"Of First Pokémon, Crushes, and Gym Badges"
"Cobalt, wake up!"
A large splash of water from Lapras later, and Cobalt was up and fuming. Mauve had somehow gotten into his room and was sitting back comfortably in the desk chair despite the fact that she didn't have a key,
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?! AND HOW DID YOU GET INTO MY ROOM?!"
"Chūsei let me in, he's a really smart Pokémon. And you wouldn't wake up to let me in! I want to hurry up and get going!"
"There's this idea called patience! You might want to consider trying it!"
"Are you done?"
Cobalt settled,
"*Sigh* Yes. I'll be down in a minute, just let me shower-"
"Okay, Lapras!"
"IN A REGULAR SHOWER THANK YOU VERY MUCH!"
A quick shower later, Cobalt and Chūsei were walking out of the Pokémon Center doors.
"Finally! Let's get this show on the road!" Mauve cheered as she started walking with Cobalt back onto the dirt path.
"Someone's sure in a good mood today."
"And there's a good reason for that,"
Mauve dug into her bag and pulled out a handful-five to be precise-Pokéballs,
"I'm gonna catch my first Pokémon today! And you're going to help me!"
"Okay, what type of Pokémon did you have in mind?"
Mauve drew a blank expression,
"Uh...I don't know yet..."
"Alright, let me help and this will be much easier. Pokémon Trainers are only allowed six Pokémon with them at a time. There're eighteen types of Pokémon known so far, and it's important to think strategy wise. You already have Lapras who's a Water and Ice-type who can also learn a few Psychic-type moves. That's already three out of eighteen, which helps narrow things down a bit."
Mauve still didn't seem to change faces,
"I'm not trying to sound dumb or anything, but...could you make it sound easier for me, please?"
"I can try. Basically all you have to do is find Pokémon who can learn a bunch of different moves, and are pretty powerful. But is there any Pokémon who you REALLY want?"
"Well," Mauve said digging a copy of "Taiyō no Shima's Pokémon and Where To Find Them!"
Cobalt had a copy of this book himself, but lost it a couple of years ago. He didn't really need it for anything but his black book entrys which next to his writings contained his sketch of the Pokémon. "Taiyō no Shima's Pokémon and Where To Find Them!" didn't really give much knowledge about the Pokémon; just a large picture that took up most of the eight-by-eleven-inch page with a small map of the islands where the Pokémon could be located.
The islands had different types of terrains and climates to them, much like the different regions. Hajimari, for example, was an island of flat level plains and farmland with the occasional hill and flakes of thin forest. Finding a Pokémon here wouldn't exactly be the hardest depending on what you were looking for.
Mauve continued to flip through the different pages until she stopped at page thirty-six and handed the book to Cobalt,
"I want this one."
He was hoping that page thirty-six would show a Pokémon that was a little more impressive than a Dedenne.
He gave her a non-amused look,
"Really? That's what you're going for?"
"Well, why not? Dedenne are SO cute! Plus their the only Electric and Fairy-types available! That's talking strategy like you said, right?"
"*Sigh* Alright, I will see what we can do."
Cobalt pulled out his black book once again and found the seven hundred and second entry,
"Dedenne: The Antenna Pokémon. An Electric and Fairy-type. Using its tail to absorb electrical power from either homes or power plants, it attacks by firing the energy it has collected through its whiskers. Their whiskers also allow them to communicate with others by sending and recieving radio waves from far and near distances."
"See how useful it will be?" Mauve grinned.
"Maybe from your point of view, but I still think you should catch yourself a Shinx or something. Maybe even a Pikachu for Arceus' sake."
"You're just not seeing it the way I am! Dedenne's an Electric and Fairy-type, whereas Pokémon like Shinx and Pikachu are both pure Electric-types. Being a dual type Pokémon gives Dedenne more of a move diversity, isn't that what you told me to look for in the first place? And even if I did want a Pikachu, I couldn't help but feel as though I'd be copying off of Red."
"Who?"
Mauve looked taken aback,
"Red? As in the reigning Champion of the Pokémon League in Kanto? Famed Pokédex Holder?"
"Never heard of him."
"But, he's a hero! Do you have any idea how many times he and his friends have saved the world?"
"Look, I don't know who any of those people are. Back to the subject, other Pokémon like Magnemite and Chinchou are dual Electric-types, and they evolve into more powerful Pokémon. Why can't you just go look for one of them?"
"Because! Dedenne's WAY cuter than those other ones you just listed off. And I just think those Pokémon are...weird."
"You do also realize that Dedenne being part Fairy-type gives it a weakness to Poison-types, right-?"
"QUIT QUESTIONING MY CHOICES AND HELP ME FIND IT!"
The two searched high and low, near and far but to no avail. They found Doduos, Pidgeys, Sentrets, Rattatas, Zigzagoons, and the occasional Bug-type such as Sewaddle, Spewa, or Caterpie. But no Dedenne.
Mauve rushed and thoroughly searched the bushes at the edge of the woods. She looked as if she was about to cry,
"It has to be here somewhere! Ugh, why can't I find it?!"
"Don't you mean why can't we find it? I'm looking too you know."
Mauve slowly looked over her shoulder at Cobalt with an expression saying that she didn't need his smartass attitude at the moment.
"Nevermind..."
"Hey, wait a minute! Why don't you have Chūsei try and sniff one out?"
"Huh, I never thought of that. Good idea!"
Cobalt took out Chūsei's Pokéball and clicked the center button, releasing the small puppy Pokémon.
"Alright buddy, I need you to go find this Pokémon for Mauve." He said, showing Chūsei a picture of Dedenne, "Don't hurt it, just lead us to one of them."
Chūsei barked, understanding his orders and vanished into the tall grassy fields.
It was beginning to take longer than expected. After a while, Cobalt had to join Mauve again to search. He wasn't worried about Chūsei though, he'd be back before nightfall and never stray too far from his owner.
Mauve had finally given up,
"I guess we'll have to look for something else in the morning. They must not be on this island."
Cobalt felt bad for Mauve, seeing her so sad over a Pokémon he didn't even think was very powerful.
"Well," she said, "better set up camp."
Cobalt however, didn't like the way this sounded,
"Whoa, hang on a minute. I never agreed to camping out. I assumed that we would be staying a Pokémon Center each night. I'm NOT the camping type."
"Well, you're going to have to be. The nearest Pokémon Center is nearly three miles away from here, and I'm not walking all the way back through the dead of night just so you can get your beauty sleep! And the good news is, I bought an extra sleeping bag for you anyway. Now help me set up the tent."
Cobalt unwillingly agreed to helping her, seeing is how he didn't have much of a choice,
"This is going to be cruel and unusual punishment."
After setting up the large blue tent at the edge of the forest where they had searched, Mauve threw her things in on one side of the divided tent before Cobalt placed his items neatly in the other.
He had taken the liberty of starting a fire. He and Mauve sat on a large fallen log, waiting for Chūsei to return,
"Good thing there's a divider in the tent." He said.
"Yeah, I wouldn't want you seeing anything you shouldn't."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You know what I'm talking about."
"And just what makes you think that I'm that type of guy?"
"Please, you boys are all alike. Halting at the first sight of-"
"Hey, I'll have you know that I'm the type of person who has more respect for himself than that. Besides, I have my eyes set on others anyway."
Cobalt REALLY shouldn't have said that.
Mauve hopped over closer to Cobalt's side with widened eyes. Apparently this was a more important topic than thinking that Cobalt was perverted,
"Oh yeah? What's her name?" she asked.
Cobalt started to redden in embarrassment,
"No one in particular. It's none of your business."
"Ohoho, but I want it to be my business! Come on, who's the lucky lady?"
"...Erika-"
"Hold on, do you mean the Celadon City Gym Leader, Erika?!"
"Yeah, she's pretty. Why?"
"HAHAHAHAHA! OH MY ARCEUS THAT IS ADORABLE!"
"Keep your voice down! And why is it so funny?!" Cobalt whispered, not wanting to attract any unneeded wild Pokémon who were probably asleep in the trees above.
"I'm sorry it's just-I mean, don't you find it funny how you like Fire-types and she specializes in Grass-types? It's just so cute!"
"Yeah I guess if you're looking at it that way, but her and I have a lot in common. We both study Pokémon, and the best part is that she gives lectures at Celadon U! That's why I'm heading there instead of some small, two-bit technical school for study. Like the one in Sandgem."
"Anyone else?"
"Well, Erika isn't my only option. I really like the Lavaridge Gym Leader-"
Mauve had once again laughed,
"Flannery? Okay, even you must think that that's cute besides me."
"You say that about everything."
"Touché."
"I'm glad you think that my interests are amusing. Be sure I laugh at you the next time I overhear you talking about all the boys you're in love with."
A howling noise echoed through the air; a very familiar howl to Cobalt,
"Chūsei's found one. Sounds like he's close."
Instead of leading the two to what they were looking for, the Growlithe had made it back before Mauve could get her bag and was sitting in front of the tent with the small orange rodent Pokémon at his side.
Mauve took the small puppy in her arms and nearly squeezed the life out of him,
"Aw Chūsei, I love you!"
He made a painful whining noise to show that he agreed before being set back onto the ground.
Mauve then set her sights on the task at hand: catching Dedenne.
"Alright, Dedenne! You're mine!" Mauve proclaimed, but before she could throw the ball,
"STOP!"
Mauve turned to Cobalt who had stopped her for some unknown reason,
"What? I'm kinda in the middle of something here!"
"Aren't you forgetting something?"
Mauve slapped her forehead for forgetting something as obvious as that.
She took out Lapras' Pokéball and released the large blue creature in front of Dedenne, acknowledging that the battle had begun.
"Alright, Lapras, use Water Gun!"
Lapras doused Dedenne who was blasted back quite a couple feet from the sheer force.
Dedenne retaliated with Thunder Shock which actually seemed to faze Lapras for a moment.
"Hm. If it already knows Thunder Shock, then it must be at about level seven or just a bit higher. It doesn't look that strong." Cobalt observed.
Dedenne must have heard this and turned to Cobalt with an angry expression and tried to zap him with another Thunder Shock.
"Gah! See, I told you not to get this one!"
"Lapras, use Water Pulse!"
The ring of water hit Dedenne which also knocked it back. It then started to walk around randomly and had a strange expression on its face; its eyes didn't look the same as before. Dedenne was confused.
"Huh? Dedenne, what's wrong?"
"Water Pulse has a twenty percent or so chance of confusing the target. This may actually help you catch it. I think now would be the best time, because it's not looking too good."
Cobalt was right; Dedenne kept running into a nearby tree as if it wasn't even there.
"Okay! Dedenne's mine!"
The red-and-white sphere hurtled at the confused Pokémon; vanishing into a blue light. It shook once and was caught.
"Yes! I finally have a Dedenne!"
"Good job."
After celebrating with a round of smores, Mauve and Cobalt went into the tent to get some rest.
Healing Dedenne immediately after the battle, Mauve had it out to sleep with like a stuff animal. Unlike Cobalt, Mauve seemed to adore Dedenne.
Just as Cobalt was about to fall asleep however, he saw a light on in Mauve's side.
"There, you like it?" Mauve said, probably to Dedenne.
"Hey, is something wrong?" he asked without moving.
"No, why? You're still up?"
"Yeah, I saw the light and I thought something was up."
"Huh? Oh no, it's nothing. I'm just working on something."
Cobalt sat up,
"Can I see?"
"Promise not to laugh?"
"Yes, even though you do it to me constantly."
"This's different."
"Fine. Are you...decent?"
"Yes."
Cobalt unzipped the divider and saw that Mauve had a paint set out with the light to help her paint...her Pokéballs?
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing, this is just a hobby of mine."
"What are you painting them for? Won't that block their vision of the world outside?"
"No, this is a very special type of paint. It's thick enough so the color is thick from a distance, but they can still see the outside."
"Oh. That's really cool! How are you painting them? Do you have a specific style?"
She tossed one up in the air for Danny to catch a blue-and-lighter-blue Pokéball; Lapras could be seen inside. The detailing of the paint was just perfect. Only the red top and the white bottom had been painted over. The black lining and the central button had been perfectly spared.
"This is really good? What's with the color code though?"
"Okay, the top is painted over depending on the first type the Pokémon is. If it's one type, I color the top and leave the bottom one white as it is. But since Lapras is a Water and Ice-type...do you get it now?"
"Yeah, I do. That's actually really cool."
"Thanks."
"Alright, see you in the morning then."
Cobalt zipped the divider back down, and laid back in his sleeping bag with Chūsei once again sleeping at the end like he always would. Sleep would have came easier to the two if Mauve would stop baby-talking Dedenne for the next hour. It was going to be a long night the way it sounded.
Mauve couldn't have Lapras pour water on him again, no, Dedenne just had to wake up Cobalt with an electric shock,
"AH! WHAT THE HELL?!"
Dedenne simply laughed at Cobalt, who then tried grabbing the electric rodent,
"I'M GONNA TEAR THOSE WHISKERS OFF A YOU ONE BY-!"
"ENOUGH!"
Mauve landed a hard blow on Cobalt's head before he could react, making him fall to the ground in pain.
"Ow..."
"Don't you dare touch Dedenne!"
"Well, if you didn't hear me before, that little shi-"
"Eh, eh, eh!"
"Pest, nearly shocked me to death! Why couldn't you catch something else besides that stupid little rat?!"
"Because, look at him!"
Mauve held Dedenne out in front of Cobalt, which was making faces at him,
"He's like a little baby! He needs all the love he can get!"
"What I can give him instead is a power chord to shove up his-"
"COBALT!"
"Oh please, he's an Electric-type! It's not like he would care!"
Back onto the dirt road, with Chūsei and Dedenne out, Cobalt and Mauve had made it to the main city on Hajimari; Tumblegrass Town.
"This place isn't very big."
"It's not supposed to, Hajimari one of the smallest islands in the Taiyō no Shima. Not a lot of space to build cities or much else."
"What does that even mean anyway?"
"It means, "island of the Sun". Cool name for it, right?"
"I guess."
A crowd of people were gathered around a small TV shop, all staring through the glass window, sometimes going, "Oh!" "Whoa!" "Aiya!"
Mauve had wandered over without Cobalt's knowledge; he caught up with her after realizing a few minutes after that she had gone.
"What's the big attraction?" Mauve asked trying to break through the crowd.
A little boy about the age of ten looked toward Mauve from the left side of the crowd,
"Don't you know a Gym battle when you see one? Especially one from Hadley?"
Mauve jumped for joy when she heard the words "Gym battle".
"Where's this Hadley's Gym? Does anyone know?"
"It should be right down the road," Cobalt said looking at the map, "The Tumblegrass Gym. Leader, Hadley, "The Farmin' Tamer of Wild Plant Pokémon!" It says."
They started down the road again.
"Hmm, a Grass-type Gym Leader..." Mauve said, gathering her thoughts.
"I don't like your odds."
"What, why? You said Lapras was pretty powerful for its age! And I'm sure Dedenne-"
"That's not what I meant, Mauve." Cobalt said stopping and turning to her side, "You need to think strategy if you want to beat the Gym Leaders. Your Pokémon don't match up at all with a Grass-type, and even then, who knows what kind he's got."
"You could've been more supportive..." Mauve pouted.
"Look, I'm just trying to keep you from making a complete fool out of yourself."
"Well then what do I do?"
"This is the easy part; all you have to do is find a Pokémon around here that can beat a Grass-type. That's,"
Cobalt scrambled to get his black book which was held in the side pocket of his backpack. He opened it and flipped the pages until he reached the last few pages, and put on his reading glasses,
"'Swear I should've had this memorized by now-anyway, the types of Pokémon that can beat a Grass-type are: Bug, Poison, Flying, Ice, and my personal favorite, Fire. That's five different weaknesses, and I'm pretty sure that we can find some of those types around here if we look."
This seemed to cheer Mauve up immediately,
"Then let's go and catch us a...Flying type!"
Cobalt was confused,
"What was with the-"
"I had to think of the type I wanted, silly!"
"Well sometimes it's not always getting Pokémon that you want, often times it's Pokémon that you need."
"Unless I find the right Pokémon!" Mauve said running back into the woods at the edge of town.
"I swear, Chūsei, that girl just never stops trying to prove me wrong."
"Okay, there's a variety of Flying-types that often flock from other regions, mainly Kalos, to here."
Cobalt was struggling to keep up with Mauve, as she seemed to glide on the forest floor,
"I know there's a few Spearows, Pidgeys, Starlys, and Fletchlings on the island. There's also some Doduos if you want to catch something a bit more native since they can't exactly fly."
Mauve had suddenly stopped, making Cobalt nearly run into her back, but there was in fact a good reason as to why she stopped,
"Absolutely." she said with desire, "Dedenne, use Thunder Shock!"
Mauve released Dedenne and the battle was on. It began with a Wing Attack from the opposer which did only minimal damage. The small rodent had nearly took-out the Pokémon, and even paralyzed it. One Pokéball made it a successful capture.
Even Cobalt was glad to see Mauve had caught a Pokémon that would serve more useful than Lapras or Dedenne.
"Mauve," he said, still standing behind her as she cheered about her new Pokémon, "I think you're ready."
The Tumblegrass Gym wasn't exactly much, but it was...unique...
The "road" that was supposed to lead Mauve and Cobalt to the Gym was in actuality, a long dirt path that went straight to a large farming refinery.
"Uh...where's the Gym?" Mauve asked.
"I guess we could ask one of the workers." Cobalt suggested.
It just so happened that a pair of them were coming to the entrance on an orange and black golf cart. The workers stopped seeing is how they were blocked by the two teens,
"Is there something we can help you two with?" the one on the driver's side called over the roar of the engine before he switched it off.
"Hey, we're looking for the Gym. We were told that it was supposed to be here, and we may have went the wrong way."
"Oh, is that all." the other on the passenger's side laughed. He grabbed a walkie-talkie and spoke into it,
"Hey Boss, we got a couple out here who're lookin' for some action! What do ya say ta that?"
"...Huh? Oh, right! Let 'em in, let 'em in!"
"You two may wanna sit on back," the left one said patting the back of the golf cart.
Mauve and Cobalt proceeded to sit together in back with Mauve on the left and Cobalt in right.
"This can't seriously be the Gym, can it?" Cobalt asked.
"You may be surprised how different Gyms can be. The one in Celadon was a flower shop, so this is no different." Mauve pointed out.
"Sure hope not, or you're in trouble."
"Must you always get the last word?"
After a long ride down the road, the two were dropped off at an open, vine-covered gate which led to a space lined with concrete walls (which were also vine-covered) and a variety of crops such as wheat and corn. Smaller plants such as beans, tomatoes, etc. were alligned in small rectangular planting pots. And at the end of the space came what appeared to be an entire building made of straw.
The only trouble was,
"Which one do we take?"
It had three different openings. Three paths that could have led Mauve anywhere.
"Pick one at random." Cobalt said.
Mauve did a quick game of "Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe" and sure enough picked the one in the center.
She crawled through the tunnel which led to a wooden ladder after a few feet.
Climbing up, she entered a space which appeared to be the inside of a barn. She must have been on the second level, and a boy, probably around the age of thirteen wearing blue shorts, a white T-shirt, and a blue cap spun the other way around, playing a game on his phone at the end of the room,
"Ahem?" Mauve called.
The other Trainer looked up,
"Oh! Sorry, you're the first person here today, wasn't expecting anyone."
"It's okay. Can we battle now?"
"Sure!"
The young boy sent out a Bellsprout as Mauve released her new Pokémon. Having a type advantage and with greater speed, the battle was over shortly.
"Wow! You're really good!"
Mauve giggled,
"Thanks, can I have my Badge now?"
"Uh...I'm not the Gym Leader, I'm just a Trainer. You went down the wrong tunnel."
Mauve had fallen over in embarrassment.
"At least you know he's not in here, just go back down and go in another tunnel. One of them's bound to lead you to him!"
So Mauve did just that, and went into the tunnel on the right, which also lead her to another Trainer with a Sunkern and a Oddish. All that was left was the centeral tunnel, which after the battle between her new Pokémon and a Exeggcute and a Hoppip.
"If he wasn't the Gym Leader, then who is it?!"
"You obviously finished all of the tunnels. Hadley must not be in any of them." Cobalt said.
"Ugh! Where is he?!"
While Mauve was stressing out over not finding Hadley, Cobalt noticed something odd; something that had caught his eye,
"Hey, Mauve. Are you positive that you checked ALL of the tunnels?"
"Yes! Why would I lie about that?!"
"Because I'm saying that you missed one."
"Wha-?"
Cobalt led her to the right tunnel and stuck his hand through the straw; the other side was hollow. He and Mauve dug their way through to find the center and largest part of the barn: the battle field.
They heard movement coming from the second floor, and soon the first Trainer Mauve faced, Roy, was looking down at the pair,
"Hey, you made it! Garrett, she made it through!"
"Oh, finally!" Garrett, the blonde-haired tall guy with a face full of freckles, said coming to look from the left side of the third floor,
"Yo, Darcy! She made it to Hadley's!"
"Oh, really? Cool! Be over in a second!" a voice from the floor above Roy's spoke.
"I see someone finally showed up!" a new voice said.
Cobalt and Muave both looked to the south end of the barn to see a new person had appeared.
He had looked a bit older than Cobalt, probably around nineteen. He had near shoulder length shaggy dark brown hair, brown eyes, lean, and like Garrett, had a noticeably freckled face. He wore a pair of blue jean overalls over a grey T-shirt and also a pair of brown leather boots. He looked over and saw Cobalt and lit up,
"Cobe?"
Cobalt finally caught on and recognized his nickname,
"Wait, Hadely? You're the Gym Leader?!"
They both walked up,
"Man are you sure a sight for sore eyes! What've you been up to?" Hadely asked.
"Oh you know, taking care of Mom and Chūsei. I've also been out helping Mauve over here with her journey. She's the one looking for a Gym battle and doesn't have any other Badges, so you probably should go easy on her."
"Oh wow, Cobe! Nice to see ya pitch in like that! And no offense but if I do say so myself, she is definately quite a looker!"
"Wait, what?"
Hadely nudged Cobalt's shoulder.
"Dude, she's not my girlfriend!"
"Uh, can someone please explain to me what's going on here?" Mauve asked running up to the two.
"Oh my lands, I do apologize ma'am, just havin' ourselves a little family reunion here is all!" Hadely laughed.
"Huh?"
"We're cousins." Cobalt stated.
"Wow, really?"
"Well technically I am from his mama's side if you wanna be technical like that, but yep! We're cousins alright! Dad owns the company you saw outside, and he let me run the Gym after it was closed down!"
"That's awesome."
"Sure is! So, Cobe, you think I should take her on?"
Cobalt looked at Hadely for a minute,
"You're talking about a battle, right?"
"Yeah, what'd you think-ohoho you thought I was-and she-nevermind that. Okay, honey, I'll only be using two Pokémon. You can switch out with whoever you like since you're a beginner. You ready?"
"Ready!"
The two stood at each end of the battlefield, waiting to see who would go first.
"Alright then, I choose you, Sunshine!"
Hadely had unleashed a Sunflora, while Mauve was still deciding.
"Alright, I'm counting on you! Go, Taills!"
Mauve threw the Pokéball into the air, releasing the Taillow she had caught in the forest.
"A Taillow, huh? Haven't seen one a them around here. Okay, Sunshine, use Growth!"
The Sunflora's Attack and Special Attack were raised.
"Wing Attack!"
Sunny was battered horribly by Taillow harshly brushing the Sun Pokémon.
"Absorb!"
A green energy flooded out of Taillow and was sent into Sunflora, who recovered slightly from Wing Attack.
"Peck!"
Pecking Sunflora seemed to lower it back down to it's earlier state.
"Ah, we're just gonna run into the same situation! Use, Flower Shield!"
"Uh..." Mauve looked confused.
"Jus' so you know, darlin', Flower Shield raises the Defense of the other Pokémon in my team."
"Oh. One more Wing Attack, Taills!"
One last hit, and Sunflora had gone down.
"Nice job there, honey."
"Thank you." Mauve giggled. Hadely was such a flirt.
"Alright, come one out, Rosy!"
Out of the next Pokéball came a Roselia.
"We still got this, Taills!"
"Hm. Use, Toxic."
A purple liquid was sprayed all over Taillow, badly poisoning it.
"Peck!"
Taills' attack hit, but Rosy was a bit stronger than Sunshine.
"Mega Drain."
The Taillow's health was once again sucked out. It fell to the ground.
"Taills!"
"You still got one more at least, right?"
Mauve returned Taills to it's white-and-light blue Pokéball, and took out,
"Oh no." Cobalt complained as she released Dedenne.
"You better hope this little fella's got it in 'im! Use Toxic Spikes!"
Purple spikes were tossed onto Dedenne's side of the battefield.
"Mauve! You can't switch Dedenne out now! Your other Pokémon will be poisoned just like Taills!" Cobalt called out from the stands.
"Alright! Dedenne, use Thunder Shock!"
Zapping Rosy didn't do much damage, though it did seem to paralyze it,
"Oh, nice one! Alright, Rosy, use Poison Sting!"
Poison darts went shooting out of the bulbs where Rosy's hands should have been, and only one of them hit Dedenne directly in the back. It had the same look as Taills now.
"Your little Dedenne's poisoned, may wanna do somethin' about it."
Mauve became frustrated; all of her Pokémon were now going to be either fainted or poisoned. This didn't look good. Until there came a miracle.
Dedenne jumped up, and began tunneling underground,
"Huh?!" Hadely cried.
"What's that?!" Mauve asked.
Cobalt was amazed,
"It's Dig!"
Dedenne erupted from the ground underneath Rosy, launching her into the air.
"Come on Rosy, you can still make it! Use, Mega Drain again!"
"Oh no you don't! Dedenne, try using Dig and Thunder Shock while you're underground!"
Dedenne went back into the Earth, with small signs of static running towards the still-paralyzed Roselia, until the little mouse shot up once again and defeated Rosy. Mauve had won.
"We did it! Good job, Dedenn-OH MY ARCEUS, DEDENNE!"
Dedenne had finally succumed to the poison and had fainted.
Mauve rushed to retrieve her Pokémon, craddling it in her arms,
"Aw, you poor thing. You really must have had a hard time with that poison."
Hadely returned Rosy and walked up to Mauve,
"Honey, you did a good job here today. I think you may want this."
Hadely took a small object out of his pocket,
"This is the Wheat Badge. It'll let your Pokémon listen to you from here on up to level twenty! That even includes ones you're given to in a trade."
The Badge looked like a bushel of wheat that had been tied around twice, maing a narrow 'x' shape.
"Wow, thank you!"
Mauve gave Hadely a hug, which he gladly accepted. He looked over at Cobalt and gave him a thumbs-up, making Cobalt roll his eyes as he walked to the pair.
"And you know what else, Mauve? You're actually the very FIRST person to beat me as this Gym's Leader! That's quite somethin' to be proud of for both of us!"
"That's awesome!"
"Yeah. And ya know what? Since your the first person to beat me, and I don't have a TM to give out...you know what, here, let me show ya somethin'"
The three of them walked into the back room of the barn, which seemed to look more like the back of the company inside; the room was made of metal walls and very clean. Three Pokéballs sat on a table on the right side in a glass case.
Hadely lifted the case off and turned back to Mauve,
"Again, I don't have a TM to give you like all the others do. And since you're the first person to beat me in a Gym Battle, I'm gonna let ya take one of these here Pokémon with ya!"
"Really? Are you sure?"
"I'm positive! Now lookie here,"
He pointed to the one on the left,
"This here's Bellsprout. They're small but pretty quick on their feet."
He pointed to the right one,
"This one's Tangela. He's a pure bred Grass-type and...well I can't say that I know much about him..anyway, last here,"
Hadely now pointed to the one in the center,
"Is Budew. She's the pre-evolution before Roselia, and just the cutest thing you ever did see. Next to you of course that is."
Mauve blushed and giggled at Hadely's comment,
"Hadely, you're such a charmer!" she said before making a more serious face, "But you said it was cute, right?"
"She's such a girl." Cobalt thought,
"Cute, Hadely?" Cobalt asked as he noticed that look Mauve would get in her eyes as she looked down at Budew's Pokéball, "I think you said the magic word."
"I'll take this one!" Mauve said grabbing Budew's Pokéball.
"Alrighty then ma'am, you got yourself a Budew. Be sure you take good care of it, you hear?"
"I will, thank you so much!"
"Just one little thing though."
He took Budew's Pokéball for a moment to write something on the back, before giving it back to Mauve,
"There you are ma'am; you have a nice day now!"
"Thanks, bye Hadely!" Mauve said, walking out of the Gym.
Cobalt simply looked back at Hadley,
"Dude, she's sixteen. You're almost three years older than she is."
"Hey man, I call 'em how I see 'em."
"Whatever," Cobalt saied rolling his eyes, "see you around Hadely."
"Hey Cobe, wait a sec!"
"Yeah, what?"
"Look, you still got the hots for that one Gym Leader in Celadon, right? And in Lavaridge?"
"Yeah, I told Mauve and she wouldn't stop laughing about it."
"Well now that I'm a Gym Leader and member of the Pokémon Association, I can put in a good word for you if you want. We Gym Leaders talk to each other all the time."
Cobalt lit up,
"You'd do that for me?"
"Sure thing man!"
"That'd be great, thanks."
"Just one thing though before you go."
"Yeah?"
"Is Mauve seein' someone right now?"
"Hadely..."
"Oh come on man! Look at her! She's as cute as that Dedenne she's got with her! How can you stand it?!"
"Because she's just someone I'm traveling with, and nothing more. Be sure you keep that good word in for me!"
Cobalt went and joined Mauve at the entrance of the Gym as they started to walk down another path that would lead them...somewhere...
"Good job on the battle." Cobalt said.
"Thanks!" Mauve said; still excited about earning her first Badge.
Dedenne had been healed and was now on her shoulder,
"And good job to you too little guy!" Cobalt said.
"Why are you all the way over there?" Mauve asked when Cobalt had drifted to the other side of the road.
"So that he doesn't shock me, that's why!"
"Oh come on."
"And you know actually, now that he know's Dig, it eliminates his weakness to Poison types, which was why he was able to defeat Rosy so quickly."
"See! Told you he'd come in handy."
"Ah, whatever." Cobalt said before he walked back over to Mauve.
She took out Budew's Pokéball and stared at it.
"I think I'm gonna name you...Buddy!"
"Oh Arceus, no."
"Now what's wrong with that?"
"You're copying off of your new boyfriend."
"He's not my-he's just charming, alright? It's not that I like him that way, I just-"
She stopped.
Cobalt stopped with her,
"What-? Oh Arceus, Hadely, come on!"
On the back of Buddy's Pokéball, Hadely had written "Call me!" along with his PokéGear number.
As Mauve was asleep with Dedenne wrapped around in her arm, Cobalt took out his journal and began writing in it,
"DAY THREE: March 29th, 2014. 11:14 P.M.
Apologies for not being here sooner, since a great deal of events have occured in the time I should have been writing in this journal.
Mauve has made it through the Tumblegrass Gym and was the very first person to defeat the Gym Leader Hadely with the help of Dedenne and her new Taillow, Taills. As well as earning the Wheat Badge, Mauve was also given a Budew named Buddy. I must say, I'm not entirely sure where we're heading next, but from what I've gathered so far in my travels with Mauve; anything can happen."
I'm still open for OC's! Don't hesitate to send them in! Please review!
