Disclaimer: Pokemon does not belong to me. Last I checked, Pokemon belonged to Satoshi Tajiri. The only things I claim ownership to are the own characters in this story.
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DUNNE DAYS
Part 10: Boulder
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* * * 12:07 - 8 June 2004 * * *
Brown and Jordan waved goodbye to Strom, Sal and Karp at the Pewter City Poke Mart and headed to the large grey building deeper in the city.
"Pewter City Gym…" Jordan murmured, gazing up at the sign above the doors.
Brown pushed the double stone doors open and Jordan gasped at the interior.
The interior was designed very simply, but the few objects the room had showed the symbol of the Boulder Badge on it, even the paintings of the previous Gym Leaders lining one of the walls. Across from those paintings was a reception desk with a woman sitting behind it clicking away on her computer.
She finally looked up and noticed the two boys gaze about the room.
"Oh," she said, "Are you two here to challenge the Gym?"
"Yeah," the two boys walked over to the woman and she pulled her keyboard closer.
"So, what are your names and what time do you want your battles?" she asked.
"I'm Jordan and he's Brown. We want the battles as soon as possible please…"
The woman typed the data into the computer, "So who wants to go first?"
Jordan looked at Brown, who shrugged, and said, "Brown can."
"Okay… and done…" the woman said finally, "Your battles will be right after the next one… ah here he comes now!"
A black haired boy walked into the reception, striding straight through without even looking at the two boys or the receptionist.
"Welcome back, Blake," the receptionist greeted. "Brock is ready and waiting for your challenge."
"Thank you Oki," Blake nodded, and began pushing on the doors to the battleground, before Brown spoke up.
"Hey Blake! Remember me?"
Blake turned around, his hand still on the door, and saw Brown standing there next to a blond boy.
"I guess that you're here for your first Gym Badge?" he said, "I'm here for my second. I managed to catch the Gym Leader of Viridian City before he left."
"Wow! You beat Blue?" Jordan asked. "Impressive! But how do you two know each other?"
"He was my first battle. I was his as well. I beat him." Brown said, simply, eyeing the Earth Badge attached to Blake's shirt.
"You cannot be beaten in a warm up exercise." Blake replied, before walking in to the battleground.
"Hey! Wait! Can we watch your Gym Battle?" Jordan asked, and receiving no reply he turned to the receptionist. "Can we?"
"I'm afraid that's up to the challenger to decide," she replied.
A muffled "No!" came from within the stadium, its tone evident in that it was addressing their question. It was soon followed by "You can't come and watch," perhaps as insurance so that the people outside would understand.
Jordan sighed and sat down on one of the chairs in the reception, whilst Brown stood looking at a picture on the receptionist's desk.
The picture was held in a frame decorated by miniature Boulder Badge drawings set against a grey background. However, the picture itself interested Brown.
"Is this your family?" he asked, and the receptionist nodded.
"That's my husband, Kenji," she replied, pointing out the people. "Our son, Yuuki, and me… Oki…"
"Do you work for Team Shi?" Brown asked, and Oki leapt up at the question.
She stood there motionless, her hands covering her mouth and her eyes wide with fear.
The two boys stared at her.
"Um…" Jordan began. "Oki?"
Brown waved a hand in front of her face, and when she did not respond, he prodded her slightly.
"Did you do this?" Brown turned to find Jordan standing next to him, looking at him with eyes almost as big as Oki's.
"She just froze…" Brown replied. "Is she playing a trick on us or something?"
"Perhaps…" Jordan frowned, pulling his Pokégear out of his pocket. "But maybe I should call for an ambulance…"
Brown nodded, "Do you know cardiopulmonary resuscitation? Maybe that'd help."
"… Cardy what's it?" Jordan tried, "What the heck is that?"
"Oh, sorry… I mean CPR…"
"Why not just say it?" Jordan laughed, then remembered the situation. "Whatever. Only a bit… my dad always said I've got to be ready and know what to do in case he has a heart attack or whatever. But I never paid attention so…"
He put his Pokégear to his ear and began to order an ambulance, whilst Brown looked back at Oki and saw, to his astonishment, smoke coming from her ears.
"Jordan… she's smoking…" Brown said.
Jordan frowned at him, but finished the conversation before saying, "What the heck? What kind of pervert are you?"
"Pervert?" Brown repeated. "Just look at her! She's releasing smoke!"
Jordan did look, and soon had the same baffled expression as Brown.
A small snapping sound came from somewhere close, and Oki's mouth moved, her eyes closed and she collapsed onto the ground, with the boys only just catching her in time. They rolled her onto her back.
"Oki!" Jordan called out to her. "Oki! Speak to me!"
Brown placed his index and middle finger onto Oki's wrist for a few seconds, before declaring, "She's alive…"
Jordan rolled his eyes at the other boy, "Oh really? I had no idea, especially since her chest keeps moving up and down and… oh look! There's air going in and out of her nose!"
"… Sorry…" Brown muttered.
The receptionist began to stir, and her eyes flew open.
"Ah!" she said, "I…"
"Oki, are you okay?" Brown asked, and Jordan let out a small laugh. "What?" he asked the boy.
Jordan shook his head, "No, no… nothing… just… never mind…"
Oki sat up suddenly and looked at the boys, "You two… how long was I…?"
"Um… just a few minutes…" Jordan replied.
She sighed with relief, "Ah good…" then she almost laughed, "So it was easier than I had thought…"
"What was?" Brown asked. "What's going on here?"
"Brown… Dunne?" she asked, and Brown nodded, "I thought so… and Jordan… Share?" Jordan also nodded, and she sighed, "You two are in danger. Team Shi wants you dead. Desperately."
"W… wha!" Jordan stuttered. "Dead? How do you know?"
"Listen. We only have a short while until they come to find out why my chip has malfunctioned." Oki spoke quickly, barely leaving any pauses to take in breaths. It concerned the boys though - it was much too quick for someone who had just fainted. "To be honest, it's not just you. It's all Pokémon Trainers that they're after."
She stood up, and almost toppled over again before catching herself on the desk. "Team Shi's files. You should be able to find them on my computer. However, the password changes every month. For fifteen minutes on the first of each month, starting at precisely fifteen hundred hours, the security is totally removed so the files can be backed up and reinforced. It's hardly the most effective method but only certain systems can access the network. Getting a hold of one of them is a job in itself."
"O-Oki," Brown said. "We have no idea what you're talking about!"
She stopped and looked at him, "S… sorry… you're only ten…" she managed to open one of the drawers in her desk and pull out a black laptop with the number four emblazoned on the lid in varying shades of grey. She handed it to Brown saying, "This. Take this to Barras Alexus in Viridian City. It doesn't matter when as long as it's before the first of July. Whatever you do, do not let this laptop leave your possession."
"Um… okay?" Brown raised an eyebrow as she staggered over to the doors. "Where are you going?"
"I… I've got to check on my family…" she replied. "Good luck in your journey!"
Brown watched her leave, then turned to Jordan, who was counting on his fingers, "What was that all about?"
"Twenty two… twenty three…" he finished, closing his hands and looking up. "Huh? Oh… no idea. But it seems that the basic gist of it is that we need to give that laptop to Barras in 23 days…"
"23 days?" Brown asked.
"Yeah… relax though! We should be able to continue with our journey! We'll be back in Viridian City before then!"
"Huh? We can get around the Kanto region in that short of a time?"
"Sure! No problem! It takes some really dedicated Trainers a maximum of eight days to get around Kanto! And even if you're not that dedicated… or you just do a lot of sightseeing… it should only take around twenty days! So we'll be totally fine!"
"If you say so…" Brown muttered, putting the laptop into his bag.
Just then, the doors opened and Blake Sullivan walked out, fastening a Boulder Badge next to the Earth Badge on his shirt. Eventually, he looked up, and saw Brown and Jordan staring at him.
"This Gym is weak." He told them. "I suppose even you two may be able to defeat its Leader."
Blake looked at Brown, or more specifically, at his bag. The laptop only fit haphazardly in and the symbol on the lid was clear for anyone to see. Blake widened his eyes as he saw the symbol, then shook his head and walked swiftly away.
"Whew…" Jordan whistled. "That guy is tough… Are you sure you managed to beat him?"
"It was all thanks to Germinator…" Brown shrugged.
"Yeah, I guess-"
"Are you two here to challenge my Gym?" a voice interrupted, and Brown and Jordan turned to face the newcomer.
The teenager had come from the battlefield. He had tanned skin and his eyes were closed. His hair brown and spiky and a Boulder Badge was attached to his collar. Around his neck he wore a pendant in the shape of two hearts. In one was an image of the nurse who worked at the Pokémon Centres all across Kanto and in the other an image of a police woman that Jordan knew as Officer Jenny, because of her brief appearance in a TV drama his sister watched.
"Aren't you Brock?" Jordan asked, and the teenager nodded.
"Yep, I'm the Leader of this Gym!"
"Wow!" Jordan grinned. "I'm meeting such a famous person!"
Brock laughed then eyed the two boys up and down. "So, are you two here to challenge me then?"
"Yeah," Jordan nodded. "Brown wants to go first. Are we okay now?"
"Of course," Brock smiled, leading the two boys into the battleground. "I'm good for another couple of battles yet."
Brock walked across to the other side of the battleground, and Brown stepped into the white square on the floor designated for challengers.
"Good luck," Jordan grinned, before taking a seat at the side of the arena.
"Any particular rules you want?" Brock called over.
"Um, a one-on-one, please?" Brown asked, and Brock nodded.
"Okay, I'll be using my Pokédex to select my Pokémon at random," the Leader called again, pushing a button on his Pokédex and picking the appropriate Poke Ball from his belt after reading the result. "It looks like it's your lucky day, Brown!"
"Go, Geodude!" Brock hurled the Poke Ball in front of him, and in a flash of light a Pokémon appeared.
"Dude!" the Rock Pokémon stated enthusiastically.
"Germinator, I choose you!" Brown yelled back, throwing his own Poke Ball and releasing his Bulbasaur.
"Saur!"
The Seed Pokémon and the Rock Pokémon stared at each other for several moments before Brock gave the first command, "Geodude, use Tackle!"
Geodude charged forwards, its fists splitting the air as it came.
"Germinator, dodge!" Brown responded, and his Bulbasaur leapt to the side as Geodude's hands swiped the air where he had just been.
"Nice dodge," Brock called.
"Thanks," Brown smiled, "Now Germinator, use Tackle!"
Bulbasaur span around ninety degrees and ran back over to his opponent.
"Defence Curl!" Brock commanded.
The Geodude wrapped its arms around its ragged body and braced itself as the collision occurred. It uncurled its body, and Brown was surprised to see that no visible damage had been taken at all.
"Tackle!" Brock yelled, and his Geodude soared forwards once more, this time striking Germinator and causing him to cry out in pain.
"Bulbasaur," Brown cried, as his Pokémon reeled back from the hit. "Use Leech Seed!"
"Dodge!" Brock yelled, but he was too late, and a cluster of seeds sprouted on his Geodude's head, sapping its health.
Germinator gave Geodude a smug look as their Trainers contemplated their next move.
"Use Tackle!" they eventually said simultaneously and the two Pokemon charged at each other.
Within seconds, the verdict was announced: Brown had won!
The Trainers returned their Pokemon to their Poke Balls and complimented their hard work, before turning to the other.
"Well done, Brown," Brock smiled, holding out a small octagonal grey token to the victor. "Take this Boulder Badge." He paused as Brown clipped the Boulder Badge into the slot in his Trainer Card. "Oh, and this," Brock took a disk from his pocket and handed it to Brown. "Technical Machine 048: Rock Slide," He explained, "Is a pretty powerful move that can also make your opponent flinch."
"Wow, thanks," Brown grinned, accepting the TM and placing it in the labelled compartment in his bag.
"Well, Jordan," Brock said, turning to the blond who had stood up and was shaking Brown's hand. "I guess it's your turn."
"I guess it is!" Jordan grinned.
Brock released his Geodude from his Poke Ball once again, and the injured Pokemon stumbled onto the battlefield. He took a small square tablet from his pocket and fed it to the Geodude, who immediately returned to full health.
"So, I'm presuming you want a one-on-one as well?" Brock smiled once he had finished, looking over at Jordan and his Squirtle.
"That's right!" Jordan grinned. "Me and Spurt are ready anytime!"
…
Author's Note: Double digits!
Yeah, this is actually a pretty long chapter, isn't it? All that fuss with Oki there at the beginning. To be honest the laptop doesn't even play a relevant role until a bit later. Use the dialogue between Jordan and Brown to discern when that might be, or just wait and see. Oh look a rhyme.
Then there's the Gym battle. Again my laziness shows in leaps and bounds. I didn't show Blake's battle (nor am I going to) and I'm going to show Jordan's battle… kinda… But there's Brown's battle for you at least, even if it did only last 3 turns.
But at least the story is moving along.
I think I'm gonna start a little Badge count here:
Brown Badges: 1/8
Blake Badges: 2/8
Next chapter will be shorter, I believe. Heck I haven't even finished it yet. I've just been kind of fluking it until chapter 10, which is this one.
I'm never going to finish this story am I?
Please review!
