The Third Challenger
Chapter 9
Cliché
With a loud resounding 'bam!', the doors to the Pewter City Gym slammed open and standing there was a girl with a provoking grin. "I am Leaf Green and I am here to challenge the Gym Leader!" she yelled out.
The Gym was one humongous room with a rocky battlefield set up in the centre and stands for occasional audiences by the sides. Brock seemed to have gone for a 'cave' theme with minimal lighting (giving the impression that it was dark, though Leaf could see what was in front of her) and numerous stalagmites and stalactites of various shapes and sizes protruding from the ground and hanging from the ceiling. The conical rocks had a mystical feel to them, lit up by the yellow stage lights, making Leaf feel like she was stepping into a dungeon in an RPG game.
Ah, wait, she was in an RPG game. Technically.
A professional looking man with a suit and tie perked up from his post and went to greet the newcomer, despite the somewhat rude entrance.
"Hiya! Do you want to dream big?" he asked, a little over-enthusiastic and sounding awfully rehearsed. "Do you dare to dream of becoming the Pokémon champ?"
Leaf remained silent at first for this question. It wasn't one she could easily answer, given that she didn't dream big and only wanted adventure. So she shrugged. "I'm just battling for a badge."
Still, the gym guide kept smiling. "I'm no trainer, but I can advise you on how to win. Let me take you to the top."
Leaf sniffed in her most haughty expression. "No thank you. Anything you can tell me is something I already know."
"It's a free service! Let's get happening!"
Despite prompting a groan out of Leaf, he continued. "The first pokémon out in a match has to be the most important choice. It may even be the choice that decides the whole battle so pick wisely if you want to gain advantages."
"Yeah, yeah. I've seen enough 'Link' battles to know that." Already, she was becoming antsy about getting to battle Brock. "Can I battle now?"
Suddenly he produced a scanner in his hand and he gestured to it. "Sure. Just gotta make sure that you have your trainer id with you, yeah?"
"Oh." Leaf scoured her bag for the card and obediently handed it over. The guide quickly scanned it and gave it back.
"You're good to go!" he grinned and made a thumbs up. "Go give 'em a good thrashing, champ!"
She swiftly returned the thumbs up with a wink. "Yup! That's what I'm planning to do!"
A boy clad in a green camper's outfit, standing on the other side of the battlefield in the trainer's rectangle, shouted at her before she could squint at the shadows to look for the Gym Leader. "Stop right there, kid! You're still light years from facing Brock!"
In response to this child, who didn't know the meaning of light years, Leaf stood in her rectangle and thrust her arms out in an agitating manner. "Come at me, bro!"
He blinked and eyed her strangely. She sneered back at him. "Hurry up and send out your pokémon, kid." she shot back, icily.
Insulted, the camper reached for his pokémon while Leaf already had hers in hand. The gym guide strode over to the sidelines to act as referee. "Trainers can use all of their six pokémon. Ready! Begin!"
The competing trainers sent their battlers out at the same time.
"Go, Geodude!"
"Go, Ida!"
The rock pokémon materialised with a battle cry and a show of strength by pounding his solid fists together. He blended perfectly with the field and only his open eyes gave away his presence. Leaf whipped out her pokédex to register his entry. She tuned out the mechanical voice explaining how Geodude's had high defence. Every pokémon fan knew that!
And she had a battle to focus on.
Her Mankey seemed to have forgotten all about her Kakuna fury and starting responding to Geodude's taunts with her own taunts, by spinning round to show her backside and slapping it mockingly.
Leaf giggled at her pokémon's antics, especially when Geodude's bulging facial tics were growing more and more prominent.
Feeling quite rightly outraged along with his pokémon, the camper made the first order: "Geodude, Tackle!"
While Geodude hauled his heavy body across the field, Leaf made her own counter. "Ida, Low Kick! Tip him over!"
The nimble Mankey shot her leg out underneath Geodude before he could slam against her and he was easily flipped like a pancake. He fell flat on his face with a grunt of pain.
"Don't stop there!" Leaf pressed. "Finish him while he's still recovering! Low Kick!"
Happy to oblige, Ida landed a brutal kick to the rock pokémon, who had been in the midst of picking himself up, and sent him rolling harshly several metres back. He couldn't find the energy get up again.
The camper sighed and returned his pokémon. He knew that this outcome would come when she sent out a Mankey. He gravely lost to superior speed and type advantage. But he knew that his next pokémon wasn't going to lose as easily.
"Go! Sandshrew!"
The new pokémon appeared to be a yellow square patterned ball before unfurling to reveal the sand mouse. He opened his mouth wide to yawn cutely, before he tensed up for battle.
Leaf had the strong desire to fangirl but had to hold that inner self down. Stopitstopitstopit!
She briefly took out her pokédex to register Sandshrew and ignored it when it started telling her about the strong hide of Sandshrews.
Ida revved herself up to make more taunts, but her trainer recalled her before she could get the chance. "You've had your fun, but it's Roberto's turn, now." she explained.
The Mankey pouted at her from inside the pokéball. Leaf laughed as she saw this through the red plastic. "Don't worry, you can take part in battling Brock."
She pocketed Ida's pokéball and sent out her Rattata. "Roberto, you're up!"
Roberto materialised, already in battle ready position. So Leaf decided to milk this opportunity for all its worth. "Quick Attack!"
The attack landed true with barely a second to react and the Sandshrew took it with a slight wince though he stood strong. While Roberto still had his head butting into Sandshrew's chest, the camper retaliated. "Scratch, now!"
Sandshrew's foe was right in front of him so he didn't hesitate with his claws. He slashed and Roberto cried out in pain.
Leaf floundered for a bit. "Ah! Retreat! Retreat, Roberto!"
He didn't need to be told twice. Using his strong Rattata survival instincts, he bounced off the sand mouse and went back to his side of the field to lick his wounds. The Sandshrew was looking as healthy as ever, seemingly indifferent to the earlier attack.
The camper grinned haughtily, pleased that he finally made his first hit. "Ha! How do you like that!"
Sandshrew was honing his claws on the rock.
Displeased by the turn of events, Leaf shouted out an order with more force than usual. "Quick Attack!"
Roberto did as he was told except with his own twist. He blurred across the field and just as the Sandshrew was about to unleash his claw on the rat again, he blurred out of his range and right around so that he was behind his opponent. There, he landed a surprise attack on the Sandshrew's back using his own claws.
Given that Sandshrew's skin on his back was covered in a tough layer of hide this attack did hardly any damage.
Damn! Leaf cursed inside her head. It was a good idea... For any other pokémon! Roberto, tough luck!
Sandshrew turned around to give the disgruntled Roberto a smirk and another Scratch. The Rattata was forced to recoil back.
Leaf grit her teeth and thought of how to bring this match to a victory. She couldn't think of one, not without a messy end. Come on, powers of seven years long of pokémon fangalism, don't fail me now!
Opening her mouth order another Quick Attack because, dammit what choice do I have? she was interrupted mid-sentence by a boy, who's self-confidence was growing stronger and stronger.
"Going to use Quick Attack, again?" The camper mocked. "Well, think again! Defence Curl!"
Going back to the position he was sent out to field in, Sandshrew curled up, concealing any weak points and specifically the soft white underbelly that Roberto now knew to aim for. Leaf groaned. Great, now his already high defence is even higher.
Plans foiled, the rat started to slow down, having heard his trainer's intended order anyway, but couldn't prevent himself from crashing into the ball nonetheless.
Seeing the perfectly balled up Sandshrew roll harmlessly from the crash gifted Leaf with an idea. "Quick Attack, Roberto! Don't stop! In fact, feel free to play ball! AHAHAHA!"
"What?" The camper uttered, surprised by Leaf's strange act of insanity. Then he was forced to watch his pokémon roll around at turbo washing machine speed by a Quick Attack-powered Rattata. It took him a few moments to realise what Leaf's intentions were.
"Sandshrew, uncurl yourself!" he ordered, hoping that he wouldn't be too late.
The sand mouse did so carefully and Roberto hopped away just in case. He watched as the Sandshrew hobbled from side to side like a drunken old bum. He was confused.
"Yeah!" Leaf cheered, eyes lighting up in triumph. "Just as planned! C'mon, Roberto! Quick Attack his belly!"
The rat shot off in a blur.
Feeling the panic settle in, the camper clung to a hope that he could still win. "S-scratch!"
Roberto charged and the instant he came within range, the Sandshrew blindly slammed a claw against the rat's nose. He went on scratching in empty air for a while and Roberto was knocked out on the ground.
The camper smiled and Leaf blinked. W-was that a critical? Not fair!
Bitter about that outcome after all that effort, she shot a red beam at Roberto's motionless body and he was sent back to his pokéball. In a snap decision, she released her next pokémon.
"Go, Joanne! Peck that Sandshrew's face off before he recovers! Don't let Roberto's efforts go to waste!"
The Spearow flapped about idly for only one second before racing to her opponent. She wondered if this thing was tasty. And assaulted the confused Sandshrew's face with numerous sharp pecks.
She flew back when she realised that sand mice weren't her thing. Too dry for her tastes.
But she already did her damage. Sandshrew lay face down on the ground, unconscious.
The Gym Guide raised an arm in Leaf's side. "Victory goes to Challenger Leaf!"
Leaf nodded to herself proudly. "Yup! Blessed by Victini, that we are!" She returned Joanne to her ball before the thought of testing the walls for windows crossed her mind.
The camper sulked but congratulated her, nonetheless. He had to.
She heard slow but loud clapping from the back. "Good work, there! For a new trainer, you are quite impressive."
From the shadows, emerged a tall, tanned man with closed eyes. Or teen. Leaf wasn't sure. He looked youthful but he was so dang tall. And wise. Well, Leaf hadn't seen proof of his wisdom yet but he emitted the right aura, like he demanded respect.
He stood with his hands on his hips. "I'm Brock! I'm Pewter's Gym Leader!"
Whilst scrutinising him, Leaf burst out: "How old are you?"
Brock seemed to be caught off guard by the question, but he laughed heartily. "I'm seventeen. I must say, I don't get asked that often. Ha, ha!"
"Heh, heh. Sorry, just curious." Leaf laughed awkwardly. Not her fault that both the games and anime leave things ambiguous. She prepared a pokéball. "Can we battle?"
"Of course!" He grinned, and walked to the camper's position. Said boy scrambled off to the sidelines and then Brock's rectangle of land began rising to become a pedestal, with a whir of metallic grinding. "I believe in rock hard defence and determination! That's why my pokémon are all the rock type!" Brock bellowed from above as he stood still, unfazed by all the movement. Leaf gaped at the Pokémon League symbol, emblazoned in all its magnificence on the pedestal's face. "Do you still want to challenge me?"
Leaf snapped to Brock's echoing voice. "Yes!" she yelled up, firmly. Sure, she was impressed but that was nothing to put her off.
"Fine then!" The gym leader smirked to himself. In his experience growing up to inherit the gym, he found that quite a few children back off when he deliberately tried to intimidate them. She was already showing more courage than the norm. "Show me your best! Go, Geodude!"
The challenger responded quickly. "Go, Ida!"
The two pokémon faced each other on the field, feeling remarkably pressured.
Leaf could feel the rushing gym leader theme blaring through her ears. For others in this world, music was a distraction in a battle. Why would you play music if the battle noises from the pokémon and their super powers would drown the music completely? But for Leaf it was a long-time comfort. It helped her get in the mood, get her blood pumping and strategize on the fly. Pokémon without music felt wrong. Leaf kept her head filled with these beats even if it looked strange bobbing her head up and down mid-battle.
"Low Kick!" she ordered.
With a squeak that sounded suspiciously like an obedient 'ookey', Ida leapt forward and stretched her leg out.
"Defence Curl!" Brock yelled.
Geodude crossed his arms in front of his face making himself compact as Ida kicked her leg on them. Instead of being flipped over with ease, like the camper's Geodude, this Geodude was pushed back harshly. He removed his arms from his face, revealing that it was clean of injuries. His arms, however, suffered the worst of the attack, spider web cracks running down to his elbows.
The pokémon toughed it out, despite the pain. "I specifically trained my pokémon to have a high threshold for pain. Nothing can ever put them off once they have committed to their task." Brock boasted. "I wonder if you have done the same for your pokémon? Tackle, Geodude!"
Geodude propelled himself towards the Mankey, who was startled by his speed. His hit landed true on the tummy and Ida clutched at the area, wincing.
"Tch." Leaf clicked her tongue. Shouldn't have expected it to be easy. "C'mon, Low Kick, again! He won't last for long!"
Ida quite happily kicked the living rock despite her stinging injuries, and Geodude was unable to use his cracked arms to defend the two super-effective attacks in a row. The rock pokemon was now struggling to stay conscious. Despite how the odds were looking, Brock didn't break a single drop of sweat.
Spotting her advantage, Leaf didn't waste a second. "One more Low Kick!"
Brock smirked. "Do it, Geodude!"
As Ida lunged forward, leg first, the injured Geodude brought his arms up as high as he could, hands clasped together, and in the last possible second, he hammered it down onto the incoming kick.
A loud and very distinct snap echoed around the suddenly silent gym.
Leaf froze in shock, unable to comprehend what just happened. The gym guide watched on, sunglasses veiling the expression in his eyes.
And haunting silence was broken. The Mankey gave out a long, piercing howl of intense pain and began clawing blindly at the rock pokémon, the cause for the pain. She couldn't forgive he had done, never.
The Geodude took the insane attacks to his face, unable to dodge or move anything. His job was done and so he awaited the eventual arrival of oblivion. It came and he welcomed it.
Understandably, Ida never ceased her rampage on her opponent, even when he was down. She pinned his limp form on the ground and made to make new gruesome drawings on his face and she was prevented from doing so by the somewhat morose Gym Leader when he recalled his fallen pokémon.
Her angry red eyes shot up to meet with the young man's and he stared her down with equal intensity. A century passed between them and somehow, the Mankey's fury was soaked up and spent. She limped back to her trainer, hiding behind her shadow and cradling her now useless leg.
Leaf snapped out of her stupor when she felt her strangely docile pokémon's rough fur brush against her bare calf. She winced at the obviously broken bone on her leg and returned the poor pokémon so she could nurse her injuries in private. She inwardly hoped that the Pokémon Center's services were really as good as they say.
Turning the Gym Leader again, she was a little taken aback when she saw a sad smile drawn on his face. "You know, you should really take better care of your pokémon." he criticized. "Flying into a rage is never going to help anyone."
Your Geodude is the one who made her so mad! Leaf reeled in the retort, knowing inside from many episodes of anime where the true problem lay. Pokémon were hurt all the time in battles and while the anime covered it up as much as possible, the manga let all the seriousness sink in. They could potentially die and yet they kept on battling. All for the sake of their trainer.
Leaf could admire that and even desire for such devotion for herself, but it was just plain foolish to think that such loyalty could be developed immediately. She saw that Ida, Roberto, Joanne and Sherlock could watch her get hurt and not lift a finger, paw, wing or barbed tail to help her. Maybe Roberto would help out of calculated reason, but did they even like her? If Brock wasn't there to stamp out Ida's fuse, what could have stopped her from turning on her trainer? Calming Ida down was supposed to be her job as the trainer and she couldn't even do that right.
Her gaze met with Brock's again and the look of adult pity was wiped off his face when he saw the raw, burning determination in her eyes.
"You are right. We haven't built a level of trust, strong enough to truly communicate, like you with your Geodude. Not yet. That is why I'm – no, - we're here. To build on that trust and create a bond. Heh."
She giggled suddenly and put a hand to her hip to grip a pokéball from her belt. "You should be honoured," she continued. "You are able to bear witness to the unpolished glory of TEAM LEAF GREEN! You're up, Ragnarok! Show 'em what we're made of!"
The young Charmander entered the battlefield with a solid roar, his fiery mood fuelling on his trainer's emotions.
This is something that I know I have done right. Leaf smirked. "Send out your next pokémon already, you wimp!"
Brock chuckled, despite being insulted. He shall make sure that this would be a good challenge. "This is where the real battle begins! Let's rock, Onix!"
The seemingly small pokéball, that Brock so casually tossed out, opened up to release a colossal snake of rocks who seemed to have trouble fitting his entire frame inside the gym. His mighty roar rumbled the walls and floor.
Leaf blinked up at the snake thing. Yes, she knew that this was going to be one of the biggest pokémon she was going to see and she knew for a long time that Brock had this guy up his sleeve. But it was the sheer size of him.
Ragnarok quivered on his feet as Onix stared down on them, mocking the little people for being so darn little. He wasn't entirely sure how he could take this thing down...
After she got over the size of their opponent, his trainer even laughed in the scary Onix's face. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall!" she yelled, pumping her fists and quoting one of the most clichéd lines in existence. "Bring it on!"
AN: And that's where it ends for the day! Phew, biggest chunk of action I've ever written!
This has ended up a lot more serious than I intended it to be, does anyone mind? Need to change the summary again...
In FireRed:
-The gym battle was so disappointing that it wasn't even funny. Could have sweeped the whole gym with a level 10 Ida. And I had a harder time with the camper! I couldn't have that, now could I? The others need a chance at the spotlight and Brock needs to live up to his Gym Leaderness.
Redcake: Yeah! One of my life goals complete!
Gin Nanashi: Here's special splash of morbid just for you! Yay! And Leaf's reaction was partly because of Leaf herself and stuff we don't flipping know about pokémon. Well, it's a kids game, they don't need to know ;D
GokuaVergil: Glad you like it! And we have yet to reach the part that matters!