To Be A True Master - The Journey Of A Lifetime (Part 12)









	Part 22 (Continued) - 	 Everyone Has To Have A Rival, Right?






	At the last second, in a streak of light Wartortle sprang into the air, 
hovering for a few seconds.
	"High Jump Kick, Wartortle!" Jeffrey called smoothly, then grinned at me.  
In a shining ball of light, Wartortle crashed into Blastoise.  Painfully 
slowly, Blastoise crashed to the ground, then withdrew into his shell, 
fainted.
	"Bulbasaur, go!"
	Bulbasaur trotted out to the battle.  Ninetales and Arcanine sadly pushed 
Blastoise back to rest beside a still snoring Pidgeot.
	"Bulba!" Bulbasaur growled, and stiffened.  Before anyone could say 
anything, though Jessie, James and Lark were valiantly trying to wake up 
Pidgeot, something unexpected occured.  Bulbasaur evolved.  Right on the 
spot, he started sweating and straining.  The next moment, he had undergone 
a successful evolution into Ivysaur.
	Unlike many trainers who would have spent the battle rejoicing at the 
evolution, I kicked into fighting mode instantly.  "Ivysaur, Stun Spore!"
	Jeffrey's Wartortle was caught off guard, as it was still staring stupidly. 
  Though he tried to escape the attack by hiding inside his shell, Ivysaur 
aimed a stream of the powder into his shell, paralyzing him.
	"Wartortle!" Jeffrey moaned.  "Up!"
	Obediently, yet slowly, Wartortle came out of his shell.  "Now, rage!"
	"Waaaar! Wartorte tortle!!"
	Wartortle began hopping up and down and all around like a maniac, building 
up his fury and power.
	"Ivysaur, prepare to defend yourself with Vine Whip!" I ordered.  No sooner 
had I said the words then the angry Wartortle turned and lit into Ivysaur, 
not affected by the Stun Spore anymore.  Sickening punching sounds resounded 
up and down the beach, and Ivysaur flew into the air.
	"Ivysaur!" Ivysaur yelped as he hit the ground, then rolled over and faced 
down the now-charging Wartortle.   It was at that point that Ivysaur gained 
the advantage in the battle.  Fifteen vines exploded from his bulb, then 
started slapping and punching Wartortle mercilessly, throwing his to the 
ground several times.  Totally dedcated to the fight, Wartortle jumped back 
up and  threw a unch at Ivysaur.
	The plant type swung out of the way, caught Wartortle with all his vines, 
and threw him into the air.  Without my order, Ivysaur began to absorb 
sunlight, learning his new SolarBeam Attack.  Just as Blastoise had fired 
his Hydro Cannon at Poliwrath, so ivysaur let loose a blaze of golden energy 
at Wartortle in the air.
	Wartortle skidded to the sand several seconds later, quivering inside his 
shell.
	In a skilled way, Jeffrey recalled Wartortle and tossed out a sharp-looking 
Golduck in one move.
	"Golduck, Psychic attack now!"
	"Ivy-" I began, but never finished.  Golduck held his temples for a moment, 
and glowed dark red. Ivysaur was mysteriously blasted off the ground and 
towards me as if by a rocket.
	"Ivysaaaaaur!" Both me and Ivysaur yelled.  Without thinking, I snapped out 
my arm, and Ivysaur hit it.  We both were thrown into the air, where we flew 
for several seconds, before skidding to the ground, Ivysaur resting on my 
arm, groaning.
	Coughing, I croaked "Go.... Go Ninetales!"
	As Ninetales pranced out to take his fighting place, Lark and James helped 
me up, while Jessie took Ivysaur over to lay beside Blastoise and Pidgeot.
	After finally restoring air to my lungs, I thought over tactics while 
Golduck and Ninetales faced each other down.
	'Jeff here seems to be a master of the unexpected.  His Squirtle's a 
fighter, when he shouldn't be.  His Poliwhirl knows Flamethrower.  His 
Blastoise is his weakest.  Now... Golduck's supposedly a fighter, which 
would be trouble for Ninetales.  But... since his other ones are fighters, 
the true fighter probably won't be....'
	"Golduck, Water Gun!" My thoughts were broken.  No more time for thinking!
	"Ninetales Hyper Beam!"
	Golduck sent a long stream of water on a straight line towards Ninetales.
	"Niiiiiiiine!!" Ninetales squealed, and stood up on its hind legs.  When 
the water hit him, he was kicking his paws in the air, mocking Golduck by 
faking pain.
	In reality completely unaffected, Ninetales astounded the crowd when he 
smirked and swept a Hyper Beam across the shocked Golduck.  The fastest 
battle yet.  The Hyper Beam was incredibly effective against Golduck, 
detonating on impact.  Fire and crackling energy surrounded Golduck in a 
perfect ball, and no noise could penetrate the explosion.
	Quacking in its own language, Golduck stumbled from the destruction and 
collapsed, jerking, to the sand in front of Jeffrey.
	Ninetales glorified in the maddening clapping and cheering, yelling and 
hooting from the Cinnabar natives.  Ninetales was, by nature, a vain animal, 
and he suddenly forgot he was still in a battle, and began trotting around, 
accepting pats and attention from his instant fans.
	Jeffrey snickered at me and quietly released his last pokemon.  Squirtle.  
That genetic freak pokemon of his.
	"NINETALES!" I screamed.  Too late.  Ninetales was unexpectedly hit from 
the side by a hard Take Down from his unseen attacker.  People cleared out 
of the way as Ninetales skidded back across the sand.  Ninetales staggered 
up, weaving slightly, and was hit again by a Skull bash.  That was all it 
took.  Two hits.  Ninetales slowly collapsed to his front feet, then slumped 
to the sand.
	Everyone looked to Arcanine.  With a low snarl, he padded out to stand ten 
feet from the leering Squirtle.
	Jeffrey and I both called out our orders together.
	"Mega Punch, Squirtle!"
	"Agility Arcanine!"
	This was the deciding factor of the battle, out last pokemon.  For some 
reason, this battle semed monumental to me.  A real desire to actually win 
burned in my heart, and in Arcanine's, and Jeffrey's Squirtle.
	Both pokemon sprung into action at once, and a battle of speed began.  
Squirtle launched himself at Arcanine, fists moving in a glowing blur.  
Arcanine began leaping wildly, avoiding Squirtle's hellbent advances.  
Squirtle threw himself at Arcanine, trying insanely to hit him.  Likewise, 
Arcanine flashed around the battle, and Squirtle was left punching air.
	"Arcanine, Body Slam!"
	Arcanine whipped around and dove at Squirtle.  Squirtle jumped into the 
air, and dropped behind his foe.
	"Squirtle,







	Freeing myself from the hard grips of Lark and James, I staggered back over 
to the battle zone, where Arcanine was watching me, looking worried.
	"Hyper Beam!" I growled sternly.  Arcanine nodded and turned to face 
Squirtle.
	"Let's show him a real Hyper Beam, Squirtle!" Jeffrye called out, renewing 
his confident smirk as he watched me.
	Squirtle dropped softly to the ground, where he instantly started powering 
up.  Arcanine did the same, tensing up and straining as he accumulated vast 
amounts of power.
	Jeffrey and I watched too, sweating as we watched our pokemon preparing 
their most powerful attacks.
	Arcanine started snarling, and looked up at where Squirtle was looking 
exhausted.
	A ball of golden energy appeared in Arcanine's open mouth, crackling and 
popping.  Squirtle held an identical sphere in his paws.  Suddenly, the two 
balls let out a jagged string, which crashed into each other between 
Arcanien and Squirtle.  The Hyper Beam vines tangled together for a moment.  
Then both pokemon released everything they had.
	Arcanine was engulfed in yellow light as he pumped out his Hyper Beam.  
Squirtle disappeared as he too released his.
	The balls impacted each other in the center of the beach, and exploded.  
People screamed as the air filled with flying sand, blowing air, and a 
gradually growing ball of electricity which expanded from where the two 
Hyper Beams had struck.  The last I saw of Arcanine, he had been hit by a 
monstrous white beam.  Then sand swirled around me, and I was forced to turn 
away.



	Later that night, in my hotel room, all my pokemon were let out of their 
pokeballs for a well-deserved rest.  Pidgeot had finally woken up, and was 
receiving all the details of the battle from Blastoise's distorted view.  
The water giant had spent the battle cowering inside his shell after a heavy 
kick from an unevolved form of himself.  Raichu and Ivysaur were having a 
wrestling match which the latter appeared to be winning.  Ninetales was 
(proudly even) sleeping at the foot of my bed.  Nobody was fooled.  The vain 
animal was watching the rest of the pokemon and contemplating whether or not 
to compromise his dignity and have some fun.
	Arcanine was laying beside me, bending the bed down as he kept dropping a 
paw down on the mattress, chasing a bug.  I did him a favor and snapped a 
magazine out, ending the bug's terrified flight.
	Arcanine looked up at me with an expression saying 'That was MY kill!'.  I 
grinned and rubbed his head, ruining his beautiful mane.  "You put up a 
great fight today, Arcanine," I said genuinely.
	He shrugged modestly and layed his head on his paws.  "But don't blame 
yourself.  Squirtle's a water type, therefore has a natural advantage over 
you, no matter the attack." I was lying through my teeth, and we both knew 
it.
	We had, in fact lost the battle.  Sorta.  When the Hyper Beam attacks had 
cleared, Arcanine collapsed in near critical exhaustion, and Jeffrey's 
Squirtle was standing, barely.  Two seconds after we witnessed Arcanine's 
fall, Squirtle did the same.  By the fact that Squirtle had survived longer, 
Jeffrey won.  And he didn't let ANYONE forget it.  The crowd followed 
Jeffrey off to the pokecenter, leaving Jessie, James, Lark, Me and my 
pokemon to care for our own wounds.  I had a pulled muscle in my arm from 
catching Ivysaur, and several bruises from Squirtle's attack.  After five 
hours in the pokecenter healing machine, my Pokemon were rejuvenated.
	Ten minutes later, the time being 10:15, my friends runnign around the 
hotel room followed habit and curled up, popped inside their shells, folded 
their wings, and wrapped their tails around themselves.  Arcanine remained 
partly awake, stretched out beside me, staring tiredly at the door.
	A quiet tap at the door seemed to surprise Arcanine, as he cocked his head 
and gave a questioning growl.
	I looked up from a 'Pokemon Watcher' Magazine and called out for the person 
to enter.  The door opened, and Lark stepped into my dimly lit room.
	"What's up?" I asked cheerfully as she picked her way across my Pokemon 
littered floor.
	"Just couldn't sleep," she muttered, watching Arcanine.  The tiger-like 
animal suddenly rolled over onto his back playfully, inviting Lark to pet 
him.  She did, rubbing his stomach like a dog.  Arcanine growled 
contentedly.
	"Umm, can I sit down?" Lark asked nervously after a minute of this.
	"Sure.  Arcanine, move over," I said flippantly.  The big tiger head 
snapped over and looked at me in mortification.
	With a frustrated growl, and a suspicious glare at Lark, Arcanine hopped 
off the bed.  "Nice shirt," I commented as Lark crawled up to sit next to 
me.  She leaned back against the pillows beside me, then grinned.
	"Jack...." She whispered, looking up at me with those incredible blue-green 
eyes again "Do you think I'm a bad trainer?"
	I scoffed out loud at the very idea.  "Aww, heck no, Lark, where'd you get 
that idea?"
	She suddenly got very interested in her fingernails and muttered quietly.  
"Well... I lost that battle with Jeffrey-"
	I quickly interrupted her.  "Lark, everyone loses battles.  I lost to the 
Pewter Gym Leader, but I just went right back to him, and won! Moping around 
feeling sorry for yourself never does ANYONE good, except the competition."
	She looked up, her eyes sad.  "I didn't just lose, I stank! I hardly even 
got in one hit against his first pokemon! You Knocked out all of his pokemon 
with one each!"
	"But Lark, you train fire pokemon-" I ventured feebly, but she interrupted 
as well.
	"Jack! Three of my five pokemon have the advantage over water types!"
	"Well... Okay, I'll put it this way.  You are a good trainer, Lark.  It's 
just that Jeffrey's better.  Everybody HAS to meet someone that's better 
than them, but at the same time, there're plenty of people they're better 
than.  You're a good trainer, it's just that you've finally met someone 
better than you."
	She seemed to look a little more hopeful, so I continued.  "Don't forget 
your day in Celadon City," I lured her.  She broke into a grin.
	"Thanks," she said quietly, then, unexpectedly, she moved over and hugged 
me.  Naturally, I turned bright red, but she didn't notice this, since our 
heads were opposite ways.
	"By the way," she said, releasing me after a minute, "I didn't come in here 
cause I couldn't sleep, I came over because my room is infested with bugs."
	I broke into laughter.  "So that speech I gave was for nothing?"
	She gave me a small, unsure smile.  "Well, it was kinda nice."
	"Really?" I asked curiously.
	"Yeah, it made you sound kinda like the actual 'smart leader'"
	"You mean I don't sound smart any other time?"
	"Well, yeah, but only about pokemon, never about... Other things." She 
suddenly seemed a little nervous as she knelt in front of me.  Really close 
in front of me.
	"What other things?" I demanded, hardly noticing her inching closer to me.
	Oh," she began, and her hand somehow found its way to my shoulder.  "Stuff 
like..." Realization blossomed as she leaned forward, her head slightly 
turned sideways.  "This...." Her lips were half an inch from mine, when we 
were interrupted.
	"Rrrrrr...." We both turned, with Lark's hands still on my shoulders.  
Arcanine's head was resting on the bottom of the bed, glaring at us both, 
but more at Lark.  I also noticed Blastoise watching interestedly, and 
Raichu and Ivysaur looking on with childlike curiosity.
	Lark choked out a laugh at Arcanine's expression, and a moment later I 
joined in.  Arcanine didn't think it so funny, and bounded up onto the bed, 
looking back and forth between us with a suspicious look.  Then, he dropped 
down in front of us, watching closely.  He had his sleeping post for the 
night.  Our laughter died down as Raichu hopped up too, curling up beside 
Arcanine.  Ivysaur followed, laying down beside his comrades.  Pidgeot 
chirped tiredly and rested himself on my side of the bed.  Ninetales 
stretched out, then dropped down on Lark's side.
	I chuckled as all the pokemon watched us, some with amusement, some with 
mild interest, and others (if you know what I mean) with outright suspicion.
	"Well, if you can find a place to sleep on this pokemon invaded bed, you 
can stay," I said to Lark.  She looked at Arcanine, then gave me a 
mischievous grin.
	"I have found a place," she said, making sure Arcanine could hear her.  
Then, she just curled up against me, and layed her head on my shoulder.  
"Just follow my lead," she whispered.
	I grinned and stretched out an arm, wrapping it around her shoulders 
possessively.  We both smiled at a now fuming Arcanine.  We fell asleep 
playing our little joke on my pokemon, but, personally.... I rather enjoyed 
it.  I doubted Lark wanted to move anytime soon either.  Involuntarily, 
before she fell asleep, she gave a little sigh of contentment, and relaxed 
fully into me.
*************************************************************************************
************






	Part 23 - 		The Gym Leader of Cinnabar Island!






	Like the title says, OR LACK THEREOF! Flames sprang up behind me and I 
towered insanely over the girl who had told me the Cinnabar Gym had been 
shut down.  It just happened that the girl was Lark.
	"Aaaaaah!" I yowled, turning and burying my head in my hands.  Lark 
whispered something to Jessie that sounded like 'he takes this stuff 
seriously, doesn't he?'
	"Is it SO out of the ordinary to want to be the greatest pokemon trainer 
ever in the history of man?" I yelled at her.  In the middle of the lobby of 
our hotel.  the twenty or thirty people around me stopped and stared at us.
	"Eh, he's from Pallet Town," Lark said nervously.  A collective 'ahhhh' of 
understanding went through the audience and they continued about their 
business.
	"Well, as I was saying before you morphed into an Electrode," she continued 
"the gym was shut down, on account of nobody came here to train.  Some weird 
guy told me a couple days ago."
	I moaned and dropped to my knees beside Arcanine and my backpack.  "But 
how'll I get the Volcano Badge?"
	Lark shrugged and blew a bubble, then popped it.  "Well," she said through 
a mess of bubblegum.  "The Cinnabara Gym is one of the final three, thereby 
one of the toughest.  We don't have the time to stick around while you try 
to beat the gym leader."
	"Hey!" I leapt up, slinging my backpack over my shoulders.  "I could beat 
him! I'm a fire trainer, and I've got Blastoise!"
	"Suuuuure." Lark rolled her eyes and likewise pulled on her backpack.  
Jessie, James and Meowth came back at that time, looking puzzled.
	"Well that was unusual," James said, tucking his wallet back into his back 
pocket.
	"What was?" Lark asked, turning around.
	"The manager got all weird when he saw us and said that our stay here was 
on the house," Meowth answered.
	Lark and I sighed and pointed to the distinctive red 'R' on their shirts.
	"Oh, yes! I'd forgotten!" James chirped happily.
	As was typical of her, Lark became commander at that moment.  "You three!" 
She barked, sending the three former criminals into stiff attention.  "Go 
shopping NOW! Jack, Fire fur, come with me!"
	Arcanine bristled at being called 'Fire fur', but was silenced and sent 
back whimpering by a glare from Lark.
	"Pi-kachu!" Pikachu piped up annoyingly, popping out of Lark's backpack.
	As Jessie, James and Meowth bolted off without complaint to their favorite 
hobby, Lark grabbed me by the arm as I tried to comfort Arcanine.
	"Where-are-we-goin-ow!" I recoiled and did a little spin as Lark 
accidentally led me into a street sign.  She dragged me on without noticing 
Arcanine's chortling.
	"To go get tickets back to the mainland before the ships are full," she 
said in a softer tone.


	"Sorry, ma'am, but all the ships are full," explained an exasperated Harbor 
master.
	"Not one left?" Lark whined.
	The man laughed.  "Nope.  OF course, you could try to hitch a ride with one 
of the rich guys who have their own yachts."
	"Great!" Lark said, and a very tired Arcanine and I followed the energy 
packed girl down the dock again.
	We walked for about five minutes, before we came to a better taken care of 
part of dock.  There was one 100 foot yacht left, sparkling clean with a 
flag hanging behind it.  I recognized it as the American symbol of the 
Confederacy.
	"They're everywhere!" I moaned.  "Those southerners are invading the 
Pokemon world!"
	"Have you got something against the South, young man?" said a high class 
southern voice form behind me.
	I turned around, and faced a tall gentleman in a black suit, top hat and 
dark glasses.  He laughed good naturedly as I stuttered to apologize.
	"It's allright boy.  But may I ask where else you've met my country 
comrades?" He said, walking past me to pet Arcanine.
	"Ehh, I met a group of southern trainers in Cerulean City."
	"Oh?" He said, looking over at me while still petting Arcanine.  "Then you 
must have met my son, James.  I'm Robert Garner."
	"Oh, yeah!" I said, my uneasiness fading away.  "He was battling some 
Northerners, and at one point me!"
	Robert chuckled and stood up.  "That's mah boy.  Did you by any chance see 
my old Raticate? I lent it to James if he swore to take care of it."
	"Yep," Lark chipped in.  "It was in good condition, and beat up some of 
Jack's pokemon."
	After a moment of silence, in which Lark, Arcanine and I stared intently at 
Robert, he sighed and looked over at his boat.  "I suppose you'll be wanting 
a ride on my boat, eh?"
	"Thank you sir!" Lark said, shaking his hand and giving him a wide grin.
	"Well, if you show me my favorite pokemon, I'll be glad to take you to 
Porta Vista."
	"What pokemon is that?" I immediately reached for my pokeballs.



	To Be Continued.  In the meantime, we have an important message from the 
author.


	*The curtain lifts and Jack is shoved out, holding a script.  He looks up, 
and gives a nervous smile.  "Eh, here he is." *Thunderbolts fry Jack and he 
instantly looks back at the script* "I mean, here is the almighty, 
all-knowing God of this story, the author.  P.S.  Read this or you die in 
the next part Ja- Oh."
	*The athor walks on as Jack disappears with a poof of smoke.*
	Wow, I've been gone for a while.  Blame that on my Mom, she sent me to a 
summer camp, and even when I got back, I was so distracted that I couldn't 
write.  Yeah I know, you were all biting your fingernails, holding onto your 
armchairs, ready to kill for the next part.  *Rolls his eyes*
	Well, umm, that's about it.... Bye bye.
	James comes up on a stage platform, appearing with his back turned, 
studying a piece of paper.  He turns around, and drops his paper out of 
surprise.  The spotlight is on him*
	 Oh.  Uh.  Oh yes! Stay tuned for the next part sometime this century, and 
send all comments to brenndon_juster@hotmail.com
   *He sweatdrops* The.... Almighty, galactically supreeme writer of this... 
Masterpiece.  *He walks off the stage muttering, and the lights click off.*