Umm….sorry Gena! I don't have much of an excuse…I basically just gave up on this story…but from now on, I'll update more! Promise! I want to finish it by the end of the year. That might not be possible, but we'll see. I hope you enjoy, and maybe soon I'll get back into the mood of this story..

Chapter Seven: Badges

"Where are we?" asked Red, much to May's annoyance.

"Can't you read the sign? It's right there," snapped May.

"Petaaal…Petaalburrg…funny, it's spelled just like Petalburg," said Red stupidly, looking at the sign with a lot of concentration.

May sighed. "That's because it IS Petalburg…"

"My dad's gym is here," interrupted Brendan.

"Oh? You sounded really serious there, Brendan," said May with a frown. That usually didn't happen. She'd have something interesting to write in her diary tonight.

"Yeah?...Well, I always wanted to visit…" murmured Brendan. "My dad started up a restaurant there. It's one of the reasons he's always on TV."

"I should've known…" muttered May.

"I've heard of that restaurant!" said Red excitedly. "I ate there before. They serve the best orange meringue pie!"

"I'll go challenge my dad!" said Brendan determinately.

-------------Scene change!

"Dad!" said Brendan loudly, with May and Red trailing behind him.

"Brendan! You're alive—uh, I mean, you actually made friend—uh, I mean it's great to see you!" stuttered Mr. Cadbury, or Norman.

May snickered at Brendan.

"Whatever, dad. Let's have a battle!" said Brendan.

"Already? You just got here! What's got into you, son? I thought the first thing you'd say when you got here was for me to give you a menu!" said Norman, shocked.

"I thought we could have a chef battle like we used to," said Brendan.

"I have a better idea!" interrupted May. "Why don't you two battle with your pokemon?"

Brendan and Norman looked at each other with a shocked expression. "Nah."

"What kind of gym leader are you!" accused May.

"Who's the girl?" asked Norman.

"My girlfriend!" piped up Red. May jabbed him with her elbow.

"No I'm not! That's the last thing I'd ever be," said May.

"Sweet! May wants to be my girlfriend!" exclaimed Red.

"No, you freak!"

"That's May, Dad. She's the stiff, antisocial, non-food loving daughter of Professor Toffee," Brendan informed Norman.

May sulked, thinking, Does he really think I'm antisocial and stiff?

"Non-food loving?" repeated Norman, completely appalled. "That's preposterous!"

"I do like food! Just not as much as you guys!" said May defensively. "Are you going to have a gym battle or not?"

Norman sighed. "You two don't look strong enough. Maybe you should come back after a few more badges."

"Aw, come on dad!" whined Brendan.

"You didn't even want to do this in the first place!" exclaimed May, rounding on Brendan.

"Oh, all right son. I could never resist that stupid look on your face," said Norman. "We'll use two pokemon each."

"Okay! Yogurt!" Yogurt rolled out of its pokeball automatically.

"That's really big," commented Norman. He released his Slakoth.

"Oh, that's so cute!" exclaimed May, with stars in her eyes.

"It is?" Brendan gave May a weird look.

"Focus, Slakoth!" ordered Norman. The Slakoth started to concentrate, and then it began to rub its head, which made it look like it had a headache.

"Yogurt, swallow!" Yogurt lumbered close to Slakoth, and opened its gigantic mouth. Soon Slakoth was inside.

"Did your pokemon just eat mine?" asked Norman wonderingly. "I never came across this before…Slakoth, 'Mega Punch'!"

There was a loud smack, and Slakoth practically flew out of Yogurt, amidst a great deal of spit and other digestive juices.

"Do you think Brendan will win?" asked Red.

"No way! That jerk called me antisocial," said May vehemently.

Yogurt flumped over. It had a constant pain in its mouth now. "Yogurt, 'Splash'!"

Yogurt waved his extremely large fins, and Slakoth 'flew' again, slamming against a wall of the gym.

"Slakoth!" Norman gritted his teeth, and returned it. "You did well, son. But I don't know how you'll do against my Slaking!"

Norman released his Slaking.

"Yogurt, 'Splash'!" ordered Brendan.

Slaking dug its feet at the ground, and was pushed back a few inches. A few cuts appeared in various areas of its body.

"That's a troublesome attack…" muttered Norman. "It's a good thing Slaking knows 'Disable'! Go for it, Slaking!"

Slaking chose that moment to disobey Norman and loaf around.

"Splash again, Yogurt!" said Brendan. The cuts on Slaking became deeper.

"Disable, Slaking! Disable!" said Norman frantically.

Slaking became angry and stood next to Yogurt, giving it a sound smack.

"Splash!" said Brendan. Yogurt splashed the Slaking, and roared. The Slaking stepped backward, the cuts even deeper.

"Disable! Why won't you Disable?" said Norman in an irritated voice.

"Splash!" said Brendan gleefully. The Slaking fainted.

"You're a good trainer, son," admitted Norman grudgingly. He returned his Slaking to its ball. "Unfortunately for you, I ran out of badges. All I have is this picture of a badger. I can sign it for you, I'm sure the Pokemon League will accept that."

"Sure thing dad! Can we have a chef battle now?" asked Brendan.

"That's the spirit, son!"

---------------------------Scene change/Time Skip:

"The kid with the orange hat will be on my team, and the food hater will be on your team, son!" said Norman. "Whoever makes the better meal within an hour wins!"

"Sure thing, dad!" said Brendan. The two teams scattered, since Norman happened to have two kitchens for this type of event. With the timer set up, they got to work.