Chapter 10: Rivals clash
The way to Mauville City was relatively quiet, save for an inopportune encounter, which wasn't a bother after all! But first, let me talk about what happened the night before that. Remember that the day before Steven gave me his phone number, and said that he would call me to check if I was doing fine? Well, he kept his word and called me that night.
I was getting my bag ready for the next day; that was my last night in Slateport City. When I was about to finish, the phone rang. I picked up the phone directly, without looking who it was.
"Hello?" I greeted.
"Emily?" A familiar voice answered. It was Steven.
"Oh, hello Steven! How are you?"
"I'm fine. But what about you? I called to see if you are okay." He answered.
"I'm okay. I even took a nap, it was very much needed. The whole ordeal has left me exhausted!" I stated in a friendly way.
"Good! I'm glad to hear that. I hope you feel even better tomorrow so you can continue with your journey." His words made me smile. I didn't consider him a friend because we didn't know each other that much, but he wasn't a stranger anymore.
"Don't worry! Tomorrow I'm going to Mauville City to challenge the gym leader." I announced.
"Ah, then you are going to face Wattson!" Steven answered "He's a specialist in electric types."
"Cool! One of my pokémon has advantage over him, then. But I bet he's very strong." I said cheerfully.
"Yes, he is. Well Emily, I'm going to have dinner. I hope you sleep well." Steven said at the other side.
"Thank you. I hope you sleep well too. Bye!"
"Bye!"
And after that, I hung up the phone. I felt grateful towards Steven; he was caring for me when he didn't have to. And that's admirable, don't you think?
Well, now I'm going back to tell what happened in my way to Mauville City!
I exited Slateport City towards Route 110. I already knew the place because I spent the last week training my pokémon between there and Route 109, so it wasn't new to me. In Route 110, there are two ways to arrive Mauville City: you can walk through the grass or you can go through a bike track, which makes the way considerably shorter. But, since I had no bike at the time, I had to walk the normal path.
I was walking happily, but something disturbed me a bit: I spotted a bunch of Team Aqua grunts talking to each other, and I remembered the speech that Archie, the man at Slateport's Museum, delivered me. Apparently, he wanted to expand the water in order to protect the sea life. He had good intentions, but his solution was completely foolish!
"Why don't we make a stop on Mauville City? We can take a rest there." One of the grunts proposed. The others accepted and then they left. I waited until they were considerably far away to keep with my way, I didn't want to get involved with them yet again!
I turned right in order to arrive to my destination. The landscape was amazing; the route was surrounded by the sea and I could see some Wingull and Pelipper flying over the area. It was a truly beautiful sight! And plus, unlike the previous day, it was totally cloudless and the temperature was very pleasant. And the smell of the sea just made everything better!
I was walking, focusing on my surroundings when suddenly I noticed someone: it was my rival, Josh. He was fishing, waiting patiently to catch something. I decided to go and greet him, although I knew he wouldn't be pleased. But that was the fun part huehuehue!
"Hello Josh!" I said after arriving where he was.
"Oh, you! Can't you see that I'm trying to catch a good pokémon?" He protested, as I imagined.
"Don't be rude, when someone says hello, you must say hello back!" I teased him.
"What do you want?" He asked visibly annoyed.
"Remember what you told me last time we met? You said that the next time we would battle." I reminded him.
Suddenly, Josh got up and saved his fishing rod. Then, he grabbed one of the pokéballs from his bag very eagerly.
"It's true! And I also told you that I would make you bite the dust! Ready to see how much I improved?" He challenged me.
"Of course! But I warn you, that I improved a lot too. May the best win!" I expressed sincerely.
"That's me!" He said with a sassy expression.
Finally we released our pokémon from their pokéballs. I sent out Trevor while Josh sent to the battle his starter pokémon, who had evolved into a Marshtomp. I knew he had a nickname, but I couldn't remember what it was! But then I remembered something; I also released Venus from her pokéball and I left her gently in the water. I wanted Venus to watch the battle so she could learn something. She simply stayed there, watching us with curiosity.
"Wow, you've got a Feebas?" Josh asked surprised.
"Yes, it's a short long story; a bastard was humiliating her publically in Slateport's Market and I decided to keep Feebas to liberate her from that terrible trainer, and now I'm training her. Ah, her name is Venus, by the way." I explained.
"Oh well…" He talked again after a pause "I see your starter also evolved, but who will turn out to be more powerful?" He asked.
"I don't know, how about if we start the battle right now? Come on, I grant you the first move!" I offered.
"Cool! Finnegan, use mud shot!" Finnegan fired a huge ball of mud at Trevor from his mouth. My pokémon tried to clean the dirt from his eyes, but Josh took advantage. "Now, use bubble beam!" A beam of blue bubbles was fired at a high speed towards my Trevor, which made him fall, but he could stand up again very quickly.
"That was a good move! But I won't allow that to discourage me." I manifested "Trevor, use leaf blade!" I commanded to my pokémon. The three leaves on his right forearm glowed white and combined into one long, sharp blade. After that, he slashed Finnegan with it. The attack was very effective and left Finnegan considerably damaged.
"I see your pokémon has powerful moves too. But you haven't seen anything yet! Finnegan, use mud bomb!" Josh's Marshtomp opened his mouth wide and shot out big balls of mud.
"Trevor, dodge it!" Although he avoided most of them, some of the mud balls hit Trevor, but they didn't seem to affect him very much. "Now, use mega drain!" And, as he did many other times, he executed the attack and for my relief, he defeated Finnegan.
"Ha! It looks like you are actually pretty good. I should have a strategy regarding Finnegan for the next time. But now, you won't be so lucky! Go, Beowulf!" Right after that, he released a ferocious looking pokémon; it was a Mightyena.
"That pokémon is very impressive! But that won't make me back down! Trevor, use leaf blade again!" Trevor executed the attack just like the previous time and he slashed Beowulf, the Mightyena. Meanwhile, I glanced at Venus to assure that she was watching and indeed, she was.
"Beowulf, use ice fang!" Josh said very sure of himself. I watched astonished as the black and silver pokémon bit down on Trevor as a white mist began to seep out of the Mightyena's mouth. When he finished, Trevor fainted. The power of the attack really surprised me, I knew that ice types are super effective against grass types, but I didn't expect that!
"Return, Trevor!" I said as I withdrew him "You did a good job." I assured to him, talking to the pokéball. Then I stared at Josh.
"Ha! You didn't see that one coming, huh? I told you that I got even better!" He boasted "Do you have any other pokémon left?" He asked. Did he really think that I only had one pokémon?
"Of course I have more! What did you expect?" I said defiantly while I reached for Hershey's pokéball. It was risky, because flying types are also weak against ice types. But I was sure that Beowulf wasn't going to use only ice fang, was he? "Come on, Hershey!"
"A Taillow? That's quite a good choice, I must say." Josh spoke as if he was an expert. "Beowulf, use ice fang again!"
"Dodge it!" I said quickly, and Hershey avoided the attack with a swift move. I knew Josh was going to do that that! "Now use aerial ace!" I ordered very convinced. Hershey flew at Mightyena and flipped in the air gracefully. Then, he became engulfed in streaks of white light and flew into the foe pokémon. And I swear that she disappeared during a couple of seconds!
Beowulf abruptly fell to floor, but he recovered in a few seconds. His trainer gave him another instruction:
"Beowulf, use bite!" The dark type pokémon lunged at my Hershey and bit one of his wings, making Hershey to scream at pain. I knew Beowulf was containing himself to avoid making serious damage, but my pokémon's screams were making me feel distressed.
But everything changed when Hershey's cry changed his pitch: then, a white light engulfed my pokémon and I remembered what happened with Trevor back at Dewford Town; he was evolving!
"Oh my Arceus!" Josh exclaimed.
"Woah!" I managed to say.
As always, my Pokédex informed me that Hershey just evolved into Swellow. His appearance changed and he wasn't anymore that cute little fledgling; now he became a beautiful dark blue bird with a red breast and face. Also he grew a crest of blue feathers that swept back from his head. I went and scratched his head affectionately, I felt very proud!
"Sweeeell!" He chirped.
"Ha! It looks like your pokémon just evolved!" Josh observed.
"You don't say?" I exclaimed lightheartedly.
"I say!" He answered, following the joke.
"Well, enough with the jokes, let's continue! Hershey, use double team!" I ordered to my recently evolved partner. Hershey moved very quickly, creating copies of himself. The foe Mightyena was noticeably confused.
"Try to find the real one and use bite, Beowulf!" Josh commanded to his pokémon. The black and silver colored pokémon tried to attack the copies of Hershey, but nothing happened. They where disappearing one by one. At that exact moment, and taking advantage of the pokémon's increasing fatigue, I commanded Hershey to attack.
"Use aerial ace again!" Hershey obeyed me and flew into the Mightyena, making him faint. Another victory for us!
"How could I lose again?!" Josh whined.
"Hehehe, I don't know. Maybe you shouldn't be so stuck up." I advised him.
"I'm not stuck up, I'm realistic!" He said pouting. Sometimes I couldn't tell if he was being serious or not.
"You defeated my main pokémon, if that comforts you. Well, I must get going; I want to go to Mauville City to confront the gym leader." I announced.
"Okay, I'll be here trying to catch a new pokémon. And the next time, I swear I will win! Just wait and see!" Josh said very sure of himself.
After returning Venus (who watched the whole battle very interested) to her pokéball, I said goodbye to Josh, who made a childish gesture, and I left. Mauville City wasn't too far away and I really wanted to get there. Not just because of the gym battle, I also wanted to have a Mauville Ramen Bowl, huehuehue!