Resa looked annoyed. "Way too many ladders in here, and the Trainers here all have Bellsprout. That move that the guy told us about had better be worth it." Piplup was running alongside Flare. He had been pretty good in battle, but the Bellsprout did have a type-advantage. "Hey! That's that one boy who battled me back at Cherrygrove! Grr..."
Maven withdrew the Totodile. The Elder spoke to him. "You showed us what you've got, and it is indeed good... Take this Technical Machine. However, you should care more about your Pokémon. The way you treat your Pokémon can be too harsh... Remember, Pokémon are not tools of war..."
Maven turned from the elder. Resa was almost afraid he would see her. She could hear him mutter. "...Hmph! He calls himself the Elder, but he was no match for me. Sure enough, those who lecture how you should be 'nice' to Pokémon... They cannot defeat me. All I care about are strong Pokémon that win every time. The rest of them don't mean anything to me." He pulled out an Escape Rope, and left. When he was gone, Resa walked up to the Elder.
"Um... Hello?"
"Hello, young Trainer." He called out a Bellsprout. "So good of you to come here. Sprout Tower is a place of training. People and Pokémon test their bonds to build a bright future together. I am Elder Li, the final test. Allow me to check the ties between you and your Pokémon!"
Resa grinned. "Go! Piplup! You can do it! Use Pound!"
Piplup ignored her, and used Growl at the Bellsprout. Elder Li's Bellsprout used Growth. It emanated a dim green light. "Use Pound, Piplup!" Resa wondered why it had refused to listen to her. This time, Piplup obeyed, and the Bellsprout staggered a little. It used Growth again, and the green light grew brighter. Resa was getting a little worried. "Piplup, use Pound again." Instead, it used Growl again.
"Use Vine Whip, Bellsprout." Piplup got slapped on the flipper by its vines. "Piip?"
"Piplup, use Pound this time!" It turned away from the Bellsprout indignantly. "PIP!" The Bellsprout used Vine Whip, and Piplup angrily faced it. "Piplup, please use Pound!" It ignored her once again and used Bubble. The Bellsprout used Vine whip again. She told Piplup to use Pound. It finally did, and the Bellsprout fainted.
Resa pulled out Piplup's Pokéball. "Piplup, switch out, come back. Flare, I'm not going to take any chances this time. Your turn." The Elder threw out another Bellsprout.
Flare jumped out to battle. "Use Ember!" The Bellsprout tried to avoid it, but the flames caught, and the Pokémon was knocked out cold. Elder Li called it back and sent out a Hoothoot.
"Use Quick Attack, Flare! Hurry!" From battling on the way to Violet City, she knew that Hoothoots could use a move called Hypnosis. Which could spell disaster, especially now that Piplup wasn't listening to her. Flare ran super quickly, and launched herself at the Hoothoot. It still stood there strong, and Pecked at Flare as she tried to recover her footing.
"Use um... Ember!" The Hoothoot was still good to battle after being swathed in the flames.
"Hoothoot, use Hypnosis." Elder Li said dismissively.
"Don't let it look you in the eyes, Flare!" The Cyndaquil obediently covered her eyes with her forepaws. "Now try and use Quick Attack again!" The Hoothoot found itself thrown back several yards. Its eyes were closed.
"Hooooot." It sighed.
"Alright, return, Hoothoot." He glanced at Resa. "Hmm... the way you battle is quite elegant. You should be able to stand up to Falkner. And you should be able to make good use of this..." He handed her an odd object. "It is a Technical Machine called Flash. Take it with you." She slipped it into her bag, and thanked him. He smiled. "Oh, and by the way, that Piplup might respect you more if you get Falkner's Gym Badge."
"Alright... Thanks again."
Resa rushed back to the Pokémon Center. Nurse Joy handed her something. Resa looked at it very quickly. "Oh! Thank you, Nurse Joy!" She clambered up to the room she had been given the night before. And then she let Piplup out of his Pokéball. She had stopped ny the PokéMart on the way back, and she gave Flare and Piplup an apple each. She munched on her own apple. Then she sternly looked at Piplup again. "You had better behave tommorrow, because you could lose us our first badge."
It glared at her. "Pip pip pipip. Luuuup."
She sighed. "I wish I knew what you were saying, Piplup. It would make my life easier. "
"Cynda. Quuiiil."
"Alright, that's it! I am off to bed!" She jumped under the covers. Piplup and Flare looked at eachother, and shrugged in that way that Pokémon do. It was the end of Resa's second day of being a Pokémon Trainer.
