Chapter Two

The Trio Badge

Hey guys, Star here. I have edited another chapter of my old fanfiction. Actually, this one isn't edited, it's brand new! :D Yeah, I just want to make this book as detailed as I possibly can. Because I love it. With all of my heart. Okay, well, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Please don't forget to favorite and review! 3 xoxo-Star

Finally, I was here. My first ever Gym, the Striaton City Gym. However, now that I was on the inside of the gym itself, it looked more like a restaurant than a Pokémon Gym. But I walked forward anyway. I immediately noticed a sign that was hung on a small podium in the front entrance. I bent down to read it.

"Striaton City Pokémon Gym. Gym Leaders: Cress, Chili, and Cilan. Certified Trainers." I tilted my head slightly in confusion, standing upright. Three Gym Leaders? Was that even possible? How could one Gym have three Gym Leaders? I shook my head, walking forward. I came to a stop when I saw three large buttons on the floor. One had a leaf on it, obviously representing Grass-Type Pokémon, one had a flame on it, representing Fire-Type Pokémon, and the final had a water drop on it, representing Water-Type Pokémon.

However, the strangest part of the section of the room was a large curtain that hung from the ceiling. It was a vibrant red color, and had an inscription of a flame on it. I then realized what I was in...This was one of those Gym Challenges. I had heard about them before, but I had never seen one. Apparently, before you could fight the gym leader, you would have to take part in some kind of maze. And this was obviously the maze for this Gym. I first walked forward, trying to step on the Fire button. Nothing happened.

Realizing that what I had tried to do was all too easy, I thought about it logically. Maybe it was a test to see if the Trainer would know type matchup...What Pokémon Type is superior to another Pokémon Type. I then walked on the Water button, and heard a loud chime noise. The button lit up, and the red curtain flew outward, allowing me to enter the next room. I stepped forward, looking at the room. It was the same exact room, just with a blue curtain. It had a water droplet printed on it. I smiled, walking on the Grass-Type button.

After another loud chiming noise, the button lit up, illuminating me in a bright green light. Finally, the curtain swung open with a loud 'Swish'. I watched it fly to the side before I walked forward into the next room. This room was a little different as far as decoration went, but was basically the same room as the previous two. As I had expected, on the bright green curtain was a leaf. I walked straight forward, stepping on top of the fire button. With a flash of red and a chime, the final curtain swung open to reveal a set of stairs.

Climbing the stairs, I noticed that there was a small platform on top with three young men. All of them had vibrantly different hair colors, that I immediately noticed match the Water-Type, Grass-Type, and Fire-Type banners that I had just walked through. I finally began to get a pretty good idea as to why there were three gym leaders. When I reached the final step, the three boys stopped talking, and slowly turned to face me, looking me over for a few minutes.

"Welcome to the Striaton City Pokémon Gym." The first boy said. He had bright green hair, so I assumed he was the Grass-Type Pokémon Trainer. He had a fairly quiet voice, and wore a black and white apron with a green bowtie that matched his hair. So, that explained the café theme of this restaurant. They were obviously waiters here.

"I'm Chili! I light things up with my Fire-Type Pokémon!" The one with flaming red hair cried out. His voice was much louder than the other boys, and he had a much more intimidating presence. Like the other boy, he wore a black and white waiters uniform and a red bowtie.

I'm a Water-Type specialist, and my name is Cress. Pleased to make You're acquaintance." said the third boy. He had very long, blue hair, and his arms were crossed. His voice was the exact opposite of Chili's. It was quiet, so quiet that I could barely even make it out over the music that was playing in the Gym. However, he seemed very kind, and so I smiled at him.

"And my name is Cilan. I like Grass-Type Pokémon." Said the first boy again, extending his hand to me. I guessed that he was the leader of the Trio, so I took his hand first, eventually shaking all of their hands. I smiled at them shyly.

"My name is White. I'm a new Pokémon Trainer." I explained to them. They nodded, smiling happily. Chili and Cress turned to look at Cilan, who was adjusting his bowtie slowly. He studied me for a few seconds, then sighed quietly.

"Um...You see...As for why the three of us, um, are here is...Well...Err..." He said. Apparently, he was not very good at speaking in front of people. I glanced over at Cress, who was shaking his head, then at Chili, who was rolling his eyes. He stepped in front of Cilan, his hands on his hips.

"Oh, enough...Listen up! The three of us will decide who you are going to battle, got it? It'll be based on the type of the first Pokémon that you chose!" he yelled. I shrank back against his loud voice. Suddenly, a flash of blue appeared behind him, and Cress had a hand on his shoulder. He sighed, pulling him backwards. He looked at me sympathetically.

"Sorry about him...He was born a little louder than the average human...But, that is indeed the case. So, may I see the first Pokémon that you received on your journey?" he asked me. His silent voice was a major relief compared to that of Chili. I took out Snivy's Pokeball, the only one that I had, and released him. Snivy looked up at me, then at the three boys ahead of us. Cress looked at it for a minute, then grimaced, looking to Chili. I knew exactly what was coming next...

"Oh...Well...It would seem that your first Pokémon is a Grass-Type...So that means..." he said, looking at Cilan slowly. Chili pushed ahead of the two, smirking at me. Snivy backed away from him. Oh, naturally...I get stuck with this guy for my first Gym Battle...I mean, I didn't have anything against him...But he was just so loud...

"Ta-da! The Fire-Type scorcher Chili-that's me-will be your opponent!" he yelled. I smiled, looking down at Snivy. My one and only Pokémon looked up at me, smiling. I knew we were at a major disadvantage here...Especially since he was a Gym Leader...But I had trained Snivy very hard, and he was a very high level. I had complete faith in him.

"Alright then. Let's battle." I replied, smirking at him. If he wanted to play the I'm-Louder-Than-You game, then I would be happy to play along. He smirked at me, reaching forward and putting a rough hand on my shoulder.

"That's the spirit. Finally, I found another good competitor. But try not to get a big head kid. I'm going to beat you. Time to play with FIRE! I'm the strongest of all of the brothers, after all." he yelled, raising a Pokeball into the air. I laughed at the look on Cress and Cilan's faces.

"Alright! Go, Lillipup!" he yelled out, throwing his Pokeball onto the ground. I sent out Snivy. I assessed the little Dog Pokémon in front of me. I knew that it was a normal-type Pokémon, but that was pretty much it. I decided just to go with a move that I knew worked.

"Snivy! Use tackle!" I cried out. But the Lillipup carefully dodged it's attack, landing gracefully back onto the ground. My Snivy spun around in confusion. It almost always landed that attack. I could see why this was a Pokémon Gym...It was much more difficult than a normal trainer battle...

"Alright, Lillipup! Use scratch!" Chili yelled. The little Pokémon ran forward, scratching my Snivy right across the face. It cried out, then fell backwards. But it soon got up. I thought of a move that I could use next...I then just decided to go with another old move.

"Snivy, Vine Whip!" I yelled. When the Lillipup tried to dodge one vine, the other came out and wrapped it up around it's waist, knocking the little dog out quickly. Snivy released it, and Chili called it back. I smiled, congratulating my Snivy. Since it was my only Pokémon, I had no choice but to leave it in play.

"Alright, it's not over yet! Pansear, Go!" he yelled. I suddenly noticed that Cress was standing next to me. He leaned in to whisper something to me. I leaned towards him so that I could hear better over the loudness of the Gym.

"Aren't you going to switch out your Pokémon? Fire-Types are excellent against Grass-Types...And I know that my brother's Pokémon is very strong..." he said softly. I sighed, shaking my head slowly, but remaining focused on the battle as he sent on the Fire Monkey.

"I can't...Snivy is the only Pokémon that I've caught so far..." I explained to him, a bit embarrassed by the fact that I hadn't gotten another Pokémon yet. He leaned backwards, looking at me, then at Snivy, then at his brother. Then he nodded, walking back over to stand next to his brother.

"Snivy, use tackle!" I exclaimed. Snivy leapt up, but the little Pansear was too fast for him. It leapt out of his reach and onto one of the tables. It seemed that this Pokémon was teasing him more than it was battling him. Chili grinned, crossing his arms smugly.

"Alright Pansear, use incinerate!" In a flash of fire, my Snivy disappeared from view. But after the smoke cleared, I saw that it had hidden behind a leg of one of the tables. Without me even having to command it, Snivy released a tornado of leaves. I quickly took out my Pokédex, pointing it at the whirlwind of leaves.

"Leaf Tornado. Learned at level 16. Pokémon releases a swarm of leaves on it's attacker. Very strong and quick attack move." The Pokédex explained. I felt my eyes go wide. Apparently, my Pokémon had leveled up in the last battle and learned a new move. The Pansear finally landed on the floor, knocked out. I cheered. I had won my first Pokémon Gym Battle! Well, Snivy had won it! Snivy ran towards me, leaping into my arms. I hugged it, laughing happily.

"Wow...You got me...I'm all burned out..." Chili said, his voice surprisingly quieter. He returned his Pokémon, then walked forward. I thought he was going to shake my hand, but instead, he wrapped me in a very awkward hug. When he released me, he was grinning and back to his loud and slightly obnoxious self.

"Whoa ho! You're on fire! Well, it's the Pokémon League's rule. Take this Gym Badge!" he said, reaching into his pocket and drawing out a badge. It had three different gems in it, one blue, one red, and one green, to represent the different elements. I grinned, thanking him. The other two brothers came, shaking my hand.

"Alright, well, I guess I should be going. Thank you guys, really." I said. After a few goodbyes, I walked out of the building. However, the second I was out the door, I saw Cress running after me. He shut the door behind him, holding out a piece of paper to me.

"Here...This is my XTranciever number...You can call me sometime, okay?" he said. I could have sworn that he was blushing slightly. I smiled shyly, taking the paper out of his hand and putting it in my pocket.

"Yeah, I'll make sure to. Thanks for everything Cress." I said. He looked up, then smiled at me. He walked back into the gym, softly closing the door behind him. I smiled at my Snivy who had insisted on staying out of its Pokeball. Not only had I gotten a new badge today, but I had gotten a new friend. This was a perfect start to my journey.