Finally at the first gym :) Have a good time reading

I don't own pokemon. If I did, I would be rich.

-Calem-

Really, how many times is this going to happen? I questioned to myself.

Behind me was a mob of angry pokemon that I was running away from. The mob held everything from azuril to dunsparce. Froakie was on my shoulder firing bubble after bubble at the massing mob, and at one point Froakie even started using water pulse. I didn't have time to congratulate him, though.

I saw Santalune City coming into view and sprinted the last few yards into the city. The pokemon, once again, stopped at the edge of their territory, and turned around. Froakie gave them one last water pulse for extra measure.

"Well, I guess that's one more chance to catch pokemon wasted," I stated between pants. "At least you learned water pulse." I stroked Froakie's head in praise.

I looked back to route 3 and sighed. I was planning on catching at least one pokemon from the route so that I would be able to challenge the Santalune gym. The Santalune gym rules clearly state that each challenger is to use two pokemon, no more no less. I guess I would just have to figure it out went I was at the gym. There was no way I would be able to go back on route 3 without being mobbed.

I explored the fairly rustic city of Santalune. There were many kind people wandering about the streets; going about their chores in a relaxed manner. The city was made up of multiple flowered homes with forest green roofs and beautiful brick walls. There was floral courtyard sitting in the center of the city with a masterfully sculpted roselia fountain standing tall in the very center. Towering behind the courtyard was the Trainer's school with it's two magnificent columns where decorative silver pokeballs sat ontop.

I didn't see a reason to go into the school, so I passed it by. I walked on the brick path to the right of the Trainer's School and ended up in front of the Santalune gym. The gym was breath taking. Shining, golden walls held arching glass windows with a tall set of doors in between them.

In front of the doors was a skater girl decked out in yellow skating gear. She had her black hair tied into a set of pigtails, and she wore a loose white tank-top with yellow shorts that matched her gear. She seemed impatient, and her hand twitched about.

The skater girl noticed me and Froakie and yelled, "Yo, you with the froakie."

I turned in the skater girl's direction and raised a questioning eyebrow. She beckoned me closer, and I walked towards her.

Once I was close enough she burst out, "You want some wicked skates?"

I shrugged and replied, "Sure, why not."

A big smile appeared on the skater girl's face, and she exclaimed, "Great! You can have a pair of deluxe Snap-on Roller Blades if you can beat me!"

I thought about the offer. I had been roller blading once when my cousins had taken me, and it was fairly fun. I guess I could go for a pair of roller blades, and besides, I was always up for a battle. Froakie could always use the experience.

"Alright, let's have a battle," I declared. "You ready Froakie?" Froakie silently nodded and hopped down from my shoulder.

"Prepare to be defeated by Rinka, the best skater ever!" The skater girl, Rinka, exclaimed as she threw out her pokeball bounced on the ground and let out a zigzagoon.

Rinka caught the pokeball as it bounced back to her and commanded, "Ziggy, use headbutt!"

"Dodge it, Froakie, and use water pulse!"

Rinka's zigzagoon, Ziggy, charged towards Froakie with her head down. Froakie leaped out of the way of the attack and used water pulse. A blue sphere formed in front of Froakie, and once it was big enough, he fired the sphere in the direction of Ziggy. The sphere hit the ground and exploded into a wave that hit Ziggy hard.

"Ziggy, use sand attack to blind him, and then hit hard with tackle!"

Before I could say anything, Ziggy used sand attack, and a small sand cloud was shot at Froakie. The sand momentarily blinded Froakie by going into his eyes, and Ziggy used the moment of blindness to slam into Froakie with tackle. Froakie went flying back, but he was by no means out for the count.

I searched the area frantically for something I could use to gain an advantage. Finally my eyes alit upon something.

"Froakie, jump onto the gym's wall and shot off it while using bubble and tackle!"

"Dodge it, Ziggy!"

Froakie nodded his head and leaped onto the gym's wall. He was able to stick to the vertical surface with his adhesive toes. He shot of the wall at high speeds, and was trailed by a mob of bubbles growing by the second. Ziggy was frozen with fear at the monster-like mob of bubbles coming towards her. Froakie slammed into Ziggy, and leaped out of the way as the horde of bubbles whammed into her. The bubbles soon cleared to show that Ziggy had fainted.

Rinka sighed and returned Ziggy to her pokeball. Froakie hopped in excitement at the win and returned to my shoulder. He seemed energetic enough to stay outside the pokeball.

"Good job, Froakie," I praised.

"Woah, that was one epic battle," Rinka stated. "Here take two pairs of deluxe Snap-on Roller Blades." She threw me the two pairs of roller blades, and I barely caught them.

"Why are you giving me two?" I questioned.

Rinka did a little twirl on her skates and exclaimed, "So you can spread the glory of roller blades! Duh." With that, she skated away.

I stared in the direction Rinka had skated off in and shrugged. The world was filled with some crazy people.

I turned to the gym and sighed. I had to find a way to catch another pokemon if I wanted to battle the gym. Luckily, the problem fixed itself.

"What are you doing with two pairs of roller blades?"

I spun around to see Forrest with her fennekin- LightHero, I think -standing next to her. Man, she really was creepy when she snuck up on you like that; I hadn't even noticed her. That matter aside, an idea struck me, but Forrest would have to agree to it.

"Um, it's actually a pretty weird story," I replied. "Do you want the other pair?"

Forrest raised her eyebrow and replied, "Sure, I haven't been roller blading in a while though."

I then tossed a pair to Forrest who expertly caught them. Forrest inspected the blades and pulled out a small slip of paper.

"Snap on these rollor blades to any shoe and enjoy their easy use. Press the back button for the Snap-On Roller Blades to fold in on themselves, so you may enjoy walking pleasures. Huh, I wonder how that works out?" Forrest read aloud and mused.

Forrest then snapped the roller blades onto the shoes that I just relized she was wearing. Forrest only wore shoes in school, and even then, they just passed by as shoes for school regulations. They had to have at least twenty holes in the bottom, and the fabric had been long since worn out. It blew my mind to see Forrest actually wearing brand new, black tennis shoes that had the Pokemon League symbol on them, outside none the less.

"Since when do you wear shoes?" I questioned.

"Since shop keepers don't let me in their stores without shoes," Forrest retorted.

Wow, Forrest was actually sustaining a conversation with me. That had to be a record, but I guess going on a Pokemon journey does boost your confidence.

Sadly, I spoke too soon. Forrest started clutching her arm, and she searched the area for an escape route. LightHero on the other hand seemed to be having quite the conversation with Froakie. LightHero had changed considerably since I had first seen him. He seemed to be braver and more active.

"So, are you challenging the gym too?" I asked; trying to spark the conversation again.

"Yeah, um, LightHero really seemed to want to challenge it," Forrest replied shyly.

LightHero wanted to? Well, I guess that made sense.

I decided that now was as good a time as any to ask, "Um, do you think I could borrow one of your pokemon that you weren't going to use for the gym battle?" I knew it was risky to ask something like that, but I needed another pokemon to battle the gym.

"Why would you need one of my pokemon? Besides, that sounds like it's against the rules," Forrest replied.

"Well, I kinda wasn't able to catch any pokemon on the way here because of, uh, certain circumstances," I stated sheepishly. "And, technically, it's not against the rules." I had read the rule handbook at least a hundred times, and it only said that using other's pokemon was highly discouraged, not against the rules.

Forrest stared at me; still not comprehending the situation.

"You do know that you need two pokemon to challenge this gym, right?" I questioned.

"Oh," Forrest stated; just now realizing why I needed to borrow one of her pokemon. "I only have LightHero."

That statement instantly shot my hopes down. Now I would either have to brave out to route 3, not likely, or go out to route 22 where the ace trainers prowled. Ace trainers are trainers that have been training their pokemon for a while, and they just loved to nail inexperienced trainers in battle. If you were smart, you stayed away from route 22 until you collected all eight badges. I would have went to route 4, but the gym leader's sister was there. She somehow always blocks young trainers' paths if they didn't at least challenge her sisters gym. I neither knew how or why she did that.

Forrest saw my crestfallen expression and stated, "Perhaps I could let you borrow LightHero, and then tomarrow, you can let me borrow Froakie. The gym leader will probably never know."

My hopes shot back up, but then-

"Who wouldn't know what?"

My hopes were shot down again as I turned around to the gym to see non other than Viola, the Santalune gym leader. I had met her once before when she came to visit my parents, and she hadn't changed a bit. Her hair exploded behind her in a bowl-like style and strands of hair that framed her face were curled at the tips. Her olive green eyes seemed cool and leveled, but any one who knew her knew that she was not level headed at all. She had a major obsession with photography, and sadly, I learned about that obsession when Malva was over. Not a good time. Viola wore a white tank top and green cargo pants that had bulging pockets from being stuffed with photography equipment. Her muddy boots showed that she had been out walking earlier today.

"Hi, Viola," I greeted sheepishly. "Um, I don't know if you remember-"

Viola cut me off and exclaimed, "You're the boy who I took pictures of with Malva! I must say, you looked great in that dress."

Viola's eyes glimmered with amusement as my cheeks flushed with embarrassment, and I could have sworn I heard Forrest's LightHero making strange snickering sounds from behind me. I didn't turn around though; I had more important mattering going on in front of me.

Viola's eyes calmed again as she stated, "So, I see that you and your friend where planning to borrow each other's pokemon. You know that is highly discouraged."

I rubbed the back of my head and stated, "Well, you see-"

Viola cut me off again, "Don't worry, plenty of trainers have this happen to them. How about you two team up to face me in a double battle?"My hopes shot up again. I could still battle the gym, and Viola wasn't even mad about my idea to borrow pokemon. If my mom and dad heard about this, I would never hear the end of it.

"Thanks," I replied gratefully.

Viola smiled and stated, "Your welcome. Now, let's have a gym battle, Calem and..." Viola paused since she didn't know Forrest.

"Forrest."

Viola nodded in reply to Forrest saying her name and commented, "Forrest, that's an interesting name." Viola stared at Forrest for a moment and then shook her head. "Well, let's get started."

Viola opened the gym doors with gusto and clomped inside. Forrest and I followed her inside to see a fairly large room with beautiful photos of plants and bug type pokemon. The flooring was decorated with silhouettes of different bug type Pokemon with wings. There were two status, with the Pokemon League symbol on them, in front of a square hole that sat in the center of room. A thick white rope, that looked to much like an Ariados's string for my liking, led down to the floor below.

Voila grabbed onto the rope and slid down to the floor below. I looked over to Forrest, my eyebrow raised, who shrugged and followed Viola in suit. I saw LightHero tighten his grip on Forrest's leg as she slid down the rope. I took a deep breath.

"Now or never. Let's do this Froakie." With that, I slid down the silky rope with Froakie clutching my shoulder in a vice grip.

-Forrest-

Calem landed loudly behind me, and I smiled slightly. I had seen Calem's cautious glance when he had eyed the silky rope and heard his cry of shock when he found out that the "rope" was actually string from an Ariados.

"Wow, this place is really cool," I heard LightHero excitedly state. I couldn't help but agree with LightHero. The gym's battle arena was amazing; it reminded me of a rain forest that someone would see in a magazine. Giant leaves hung from the walls of the battlefield, and every kind of plant imaginable was in the room. In the center of the battle field was a giant spider web stretched over a dark, still pool of sorts. I peered into the pool but all that stared back was inky blackness.

Viola had somehow reached a platform on the other side of the battle field and called out, "You guys ready for a battle?"

I took another quick glance over the field from the platform I was standing on. The web didn't seem to be sticky; in fact, it seemed bouncy. The pool below could be an asset for Calem's Froakie, but I didn't know whether Froakie would be able to see in the dark water. LightHero would have better luck using the bouncy web to quickly avoid attacks and reply with his own. I reassured myself with the fact that this was a bug-type gym. LightHero should have no problem.

I looked over to Calem to see if he was ready, and he stated, "Let's get started."

Viola smiled and threw out two pokeballs while shouting, "Come on out, Vivillon and Surskit!" Out of the pokeballs came a beautiful meadow pattern vivillon and an intense looking surskit.

My confidence for this battle suddenly plummeted. Surskit would do major damage to LightHero if I wasn't careful, and Vivillon would easily maneuver through the jungle. Still, I wasn't about to let LightHero down, and Froakie might be able to go against Surskit.

"Let's do this Froakie!"

Froakie jumped out onto the field saying, "I will fight till the end!"

"You ready LightHero?" I questioned.

"When wasn't I ready?" With that, LightHero jumped onto the field.

I didn't reply. I didn't want anyone to think I was crazy, or even worse, figure out that I actually could talk to pokemon. I had heard that a person from Unova could speak to pokemon, and the media had never left them alone. Plus, there had been many insecure trainers who asked the person to tell them what their pokemon were saying. I didn't want that to happen.

"Surskit, Vivillon, you know what to do!" Viola shouted, starting the battle.

Surskit slipped through the web and disappeared into the water, while Vivillon vanished in the foliage above the field. Viola's strategy seemed to be to have her pokemon until and pick us off at their leisure.

Calem must have reliezed this strategy since he commanded, "Froakie, go into the water and find Surskit!"

Froakie obeyed and disappeared in the murky water below the web. I knew that LightHero wouldn't be helpful in finding Surskit, so I thought about how to deal with Vivillon.

I couldn't think of anything at the moment, so I shouted, "LightHero, look out for Vivillon and dodge when she attacks!"

LightHero knew that what I had said was basically code for 'I have absolutely no idea on what to do', so he patiently listened to the noises around him.

Suddenly, Viola commanded, "Now!"

Vivillon shot out of the foliage, heading straight for LightHero. LightHero managed to dodge, and he even landed a light scratch to Vivillon's right wing as she disappeared again. Froakie hadn't been so lucky. He had been shot out of the water by Surskit, and Froakie rammed into the web. The web stretched out from the impact and shot Froakie back into the water a double the speed he had been shot out at. Froakie hit the water with a loud slap. Calem winced as if he had been hit as Froakie weakly resurfaced. At least Froakie had managed to keep swimming after the immense damage done to him.

I searched the arena over. I think I had an idea after seeing the web shoot Froakie back into the water. I knew that Viola would hate me afterwards, but I decided that anything was worth it to make LightHero happy.

"Calem, get Froakie out of the water." Calem looked at me with that what-exactly-are-you-planning look, but he apparently decided to trust my decision.

"Froakie, launch yourself out of the water with water pulse!"

Froakie leaped out of the water, and once he was in the air, he fired water pulse at the murky water to give him that little, extra boost to reach the web. Froakie grasped his webbed hand on the strings of the web and clambered through one of the many holes of the web.

"LightHero, I want you to jump onto Froakie's back!"

"What!" a confused Calem exclaimed.

LightHero jumped onto Froakie's back, and Froakie actually balanced perfectly. I was surprised to see Froakie's ease with LightHero on his back. LightHero was about the same size as Froakie.

"Froakie, you have to jump up as high as you can. Then, LightHero, spin around and use ember," I shouted.

Froakie glanced to Calem for conformation on the order. I guess he wanted to make sure his trainer was on board with the plan. Calem nodded, and Froakie sprung up into the air with LightHero clinging to his back. Soon Froakie had disappeared into the foliage above the spider web.

Voila, who for some reason had done nothing during the time Calem and I spent conveying information, stood there watching with a faint smile on her face. My heart constricted as I thought of the possibility that Voila had a trap waiting. I looked to where LightHero and Froakie had disappeared to with amounting dread. The seconds ticked by and nothing had happened, but suddenly, a small flame appeared. Then, the flame leaped from leaf to leaf to vine, becoming an inferno. Froakie and LightHero appeared from out of the burning foliage unscathed, and they landed bouncily on the web.

Voila's Vivillon wasn't so lucky. Vivillon fell from the raging inferno with burnt wings that flapped weakly and dropping antennas. Vivillon hit the web and lay there doing something similar to panting.

"You did great, Vivillon. Rest for now," Voila congratulated as she recalled vivillon to her pokeball. "I'm not out for the count yet. Surskit is still ready to go."

It was then that Surskit shot out of the water, making it easily onto the web, and shot a hard stream of bubbles at LightHero. Luckily for LightHero, Froakie jumped in the way of the attack, using his body as a human shield. LightHero's eyes widened in surprise as the bubbles slammed into the already weakened Froakie. Froakie fell limply to the floor; he had fainted.

LightHero stared at the fainted Froakie with disbelief. I guess he thought the strong, detiremened froakie would never fall. LightHero's disbelief soon turned to a detiremenation of his own as he turned towards Surskit with a raging fire in his eyes. He then charged towards Surskit with abandon.

Surskit charged up another round of bubbles, and I cautioned, "Look out, LightHero."

LightHero didn't head the warning and kept running towards Surskit. Just as Surskit was about to let loose the bubbles, flame surrounded LightHero as he was charging Surskit. Surskit popped all of his bubbles in surprise, and he was promptly slammed into with one of the most powerful flame charges I had ever seen. Surskit was sent flying, and he slammed into the wall right behind Voila. Surskit lay on the ground, fainted.

I stood there, uncomprehending, for a moment before bursting out in joy. We had won. We had actually won. I could see LightHero panting happily from his place on the field, and Calem's eyes gleamed in excitement as he returned Froakie to his pokeball.

"Good job, Froakie. I'll take you to the Pokemon Center right away," Calem stated.

LightHero weakly walked over to me, and I cradled him in my arms.

LightHero yawned and tiredly stated, "I'm tired." With that, LightHero's eyes drooped down, and he fell asleep.

Voila walked expertly across the spider web, and once she reach the platform we were standing on, she declared, "Congradulations, you have beat the Santalune gym, and now I bestow upon you the Santalune gym badge." Voila handed each of us a badge that looked like a brown bug with two green stones in each wing. "You can leave from the door behind my platform whenever you are ready." With that, Voila bounced across the web and disappeared through the sliding doors behind her platform.

After about thirty minutes of carefully inching across a giant spider web with a sleeping fire type, who would never let me hear the end of it if I dropped him into the water, in hand, I finally reached Voila's platform with Calem right behind me. I had no idea how Voila manages to skip across that web so easily. Calem and I opened the sliding door and walked into the room at the front of the gym.

"I've gotta go, but perhaps we'll see eachother another time," Calem stated and ran off to the Pokemon Center.

I walked out the gym doors and breathed in the fresh air. One gym down, seven more to go.