Two days later, Reshon, the other pokemon, and me are still stuck in Cer-ule-an. We haven't battle in over a week and it is starting to get to everyone as Blitz for the third time today threatens to break the egg and make the pokemon inside come out. We all just look at him like he's stupid and then continue what we were doing. No pokemon in their right mind would do such a thing, besides Solo was guarding the egg, and no one gets pass that Larvitar. That statement includes Reshon, whom gets little almost no chance to hold the egg, because Solo keeps saying that cold air, is bad for it.

"Oh well," I yawn as I curl into a ball on the bed and Reshon starts on her homework. When I asked her what she doing she just replied, "something that is not very fun, and that being a pokemon trainer doesn't exclude you from." She then reaches over and rub my back. I know I really should tell her that I'm not some stupid pet to be petted all the time, but the feeling of her fingers stratching those places that no matter how I twist I couldn't reach, made me bite my tongue. I just lay there and enjoy the motion of her hands and like always, just take it.

Suddenly Growlithe busts into the room, since we wasn't battling Reshon allows us to go anywhere in town we want, looking as if he had just return from a trip.

"Remember that Gymleader you was talking about," He pants to Reshon as she immediately got off the bed and kneel beside him," she is re-re-tiring today." Reshon then pulls back and an expression of desperation appears on her face as she got up and rushes toward the cabinet where the egg was kept. As always, Larvitar stands in her path with his arms outstretched in a form of protection, but this time Reshon pays no heed and simply sweeps him aside. She then opens the cabinet and touches the egg in hope of finding a weak point in the shell to signal it's soon hatching. There was none, so she shut the cabinet and sat down.

"She can't go," I replied sullenly as Growlithe looks at me with confusion in his eyes. "Reshon doesn't want to take the egg with her, but also doesn't want it to hatch here alone."

"So what's the problem," Growlithe turns and faces me. "Why don't she just leave Solo here to take care of the egg.

"Because that wouldn't be fair to Solo to have to be here alone with the egg, besides," I lower my voice to a near whisper," whether he'll admits it or not, he wants to battle as much if not more than any of us." "He has a lot to prove."

"GRRR, then that means that none of us can go and battle," Growlithe snarl.

"Not true," Solo responds surprising us. Solo wasn't the type to normally enter a conversation with anyone, but this time he made an exception. "That egg isn't hatching any faster here, and I'm beginning to think keeping it here is doing more harm than good."

Totally silence envelope the room, everyone turn and face him on the other side of the room close to the wall where Reshon had pushed him. "Some pokemon eggs need to be moved in order to hatch and it seems that this egg is one of them."

"Then that means," a smile begins to slowly spread on my face as Reshon grins," that we can go and fight that gymleader today!"

"If we must," Solo replies like he didn't even care and turns his face away from us as a symbol of such a feeling.

<Who do he think he is kidding> I think to myself as Reshon tells Growlithe to go get Venom, and meet her at the Cerulean City Gym.

---Reshon's POV--

It didn't take us long to get to the gym, the egg was in my bag with Solo whom insists on riding inside with it. Venom (Arbok) and Growlithe had met us there and of course I returned them to their pokeballs with Black Dratini and Blitz (jolteon), so now I stood before the secretary to the world's greatest gym leader.

"Do you wish to battle Ms. Sapphire," he asks as he glances at me for a moment and then continues to pack his things. As far as I knew, Sapphire was the only one with a secretary (because she is the only one to ever defeat the elite four), so her retiring meant that he would be jobless for a while.

"Excuse me," he replies a few minutes later when he didn't receive an answer.

"Oh, yes," I answer quickly. "I guess I blank out a couple of minutes ago."

"Well, I'm afraid you're too late," he continue without missing a beat," she has retired," but if you are able to get the badge from our new gymleader, Shelly, then you can battle her at Coral Cape." "Or at least I think that is the name of that area pass nugget bridge."

I was totally taken aback by what he said as I thought about the opportunity loss at fighting her at the gym, but it didn't last long as I thought about the fact that I still had hope to battle her.

"Fine, I'll battle Shelly for the Cascade badge."

"Good luck," the secretary winks as he points me in the direction of the arena. To be honest, I really didn't need his help. My friends and me had sneak into this place enough times for me to know my own way to the gym and exactly what to expect. It was on this day that I learn the first and greatest rule to gym battling. "Expect the unexpected."

I walk into a room covered in seashells from the ceiling to the floors, and my mouth drop. The last time I had been here the room was painted a lovely light blue with pictures of different water-type pokemon on them and the pool (the only thing to remain the same) in the middle. Now it was just a mess of shells, some which, when inspected more closely stood at least three inches from the wall and floor with jagged edges. This was not a safe place to battle.

"Hello," a voice called out before I had a chance to retreat from the place. "Do you wish to be the first to battle me," a tall young girl cries out from the back of a Lapras. I couldn't believe that I had allowed myself to be so caught up in the appearance of the room not to notice them.

"Hello," the voice yells again. "Don't be rude answer me, or you here to battle or not?"

I thought about saying no and just take a chance and challenge Sapphire anyway, but I knew that that would only lead to me having to come back here later (Sapphire is very big on doing things by the book), so I said yes.

"Good, this will be a best three out of five match," Shelly begin to explain the rules even as she ease a pokeball from her belt. She then headed her pokemon to the other side of the water and jumped off recalling it as she hit the ground. "Let's begin!" She then toss the ball into the air as it instantly opens up the minute it left her hand and the red light hit the water. It was at that moment that I realize that most of my pokemon had a trouble with water, and only Venom and Black Dratini would agree to get in the water.

"So I guess, " I spoke to no one in particular," I'll have to rely on my pokemon's want to win and hope that that will be enough to get by." I then sat my bag down, and called Solo out as my first fighter."

"Are you stupid," Shelly calls out to me with a smile on her face. Her pokemon, Seel, copies her exactly as it rolls unto its back and laugh.

"Don't listen to them, Solo, you got this match," I whisper to him.

"I agree with her, you are stupid." Solo glare back at me as I push him into the area's platform just above the water. "I'm an ground and rock type, in a water gym, fighting a water-type pokemon!" "Whatever the hell I did to you earlier, I apology, now recall me and choose another pokemon like Growlithe," he smirk at the idea of me call him out to get his butt kicked instead.

"Solo, you want to prove yourself as a great pokemon?" Solo simply nod. "Well here is your chance."

"Fine, but you owe me one," he grumbles as he turns his back to me and faces the pokemon playfully swimming along in the pool.

"Are you done talking to your pokemon," Shelly said with a bit of amusement in her voice.

"I'm done and Solo is ready," I answer back.

"Well in that case, Seel, make Solo say so--long." Seel immediately vanishes below the waves of the pool as Solo stood looking really annoy at the fact that she had just made fun of his name.

"Don't let her intimidate you, solo," I call out to him as I try to think of one of his attacks.

"INTIMADATE ME?" Solo sneers at those words. "I'll show you intimidation," he then jumps high into the air just as a blast of water sweeps the area where he had been standing from the water. Seel had just given away its position and Solo had ever plan of taking complete advantage of this moment as he descends toward the platform below.

As I watch what he was doing, it was almost poetic, as he twists himself in the air and lands on the ground perfectly balanced on one finger. This was his earthquake attack as the ground splits where his finger touches and the room start to rumble and shake. The water moves and splashes with the effect, and then as an extra display of his force three huge shells drops from the ceiling and hit the water with splash. It only took a couple of minutes for the unconscious form of Seel to make its way to the surface. I guess the shells had hit him on the head or something like that.

"Return," Shelly said a little disappointed. I kind of agreed with her as I call Solo back to the bag. It hadn't been much of a battle, and it had been fight and won without our involvement. We both hope that the next match wouldn't be a repeat of the first one as I call out Blitz and she call out Aqua, her Psyduck. With that combination, it wasn't meant to be. This match was over just like the first, only a few seconds after we released our pokemon. Blitz, happy about being in a battle had just thunderbolt the water and then ran around his platform shouting he wins as the Psyduck laid in the water unconscious and totally fried.

I believe that that was the last straw, as Shelly starts screaming bloody murder at the fact that I was beating her like she wasn't anything. I mean it was bad that I had just taken out her first pokemon with a pokemon that was suppose to be weaker, but then I just threw out my jolteon to just take out her psyduck like it wasn't even a challenge.

"I'm not going to lose again," Shelly shouts as she threw out not one, but two pokeballs.

"Hey, this is suppose to be a one on one match," I shout back as I recall Blitz, and sent out both Growlithe and Venom.

"I'm the gymleader here, so I can change the rules as I see fit," she shouts back at me.

It was then that I began to wonder what kind of test they gave these gymleaders, since such a liar and a shortsighted person such as Shelly had made it. "Growlithe, I want you to handle that Squirtle, while Venom takes to the water and handles that Horsea."

Both pokemon than nodded to each other as Squirtle hurls himself from the water with a classic skull bash attack, and Horsea spits out a gust of bubble. Neither pokemon had a chance as Growlithe falls unto his back as Squirtle passes above him, and gives the poor pokemon an extra push forward with his hind legs, causing Squirtle to fall out of the arena and be counted out. Meanwhile, Venom took the full force of the bubbles, but that wasn't enough to stop him as he spreads out his hood to its full extend and uses his glare attack. Horsea was instantly parazlyed and the rest was history as Venom swam out to him and wrapped his body around the helpless horsea. Shelly had no choice, but to recall him.

"It's over I win," I cheered as I recall my other two pokemon. I know it wasn't the battle I had hope for, but at least I had won.

"It's not over yet," Shelly was practically fuming from the mouth. "I have one more pokemon to challenge you with."

"But you said--," I began as she threw her final pokeball and pokemon at me like a baseball. I totally froze as the ball grew closer and closer to my face, and then at the last second, Solo, (whom must have gotten out of my bag sometime during the last match) jumps up and knock the ball away. It hit the water with a splash as it opens up and then returns from the water to her hand.

"Quagsire," a voice announces as a round head appears in the water.

"That is my fifth and final pokemon I will challenge you with, Aura," Shelly said with a bust of pride. She was my first and is my greatest pokemon, try to beat her if you can.

"If she is anything like your other pokemon she won't be a problem," I said with a edge of over-confidences as I grab my golden pokeball. "Black Dratini, let's show her true power." "I choose you," I then toss the pokeball into the water as it hits with a splash and then sink to the bottom.

"Sire?" the pokemon cocks it head to the side as if confuse as the pokeball lay there motionless. Suddenly it opens and the ball hurls itself back from the water and I catch it with one hand.

"Drat!" Black Dratini calls out as she emerges from under the water. It had been a long time since she had had a good swim, so she did a couple of quick laps before she turn to face Aura.

"Slam," Shelly mouths as Aura shots like a speeding bullet towards Black Dratini.

"Teleport," I shout as she disappears from in front of Aura and reappears behind her.

"Running isn't going to win this match for you," Shelly sneers as Quagsire quickly turns in the water and charges Black Dratini again.

"Teleport!"

"But, I want…" Black Dratini argues as she disappears and reappears again. It was obvious that like the others she wanted to show exactly how powerful she was, but now wasn't the time, as I watch Aura start to turn slower and slower each time Black Dratini disappears and reappears. Soon, it became painfully clear to Shelly as well that at this rate, her pokemon was going to be too tired to fight.

"Aura, stop using slam and lets try bubblebeam," Shelly halts Aura from her next attack, as the pokemon upon hearing the command takes a deep breath and then start to spit out a quick stream of bubbles that caught Black Dratini by surprise.

The power behind it was amazing as Black Dratini hits the side of the pool and sticks with the force of the bubble still being slam into her body. I know I had seen Blitz use it before, but it had never had enough power to slam a pokemon like that, and I knew that if I didn't think of something soon, this battle was going to be won in her favor.

"Drrrrr," Black Dratini cried out as the bubbles started to deflect from her body. I never realized that, until then, that the way I had trained them made my pokemon independent. They didn't need a trainer to think, to live, or even to fight, and I begin to wonder what good am I as Black Dratini begins to use her hyperbeam all on her own. Soon the bubbles that had once held her was being forced back to its master as Black Dratini put her full force into the beam and the tide turns.

Shelly's pokemon didn't have a chance and we both knew it, but yet she refused to recall her pokemon. Aura tried with all her might to stop the backward movement of her own bubbles and the forward motion of the beam, but soon she gave out to exhaustion from the previous attacks and was lost in the beam. When it all was over and the beam had died down, Aura hung behind Shelly. A shell protruded from her middle. It would seem that Black Dratini's beam had knocked her backward, clearing the water, and into one of the bigger and sharper back shells on the wall. It had been the same as spearing her in the back as the pokemon looked down at its own broken body and closed its eyes one last time.

"Aura, " Shelly then tried to recall the pokemon to no avail, and Black Dratini whom slither out of the water look upon the scene with pure horror in her eyes. It was her first and last kill. I didn't bother to think then, but reacted as I swept her into my arms and turn away from the scene. I didn't have to go check, we both knew that Aura was dead as she sob into my arms. Solo then walks up to me as I pass him without a word, and falls in step behind me silently. I knew what good I was then, and why even as independent as my pokemon were they still needed a trainer. It was the same reason why even when I'm full grown I will still need my mother. It was for the times of first blood, when something awful and new happens that could easily make or break a person or pokemon. It was for those times when you didn't have anyone to turn to, and I promise myself as we left the room and received our badge from the secretary to always be there for them. And I hoped they would do the same for me.