Chapter 5
	
	It had been at least a week since Joey, Patrick, Kyle, Monique, and I left 
my aunt’s house in Post Town. Now we were in Maroon City, a big bustling city. 
The first stop was the Poke’mon center, our faithful partners were completely 
worn out. Kyle and Monique went off to get dome pizza for our group. Joey was 
trying to lose this guy, who declared his love for her the minute we walked into 
the Center. Patrick and I were outside by a small river. We had given up trying 
to catch some water Poke’mon 30 minutes ago; after a terrible run in with a 
Gyrados on rampage. We had no idea what pissed it off in the first place, it was 
our luck for something like that to happen. 

	Out of breath, and almost out of hope, we laid there. My head was resting 
on Patrick’s chest, his arm delicately surrounded me. " Do you think there’s a 
gym in this town?" Patrick asked.
" Yeah..." I was wrapped up in timing the rise and fall of his chest.
He was quiet for a few more moments. " Do you want to um...challenge the gym 
together?" He asked hesitantly.
I made a sort of shrugging motion. " If you want to..."
He sighed. " What do you think of us?" 
" What do you mean?" 
" I mean like...what do you think of me as a boyfriend?" 
I considered this before answering. " I like you...a lot..." Not exactly the 
words I wanted to use.
He laughed. " You like me?" He asked mockingly, sitting up. 
" Yeah..." I was a little embarrassed by my response. I sat up too. 
He smiled at me. " Well, I worship the ground you walk on."
" Oh yeah?" I challenged, punching him softly. " Well then, I adore you." 
He stood up and so did I." If you adore me, then I....love you." He said, a 
sense of panic in his voice. Complete silence.
" I love you too." I whispered. He suddenly pulled me into his arms and kissed 
me.
He smiled. " We should go now..." I followed him back to the Center.

	When we got there, Nurse Joy gave us our Poke’mon back. " Hey, uh, Nurse 
Joy?" I asked.
" Yes?" 
" Do you know if there’s a gym in this city?" 
" Oh, yes!" 
" What can you tell us about it?" 
" I know little about it, but I’ll tell you what I can." She said happily. " The 
gum leader’s name is Kristyn Secrete. I know she trains the Eevee evulsions, and 
that she uses a Umbrion now and then." 
" Are we allowed to challenge the gym leaders to a Double Battle?" Patrick 
asked. 
Nurse Joy laughed. " Of course! All gyms do." She looked at me and Patrick. "Are 
you two a couple?"
" Yeah." Patrick said a little too proudly.
" That’s cute." She said. " How old are you?" 
" I’m 15." Said Patrick.
" I’m 14." I said. 
" Hey, Jimmy, Patrick!" Someone yelled. Patrick and I turned around. It was Kyle 
and Monique. They both had were holding hands, Kyle was carrying the pizza boxes 
with his right hand. " We’re back and we got the pizza!"
" Are they a couple too?" Asked Nurse Joy, as they came over. 
" Uh-huh. The girl’s the same age as me. The boy’s as old as Patrick." I said, 
nodding.
They reached us. " You guys ready to eat?" Kyle asked.
" Yeah!" I said, hoping they got pepperoni.

	A few minutes later, we got our Poke’mon back and were seated at a table 
happily eating. Much to my dismay, they got cheese instead of pepperoni. Joey 
managed to ditch the boy who’s ‘ love burns like a thousand suns.’ I ate my fill 
and watched the others. Patrick was in a heated argument with Kyle about... God 
knows what! They were yelling so loud, I couldn’t make out what they were 
saying. It was sort of gross, with food n’ spit was flying out of their mouths. 
I smirked, boys...
.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,

	I woke up the next morning feeling a little irritable. Patrick and Kyle 
left Monique, Joey and I behind to go somewhere. Joey suggested we go shopping 
for new cloths, I agreed, feeling that may be what I needed. And I was part 
right and part wrong. 

	We walked through the gigantic mall for at least 5 hours, when we finally 
reached the Trainer’s Hot Topic we has heard so much about. I groaned, why did 
the mall have to be so danged crowded? We walked in, and gasped. It was HUGE! 
Judging by the size it must have taken at least half the mall. I smiled, feeling 
better somewhat. We split up shortly after that, agreeing to go back to the 
Center later on. I walked around, looking for anything that had a hood attached 
to it. I looked at a few models, nothing really worth my money. 

	I stopped suddenly as my eyes were drawn to a complete set of cloths, that 
was fitted around a dummy. The pants were black and slightly baggy with red 
patches at the knees, the shirt was long-sleeved with red and black stripes, the 
vest was black with red around the hems and even included a hood. The 
accessories were a small black pouch that was supposed to go around your shin to 
hold your Dex and empty Poke’ balls. Small red gloves with black fishnets that 
barely covered your knuckles. A black studded belt and last, but not least, a 
black cadet hat with a skull patched onto the right hand side. 

	I smiled, it was exactly what I was looking for. A few minutes later I was  
out of the mall with the outfit, and running back to the Center. I reached the 
room we had been in the night before, ran in, then changed. I viewed myself in 
the mirror. I smiled, satisfied. Just then Patrick came in. He smiled when he 
saw me. " You look nice." He came over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. Before I 
could say anything, he continued, " I found out where the gym is, we should go 
there right away."
" Why?" I wasn’t expecting to go until tomorrow. 
" So we can leave this place and go on to the next city." He said, shrugging. 
" But I thought we were going to stay here for a few more days." I argued. 
" You know, there is a deadline. We have to get all the badges in at least 9 
months." 
" WHAT?!" I yelled. " That means we only have ‘til September!" 
He nodded. " Still wanna stay here a few days?"
" Let’s go now!" I made a run for the door. 
" Hang on, I have to change too, ya know." He said walking into the bathroom. 

	Pardon my pervyness, but by change, I thought he meant like his underwear 
or something. So, yeah, I was surprised when he came out wearing a different 
getup than what he was wearing before.

	He was wearing garments very similar to mine. Except the parts that were 
black were red, and the parts that were red were black. I frowned a little. "You 
stole my style!" I said. 
He came over and gave me a hug. " We a battle couple aren’t we? Should we not 
look similar?"
" I guess so. How’d you know what I got anyway?" I asked. 
" I saw you at the mall, after me and Kyle went to look for the gym." He said, 
breaking the hug. " C’mon, let’s get to the gym now." And with that, he pulled 
me out the door.

	We finally reached the Maroon City gym. To be honest, I was really 
nervous, I only had two Poke’mon. None of which I caught. Now that I think about 
it, I really wanted to catch my own. Anyway, we stood in front of the gym. It 
looked more like a workout gym than anything else. Patrick took my hand and we 
walked in together. A man, about 20 or so walked up. " Are you here to workout?" 
he asked. 
" No, we’re here to challenge the gym." Patrick said seriously.
" Hm. That’s new. Not a lot of people take Kristyn on in this town. You must be 
trainers."
" No duh." I blurted out. 
He laughed softly. " Come on, she should be on the court, right about now." 

	He lead us to another door on the other side of the lobby. He opened them, 
revealing an official sized basket ball court. Girls in basketball uniforms 
covered the court. They were in the middle of a game. Suddenly, a girl with 
black, shoulder length hair leapt up and shot the ball in the basket. The girls 
on her side cheered for her. " Kristyn, Kristyn!!!" She was obviously the gym 
leader.
A girl with pink hair exclaimed, " We’re gonna win the championships for sure!" 
Preppy...I hate preppy. Kristyn smiled modestly. 
" Excuse me, miss." The guy leading us coughed. 
She looked up. " What is it Shayne?"
He blushed a little. " These two are here......to challenge your gym..." His 
face turned several shades of pink. 
She smiled. " Are you two here to challenge me individually, or are you a-" 
" Battle couple, yeah." Patrick finished for her. 
" Alright. Let me change first." She ran off. 

	The girls cleared the court and sat down in the stands. The guy she called 
Shayne went over the wall and pushed a tiny green button. The court split in two 
and a battle arena rose out of the ground. Patrick and I took our places on the 
challengers platform. Patrick gave my hand a squeeze. " You nervous?" He asked. 
" Yeah." I said softly.
" I am too." He admitted. Just then Kristyn came out of the locker room. 
" Let’s get started." Kristyn took her place on the opposite side of the arena.
Shayne stepped forward. " The challengers will be allowed to two Poke’mon each. 
The gym leader, four. Understood?" We nodded as he took a step backwards. "Start 
whenever you’re ready." 
Kristyn held up two Poke’ balls and threw them onto the field. " Let’s go 
Umbrion, Espeon, you too."
" Kakashi, show ‘em what you’re made of!" I threw Kakashi’s Poke’ ball onto the 
field too. 
" You too, Cinder." Patrick released his Cyndaquil onto the field.
As the Poke’ ball returned to our hands, Kristyn let out the starting move. 
"Espeon, use Tackle on that Growlithe. Umbrion, Take Down that Cyndaquil!"
" Kakashi, do what we did to Billie, just wait there." I said. 
" You too Cinder." Patrick said. 

	Espeon and Umbrion came at us with great agility. When they were just 
about to reach us, Patrick and I shouted out our second commands in unison. "Use 
Flamethrower!" Kakashi and Cinder both let out flames at the same time, 
combining our attacks into one immense blaze. Espeon and Umbrion got a full on 
hit. 
" That’s okay." Said Kristyn. " Now that you’re close to them, both of you use 
Physic on that Growlithe." The eyes of both the cat-like Poke’mon began to glow 
and a wave of different colors shot out. 
" Kakashi, try to get away!" I cried out in desperation. 
" Too late." Kristyn said smugly. She was right, Kakashi barely let out a breath 
of air when the phsybeams hit him. He was suddenly lifted into the air. "Espeon, 
keep up the attack. Umbrion, hit it with Multiple Tackle." 
Patrick finally came to life. " Cinder, get in there and use Leer on Umbrion." 
Cinder jumped in front of Umbrion as it neared Kakashi, stopping the black and 
yellow cat Poke’mon in it’s tracks. Cinder’s eyes began to glow yellow, and 
Umbrion backed away, intimidated. " Now use Skull Bash!" Cinder rammed heads 
with the black cat, and Umbrion was left in a daze. 
" Espeon, help Umbrion. Use Poison Bite on Cinder." Kristyn commanded. Espeon 
let go and ran over to Cinder. Kristyn must have forgotten about me because I 
stopped her Espeon just before it reached Cinder.
" Kakashi, use Quick Attack and pin that purple cat down!" I yelled, angry 
because it rendered us helpless. Kakashi ran after that purple cat and pinned it 
to the ground. Kakashi let out a low growl, the psychic cat quivered slightly.
" Cinder," Patrick cried out. " Use Smokescreen." Cinder opened it’s mouth and 
heavy, black smoke filled the arena. Surprisingly, I could still see our 
Poke’mon, but by the looks of things, Kristyn and her Poke’mon couldn’t. 
" Alright, Kakashi use Blast Blaze on that kitten!" I called out. Growlithe let 
out a blast of flames on the cat he had pinned down. Espeon cried out in pure 
pain as the flames doused it’s body.
" Cinder," Patrick yelled seconds after me. " Help Kakashi and use Flamethrower 
on that feline too." Cinder jumped up and ran to Kakashi, flames bursting from 
it’s mouth.

	Espeon screamed. " Umbrion, help Espeon, and hurry." Came Kristyn’s voice 
from out of the thickness of the heavy smoke. I looked up to see Umbrion looking 
around wildly, trying to find it’s suffering partner. " Kakashi, that’s enough." 
I said loudly. " Attack Umbrion now. Use Flame Wheel when you get up close." I 
said. Umbrion was beginning to look scared now.
" Cinder, keep up the attack on Espeon." Patrick said. Kakashi let go of Espeon 
long enough for Cinder to take over. Espeon was now burned so badly, it couldn’t 
move fast enough to get away.  
" Umbrion, try to dodge it." Kristyn shouted, panic in her voice. Pitifully 
Umbrion couldn’t see Kakashi charging at it. Kakashi seemed to pop out of 
nowhere and let out the largest explosion of flames I’ve ever seen it let loose. 
Umbrion didn’t stand a chance. 

	The smoke cleared away and the scene wasn’t really what you’d expect. 
Cinder was still letting lose a thrash of flames on Espeon. Umbrion was trying 
it’s best to get out of the flames produced by Kakashi. Kakashi wasn’t letting 
it go anywhere. I looked up to see Kristyn taking in the sight before her. She 
bit her lip, maybe she was confused. " Kakashi, wrap this up with Sacred Fire!" 
I commanded, sending my sympathy to Umbrion. 
" Umbrion-" Was all Kristyn choked out. Kakashi let out and even bigger blast of 
almost eternal fire. Umbrion’s cry of pain was similar to that of Espeon’s, it 
was as though Umbrion was holding back something. 

	Finally, both catlike Poke’mon were both unconscious on the field. 
"Umbreon and Espeon are unable to battle. Challengers Jimmy Rose and Patrick red 
win the first round." Shayne stepped in. Kristyn held up two Poke’ balls and 
called them back. In a flash of red light, both of them returned to their ball. 
She frowned deeply. She flung the balls to one of the girls in the stands. 
" Take them to the Center, now." She said. A girl with dark brown hair jumped up 
and caught them. She ran out of the room, obeying the wish of the leader. " Time 
to get down to business." She tossed to more Poke’ balls onto the field. Two 
more catlike Poke’mon appeared.

	The first on that appeared had smooth turquoise skin, fin-like ears on the 
sides and a fin on top of it’s head, a web-like collar around it’s neck, a long 
mermaid-like tail backed with ridges, and fins on its head and the end of its 
tail. A Vaporeon. 

	The other Poke’mon that appeared was had red-orange fur on its furry head, 
rabbit like ears that stood up, torso and legs. Large tufts of wavy, cream 
colored hair was found between its ears, around it’s neck and full took over 
it’s soft, bushy tail. A Flareon. 

	Patrick and I reached onto our belts and took out a Poke’ ball each. 
Throwing them onto the battle field, I called, " Show ‘em what you’re made of 
Haushinka!" 
" Bubbles, you too." Patrick called forth his Squirtle.
" This should be interesting." Kristyn said. " Vaporeon, Flareon, these two 
crushed your sisters. Umbreon and Espeon. Will our great gym take that?" The 
water and fire Poke’mon barked out in anger. " Didn’t think so." Vaporeon’s fins 
and tail shot up in anger. Flareon’s fur began to stand up on end. Making them 
both look intimidating. Haushinka looked a little nervous.
" Don’t let them intimidate you with those cheap tricks, Haushinka." I gave it a 
reassuring smile. 
" Bubbles, same goes to you." Patrick called out. " You’ll do fine, like our  
first battle." The small, blue turtle gave Patrick a thumbs up.
Shayne stepped up. " Let the second round begin!" 
" Haushinka, use Double Team!" I shouted. Haushinka ran in circles, leaving 
shadow clones of herself. Soon, a few dozen covered the field, not even I could 
tell which one was the real Haushinka." 
" Flareon, sniff out the real one. Vaporeon, use Water Gun on the real one when 
Flareon finds it." Kristyn commanded.
" Oh no, you don’t." Patrick stepped in. " Bubbles, use Hydro Pump on Flareon." 

	Bubbles leapt behind Flareon and blasted it with gallons of water. Flareon 
barely cried out. ‘ It must be at a very high level to withstand that kind of 
attack.’ I thought. " Haushinka, move around so they won’t find you." I said. 
Haushinka and her clones moved around rapidly. 
" Bubbles, keep using Hydro Pump on Flareon." Patrick said. 
" Vaporeon, get in there and help Flareon out." Kristyn spoke up. " Use Skull 
Bash on that tiny turtle." 
" Haushinka, keep up Double Team and stop Vaporeon with Confuse Ray!" I said. 
Haushinka leapt out of the clones and stopped on front of the running Vaporeon,  
her eyes glowing with a white light. As Vaporeon stared into Haushinka’s eyes, 
it’s own eyes began to glaze over. " Right, now hid back in with your clones 
Haushinka!" I shouted.
" Vaporeon, don’t let it get away, use Water Gun on that fox." Kristyn 
commanded. Vaporeon suddenly began to bite itself. " Vaporeon, what the heck are 
you doing?!" Kristyn shouted as Haushinka hid itself back among it’s clones. 
" Bubbles, use Ice Beam on Flareon’s feet. Freeze it to the ground." Patrick 
called out to Bubbles. Bubbles switched from a water attack to an ice attack. In 
no time, Flareon’s feet were frozen to the ground. Flareon tried desperately to 
move, but couldn’t. 
" Haushinka, use Confuse Ray on Flareon." Haushinka’s clones disappeared as it 
ran at Flareon 
" Flareon, use Flamethrower to free yourself." Kristyn shouted. 

	Luckily, Haushinka got to Flareon before it was fully liberated. Flareon’s 
eyes glazed over just like Vaporeon’s." Haushinka, free it with Flare." I said. 
Haushinka let out a small stream of flames, freeing Flareon. Patrick looked at 
me, clearly puzzled. I held his hand in mine to let him know I knew what I was 
doing. " Flareon!" I called out. "Listen to me." It looked at me. " That girl 
over there isn’t your real trainer, I am! Obey me!" I said, looking into it’s 
eyes. The confused fire Poke’mon nodded at me. 
" Flareon, don’t listen to her!" Kristyn shouted. 
" Flareon, Haushinka, attack Vaporeon with a team Flamethrower!" I cried. Both 
fire Poke’mon leapt forward and began to douse Vaporeon with gigantic flames. 
Haushinka attacked from the front and Flareon from the back. Vaporeon screeched 
in pain.
" Bubbles, get behind Flareon and create a hole on the ground with Earthquake!" 
Patrick shouted. Bubbles jumped into action, it slammed the ground with it’s 
fist, creating a hole the size of an Olympic swimming pool. " Great, now fill it 
with water, using Hydro pump." Tons of water shot out of Bubble’s mouth and the 
hole was full in no time. 
Suddenly, the glassy look form Vaporeon was gone, it shook it’s head and looked 
over at Kristyn. Kristyn smiled. " Vaporeon, fight back those flames with your 
Hydro Pump." Vaporeon snapped into action, blasting Haushinka with water. 
Haushinka didn’t cry out at all, which made me kind proud. 
" Haushinka, ignore that water cat and push Flareon into that pool." 
" Vaporeon, get in front of that pool and use Surf!" Vaporeon jumped in front of 
Haushinka, the pool’s water rose up and came crashing down on my fox Poke’mon. 
" Bubbles," Patrick jumped in. " Push Flareon in the pool, NOW!" Patrick said, 
just as the look in Flareon’s eye changed. Bubbles wasted no time in pushing the 
bushy ball of fur into the pool of water. 

	Three things happened at once. 
1) Flareon fainted due to the water surrounding it.
2) Haushinka fainted due to Vaporeon’s efforts to stop it. 
3) Bubbles began to glow with a white light. 

	Kristyn, Patrick, and I stood there stunned. The tiny turtle Poke’mon no 
longer stood there after the light had faded away. Instead another Poke’mon took 
the place of Bubbles. It was indigo colored, with a brown shell and unusual 
long, furry tail and ears. A Wartortle, the evolved form of a Squirtle. Shayne 
was the first to speak up after two minutes. " The gym leader and challenger’s 
Poke’mon have both fainted. Recall your Poke’mon and switch out. With the 
exception of the gym leader, who has one Poke’mon left on the battle field." 
" Haushinka, you did better than I expected." I said holding out one of my  
Poke’ balls. " Return." 
" You did even better Flareon. Come back." Kristyn praised. Both our Poke’mon 
disappeared in a red flash of light and returned to their Poke’ balls.
I put Haushinka’s Poke’ ball back on my belt and took out Kakashi’s Poke’ ball 
once again. " Here we go again Kakashi, show ‘em what you made of!" I yelled, 
still refusing to give up. Kakashi appeared in no time, ready to give us it’s 
all. 
" Vaporeon, jump into the water." Kristyn shouted, Vaporeon immediately 
disappeared into the water. I couldn’t see it at all. 
" Bubbles, jump into the water too." Patrick commanded. Wartortle jumped into 
the water after Vaporeon. 
" Vaporeon, attack it with Tail Slap!" Kristyn called to the invisible cat-fish 
Poke’mon. 

	Vaporeon and Wartortle suddenly appeared. Wartortle was blasted out of the 
water by Vaporeon’s tail. Wartortle didn’t get back up as expected. " Wartortle 
is unable to battle." Shayne called. Patrick scowled as he held out Bubble’s 
Poke' ball. Bubble’s disappeared from the field, and into it’s Poke’ ball. 
" It’s all up to you." Patrick said. I glared at him. " No pressure. If we lose, 
we can always come back."
I turned and faced the scene before me. " We’re not gonna lose." I said through 
clenched teeth.

To Be Continued........