathed a heavy sigh of relief. “This is your final day here.” He boomed, finally, his forehead straightening out again. “For two weeks, Bryan, you have trained with your temporary Pokemon Partner, gaining experience, learning about your Pokemon, and working out strategies.”

Mr Burnside was pacing between mine and Joey’s beds. When he came close to me, he stopped, and looked directly into my eyes. Sorry, Mr Burnside, I’m not intimidated by YOU today. Mr Burnside seemed to read my thoughts, and he shied away, leaving me staring triumphantly at the side of his head. It was only then, after two full weeks of being at camp with him dictating, that I realised Mr Burnside had a very fitting surname – change it around a little and he’d be Mr Sideburn. And that makes sense, since his sideburns are pretty scary.

“This camp was hopefully meant to make you more mature.” Sideburn continued, still pacing endlessly. “ But, Bryan, you seem to have become worse.”

Shut Up! “But Si- er- Mr Burnside, I thought the purpose of the camp was to (at this point I put on an attempted Mr Burnside accent) ensure that our young bodies are physically prepared for the challenges that await us young adventurers on Crystal Island.”

Joey, next to me, snorted loudly, and quickly darted under his sheets to avoid Mr Burnside’s poisonous glare. When Sideburn turned back to me, his eyes flashed wildly, and all the other boys in the dormitory strained their ears to hear what would happen. Suddenly Sideburn pulled himself together, probably to keep up his mature front.

“You are lucky, Bryan Nolan, that I am not the one to decide who enters the Crystal League, and who does NOT.” He hissed, then raised his voice to a confident tone again. “ All trainers are to be in the Main Hall in half an hour.”

With that, Sideburn stalked off to the mezzanine level, and Joey emerged from his bed to help me. I told him about the sheets, and he snorted again. Joey often did that, I had worked that out quickly in the two weeks we had known each other. However, he was still a good friend, and grabbed strong hold of the sheets, tearing them off in one swift movement.

Joey was my age, fifteen, but apparently a lot stronger. Although we had both endured two weeks of physical training, some people did well, while others achieved little, myself being part of the latter, even though Joey said I wasn’t as weak as I thought.

Once the sheets were off, Joey and I realised the problem, and both cracked up. After a few minutes, we stopped laughing to evaluate the problem and get the three wild Caterpie out of my bed. All three caterpie had used String Shot to literally bind my legs to the bed. Joey helped me to pry my legs off the under sheet. Once I was finally up, all the other boys guffawed loudly. I guessed this was a way of Ben Wyatt getting me back for last week when I planted one baby Caterpie in his bed, and made his feet stick to the mattress. Well, he deserved it more than I did. He acted like an absolute idiot to his pokemon.

Scraping the last of the solidified String Shot off, I pulled a T shirt over my head and thought of the day ahead of me. This morning all two hundred trainers at the camp were embarking on a short walk to the Main Hall, where meals were eaten. There, three judges from the Crystal League committee would allow only ten people into the league and begin training. All the others, all hundred and ninety of them, would receive a small gift as compensation.

My aim was to be one of the ten.

I couldn’t wait. This was my first time at the crystal league training camp, unlike some, and probably my last. Dad had said before I left that it was way too expensive to send me here two years in a row, so this year was probably my only shot; thank God Sideburn wasn’t on the committee. He’d place me in 200th position and steal my gift and poison my Eevee, he hates me that much.

However, there’s not much to hate about me – I’m a lovable guy, right? A good outlook on life, considerate … I’m nice enough. Well, apparently not. Sideburn thinks I’m *ahem* too fond of the joke. What’s the harm in a few tricks? Grimers in the showers – they wouldn’t have hurt anyone! Caterpie in the bed – that was my personal favourite until today. And then there was the time with those Charmeleons, that was funny … though I did feel a bit sorry for Janie when her hair got charred off.

“C’mon, Bryan,” Joey called, pushing me through the old wooden doorframe and out into the crisp, early morning air. I struggled to keep up with Joey – his pack must have been a lot lighter than mine, I mean, it was BOUNCING on his back. We traipsed through a small field and along a narrow, well travelled gravel path until finally we rose up over a hill and saw the enormous Main Hall in the valley below, trainers everywhere swarming from all direction to the front door.

Joey and I joined the crowd, slowly pressing forward. Every few seconds I had to jump up to see over Joey’s black hair, to make sure I could still see the front door, and that we were heading in the right direction. After literally fifteen minutes, I suddenly found myself in the large Main Hall, but today it looked very different from the usual plain, echoey, cement hall that I was used to.

Today, the hall was draped with bright balloons and vibrant streamers. Upon a newly-erected platform sat three people; an old, white haired man, whose wrinkles were visible from twenty metres away; however he had a wise looking, but dangerous somehow, face. Next was an old woman who I recognised as Agatha, a retired member of the Elite four. She was not quite as wrinkled, but had silvery white hair and wore long navy robes. To her right sat Lance, one of the greatest ever Pokemon trainers. He was leader of the Elite Four. All three sat at a lengthy desk, with a small microphone fitted in front of each of them. At the very front of the platform, tiny Cleffa and Igglybuff danced to their own, soothing music which made me feel drowsy, but not sleepy exactly.

In the audience area, dozens and dozens of plastic chairs littered the hall in straight rows and columns. They were filling up rapidly, so Joey and I raced the crowds to about half way between the entrance and platform. We were pretty lucky to find two adjacent seats.

After another few minutes waiting, the final few trainers took their seats. At the front of the audience sat Sideburn and the other various-aged staff of the camp. Finally, the old man upon the platform cleared his throat, and launched into a brief speech.

“Welcome all trainers to the annual Crystal League acceptance ceremony.” The man declared, his mouth so close to the mike it appeared he was ready to devour it whole. “I am Mr Ferris Musoman, but you may call me Mr Ferris Musoman.”

A few people laughed politely at the feeble attempt at a joke, but I sighed at the joke – WAY TOO OLD. Most of us, myself included, just wanted to get to the good part – The actual acceptance ceremony. Abruptly, Agatha, on Musoman’s right, spoke up. “The three of us judges have, after an extremely long and tiring night (there were a few laughs at this), decided upon the ten trainers worthy of entering the Crystal League. Now Master Lance will introduce you all to the first three.”

The younger, ebony-haired guy stood up quickly, much younger (in his 20’s) than the others. He held a small laminated card in one hand and his mike in the other. “Good Morning, Ladies and Gents, I am Lance, Champion of the Elite Four Trainers.” Lance’s cape rippled in the cool tropical wind. He paced out in front of the long desk and the Cleffa and Igglybuff scattered wildly. I would have laughed if I hadn’t been so tensed up, but I was too nervous. Would I be in? Would I finally enter the Crystal League?

“All trainers are asked to come up to the platform after their name is called. Trainers one, two and three...” Lance drawled slowly, pausing at the end of each word to draw out the suspense. “Are Nick Golding, Julia Waltham and Emily Griffith.”

My heart pounded, as cheers rose up and Lance congratulated each trainer as they arrived on the platform. So I wasn’t in – yet. Lance took his seat as Agatha stood up slowly and cautiously, and simply read three more names. “Chris Hudson, Joey Austin, Mist Floreat.”

People cheered all around, but I was in slight shock. However, I managed to smile slightly and give Joey a pathetic thump on the back as he strode up the aisle towards Agatha, who patted him and the other two trainers on the back in a gesture of congratulations. Four More spaces … I had to get in! Joey had, at least. Agatha slowly lowered herself down as Musoman stood up to read three more trainers. “Trainers 6 – 9 are Elizabeth Hulmes, Ben Wyatt and David Colfax.”

My heart skipped a beat this time. Ben Wyatt, from my dormitory, had actually got in. That meant he and Joey, who were both in the same dorm, had been accepted. The chances of me getting in were now extraordinarily slim – three trainers from the same dorm was virtually impossible, since there were twenty dormitories altogether. Lance stood up one final time, and held a miniscule card in his hand. Every muscle in my body tensed. Every being in the audience trembled as Lance gradually opened his mouth, enjoying the suspense teasingly. “Ryan Noloh.”

My heart skipped another beat, and plummeted about fifty feet. At this rate, I was gonna have a heart attack or something! But I didn’t care about that … I’d just lost, I was out, I’d failed … never would I get another chance. I’d lost to Ryan Noloh … Who was Ryan Noloh? Wait a sec …

“It’s me!” I yelled, my voice hoarse. Hundreds of eyes locked onto me - I felt my face flush scarlet, half embarrassed, half sheer happiness.

“Ryan Noloh?” asked Lance, as I hauled myself out of my seat into the blue-carpeted aisle.

“No, Bryan Nolan actually.”

The entire hall burst into laughter. Lance actually chuckled himself, before muttering into his mike: “Can’t read my own writin’.” My legs decided to stop working as I was halfway to the platform, and I toppled over. Luckily, my arms were still in action, and I managed to spring back up. My legs rigid, I walked stiffly towards the platform, watching as Musoman pulled a cord and a huge material sign unfurled above him, mustard block letters splashed on it, loudly proclaiming “Crystal League – trainers of 2005.”

Finally I stumbled up the wooden steps and reached the platform. Looking back, everyone was cheering for us trainers, except Sideburn, of course. I laughed with pleasure - what a loser! I then felt a firm hand of my shoulder; Lance stood there. “Congratulations, Bryan.”

I joined the other nine trainers, all of whom were clapping along. Eventually, the noise died down, and Musoman stood up, holding another card. From where I stood behind him, I could make out ten names and another word beside them – A pokemon partner, obviously, for the journey. Musoman read names out one-by-one, and each trainer received a pokemon and a spare pokeball. The rest of the pokeballs we needed had to be bought with our own money. I tuned out for all the trainers, until my turn, of course. Musoman smiled, his moustache twitching slightly, as he handed me my pokemon, in a pokeball, and a spare. Then he uttered a few words to me. “ That pokemon is the one I started with.” I grinned, elated that I had succeeded in entering, and took the balls, retreating back to the other trainers. I looked out over the cheering sea of people (though a lot of them were sitting in a kind of sulk), and decided; this was definitely the happiest I had ever been.

[Hyperness is a Good Thing]

Yayies...it sounds quite interesting..and knowing you, it'll probably definitely not be "just another trainer fic"... hopefully... ^_^

XDXD The mix up in names was good. Made me think that the guy didn't get into the league... =)

[Meganium]

YES! Thanks a lot for bringing it back the mix-up in names is better than the first time. lol. Cant wait for the next chapter.

[Neo-Xantios]

Ah, greetings, Gavin Luper. We meet at last. What got me into this fic was your style of writing. The story so far is intriguing, however, I knew that Bryan would be in the ten. If he wouldn't, there isn't gonna be a story, right? Anyway, this fic is promising like your other fic. Sorry for not reading LtL, but I shall read this one till the end (At least I'll try). I can't wait to see what endeavor awaits Bryan.

[Gavin Luper]

Thanks everyone for the replies! It's so great to see some readers back here. I'm right back into the swing of things at the moment ... Chapter 10 is shaping up beautifully.

Chapter 2 up as soon as I edit it!

[Darien Shields]

I remember this! Yes, I will read it, and read it, um, alot. Keep posting, it's good.

[Gavin Luper]

Darien: thanks! I'll keep posting! At least until I get enough across to you guys!

[Cyndaquil7]

Sideburn like is so funny. I liked the way you made it simple and described why you were there and stuff. I can't wait to see the what pokemon they get!

[Chris 2.1]

Yes! This fic alone can destroy all the other 'below-par' fics around....IT'S BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I remember when I first read it, the one element I liked was that there was no Professor [tree name]!!!!!!!!!! Hehe. It's original, witty (sideburn = LOL), it's just..... you , Gav. Everything you've advised people to do in trainer fics (and kudos, you do that a lot) is slammed down HERE, it's like "The Crystal Leag,e AKA - a PROPER trainer fic"!!!!


Yay!

Moo.

It's the sugar.....it's made me like this 0_0;;

[Gavin Luper]

Cyndaquil: Hey! Lol yeah well when I wrote the chapter it just sprung to mind. Most of the time in this I'm just writing things in as I feel like it.

The pokemon they get will be in the next chapter.

Shiny Marill: Hi. Do you really think this fic is actually that good, I mean, I never got very far with it and the final few chapters I did post last time around weren't all so great.

Still, I've edited and remodified. And I take most of my own advice in this fic.

Cheers! Chapter 2 coming soon!

[Gavin Luper]

Here you go!

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Chapter 2


The hall before me was deserted. The crowd had left a few minutes ago and the only remaining people were the ten trainers and Lance. Musoman had been called away on some “urgent business” in Kanto, I think he said something like watching a battle. Agatha, the old hag, had left without reason, walking out the doors oblivious to anybody else, as though she was the only person in the world. I looked at her as she left; her eyes were glassy and she was staring at nothing. It was quite frightening, but I spose she’s just too far over the hill.

I sat with Joey on the platform’s edge as we guessed what pokemon we had – Lance had not yet given the order for us to open our pokeballs. Joey was under the impression that all the trainers had been given a flying pokemon to fly us to shore. I guessed we were gifted with a water type that could surf – it seemed more challenging and logical, for travelling around islands. There were apparently four or five islands surrounding the main Crystal Island, which I guessed we had to go to to get our badges. I couldn’t believe that the journey – the most exciting journey of all – was about to start.

“Alright, calm down now …” Lance was saying, trying to hush a couple of girls who were chatting and giggling; one had braces and buck teeth and was saying loudly “Julia, you’re joking!” to the blonde girl beside her. The rest of the trainers sat around chatting about other things; their hometowns, their family, what music they liked and stuff like that. Nobody actually seemed to care that they had just entered an exclusive Pokemon League.

Lance cleared his throat very loudly. “Alright, welcome to the Beginner Ranks of the Crystal League. The ten of you will be classed as Beginners until you have all earned two badges, when you will move up a rank. As a result, you will all be allowed certain privileges each stage you move up. As Beginners, your allowances are basic-”

There was a giggle. I looked at the ugly girl with braces; she had her hand up.

“Yes?” said Lance.

“What privileges and stuff are you talking about?” she said. I cringed; spit had just come spraying out of her mouth. It was disgusting. I shifted further away.

Lance ran a hand through his hair. “I can’t say. But you’ll see as you move around on the Island. Now …” He cleared his throat again. It was getting annoying. “You have all received a new pokemon now. In all cases you have been given a creature different to your training partner over the last two weeks. In accordance with League Regulations, however, you are all to be reimbursed with your training partner for the quest ahead.”

“What?” I said loudly.

“You get your training pokemon to keep.”

Excited chatter swept across us all. Our training partner, as well as a supposed water type! Most people only started leagues with one! I recalled how my Eevee, Oliver, and I had spent two weeks training together, almost always winning against wild pokemon. Now the training would have come to some use – Oliver had some experience. “Please step forward and collect your pokemon in an orderly fashion.” Lance said, in a clear, well-spoken voice, as he was quickly mobbed by ten teenagers scrabbling for their pokemon, and then bowled over. I noticed the girl with braces going “Yay! I keep my Teddiursa!” and cringed again.

“OK, all of you now must follow me,” Lance said, trying to regain some sort of composure. “In two lines.”

I guffawed loudly and Joey snorted. However, Lance had a stern face, so we quickly formed two lines. By the time we exited the hall, there were ten. That’d show that freaky, prim and proper Lance. He always seemed so much cooler on TV, during elite four battles. Guess it was just an act. Or maybe the proper Lance was an act? I wasn’t entirely sure.

Once we were outside in the fresh, crisp air, Lance led us down a narrow path while Joey talked non-stop in my ear. “I knew it. I knew we’d get our pokemon back. My brother Damien said they did the same thing with his group back in 2002. I can’t believe I have Magby back. This is going to be heaps of fun. I wonder how long the journey’s supposed to take. Damien reckons they have heaps of different obstacles to pass and riddles and different quests to pass, but he won’t tell me what they are. He did say there aren’t any till after the second gym, though.” I was too tired to talk, so I just nodded my head every few seconds to let Joey I was still listening, even though I wasn’t. After the excitement of the Acceptance ceremony, all the adrenaline had rushed out of me, leaving my body in an exhausted, just-got-out-of-bed feeling. The whole thing was like a good dream. I had entered the Crystal League. I already owned two out of a possible eight pokemon. And it was a perfect (maybe a little cool) day.

I wondered where Lance was leading us, and was about to ask when the path rose over a low hill, overlooking the sparkling, crystal-clear ocean. I brightened up; maybe we had got water type pokemon after all. Water types are really wicked. They swim almost as well as I do.

Lance still didn’t say a word or even turn around when we crested the hill; instead he just kept walking toward the water. His cape was looking really stupid now. Maybe he was one of those gothic people. I chuckled to myself. I began to tell Joey what I thought when Lance suddenly looked around at us.

“Come over here with me,” said Lance breezily.

We all stood there in the damp beach sand, our sneakers sinking slowly down. Lance was further in, the cool rippling waves washing over his shoes and wetting the end of his long, flowing cape. I felt a sudden urge to yank the cape and throw it over his head, but I resisted.

“Now, throw your pokeballs,” Lance called. Obediently, I tossed the ball into the water before me, watching as it sank for a moment before bursting open in a flash. All around me, the other trainers released their pokemon, and very soon, ten pokemon splashed around. I looked mine up and down; it was like a serpent, with a shell. The creature’s skin was that of an azure hue, and the shell resting neatly upon its back was smooth and pale grey.

“Your pokemon is a Watari,” Lance told me. “The baby form of Lapras.”

“Wicked!” I cried, not caring how babyish the pokemon was, and waded out to pat its shell and rub it’s neck. Hopefully it would take a liking to me.

Joey, meanwhile, received a Kulofish. People used to think it was the evolution of Qwilfish, but it’s been proven to be a completely individual species. Unlike Qwilfish, Kulofish was smooth and had no traces of spikes; instead it appeared to be a spherical whale pokemon. It’s colourings were bottle green and a bright white shade. Oh, and by the way, it’s about five feet high.

Kulofish grinned with its big teeth as Joey ran to pat it.

The other trainers, meanwhile, were on the beach still, listening to Lance as he chatted to them. I preferred to stay with Watari (Lance seemed to be a bit of a poof with that cape). Watari had actually taken a liking to me and rubbed its head up and down against my body; it was fairly big for a baby pokemon, almost as tall as I was! I could hear Lance muttering to the others as I stroked Watari’s cool, sky-blue skin. “And then you all have to surf to Crystal Island,” he finished.

The other trainers began to mount their pokemon, while I easily leapt up on Watari’s pewter-coloured shell. I looked over the group to see most trainers weren’t doing very well; I laughed when I saw Ben’s Staryu water-gunning him off time after time. Serves him right. Joey wasn’t doing too well either. Granted, Kulofish was huge, not to mention tall and round, so it seemed virtually impossible to get upon it.

All around the area, I watched the other trainers struggle to simply jump on their pokemon. Maybe I had just been lucky to receive a placid pokemon, I thought, as a nearby girl with burgundy hair was chased away from her pokemon, a large blue fishy thing that was spitting yellow bubbles at her.

“All ready?” Lance asked, as I realised I was the only trainer who had successfully mounted a Pokemon. Without waiting for an answer, the man continued. “Now, don’t worry about the voyage – it’s fairly brief, not to mention easy. The currents practically CARRY you there. Now, when you arrive on the mainland, head east towards Hudson City. I’ll be waiting at the Pokemon Centre to tell you about the first gym. Any questions?”

Either there were none, or people were just too pre-occupied. I saw a guy with bleached hair get his arm sliced by the Hypril he was trying to sit on.

“Alright, off you go then!” Lance cried. “Good Luck.”

I waved a temporary goodbye to Joey, who had still to mount Kulofish. I was still the only trainer to take off – all the others were still struggling back at shore. I laughed as Watari sped up, and we raced over the waves to greet the sparkling cerulean sea.

The ride was truly pleasant. No work was required from me, and Watari seemed to find surfing a breeze. He didn’t mind at all when I held onto his neck for stability, and especially liked the berry that I few to him fifteen minutes into the trip. After an hour or so, though, the ride was rapidly becoming boring. To amuse myself, I took out a small brochure on The Crystal League Dad had given me before leaving, and began reading.

The Crystal League was originally established in 1999, on Crystal Island. Previously believed to be devoid of Pokemon Life, Crystal Island had been used before for the mining of precious stones and minerals, the main base of this being at the Austin Bay Colony. The mines have operated since 1953, and most are still in action, even today. Most colonies were establi…

I stopped reading. Who the hell cares about mines and colonies? I quickly shot a glance at the author, just to make sure it wasn’t written by Sideburn or anything. It was just the kind of drivel he would find riveting. But, no - in tiny black print of the bottom of the page was “Author Mr F. Musoman.” So, Musoman wrote it. I scanned through the various articles until I came across the heading “The League itself”.

The Crystal League – est. 1999. Now in it’s sixth year, The Crystal League has an estimated 300 trainers competing for some 12 badges, kept and guarded by gym leaders scattered across the archipelago. Each gym leader becomes gradually more difficult, until the final gym leader. Once a trainer defeats a leader, he or she will receive a badge as well as a clue to the location of the next gym. The gyms are sorted into types and each leader has a different way of testing a trainer’s skill -

I turned the page, but the last few sentences were crossed out in thick black marker – apparently Dad didn’t want me to know too much. The only thing dad hadn’t scribbled out was a portion of map, with Hudson City on it. I sighed, and looked at the rest of the brochure. It had a section called Trainer Rules which I took a quick look at. It was boring through. Trainers must not steal pokemon under any circumstance … trainers should not invade the Heritage Areas of the Island, or the Secrecy Sections … trainers must not engage in any extreme physical violence with either humans or pokemon … trainers cannot drink Caracola in the Refined Reserve near Montclair Town … blah blah blah … any misdemeanours will be treated seriously …

Great. I’ll try not to drink Coke in any reserves then.

I folded the brochure back up, and plunged it into my backpack. It was back to being bored – I sprawled out on Watari’s shell as he continued along. I didn’t realise that I had fallen asleep until I heard Watari’s weak baby cry and I opened my eyes; there was a note of urgency in his voice. The sun was high in the sky already.

I sat up immediately to see Ben Wyatt, sitting smugly on one of his Staryu’s many limbs. He had apparently taught it to teleport, and it was appearing every few feet, speeding past Watari and I, but stopping to let us almost catch up. I tried to conceal my jealousy.

“Oh hi Ben,” I said, casually. Keeping a cool front is not my forte. I could already feel my ears going red. “Glad to see you’re leading the race.”

“Well well, a freak upon a freak,” he said quickly. Jesus, that was original. I wonder how many times he rehearsed that from a B-Grade American movie.

I think Ben thought himself very funny. He glanced first at me, and then at Watari and laughed, brushing his normally neat hair off his face. Watari looked at him – it looked hurt, but kept its speed up all the same. “That was really funny Ben. No really, it was. Did you and Sideburn make that one up together did you? Last night in bed?”

He turned a brilliant purple. I put my hands behind my head and smiled. Watari moved ahead before Ben realised and quickly began Teleporting again.

“Oh yeah?” he retorted.

“WOW!” I said enthusiastically. “Ben’s just busting out with the great comebacks today!”

He screwed his face up and I expected him to say something like “Oh well … nyaaa” but instead his Staryu came right up close and before either me or Watari could react, the starfish swiped at Watari and grazed his side. Ben grinned, looking satisfied.

I was really annoyed. “That – wasn’t – very – nice,” I said through clenched teeth.

“Aw, is poor Bry Bry’s bubby bubbly buddy hurt?” Ben jeered, laughing away at the both of us, constantly teleporting just ahead.

“WATER GUN!” I SHOUTED.

I think Watari was only too happy to comply. With a high-pitched war cry, he issued a brief jet of clear water from his mouth and hit Ben square in the stomach, knocking him off Staryu and into the water.

“Bryan! You ****ing dickhead!” Ben yelled, flailing around in the cool water, and trying to splash after his Staryu, who had continued to teleport onwards.

“Poor Benny,” I said smugly, brushing my short fringe up off my forehead in the way that Ben did all the time to make him look ‘cool’.

“Bye bye Benny.”

“You’re a bloody dickhead Bryan!” said Ben in a slightly more civil tone. “You will pay for this you know.”

And he released an endless stream of insults that fell on deaf ears.


*

Awhile later, I spotted land on the horizon. At first I couldn’t tell whether it was land or just a cloud, but as we moved on forward I could make out a thin band of white beach sand and a thick cluster of emerald green foliage. We were nearly there.

As Watari moved in closer, however, he seemed to want me to look at something to our distant right. I looked and saw a very old paddle steamer chuffing along the water, following the coast to our right. I already knew Hudson City was to our east also, so I decided that instead of landing and walking for an hour or two to the city, we could just go by water; follow the steamer until we came across the city.

“Alright, Watari, go that way!” I ordered.


*

Watari and I drifted into the Hudson Port at around 11am. My stomach rumbled; I had skipped breakfast, not wanting to eat while on the voyage. Now that we had slowed, I couldn’t even eat because I was too busy directing Watari around, weaving through small pleasure craft and large export ships. The port was very busy and there were boats and ships everywhere. There were a couple of times when I thought we were going to be crushed, but luckily Watari swerved in the nick of time.

We battled our way to the side of the port itself, where a few sheds were clustered on the raised land. I found a very rusty and corroded ladder on the seawall and climbed up it. Once on dry land, I returned Watari. After all, he couldn’t walk around the city.

Hudson City was fairly big, but not so great for the tourists. A small river ran through the main city centre, and it reeked! Mould and blue-green algae drifted dismally down it, clinging to the sides. No water pokemon dared to enter the lifeless stream; except the occasional stupid Magikarp that I saw, but even they were drowning in the pollution. Even Grimers rejected the river.

The town itself was similar – and frankly not much better. Very dull, there were few people even on the main streets. Even though there were few people, rubbish and various other crap littered the roads. Most shops were abandoned and the only shops open were dingy delis of cafés. I was ready for breakfast now, but decided not to chance it after I saw one vendor pick his nose and then serve a woman a croissant. Gross!

This town was a hole! Nothing to do, anywhere. Dead streets, dead river - I even saw a dead Pidgey down an alleyway. Just when I felt like leaving, I remembered why I had come here – to see Lance at the Pokecentre. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too far.

After walking almost endlessly in a maze of dirty streets, finally, wearily, I turned a corner and there it was - you couldn’t miss it! The thing stuck out like a Charmander at a Bulbasaur farm, only in a good way, because the Pokecentre appeared large, clean and modern. A huge crimson and white pokeball sat atop the two-storey structure, which had enormous shiny windows scattered around. I quickly crossed the street, and breathed a sigh of relief.

The pokecentre on the inside was just how I had imagined it – no, better! Nurse Joy and a round Blissey stood behind the front desk. To their right was a bespectacled man – the pokemart cashier. Next to him, on the right, was a plump woman in a green dress, standing behind a marble counter with a clipboard. The rest of the centre was planned just as well. A few well-sized sofas, a coffee table, and a combined vending and coffee machine. It was like a dream come true after the rest of the city.

I poured myself a boiling cup of coffee and sipped at it slowly. I had plenty of time … most of the other trainers were probably not even on the island yet! I really lucked out that Watari spotted the paddle steamer, otherwise our advantage wouldn’t be as useful. Just when I had sipped again at my steaming coffee, I felt a firm hand on my shoulder. I leapt up in fright, slamming my coffee on the table and slopping it all over the table.

“ Jumpy, aren’t we?” Lance, champion of the Elite Four, walked casually out from behind me, joining me at the table. “ Gotcha.” He laughed, seeing my expression. “ So are you the first one here?”

“ Yeah, I think so.” I said, as Lance ran a strong, large hand through his hair, which spiked out at many different angles. “ Some of the others might have fallen off their pokemon or something,” I suggested innocently. “I reckon they’re probably an hour or so away.”

Lance raised an eyebrow, but nodded anyway. Suddenly, a cherry-haired woman descended from some stairs near the clipboard lady, and made her way across the foyer towards us. As she got closer, I recognised her as Lorelei, a previous Elite Four member. She used to wear glasses but now I guessed she wore contacts. However, her most obvious feature was – um – her chest.

“ Lance, there you are!” she called, finally arriving at our table. Lance smiled.

“ Here, Lorelei, sit down.”

Lorelei took a seat next to Lance and suddenly snuggled up to him, kissing the dragon trainer on the cheek. Lance grinned stupidly as I watched, finally realising what was going on. Lance abruptly remembered that I was still there, and shifted slightly away from Lorelei.

“ Er, Bryan, this is Lorelei.” Lance introduced awkwardly. “ She and I are – er – discussing her possible re-entry to the Elite Four.”

“ Discussing … right.” I grinned, shaking hands with Lorelei. “ Nice to meet you.” I added, trying to be polite, which was new for me.

“ No, really, we’re just friends!” Lance said hastily.

I laughed and changed the subject. “ So what did you need me for?”

“ Well, just to brief you on the gym.” The man replied, trying to keep Lorelei away, but I could see it was tempting for him. “ The first and easiest gym is located just a few kilometres from here – just follow this street north and you’ll see it. It’s an outdoors gym. Nice and Easy.”

I nodded. “ Is that all?”

“ Yeah.” Lance muttered. “ You can go battle now.”

“ Ok.” I said, picking up my backpack from the white-tiled floor.

“ Um, you say the others are a good hour away?” Lance asked.

“ Yeah.” I nodded again. “ Why…”

“ Just wondering.” Lance smirked. “ Well, I’ll be seeing you later, Bryan.”

“ O-OK.” I said, as Lance winked at me. I hoisted my backpack on and stood up, waving to the pair of them. Then I exited, out onto the street. Just out of curiosity, I looked back to see Lance walking upstairs with Lorelei, his arm around her shoulders. I laughed aloud. A whole hour, who knew what they might get up to? Lance reminded me of myself, but a few years older. He was kinda … naughty, but didn’t care anyway. I really couldn’t help, despite my original annoyance at him, but to like him.

I then turned north and began my short walk to the gym. A Badge at last! I had been looking forward to this for a LONG time.

[Meganium]

Another Great Chapter, Great Description, blah... blah blah... blsh blah. I'll have the usual please, to go. See Ya.

[Chris 2.1]

Yea, I do think it's that good! Watari is such a cool Pokemon...you should get someone at Fanart to draw her/him....oh, and if he loses the Crystal League, Bryan could sell her to Seaworld....

Favourite Quote:

“Well well, a freak upon a freak,” he said quickly. Jesus, that was original. I wonder how many times he rehearsed that from a B-Grade American movie.

LOL. Great!

[Cyndaquil7]

Good.. Good!! I loved the humor in it =). The new pokemon are cool =). But, I'm kinda sad they both water types.

[Darien Shields]

Maaan that Lance sure is a card. I really like the interaction, and the barefaced honest of Bryan's character. Keep it up.

[Gavin Luper]

Meganium: Thanks for reading! Lol, more coming one day ...

Shiny Marill: Nah, I don't think I'll get anyone in fan art to draw him. For one, they wouldn't be able to visualise it the same as me, and it would take away from your own imagination.

Lol. Glad you liked the quote!

Cyndaquil: Hey! Yeah, well they both had to be water types so that they could all get across to the island. But there will be a lot more new things once we arrive on the island, I assure you.

Darien: Lance never really seemed normal to me, so I just wrote him as I felt like it. And that's how he turned out lol. I like Bryan's character a lot, he's got a more interesting writing style.

Cheers! Chapter 3 in the works!

[ChaosPocketed]

*adds Crystal League to good fics list*

Even though it's only on it's second chapter, I'm already hooked... so don't give up on it.

It's very realistic, and even though it's a trainer, it still pulls me in and makes me wait for the next chapter. It only has a hint of predictability, but that can only be helped to a certain extent in a trainer.

Nice characters. Keep the goodness flowing in your Pokemon's personalities as well.

I can tell this will be interesting. Great job!

[Gavin Luper]

Chaos Pocketed: You have a list of good fics? Wow. I'm very privileged to be on it! Thanks ;)

Yeah, it's still early days. You haven't seen much yet ... but wait for it. I seem to have a horrible habit of getting people hooked on my fics ... sorry bout that.

I admit that this fic is a lot more predictable than Lisa the Legend, but I hope to change all that once we get to a certain point in the story.

I'll try to keep working on the characterisation!

Cheers!

[Venasaur89]

Hi, gr8 story!

You getting into the top ten trainer was pretty obvious, by still the length and description were gr8!

And I'm not trying to advertise or anything,but I'm making a story too, if you want to read it. Its called, To Expect the UN-Expected!

Read it if you have time!

[mr_pikachu]

Wow! Nice work on those last two chapters!

Only a few things to note. First of all, watch the typos. There were one or two in there, believe it or not. And also, the description of Kulofish seemed a bit off. The last line seemed very out of place. I guess in a fic of lesser quality it'd look okay, but you can't afford to have those kinds of things! It just looked a little... wrong, if you know what I mean. And stop bashing us Americans! That's just mean!

*sniff* My last post as a Junior Trainer... brings back memories...

[Gavin Luper]

Chapter 3 ... I know it's been awhile, but anyhoo ...

Chapter 3


I stared up in awe at the local gym. Or should I say, I stared up in awe at the statue. The gym was simply a plain, standard battlefield of compacted sand, with various white lines painted on it to mark out particular things – the centre, the trainer’s boxes, the boundaries. And there were no Gym trainers or even the gym leader in sight! How irresponsible, I thought, although half-heartedly, as I was really too happy about beginning the League to care enough.

The gym was actually located in Skiploom Park, this big foresty piece of land not too far from the pokecentre. Trees towered over me, letting just enough sunlight in to leave dappled pools of light on the ground. However, the gym itself was a let down. The most interesting feature would have to be the statue; an Eevee made solely from Pewter which stuck out of the rolling lawns about twenty metres from the gym.

I probably was only waiting for five minutes, but I began to worry about the others catching up to me. Suddenly, a girl of about 15 years strolled out from the far side of the battlefield, in a dense forest area, and walked right up to where I was waiting. She had beautiful gingery-blonde hair, which curled at the tip. Her warm, golden eyes looked me over, and I looked her over. Her cream-coloured crop top matched her eyes in a perfect form of contrast. She wore a mini-skirt, and no shoes at all. It was minutes before she clapped me back to reality.

“ Excuse me,” she called. “ Who ARE you?”

I didn’t waste a moment. “ Bryan Nlaa – Bryan Nolah – ugh.” I stuttered, as she looked at me suspiciously. I looked at her – she was so pretty, but her gaze was no longer suspicious, but more like I had just sprouted antennae and turned green.

“ Bryan Nolan.” I cried at last. “ I’m actually a Pokemon Master. Who are you?” Once I began, it all kinda came out in a rush, like a reservoir with it’s dam burst. It seemed to take her a moment to comprehend.

“ I’m Lara Thorpe, leader of the Hudson City Gym,” she replied, with a mischievous grin. “ So, Bryan Nolan, are you here for a battle?”

“ Def -” I began, but she spoke up again.

“ Because if you are, I should probably just hand you a badge without a battle, seeing that you’re a Pokemon Master. I probably wouldn’t stand a chance against you.”

“ Wow. Thanks,” I said, hoping every gym leader would be this stupid. Lara smiled, showing off pearly teeth, and beckoned me to come closer with her finger. I did, in fact I kept going closer until our faces nearly touched. Lara ran a cool hand over my face, before …

“ OW!” I screamed, as Lara delivered a sharp, stinging slap to my face. Weird thing was, this chick had power! She had looked so calm, and girly, and feminine – who WOULD suspect that a cow could lie beneath such beauty.

I could.

“ Do you really think I’m that STUPID?!” Lara roared, slapping me twice again before I could react to the first one. The way she was going, I thought she was trying to KILL me. By the time I had clapped my arms in front of my face to shield it, then dropped to the ground, she had delivered a good few sharp ones, which made my face feel like it was about as hot as a Charizard’s breath after it’s eaten a bunch of chilli’s!!

“ Do you?” Lara repeated, and I scrambled to my feet.

Of course, I didn’t dare answer yes.

So I nodded.

Sadly, I knew well enough not to fight back against a girl. Unless maybe she was coming at me with a knife, I dunno, I’ve never really been in that situation. She slapped me again as I dropped to the ground and tried to roll away. Very touchy girl obviously. All I can say is, thank God she didn’t overreact or anything.

I stood up a few minutes later, except it appeared that Lara had disappeared. Looking around the battlefield about ten metres away, I could see nobody at all. Then, I heard a scuffling noise behind me, and turned. From behind the Eevee statue leapt a young woman, with gingery blonde hair, and –

I bolted away until I reached the far side of the battlefield, and she remained where she was. I checked again, as she called to me. “ Oy, kid, what’s wrong?”

The nerve of her!

“ I think you know! You just finished sla – oh.” I raged, then realised this girl had different clothing, and although she had ginger hair it was considerably longer than Lara’s. I cautiously approached the statue, while the girl slowly drew nearer also. “ Who are you?” I called.

“ Tara – Tara Thorpe!” she replied in a loud voice, now approaching me faster. The gap between us disappeared, and I was facing her from roughly a metre away. “ Are you the cheater my sister told me about?”

“ Um – I’m not actually a cheater.” I began, cringing slightly, but the cruel slap didn’t come.

“ I’m not Lara – I won’t slap you,” she explained. “ Sorry about that, she’s a bit of a touchy person. I think she’s a schizo.”

Duh.

“ What’s your name?” Tara requested.

“ Bryan, Bryan Nolan.” I replied.

“ So what’re you here for?”

“ A badge, obviously,” I replied. “ I’m competing in the Crystal league, but I dunno how I’ll get Lara to battle me now.”

“ Maybe you won’t need to,” Tara laughed, pulling something from the pocket of her denim short-shorts, which I admit were nicely short. “ Maybe there are joint gym leaders.” She hinted.

I stared at what she had produced from her pocket. A small, shiny white circular object, with a diameter of not much more than two centimetres. On the reverse was a pin – suddenly I clicked. “ The badge?” I asked.

Tara nodded, a grin spreading across her face. “ The Natural Badge. Now if you want to earn it, there are two things to do.” I watched as she put the badge back in her pants and I think it was about two minutes before I moved my eyes back to her face.

“ Such as what?” I enquired, excitement beginning to build up inside me.

“ First, you have to pass my quiz,” Tara explained. “ Then a two-on-two Pokemon Battle.”

“ Easy.” I said, ready for anything in the upcoming quiz. Surely I knew everything Tara could? Hopefully. I crossed my fingers behind my back for good luck, as Tara flashed a brief smile and pulled a small leaflet of paper from her pocket. It was crumpled, but she didn’t seem to mind.

“ Question One,” called Tara, putting on a deep, professional voice. “ Lapras is a combination-element pokemon. What two parts is it made up of?”

“ Um, gee that’s hard.” I replied sarcastically. “ Could I please have 50/50 thanks Eddie?”

Tara giggled – obviously she also watched ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’.

“ OK, OK, Water and Ice.” I answered.

“ Very good!” Tara clapped her hands enthusiastically, crushing the paper further. “ Next question – In what year was the Crystal League established?”

“ 1999.” I answered after a moment’s hesitation, putting on a smug look but inside thanking God that I had read the brochure on my way to the island.

“ Also correct.” Tara replied, now clapping her spare hand against her side to prevent further damage to the leaflet. “ Final question. Crystal Island was originally used for mining purposes. The epicentre for the mining industry on the island is what town?”

How was I supposed to know? I vaguely recalled something like that in the brochure, but I simply couldn’t remember it. “ What happens if I get this wrong?” I asked Tara.

“ Then we have a rematch,” she replied. “ Or a re-quiz. With different questions, of course. Why – do you give in?”

“ No.” I shot back, determined to win. “ It’s the – um – something colony.”

Tara nodded along encouragingly, but her facial expression betrayed no clue to the answer. I thought deeply. I wasn’t usually good at quizzes like this, but I had thought this one would’ve been easy enough. Joey’s usually good at them though, he did well at the Training Camp Quiz night. Hang on a second … Joey Austin. That’s it!

“ Austin Bay Colony!” I burst out.

Tara dropped the paper now, clapping her hands excitedly. “ Correct!” she squealed, in such a high-pitched voice I thought she was using supersonic attack. I grinned.

“ So now we battle?” I asked, eagerly.

“ YEAH!” Tara cried, pulling a teeny tiny pokeball from her shorts. “ If you win, as you know, you get the natural badge.”

“Obviously,” I said, staring off-course again. Those pants were really tight, though!

Tara held out the badge again. It was the most dull, plain badge I had ever seen in my whole life (although if I won his would be my first badge) but it was necessary to enter The Crystal League. Tara shoved the badge back into her pocket, and we both ran onto the battlefield. Tara took twenty paces back until she reached her white painted trainer box. I mirrored her actions, ending up at the opposite end of the field. Tara blew a whistle, and threw her pokeball high into the air as I grabbed for mine.

“ Watari!”

“ Rattata!”

Two pokeballs flew out, meeting in mid air and knocking each other to the ground. Flashes of radiance illuminated the shady park battleground. My indestructible, six-foot Watari towered over a cowering Rattata, whacking it’s flippers against the ground. The result had me in fits of laughter.

Finally, I calmed down and sobered up for the battle ahead, and I was suddenly aware of Tara’s face – it had become an odd shade of scarlet. It did nothing for her outfit at all, but oddly she turned from cute to, well, cuter. It was surprising how much her anger changed her look.

“ I’m the League’s weakest leader!” she bellowed at me, looking like an infuriated dog ready to snap my head off. “ I have to have weaker pokemon –”

“ So you’re admitting that it’s pathetic?” I asked, forcing down choked laughter. Watari looked inquisitively, not getting the joke. In fact, it seemed quite confused as to why it had been deposited onto a soil area, rather than it’s cool, comfortable water. “ You have to battle.” I prompted the azure creature, who still didn’t seem to get it. “ You know, use attacks. Like you did with Ben.”

Watari squeaked happily, but I had a feeling it was still ignorant as to what I was saying. I was losing patience fast, but Tara soon prevented me from losing my temper – or saying much more at all to Watari.

“ Rattata, Sunny Day attack.”

The battle was actually on now. I felt suddenly very unprepared, and yelled the first thing that came into my mind. “ Tackle, Watari.”

That was stupid, of course. Suddenly on the battlefield, my knowledge of battling suddenly slopped out of my head like a Squirtle’s Water Gun. Tackle was the first thing that came to mind, if only I had have thought further.

Sunny Day attack, I knew, was just a power-booster; I knew this from experience with a Ponyta back home. It just made the area a lot warmer for about five minutes. Nothing that would hurt Watari – or would it?

On the field, Watari was flapping it’s flippers like a sort of half-dead duck. I sighed – I should have known it wouldn’t be able to move on the soil. It’s only hope was to Water-Gun itself around – aim water at the ground and propel itself around. I opened my mouth to order, but that damn Rattata got in first.

It’s eyes flared up a radiant saffron, and the glow looked like it would either bulge out of Rattata’s head or explode the rodent. It did neither. After a moment’s hesitation, Tara yelled out “ Now!” and the glow shot out from Rattata’s eyes, formulating into bright flames which engulfed the entire scene at once.

It wasn’t so bad. For me, anyway. It just felt like a warm day in Tangelo Island, a place in the Orange Archipelago. But Watari seemed somehow affected by it, actually physically hurt by the technique.

My mine darted around for an answer, and I decided that Watari was used to cooler weather, and this was about forty-five degrees Celsius. Not very comfy for a water pokemon, or anyone, for that matter. Watari struggled with the accidental damage, not coping at all well. I was seeing it in pain, and for the first time I can truthfully remember, I felt deep sympathy for somebody. This was a totally new emotion for me, and it was a really weird feeling. Kinda like sadness, but made your chest ache.

I had to remedy this somehow. “ Watari, Mist attack!!”

Thankfully, the obedient pokemon shot out a cloud of blue-tinged water-dust from it’s mouth, which settled around it’s shell and heavy, blubbery body, cooling it down and nullifying the effects of the Sunny Day. I was almost as relieved as Watari was, and gave a sigh of relief.

“ Rattata, Quick Attack!” Tara ordered curtly. She had been very pleasantly surprised when Sunny Day had inflicted unexpected damage, but had not prepared for any comeback. She was annoyed now – her face had gone even redder.

Rattata raced at Watari and thudded into it. Watari looked barely impacted by it, so I called out. “ Use Water Gun!”

Watari obeyed instantly, and from it’s mouth burst a jet of cool blue water. It billowed out onto the battlefield, but before it reached Rattata and hurt it, there was a sizzling sound, and the water erupted into a engulfing cloud of steam. My jaw thudded to the floor, Watari’s dropping soon after.

I wasn’t sure what had happened, but Tara seemed very happy. “ It’s so easy to beat stupid trainers, Bryan,” she said in a high-and-mighty tone. She looked down on me as if I were a stinking Caterpie or something. I scowled back at her.

“ Do you know something I don’t?”

She clicked her tongue impatiently. “ Sunny Day heats things up, and lowers the ability of water and ice attacks. You just wasted an entire move – the water gun evaporated.”

I suddenly understood. The Mist attack had nullified the effects of Sunny Day on Watari, but not over the entire battle field. Tara laughed a high pitched laugh while her Rattata squeaked happily, looking very exultant. I longed to strangle it, but of course if I did I’d probably end up in court. I choked down my temper and thought things over with a anger-clouded mind.

Watari couldn’t move, so Tackle was out. Mist was already used, it would be stupid to waste a turn on repeating it. Water Gun didn’t work, and as far as I knew Watari didn’t have any other attacks. Or did it?

Tara seemed to think the battle was hers for the taking now. She opened her mouth, and in a smooth, pleasant voice two words dropped from her lips. “ Flame Wheel.”

I couldn’t comprehend this. A Rattata with Sunny Day attack was rare enough, but Flame Wheel? Get real. “ You’re kidding right?” I said, my voice cracking slightly off-key as it did when I was annoyed or angry. “ Just joking?”

Rattata answered for me. It’s eyes glowed again, and then it’s tail turned scarlet. Freakily, flames began to spiral out from its tail. They snaked to Rattata’s mouth, and when they reached it, the pest opened its mouth and allowed the flames to fill it. Then, without warning when it was going to strike, it breathed out a heavy stream of flames at Watari.

He disappeared immediately, engulfed in the inferno. I could hear a high-pitched shriek from inside the flames which obscured my pokemon from view, and once more I felt a stab of sympathy and sorrow. I pulled out the pokeball from my belt, and stared at it as though it was change my life. If I recalled Watari, it was all down to Olli. If I didn’t, Watari could be really hurt. And, for once, I did what was right.

“ Return!” the beam of redness shot into the shrieking flames, and within moments were zapping back to the globe which was a home. Watari was hurt, but safely returned.

I stared morosely at the pokeball, but decided that the battle must go on. Watari would live, and Olli could continue. Briefly, my mind flickered to Joey and the other trainers who had set out from the Training Camp earlier. And my curiousity built up. Where were they all? It had been quite a while since I and Watari had arrived, but WHERE were the others?

“ You suck!” jeered Tara, sounding almost as immature as me. I stuck out a tongue and pulled the finger, and she scowled, somehow managing to still look pretty. But I couldn’t stand any more of this idling …

“ Go, Olli!” I yelled, calling upon Oliver, my powerful Eevee. I must have taken Tara by surprise, because she jumped violently before regaining her calm and dignity.

In a flash of whiteness, Olli leapt, out, looking very experienced as it floated down to earth, brushing around it’s elegant caramel tail and blinking it’s deep obsidian eyes. It landed with a “ eev” and, when it’s gaze fell upon me, grinned and nodded, knowing it was to battle. It looked determined, and I didn’t for a second doubt that it’s speed and power would overcome the rodent’s attacks. Unlike Watari, Olli wasn’t allergic to fire.

“ Sand Attack!” I cried. Before Rattata could react, Olli had twisted it’s lean body around, and dug it’s sharp toes into the sandy ground, propelling a chunk of hard earth out at the rat. Luckily, and to both mine and Tara’s surprise, the sand hit Rattata’s head, and it was squashed to the ground.

“ Now quick attack!” I ordered, as Tara looked murderous. Olli obeyed, and raced at Rattata, who was looking a little dazed. He swung out a foot and kicked at the purple rat, and abruptly, Rattata keeled over to the ground, next to the painted lines which signified the centre.

It didn’t move.

“ Woohoo!!!!!” I bellowed, as Olli grinned all over it’s face. He looked really proud of himself, although I’m quite sure even he, naïve as anything, knew knocking out a Rattata wasn’t any real big feat. While Tara shot me looks of absolute death, she returned Rattata numbly.

“ You’ll meet your match now,” she said, cryptically.

“ Ooooh … I’m sooo scared,” I jeered back. I barely wondered what she meant, but was that a smug look on her face? I couldn’t quite interpret it at the time, but when she threw out her final pokeball, I knew I had detected correctly.

It was, for Olli, like staring at a mirror. He was facing another, identical in appearance, Eevee. Both looked confused at first, but luckily Olli regained his sense first, and readied for battle, knowing he had been sent out to win, not to stand idly.

“ Hmpf,” grinned Tara, looking snobbish. “ Looks like you’re not so great now, huh?”

“ Shut up,” I said. “ Well, are we fighting or what? Olli, Agility.”

Oliver prowled suspiciously around the Eevee before darting around speedily across his half of the battlefield, increasing his endurance and speed and emphasising two vigourous weeks of training at Camp with me. He ducked around the other Eevee, practising evading skills and dodging. I was glad I had a really dependable Pokemon to work with, unlike some people. Like Ben, I thought, smirking.

“ How boring,” Tara jeered. “ Luci, Lock On!”

Luci, which must have been her Eevee’s nickname, gave a swish of her tail and a pretty smile before closing it’s eyes and focusing. A faint blue ring appeared from her eyes, and it wavered into the air, across the ground, until it reached Olli, and followed him faithfully, like a pet Growlithe.

“ Olli, Attract!” I cried, thanking every legendary pokemon there was that I had taught him the technique during camp. He nodded obediently, and closed his eyes, similarly to Luci. But instead of a ring of blue, tiny semi-transparent hearts floated from his body. They were small and bright crimson. Luci stared at them curiously as they drifted across the field. Suddenly, one of them popped over her head with a echoey sound, and a dopey look came over her face.

It had worked. Olli reopened his eyes and looked pleased, but Tara looked infuriated. Still, she knew the next attack, if no others, would work. “ Quick Attack,” she called at Luci, who obeyed and slammed into Olli, who seemed unable to move. Either he was too arrogant from his success, or Lock On had actually worked.

My turn. “ Tackle.”

Olli raced like a hyper-active dog at the retreating Luci, and bashed his skull into her side. She wobbled, and fell over at once, laying like an overturned Wartortle.

“ Get up,” snapped Tara, seeing that already Luci was weaker than before. Olli had been well trained. Tara gritted her teeth. “ Skull Bash.”

Luci rolled to her side, and stood up again to face Olli. But at the sight of him, her knees became weak, and her angry face melted away like a Seel’s Ice Beam in December. Her eyes shone with respect and admiration, and from Tara’s ears bloomed very realistic smoke.

“ It won’t work,” I gloated.

After that, the battle was over quite suddenly. Olli delivered a couple of Quick attacks and the weak, pathetically infatuated Luci dropped to her knees, eyes in a whirl. I had won – my first gym battle. I – HAD – WON!!

Tara interrupted Olli and me dancing to thrust the bland Naturalbadge into my hands.

“ Take it and go,” she spat. “ You won by dumb luck.”

Olli growled, but I was too excited to be bad tempered. “ Bye then …” I murmured, turning to go.

She also turned, and as an afterthought, called me back. “ You’ll need a clue to the next gym,” she said to me, and all of a sudden her voice was sweet again. “ And here it is.”

She cleared her throat, and handed me a tiny wooden box on hinges. It was closed. “ Open it ONLY when you get outside of the city,” she said, but gave a smile at me and added in an undertone, “You won’t need it for awhile though.”

She suddenly looked thunderstruck. “ Oh yeah, and you have to remember this!” And as I took the box from her and shoved it into my bag, she spoke in a deeper voice. “ Only when desire is JUST will the seeker enter.”

I guffawed. “ What?”

“ That’s the riddle. It’s not very good, but … well, Lara’s not very good at that kinda stuff,” Tara muttered, passing the buck.

“ What’s that supposed to mean, though?!” I demanded.

“I can’t tell you …” she said regretfully. “ But I hear the next gym leader is good at riddles and pokemon, so be prepared. Off you go. Hope to see you again Bryan!” she added, sounding very much like she would like to see me again. I wouldn’t refuse either.

I was puzzled, but pleased with my victory. Olli beside me, I took one last look at the denim pants, then we strolled up the hill, out of Skiploom Park, and up the grassy slope dappled with sunlight. I placed the badge in my pocket for a while, as we reached the footpath by the road, just past the pewter statue. I grinned.

Next stop, the Pokecentre.

[Hyperness is a Good Thing]

What an unusual gym! XD

I like the two gym leaders... both seem slightly psycho, just that Tara hides it better.

Good battle, I liked it.