OUR POKEMON JOURNEY: The first gym
"That there's the way to Indigo Plateau, and the Elite Four!" the old geezer said, motioning with his walking stick. It was pale, misty morning and the trio were up. Driven out of the inn by hunger and a lack of available room service, they had explored Viridian at dawn and were pleased to see the old man out, because who better to tell them about Viridian than a resident of the city?
"What about places to eat?" Fors asked eagerly. They would get to the Elite Four in due time; now the pressing issue was filling her tummy, and that of her companions'.
"Mabel's Okonomiyaki is the only restaurant in Viridian," the senior said, shutting his eyes and leaning back into his chair. "And it opens at lunch. Most of us take our meals at home; Viridian's been poor ever since the gym closed!"
"What?" Sam said incredulously. "How can a gym be closed?"
"It was run by a boy named Nazar. He looked about your age! Or maybe he was a little older – you youngster all look the same to an old man like me... he left about a year back, or maybe several years back. I can't remember. I forgot why, too."
"He's been gone a long time, actually," a new voice said. A tall boy emerged from the mist and long grass, pulling a Mankey by the hand.
"Hey, Spence!" Fors was the first to recognise him. "What's up, man?" Johnson asked. Spence slapped hands with the boys and waved to Fors.
"How did you know that?" Johnson asked him curiously. "About the gym leader, I mean."
"I did my research," Spence grinned. "I gotta get back to town, though. What are you guys doing here?"
"Looking for food, actually..." Sam admitted. "You?"
"I got up early to catch my Mankey," he said, patting the pokemon's head with his free hand. The Mankey's snout wrinkled in delight. "The pokemon before Victory Road are pretty weak, so you should be able to handle them. But make sure you don't go into Victory Road itself. You'll get owned." Spence grimaced. "I was lucky enough to escape, but Euly took a hard hit." He patted the pokeball by his waist.
"Catch you guys later," Spence said, walking back to the main town. The trio looked at the old man, who was carefully lifting up a thermos from the ground beside him.
"Thanks, grandpa," they said, and the old man nodded.
"Good luck on your journeys!" he said, raising a quivering hand. His other hand, left on its own to hold the thermos, wobbled. "I'll be here when you come for the Elite Four!"
They walked back to Viridian, noticing with interest a fat fellow sleeping behind a thick, thorny hedgerow. There was a spot along the brush where the growth was thin, but...
"We can probably get through if our pokemon had Cut," Sam said.
"You're so lucky to be Santa's younger brother," Fors told him appreciatively.
But Johnson disagreed: "That's basic knowledge, Fors. You're just being slow."
"Hey, no one knows everything! You're not so smart!" she protested. As Johnson quipped bitingly back, Sam lead the way so that by the time the argument had blown over and Fors and Johnson had called it a truce, they were standing before the Viridian Gym. It was a huge, imposing structure, possibly the largest gym in the region. Its outside looked brand new and well maintained, too. How could a gym this impressive be abandoned?
But it was – or so everyone said and believed. There was a laminated notice tacked to the door.
BE BACK IN TWO DAYS
But it was dated nearly fourteen years back... "That's older than we are!" Fors exclaimed. "But the gym looks so new!"
"Has anyone ever been inside?" Sam wondered, while Johnson's mind, influenced by his rap music, began wondering if there was anything inside to pilfer and plunder.
"Maybe we should go in," he suggested, checking on his Charmander through the pokeball. It was wide awake, and seemed to be smiling. Detaching it from his belt, Johnson released the Charmander. "Hi Sammy," he said, patting its head.
"I don't think it's a good idea," Sam said. "Even if it is abandoned, it's still Viridian property. I don't want to get into trouble with the police on our first day!"
Fors, on the other hand, was already by the door, trying to peek through the upper parts that were made of frosted glass. "I can't see anything," she commented. "It's all silver."
"The glass is frosted..." Sam said.
Johnson strode up to the door. "Come on, Fors! This is so conspicuous. Let's go round the back."
"It's only an adventure, Sam!" Fors said, stepping back and following Johnson the would-be-robber around the gym. Reluctantly, Sam followed...
"It's not the best idea in the world," he said, as he walked behind the two. Johnson was surveying the walls for any weak spots, tapping on potential areas occasionally.
-
Inside the gym, in the cold, chrome and steel interior of the sleek guard room, a Rocket looked up at the screens before him and chuckled. He punched a code into an array of silver buttons by his right elbow and sat back to continue with his coffee.
Further down the hallway from the guard room, in the refurbished centre of the gym, a boy in a black suit patted the Growlithe curled up in his lap and watched the huge plasma screen before him. The trio's faces could clearly be seen as they looked up at the eaves of the back of the gym.
"That looks like a bird's nest!" Fors was saying.
"They don't seem dangerous, boss," a Rocket minion said needlessly. He was standing to the left of the boy. On the boy's right was another chair, in which sat another boy dressed in a dark trenchcoat and an impressively cut brown suit.
"Keep an eye on them," the trenchcoated boy said. His eyes were shadowed by dark glasses, while his friend sat back so that no light illuminated his face.
"Of course, boss," another Rocket minion said. This Rocket stood to the right of Trenchcoat boy.
"We don't need anyone messing in our plans, like how Nazar got his screwed up by the grandmaster," Black Suit said. He leaned further back in his chair, further back in the shadows – only his arms and his Growlithe were in view now.
"No one's going to mock us on a silly tv show... No – and no one's going to laugh at Team Rocket again. Not when it's backed by the Mafiya..."
-
Outside, oblivious to the danger in the gym, Johnson gave up on trying to be a thieving rapper.
"Let's go," he said. "I think we have to get through Viridian Forest to get to Pewter City, and Pewter's bigger and more touristy. It'll probably have food."
"Is Viridian Forest very big?" Fors asked, as they walked along the wide dirt road.
"Not really, but it's quite dangerous because of all the Weedles in it. Most pokemon types are very weak against poison," Sam said. Fors put her hands in the pockets of her pinafore and began taking small skips. They made their uneventful way to Viridian Forest.