~Chapter 6: A Serpent and Cyanide~
The two trainers stood in awe of the humongous glass tower that shot up from the rocky pavement. After a few seconds of exaggerated staring Adam eventually poked George through the door, not wanting to dawdle in the middle of the sidewalk. The Hi-tech theme continued inside, with the floor paved with brilliant white marble and tables made from smooth, gleaming chrome and a smart black surface covering the top. Matching chairs were made of curved chrome tubes, the seat covered in dark, polished leather.
Looking around, George soon spotted the sparkling reception desk, and behind it, a large poster advertising tours of the building. Walking over they both readied their wallets, with extreme reluctance in Adam’s case. Soon, a blonde haired receptionist in her 20’s walked up to them, smiling radiantly.
“Hello!” she chirped. “What can I do for you today?”
“We’d like to go with the next tour group please,” replied George.
“Here you go!” she said, handing them two tickets “The tour starts in two minutes. That’d be 6 páva please!”
They handed over the money quickly as they took they took the tickets, Adam wincing at her high-pitched voice. There was already a large group of tourists gathered at the spot marked ‘Tours-queue here’, so they walked over and got in line. After a few minutes of George humming and general boredom, a short black haired man walked over to the queue, glancing down at his checklist.
“Hello everyone! My name is Bill and I’ll be your guide today. Can I see your tickets please?” asked Bill, examining the tickets.
“Ok, everyone’s here so lets get moving!” he announced, leading the group up curved marble stairs.
The second floor room was filled with gigantic radio transmitters, as they studied the effects of different waveforms on pokémon evolution. One unlucky Rattata had evolved into a small, green skinned Raticate as a result, and was yelling loudly in protest, gnashing anything it saw into pieces. The next floor up was the berry mixing room, full of metallic vats filled with colourful berry juice. On the fourth, they were testing out the new satellite navigators out, testing their signal strength and their resistance to the elements. They were lead onwards and upwards to the last tour floor, which contained a huge battle arena and benches full of experimental TM’s ready to be tested. Before they got in the waiting lift, their guide turned around to face them, rubbing his hands together happily.
“Well folks, this is the end of the tour. Does anyone have any questions?” he asked, looking around briefly.
A green sleeve shot up, and started waving it’s hand like a trophy. The guide ignored it, and turned briskly around, leading them into one of the shiny elevators. The lift took them back down to the ground floor, right next to the gift shop. As they walked towards the entrance, they saw the owner of the green sleeve pull Bill hastily aside, conducting a hushed argument with surprising vigor. Though George wanted to go and find out what the deal was, he was pushed through the doorway by an impatient Adam.
The shop was one of the few carpeted rooms in the entire building, presumably to give off a cozy vibe. Said carpet was a dark royal red and the walls were white with elegant gold leaf patterns, which made the room look deceptively expensive. Rich wooden shelves lined the delicate walls, covered in bottles of various potions.
After looking around for a while Adam decided upon a platinum pokédex skin and several of the new Oran berry based potions, complaining about the outrageous prices of gift shops everywhere. More enthusiastic, George himself immediately chose a blue saténav and a blue pokédex skin. After paying for their rather expensive stuff the two walked out onto the earthy streets of Rustboro.
“Well, that was a good waste of an hour or so,” said Adam, looking at his watch. “Shall we go get our pokémon then?”
“Yeah, I can’t wait to have my first Gym battle!” replied George excitedly.
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“Here are your pokémon, as good as new!” exclaimed the Nurse as she handed the two their three pokéballs.
“Thanks, I think,” said Adam, taking Charmander’s ball and pressing the circular button.
-“I’m back baby!”- announced Charmander happily.
“Thanks nurse Joy!” exclaimed George, clipping his pokéballs onto his belt.
He released Totodile in a flash of bright light, smiling as she burst out dancing from foot to foot, almost as enthusiastic as him about the upcoming battle. The four left in high spirits, ready for the upcoming battle.
*********
“Look, I’m sorry but Roxanne is already facing a challenger!” sighed one of Roxanne’s assistants. “You can go wait in the stands if you like.”
“…..Fine,” conceded Adam, walking past her and into the arena itself.
The Gym wasn’t exactly the most glamorous in Houenn, faced with nothing but plain rock and small automatic doors at the front. It wasn’t very different inside either, earthy floor covered the battling arena, and the stands were just stone steps. The only tiled places were the reception rooms and the offices to the back, though not one of the gang knew this. Adam, George and their pokémon sat on the stony steps, glancing around at the scattering of other onlookers in the stands, before turning to see the current battle unfold.
On one side a fairly old teenage girl stood elegantly in a white t-shirt and a pair of immaculate denim jeans. Her mahogany hair cascaded beautifully down past her shoulders, veiling her face from all sides. On the other side was a young adult with bright pink hair tied back in neat pigtails. She wore a gray tracksuit top and a long gray skirt that came down to her knees. Adam recognized her as being Roxanne, the Gym leader of Rustboro city.
On the brown-haired girl’s side a light-blue serpent turned magnificently in the air, floating with draconic grace. Her head was rounded softly, with two tiny white wings protruding from the back of her skull, twitching as she soared through the air. On the other side a ball of seemingly solid rock bobbed up and down in the air, a frown plastered on his stone face. Two huge rocky arms hung at his side, sculpted muscles tensing in anticipation.
“Try again Geodude, Rock Throw!” yelled Roxanne across the arena.
“Dratini, Ice Beam them down,” replied the girl coolly.
Concentrating, Geodude slammed into the ground with his hard hands, causing huge chunks of earth to explode upwards and towards the Dratini. As they approached, she shot a brilliant beam of light blue energy at them, which covered them in a rough pattern of ice on contact. With the added weight they fell down quickly, shattering on the earthy field.
“Ice Beam again,” commanded the brown haired girl before Roxanne could name another move.
Another blue beam shot out, shining brightly as sun passed through it, illuminating the frozen shards of air moisture that it carried within. Geodude was distracted by the brilliant patterns of light, and didn’t even notice the cause heading towards itself. Suddenly, he felt the stinging cold blasting through him as the ice crystallized on his rocky carapace. With a weak cry, the Geodude collapsed heavily on the arena floor.
“Well done, but let’s see how you face up to Nosepass!” shouted Roxanne, hurling a pokéball onto the ground.
As the flash died away, a gigantic stone head loomed menacingly out of the dusty air, snorting at his opponent through a huge bronze nose. Unsurprisingly, it gave off a huge brassy sound that echoed through the gym, like hearing a trumpet through a megaphone. As if further deriding his opponent, the Nosepass shook the flat rock flaps by his side slowly, waving Dratini bye-bye.
“Nosepass, Rockslide!” yelled Roxanne.
“Dodge with Extremespeed, then use Water Gun,” countered the girl.
Nosepass ripped chunks of the earth floor up in the air with a flap of his rocky wings, hurling them at his foe in a constant barrage of rock. Before they could hit, Dratini darted away in a blue and white blur, vanishing from the field. As Nosepass looked around angrily, Dratini arrived behind it, spraying a jet of foamy water across his back. Shrieking in rage hew pivoted to face the serpent, who blasted him again with another blast of ice-cold water.
“Finish it with Ice Beam,” called out her trainer.
Dratini obeyed instantly, illuminating the building with another glowing blast of light that froze in an icy sheet as it hit the drenched Nosepass. After a few seconds of this, Nosepass fell back in a huge explosion of noise, dust, and ice shards. Returning her fainted pokémon instantly, Roxanne walked over to her opponent, smiling brightly.
“That was great April! Here, take this badge and TM Rock Tomb, you’ve earned them!” she said happily, handing a chip like device and a golden badge.
April shook her hand and thanked her for the battle, before walking out of the gym, Dratini slithering through the air behind in a joyful, carefree way.
“That was a pretty cool battle, huh?” asked George, back up in the stands.
Adam raised an eyebrow slightly, though in reality he too had been impressed by the battling of Dratini, who had felled two opponents in a matter of minutes. Deciding that it might be better to watch another battle before he tried, Adam motioned for George to go first. George smiled as he walked down the stands, excited to be the first of the two to beat Roxanne… Well, that’s what he thought anyway.
“Welcome to Rustboro Gym!” shouted Roxanne, her voice booming through the cavernous gym, focused at the descending figure of George.
“Thanks! I’m here to challenge you for a battle,” George blurted out before thinking. “Do you need to heal your pokémon first?”
“Don’t worry, I have another two, assuming this is your first time through a league?” she asked, putting the pokéballs containing her fainted pokémon on a glowing silvery tray.
“Yeah! If there’s nothing else… let’s battle!” yelled George excitedly, his feelings mirrored by an ecstatic Totodile.
“More super effective attacks, huh?” called out Roxanne, eyeing Totodile with a sigh.
As the ball burst open, a gargantuan rock-snake exploded onto the field, his rugged body grinding together as he moved. He waved the dark horn hat protruded from his forehead like a sword, its razor edge chinked and nicked from training. Unlike the rest of his rounded body, the head was clean cut, his rock hard skull set in a permanent frown. He glanced briefly at the bounding Totodile dancing around him, rolling his eyes hypnotically.
“Don’t let him intimidate you Totodile, Bite him and strike close range with Water Gun!” yelled George, his voice faltering slightly.
With a merry gurgle of acknowledgement, Totodile leapt forth head first, clamping her maw around a section of the Onix’s rocky body. As her milky teeth held her close, she shot a pressurized stream of water spraying from the corners of her mouth, making the Onix groan in pain.
“Rock throw!” Roxanne commanded quickly.
Onix coiled his tail around some of the dusty boulders littered around the arena, then hurled them at Totodile. Totodile dislodged her grip and danced away frantically as the rocky barrage neared, chattering her milky teeth in fright.
“Er…dodge?” suggested George, dumbfounded.
Totodile was still panicking, and only narrowly missed the last boulder as she skipped away. Rocky shrapnel scuffed her scaly skin as she fled, much to her distress. Her golden eyes flashed defiance at the great beast even in retreat, ready to counter-attack at any time.
“Water Gun him again!” cried George, frowning at the behemoth of rock.
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“That’s strategy that is,” Adam told Charmander, nodding sagely.
Charmander raised his eyebrows, or the skin where they’d be if Charmanders had eyebrows in any case.
-“Looks like dear old Toto’s in danger,”_he replied, grinning at the joke.
“I dunno, surprisingly it seems to be working,” observed Adam, seeing a panicking Totodile squirt Onix with another stream of water.
*********
“Dodge!” yelled George desperately.
Totodile did a back-flip, her surprisingly lithe body bending around in mid air with great alacrity, landing safely past the projectile rocks. Gurgling, she squirted another jet of water at the Onix, an evil grin at the corners of her mouth as he reared away, sweat dripping down his rocky carapace. Her nerves had settled a bit now, replaced by thoughts of rage and revenge; it’d pay for underestimating her.
“And again Totodile, aim for its eyes!” called out George with increased conviction.
“Rock Tomb her quick Onix!” commanded Roxanne.
As Totodile summoned water to her mouth, four huge rocks erupted from the floor. They collided together, squeezing Totodiles tummy as they lifted her off the ground and high in their vice like grip. Due to the extra pressure, the water short out of her mouth in a single bullet of water that collided with her foes eye in an explosion that drenched his entire body. With a roar of agony, Onix fell to the ground, causing a huge tremor throughout the Gym. The rocks binding Totodile sank back into the floor, releasing her from their grasp. She ran around the arena joyously, happy to be free from the grip of the rocks.
-“Who’s laughing now, Charmander?” she yelled victoriously.
*********
-“That doesn’t even make sense!”- exclaimed Charmander.
“She might be delirious from that Rock tomb,” suggested Adam.
-“Maybe she’s drunk on power?”- speculated Charmander.
“Maybe she’s drunk?” offered Adam.
-“Maybe,”- laughed Charmander.
-“I can hear you two, so shut up!”- yelled Totodile huffily.
“How can I refuse a demand like that?” mocked Adam.
*********
“Great battle, but we’ll see how you fare against Geodude!” called out Roxanne, releasing a second pokémon.
Out popped another Geodude, though he was darker, and he seemed to be older too. He glowered menacingly at the celebrating Totodile while smashing his rocky fists together in anticipation.
“Mega Punch!” commanded Roxanne.
“Water G-”
Before he could finish, he saw Geodude speed towards Totodile, hurling her sky high with a gigantic punch from a bronze-glowing fist. Wordlessly he recalled her, glowering at the smirking Geodude. Sighing, he sent out Slakoth, though he didn’t really stand a chance against their rocky opponent. Sure enough, the sloth erupted from the ball, scratching his head with a confused expression. He yawned loudly and shot the Geodude a look that said, despite all evidence to the contrary, that he was below him.
“Lets finish this quick Geodude, Rock Throw!” called out Roxanne.
“Dodge?” asked George hopelessly.
Slakoth gradually picked himself up, walking slowly away in a relaxed manner. Before he’d even got started, he was knocked over by a huge volley of boulders from the other side of the field. Glowering venomously at Geodude, he got up, and kept walking along towards him.
“Slash!” commanded George desperately.
“Rock Throw again Geodude!” Roxanne called out again.
Slakoth ignored him and kept walking before being hit by another rocky barrage. Snarling indignantly, he changed direction, moving a little faster, this time in Geodude's direction. Yet another volley of rocks hit him, burying the sloth in a large group of rocks.
“Well, it looks like I win this time. Try again when—” started Roxanne before being cut off by a huge crash.
The simian creature had tossed the boulders off himself in a single upwards stroke, sending them crashing across the arena. He continued towards the Geodude with slow determination, like a glacier rolling across the landscape. Another barrage was knocked away with ease, and it was clear Roxanne was worried.
“Magnitude!”
Suddenly, the loud crash of rocks ceased, and the arena descended into a ominous silence. Slakoth’s claws scrabbled across the floor, carrying him towards the dormant statue of Geodude. As George watched, he felt his soles vibrating gently, followed by a low rumbling sound draining into hearing; an ignored background noise calling for immediate attention. Soon, the whole gym shook with the violent vibrations, shelved stones screaming downwards like meteors. And then-
BANG!
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Two young trainers walked sullenly down the dreary streets as if on death row, making a beeline for the pokécenter. On closer inspection, one would find that the one to the left, named George, was easily the most sad of the two. On closer inspection by a suspicious mind, one might say that the second, Adam, was only pretending to be sad so as not to trigger further sulking and possibly a mild case of GBH. Adam didn’t need to keep faking depression for long however, as the deep, soothing aroma of freshly cooked food was floating towards them, carrying waves of cheer that perked up his friend considerably. Wordlessly, they sidled up to the Nurse on the desk, who was currently dealing with a screaming man and what looked like a turnip; albeit one with large, curved leaves and stumpy legs. When the hysterical man had left and the plant was stashed safely away, George got a room for them both on the third floor. They both walked up, still muffed in a blanket of stuffy silence.
“Oh well, I guess losing isn’t that bad,” conceded George at last, more to break the silence than anything else.
“Yeah, you can’t go around expecting to win everything, can you?” snorted Adam, seizing the opportunity to cheer George up in his own special way.
“Right. Me and Totodile just need to train a bit, and we’re bound to win!” exclaimed George.
“That’s the spirit.”
“Yeah! You better train too Adam, no use in rushing into these things like a fool,” advised George happily.
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
“Alright Rustboro, here I come!” yelled George, now full of vigour, and in Adam’s opinion, hypocrisy.
The End Of Chapter 6
