"Mickey Meets Her Match"
(Note: This story takes place several weeks before the "Hot Matches" episode of "The Johto Journeys")
It was a beautiful, sunny day in Crimson Town as I sat behind my desk in my office at Crimson Gym, with my feet propped up on the desk, reading the latest issue of "Pokemon Times". Flamefox slept, curled up, on the desk, and Firestorm slept on the floor nearby. It had been a quiet day - a little too quiet! I hadn't had a single challenger all day! I put down my magazine, and decided to take a little walk. "Come on, Flamefox and Firestorm!" I said to my fire foxes, and they got up and followed me outside. We walked to the Pokemon Center, and I heard Nurse Joy's familiar voice say, "Good afternoon, Joe, Flamefox, and Firestorm!" I replied, "Hi, Nurse Joy!" She asked, "So what brings you here?" I answered, "Boredom! I haven't had a challenger all day! Has it been that slow here, too?" She replied, "Actually, no! I've been pretty busy! And I think it may be related to why things are so slow for you! I keep getting junior trainers with fire Pokemon that are badly beaten up! In fact..." Before she could continue, a boy burst through the door, carrying his Charmander. "Nurse Joy, you've got to help him! We took on this really strong trainer and her Pokemon gave my Charmander a real beating!" Just then, 2 more junior trainers ran in, a boy with a Flareon and a girl with a Growlithe. They said, "Nurse Joy, our fire Pokemon were beaten up bad! Please help them!" I looked at Flamefox and Firestorm, then looked back at the kids. I asked them, "Were all of you defeated by the same trainer?" The first boy that arrived answered, "I was on my way to challenge the Crimson Town Gym leader, when this girl named Mickey challenged me! She insisted on battling a fire type, and she was tough!" The other boy and girl said, "Yeah, she said her name was Mickey! Now we can't challenge the Crimson Town Gym leader, either!" I was a little steamed - whoever this Mickey was, she was taking business away from my gym! I then told the kids, "Well, I'm the Crimson Town Gym leader, Joe! If you tell me where I can find this Mickey, there's free ice cream for all of you!" They all got excited, and the girl answered, "She's just outside of town! She's been challenging every trainer that comes through with a fire Pokemon, insisting that they battle! She's obsessed with battling fire types!" I was quite angry that this girl was defeating my potential challengers before they could reach me. I decided to take matters into my own hands and nip this thing in the bud! I was going to search her out and find out just how tough she really was!
After Nurse Joy had treated all the kids' Pokemon, she advised all of them to let their Pokemon rest for a day or 2 before battling them again. Flamefox, Firestorm, and I walked the kids over to the gym, and around the back to the breeding center and Pokemon sanctuary, where May was. She asked, "Well, who do we have here?" I said, "These junior trainers were all defeated by some girl who's harassing every trainer that enters town. I promised them all ice cream if they told me where I could find her, and now, I'm going to look for her and put her in her place!" May said, "Well, good luck, Joe! Give her hell!" The kids all snickered at that remark, and May said, "You kids didn't hear me say that, okay? Now come on - let's get you all some ice cream!" At that, I said, "Come on, Flamefox and Firestorm! We have some competition to pummel!"
We headed for the outskirts of town, near the Brushfire Woods. I saw a person standing up ahead, overlooking the view of the vast forest, and I said, "Nice view, isn't it?" The person turned around, and she was an older girl, with blue hair and a pink helmet. I said, "I'm looking for a Pokemon trainer named Mickey! I don't suppose you've seen her." Her eyes lit up as she eyed my Vulpix and Ninetales and exclaimed, "I'm Mickey! I'd love to battle your Vulpix or Ninetales! I'm trying to only battle trainers with fire types!" I said, "So you're the one who's sending junior trainers into town with badly beaten fire Pokemon!" She said, "That's right! Care to try your luck?" I replied, "I would LOVE to battle you!" She said, "All right!" and took out her pokeball. "Go, Skarmory!" she shouted, releasing the steel bird from his pokeball. I laughingly asked, "A Skarmory?!? That's what you've been using? It's either a very strong Skarmory, or every junior trainer in Johto has VERY weak fire Pokemon!" She said, "I'm trying to get Skarmory to overcome his weakness to fire types!" I replied, "Well, you've got your work cut out for you! Skarmory's a steel type, which is extremely weak to fire!" She said, "Well, I've been undefeated here all day!" I replied, "That's because you havn't battled me yet! Flamefox, let's get this over with!" He answered, "Vulpix!" as he took a battle-ready stance. Then I ordered, "Flamefox, use flamethrower!" He launched his stream of flames from his mouth at the airborne Skarmory. Mickey yelled, "Use agility, Skarmory, and dodge those flames!" He did so, avoiding Flamefox's attack! Then she shouted, "Use steel wing!" Skarmory flew down towards Flamefox and I shouted, "Flamefox, watch out! Use YOUR agility!" He ran back and forth in a blur, but her Skarmory was fast and the steel wing hit Flamefox! He was knocked over, but rolled and stood back up! Skarmory circled around for another attack. "Hit him with another steel wing, Skarmory!" she shouted. I commanded, "Flamefox, use confuse ray!" My Vulpix's eyes grew black and the confuse ray, emenating from his eyes, hit Skarmory! Skarmory crashed to the ground and started flapping around aimlessly! "Skarmory!" Mickey shouted. I yelled, "Very good, Flamefox! Now finish it with fire spin!" Flamefox's entire body glowed, and now his eyes glowed bright white as he released the tornado of flames from his mouth! The flames wrapped around the confused Skarmory! Once they dispersed, he fell over on his back, defeated! Mickey shouted, "No! Skarmory, return!" and recalled him to his pokeball. "Good job, Flamefox!" I said, and my Vulpix leapt into my arms. Mickey said, "Wow, you're the strongest trainer I've battled so far!" I said, "Well, I hate to tell you this, but I'm not a trainer! I'm Joe, the Crimson Town Gym leader!" She nearly choked as she asked, "You're a gym leader?" I said, "That's right, sugar, and if you think you're ready to battle that Skarmory in a real gym battle, think again! You've got a long way to go!" She asked, "So why did you come looking for me?" I answered, "Well, you ARE a strong trainer, and your Skarmory was kicking the butts of all those junior trainers' fire Pokemon! But the thing is, they're all coming to Crimson Town to challenge me, and you're taking business away from me. I know you want to train your Skarmory to be stronger, but could you please do it elsewhere?" She answered, "I'm sorry. I wasn't aware that I was being such a nuicance! As soon as I bring Skarmory to a Pokemon center, I'll head back closer to home and challenge the trainers who pass near my house." I said, "That's okay. Now come on. I'll walk you to the Crimson Town Pokemon Center."
When we arrived, May was there, with Amber, talking to Nurse Joy, and I introduced everyone. "This is Mickey, the girl who's been challenging all the trainers with fire Pokemon to battle her Skarmory." Nurse Joy said, "Well, you sure are a strong trainer - all those junior trainers' fire Pokemon were pretty badly beaten!" Mickey said, "Despite all that, Joe has shown me that I still have a long way to go before I'm ready for a real gym battle!" She put Skarmory's pokeball down on the counter, and Nurse Joy took him into treatment. May said, "Well, don't worry! I'm sure you'll get Skarmory strong enough for gym battles if you keep pummelling junior trainers the way you are." Mickey said, "Thanks!" I then said, "And when you're ready, I'm open to a re-match!" After a while, Nurse Joy came out with Skarmory's pokeball and said, "He should be as good as new in a few days. Until then, you'd better let him rest." Mickey replied, "Thanks" and took the pokeball. She then said to me, "Well, thank you for the experience! I'll be sure to train Skarmory even harder in the weeks ahead!" May and I both said, "Good luck!" as she left the Pokemon center. May said, "I really can't believe her Skarmory beat all those fire types!" I said, "Well, they were all junior trainers! There's no way that Skarmory could beat a gym leader's fire Pokemon, though! Not without a LOT more experience! But I feel sorry for any junior trainers with fire Pokemon that cross her path!" With that, May and I, along with our fire foxes, walked back to our gym/breeding center. With Mickey no longer challenging all the trainers, I finally got my first few challengers of the day!
