Episode 11
Matt was in a dark place. He couldn't see his hand in front of his own face or anything around him. "Hello?!" he shouted. It echoed, but Matt felt only emptiness around him.
Suddenly, he saw a flash of purple and green, as a giant Spiritomb appeared before him. It seemed to have a smug smile on its face as someone stepped out from behind it, twice as tall. It was Donald, the leader of Team Revenant. "Dark Pulse," Donald ordered. Spiritomb chuckled before unleashing a wave of dark energy directed at Matt. He screamed, as the Dark matter surrounded him, going inside of him painfully. "You won't dare to defeat me. What a waste." Laughter and pain surrounded Matt for what seemed like hours. Matt tried to scream, but nothing would come out.
He sprang up, throwing the covers off of him, breathing heavily. The sun was just coming through the blinds, right into Matt's eyes. Just a dream… he thought. Just then, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He froze, turning his head slightly until his little brother came into view. He stopped being tense. "Phew. Alex, what are you doing in here so early?"
"Waiting for you to wake up so we could go to your Gym Battle right away…"
Matt looked at his alarm clock. "It's Seven Thirty, Alex; the Gym's not open yet. Tell you what, though. Let's get some breakfast, wait a couple hours, and then go see if Roark's ready, ok?"
Alex nodded, running out of Matt's room and downstairs to get breakfast. He couldn't wait to see Matt's battle. It was going to be so cool! He sat down at the table, digging into a waffle as Matt came into the kitchen. Tyler and his mother were both awake, eating as well. Matt sat down, too.
"It's Hard to believe your second Gym Battle's already around the corner, eh, Matt?" Tyler said, sipping his orange juice.
"Yeah," Matt replied. "It seems like only yesterday I was fighting Gardenia."
"Well, it was only a few days ago," Tyler noted. "Cycling road got us here pretty quickly."
"True. But either way, my second Gym Battle's today. I'm going to ace it!" Matt couldn't wait. But he was suddenly reminded of the dream he had right before he woke up. The fight with Donald went terribly, Matt never stood a chance. Was he really that weak…?
Alex began tugging on Matt's sleeve. "Come on, Matt, or we'll be late!" Matt couldn't help but smile at his brother.
"Let's go then, shall we?" Matt picked up his egg, holding it with care. "I wonder what you'll become," he thought aloud. Suddenly, the egg started to glow. "Whoa, what's going on?"
"It's hatching!" Tyler said, excitedly. "Quick, get it out of its case."
Matt turned the handle on top of the case, opening it and revealing the glowing green egg. The four watched it closely. Soon, the egg slowly changed form. It stayed about the same size, but grew two connected extensions on top. The light cleared, and a small green Grass-Type sat there, looking up at Matt. "Budew!" It cried softly.
"Whoa," Matt pulled out his Pokédex.
"Budew, the Bud Pokémon. Budew lives alongside clear ponds. It scatters pollen that induces harsh sneezing and runny noses."
"Just like Raymond to give you a Budew," Tyler said. Budew gleefully jumped on Matt's shoulder, using its vines to swing around his body and arms. "What moves does it know?"
Matt looked down at his Pokédex as it scanned Budew. "Let's see…only two. Absorb and Razor Leaf."
"It knows Razor Leaf? Wow, Raymond really outdid himself. Budew can't usually learn Razor Leaf on its own. That's a pretty useful move you got there, especially for a Rock-Type Gym."
"Yeah," Matt said, Budew still jumping around him. "I suppose I have to give you a nickname, too." Matt tried to think of a name for it, but couldn't. "Maybe I'll wait to see what you can really do in battle, huh?" Budew jumped onto the table, nodding. It seemed to like that idea.
"Alright, Budew, return," Matt said, putting it in its new Pokéball. "Welcome to the team."
"Hello?" Matt called out. They were all standing in front of the Oreburgh Gym, waiting for a response. "I'm here for a Gym Battle!"
"What's taking Roark?" Tyler asked. "Usually, he's right on top of things. You think something happened at the mines?"
"I hope not," Matt said. "Last time that happened, Roark was out of battling for weeks…"
His mom looked at him. "And, you know, it's dangerous for him and the miners and everyone…"
Suddenly, the doors opened, and a young miner around Tyler's age walked out. "Oh, hey you guys, what's up?"
"Roark, I'm here for a battle!" Matt said excitedly. "You said you'd battle me as soon as I got a Gym Badge, right?"
Roark laughed. "I did say that. I've been looking forward to our battle for a while, actually. But it'll have to wait until later today; I gotta run down to the mines real quick and take care of some business. Want to come with?"
Matt nodded. "Could Alex come, too?"
"Oh, I suppose. Come on, you two, let's go." Roark led them to the south of town, where the mines were. Matt had been there many times before, but he never got tired of it. The mines were built deep into the side of the mountain as well as deep into the ground. There was so much ore to be found. Roark found a mine worker and went up to him. "What seems to be the problem, Tom?"
"One of the main support beams down under gave way, and we're having trouble getting a new one down there. So many people are out sick today, we don't have enough workers to mine safely," The miner said.
"How are they doing in there right now?"
"They've got a couple Machamp trying to move the rubble out of the way, but it's going pretty slowly. They'll get out by the end of the day, but one of the men injured his leg when the ceiling fell. We need to get supplies to him and the others quickly, but we don't know how."
Roark looked into the tunnel. "Take me to them." He began to follow the miner into the tunnel, Matt and Alex behind him.
"You sure you should be taking two kids in here? It's dangerous."
"Relax," Roark said. "I've known these kids their entire lives, they can handle it."
The four delved deeper into the mines, until a few lanterns lit up a wall of rocks. "Here we are," Tom the miner said. To the guys on the other side, he yelled, "I got Roark here, guys. He'll get you out soon."
Roark examined the wall, trying to think of a way to get them out or at least get supplies to them. His eyes came across a small opening at the top, where light seemed to come through from the other side. "If we had a small enough Pokémon, we could send the health supplies through there."
Matt instantly thought of Budew. "I…think I may have one that can help." He pulled out his Pokéball and let Budew out.
"Budew?" it questioned.
Matt bent down. "Budew, I know you're really young, but there's something I need you to do for us, ok?" The Pokémon nodded, smiling widely.
Tom took some bandages and sprays from his backpack and put it in a tiny bag. "Think it can carry this through there?" he asked, handing the bag to Matt. Matt nodded, tying to bad around Budew's vines.
"Give it your best shot," Matt said. Budew nodded, and started climbing the rocks nimbly. Soon enough, it was at the top, right next to the opening.
Budew appeared at the top on the other side of the rocks to the miners. "Budew! Bud!" it called out, gaining their attention. One of the miners came over to catch Budew as he jumped down with the bag.
"Thanks for the help, Budew," the miner said, taking the bag from its vines. "Send my thanks to your trainer." He set Budew back up at the opening and it walked back to the other side.
"Way to go!" Matt yelled, as he caught Budew. "You did great. Return, Budew."
"That Budew's pretty nimble," Roark noted. "I'd love to see it in our gym battle."
"Thanks," Matt said, putting the Pokéball back on his belt. "But Budew just only hatched today. I'm not sure if I it should be battling so soon."
Roark chuckled. "Well, if you want, I actually have an apprentice who's been perfecting a technique for training Pokémon. Maybe he could help you out with training your Budew?"
Matt thought it over. "Well, Budew does seem eager to battle. Let's give it a shot."
"So you're Matt, huh? I think I've seen you around town a couple times," Roark's apprentice, a couple years older than Matt said, greeting him. "Let's see your Budew."
Matt took out his Budew's Pokéball, letting it out. It squealed happily.
"The name's Eric, by the way," the guy said, taking out his own Pokéball. "Go, Roggenrola!" He shouted, throwing out a small Rock-Type Pokémon. "Now, what moves does your Budew know?"
"Absorb and Razor Leaf," Matt replied.
"Ah, great moves to use in a Rock-Type gym," Eric replied. "Roggenrola, Iron Defense!" Roggenrola shined itself off, increasing its defense. "Now, attack us."
"Budew, use Razor Leaf!" Matt called. Budew opened its vines, releasing a ton of leaves firing at Roggenrola.
"Light Screen!" Eric called again.
"Use Razor Leaf again, Budew!"
"Great," Eric said. "Keep attacking us." For a while afterwards, Matt and Eric went back and forth. Eric would raise his defenses, and Matt would attack. Eventually, Eric called out, "Power Trick!" Roggenrola spun around.
"What does that do?" Matt asked.
"It switches a Pokémon's Attack and Defense stats. Attack us one last time."
"Alright, Budew, Absorb!"
Budew drained energy from Roggenrola, who fainted right afterwards. "Return, Roggenrola," Eric said.
"So you purposely had Roggenrola faint?" Matt asked, a little confused.
"Yep. It seems like a strange method, but letting Roggenrola faint allows your Budew there to get a ton of experience. He should be all ready to face Roark now."
"Wow," Matt said. "Thanks so much."
After a heroic effort for Matt's newly hatched Pokémon Budew, and a creative training effort given to him, Matt is perfectly prepared for his next Gym Battle against Roark. What will the battle entail? Find out next time on Pokémon Dimensions!
