—7—
Cascadebadge
JOSH
"Oof!"
Josh watched as Raina, the Cerulean City Gym leader, swept the floor with Caleb and Tanner's teams back-to-back. Tanner went first, thinking Pikachu's Electric moves would be enough to get him through, but as Casey promised, her Starmie was not messing around. With moves like Bubblebeam and Recover, it proved to be a challenge. Not to mention, she wasn't afraid to use Potions and X Specials on her Pokémon during battle to keep them in the match.
Her flowing locks of red hair against her pale skin and blue bikini gave her an aesthetic Josh envied. He always wondered what he might look like as a girl. He pictured a hot blonde version of Raina. Despite her rosy cheeks and charming smile, she proved to be ruthless in battle, and the most challenging trainer they'd faced yet.
And now it's my turn.
"Two down, one to go," Raina announced. "You ready to lose?"
Josh gulped. He had never been so scared in his entire life, but he was not about to let it show or back down. Belief in himself and in his team counted for something. Among his friends, he ended up being the first to build a team of six: Squirtle, Pidgey, Butterfree, Nidoran, Clefairy, and Eevee. Bill had been nice enough to give him and Tanner Eevees of their own. Raina used three Pokémon for trainers having obtained one badge: Psyduck, Staryu, and the toughest Starmie Josh had every seen. The first two didn't scare him, but that last one…
"Well?" Rain asked, pulling her red curls behind her ears. "Are you just going to stand there? Or shall we begin?"
In his contemplating, he failed to notice her calling Psyduck to the front lines. He fumbled at his belt for his first Pokémon and pressed the button on the ball.
"Butterfree! Go!"
The two Pokémon faced off. Josh always heard Psyduck were docile, friendly creatures, but Raina trained this one to be vicious. It pulled all kinds of tricks such as diving under the water whenever Josh tried to use a Powder move.
Good trainers adapt to the circumstances, he reminded himself. They roll with the punches.
Josh should have known better than to try it in the first place. Caleb's poor Bulbasaur puffed himself dry trying to land a Sleep Powder. Josh commanded Butterfree to use Gust and only met with the same failure. He saw the solution at once, and though it flew in the face of the strategy he formed in his head to start, there was no point in wasting time.
"Butterfree, return!"
"Calling him back already?" Raina taunted. "That's too bad. Psyduck was just warming up. You could have used Confusion to start a psychic battle, but that would have just been too interesting, I suppose. Come one. Bring out your next boring Pokémon.
This bitch is pissing me off.
"Squirtle, Go!"
"You think your Water-type is better than my Water-type?" Raina demanded. "You can't be serious! You mean that is your strategy? You're in for a beating you'll never forget."
"Don't let her throw you off your game, Josh!" Caleb called from the sidelines. "You're doing fine!"
"Sure," Raina said. "Listen to your boyfriend—who just lost!"
"Squirtle use Bite!" Josh said. Before Psyduck could react, Squirtle jetted across the water and snapped his jaws closed. Raina's Psduck flinched.
"Bite him again!" Josh said. Luck favored him today; Psyduck flinched. "One more time, Squirtle; you got this!"
The hit was critical and Squirtle manage to faint his opponent without taking a hit. He looked up at Raina expecting a look of humility and devastation. Instead, her arrogant sneer stayed plastered on her face as she called Psyduck back.
"Go, Staryu!"
Her taunting stopped, and for that Josh was grateful, but her calm silence worked his nerves almost as much.
"Use Minimize!" she commanded.
"Squirtle! Hit it with a Tackle attack!"
Squirtle missed terrible and splashed into the water. Josh groaned, embarrassed, but did not have time to let his emotions get in the way.
"Staryu, Minimize!"
Staryu became harder and harder to hit. Squirtle would wear himself out trying to chase it around the pool and have no energy left for the real threat. Josh watched Tanner and Caleb lose to this same nonsense and decided he was not about to give Raina the satisfaction. At this point, it was less about him winning and more about her losing. He wanted to see her lose.
"Squirtle, return! Go, Eevee!"
"Keep switching! All you're doing is buying me more time to raise Staryu's evasion. Use Minimize!"
Josh huffed. "Eevee! Use Swift!"
The hit connected and Raina finally made the face he hoped for. The sneer on her face dropped to one of concern.
"Staryu! Psybeam!"
The variable power attack hit Eevee but failed to cause confusion as Josh assumed Raina hoped. He commanded Eevee to use Swift until he fainted her Staryu. He looked over at Caleb and gave him a wink. Caleb returned his gesture with a big smile and a thumbs-up. Whilee building strategy for the match back at the Center, he helped him by letting him know what each of Eevee's moves did.
"Swift never misses," Caleb had said. "It's not a powerful move, but it's a useful move for those Pokémon who like to use Sand Attack."
I wonder why he didn't do that when it was his turn…
"Staryu, return! Go, Starmie!"
"Eevee, return! Go, Squirtle!" Josh countered.
"I suppose I should have seen that coming," Raina said. "Your Squirtle is a powerful hitter, and probably the best you have in your arsenal."
"It's a team, not an arsenal," Josh snapped. "Pokémon are companions, not weapons."
"If only your battling skills were as good as your semantics! Starmie, use Bubblebeam to blow Squirtle out of the water!"
"Squirtle, use Withdraw!"
They reached a stalemate. Starmie's Bubblebeam was powerful but against a tough-as-nails Pokémon like Josh's Squirtle, it had little effect. Raina commanded it to do a Rapid Spin, but Squirtle's defense grew so high, the blow ended up being next to nothing. Josh watched a vein bulge out on Raina's forehead and her face turn as red as her hair.
Now's the perfect time to turn the tables on her!
"Squirtle, use Bite!"
The Dark-type move was super-effective against Starmie, but not enough to take it out in a single blow. As expected, Raina commanded it to use Recover and regain its health. Josh crossed his fingers and kept up with the pattern. He waited for Starmie to come in with a Rapid Spin and commanded Squirtle to clamp down as it passed, hoping for a flinch. The first three times it went in a cycle of Bubblebeam, Withdraw, Rapid Spin, Bite, and Recover, but the fourth time around, he got lucky and Starmie flinched from the Attack.
"Finish it up, Squirtle! Bite attack! One more time!"
Starmie fainted.
"I did it!" Josh exclaimed. "I beat her!"
"That's not all, dude!" Tanner said, pointing. "Look!"
Josh turned his eyes back to the battlefield and saw Squirtle glowing. He'd seen his Caterpie do this, and later again when Metapod evolved into Butterfree, but for some reason, it was more magical to watch his starter Pokémon evolve. Though the light was nigh on blinding, Josh refused to look away. He'd been waiting a long time for this moment and planned to savor it. Swelling in size and growing stronger in every way, Squirtle evolved into Wartortle.
So proud he had to wipe the tears of joy from his eyes, Josh called Wartortle back to wrap him in a big hug. His Pokémon croaked out his name over and over in joy, returning the embrace. Caleb and Tanner joined him on the platform to give him hugs and high fives of their own.
"I suppose you'll be wanting this," Raina said. Her smirk had returned, but it didn't seem mad to have lost. In fact, she gave the impression like she was glad someone finally beat her.
"You bet I do," Josh replied. He held out his hand as she dropped a shiny blue Cascadebage into his hand.
"You've got the right stuff, kid," Raina said.
"Kid?! You're only a few years older than me."
"I have boobs and a period and you don't even have hair on your balls yet; you're a kid."
"Hair?" Josh said. He looked down. "On my balls?"
"Your friends will explain it to you, you sheltered little prude," Raina scoffed. "In the meantime, give these two a lesson in battling; they're going to need it for their rematches tomorrow. I'm done for the day."
Josh watched as she and her gaggle of girls giggled their way out of the water and into the locker room. Scratching his head, he tried to understand what she meant, but shrugged it away, too excited about his victory to worry for long.
"I did it!" Josh said, showing of his badge.
"You sure did," Caleb praised. "I'm so proud of you. Good thinking using Eevee's Swift attack. I wish I had thought of that."
"You mean there's something Josh thought of the wise and might Caleb did not?" Tanner jibbed. "Gasp!"
"This coming from the guy whose Charmander was fainted by a Psyduck and whose Pikachu nearly drown in the pool," Caleb shot back.
"My strategy was solid," Tanner maintained. "Water conducts electricity. How the hell was I supposed to know that Pikachu can't swim?"
"They can," Caleb countered. "Just not yours."
"Well, how do you suppose I win my Cascadebadge, smart guy?"
"You could take your Pikachu to the lake nearby and teach him to swim today," Josh suggested. "Then when you rematch Raina she'll be in for a surprise."
"Was that helpful advice, from Josh?" Tanner joked. "Glad to see you haven't risen so far above us that you can't be bothered by the lowly one-badgers."
"First of all," Josh said, "That's not a thing: one-badgers. Second, you guys are my friends; of course I'm going to help. Third, you're going to win your badge tomorrow now you know what you're getting yourself into. We'll be back to equal standing in no time.
"So, you do admit you think you're better than us," Tanner countered.
"Tanner!" Josh huffed. "Could you not?"
The three of them returned to the Pokémon Center to heal up. Caleb passed his time by burying his face in one of the PCs. Peering over his shoulder, Josh saw he was looking at the forums for the Vermillion City Gym.
"Researching the next gym leader?" Josh asked.
"Yeah," Caleb replied. "After you set such a shining example for how to deal with Raina, I feel pretty confident in my rematch tomorrow. Rumor has it, the gym in Vermillion is packed with tough trainers and a tougher gym leader. I don't want to embarrass myself like I did today."
Josh left Caleb to his research and went to find Tanner. Standing in front of the mirror, lacing up his boots and packing his bag, his expression was one of a man on a mission.
"Where are you off to?"
"I'm going to catch some Pokémon to add to my team," he said. "Charmanda and Pikachu are strong, but I need more than two to be a champion."
"Mind if I tag along?" Josh asked. "I've been meaning to catch a good Grass-type Pokémon to add to my team."
"Me too!" Tanner exclaimed. "Caleb's Bulbasaur is an inspiration. Water-type is the most common type in the world and the majority have a Grass weakness. I need a good one."
"Sounds like a plan! Let's go!"
The two of them crossed Nugget Bridge, beat all the scrubs guarding the road, and scoured the tall grass on Routes 24 and 25. By some run of luck, the first Pokémon they encountered was an Abra. Tanner tried to battle it, but it teleported away to safety in the blink of an eye.
"Damn!"
"You'll get it next time," Josh said. "Try throwing a PokéBall without battle it. I know you're supposed to weaken it first, but sometimes it works. Caleb told me so."
They continued their quest. Josh gave Tanner first dibs at battling since he only had two Pokémon. He caught a Spearow and a Bellsprout in a few hours. Bound and determined to catch an Abra, he continued scouring the tall grass for one. He even managed to encounter another one. He took Josh's advice and threw the PokéBall straightaway. It wiggled three times before Abra burst out and teleported away.
The stream of profanity pouring out of his mouth afterwards prompted Josh to put some distance between them. He didn't want to be seen in public with Tanner when he'd blown his stack. Funny as it was, other people tended to look at him like he was crazy, and Josh by association.
Who are we kidding? Tanner is crazy.
When Josh wandered into a separate patch of tall grass by himself, he encountered a wild Oddish, much to his delight. Caleb always said Bellsprout was the better competitive choice, but Josh though Oddish was cuter. He could hear Caleb's speech in his brain about how cute Pokémon don't necessarily make good battlers, but Josh shut him out.
With Pidgey's help to weaken it, and Clefairy's help to sing it to sleep, Josh threw a PokéBall and caught Oddish. He moved to pick up the ball and as soon as he touched it, it dematerialized into the red energy and disappeared.
"What the fuck?!"
Josh covered his mouth and looked around. No one was there to hear him, but he still possessed that ten year-old guilt when it came to curse words, unlike Tanner. Considering the circumstances, he decided it was appropriate. He ran over to Tanner's patch of tall grass and flagged him down.
"What's up?"
"I just caught an Oddish, and when I did the ball just disappeared!" Josh wailed.
"Yeah, dummy! You can only carry six Pokémon with you at a time per Kanto law. Your Oddish is waiting for you inside the PC."
"The PC?!" Josh squealed. "What's he doing there?"
"Jesus Christ, Josh! Are you for real right now? Go back to the Pokémon Center and have Caleb explain this to you. I'm kind of busy right now! Abra! Here, Abra! Come to Daddy Tanner!"
"But…but…my Oddish!" Josh said. The tears came of their own volition. When he could see Tanner would not budge, he took off running back across the Nugget Bridge. In hysterics by the time he reached the Pokémon Center, he found Caleb still at the PC.
"Caleb! I caught an Oddish and now it's gone! Tanner said it was in the PC and I don't know what to do!"
"Josh," Caleb said with sympathy. He gave him a hug and a pat on the head. Josh felt better immediately and squeezed him back hard. "Let me show you."
Josh listened as Caleb spent the next half hour showing Josh the PC interface and how to switch out his Pokémon. He explained the PC only showed a representation of his Oddish. His Pokémon was safe and sound at Professor Oak's reserve, and if he were to trade one out for Oddish the other would go to the same place.
"Tanner told me he was stuck inside a computer!" Josh complained.
"That's a very rudimentary explanation to an extraordinarily complicated technological phenomenon," Caleb explained. "Your Oddish is only in the computer when it moves from one place to another. Honestly, your Pokémon are more confined inside their balls than they are in the PC. Balls reduce them down to pure energy and leave them in the hibernating state."
"Where did you learn all this?" Josh asked.
"You think I read all the time for no good reason?" Caleb asked. "Congratulations on your catch, by the way. I think Oddish will make a great addition to your team."
Josh smiled. "I was worried you'd tell me I should have caught a Bellsprout."
"I can give you all kinds of statistics as to why Bellsprout is better than Oddish, but when it comes down to it, your team needs to be your decision."
Josh gave him another hug. While their arms wrapped around one another, Caleb stole a kiss on the cheek. Josh blushed and looked around, self-conscious someone might have seen them. When they were alone, Josh had no problem with the hugs and kisses, but the world could be a harsh, intolerant place.
"No one's going to say anything," Caleb promised. "And if they do, I'll Karate Chop them in the face."
"Like a Mankey?" Josh teased.
"Like a Machamp," Caleb replied with a wink, flexing his muscles. He planted a kiss square on Josh's lips before he could protest. He blushed again, this time from the butterflies in his stomach.
"Can we get ice cream?" Josh asked.
"Sure. I need a break. I've been staring at this screen so long I have a headache. Some ice cream sounds nice. Also, I think we should hit up the clothing boutique and salon on the corner. To celebrate your victory, we should get makeovers."
"Yes, please!" Josh said.
They walked out of the center holding hands, and for the first time in as long as Josh could remember, he stopped worrying what people thought of him. After all, he won a Cascadebadge today and caught his seventh Pokémon. He might have a long way to go, but he sure as hell felt like a champion.
