Finally, the two trainers found civilization! There was a store called Goldenrod Department Store. Arhianna had heard of this, and asked if they could restore their Pokemon.
"Of course," the clerk said. She took her PokeBalls and restored them. Arhianna thanked her. "In the meantime, why don't you take a look around?" she suggested.
"Umm..Well, I don't have any PokeDollars," Arhianna told her.
"Don't worry, you can borrow mine," Adri offered. "Or you could just not buy anything at all." But Arhianna just smiled and said no, but thanks.
There were a lot of things Arhianna hadn't seen before in the store. On one shelf, there were some potions, and on another, there were PokeBalls of all kinds. There was a really pretty one, Arhianna noticed, that was dark blue on the top with yellow things on it, like a baseball. That, she learned later, was an Ultra Ball.
They left the shop and found themselves in Goldenrod City. Dozens of people were milling around. "I heard Whitney, the normal-type gym leader is here," Adri told her. "I haven't gotten the Plain Badge yet."
"Let's go battle her then!" Arhianna squealed, excited to see her first Gym Battle. "Well, you go battle her, not me."
Adri laughed at this. "There's the gym ahead," he informed her. "We better hurry. I don't know when the next Gym Leader battle is, but let's hope it's soon."
"Well, I don't mind staying in a hotel," she reassured him.
They went to the gym, and met a man standing behind a small counter. "Are you going to battle Whitney today?" he asked gruffly.
Adri nodded. "Just me," he added.
"What's your name, kiddo?"
"Adrian Matthews, twelve years old."
"Number eight," and he gave him a ticket.
They went in, Arhianna's stomach fluttery with excitement. She hoped Adri would win, even if she had just met him. "How many badges do you have?" she asked.
"Well, I have the Boulder Badge, the Cascade Badge, the Thunder Badge, and the Earth Badge. Oh, and the Stone Badge."
"Cool!"
They entered the main gym and found a pink-haired girl standing with a Clefairy and a Miltank. This was Whitney. "I'm totally going to beat her," Adri vowed.
Arhianna stifled a laugh. He was way too overconfident, she thought. "Of course you'll beat him," she reassured him. They sat on the bleachers, watching the battles. Only two had won so far.
"Number eight!" Whitney called.
"Your turn," Arhianna whispered. She gave him a little nudge. Adri stood up, and walked down the bleachers. Everyone stared at him.
"Hi! I'm Whitney! EveryonNita's into Pokemon, so I got in it too! Pokemon are super-cute! You want to battle? I'm warning you, I'm good!" With that, she jumped into the air, squealing. Adri gave Arhianna a look like, she needs help.
Arhianna giggled. Then the battle began. "Mudkip, go! Use Water Gun!" Adri shouted.
"Clefairy, use Wake-Up Slap!" she answered.
"Hit it with Take Down!"
"Use Double Slap!"
"Use Blizzard!" With that, Clefairy fainted. "Yes!" Adri pumped his fist. " Mudkip, switch out! Go Zigzagoon!"
"Go Miltank! Use Rollout!"
"Zigzagoon, use Tackle!"
It went on like this for about two minutes, and then Miltank fainted. That was all she had.
"Sob...aww. You're so mean! You shouldn't be so serious! You child, you! Waaaaaaaaah!" she cried. "Snivel..hic, you meanie!"
"I-I didn't mean to.." Adri stammered, confused.
"What? What do you want? Snivel...oh, right. Here. A Plain Badge." She wasn't actually crying, Arhianna noted. Whitney's outstretched hand had a yellow diamond shaped badge outlined with white.
Adri took it gingerly. "Umm..thanks."
Whitney smiled widely. "Ahh, that was a good cry! Come and visit again! Bye!" She waved.
"Bye," he said. He motioned for me to come over, and we walked out the gym. "She's crazy," he told me under his breath.
Arhianna laughed, feeling the warm sun on her face. "It was really weird and funny. Where should we go next?"
Adri shrugged. "Go train our Pokemon," he suggested. "I heard there was a good place to catch Pokemon here."
"Route Twenty-nine," Arhianna's PokeDex said promptly.
"Where is that supposed to be?" Arhianna asked.
"To your left, then right, then keep on going. You will see a sign," it directed.
"Okay.." Arhianna said. "Then let's go!" She sped off, Adri following hot at her heels. Soon they found a sign that read Route Twenty-nine. "Come on!" she urged.
They weren't that far in when a brown...well...thing, jumped out.
"Sentret, the Scout Pokemon," the PokeDex said.
"It's cute! I want it!" Arhianna squealed, and sent out Chikorita. "Chikorita, use Tackle!"
Luckily, the Sentret was really weak, and it staggered. Arhianna threw a PokeBall, and it was captured easily. "Yes!" she cried. "What will it evolve in to?" she asked.
"Furret," Adri answered. "They are kind of cute."
Suddenly, there was a sound above them, a whirring sound. The two looked up and saw a hot air balloon. "Team Rocket," Adri muttered. Arhianna thought she heard him swear.
"Gosh, you hate them that much?"
Adri looked up, surprised she had heard him. "Sorry. Yeah. They stole my Marill once."
"Marill?"
"You'll see."
The hot air balloon came down and landed in front of them. A crazy pink-haired lady and a blue haired man and a cat Pokemon stepped out.
"Meowth, the Scratch Cat Pokemon."
"To protect the world from devastation," Pink Hair said.
"To unite all people within our nations," Blue Hair continued.
"To denounce the evil of truth and love.."
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Jesse!"
"James!"
"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"
"Meowth, that's right!" squeaked the cat.
