Chapter 10

Pryce Takes Flight

Gold, Silver, Whitney, and Jasmine arrived at the Mahogany Town gym. Both Gold and Silver were one badge away from entrance to the Pokémon League tournament. They both were disgusted with each other. Neither Whitney nor Jasmine could figure out what had caused such a divide between the two of them.

This rivalry was a fierce one which had lasted a very long time. When Gold had decided to become a Pokémon trainer, everything was laid out for him. Professor Elm gave him a Pokémon, his mother was willing to help him, and he was given a Pokédex, Pokégear, and more. Silver, on the other hand, had no connection with his parents, and the people who took care of him when he was young had no intention of helping him become a Pokémon trainer. He felt compelled to steal a Pokémon from Professor Elm to get started as a trainer. Even then, Gold was given help every step of the way. Silver was extremely jealous of him.

Yet when Silver decided to no longer be rebellious, apologizing to Professor Elm, he was forgiven easily- not arrested, not punished. In fact, Silver had become powerful as a trainer on his renegade ways, making his Pokémon powerful through his aggressive training, while Gold had tried to raise his Pokémon by treating them with care, and it took him a long time to make his Pokémon powerful. By the time Silver had decided that he would start treating his Pokémon the right way, they were already powerful. Gold hated this. How could someone do things like this and yet walk away without any sort of punishment for what he did wrong?

When the two of them met at Azalea Town a long time back, they exchanged phone numbers, because each of them wanted to race the other to receive eight badges first and also follow the other's progress. While they would sometimes act friendly to each other, most of the time they were angry with each other.

But Jasmine had it in her mind that she would break Silver out of his anger at Gold, as she and Whitney were close friends. In fact, Whitney was one of the only friends Jasmine had, as Jasmine was very shy and did not talk to many people. Jasmine took Silver aside for a moment, while Gold and Whitney walked ahead.

"Silver," Jasmine said in a quiet voice.

"Yes, Jasmine?" Silver asked.

"Could I ask you for something?" she asked.

"I'll do anything for you," Silver said.

"All I ask is this," she said. "Please- don't hate Gold."

Silver sighed. "Gold has everything," he said. "It makes me furious to see all he gets given to him."

"Please," Jasmine said. "Whitney has always been a friend to me."

"Fine, fine," Silver said. "If you want me to not hate him, then fine, I won't hate him. I don't know how well I can get along with that character, but I'll try my best. Just for you."

Jasmine smiled. Her trust in Silver was renewed- although she continued to wonder what it was about him that made him trustworthy.

"Get up here, you two!" yelled Whitney back to Jasmine and Silver. Jasmine and Silver ran up to join Gold and Whitney. At the same time Jasmine had been talking to Silver, Whitney had advised Gold not to hold anything against Silver, which Gold agreed to do.

"The gym is right over there," said Gold. "I'm looking forward to this battle."

"Same here," Silver said. "Let's beat that gym leader and get into the Pokémon League tournament!"

The four trainers entered the gym, finding an ice-covered floor, and a single old man sitting with his back toward to them in the back of the building. He appeared to take something off his face before turning around to face the four trainers.

"I suppose you want a battle for a Glacier Badge," he said.

"That's right!" Silver said.

"Both of us," Gold said.

"Fine," the man said. "I will take you both down at the same time. You two pick one Pokémon each, and you'll go up against two of mine."

"Who is this guy that he thinks he can beat us both?" Silver asked.

"There's no way he can do that," Gold said.

"Be careful," Jasmine said. "This is Pryce, and he uses dangerous ice-type Pokémon."

"I see I have a couple of fellow gym leaders here," Pryce said. "Too bad you two are not of my skill level, or I would have an offer for you."

"What do you mean?" an angry Whitney said.

"Don't worry about it," Pryce said. "I first will take down these two trainers."

Pryce sent out his Piloswine and Dewgong. Gold countered with Typhlosion, while Silver sent out his Totodile.

"We have a clear type advantage," Silver said.

"Really?" Pryce said sarcastically. "It's time for a Blizzard."

Both of his Pokémon used Blizzard attacks simultaneously.

"Fire Blast!" Gold yelled. Typhlosion sent a Fire Blast attack at the oncoming Blizzard attacks, but both of them were too strong for only one Fire Blast. The ice came through and hit Typhlosion, freezing him.

"Surf!" Silver yelled. Totodile flooded the battle area with water. This did not hurt either of Pryce's Pokémon very much.

"Now what are we going to do?" Gold asked.

"Don't worry about it," Silver said. "Surf again!"

Totodile used a Surf attack again, this time pushing the frozen Typhlosion into Dewgong. This hit Dewgong hard. Dewgong tackled the frozen Typhlosion, but this cracked the ice and allowed him to escape.

"Good!" Gold said. "Now Fire Blast that Piloswine!"

As Typhlosion attacked the Piloswine, Dewgong sent an Aurora Beam attack at Totodile. Totodile was knocked down.

"You haven't escaped yet," Pryce said.

However, Totodile managed to get up. As Dewgong continued to shoot Aurora Beam attacks at Totodile, Typhlosion came over and deflected them away with Fire Blasts. Then Typhlosion blasted Piloswine with enough fire to make him faint.

"Time for a change-up," Pryce said. "Surf, Dewgong."

Dewgong used its Surf attack, pushing Typhlosion across the battle area. However, Totodile was hardly affected, and he used a Surf attack back at Dewgong, throwing it off balance. This gave Typhlosion enough time to get up and Fire Blast the Dewgong.

"Keep going," Gold said.

Dewgong tried using an Aurora Beam attack, but it was too late. The Fire Blast was too strong. Dewgong was about to faint, and a last Surf attack from Totodile caused Dewgong to finally faint.

"We win!" Silver said.

"That's our eight badge each!" Gold said.

"Badge? Badge?" Pryce said. "Nah, I don't feel like giving away badges."

"We earned them!" Silver said.

"According to gym rules, you must give them away!" Whitney said.

Suddenly, a phone rang. Pryce answered it. "Yes?" he said. "Really? Okay, I'll be there right away." He hung up the phone.

"All right, here are your badges," he said, handing Gold and Silver their Glacier Badges. "I've got to go to Kanto… I have more important business to take care of."

"What kind of business?" Whitney asked.

Pryce paused. "Don't bother me!" he said angrily. "You inferior gym leaders shouldn't get involved in my business!"

Pryce led the trainers out of the gym, then slipped away out of sight. The other four trainers stood in the middle of Mahogany Town, with Gold and Silver celebrating their badge collections, while Whitney and Jasmine pondered what their fellow gym leader was doing.

"This Pryce character has always been suspicious," Whitney said. "But because he always considered me an inferior gym leader, he refused to speak to me about much. What could he be doing?"

"He worries me," Jasmine said.

Gold and Silver were oblivious to Pryce's actions, however, being overjoyed over winning their eighth badge each.

"Gold, I never thought I'd tell you this, but I'm actually happy that you won a battle!" Silver said.

"Hey, we're both great trainers, and this proves it!" Gold said.

"Let's go back to Goldenrod City," Whitney said. "That Pokémon League tournament is coming up soon, and we all need to prepare for it."

The four trainers all agreed, and they set out for Goldenrod City, unaware of what Pryce was planning…