Chapter 8
Winstrate House: Double-Trouble


They came to a large house with a sign in front.  It read, "Winstrate House.  See how you match up against the four family members of the Winstrate Family."
"Sounds like a challenge to me," Andrew remarked.  He and Julia walked up to the house and knocked on the door.
"Hello?" a man answered.
"We're here to accept the 'Winstrate Challenge' or whatever," said Andrew.
"Ah, well…hm…there are two of you.  In this case, we better do it a different way.  Honey, could you come out here?" the man called.  His wife stepped outside with him.  "All right.  We're going to fight in a double-battle."
"A-a double-battle?" Julia inquired.
"You don't know how this works?"
"I'm afraid not," Julia replied.
"Well," the man started, "basically, each of you will send out one Pokémon.  You must work together in order to defeat the two Pokémon we use."
Work…together? Andrew thought.  He detested the thought.
"Sounds like fun," said Julia.
"Yeah…sure…" Andrew commented.
"All right, my Pokémon is Kadabra!" the man shouted.  He tossed out a capture ball, unleashing the Psychic Pokémon.
"And I'll use Ninjask!" said his wife.
"Go Skitty!" Julia said, throwing out a Great Ball.
"Corphish, go!  Fury Cutter on Kadabra!" Andrew commanded.
"Skitty, Tackle Ninjask!" Julia yelled.  The small kitten rammed into floating bug, Ninjask, while Andrew's Water Pokémon sliced away at Kadabra.
The tag-team opponents told their  Pokémon to use Psybeam (on Skitty) and Night Shade (on Corphish).  The attacks did mediocre damage, but allowed Andrew and Julia's Pokémon to retaliate with another assaults.
Julia commanded her Pokémon to use Bite on Kadabra, while Andrew's Pokémon used Water Gun on Ninjask.  Kadabra fainted, while Ninjask dodged the blow.
"Ninjask, Leech Life on Corphish!" the wife said.  Corphish suffered a little, but came back with Vice Grip.  While Ninjask was held down, Skitty delivered the final blow-Quick Attack.
"Hm.  Pretty good.  Now, battle the other two members of our family…ma!  Susie, get out here!"  And old lady and a little girl came out.
"Well…what do we have here?" the old lady cackled.
"Two losers!" the girl shouted.  Julia held Andrew back from punching her.
"Nevertheless, let them send out Pokémon…" the old woman requested.
"Fine by me!" Andrew shouted, sending out Treecko.  Julia used Marshtomp.
"Magmar, go!" the elderly woman said.  The small girl sent out Machoke.
"For being so small," Andrew said to Julia, "she has a really powerful Pokémon."  He turned back to the bout.  "Treecko, Bullet Seed Machoke!"
"And Marshtomp, use Mud Shot on Magmar!"  Mud was fired at Magmar, temporarily blinding the Fire Pokémon.  In Treecko's battle, seeds repeatedly struck Machoke.
Machoke walked over to Treecko, picked him up, and tossed him aside.  However, as Treecko was flying through the air, vines latched on to Machoke, taking him with the Grass Pokémon.  When Treecko landed, he released the vines, making Machoke fly backwards, crash into the house, and get knocked out.
Before Marshtomp could attack Magmar again, the Fire Pokémon use a series of Fire Punches on Treecko, nearly knocking him out.  Suddenly, as Magmar went back to punch Treecko for the final time, Treecko caught his hand, and then flashed white.  In an instant, Treecko transformed into his evolved form, Grovyle.  He had grown leaves on his arms and head, and had grown taller.
"Wha-what!?  Treecko, you have finally evolved!" Andrew exclaimed.  Grovyle nodded.  Andrew pulled out his Pokédex, and identified his new Pokémon as Grovyle.  "Okay, Grovyle…Double-Team, and then Pursuit!"  Grovyle created illusions of itself, getting away from Magmar's grasp.  He then rammed into Magmar, knocking him down.  Marshtomp came up behind Magmar and used Bubblebeam, making Magmar faint.
Andrew and Julia had defeated the Winstrates.
"So, do we get a prize or something?" Andrew asked the father.
"Well…no.  But this is a great place to hone your skills.  If you can beat the four of us-especially in a 2-on-2 battle, you're pretty well off," the man replied.
Andrew and Julia moved on, up through Route 111, and into a desert.
"A desert?" Julia questioned.
"Pretty cool," said Andrew.
"Is there any way around it?" Julia asked.
"Nope," Andrew replied.  "But once we get through the desert, we can go north to Fallarbor, or west to Lavaridge."
"Andrew, I don't think we can get through.  The sandstorm is too rough."
Andrew agreed.  With a sigh, he responded, "Well, we can try to go back to Mauville, then west to Veranturf.  There's a tunnel that goes back to Rustboro, where we can go north, through Meteor Falls, and then east to Fallarbor.  Lavaridge is just south of Fallarbor."
"Wow," Julia said.  "That's a little lengthy."
"It's our only choice," Andrew concluded.  They turned back to take the long road to Fallarbor.