Chapter 4
Welcome to Pewter City!
Ron and Max, exhausted from traveling all day, finally dragged their way to the city limits of Pewter City. The two young trainers had spent the night in the wild again, and were happy to reach civilization after two nights on the road. It was a huge relief to their tired bodies when they came across a sign that welcomed them to the city that Ron had lived for the past few years. Nothing had really changed, but since Ron had only been gone for a few days, that was not a surprise. Ron pushed towards the Pokémon Center, but regardless of this persistence, Max questioned why Ron did not want to go to his house.
Ron took a deep breath, "Max…I became a trainer to get away from my family. It wouldn't do me any good to rush back to them after only a few days on my own. My parents aren't even living together anymore. It was just my mother and me living here, my father lives in Saffron City, while my sister Sabrina is well on her way to becoming a member of the Kanto Elite Four."
"I understand. We can avoid going to your house if that's what you really want. The Pokémon Center is not too far away anyway, and there our Pokémon can get some rest."
This was Ron's first time in the Pokémon Center in Pewter City. Although he had passed it hundreds of times in his life, he really found no reason for him to go inside the building. It was meant for Pokémon Trainers, and he was only a few days removed from getting his training license. What better time than now to enter this large building for the first time? Walking through the convenient sliding doors of the center, the two trainers were greeted by a large lobby.
It was a very large building, certainly looking larger than it did from the outside. Straight ahead was the main desk of the Pokémon Center. To the left was a staircase that led to three different floors of rooms, while to the right there was a cafeteria where trainers could get discount meals, either to sit down and enjoy or to take on the road with them. They marched up the front desk, which had no line this early in the morning.
A smiling nurse greeted them. She was a Nurse Joy, one of the many that ran Pokémon Centers across the world. She had a clean white nurse outfit on, which was complimented by her bright, glowing hair. Ron had heard that the Joy family was loaded with Pokémon Nurses who all basically looked the same, though with different personalities.
"Welcome to our Pokémon Center. How may I be of assistance you to this morning?"
"We were wondering if you would take care of our Pokémon," said Ron.
To this she replied, "I would be happy to. I'm sure they'll be back to fighting shape in no time at all!"
They thanked the nurse and headed off to the far left of the desk, where trainers could sign up for one of the upstairs rooms. Ron and Max decided to sign up for a double occupancy room, just so they could give other trainers a chance to have a room that night if necessary. They took note of the fact that rooms could be rented that could hold up to four occupants. Once they were signed up, they were able to get a key that led to a small locker, which contained the access card for the room they had rented, which was on the third floor. It was then that they decided it would be a good idea to get some food. They just happened to run into their favorite new person when they walked into the cafeteria.
"How in the hell did you get here so fast Vincent?"
Turning to the person who shouted that, he replied, "Well Ron, I don't waste my time doing things like sleeping in all morning. I sleep for 6 hours a night, and then press onward. I've been in Pewter City since last night, you see."
"Well then I challenge you to a Pokémon match right now," said Ron.
Max then said, "Maybe you should get something to eat first…and get your Pokémon back from Nurse Joy."
As Ron and Max walked away from Vincent, all he could do was laugh. He believed he would be wasting his time having a battle with Ron, but he needed to warm his Pokémon up for his gym battle against Brock. After all, he still had some concern that he was not prepared for a trainer of Brock's caliber.
About a half hour after the initial confrontation between Ron and Vincent, the two trainers met outside of the Pokémon Center at a nearby practice battlefield. Ron had gotten his Pokémon back, knowing that they were well rested and definitely ready to take on Vincent's Pokémon. Ron offered to make the battle a best two out of three. Vincent took this offer head on, wanting to test the skill of all of his Pokémon to see how well they would fare in a full out battle.
"I'll start out with my Spearow," shouted Ron as he threw the Pokeball containing the bird Pokémon high into the air. It came out of the device in a flash of light, causing the Pokeball to fall down, not in Ron's hand, but on the ground about five feet away from him.
"Wow Ron, Pokeballs don't work that way," mocked Vincent as he sent out his own bird Pokémon, a Pidgey. This Pokémon was a bit more gentle and calm than a Spearow was, but none the less it was a capable fighter.
Giving the first order, Ron shouted, "Fly straight at Pidgey and jab it with your beak a couple times!"
In retaliation, Vincent cried out to his Pokémon, "Evade the blow with Aerial Ace, then hit Spearow when you're behind it!"
As Spearow was closing in on Pidgey, it suddenly charged at Spearow. The Pokémon braced for impact until Pidgey just vanished. A confused Spearow frantically searched for its opponent, who appeared behind the bird. Spearow suffered an unexpected blow, causing it to crash into the ground. Ron pleaded for his Pokémon to get up, and it did. Taking flight again, it attempted a Steel Wing attack, which struck Pidgey hard.
Vincent accused Ron of cheating. "I thought your Pokémon was down for the count!"
Ron shrugged his shoulders, "Expect the unexpected." He pointed at Pidgey. "We won't make the same mistake. Finish off Pidgey with a blow from your beak!"
The Pidgey was faster than Ron had expected. It rolled out of the way, causing Spearow's beak to get caught in the ground. It really needed to stop doing that, but it was because Ron always ordered it to charge in without thinking. Ron ordered another Steel Wing attack as soon as Spearow got its beak out of the ground, which was luckily soft. Vincent countered by ordering a Wing Attack from his Pidgey. Right before the Pokémon collided, Vincent changed the plan.
"Switch to Aerial Ace again. We'll catch it off guard and end this!"
"It won't catch us off guard if we hear you yell about it. Do a flip in midair, try to time it right and we'll nail Pidgey from above with your wings."
Ron's quick thinking saved him from suffering a loss. Pidgey was able to use its attack, but so was Spearow. Its glowing wings struck Pidgey hard enough to send it plummeting towards the ground, much like it had done to its opponent moments before. The bird tried to get itself back up, but regardless of how much Vincent pleaded, his Pokémon had lost. So much for Aerial Ace being impossible to evade…you just needed a plan.
"Hmph. On to round two I suppose. I'll choose my Mankey for this round! Prepare for battle Mankey!"
This monkey Pokémon had tan-colored fur and long arms and legs. By the looks of things, these legs were more than capable of dealing out some damage, which worried Ron. He recalled his Spearow to its Pokeball, reminding it how well it had done. Against the fighting type Pokémon Mankey, Ron opted to go with his Pikachu. Neither Pokémon had an advantage, but he felt as though Pikachu could shock Mankey into defeat.
Vincent got the first move this round, so he ordered Mankey to swipe at Pikachu with its sharp claws. Pikachu dodged constantly, although it was having a tough time keeping up with the monkey's incredible speed. When Ron ordered to strike back, Pikachu hardly had time to even shock Mankey a little bit before it hit Pikachu with what Vincent called a Karate Chop. The blow struck Pikachu straight on the head, while Mankey did not seem fazed at all by the slight shock, only a bit angry.
With a smirk on his face, Vincent said, "Do you just want to forfeit this round now?" When Ron shook his head, Vincent shrugged, "I can't be held responsible for what happens to your Pokémon now. It's time for Seismic Toss, grab Pikachu, then slam it back down into the ground."
"Pikachu! Watch out!" Ron warned his Pokémon, but there was nothing more he could do to stop Mankey from grabbing Pikachu. In one swift motion, Mankey flung itself, with Pikachu grabbed tight, into the air, performing a front flip like nothing Ron had seen before. At the peak of the jump, Mankey hurled the rodent towards the ground. Pikachu crashed hard into the soft dirt, making a small crater in the process. Without a doubt, his Pokémon had been taken out. To make things worse, it landed on its head.
"Return Pikachu! You did you best buddy…I have no problem with how you did out there. Bulbasaur will avenge you." Ron then sent out his newest capture, the grass type Pokémon named Bulbasaur. His rival seemed to be in shock, wondering how Ron caught such a rare Pokémon. Ron noticed this.
"Maybe if you hadn't rushed through Viridian Forest, you would've had a chance to capture this Pokémon. Oh well, at least you can see it take you down!"
To this, Vincent replied, "We'll see about that. My final Pokémon will be Squirtle."
Having already seem this Pokémon in combat, Ron was not was worried about what to expect. The tiny turtle had physical attacks such as Tackle that it could rely on, but it also knew attacks like Water Gun. Ron hoped for the sake of a good battle that Vincent knew that Squirtle's best attack would not most likely do anything to Bulbasaur, unless giving a Pokémon a nice bath was part of some crazy battle plan.
Ron gave the first order for the final round of this battle. "Bulbasaur, use that leaf attack that I saw you use back in the forest."
Max then reminded Ron of the attack's name. "Ron! That leaf attack is called Razor Leaf attack! You're going to confuse your Pokémon if you don't know the names of attacks that it can use."
That was a mistake Ron would never make again. While his Pokémon sat and was confused, Vincent ordered Squirtle to tackle into Bulbasaur. This was pretty painful for Bulbasaur, but it was able to handle the attack. Thanks to Max, it now knew what attack to use. It hurled razor-sharp leaves at Squirtle, much like it had done to Spearow in Ron's first encounter with the grass starter.
Squirtle shielded its eyes from the attack, but there was nothing else it could do. After all, throwing your body at another body is going to cause some pain for the attacker. The leaves cut into Squirtle, causing a lot of pain. Ron saw a time of opportunity, so he ordered Bulbasaur to tackle into Squirtle while it was occupied with pain. Sure, it was a cheap tactic, but at least he was not taunting his opponent to forfeit.
Vincent's Pokémon still had some fight left in it, so it pulled itself to its feet and prepared to spray a stream of water at Bulbasaur. Ron really saw no point in this, as the attack would do just about nothing due to type resistance. He had his Pokémon endure the blow, and as expected it did not faze Bulbasaur one bit. He wanted to ask Vincent if he was finished yet, but that would be rude.
Instead of being a smart ass in the middle of a battle, Ron ordered his Bulbasaur to end the fight once and for all. "This ends now! Nail Squirtle with a super effective Vine Whip attack!" He turned to Max. "See I do know some of the attack names!"
Vines came from seemingly nowhere and smacked the water Pokémon opposite of Bulbasaur for some critical damage. With or without trying, Bulbasaur was really hitting Squirtle where it hurt. The turtle fell to one knee, struggling to maintain consciousness. This struggle was kept up for a few moments before exhaustion finally kicked in. Squirtle passed out, ending the battle.
Looking disgusted at his Pokémon's performance, Vincent recalled it back to the Pokeball he had sent it out of. After mumbling something under his breath to his Pokeball, he looked up at Ron.
"That was a good battle, but I suggest you get that Pikachu looked at. It suffered some major damage in our fight, but don't blame me…I warned you."
Neither Ron nor Max really had much to say to Vincent as he began walking away. They did not know it at the time, but their rival was heading off for the Pewter City Gym right after his Pokémon were rested up a bit. On the other hand, Ron had to wait. The battle at the gym would be three on three, and with Pikachu hurt like it was, there was no way he could use it in battle.
He and Max rushed into the Pokémon Center, almost running straight through the sliding doors because of how fast they were running. After waiting in line for a minute or two, they reached the front desk. Ron handed Nurse Joy his three Pokeballs, then told her what happened to Pikachu. After an examination of the damage, Nurse Joy gave her recommendation.
"If I were you, I would leave Pikachu here overnight for observation. It appears that your Pokémon has suffered a minor concussion, but it should recover after some rest. After all, Pokémon are quick healers, much quicker than us humans. By tomorrow I can clear it for Pokémon battles again. In the meantime, why don't you go visit the Pokémon Museum. It's the only one of its kind in Kanto, and I hear they just discovered some fascinating things on fossil Pokémon."
Ron found it hard to even try to keep his mind off his injured Pokémon, but Nurse Joy assured him that his Pokémon would be in the best of care. He knew that he needed Pikachu to be better for his gym battle, but it was about more than that. It was about his new friend being okay so they could go on more adventures together. He would go to the museum for the rest of the afternoon, then come back and check on Pikachu before he went to bed. This was the hardest part of his adventure so far, but he had confidence in the Pokémon Center.