To Be a True Master - The Journey Of a
			Lifetime
				       (Chapter 8)








Part 15.			    The Water Stone and Celadon City!






	"Okay Charcloy," I yelled  thirty minutes later over the
	flapping of Charcloy's wings and rush of air.  It was farther
	to Celadon than it looked.  I pointed down.  "Bring us down in
	that big city, Celadon, preferably near the middle!"
	Charcloy nodded, then fell into a steep dive, spiraling down
	to the ground.  "Stop! Stop I wanna get off!" James screamed,
	closing his eyes and hugging one of Charcloy's spikes.
	I grinned, knowing Charcloy wouldn't let us down, or he would,
	but not the hard way.  Lark gasped behidn me and shut her
	eyes, holding onto me tighter.
	Dust, sand and small items blasted up into the air as Charcloy
	swooped down into Celadon, flying down the street like a
	runway as he prepared to land.  I noticed people screaming and
	running away as Charcloy settled to the ground in front of a
	huge, twenty story building.  As soon as Charcloy was safely
	on the ground I let out a deep bretah, then climbed into his
	paw, helping Lark off too.  Without even waiting for Jessie
	and James to get down, I pulled out Eevee's pokeball,
	cautiously watching Celadon's citizens, who were beginning to
	form a crowd.  This was the downside of having the tallest,
	most powerful and rarest pokemon in the world.  Wherever you
	went, you had crowds gathering.
	"Eevee, show us the way," I said quietly, kneeling beside
	Bill's eevee.  "Vvee..." Eevee chirped, then stood on his hind
	legs and turned around, eyes closed.  The blue beam from
	thirty minutes ago formed, then focused on a tall, cocky-
	looking boy in jeans and a purple shirt.
	"Eevee," Eevee said with a smile, then disappeared into his
	pokeball of his own accord.
	I walked confidently across the street, and the crowds parted
	in front of me, leaving the boy standing alone, glaring at me.
	"Do you by any chance have a water stone in your possession?"
	"What's it to you?" he asked cautiously, uhooking a pokeball
	from his belt.
	"That water stone, which I'm assuming you found, is mine, I
	lost it and I need it back," I said calmly.
	"Then I, the great Gary Oak, challenge you to a battle.
	Winner gets the stone," he said with a confident smirk.
	'Uh oh,' I thought.  Oak.  Gary.  I had heard of Gary, he was
	a spectacular trainer, and was the grandson of Professor Oak.
	This could be bad.... "I accept your challenge!" I growled,
	stepping back and taking Pidgeot's pokeball from my belt.
	The Celadon people quickly backed away to give us an open
	circle, some beginning to place bets.  "Two pokemon battle, no
	tricks!" Gary said as he hurled a pokeball out.  With a flash
	of red light, an imposing Arcanine appeared, then growled
	menacingly.
	"Right, Pidgeot I choose you!" I hurled Pidgeot into action.
	"Arcanine, leer!" Gary shouted.
	"Givvim your best Sky Attack pidgeot," I ordered.
	Arcanine stepped back, and his eyes glowed.  Pidgeot flapped
	up into the air, then looked back at Arcanine's powerful gaze.
	With a surprised shriek Pidgeot fell a few feet, then gained
	altitude again, slightly shaken by Arcanine's leer.  Then
	Pidgeot himself began to glow, turning red as fire.  BAAAAM!
	Pidgeot shot down from the sky, striking Arcanine and
	staggering him.
	Pidgeot wasn't done.  Back and forth he swooped, slamming into
	Arcanine at the speed of light, sending the fire dog all over
	the circle.  Finally, after being hit about twenty times,
	Arcanine roared, startling Pidgeot for a precious second.
	Without warning, Arcanine's paw slammed down onto the
	hesitating Pidgeot, pinning him to the ground.  The ground
	began to crack as Arcanine applied more pressure, crushing
	Pidgeot.
	"DGEEEOT!" Pidgeot tossed his head from side to side in pain,
	shrieking and crowing.
	"Pidgeot return!" I cried sadly, pulling my hurt bird back to
	his safe pokeball.  With a solemn look, I raised my arm behind
	my head and motioned for Charcloy to come forward.
	"Holy smokes!" Gary yelped, jumping back.  Apparently he had
	forgotten Charcloy.
	"Okay, Flamethrower Charcloy," I said with a grin.  I needn't
	describe how badly faintned Arcanine was, but the Celadon City
	street there was forever blackened, and they named the spot
	after me.  They called it 'Soniq's Battle' after that.  I'm
	not sure if it was officially named after me, but it earned
	that nickname.
	"Dangit, Arcanine return.  I can't believe I'm doing this,
	Gary said with a scowl.  "Now, go Charizard, fly up high and
	use your speed!"
	I watched, fascinated as Gary's excellent specimen of
	Charizard flew up high.  I always love Charizards, even when
	I'm battling them.  I shook my head and returned to the battle
	with a clear order.  "Fly up there and givvim some
	flamethrowers Charcloy," I barked.
	"Cloy," Charcloy grunted, then leapt into the air.  Within a
	moment, the two dragons were involved in an intense battle,
	swirling and whipping throug hthe air, swinging with tails and
	bodies, hurling bursts of fire.  It was obvious from the
	beginning that Gary's Charizrad was faster and more agile than
	my Charcloy, but Charcloy would inevitable win, as Charizard's
	attacks barely hurt him, while one flamethrower from Charcloy
	sent Gary's Charizard reeling.
	Gary's Charizard made one last desperate charge at Charcloy,
	hurtling in at an impressive speed.  "Okay, Charcloy, givvim
	your spitfire attack, now!"
	Charcloy moved directly in front of his adversary, then leaned
	his head back, flames licking at his closed mouth.
	"CHAAAAAR!" Charcloy's head snapped forward, and hundreds of
	foot-long spears of fire shot forth, creating an unavoidable
	cloud of fire in front of the opposing Charizard.
	"Char! Char char, chaaaar!" Charizard began howling as he lost
	speed.  The fire-arrows hit him everywhere, wings, face,
	torso, feet.  Charizard began to go into a spiral, like a
	shot-down fighter.  People began screaming and the street
	rapidly emptied.  With a long wail, Charizard hit the street,
	skidding down the pavement, digging it up after him.  With a
	last sigh ofdefeat, Charizard's head slumped to the side in a
	dead faint.  Embaressed and furious, Gary recalled Charizard,
	tossed me my evolution stone and ran away.
	I smirked and snatched the stone in mid-air, tucking it into a
	pocket inside my jacket and zipping it up safely.  Charcloy
	swooped down and ran up behind me triumphantly, making the
	ground shake.  I laughed and rubbed Charcloy's massive head as
	he bent down.  I turned and mock-bowed to the staring Celadon
	citizens.
	"Thank you, thank you very much for coming out to see the
	great Pokemon Master Jack Soniq, and I hope you all come to
	see my next performance in the Celadon gym!" With a cheerful
	laugh, I recalled Charcloy, then went in search of my friends.
	"Jolteon, thundershock!" I heard James's voice yell from the
	Celadon Gym's public battling area.  I quickly ran inside the
	open doors, and there were Jessie, James, Lark and Meowth,
	involved in battles with other trainers (except for Meowth of
	course, he was sleeping under the bleachers.
	Currently, Jessie and James's Jolteons were battling a
	Weepinbell and a Growlithe, and as I watched, Jessie's Jolteon
	fainted the growlithe, thus winning her the battle.
	Lark had Pikachu out, and the little electric mouse was
	involved in a touch fight with a tough little Vulpix.  I sat
	down and quietly watched the battles for several minutes.
	Jessie won her next battle, destroying another girl's
	squirtle, sandshrew, then Tangela with her Jolteon and Arbok.
	James won his first battle, and his next also, but appeared to
	be losing his third.  After a long fight, I looked over to see
	that Lark was victorious, her competition walking away with
	his head held low.
	"So, Jack, ya wanna fight?" Lark asked, swaggering over to me
	with a smug grin.
	"Hey," I said defensively, "I'm the Pokemon Master of this
	group, you sure you wanna fight me?"
	"Positive," she said with a sparkle in her eye.
	I hopped down from the bleachers and took my place on the
	other side of the battle zone.  "Go, Pidgeot!" I yelled,
	hurling Pidgeot into action.
	"You're getting predictable, use a different pokemon as
	starter," Lark teased, before predictably sending out her
	favorite pokemon, Pikachu.
	"Hey! I like Pidgeot," I fired back "Pidgeot, whirlwind!"
	"Why? he's only a bird, and he's weak against electricity!
	Pikachu, thundershock!"
	Pidgeot had spent the time me and Lark were arguing to creae a
	whirlwind, which now barreled into Pikachu, pulling the
	shrieking mouse into the air.  Pikachu tried a thundershock
	flying through the air, but ended up hitting James on the
	other side of the room.
	"Pikachu's pretty weak," I said, "he can't defeat my fully
	evolved Pidgeot!"
	"Oooh, Pikachu, fill the area with electricity, you can't miss
	that way!" she snapped.
	Pikachu finally hit the ground as Pidgeot let him down hard,
	skidding him across the floor.  Pikachu weakly stood up,
	glaring, then his electric sacs released their energy, and a
	maelstrom of electricity surrounded Pidgeot, zapping at my
	almost helpless bird.  Pidgeot used his superior speed,
	twisting and spinning through the air, and managed to only get
	hit four times, but he was weakened nonetheless.
	"Pidgeot, finish it with a Quick Attack!"
	"Dgeot!" Pidgeot twisted away from a hastily fired
	thundershock ,then screamed in at Pikachu, slamming into the
	tiny electric rodent and sending him spiraling into la-la
	land.
	"Oh no, Pikachu return, go Oddish!"
	I looked in shock as the tiny grass type appeared.  I heard
	Lark whisper 'oops' and slap herself on the forehead.
	"Oh well, Oddish, absorb!" Lark said half-heartedly.  That
	battle didn't last very long of course.  The tiny Oddish was
	beaten relentlessly by Pidgeot to the point of fainting before
	Lark recalled him.  "Go.... Flareon!" Lark cried, tossing
	Flareon's pokeball into the center of the match area.
	"Flareon!" Flareon barked as it crouched down to pounce.
	"Flareon, flamethrower!" Lark yelled quickly.
	"Pidgeot, go gettim with your sky attack!"
	Pidgeot twisted and twirled through the air, smashing into
	Flareon as the fire-type tried to hit the bird with its
	powerful flamethrower.  After several minutes of this, and
	shouts of encouragement from their trainers, both pokemon
	struck the final blow.  Pidgeot dove in for the last time, and
	Flareon expended the last of his fire in a huge blast.
	Pidgeot was hit by the flames and fainted, but not before
	making a suicide dive and knocking out Flareon as well.
	With a sigh and a head-shake, Lark and I both recalled out
	pokemon.  Just as we were about to send out our next fighters,
	a soft voice interrupted our heated battle.
	"You are quite good, boy," said a cool voice from the
	bleachers.
	I looked up.  A girl dressed in casual clothes, mainly a mix
	of green and black stood up and walked over to me.  As she
	neared, I noticed a Gym Leaders badge on her jacket.  She
	looked to be about 15 or 16 years old, and had six pokeballs
	clipped to her belt.
	"You're Erika, the Celadon gym leader, aren't you?" I asked,
	turning away from a fuming Lark.
	She nodded.
	I pulled a random pokeball from my belt and proudly held it
	high in the air.  "Then I, Jack Soniq hereby challenge you to
	a pokemon battle for the Celadon Rainbowbadge!"
	"As gym leader of the Celadon Gym, I accept your challenge,
	Soniq, but I warn you, you will not defeat me as easily as
	her," Erka said, motioning to Lark.
	"Why you little, I oughta-" I quickly pushed Lark out of the
	way before she could insult Erika.
	I stood across from her on the other side with legs spread
	apart, glaring defiantly.  Erika was annoyingly calm as she
	dusted off a pokeball, then put it down and released her first
	pokemon.  "This will be a four-pokemon battle, and I choose
	Ivysaur as my starter," Erika stated.
	'Plant - weak against everything but electric, water and
	ground,' I thought, 'so....' "Go Butterfree!"
	"Freee!"
	"Ivy, Ivysaur!"
	"Let's start this off with a Psybeam Butterfree!"
	"Ivysaur, Razor Leaf," Erika murmured.
	Ivysaur's bulb opened and a dozen sharp leaves cut through the
	air at Butterfree, battering him and causing great damage.
	"FREEEE!" Butterfree was furious, and showed it by releasing a
	positively stunning psybeam.  When the beam cleared, Ivysaur
	was wavering on its feet.
	"Ivysaur, Leech Seed," Erika said.
	"Saur!"
	I had been sure Ivysaur was beaten, but he suddenly stood up,
	and glared at Butterfree.  His bulb opened yet again, but this
	time a new package leapt out.  A deadly seed.  The leech seed
	wrapped around Butterfree with its quicky growing vines, and
	glowed, draining Butterfree of its energy.
I frowned and recalled Butterfree.  'Only a temporary setback.' I
thought, releasing Pidgeot.
	"Pidgeot, whirlwind!"
	"Ivysaur, prepare for solarbeam," Erika commanded with a
	little smile.
	Ivysaur was lifted up into the air, glowing, but he didn't
	seem to care.  Pidgeot sent the whirlwind attack, with Ivysaur
	in it, straight into the wall.  "Ivy.... saur!" Ivysaur
	grunted as it skillfully bounced off the wall, using its hind
	legs to propel it into the air, facing Pidgeot before it fell.
	Ivysaur glowed, then an orange beam slammed int Pidgeot, an
	instant KO.  I recalled Pidgeot, growing worried.  'Okay,
	still got two left, so....' "Go, Vileplume!"
	"Vileplume, Acid!"
	"Ivysaur, vine whip."
	Vileplume turned red as it built up its energy, then spat out
	a disgusting green blob of acid.  Ivysaur reeled, then wiped
	the burning substance off his skin hurriedly.  By then,
	Vileplume had hurled another blob of acid.  It kept coming.
	Ivysaur was lagging behind in wiping it off, and it soon
	became apparent that he was fighting a losing battle.
	"Ivysaur, return, go Gloom, use your solarbeam," Erika stated
	calmly.
	"Vileplume-" My jaw dropped in horror as Erika's Gloom
	instantly fired out a powerful solarbeam, having charged up
	for it in about five seconds!
	I stared as the beam continued, lighting up Vileplume,
	draining his energy and badly weakening him.  As soon as the
	beam faded to nothingness, I recalled Vileplume, before he
	even hit the floor.  "Go, Charcloy!" I yelled proudly, hurling
	out the.... POKEBALL?
	In utter horror, I watched Vaporeon materialize.  I was
	absolutely stunned.  I had thrown out the wrong pokeball! The
	battle was lost.  I didn't want to hurt Vaporeon, none of his
	attacks would damage that Gloom, which was very powerful to
	begin with.
	"I forfeit," I murmured, recalling Vaporeon and hanging my
	head low.
	"You train your pokemon with utmost care," Erika said in an
	awed voice. "No one has ever knocked out Ivysaur, and you
	obviously care for your pokemon, or you would have sent
	Vaporeon to his loss, for that I admire you."
	Outside the gym a few minutes later, I kicked a rock several
	doze feet furiously.  I had screwed up! Right when I had a
	chance of winning, I had lost.  In the words of some Civil War
	general, I had 'snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.'
	"It's okay," Lark said, holding my hand comfortingly.
	"Everyone makes a mistake, and you can challenge her again
	tomorrow!"
	"Yes, and besides, we should go catch some pokemon," James
	said excitedly.  "There are Growlithes and Vulpixes around
	Celadon City, don't you like fire pokemon?" James asked
	temptingly.
	I had to admit, the prospect of getting some new fire types
	was enticing.... And Growlithe and Vulpix evolved into the
	sleek and beautiful Arcanine and Ninetales....
	"There are also Mankeys, Bellsprouts and Meowths," the talking
	Meowth in our company said.
	"That's alot of new pokemon to capture, let's go guys," I
	said, cheering up instantly and rushing off to the side-exit
	to the east of Celadon.
	It took two hours, and it was nearing sunset by the time I did
	it, but I made a large haul that day.  I caught a Bellsprout,
	Mankey, and a Meowth, none of whom I could really use, so I
	let pokedex ship them off to Professor Oak.  But no Growlithes
	or Vulpixes did I see during those two hours.  Jessie and
	James were only interested in the Meowth, and that for teasing
	purposes, talking openly about how maybe they could replace
	Meowth with the new one.  After they teased Meowth to the
	point of insanity, he stole the new Meowth's pokeball from the
	two jokers and released it.
	I sighed and sat down beside Meowth on a boulder just as the
	sun was setting.
	"You're never gonna catch a Growlithe or Vulpix if ya sit
	around here all day," Meowth said, hopping off the boulder and
	parting some bushes.
	"I'm never going to catch one period," I said irritably.
	"Hey, Jaaaack!" Meowth hissed frantically, motioning for me to
	come over to the bushes.  I slowly stood up and walked over.
	"What?"
	"Look! There's a Growlithe and Vulpix!"
	"What?" I asked, quickly looking over.  Sure enough, a scrawny
	little Growlithe and a beautiful Vulpix sat in a small
	clearing, talking in their own languages.
	"The Vulpix is telling the Growlithe how much more beautiful
	she is than that 'scrawny growlithe.'"
	I watched as the Growlithe hung its head low and a tear
	escaped his eye.  "I'm gonna catch 'em," I said.
	"You'll never be able ta catch 'em both!" Meowth pointed out.
	"Well, that Growlithe looks weak enough, maybe I can just
	catch it with a Great Ball, and then battle the Vulpix!"
	Without waiting for Meowth's next excuse, I hurled a Great
	Ball without warning.  Without waiting to see if it caught
	Growlithe, I threw out another pokeball, releasing Vaporeon.
	"Vaporeon, Water Gun!" I yelled, leaping into the clearing
	after him.
	Vaporeon opened his mouth and throroughly sprayed the
	surprised Vulpix with a powerful blast of water.  When the
	attack ended, Vulpix was standing there, wet and loking like a
	drowned rat, very little damage actually done.
	"Vullll," Vulpix growled menacingly, and blew a wet strand of
	hair out if its eyes.  The Vulpix reared back, then the air
	around him exploded with raw flames, engulfing Vaporeon
	completely.
	"Holy cow!" I shouted as the flames nearly hit me.  That was
	one powerful Vulpix!
	Vaporeon groaned and staggered around weakly when Vulpix
	finally let down the fire blast.  "Okay, Vaporeon, bite it!"
	Vaporeon leapt forward and snapped his jaws around the little
	Vulpix painfully.  "Holy Cow," I said, this time more quietly.
	The Vulpix had fainted.  'This Vulpix must be strong against
	attacks such as water gun, flamethrower, but weak against
	physical contact attacks like tackle, bite and quick attack,
	interesting....'
	"Okay," I said with a smirk, tossing a Great Ball into the
	air, then catching it and hurling it.  "Great Ball, go!"
	Vulpix disappeared upon contact with the trapping device, and
	was free no more.
**********************************************************************
***********************



	Part 16.		I Add a New Fire Pokemon To My Team!




	Of course, there was the small problem of actually getting my
	two new fire-types from Professor Oak.  I was absolutely dying
	of excitement to get them, so I traded in my Abra and
	Butterfree for them.  Then I went to the Celadon Poke-mart to
	restock my dwindling supplies.  In addition to pokemon and
	trainer food, I bought potions, full-heals, and two thunder
	and fire stones.
	I also was generous that night and allowed our team to sleep
	in a hotel.  When we were in our hotel room, the day done, I
	collapsed on one of the four beds.  "This has been one LONG
	day," I said loudly.
	Jessie and James looked up from a game of Chess and shrugged.
	"At least I caught a Growlithe myself," Lark said with a grin.
	"You didn't catch him," I said with a scowl.  "He came to
	you."
	"Oh, you should try to talk to pokemon and give them a chance
	to JOIN you of their own free will, instead of forcing them to
	join you like a typical boy."
	"Hmm," I muttered, then unclipped Growlithe's pokeball from my
	belt and released the little guy.
	"Hi," I said with a cheerful smile, kneeling beside him.  The
	little guy looked up at me with sad eyes and said nothing.
	"What's wrong?" I persisted, opening Pokedex's translating
	program.
	"Groooowlll.... Ithe growl growl ithe ithe growlith
	growliiiiiithe...." He moaned.
	"Loneliness.  No one likes me, for I am ugly, and skinny.
	Vulpix strong, smart, beautiful, everyone want, but not
	growlithe."
	"Oh...."  I said, then brightened up.  "Well I want you!
	You'll be one of the team! You can learn fire attacks from
	Charcloy, and... Maybe, if you fight more, you'll grow
	stronger."
	Growlithe looked up sadly and shook his head.  "Here," I said,
	and handed him an opened can of Pokemon food.
	He instantly cheered up, wolfing down the food ravenously.
	"Well there's your problem, you don't eat very much, do you?"
	I opened up another can and replaced the quickly empty first.
	"Y' know what I'm gonna do tomorrow?" I asked in a tempting
	voice.
	Growlithe looked up curiously, his mouth still covered in
	pokemon food.  "Grrrrowl?"
	"I'm going to let you fight in a pokemon battle as my starting
	pokemon!  And if you win at least one fight, I'll evolve you
	into an Arcanine," I said, rubbing his head.
	"GROWL!" Growlithe howled and tackled me, licking my face and
	hopping up and down.  I wondered if he was happy about getting
	to evolve....
	I laughed and pushed him off.  "You'd better go finish your
	dinner, then I'll introduce you to your new companions."
	Growlithe nodded and wolfed down the rest of the can, then sat
	obediently, his tail thumping the floor excitedly.
	I let out Vaporeon, Pidgeot and Vileplume, and they surrounded
	the excited Growlithe, talking to him suspiciously.  Charcloy
	was too big for the hotel room, and I got the feeling that
	Growlithe would get depressed with Vulpix around.
	My Veteran fighters appeared to accept Growlithe as part of
	the clan and the small group talked over their adventures for
	an hour more, before I recalled them to their pokeballs and
	went to sleep.  Growlithe opted to sleep with me, curling up
	beside me like an old friend.

	The next day dawned dark and cloudy, just the way I liked it.
	The sky rumbled like my stomach before I had breakfast, then
	me and my friends, Jessie, James, Lark, Meowth and my new
	Growlithe hurried to Erika's gym before the rain began.
	Growlithe barked and shook his wet coat off, hitting me as I
	pulled my raincoat off in the lobby of Erika's gym.  "Thanks,"
	I said with a scowl.  The little fire-puppy grinned and hopped
	up and down, eager for battle.
	"So, you wish to challenge me again?" Erika's voice said to me
	from the open doors of a small side-gym.
	I turned and gave her a lopsided grin.  "Yep, and this time
	I'll win, 'cause I brought help." I patted Growlithe's head
	protectively, and he rubbed his nose against me.
	"You hope to defeat me with that.... Oh nevermind, I have
	battles scheduled all day, so if you wish to fight me for the
	Rainbowbadge, it'll have to be now and quickly."
	"Four pokemon battle, you will obtain the Rainbowbadge upon
	victory, and if you do, I will award you an additional prize,"
	Erika said calmly as she released her Ivysaur.
	"Right, then I choose Growlithe, go boy!" Growlithe barked
	enthusiastically and leapt forward, swinging his paws and
	throwing punches.  'The key to victory here is using
	overwhelming fire attacks.'
	The Ivysaur frowned, then shout out a single vine, knocking my
	cocky Growlithe down.  "Grrrowl!" Growlithe barked, leaping
	tot his feet as if nothing had happened.
	"Growlithe, Flamethrower!"
	"Ivysaur, Razor Leaf."
	Ivysaur was faster, better experienced, and sent out his
	deadly leaves as Growlithe was warming up.  "GRRRROWWWL!"
	Growlithe released a monstrous blast of flames, incinerating
	the oncoming leaves and roasting Ivysaur.
	Ivysaur groaned, looking very weak and prepared for his next
	attack.
	"Ivysaur, Sleep Powder."
	"Growlithe, quick, use Take Down!"
	Ivysaur's cheeks turned blue as it prepared to spit out its
	battle-ending powder.  Just then, Growlithe jumped forward,
	slamming into Ivysaur.  Growlithe lifted Ivysaur into the air,
	then slammed him to the floor with strength that one would not
	have guessed the little puppy had.
	Ivysaur, confused and at the point of uncosciousness, sprayed
	out his sleep powder, right on himself! Erika sighed and
	recalled her peacefully sleeping pokemon.  "Go, Victreebell,"
	Erika said, becoming serious.
	'Victreebell.... Powerful but slow, and rather stupid, at
	least from what I've seen of James's.'
	"Growlithe, Agility!"
	"Victreebell, Vine Whip!" Erika was beginning to get into the
	battle.
	Growlithe stood still for a moment, then, just as Victreebell
	began lashing out at him with vines, Growlithe burst forward.
	I watched proudly as Growlithe shot from side to side around
	the room, running circles around the vainly whipping
	Victreebell.  Victreebell slowed, then stopped his attack,
	looking confused as the red blue darted around him.
	"Growlithe, Take Down!"  Growlithe came to a sudden brake,
	paws screeeching on the floor as he turned.  Without losing
	his speed, Growlithe slammed into the Victreebell full-force.
	Victreebell floated in the air for a moment, and hit the
	floor, sliding to a stop.
	"Victreebell, up, use your wrap attack!" Erika cried.
	Victreebell struggled up, then feebly snapped out its vines,
	catching Growlithe, squeezing tiredly.  Growlithe sat there as
	the vines tried to constrict him.  The little puppy chuckled
	and rolled around at the weak attack, the vines only tickling
	him.
	"Okay, growlithe, ember attack!" I said with a smirk at Erika.
	Growlithe smiled and walked up to the Victreebell.  Poof.
	Growlithe spat a tiny puff of fire at Victreebell, then pushed
	the plant over.
	"Victreebell return, go Tangela!" Erika said, looking worried.
	"Growlithe, flamethrower!"
	"Tangela, slam, then constrict!"
	Growlithe hurled out a volley of flames at the charging
	Tangela, cocentrating the blast for several seconds before the
	Tangela hit.  Tangela slammed into Growlithe, and before
	either could move, Tangela's vines were wrapped tightly around
	Growlithe, squeezing painfully.
	"Ohh no!" I yelped.  "Growlithe, ember attack now!"
	Growlithe yelped pitifully, then his body glowed red, and I
	could only imagine what was going on under those dozens of
	Tangela vines.  The tangela began to whine and moan as its
	vines sizzled and crackled.   "Keep up the contriction,
	Tangela, you almost have him!" Erika shouted.
	Tangela couldn't handle it.  The mass of vines with two eyes
	toppled over, smoking and unconscious.  Growlithe staggered
	back, dazed and weak, breathing hard.
	"Tangela return," Erika said quietly, then looked up and threw
	her last pokeball, oozing confidence.  The familiar Gloom from
	the previous day appeared, hopping up and down, ready for
	battle.
	"Time!" I said, then walked outto Growlithe and knelt beside
	him.  The little guy waspanting for breath as he looked up at
	me and smiled weakly.  I rubbed his head reassuringly.  "Think
	you can continue this fight, or do you wanna give it a rest?
	Either way, you've proved yourself and I'll evolve you after
	the battle," I told him, petting his warm fur.
	Growlithe barked and rubbed against me, then jumped up and
	down, pumping his paws in the air with renewed confidence.
	"Ya wanna keep on going?" I asked him, a little surprised.
	"Grrrrowl!" He said and nodded.
	"Okay, then give it your best shot, and remember, no pressure,
	just return if you get hurt, don't push yourself too hard." I
	stepped out of the ring and called time in.
	Taking in a deep breath, I thought over the Gloom.  'This
	Gloom's powerful, maybe even resistant to its weakness.   But
	it's still slow, so I should use speed attacks, agaility, then
	take down repeatedly, and NOT GIVE IT TIME TO FIRE SOLARBEAM.'
	"Growlithe, begin agaility!" Growlithe barked and shot
	forward, leaping over the Gloom back and forth.
	"Gloom, use your Solarbeam!" Erika ordered sternly.
	"Gloom gloom!" Gloom squealed and glowed.
	"TEERCHIOOOOOSSCUUUUHH!" Gloom fired Solarbeam, but couldn't
	hit Growlithe.  The puppy ran in a straight line across the
	gym.  Gloom tracked Growlithe, relentlessly keeping up the
	yellow solarbeam.  At one point, the beam was only an inch
	away from Growlithe's back feet, but he chose that moment to
	attack upon my order.	"Growllll!" Growlithe roared mightily
	and slammed into Gloom, putting all of his 40 pounds behind
	the hit.  Gloom staggered, and his Solarbeam faded.
	"Gloom, Stun Spore!"
	"Growlithe, flamethrower!" Growlithe turned in his tracks and
	fired a highly skilled and accurate spiral of fire, vaporizing
	most of the orange dust, but still taking some of it.  "Now,
	givvit another Take Down!"
	Growlithe slammed into Gloom again, then picked up the
	squealing plant and bashed him, headfirst to the floor.  Gloom
	instantly recovered, then spat a glob of acid at Growlithe.  I
	turned cold as I saw Growlithe fall, his energy spent.  Gloom
	advanced slowly on the fallen Growlithe, preparing another
	solarbeam, glowing like a demon.
	"No!!! Growlithe, return!" As I held out the pokeball, three
	things happened at once.  Growlithe weakly rolled out of the
	way of my pokeball beam.  Gloom fired off his solarbeam.  The
	solarbeam missed, hitting a mirror across the room, then the
	golden light turned and hit Gloom, lighting up the plant with
	energy.
	"Oh my- Growlithe, try one more flaemthrower while it's weak!"
	I yelped.  Growlithe staggered to his feet, and blew his last
	breath of flames before collapsing again.  Gloom screamed as
	it was hit by Growlithe's flamethrower, and its own reflected
	solarbeam at the same time.  When the flames and energy
	cleared, Gloom wavered, then toppled beside Growlithe.

	To be Continued.  Please send feedback to
	brenndon_juster@hotmail.com