Chapter Nine:

After I contacted the Professor and my parents just in case they were worried we set off towards the gym. I was a little concerned about Bellamy because I hadn't had anytime to train him. I would have liked to use the Pokemon center's gym but Anita seemed set on going as soon as possible. Trying to make him feel better, I gave him some reassuring looks on the bus to the gym but he didn't return them. I hoped this gym wouldn't have me rely just on Bellamy, I needed to use one of the Pokemon I'd trained before.

When we reached the gym it was obvious what we were up against. It was a big blue octagon with lots of glass windows like before. The gym was a lot shorter than the Striaton gym, maybe only one story but it was very long. When we entered there was another woman waiting for us at a counter next to a rack of towels. Instead of having separate rooms, the whole gym seemed to be spread out before us. There was a long swimming pool full of trainers and their Pokemon followed by two smaller pools next to eachother. Then there was an area where trainers could train their water Pokemon on land and battle other Pokemon. This was water gym.

"Hello," the woman said as we approached her. "Are you here to join the gym or challenge our gym leader?" she asked.

"We want to challenge," Anita said in that same arrogant tone as before.

"Okay," the woman said and typed something on her computer. "Is this your first gym?"

We all shook our heads.

"Good," she said. "Now just enter your trainer ID's in here and you can go straight on back."

We did so and again, our faces appeared on the screen above us. Some of the trainers that we in the water waved at us and wished us luck as we passed by, careful not to slip and fall in. When we reached the back I realized what the roaring sound was. Ahead of us was a giant, white water waterfall crashing before us. As approached the waterfall began to part and we were able to pass underneath it completely dry.

The next room was what I'd expected. It was a Pokemon arena except this one was a pool with rafters floating on top of it for Pokemon that couldn't swim. I didn't think this would be much help though because Chloe would be too heavy and fall right though. Unfortunately I knew Chloe was my only advantage because electric Pokemon we strong against water. Now I wouldn't be able to use her.

A door opened on the other side of the room and a girl with chocolate brown hair and wearing a blue swimsuit came out followed by a boy with sandy blonde hair and wearing swim trunks and a t shirt. The girl looked maybe a few years older than me and the boy about my age. There was no way these people could be the gym leader.

"Hi there," the girl said, calling to us. "My name's Essie, welcome to the Nacrene City gym." I saw the boy take a seat in one of the stands. "That's my brother Mason," she said, referring to the boy. "Now which one of you want to challenge me first?"

"I do! I do!" Anita said and she sounded like a kindergartener.

Lillie and I took a seat in the stands.

"Okay," Essie said as both trainers took a stand on either end of the arena. "We are allowed one Pokemon each. I will use Clara!" she said and sent out a Oshawott, one of the rare beaver Pokemon native to Unova. They use to give them out to beginning trainers before Unova became over populated with Pokemon from other regions.

Anita held out a Pokeball and threw it at one of the mats.

"I choose Skipper," she said and Lillie and I exchanged looks.

If she'd chosen Flaps, he could at least fly instead of trying to balance on one of the mats or if she chose Imi she was small and grass was strong against water. Anita had probably only chosen Skipper because she'd wanted to show off that'd he'd evolved.

Anita's choice turned out to be a disaster. Skipper was having a hard time balancing on the mats on it's own so when the Oshawott attacked him he fell straight into the water. As Skipper tried to get on to the mat again he kept slipping and plunging straight back into the water. I wondered why Anita wouldn't just call him back already. It wasn't until the mat shot from Skippers grip and he was left flailing in the water that Anita took pity. She called him back just as his head went under.

"Fine," Anita said and put Skipper's Pokeball away. "But I've got an even better one in here," she said.

"I'm sorry," Essie said. "But you've lost. This match is one on one only. You can come back and challenge me another time though."

Anita looked angry. "But I want to challenge you now." she said and looked at me. "Right Penny? I'm allowed to challenge her again?"

I looked away as my face burned red, it was happening again.

"Please take a seat or leave the gym," Essie said.

Anita stormed out of there and didn't even wait for the waterfall to be lifted. She marched straight through and got all of her clothes wet.

"Okay," Essie said. "Who's next."
Lillie looked at me. "Do you want to go?" she asked.

I thought for a moment before agreeing. There was some serious flaws in my plan but maybe even without training Bellamy would pull through.

Essie continued to use Clara so I sent out Bellamy. He landed with a splash in the water and swam in a happy circle before waiting for me to instruct him. I'd made sure to grab my pokedex before the match and quickly checked Bellamy's attacks.

"Bellamy use water gun," I told him and just like that, Bellamy shot a thin razor of water at the Oshawott.

Oshawott used some attack on Bellamy that sent him flying out of the water for a brief moment and he landed on one of the mats. Bellamy struggled to get up and lost his footing, sending him right back into the water. It wasn't looking good.

"Bellamy, dive under and attack from behind," I said but it did no good, the Oshawott just dodged and Bellamy landed with another splash. Essie's Oshawott was just too fast.

"Use quick attack," I said and it worked, Bellamy got one good hit in against Clara.

Bellamy was tired out, he'd used all his strength on attacks that didn't hit. His water gun only seemed to amuse the Clara and get her a little wet and quick attack left him tired. I didn't know what to do.

"Clara use focus energy," Essie said and Oshawott began to glow. "Now use razor shell."

All of a sudden Clara burst into action and sent Bellamy flying across the stadium. I caught him but he was heavy and I fell over. Bellamy wasn't responding.

"Bellamy," I said shaking my poor Pokemon. "Bellamy are you okay? Please tell me you're okay."

I didn't know what to do. Bellamy was hurt and in danger and I couldn't remember what was suppose to happen. I was like a deerling caught in the headlights.

"Mason will you take her to heal her Pokemon?" Essie asked after I tried to wake Bellamy up for a whole minute.

I felt stupid leaving the gym in disgrace with the boy. Lillie would probably be mad that I wasn't watching her gym match and now both me and Anita didn't have a badge.

Mason showed me one of the secret rooms in the gym that only trainer that lived there and some challengers were allowed to heal their Pokemon. There was a nurse there who also looked like a lifeguard that took Bellamy into her special care. I waited on the edge of my seat for a long time.

"How long have you been with that Buizel?" Mason asked. He looked very lively and curious like he thought a lot of things were amusing.

"A day," I told him.

Mason laughed. "Then that's why you lost," he said. "You have to be with a Pokemon for a while in order for them to trust you. Also you should train them in their home environments," he said and I gave him a quizzical look. "Bellamy is a water type Pokemon but can also walk on ground. That means you'll have to train him in both the water and on ground. When you battled my sister Essie you were in a pool but when you battle other gym leaders it will most likely be on ground."

"Thanks for the advise," I said.

Just then the nurse came out with Bellamy sitting up on a stretcher.

"Bellamy!" I exclaimed and rushed over to hug him. Bellamy's tail twirled around and he looked as healthy as ever.

"You seem to really like Pokemon," Mason said. "I watch my sister's battles a lot so I can learn from them and I've met a lot of trainers who are really awful to their Pokemon. It's like they don't even care about them they just care about how many they have and how powerful they are."

My thoughts immediately flew to Anita.

"Do you want to be a gym leader someday?" I asked.

Mason seemed to ponder this for a moment. "Maybe," he said. "But I want to travel the world first. I mean I want to be the very best Pokemon Trainer, maybe even the champion."

"Then why don't you?" I said.

Mason sighed. "I guess I've just never had enough inspiration to leave. Everything I ever knew is here in Nacrene city and I just can't imagine would it would be like actually on the road."

I nodded. I understood what he meant. Leaving Peridot Town hadn't been hard I'll admit. It was a pretty boring there and the thought of raising Pokemon sounded amazing but it had been hard to leave my family behind.

"Do you want me to help you?" Mason asked suddenly and I was taken aback. "I've got nothing to do today and annoying my big sister by having another trainer beat her sounds pretty good to me. Plus last night at dinner, Clara ate my dessert and I can hold a grudge."

"Sure," I said bewildered. "Thanks."

Mason showed me some of the smaller rooms in the gym where there were small

private pools.

"Okay first you have to get your Pokemon to trust you," Mason said. "Come on out Juno."

A Pokemon erupted from it's Pokeball and splashed into the pool. It was a Seel I realized. The Seel was beautiful and snow white and it glistened as it's head broke the surface. It smiled happily up at Mason.

"Juno's my best buddy, isn't that right Juno?" Mason said as he crouched down to pet her head. The Seel barked happily. "Why don't you try sending out Bellamy?" Mason suggested.

I did as he said and Bellamy appeared in the pool next to Juno.

"Now the key to making friends with water Pokemon," Mason began. Just then he jumped into the pool and made a splash behind Juno. "Is playing with them," he finished.

I stared at him, I couldn't just jump into the pool. Right then Bellamy hit me with a water gun and I was soaked. "Oh it's on," I told him playfully. Quickly I dumped everything I didn't want to get wet on the poolside and jumped in.

Suddenly I had an flashback to being pulled under the current in the woods. I felt the water close over my head and knew I had to get out. Struggling to the surface I heaved myself over the side and flopped like a Magikarp until I was a safe distance from the waters edge. Mason gave me a confused look.

"Can you swim?" he asked.

I felt stupid all over again. I hadn't expected to be so afraid of drowning. The thought hadn't even occurred to me until I was in the water but now all I could think about was a current picking up and sweeping me under.

"It's not that," I stuttered. "I had an accident," I tried to explain. "Recently. I got swept up in the current and Bellamy saved me. If it wasn't for him..."

"That was yesterday," Mason said as if putting the pieces together. "I'm sorry I had no idea. That Pokemon must really like you."

Just then Bellamy swam over and pulled himself out of the water. He walked over and nudged me as if trying to get me to stand up. I did so and he walked me over back to the water's edge.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to," Mason said as he watched me and Bellamy.

Bellamy slid into the pool and I sat at the edge and put my feet in.

"That's a good idea," Mason said swiming over. "You don't have to get in, just be closer to your Pokemon."

I did so and Bellamy's tail began to twirl. He splashed me playfully and I splashed him back.

"You two trust each other a lot more than I'd first thought," Mason commented. "But we need to make sure that reflects in your battling style. What moves can Bellamy use?"

"Just Water gun and Quick Attack I think," I said.

"Okay we can work with that. How about we start with Bellamy's water gun?"

Mason showed me how to improve Bellamy's stamina accuracy and strength. His water gun soon went from a thin line to a thick jet. It was amazing. Next we worked on his speed. Mason explained how his sister was big on speed. She was even holding back Clara from evolving because bigger Pokemon are slower. Since Bellamy was the bigger Pokemon of the two, he'd have to be twice as fast. Mason got out one of the pool buoys and we practiced hitting the target repetitively until Bellamy was as fast as a snakey eel. In less than an hour, Bellamy was tougher, faster and more connected than ever.

"Thank you Mason," I said after he'd gotten out of the water. "That was incredible. You must be a really good Pokemon trainer. It's too bad you can't come with us and challenge the gyms because I think you'd be a great Pokemon Master."

Mason blushed a little. "Thanks," he mumbled.

"I'd better go find my friends," I said. "They're probably looking for me. See you soon!"
When I went outside I didn't expect to see Lillie and Anita swimming in one of the large pools. They were both wearing swimsuits and Lillie was playing with Annie. When they saw me they waved me over.

"Great news," Lillie said, she sounded really excited. "Essie has invited me to train at the gym."

"Really?" I said and I tried to fake excitement.

"Yeah," Lillie said. "Essie lets some of the best water type trainers live at the gym with her and she said my battling style was really unique. Plus she seemed really cool and I think we totally be friends."

I couldn't believe Lillie was leaving us. Just as I finally thought I would have someone other than Anita to travel with, Lillie ups and leaves us.

"So you won then?" I said and tried to sound happy for her.

"Yeah," Lillie said but she wouldn't meet my eye. "It's not your fault you know. I know you only just met Bellamy and if you could have used Chloe you would have won easily because electric is strong against water. It's really not fair that they only have mats floating on the water."

"It's okay," I said. "I'm going to challenge her again."

"Again?" Anita said. "Are you even allowed to do that?"
"I can challenge a gym as many times as I want," I said. "It's in the rulebook."

"What!" Anita exclaimed. "They won't let me in again. Essie thinks I'm not ready and it's so not true."

"When are you going to challenge her?" Lillie asked.

"Right now," I replied.