Chapter 11: Battles on Nugget Bridge

So my training for my 2nd gym badge began. Of course I was going to see Bill as well, but I needed to cross Nugget Bridge to get there, where loads of trainers stood.

I came up to the first trainer. "This is Nugget Bridge! Beat us 5 trainers and win a fabulous prize! Think you got what it takes?"

Well yes, I did. His only Pokémon were Caterpie and Weedle. Charmeleon incinerated both of them.

The was the next trainer. "I'm second! Now its serious!"

As if that last one could even be called serious. I beat the first trainer in two hits, how was that serious?

She sent out a Pidgey and I sent out Charmeleon again. It used Ember which took down Pidgey's HP by half. Pidgey used Quick Attack which only did a bit to Charmeleon. One more ember and Pidgey was down. Easy battle, though to be fair, the next Pokemon was a new one.

Nidoran (Female)

029

Poison Type

Poison Pin Pokemon

1'04"

15.4 lbs

Although small, its venomous barbs render this Pokemon dangerous. The female has smaller horns.

I decided this was all getting a bit easy, so I sent out Pidgey. It was a battle of Quick Attack and Poison Stings, though Pidgey eventually took Nidoran (female) down. This was followed up by Pidgey shaking then glowing. When the glowing died down, it was a Pidgeotto! Just like Blue's!

"Here's No.3! I won't be easy!"

Well you better not be, because those last two weren't. But when your first Pokemon is Rattata, my standards aren't really being raised. I just wanted to get this over with, so I sent out Charmeleon. It burned through Rattata, Ekans and Zubat.

"I'm No.4! Getting tired?"

No, those trainers were easy peasy.

No.4 used Pidgey and Nidoran (female). I just wanted to get this done, so I used Charmeleon to use Ember on the lot of them.

Final trainer, will this lead to some sort of challenge? "OK! I'm No.5! I'll stomp you!" This time, he did use another Pokémon I hadn't battled yet.

Mankey

056

Fighting Type

Pig Monkey Pokemon

1'08"

61.7 lbs

Extremely quick to anger. I could be docile one moment then thrashing away the next instant.

I wanted to use Beedrill this time. Beedrill used Bide and Mankey used Scratch. Obviously Mankey knew my strategy so it used Karate Chop which did very little due to Beedrill's typing. Beedrill let out all its energy, taking down about a half of Mankey's hp. Mankey did use Scratch again, though Beedrill was now relying on Fury Attack. Beedrill was the strongest out of the two though and won.

For defeating all the trainers, I was congratulated at the end. "Congratulations! You beat our 5 contest trainers! You just earned a fabulous prize!" He gave me a nugget. I was over the moon! These were worth $5000!

"By the way…" the trainer said. "Would you like to join Team Rocket?" I stepped back in shock as the trainer tore off his clothes to reveal the Team Rocket uniform. "We're a group dedicated to evil using Pokémon! Want to join?" I shook my head. "Are you sure? Come on, join us." I once again insisted that I didn't. "I'm telling you to join!" I was now getting angry. "OK, you need convincing! I'll make you an offer you can't refuse!"

The Team Rocket Grunt sent out Ekans and I sent out Charmeleon. Charmeleon used Ember on Ekans and Ekans used Poison Sting, poisoning Charmeleon. Charmeleon was able to get Scratch in which defeated Ekans.

He then sent out Zubat. Charmeleon used Ember which took down most of Zubat's health and burned it. Zubat then used Bite, though the burn got to it and Zubat was down.

"Aargh! You are good! With your ability, you could become a top leader in Team Rocket!" I sarcastically thanked him for the offer but turned it down for the final time.

That night, I set up my tent. I had given Charmeleon some antidote to heal Ekan's poison and we were knackered. The trainers weren't super strong, but we were barraged with them. As I drifted off to sleep, I started to realise that Team Rocket may be a bigger threat than I realised…