CHAPTER SEVEN
"Are you going to sleep like a Snorelax every night?" Owen asked me the next morning.
"What is that suppose to mean?" I asked raising my brow.
"You can't sleep until noon every day!" he exclaimed while tapping his foot impatiently.
"I do not! It's only 9:30 a.m.!" I protested.
"We got to get moving, c'mon Slowpoke!" he picked up his bag and started walking as I grinded my teeth in anger.
We walked what seemed like forever until we finally set our sights on Cerulean City. Small, quant homes shrouded the Cerulean Gym. It was a large, aquarium with numerous different water type Pokemon painted on the side. Then we saw a few trainers battling and one little boy with his head hanging down, sitting under a tree. His adorable bowl cut covered his hazel eyes. He wore jean shorts and a teal T-shirt with a Krabby using bubblebeam on it. We walked up to him and asked him what was going on.
"A few kids from my school decided to have a Pokemon battle tournament, but they said I couldn't join because I'm not experienced enough. They're all a year older then me," he sighed, looking out at the battling.
"Well, that's terrible! It doesn't matter how old you are! I'm sure you could kick all these guys' butts!" I shouted with my hands on my hips, full confidence in the young boy.
"I'm not so sure about that. These guys are the best bug Pokemon trainers around! I could never beat them!" he noted sadly then stood up, dusting the dirt off his shorts.
"Well, they are a year older then you, maybe you should battle someone your own age?" Owen suggested.
"This might be hard for someone of your comprehension to understand, since you aren't even a trainer yourself," I mocked crossly.
"I train my Pokemon to box," he spat.
"No matter what type of training it is, age doesn't give somebody an advantage or disadvantage," I argued.
"But they're older and more experienced, this little kid doesn't have a chance," Owen spat a puff of laughter, then looked directly at me, smirking widely. "Like you could never win against me, since I am a year older then you,"
"I did win against you, remember?" I asked getting frustrated, trying to prove my point.
"Alright kid, you are going to battle against the roughest, toughest kid out here and you're gonna win!" I shouted optimistically, wrapping my arm around the boy's shoulder. He just looked away in pity and shame.
"ALRIGHT WHO WANTS TO BATTLE AGAINST-" I began to announce, but then realized I failed to catch the young boy's name. "What's your name?" I asked him in a whisper.
"Johnny," he said ashamed.
"JOHNNY!" I finished. All the older boys laughed.
"Johnny is much too little to be battling against us, he might get hurt," the leader sneered, stepping forward from his battle. He wore a fancy, blue, stripped shirt and tan shorts to his knees. He had the same colored hair as Johnny, but it was slicked back with gel.
"Thank you!" Owen mumbled throwing his arms in the air, looking at me. I stuck my tongue out at him.
"I bet he could beat you," I seethed.
"NO!" Johnny reached his arm out at me, as I began to walk towards the confident boy.
"HA! I'm undefeated this season and I plan to enter the Grand Festival next spring. What has Johnny done? Had a few lessons at school and maybe one battle he won because it was against some mediocre novice?" he raised his thin eye brow.
"Well…" I started off, but then I stopped myself when the fancy boy stepped closer to me.
"You know, I bet you're quite the treat. How about we forget this little scene and get some lunch?" he took my hand and gave it a light kiss. I blushed and looked over my shoulder to see Owen looking away in disgust, he was just jealous.
"Well, that's very flattering. If you just gave Johnny a chance, maybe I'll give you a chance," I winked.
"Delightful!" he clapped his hands together. "Alright then Johnny, let's play!"
Johnny sulked over into his battle station. On the other end, the fancy boy, with fabulous taste in girls, stood on the opposite end ready to go.
"My name is Austin by the way," he shouted to me.
"Mine's Kylie!" I shouted back.
"Well Kylie, if I win you must agree to go on a date, with me," Austin grinned flirtatiously.
"And if Johnny wins you have to make sure not to exclude him anymore," I fired back.
"Deal," he agreed, then shouted, "SCIZOR IT'S TIME!"
He threw a pokeball containing a red bug Pokemon that was as tall as Austin. It had giant claws and wings on its back. Johnny threw a pokeball with a Butterfree in it, which he called Bumpy.
"Bumpy what kind of name is that?" Austin asked, looking back at his gang and joined them in a thunderous round of laughter.
"It was my father's when he was a kid and now it's mine!" Johnny shouted protectively.
"Well, name or no name, your Pokemon is twice the age of the oldest man on earth, so there's no way he'll win this scrimmage," Austin mocked.
"TAKE THAT BACK!" Johnny shook his fists angrily. "Bumpy, sleep powder!" he growled.
"Scizor, flap it away with gust!" Austin ordered. Scizor used his short wings to send the sleeping powder back at the Butterfree. Bumpy's eyes began to slowly shut from the navy dust particles falling upon him. Suddenly, the Butterfree plummeted towards the ground, but the harsh landing caused him to wake up and regain focus on the battle.
"Scizor, use cut!" Austin told his Pokemon.
"Bumpy, stunspore now!" Johnny commanded. While Scizor was in mid attack, Bumpy sent out an orange powder that caused Scizor to become immobile, cancelling out his attack.
"Great, now use whirlwind attack!" Johnny shouted swiftly. Bumpy flapped his wings and an intense gust of wind charged into the Scizor.
"Finish it off! Tackle attack!" Johnny continued to triumph in this match. Bumpy rammed into the beaten up Scizor and made it faint. I began to cheer extra loud to boost Johnny's confidence. Both of the battlers returned their Pokemon into their pokeballs. Austin walked over to the other boys and took a beating from their mocking. Johnny walked over to Owen and me with a big smile.
"You really think I did well?" Johnny gasped shocked.
"Yeah, you did awesome!" I ruffled his hair up a little bit.
"I got to hand it to you kid, you have some real potential," Owen complimented.
"Thanks," Johnny smiled. He looked over at Austin on the other side of the open area, getting made fun of by his friends, now Austin's head was hanging down.
"Yeah, you told that little kid!" one boy remarked.
"He never saw it coming!" another laughed.
"Hey leave him alone!" Johnny stormed over. "Sure he didn't win but that doesn't mean he's not a good trainer!"
"Thanks," Austin whispered silently to him. Johnny walked away with more confidence then ever.
"See how well I am at boosting people's confidence?" Owen stretched his arms up like he had a hard days work.
"Oh my god, you just said Johnny couldn't beat any of these guys before," I glared at him.
"You just can't resist me, can you?" Owen joked sarcastically.
"You must be kidding!" I shouted before storming away.
"I think that's a no," Johnny covered his cheeks to hold into his chuckling.
Owen shook his head at the boy, "John, you have so much to learn about women,"