Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon, just my character; Comet.

Rating: PG-13 for language, pokemon violence. A pokemon journey from a 
teenager's point of view.

"Tales for the Road"
by A.C

Chapter Three
A Badge and a Half

~ ~ ~

According to the map, and to the rapidly thickening forests around me and the 
shrinking path, we had to pass through the Aquamarine Swamps to get to our next 
destination - Chestnut City. The home of the first Rhoto gym. There weren't 
nearly as many evergreen trees, and the Oak and Maple were giving out to Weeping 
Willows and other trees with large, droopy leaves; the kind found in more 
tropical locations. The mountains to the north were shrinking steadily as we 
went even further south, and I had the feeling they would no longer be visible 
once we reached Chestnut City.

It was steadily growing darker out, as if night was falling - making me think I 
ought to have stayed in Cerise City for the night, so I wouldn't have to spend 
another night in the woods - but the sun was merely being blocked by the 
thickening forests, which were also slowly closing in on the path. The smooth, 
firm dirt beneath was slowly growing more sloppy and muddy, and just as I was 
about to think we'd have rough footing through the swamp, the path gave way to a 
boardwalk. 

Almost as soon as the boardwalk started, the grass and dirt changed to water and 
mud, and the trees appeared to be rising from a swampy lake. It was as dark as 
night now, except for the few patches of where sunlight crept in. The swamp was 
oddly silent and rather creepy, with low-hanging vines and branches and marshy 
grasses at the edges of the planks.

I was just starting to wonder if the place was completely devoid of any animal 
life when a pokemon jumped up onto the boards in front of me, startling me out 
of my wits. And my reaction? Yell at it, of course.

"Why the hell do you pokemon keep jumping out at me!?!?" I shouted. Thundari, 
asleep in my backpack, poked her head up at the noise; "I'm gonna have a heart 
attack at the age of twenty thanks to you!!"

The pokemon shrank back from where it had been in shadow, and I caught a glimpse 
of it at last. Its small, squat body was a dark shade of blue, with two beady 
black eye, no arms and two stubby little legs. It looked more like a weed than 
anything, for rising from its head like hair was a patch of weeds. It was, 
unmistakably, an Oddish.

Yet the grass type didn't run away, only looked timidly at me. I paused, glaring 
at it and slowly calming down. Eventually I stopped breathing like a bull and 
folded my arms, staring at it. "Well?" I asked after a while, as if waiting for 
it to speak or something, "Are you going to run, attack me, what?"

The Oddish looked at me, but after seeing my tone wasn't angry anymore, its 
fronds perked up hopefully. "Ordish?" it said quietly, waving a frond slightly. 
I smirked slightly and reached to my belt for Sunflash's pokeball. Yet just as I 
released the Caterpie, the Oddish gave a squeak of fright and leapt off the 
boardwalk, disappearing into the swamp.

"Hey! What's up... geez, it's only a Caterpie..."

But I was interrupted with an ominous, dark sound from behind me, that sent 
chills down my spine and paralyzed my entire body with fear - the sound of pure 
evil that could only come from a forest such as the Aquamarine. 

Actually, it sounded more like a small, determined squeak of "Poli!" But I 
imagine that my previous description was something that was going on in the 
Oddish's mind. But when I turned around and saw the Poliwag looking up at me in 
some kind of fierce self-pride and determination, I blinked at it for a minute, 
and then threw up my arms.

"Fine! So you don't want me to fight the Oddish - you want me to fight you?"

The Poliwag bobbed up and down once - something I suppose was the equivalent of 
a nod, being as its entire body was its head, and it had no neck. With a loud 
groan, I re-directed Sunflash to this new target. "Let's get it! Tackle attack!"

With a squeal of agreement, the small Caterpie lunged forward towards its 
target, but it only made it halfway there. The Poliwag was just as determined to 
win and also bounced forward, head - er, maybe body - first. The two collided in 
twin tackle attacks and bounced backwards, squealing and squeaking in pain. 

"That was surprisingly UN-effective," I grumbled, watching as the two pulled 
themselves back up and doubled over slightly, grimacing in pain - if the both of 
them had arms, they'd probably be rubbing their foreheads. Both recovered at 
about the same time, and were glaring at each other when the Poliwag struck with 
a stream of bubbles.

I could see that my Caterpie's efforts were going nowhere, so I grabbed his red 
and newly-painted black pokeball and recalled him before serious damage could be 
done. "I haven't got time for games - Thundari, you know what to do!"

And indeed she did - with a battle cry of "Piiiiiiichu!" she leapt from my 
backpack and soared through the air, spread-eagled, and pounced on the Poliwag 
before it realized I had switched pokemon on it. It gave a muffled squeak and 
began waddling around, trying to shake her off, but she clung on tightly and 
released a powerful blast of electricity. Thankfully, the water-type absorbed it 
all and, with a shuddering moan of "Poli...." toppled over sideways. Thundari 
leapt off and brushed herself off with the air of someone finally completing a 
simple task, disdainfully.

"Pokeball!" I called out, whipping a fresh one from my sash and in a single spin 
and same motion whipped it at my target. The red and black sphere sucked up the 
tadpole in a flash of red light, leaving the pokeball shaking weakly on the 
boardwalk. After one or two shakes, it stopped with a resounding 'ding'.

"Pi pichu!" Thundari cheered as I stepped forward, bent down and swept up my new 
pokemon. I tossed the pokeball up and down, grinning at it, as she leapt onto my 
shoulder.

"You got that one right."

~ ~ ~

We wandered around the Aquamarine Swamps for a good part of the rest of the day, 
following the winding boardwalk past willows and vines draped around like lazily 
put-up Christmas lights. We ran into the Oddish again, which Sunflash soundly 
trounced, and after finding a name for my new Poliwag - Whirlpool - he got the 
chance to fight his first battle against a Goldeen that Thundari pointed out. We 
had to chase it for a bit under the boardwalk and through the water, but 
Whirlpool could swim all the same and knew his way around the swamp better than 
we did.

I could tell we were slowly leaving, for the water was receding into more and 
more grasses, and I could see the muddy banks where the trees grew from. The 
grass pokemon were more numerous at this side of the swamp, being able to find 
more stable ground. Bellsprouts and Sunkern were common, and Thundari and 
Sunflash took turns beating them all down, until Whirlpool fought his way into a 
battle with a Paras and beat it 'round the head. 

"Determined little bugger, aren't you?" I asked him as I recalled him back into 
his black and red pokeball.

We continued on, until the sunlit patches breaking through the canopy above 
became more numerous, and the forest began to look more like the time of day it 
really was. The Oaks returned, along with Poplar trees, and the mud became dirt 
once again, covered with long grasses. A few swampy patches were here and there, 
but overall the swamp was disappearing behind us. It wasn't until I could hop 
off the boardwalk did I feel finally free of the marsh.

After a short bit of celebrating (It was depressing in there!) we went along on 
our way, once again walking down the forested paths of Rhoto. I was half 
expecting Chestnut City to be on the direct outskirts of the swamp, but we were 
wandering down the path out and there was no sign of the first city with a gym. 
For a little while, I was afraid we had somehow taken a wrong turn - 'till I 
remembered we had been on a boardwalk, one way.

"Chestnut Ciiiiiiiiiiiiiiityyyyyy...." I called, as if calling it would make it 
pop out from behind a nearby tree. Well, maybe it didn't work for the city, but 
it worked for something else.

"Hoppip?"

A small, pink face was peeking out at me from behind that nearby tree, blinking 
with small, beady yellow eyes. Two leafy fronds on its head waved in a slight 
breeze. When my gaze fell on it, the breeze suddenly swelled, blowing it out 
from behind the tree and onto the path in front of me. There, it fluttered down, 
squeaking urgently at this sudden displacement. I grinned evilly and reached for 
Whirlpool's pokeball.

"Whirlpool, let's go! Water Gun!"

The Poliwag burst from its pokeball and attacked instantly, its water blast 
knocking the lightweight pokemon back into the air. It floated a bit, water 
dripping from its leaf fronds, and then it drifted back down to the ground and 
landed neatly, a small smile creeping its way back on its face. It turned back 
to Whirlpool and, after a pause, began jumping up and down. My Poliwag and I 
stared at it, appalled, as it continued bouncing - a determined look on its 
face.

"Uh..." I blinked, completely taken aback. "What... exactly... is it doing?"

"Poli?" Whirlpool wondered aloud, waving its tail very slightly.

I pulled my pokedex from my back pocket and flipped it open, pointing it at the 
small creature as it continued to bounce, never wavering its gaze from 
Whirlpool. A red light in the top corner flickered on, and the electronic voice 
of a machine spoke up.

"Splash attack; this attack has no effect whatsoever."

"What the hell?" I murmured, raising both eyebrows as the Hoppip gave one last 
squeak and an almighty bounce - as if finishing up - and stopped jumping, 
staring at Whirlpool in a look of savage triumph. "Maybe it'd work if there was 
actually water around, I mean splashing would require some water, wouldn't it?" 
The evil grin replaced itself on my face as I called out the next attack; "Then 
let's give it some water! Bubble!"

"Poli poliwag!" Whirlpool chirped, narrowing its eyes as it blew out a stream of 
bubbles. They washed over the Hoppip and it gave a slight squeal of pain. I 
reached to my belt, smirking, and pulled off a pokeball, which I readied and 
tossed at my prize. "Pokeball... g- what the!?"

Yet another surprise. A leaf, spinning through the air like a frisbee, slammed 
into the pokeball and knocked it off course, where it bounced off a stump and 
came rolling to the base of a bush. Thundari, who had peeked her head up from 
the backpack at the last moment, went loping after it. Meanwhile, a small green 
pokemon had leapt out of the bushes from where the leaf had come. I recognized 
it immediately as a Chikorita, red eyes gleaming determinedly. 

"A wild Chikorita?" I wondered aloud, "Nice... this is better than a Hoppip! New 
plan, Whirlpool, tackle it!"

But this Chikorita meant business. As my Poliwag lunged forward, the Chikorita 
unsheathed two vines and knocked the water pokemon away - squealing all the way. 
Thundari returned to me with the pokeball just as Whirlpool went sailing past, 
squealing angrily until it skidded to a stop.

"Durnit. Whirlpool, return!" I called, grabbing his pokeball, but the Poliwag 
rolled out of the way, keeping its glare fixed on the Chikorita. "Yo! I said; 
return!" Yet again he avoided the red beam. "Argh... fine, be a mule. Water 
Gun!"

He obeyed again, but the water had barely brushed the Chikorita when it 
retaliated with another Razor Leaf, sending my Poliwag spinning back again. This 
final attack proved to be too much, and the water pokemon stumbled before it 
fell to its knees, unconscious. I recalled him to his pokeball as Thundari leapt 
from my shoulder.

"All right, Thundari, let's get this! Quick Attack!"

"Chu!" growled the Pichu - it wasn't all that threatening, though - just a 
rougher and lower version of her usual voice. She darted forward, running 
quickly on all fours towards the target. The Chikorita extended its vines again, 
but just as the plant-type grabbed Thundari, I shouted; "Now! Thunderwave!"

A paralyzing blast of electricity surrounded her golden form, traveling directly 
down the vines and straight into the Chikorita. With a strangled cry, it 
released its captive. Thundari crouched and attacked again with a Tackle, 
causing the grass-element to tumble over.

"Pokeball, go!" I shouted again, chucking the red and black sphere at my newest 
prize. The pokeball sucked up the grass type, squirmed for a moment, and then 
fell still. I punched the air with a resounding; "YEAH!" and ran forward, 
scooping up my newest pokemon.

"Great job, Thundari!" I congratulated her, grinning. "Team mate number four. 
Now..." I raised my head to gaze down the path, scowling, "To find that blasted 
Chestnut City."

Not wanting to lose what little sunlight I had left, I hurried off down the 
path.

~ ~ ~

By the time we finally skidded into Chestnut City, dirty and utterly exhausted, 
night was well under way. The city streets were lit up, but as busy as ever. I 
could barely see the stars overhead, thanks to a particular light glaring right 
in my eye. Mumbling, I gazed blearily around for a PokeCenter. Fortunately - and 
much unlike Cerise City - they had it located right in the entrance of town. 
Grinning, I made my way inside.

To my utter shock, the place was packed with trainers. It was chaos - people 
running hither and dither, yelling for their pokemon or sitting around and 
waiting, about twenty Chanseys skipping around trying to sort the trainers 
(without much success). I spotted Nurse Joy running around, ordering the 
Chanseys through a megaphone and taking pokemon from trainers.

"What's with the crowd?" I asked a jade-haired girl nearby, who was looking 
hassled as people swarmed by.

"Apparently the Chestnut Gym Leader's on a winning streak," she replied to me 
before falling against a nearby wall with a squeak as some people hurried past. 

"Shove off!" I shouted angrily after them, helping her up. Her green hair was a 
bit frazzled, but she smoothed it down and thanked me. "I'm Comet, by the way."

"Skye," she answered. Unlike me, she hadn't raised her voice to talk over the 
babbling people, and I had to strain to hear her. "I haven't gone to fight him 
yet, but ever since he got a new pokemon, it looks like no one's had much luck 
in beating him."

"That would be because I haven't been on the scene yet," I replied, smirking. 
"But I won't be able to unless these morons GET OUT OF MY WAY!!!!!!!" I 
screamed, aiming my powerful voice at a particular group in front of me. I 
ignored Skye's startled gaze as they all looked around at me, blinking. 

"Will someone shut up that loud girl?" one of them asked casually.

"YOU BET YOUR ASS I'M LOUD!" I bellowed, not particularly caring the startled 
looks I was getting as the Center slowly began to quiet down, everyone looking 
around to see who was causing all the commotion. "So just shut up and 
SITTOWN!!!!"

To my surprise (and only to fuel my ego, which would grow too big for me if I 
wasn't careful) most of them obeyed. I nodded to Skye and marched my way to the 
front, where Nurse Joy had lowered the megaphone slightly to stare at me. I 
heard the jade-haired trainer murmur, "Well, that's one way to do it," before I 
handed over my pokemon, and she did the same.

"If I could do that, I wouldn't need this megaphone!" Joy remarked, waving it 
slightly. I shrugged, turning my back to the counter and leaning against it, 
folding my arms as I glared about the room. Most of the trainers were giving me 
distasteful looks, now.

My eyes fell on the Video phones lining one wall of the room, and I could feel 
the color drain from my cheeks. I hadn't called my mom in three days, when I had 
promised to call the moment I reached Cerise City. But with my Rocket encounter, 
I hadn't quite had time.

I slowly made my way over and dialed the house number. My mom's face appeared on 
the screen, looking slightly anxious. And just then, the entire Center found out 
where I had gotten my power-packed set of lungs.

"WHERE ON EARTH HAVE YOU BEEN!? YOU PROMISED TO CALL, BUT NOOOOOOOO YOU JUST 
FORGOT ABOUT YOUR MOTHER, DIDN'T YOU!? TOO BUSY TRAINING TO CARE ABOUT ME 
ANYMORE! YOU MIGHT BE DEAD AND I WOULDN'T KNOW IT, THAT VICIOUS PICHU YOU GOT 
MIGHT HAVE ELECTROCUTED YOU..."

I flinched. If I wasn't cowering in fear at her voice, I would have been 
laughing hysterically at her description of Thundari as a "vicious Pichu". "Too 
late for that," I mumbled. Eventually, though, she ran out of steam and just 
sat, glowering at me, breathing like a Tauros suffering from a seizure. Although 
her gaze was angry, it was nothing compared to mine - I take pride in the 
knowledge that my infamous evil eye was inherited from no one.

"Sorry," I said quietly, glancing around at the Center. Various people were 
sniggering at me now, "I would have called but I, ah, had a bit of a rough time 
with some Rockets..."

Oops. Wrong thing to tell her. Her angry gaze turned to one of panic and she 
began screaming again, only this time in absolute fear for my safety when there 
was no need to.

"OH MY GOD, TEAM ROCKET!? YOU RAN INTO TEAM ROCKET!? OH MY BABY, DID THEY HURT 
YOU!? DID THEY STEAL YOUR POKEMON!? ARE YOU OKAY, OH GOD, YOU OUGHT TO COME HOME 
RIGHT NOW BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE HAPPENS -"

"Mom!" I snarled - the sniggers had intensified to giggles they were no longer 
bothering to hide, "My vicious Pichu and I got rid of them. Don't worry." And 
then, before she could say anything else, I finished up quickly, "Well, I just 
wanted to call and say hi! I'll call later - bye Mom!"

"Bye, honey! Good luck!"

As I hung up and turned back around, a Chansey rushed forward and pushed three 
black and red pokeballs into my arms, along with a cheerful Thundari. I blinked, 
stunned, as Skye hurried up to me, clipping three Pokeballs of her own back onto 
her belt.

"That was... fast," I said, as Thundari leapt onto my shoulder and I attached my 
Pokeballs.

"Yeah, isn't it great!?" Skye exclaimed, her face glowing with delight, "I guess 
with the Gyms and the sudden amount of trainers, they had to update PokeCenter 
technology - now they're refreshed in a snap!"

As we turned to head out the door, I gave her a critical look. "Are you always 
this cheerful?"

She beamed at me, "Well, I like to think I always try and look on the bright 
side!"

I met the cool night air outside with a loud groan.

~ ~ ~

At first, my primary concerns were to find a hotel or something to stay in. By 
no means did I intend to sleep in the PokeCenter, which was probably just as 
packed in sleeping arrangements as it had been for pokemon healing. But Skye 
assured me the Gym's hours were late, and he would probably be accepting new 
challenges.

As we walked along, looking for the Chestnut Gym, Skye and I talked a little bit 
about our pasts, presents and futures. I learned the green-haired trainer was 
not a local to the Rhoto League, although she knew a vague description of the 
place. She came from Blackthorn City in Johto, but was told by the local Gym 
Leader - Clair - that to better prepare for the Johto League, she ought to have 
defeated the Rhoto first. I also learned that, like Clair (who apparently was 
somewhat of an older-sister figure to her) she wished to become a Dragon Master.

"That's some goal," I remarked, suddenly out-of-the-blue hoping Thundari was 
still awake. The Pichu had snuck into my backpack midway through our quest for a 
hotel room, "How you doing so far?"

"Pretty well, I'd say," she replied, "I got a Charmander for my starter pokemon, 
and I've already caught a Sparx and a Magikarp."

"A Magikarp?" I winced at the thought of the pitifully weak orange koi-like 
fish. But I supposed she wanted one for its powerful and very dragon-ish 
evolution, Gyarados. But the other name drew a blank in my memory. "What the 
heck is a Sparx? I've never heard of it."

"You've got a pokedex, right?" she asked as we paused at an intersection, gazing 
hopefully at the street signs for some hint. "Check it out."

I pulled out my black pokedex and flipped it open, announcing the name; "Sparx."

"Sparx, an electric pokemon. This pokemon was recently discovered in the 
northern Kanto regions and southern Rhoto. They are very difficult to find, 
because they only appear in spots were lighting has struck more than once. These 
pokemon are very outgoing and love a challenge, and only get along with few 
other pokemon."

I looked at the picture that appeared along with the mechanical voice. It showed 
a small, yellow dragon-like creature that stood on four paws, a long thin tail 
behind tipped in what looked like a cross. It had large, black eyes and a short 
snout, a single stubby horn protruding from its head. A pair of small, glittery 
wings donned its back, and I could just see, on its chest and belly, small blue 
tracings of what appeared as lightning bolts.

"When they say 'don't get along', they mean that most pokemon can't tolerate it 
for more than five minutes," she explained, her voice tinged with exasperation 
as we turned into another street. "Great! Here's the Gym!"

I looked up at it. No wonder it took us ages to find it; it completely blended 
it with the buildings on the either side, except being twice as big. A huge sign 
above the door, however, made me wonder if I had missed something with the 
constant eye-exams; reading "CHESTNUT GYM"

"At least there's no line," I muttered, following along behind her as we hurried 
inside. And even if the Gym looked completely non-impressive from the outside, 
the interior quickly made up for it. "Wow."

Instantly I found myself in a large, high-domed room that looked like a somewhat 
enclosed basketball court. Yet it was missing basketball hoops, and instead 
various boulders were scattered about the area. On the other side of the arena, 
slumped in a chair and looking utterly exhausted, was a guy about our age.

"Hey - YO!" I yelled across the room. My voice bounced back to me at least five 
times before the boy responded. He looked up and stood heavily, brushing back 
his long brown hair with the back of a hand.

"I suppose you want to challenge me?" he asked wearily. I was about to confirm 
this when Skye piped up from beside me, her usual polite nature and good manners 
kicking in.

"If you feel up to it," she answered, "We can wait until tomorrow if you're too 
tired."

I glared at her, but had to grudgingly agree - if I was a Gym Leader, God knows 
I'd be relieved if trainers offered me the time to actually sleep. But the boy 
was already shaking his head. "No, I can battle. Two of you, then? I'm Marcus - 
the leader of the Chestnut Gym."

"I'm Skye, and this is Comet," Skye introduced me before I could say anything. 
Annoyed, I folded my arms. Would she be yelling my battle commands, too?

"I'm afraid I can only battle one of you at a time," Marcus called back over to 
us, taking up his position at the edge of the ring on his side. "Who wants to go 
first?"

I sighed and shrugged, gesturing forward. "You can, Skye. I'll wait." She nodded 
to me and stepped forward. But when Marcus saw who was challenging him first, 
his brown eyes looked over to me. 

"I'm sorry, but you'll have to wait outside. It's only fair."

"Fair. Right," I shrugged again, said good luck to Skye and wandered back out 
the doors into the front stoop. For some reason, this town looked like the 
dreary, dark, rainy London-type. It could have been just because it was night, 
but who knew...

I sat down, pulling my backpack off as Thundari hopped out. The little Pichu 
looked up to me and garbled something in her language, the typical grin coming 
across her features. I thought back to the Gym, wondering what types he used. No 
one had told me, although I could guess from the rocks littering the floor that 
the guy used rock, ground or maybe even fighting types.

"And then, of course, he could be a lot smarter than he looks and train... 
electricity or something, just to throw me off." I looked back down at her, and 
reached for my other three pokeballs. "Ah, probably not. He didn't look that 
smart." I released Sunflash, Whirlpool and my new Chikorita on the steps with 
me. As soon as they appeared, Sunflash gurgled a greeting and crawled over to 
sit near me, Whirlpool glared around for a challenge and, upon finding none, 
began slashing his tail in a violent way. My brand new Chikorita looked up at me 
through thoughtful red eyes.

"Chi chiko?"

"Hey Chikorita, welcome to the team and our first Gym Battle," I greeted. 
"Howzabout a nickname before we decide who's gonna fight this guy? Does 
Everglade sound good to you?" I had, in fact, been thinking about a nickname for 
her the entire flight to Chestnut City and - when I wasn't being hassled by 
trainers or yelled at by my mom - during our wanderings down the streets of 
Chestnut City. She waved her leaf as she thought it over, and finally nodded.

"All right. We're back in business. Now..." I gazed up at the stars, thinking. 
It was a beautifully clear night - unfortunately, it also meant it was cold. I 
wrapped my jacket tighter around me, but none of my pokemon seemed cold. 'Marcus 
needs to get a lobby or something,' I thought viciously. But out loud, I 
continued in my train of thought. "I guess we can find out what elements he 
trains by how Skye did. She's got a fire type, a water type that can't attack 
yet and an electric type. Ah... damn. Screw that option."

I fell back to thinking for a few minutes. Thundari settled into my lap, 
apparently about to drift off to sleep. Mmm... sleep didn't sound too bad at 
that minute... I shook my head, forcing myself to stay awake. "Wake up, 
Thundari. You're gonna make me sleepy, too."

She grumbled in response and frowned at me, but sat up nonetheless. I thought 
back to the rocks littering the floor. "Well, if he uses rock types, I guess I'm 
set with Whirlpool and Everglade... and Sunflash can help me in a pinch. But 
looks like your out of the running," I added to my Pichu. She gave a slightly 
sad, "Chu," but got over it pretty fast.

"Same goes for ground and all that, I guess," I murmured, resting my elbows on 
my bent knees and my chin in my hands. "I just really hope he isn't as tough as 
he looks. It'd be just my luck, to fluke out on my first badge..."

I fell silent, gazing across the street and wondering if Skye would cream him or 
be creamed. Eventually, though, the door behind me creaked open and Skye 
emerged, looking none the different. I studied her face as she sat down next to 
Sunflash, snapping the Caterpie out of his trance.

I stared for a few minutes, waiting for her to say something, before I grew 
impatient; "Well!?!?!"

"He's not too shabby," she replied, but reached to her belt and pulled out a 
small case. Inside, a small circular badge that looked like it was made of sand, 
a peice of Amber in the center, glinted in the streetlight. "But I did it!"

"Congrats, now it's my turn. Up and at 'em, team, we have a BADGE to win!" I 
cheered, punching the air as I stood. I got a less-than-enthusiastic reply, 
though, as my pokemon murmured in response and trooped miserably back inside the 
Gym. "And the crowd went wild," I mumbled under my breath, following them.

Once I returned, Marcus looked slightly more energized, gripping a pokeball in 
his hand. "Ready?" he asked breathlessly, sparing a glance across my four 
assembled pokemon. I nodded, and he quickly summed up the rules. "It'll be a 
two-on-two battle. First one to knock out both pokemon wins. My first pokemon is 
Sandshrew!!"

"Sandshrew, a ground type. Disliking water, it lives in deep burrows arid areas. 
It can roll itself instantly into a ball. It prefers dry, sandy places because 
it uses the sand to protect itself when threatened," my Pokedex beeped.

As the form of the small shrew-like pokemon materialized from white light, I 
smiled. Aha, so Mr. Marcus trained Ground type pokemon. "One two ho, Sunflash!" 
I called, pointing at our target. With a determined warble, the bug type hurried 
(or crawled, either one) into place. You know that saying, "the calm before the 
storm"? Well, I had my example right before me. An eerie silence fell over the 
Gym as both Pokemon stared at each other, but only for a second.

"This isn't a staring contest - TACKLE!"

I took all three - Marcus, Sandshrew and Sunflash - by surprise with my loud 
voice, but fortunately my Caterpie was growing used to it and recovered quickly, 
bolting forward to slam into the opponent. Sandshrew didn't exactly appear... 
hurt, in any way. It sat back up and lunged forward with a Scratch attack. 
Sunflash went flying.

"That's it Sandshrew, Scratch it again!" Marcus cheered his ground-type on. Had 
I not been one to expect the un-expected (or tried, anyway) I would've panicked. 
But our next move wasn't very hard - after all, Sunflash only had two attacks.

"String Shot!"

"Piu!" squealed the bug, lashing out with a long, sticky stringy goop. It hit 
the oncoming Sandshrew right smack in the eyes. But instead of stopping right in 
place - the desired effect - it kept going, blindly. Sunflash panicked, 
squealing and squeaking frantically and waving its tail as the ground type 
blundered forward, tripped over its own paws and began tumbling.

"Aaah!" I yelled, "Sunflash -!"

I was interrupted by a brilliant flash of white. The Caterpie reared its head, 
spitting out its String Shot again, but missed badly. I was about to reprimand 
it and remind it where it was aiming ("At the Sandshrew!!!!!") when the string, 
which had been sailing into the air, reversed its course thanks to gravity to 
rain back onto my bug type. Yet as the string began to cover it, Sunflash didn't 
stop. Soon, he was covered completely.

Just as there was another blinding flash of light, I heard the smash as 
Sandshrew finally hit its opponent, still rolling hopelessly across the floor. I 
flinched, and when I looked back up, I caught a sight of Marcus' amazed and 
curious face. I looked back to the crime scene.

Sunflash was gone, but it didn't take me long to figure out where to. While the 
Sandshrew was lying on its side, kicking feebly and pawing at its face - still 
covered in string - another pokemon was sitting up about four feet away. It was 
a Metapod, covered in its bright green shell. I pulled out the handy-dandy 
pokedex.

"Metapod, a bug type. Inside the shell, it is soft and weak as it prepares to 
evolve. It stays motionless in its shell.  It prepares for evolution by 
hardening its shell as much as possible to protect its soft body." 

"Ah, well, at least we gained a new advantage - the power of the migraine!" I 
announced with an evil smile as I looked at the Sandshrew, still clutching its 
forehead and squeaking. Across the arena, Marcus was yelling for it to get up. 
He continued encouraging, but the ground type refused to get up. Finally, with a 
defeated sigh, he recalled it.

"You beat Sandshrew, but my next pokemon should be more than enough! Wooper, I 
choose you!"

I gaped as, following the next flash of light, a small blue pokemon appeared. 
Sticking out from either side of its head appeared to be T.V antennae, and it 
had an overall cute - if not just plain weird - appearance. After snapping awake 
again, I remembered my pokedex.

"Wooper, a water/ground type. This pokemon lives in cold water. It will leave 
the water to search for food when it gets cold outside. When it walks around on 
the ground, it covers its body with a slimy, poisonous film."

My first reaction to Marcus' Wooper would have been to laugh - especially when 
it got that goofy little grin on its face and began bouncing up and down. But I 
reminded myself that a lot of battles had been lost when people were distracted 
by a pokemon's appearance, and I forced myself to stay focused. But I couldn't 
help but snicker slightly.

"We can do it, Sunflash, no problem. Harden!"

As my Metapod flashed again, its shell gaining a nice-looking shine to it, 
Marcus ordered his first attack. "Slam, now!" I began shaking my head, smiling 
slightly, as the Wooper gave a cheerful "Uupah!" and bounced forward.

"Physical attacks won't do - gah!!??"

The Wooper leapt into the air and BRUTALLY slammed down right smack onto 
Sunflash, with a sickeningly delighted "Pah!" The Metapod instantly slumped 
over, eyes spinning. I gaped, once more, at the walking satellite as it bounced 
back up, still disgustingly pleased about its vicious attack. "Bloody Hell..." I 
moaned, recalling my fallen pokemon. "Good work, Metapod."

As I looked resentfully at the happily bouncing Wooper, my mind went over my 
other pokemon. Thundari's electricity would be fizzled by its ground element, 
and a Water vs. Water would be boring as a Magikarp vs. Kakuna. That left... the 
perfect choice. I looked down at Everglade, and an evil grin spread across my 
face.

"Of course... a double weakness. Everglade, get 'em."

My new Chikorita looked up at me, and then out onto the battlefield. A 
determined smirk coming into play, she uttered a "Chiko!" and leapt forward, 
leaf waving threateningly. The Wooper was completely un-effected, and only 
continued to bounce - only now it was singing, too. A little Wooper song - 
"Uuuuupah! Uuuuupah! UuuuuuuuPAH!" As if the singing just was too much of an 
insult to Everglade's pride, she unfurled both vines and lashed out violently.

"Wooper, Haze!"

Slowly, as if pouring from the Wooper's skin, a haze began to fill the room, 
blurring Wooper's edges slightly. As Everglade grabbed hold of the water type, 
it slipped out of her grasp! 

"Aw shit," I grumbled to myself, "It's probably too slippery, if water gathered 
on it or something like that... new tactic, Everglade! This one can't miss - 
RAZOR LEAF!"

"CHIKO!" she echoed my angry yell, swinging her leaf around once, twice - three 
times. A flurry of leaves shot forth, cutting through the fog and right into its 
target. Although I couldn't see the Wooper very well anymore, I heard its pained 
cries as I leapt from the fog, and instantly replied with a Water Gun. To which 
my grass-type shook off the effects without so much as a flinch.

I was feeling particularly violent today, especially after all that stupid 
Wooper had done. So although I knew a simple tackle would end this match, I 
wanted to end it off big - and painful. Yet I refrained from bellowing; "TAKE 
DOWN!!!!" and took a few deep breaths before calling out; "Tackle!"

She happily obliged, charging at the Wooper and belting into it head-on. It flew 
back a good six feet before landing and skidding. It stumbled back to its feet 
and wobbled around, murmuring "Uuuupaaaahh...", but a smug Everglade withdrew a 
vine and tapped it. Marcus' pokemon collapsed!

"Yes!" I cheered, punching the air, "Great work, Everglade! Ya did it!"

Her reply, although it came to my ears as "Chiko chikorita!" was an obvious 
"Like I wouldn't?" She ran back to me and leapt into my arms, happy she had 
pleased her new trainer so quickly. Thundari leapt onto my shoulder as well, and 
even Whirlpool was bouncing up and down - acting more like a Poliwag than a 
violent serial killer. 

Marcus recalled his Wooper, smiling slightly. "You beat me. You earned this 
badge - the Sandstorm badge. Congratulations, Comet!"

"Thanks, Marcus!" I called over to him, beaming. Whirlpool ran over to get it, 
stumbling slightly on his short stubby legs, as I recalled Everglade. Once he 
returned and I pinned my shiny new badge to the inside of my jacket, I recalled 
the Poliwag as well, thanked Marcus a last time and paraded from the Gym.

~ ~ ~