My Journey

Chapter Twelve: Water Type Showdown! Sydney VS Misty!

The thing that annoyed me the most in Cerulean City is that I never got my Gold Nugget. Bummer.

My three Pokemon and I sat in the bathroom- because, well, Magikarp was a fish- searching through baby name books for Magikarp. She needed a nickname.

"You were very brave in your battle yesterday, Magikarp." Brielle noted.

"Thank you," Magikarp replied.

I paid no attention as I sat, criss-cross on the floor, reading the "Pocket Book Of Baby Names". I looked up, describing each name. Magikarp replied with vague answers, and I started to get annoyed.

"I would say Xeni, but that means 'protector of plants', so..." I trailed off, reading each name over and over again. I needed to find the right one for her. "How about Juno?"

Magikarp paused. "Juno. Hmm. I like it."

"Juno it is!" I declared, shutting the book. Brielle scowled.

"How come they get says in their names and you just gave me Brielle, huh?" She asked.

I had no reason, so I didn't respond. Juno and Conrad returned to their Pokeballs, ready for anything. We woke up early this morning to train some more before heading to the Cerulean Gym- which, by the way, wasn't far from the Nugget Bridge or the Pokemon Center.

It was chillier than yesterday and I had brought my sweatshirt- a simple grey one I bought the other day in Pewter or something, I don't remember- to keep warm. Brielle rested in my hood as I bounced through the streets of Cerulean City.

This time, I was not going to take five million years to defeat the Gym Leader. One shot. One time. I will beat her, I said to myself. And going against a water-type gym with Pokemon who aren't weak against it will be good. I should have some grass-types or something, but I decided against leaving the city again.

"Sydney?" I turned around to be met, face-to-face, with a hyperactive Penny. "Syd, you made it!"

I nodded, trying to squeeze away from her hug. Bobby lingered not far behind before catching up with her.

"Did you finally get the badge?" Bobby asked, and I pulled it out, showing it off.

"Took me about four tries, but I got it!" I replied, putting it back in. "So, where are you guys off to?"

"We were heading towards Cerulean Cafe, and then we were leaving." Penny explained. "Did you get the Cerulean badge yet?"

I shook my head sadly. "No, I'm on my way to get it right now."

Both of my friends nodded. "We'll see you later, Syd."

Syd. What's up with people calling me this? It was okay for a nickname, and I didn't mind, but it was so spontaneous it was driving me crazy. Pushing that thought away, I waved to my friends and they left towards the cafe.

Darn. I should've asked them where the gym was.

"Finally!" I cried, standing in front of the door to the gym. It had started to lightly drizzle and my hood was up, Brielle tucked comfortably into my sweatshirt's large pocket. She meekly poked her head out, wanting to avoid getting wet y the rain. She wasn't a witch, as far as I knew. I doubted she would melt.

I paused at the door, where as sign was posted. My heart flip-flopped. The gym was closed until two. I checked the time. One-thirty.

Of course.

I crossed my arms and sat on the bench to wait. I had returned the key to my room earlier; it would feel awkward to just return to the Pokemon Center. I was planning on leaving after the gym battle- if the rain permitted, that is. If not, then I would face the awkwardness and return. That could be excused.

My foot started to tap impatiently, and Brielle moaned. "Can't we at least go inside somewhere?" She asked.

"I dunno. Do you know this city like the back of your hand?"

She didn't respond.

"I do," someone said. I jumped, turning around. I found a girl with red-hair in a side ponytail, with a yellow cami on and shorts. She held an umbrella overhead to protect herself from the rain that was coming down. "Do you need directions?"

I shook my head, embarrassed that someone overheard me talking to my Pokemon. People do it all the time, but it's not like they can actually understand them. But there has to be people who are able to out there, right? "Uh, no. I'm just waiting for the gym to open."

"Oh." The girl pulled out a chain, holding a different array of keys on it. "Okay, come on in."

My eyes widened and I stood up, watching in awe as the girl opened the door. Tentatively I followed her in, and was relieved to feel warm air meet my body. "So, you want to challenge the gym leader?"

I nodded, squeezing the water out of my hair and taking my wet sweatshirt off. Miraculously, my clothes remained dry. "Do you know where I can find her?"

"You're looking at her." The girl winked, holding her hand out. "My name's Misty."

"Sydney." I shook her outstretched hand. Brielle scoffed. "And that's Brielle."

Misty laughed, setting her umbrella to the side. "I need to clean up a bit, and then we'll start our battle. How does that sound?"

I nodded, following her to the battlefield. It was a pool, with small rafts floating in it for Pokemon who couldn't swim. I expected this; remembering how Jake told me this is how water-type gyms mainly work. Misty threw a few more rafts into the pool and switched a couple of lights, then disappeared through a door.

She returned a few moments later, holding three Pokeballs. "You ready?" She asked.

Grinning, I nodded, pulling out my other two. "You bet."

"The three-on-three battle between the challenger Sydney of Pallet Town and gym leader Misty of Cerulean City will soon begin. Only the challenger will be able to substitute Pokemon. You may now begin!" The referee waved the flag to begin.

"Staryu, I choose you!" Out came a brown star-shaped Pokemon, with a red jewel in the center of its head.

I picked out Conrad's pokeball, before tossing it into the air. "Conrad, your turn!" The Spearow fluttered his wings and took off after landing on a raft. I got to go first. "Start of with a peck!"

Conrad dove towards the water, his beak glowing, but Staryu dove under the water. His momentum nearly pushed him in, but the bird was smart enough to turn and land on a raft.

"Staryu, tackle!" The water-type jumped from the water and hit Conrad straight-on, nearly pushing him into the water. My bird Pokemon flapped his wings furiously before gaining altitude again.

It was a silent stalemate; I stood thinking over my strategy. It wasn't going to work, because I, of course, forgot that water-type Pokemon could breathe underwater. I don't understand myself why I forgot. Conrad can't go under, Staryu can't come up...I held this thought in my head as I commanded another peck. The same thing that just happened occurred again, and I winced as Spearow met the raft again.

Then it hit me. "Conrad, peck again, then grab Staryu!" I said, and he nodded, but he looked skeptical about the idea. He rose and dove, grabbing the star Pokemon in his talons, throwing it into the air. "Now, peck again!"

My spearow got another peck in before a pulse of water shot out from Staryu's gem. Spearow reeled back, astonished and soaked, watching as Staryu landed in the water. What...?

"Water pulse," Misty explained, then winked. I cringed.

Conrad got up and shook his head, drying himself off partially. So I knew it had tackle, water pulse...then what? Only one way to find out. "Conrad, use fury attack!" In a maniacal fury, the bird swiftly attacked the Staryu, which had poked its head out of the water. The Staryu was in shock afterwards.

"Recover!"

I watched the Pokemon glow faintly, then look as energized as ever. I sent a side glance to Conrad. "Uh-oh," he said. Uh-oh was right. Recover was one of the worst moves I knew- allowing the user to recover half of their HP. I just had to hope Misty didn't use it that often.

"Conrad, fury attack again!" He attacked the water-type again, getting three out of five shots before being thrown into the water. My heart skipped a beat. I prayed that flying-types at least know how to swim- or know how to get to the surface.

Next thing I knew, Spearow floated to the surface, unconscious by multiple blasts from the Staryu. "You did good, buddy." I said, returning him. I glanced to Brielle. "You ready, girl?"

"You kidding, Syd?" She asked, jumping onto the closest raft. "I was born ready- whoa!" Simply put, she nearly slipped off the water-soaked raft, but quickly regained her balance- she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of another gym leader.

"Staryu, water pulse!"

"Brielle, dodge and dragon rage!" Brielle jumped into the air, dodging the pulsing water jets, before releasing the familiar blue fire. One hit from her knocked the Staryu unconscious- Brielle was stronger than I thought, to be honest. Either that, or Conrad did more damage than both of us thought.

Misty smiled from across the battlefield. "You're good, Sydney." She said, yet before I could thank her for stating the blatant obvious, she continued, "But can you beat this? Starmie, go!"

A purple star, with more arms than Staryu, came out of the Pokeball. It had the same red gem from it's previous evolved form, but this one looked stronger than the first star. I clenched my fist. "Brielle, you can do this!"

"Yeah, sure." She said, doubting herself. "I can try."

Trying is better than nothing.

"Brielle, dragon rage again!"

"Starmie, quick, recover!"

Starmie recovered just before dragon rage hit, which didn't effect it much. I grimaced. Brielle was tired, more than Starmie, due to recover. I was annoyed at her using the move over and over again; but it was a Pokémon battle, she had every right to.

Misty had every right to get on my nerves, that's for sure. I bit my lip before making a final decision. "Brielle, return!" She returned to the Pokéball, and I tossed out another. "Juno, I choose you!"

The shock on Misty's face the moment Juno landed into the pool was, in fact, priceless. Her eyes widened in astonishment and her mouth drooped, but she quickly collected herself. It was my Pokémon, my choice. Juno glanced back at me, and I gave her an encouraging wink.

"This will be easy," I heard her mutter from across the field.

"You can do this, Juno." I told her. "Use tackle!"

It was the only thing I could really use, to be honest. Tackle and Splash. Splash does nothing. Juno swam, with all her might, towards Starmie, and hit directly. Starmie didn't even seem fazed.

"Starmie, rapid spin!" The move is exactly what it sounded like; the star-shaped Pokémon turned into a shuriken and hit Juno directly. Granted, she was weaker than Conrad or Brielle. She flew into the air before landing on one of the mats. Juno flailed until she slowly inched back into the water.

"Juno, tackle again!" I commanded, and the adrenaline rushing through my system was making me anxious with every move. She charged, hitting directly, and hard. Starmie floated away, a little dizzy from the impact.

"Starmie, rapid spin again!"

"Juno, look ou-" I was too late. The rapid spin hit her harsh again, and she fainted instantly. My fist clenched. "You did good, Juno." I said, returning her.

Brielle was last. I sent her out, hoping for the best. She recovered a little more energy in her pokéball, but would it be enough to defeat Starmie and whoever was next?

"So you managed to defeat both my Staryu and my Starmie." Misty laughed. "Most people don't even make it this far."

Brielle sent a glance at me. It had only taken a dragon rage to defeat Starmie. It was a quick, swift move.

"Golduck, go!" The pokéball was thrown into the air with such fervor and out popped Golduck. He was a completely blue pokémon, with a yellow beak and claws, and a red gem in the middle of his forehead. He growled, staring directly at Brielle.

She gulped. "Oh, god."

"Brielle, dragon rage!"

"Look out, Golduck!" Misty cried, and the water-type skillfully jumped into the air, missing the dark blue flames that came from Brielle's mouth. "Water pulse!" I couldn't react fast enough again, and I watched as a jet of water pushed Brielle into the water. She swam quickly to the surface, however, and back onto the net, spitting out water from her mouth.

"Water up the nose! Water up the nose!"

"Brielle!" She paused, glancing at me, waiting a command. "Thunder wave!"

A wave of static flew from her, hitting Golduck right-on. He cringed, the effect of paralysis already taking him over. I smirked; he was paralyzed now. "Disable!" His eye flashed, and Brielle froze.

"I can't use thunder wave anymore, Sydney!" She replied. I nodded, taking the new information.

"Twister!" The move rocketed from my side to the opponent's, sending Golduck flying into the water. Misty winced.

"Golduck!" She cried.

I stood confused, watching as Misty dove into the water to retrieve her Pokémon. She was under for a few moments longer than I expected, and I was about to jump in, even though I barely knew how to swim and help her, but finally her head, and her Golduck surfaced, and she started to paddle toward the ladder.

I helped drag Golduck out of the pool, who was sputtering and shivering. "What happened?" I asked, curious to why the water pokémon was coughing water out of his lungs.

Misty responded with a nervous laugh. "Golduck doesn't know how to swim that well. Ironic, right? That's why I usually do two-on-two." She sighed, gently stroking Golduck's head. You could feel the trust and the care between them, as if it was tangible and you could literally grab it. The redhead's blue eyes didn't falter from the glance upon her pokémon. "We've been teaching him, but he forgets it in battle."

A deep wave of sympathy washed over me, and I said, "We can continue the battle later, if you want-" I began, but she interrupted me.

"No, it's okay." She said, standing up, still soaking wet from her plunge in the pool. "You technically won, anyway."

"A-are you sure-"

She dug around in her pocket before taking out the badge. It was a small, cerulean-blue raindrop. The badge felt like it was carved out of crystal in my hand. "I'm positive, Sydney."

I put the badge into my pocket, smiling. "Thank you, Misty."

"No problem." We began walking down the hall, back to the exit. "Looks like it stopped raining." She winked. "Come back and challenge me again, and maybe Golduck will be stronger."

"I will!" I promised, running out into the fresh outside. It was humid and wet still, but it felt fresh and nice. My pokémon, safe in their Pokéballs, rested, and I wandered out into the world again, lost in my own thoughts. I was two gym badges down, six to go. Already. It had been nearly a month since I left home. Time spent on routes, in cities, all of it, all down to, what, two-thirds of a month?

Cerulean City was buzzing again, with people frantically going about their lives. It was a peaceful, city buzz. Life had begun anew again after the storm. The next badge sat in my case next to the Boulder badge, given to me a couple of days ago by Brock.

Now that took a while to get. I returned to the Center briefly to heal my trio before heading back out into the hot weather. Directions, first.

Thunk.

"Hey!"

So Sydney challenged Misty and successfully won, right? No other plot in here, but WAIT! She runs into someone!

...Sorry, it doesn't sound interesting. It will be. I promise.

I am still accepting OCs, but please PM me if you have an account!