3 – Between Rugged Mountains
The rest of the day passed quickly and quietly, but Milo found it very tiring. He had never truly appreciated the distance between Viridian and Pewter City; it was always a weekend trip a most, leaving more than enough time to visit the natural science museum. He wondered why Pokémon trainers didn't just drive from town to town.
That night gave Milo the first real night of rest he had had since the week before he had started his Pokémon journey. He could get used to camping and sleeping outdoors, to battling the wild Pokémon that came his way for training, and to ignoring Kio's rants and raves. Now that the excitement of his new adventure had started to wear off, sleep came much easier.
When he awoke the next morning, Milo found that he was the last one sleeping. Kio sat in front of the fire, cooking what smelled like a delicious breakfast, and Sitara and Dahlia were nowhere to be seen. He received just the type of answer he had learned to expect from Kio when he asked where the girls had gone: "Over there somewhere. If you go out looking for them, be careful of wild Aerodactyls. They get fierce this time of year."
Milo went "over there somewhere" but found only thick brush and a few wild Pokémon. He finally discovered Dahlia sitting alone, peering through a thicket as though spying on someone. "What are you -" he started to ask before she shushed him. She motioned for him to come and see, and stood aside with a smile on her face.
He peered curiously through the branches. On the other side, in a near-empty clearing, Sitara danced.
She twirled, her arms in the air, her eyes closed, her face serene. Her ground-length skirt billowed around her, rising up and down with each spin. Next to her, Sitara's Bulbasaur danced as well, its vines waving with the wind and sometimes meeting its master's hands.
Milo's heart raced just watching her. She looked beautiful in the morning sun; better yet, she looked happy.
He looked back at Dahlia incredulously. She still smiled the same devious smile. "I saw her leave. I wanted to know where she was going," she said simply. As Milo turned back to watch more of the dance, she added, "She does this every morning, you know."
"What?" he whispered. "How do you know? You haven't even been here every morning."
"When she called out Bulbasaur, it started dancing immediately. It knew what she wanted without her saying. Part of their new morning routine, I guess."
Dahlia let Milo watch a few more moments before grabbing his shoulder, twisting him around so his face met hers. "Listen. She doesn't know we know. So don't tell her. Alright?"
"Why not?"
"Why else would she leave to dance? She'd be embarrassed."
Milo tried to turn his head to watch more, but Dahlia slapped him lightly on the face to get his attention again. "If you don't want to ruin your chances with her, don't say anything," she said harshly, and left him to escape quickly when Sitara stopped dancing.
Milo carefully avoided Sitara's eyes for the last leg of their trip into Pewter City. He was sure that she would be able to see the guilt in his eyes and that she would hate him for it. As they walked, he overheard Sitara whispering to Kio, who shrugged and responded, "I don't know. Maybe he's sick or something."
As they took their first steps into Pewter City, they heard an engine revving behind them. Split seconds later, a blur of blue in the shape of a motorcycle raced past them, and there was hardly enough time to dodge before it was gone again. Dahlia tripped over her high heels in her attempt to not get hit by the speeding bike, falling so fast that her hair flew around her face. Kio pulled her to her feet, muttering, "I don't know why you have to wear those shoes. They're dangerous."
"Yeah, much more dangerous than reckless police on killer bikes," Dahlia snapped, brushing herself off.
They heard Officer Jenny's motorcycle stop not too far into the city, and didn't think much of it. But when they reached the center of town, they found her again, her bike parked precariously in front of the local Pokémart. She was speaking to a frazzled looking man in a hushed tone.
"Just be careful. It could be dangerous if they come around. In fact, you may want to close for the day. We've received reports from the Cerulean City and Viridian City Pokémarts-"
Milo's eyes widened. The police had been at his mother's shop? "Excuse me," he said.
"The store is closed," the store owner snapped. "Come back later."
"No, I need to know," he desperately told Officer Jenny. "You said Viridian City? Is everything okay there?"
"Well," she answered curtly, "I obviously can't just tell y-"
"Please. It's my mother."
Jenny searched for the lie on his face. Unable to find it, her own face softened. "Your mother is fine. Nothing's happened – yet. But we have received some tips that something could happen. We warned her only to be safe."
She nodded her goodbyes to them and shop owner. "You be safe, too," she said to the man. "Close up for the day, go home. We'll sort this out." She added with a wink at Milo, "Call your mother."
It took fifteen minutes of his mother reassuring him for Milo to be satisfied that everything was truly alright back home in Viridian City. She closed the shop early, she told him, just as Officer Jenny instructed, and was looking forward to a nice week's vacation. She wouldn't tell him, however, what it was that Jenny gave as a reason to close the Pokémart – it was no concern of his, and didn't he have other, more important things to worry about?
Looking at her smiling face through the videophone, seeing the cozy kitchen in the background where a pot of tea boiled, made Milo sigh with homesickness. Even while his friends had gone off on their own Pokémon journeys, he stayed home, keeping his mother company, helping her in the shop. He had never been away from home for so long.
"I am so proud of you," Milo's mother said, her eyes welling. She kissed her fingertips and pressed her hand to the screen. The videophone cut to static. Even though it didn't work, Milo was grateful that Sitara pretended not to notice when he sat looking at the empty screen for a minute.
Kio was not quite so forgiving. "Stop it," he said, twisting Milo around by his shoulders. "You just left, no reason to miss it yet. Come on, we have to go."
"Where?" Milo asked suspiciously.
"Train. You'll have your first gym match here, and you have yet to win a real battle. Come on." He walked back towards the front door of the Pokémon Center, and Milo only followed when he realized Kio expected him to.
"Do you even have any rock types?" Milo asked.
Kio shook his head. "Nope. Don't need 'em. If you train enough against any type of Pokémon, you grow strong. Type matches are only strategy, guidelines for winning. But a Charmander can beat an Onix if it's trained well enough. Now if someone would only tel that to the hoards of people that choose Squirt – er..."
Milo folded his arms.
"It's alright," Kio amended. "Squirtle'll just make it a little easier for you.
"Now, this battle," he said, sitting down in the tall grass, "is more for Squirtle's benefit than yours. It has to learn that you are an able, competent trainer. It hasn't seen that yet. But if you can manage to beat my Butterfree, who knows?"
He released Butterfree. It cooed as it flew far into the air before returning to its trainer. Kio whispered something in its ear; the Butterfree nodded in agreement and flew upwards again to begin its battle.
Milo, a bit nervous, called out his Squirtle. He had no idea how long Kio had been training, or if he had really trained at all. He would have to be on his guard, and Squirtle would have to actually listen and respond to him.
When Squirtle saw that its owner stood behind him yet again, he groaned and turned away as if to say, "Maybe if I pretend I don't see you, you'll disappear." Milo sighed and approached it.
"Squirtle," he said, leaning so he was just above Squirtle's eye-level. "I know we got off to a bad start before, but we're gonna fix that now. See that Butterfree?" He pointed in Kio's direction.
"We're gonna beat it."
"Ready?" Kio called, now laying flat on his back, staring up at the clouds. "I'll give you the first move."
"Er – right." Milo stood back and pointed at the Butterfree again; Butterfree tilted its head at him in a way which reminded him of its master. "Squirtle, use your Water Gun!"
Squirtle paused as though considering disobeying Milo's command, but apparently it figured its pride as a Pokémon was worth more than that. A jet of water shot out of its mouth, fast and sharp enough to break through a window.
Butterfree simply moved a foot to the left, and the water streaked right past it. Kio laughed even though he wasn't watching. "Gotta be faster than that! Butterfree, tackle it!"
Butterfree swept down, almost too fast for Milo to follow, and hit Squirtle square on. Squirtle hit the ground a few times before it recovered and stood up again. That's right, Squirtle, Milo thought. Just get right back up...
"Good job, Squirtle," Kio said, making Milo realize he should have praised his Pokémon aloud. "But let's see if you can keep up with this. Sleep Powder!"
A fine, white powder fell from Butterfree's wings like snow as it flew over Squirtle. Know that if the attack landed the battle would be over, Milo panicked. "Er, uh—Squirtle! Spray water at the powder! Make sure it doesn't touch you!"
Squirtle looked up and sprayed water into the air. When the commotion was over, Squirtle was soaking wet, but still awake. Kio laughed again.
"Nice thinking! Quick," he said. He closed his eyes and let the sunlight bathe over his face. "Butterfree, tackle it again."
"Dodge it, and counter with another Water Gun!"
Squirtle rolled to avoid Butterfree's hit. Before it had a chance to aim properly, it shot a jet of water in what Milo could only hope was the right direction. It hit, knocking the bug Pokémon out of the air.
Milo gasped; he hadn't expected that to work. "Um—now Scratch attack!"
Squirtle ran up to Butterfree's fallen form and began to claw at it. Butterfree cried out but didn't fight back.
"Stop. That's enough." Kio stood, and Squirtle backed away. Although Butterfree wasn't knocked out, it didn't move from its spot in the grass. "Butterfree doesn't want to battle anymore. You got a lucky shot in."
He paused and smiled. "But sometimes a lucky shot is all you need. Congratulations – you won."
Milo sat in the grass, shocked an exhilarated at his first win. Even Squirtle, who had just a few days ago seemed, at best, completely disinterested in its new trainer, sat next to Milo with a content grin.
"Squirtle respects you now," Kio said, sitting cross-legged on the grass next to him. "Knows you're a capable trainer."
Milo smiled at his new Pokémon. "Well, hopefully 'capable' is enough to beat the gym leader in Pewter City."
"I'm gonna let you in on a little secret," Kio said, and alarms immediately went off in Milo's head. "Brock isn't really...that great of a trainer. In reality, he's just a very bored little boy."
Milo gaped at him. Surely it was wrong to talk about a gym leader in such a way.
"He tries. He's not the best gym leader, but he tries. You know, he wants things to be more interesting in his life, so he changes the rules of his gym battles almost every day." Kio lay back in the grass and grinned up at the sky. "That's one thing you can say about him – you never know what to expect."
"How do you know all this?" Milo asked suspiciously. "Are you friends with him?"
"Oh, no," Kio answered absently. "I've only met him once, a few years ago. But -" he tapped his forehead knowingly. "-I am a very good judge of character."
Milo raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"
"Yep." Kio stood to leave, doing nothing about the grass caught and tangled in his messy hair. "Speaking of, I don't like Dahlia. She's suspect."
As Kio walked away, Sitara, who had been watching the battle closely, caught his arm. "You don't know Dahlia yet," she admonished him. "You can't say you don't like her."
Kio shrugged. "First impressions."
"And you -" She lowered her voice so Milo couldn't hear. "-you threw the battle?"
"Don't tell him before the gym match," Kio said with another shrug. "He seemed so proud."
The Pewter City Gym dimly lit, claustrophobically small and, Milo found, a bit creepy. The only light came from torches lining the walls, and they cast shadows that danced over the rocky field. Only two people were immediately visible; a young gym trainer idly reclining on top of a boulder, his toes tapping the stone, and Brock, the gym leader. Milo wasn't aware of how nervous he was until he thought his stomach disappeared.
As they entered, both Brock and the gym trainer jumped to their feet. "Ah, new challengers!" Brock exclaimed. "So which of you is here to face me?"
"These two," Kio said, pointing with both hands towards Milo and Sitara.
Brock didn't seem to hear him. He narrowed his eyes at the pink-haired boy. "Hey, I remember you. You almost blew up my gym!"
There was a small, proud smile on Kio's face as Brock added, "You never did pay for the damages..."
Dahlia stayed back towards the entrance as Milo and Sitara made their last minute preparations for the gym battle. She crossed her arms and leaned against the doorway, scrutinizing the scene in front of her, and ignored the gym trainer when he popped up next to her.
He slicked his hair back with his hand and smiled down at her. "So... you a Pokémon trainer?"
"More of one than you'll ever be." Dahlia didn't even look at him.
"Well?" Sitara asked Milo. "Which of us is going against him first?"
"Tell you what," Brock said with a sly grin. "You both wanna battle, fine. You'll both battle at the same time!"
"What?" Sitara gasped.
"A two-on-two battle," Brock proposed. "You each choose a Pokémon. I'll choose two and take you both on at the same time."
"Well, er..." Sitara looked uncertainly at Milo. "This is only our first gym battle -"
"All the better to break you both in," Brock laughed. "What do you say?"
"I say bring it on!" Milo exclaimed. His earlier battle with Kio had given him a confidence boost; he could surely take on Brock, especially with Sitara's help.
"Are you sure?" Kio said doubtfully. "This won't be like any battle you've ever -"
"We'll do it," Milo said. He put his hands on Sitara's shoulders, and smiled. "We'll do it, and we'll both get the badge."
Sitara nodded back slowly.
"Alright!" Brock yelled and clapped his hands together. "Let's get this show on the road! Onix, Graveler! Come on out!"
Two jets of bright red light revealed the two rock Pokémon. The gigantic Onix towered over them all, its head narrowly missing the lights dangling from the ceiling. Graveler was tiny in comparison, but still thudded heavily when it took a few steps forward.
The young gym trainer inched closer to Dahlia. "So, uh, you on a journey? That's cool." This did nothing but earn a menacing glare in return.
"Each of you, call out one," Brock said.
"Then I pick Bulbasaur!" Sitara tossed her Pokéball; Milo did the same next to her.
"Squirtle, go!"
"Aha, a challenge!" Brock said, rubbing his hands together again in excitement.
Doubt washed over Milo as the battle began. What was he thinking? He had only won one real battle, and he had never learned any strategies for a double battle with another trainer. What if he and Sitara couldn't synchronize their attacks well enough to defeat this boy? Worse yet, what if he failed her?
He was ecstatic to find that these fears, at least for now, were ungrounded. Graveler was easy enough to take down. What it possessed in brute strength, it lacked in speed, and it was unable to dodge the attacks of two Pokémon at once. Within minutes, Brock declared Graveler "unable to battle."
Onix, though, was another story. For a creature so massive, both Sitara's Bulbasaur and Milo's Squirtle found it near impossible to land an attack strong enough to do any real damage. Even when an attack did hit, the sheer force of Onix's weight promised a pummeling for the other Pokémon.
Bulbasaur and Squirtle were tired, and Milo was running out of ideas.
By the look on her face, Sitara was, as well. She inhaled sharply and, frustrated, blew the hair out of her face as Onix's massive tail nearly flattened Bulbasaur. No matter the type advantage that both she and her partner had – one physical attack like that would likely end it.
The bulb that went off over her head could practically light the whole room. "We gotta do it all at once!" she yelled to Milo. "Attack the same place at the same time!"
Milo understood completely. "On three! One, two -
"Squirtle, Water Gun!"
"Bulbasaur, Razor Leaf!"
A flourish of sword-sharp leaves combined with a jet of water, and collided with the center of Onix's huge stone body. It roared in pain and shook off the water, thrashing so that its tail nearly hit both of its opponents.
Neither trainer hesitated. "Again!" they yelled.
This time the attack struck Onix's face. It roared again, a pained sound that almost made Milo feel sorry for it.
He held his breath as he waited for something to happen. Onix froze in place, and the seconds dragged out to hours. The giant rock Pokémon finally shuddered and hit the ground hard.
"Onix is unable to battle!" Brock announced. "The challengers are the winners!"
Milo's mouth dropped open. He certainly hadn't heard that correctly.
If the gym leader was disappointed at his loss, he didn't let his face betray him as he crossed the rocky field. "They're yours." Milo could only watch in wonder as Brock handed the two trainers tiny, steel-gray octagons. Their new badges. Their first badges. "Congratulations."
"So, uh, listen," the gym assistant said, now leaning entirely too close to Dahlia's face. "You wanna go out, maybe get some dinner or -"
Dahlia turned up her face to meet his, mere inches away. She licked her lips sensually, and the trainer gulped in anticipation.
"You talk to me again," she breathed, "and I will end you."
Milo looked back and forth between the Boulder Badge in his hand and Sitara's shining face. Without thinking, he threw his arms around her, and there was a funny, ticklish feeling in his stomach when she returned the hug.
"Excuse me, excuse me!"
Milo's eyes widened as they left the Pewter Gym. A young news reporter with dark blue hair and a movie star smile rushed towards them, a cameraman trailing not far behind. Before Milo could react, a microphone was shoved in his face.
"We're with Jubilife TV, all the way from Sinnoh," the reporter said. His accent was vaguely foreign, but Milo couldn't place it. "We're doing a piece on the new group of trainers who have just started their journeys, yes, yes. Could we perhaps ask you all a few questions about your first win?"
"I-I don't -" Milo stammered. He was irked to see that Sitara smiled flirtatiously at the handsome man.
"Of course," she said. "We'd be happy to."
"Wonderful," the reporter said. He motioned for the cameraman to start filming.
As the interview went on, Milo became more and more nervous, Sitara more coy; the reporter paid more attention to the young girl, eventually ignoring Milo altogether.
"And what is your strategy for the next couple of gyms?"
"Well, we obviously can't give everything away," Sitara said with a sly grin. "But we'll have to train hard, study types, think unconventionally—anything for that advantage. Right, Milo?"
"Uh – right," Milo said stupidly.
When the camera stopped filming, the reporter with the strange accent thanked Sitara a bit too enthusiastically. They gave their full names to the cameraman, who recorded them on a pad of paper.
"And, uh, how 'bout yous two?" the cameraman asked, pointing at Kio and Dahlia.
"I'm Kio," Kio said without making eye contact with him.
"Last name?"
"Doesn't matter. I'm not a new trainer."
The cameraman sighed and turned to Dahlia. "And you?"
"Me, either," she said simply. "Are we done here?"
Milo somewhat wished they were done, too, when the reporter kissed Sitara's hand in farewell.
The reporter and cameraman disappeared, having spotted a group of trainers standing in front of the Pewter Museum of Science. Sitara couldn't stop giggling with excitement over the prospect of being on television (and maybe with giddiness over her new crush?), and Kio provided her with the perfect audience, indulging her every boast.
Milo, despite the reporter, was just as excited, and felt a restless energy coursing through his body. All the wins of the day, and now a television interview – he could take on the world. "Hey, Dahlia," he said enthusiastically. "You said you're not a new trainer, right? Then you are a trainer. Why don't we battle?"
Dahlia raised an eyebrow, and without a word drew a Pokéball from her pocket. Laughing, Milo did the same. But before he could even call out a Pokémon, a Haunter appeared mere feet in front of him, and he heard Dahlia order:
"Haunter, use Hypnosis."
Confused, Milo looked from her towards the attacking Pokémon. Before he knew it, his eyelids drooped and he felt his body fall to the ground.
'I won't be gone long. Just some things I have to take care of.'
The white-haired man kissed the tears on Milo's mother's face as she asked, 'And your son?' Milo never understood why she cried so much.
'He'll be fine. Once I fix this, things will be better for him, too.'
When Milo woke a few minutes later, Dahlia and Haunter stood over him.
"If you can't withstand that," Dahlia said as Haunter poked out its tongue at him, "you can't withstand a battle with me. Try again after you get to the Pokémon League."
Milo groaned and let his head hit the ground again. Kio said, laughing, "Hope they caught that on camera."