Chapter 10 "Sir, our two guard Pokémon have fainted…and one was captured," a man said to the head of Team Magma.
Overheat
"What kind of gym is this?" Julia asked.
"A Fire gym, I believe," Andrew replied.
"Well, I don't have a problem with that," Julia remarked, "but don't you need a Pokémon or two that can fight against Fire-type Pokémon?"
Andrew thought. His sister has been right before. "I suppose." They walked out of Lavaridge and a little further south, to Route 111 and the Desert. "We should be able to find some Ground Pokémon here, right?"
Julia shrugged. They trudged through the sand and the sandstorm.
While Andrew was searching for a Ground Pokémon, Julia went off to look for any other Pokémon she could find. She came across a small cavern, however, and beckoned Andrew to come inside.
"I wonder," she started, "what is in here."
"I don't know," Andrew responded. "But I suppose we could find out."
They walked into the dark and dingy cave, but found that all it lead to was a dead end. However, the dead end wasn't made out of rock…
"It's metal…" Julia wondered. "Why would a metal…wall, I guess…be built here?"
"Maybe it's a secret base of some sort," Andrew speculated.
As they turned around to leave, they heard an odd noise. The two of them turned around to see what it was, and found two even stranger Pokémon-Solrock and Lunatone.
"What-what are these guys?" Andrew exclaimed. He pulled out his Pokédex and pointed it at the two Pokémon.
"Solrock," the Pokédex identified it. "A Psychic-and-Rock Pokémon. This Pokémon uses the power of the Sun for its attacks. It is generally found near Meteor Falls in Hoenn, and Mt. Moon in Kanto. It is because of this that there is speculation that this Pokémon came from Outer Space." It paused, beeped again, and then rambled on about Lunatone. "Lunatone is Solrock's counterpart. While Solrock uses the Sun's power, Lunatone uses the Moon's. It is also found near Mt. Moon and Meteor Falls, and is believed to originate in Space."
"Interesting," Andrew said. He pulled out a Pokéball, and tossed it. "Corphish, go!"
"Andrew, no!" Julia shouted. "Remember, he uses the Sun's power. He can use moves like Solar Beam, I would guess. Use…well…"
"I can't think of anyone better, except Mightyena. But I'm not going to use my best Pokémon first." Julia agreed. "Corphish, Water Gun!" Corphish fired a stream of Water at Solrock, doing a high amount of damage.
Julia sent out Marshtomp and told her to use Mud Shot. Lunatone took severe damage, but came back with Psywave. "Don't knock it out," Julia whispered to Marshtomp. Marshtomp nodded and fired some bubbles at Lunatone, bringing it to the brink of death. Julia then threw a Great Ball at it, capturing the Pokémon. "Yes!" Julia exclaimed. She put it on her belt and recalled her Marshtomp.
Meanwhile, Andrew was battling the much harder Solrock. He had, as Julia said, knocked out Corphish with Solar Beam, but not before Corphish had already done a tremendous amount of damage to Solrock. Andrew sent out Mightyena, and told him to use Faint Attack. Solrock fainted.
"I didn't catch it," Andrew said, "but I least I got him back for beating my Corphish."
* * *
"Hmm…have the intruders gotten any farther?" Maxie asked.
"No, sir. They turned around and left."
"Good. Replace the lost Pokémon with…a Golbat or something."
"Sir? There is one other thing…"
"What is it?"
"The two people…"
"Yes?" Maxie asked.
"They were Andrew and Julia Anderson," the man replied.
Maxie's eyes widened, but he regained form. "Ah, well, at least they left…you are dismissed." As the Magma grunt left, Maxie thought, It's a good thing they left…
Andrew and Julia left the cavern and went back out into the Desert. It wasn't long before Andrew found another Pokémon: a small brownish-orange Pokémon with large jaws..
"Let's see what this little guy is…" said Andrew, whipping out his Pokédex again. The Pokédex classified it as Trapinch, a Ground-type Pokémon that evolves twice, into a Dragon Pokémon. "I love Dragons, so I guess I'll catch it," Andrew commented. He summoned Grovyle to attack-with Leaf Blade. Not knowing his Pokémon's strength, he nearly knocked out Trapinch. "That was close…but now, you're mine!" Andrew threw Steven's Great Ball at the small Pokémon, also catching it.
Andrew and Julia left the Desert with their new Pokémon, and went back to Lavaridge. They entered the gym, and fought their way to the Gym Leader, Flannery.
"Are you to here to challenge me?" she asked.
"Yeah, we are," Andrew replied. "And I'll go first."
"Very well. But it will be a two-on-two, since I only have four Pokémon." She sent out a Slugma. Andrew sent out Corphish. "Slugma, Smog!" A gaseous cloud struck Corphish, doing minor damage.
"Corphish, Bubblebeam attack, now!" Andrew commanded. Bubbles were shot at Slugma, but the lava slug came back with Rock Throw. Corphish slashed at Slugma with Vicegrip, at Andrew's command.
"Slugma, another Rock Throw!" Flannery yelled. As rocks fell on Corphish, he fired Water Gun at Slugma. Slugma fainted, and Corphish lived on. Flannery recalled her Pokémon. "Torkoal, go! Stomp!" Torkoal stomped down on Corphish, knocking him out.
It's up to my new Trapinch…but can I really win with only him? He sent out Trapinch. "It's up to you, buddy," he said. "Dig!" Trapinch burrowed her way underground, dodging Torkoal's Fire Spin. Trapinch unearthed itself, striking Torkoal in its belly.
"Torkoal, get this game over with! Overheat!" Flannery called. Flames shot out in every direction, doing an incredible amount of damage to Trapinch. However, she lived. "No way!"
"Yeah!" Andrew shouted. He knew his Trapinch wouldn't go down so easily. "Now, Mud Shot!" Trapinch fired a mud current at Torkoal, but Torkoal returned fire, literally, with another Overheat. However, since the first one exhausted Torkoal, this one didn't do even half as much. "It looks like you've burned out," Andrew remarked.
"No, it can't be! Overheat again!" This time, it was but a small ember the licked Trapinch. Flannery stood, wide-eyed. She couldn't believe that her Pokémon was this weak, now.
"Finish it, Trapinch, with Sand Tomb!" Walls of sand crashed down on Torkoal, knocking him out. Andrew had won the Heat Badge.
Now it was Julia's turn.
"Go, Lunatone!" Julia said, throwing out her Pokémon. Flannery sent out Growlithe. "Lunatone, Rock Slide!" Rocks repeatedly hit Flannery's Growlithe.
"Growlithe, Crunch!" Julia was taken aback. She didn't realize that such a small Pokémon could use such powerful attacks.
"Uh…Lunatone, another Rock Slide!" Boulders crashed down on Growlithe again, but it still didn't knock it out. Growlithe finished off Lunatone with Crunch. Wow…I thought that Lunatone was a lot more powerful than this… she thought. "Come back, Lunatone. Marshtomp, come out and use Muddy Water!"
Andrew watched as a tidal wave of dirt and water rushed over Flannery's Pokémon. When did he learn that? Andrew wondered. Growlithe was instantly knocked out.
"That's a powerful move," Flannery said. "But can it prevail over Flareon? Go!" Flannery sent out her final Pokémon, and told it to use Take Down. Marshtomp hopped up, and then used Muddy Water again. However, Flareon wasn't so easily defeated. "I guess not…heh…Flareon, Body Slam!" Flareon slammed itself on top of Marshtomp, paralyzing it. Julia knew that if Marshtomp couldn't get up and attack, quick, Flareon was going to win.
"Marshtomp, Bubblebeam!" Julia instructed. Marshtomp couldn't move.
Flareon slammed itself on Marshtomp again, nearly killing the Pokémon. Marshtomp looked up as Flareon dashed towards her again. Marshtomp opened her mouth as Flareon leapt into the air. Flareon began its decent, and Marshtomp fired Mud Shot, flinging Flareon away. Flareon hit the wall opposite Marshtomp, and fainted.
Julia breathed a sigh of relief. "Good," she murmured, "it's over." Flannery handed her the Heat Badge, and Julia and her brother left Lavaridge's Gym.
"Where to now?" Julia asked.
"Back to Petalburg," Andrew said. "For a long-awaited rematch."