Chapter 13 – first attempt at a badge
"All right James, your Pokémon are ready." The nurse said. James smiled and thanked her, taking his five pokeballs back off her. She had been checking his Pokémon, making sure that their ready for battle. While he was in Lavaridge Town, he might as well try his hand at the local gym. He walked back to the desk he had been waiting at, and which still held a desktop computer and his Eevee. Still too young for battle, and not even aware of basic principles, the evolution Pokémon was definitely not going to be in his fight with the gym leader. It gave a purr as James sat down, and he stroked it, enjoying the feeling of its soft brown fur. James shut down the computer – he had just been wasting time on Facebook anyway – and stood up again. It was time to face Flannery and get his first gym badge. That was a given – the thought that he might lose never entered his head.
The gym was located only a short walk from the Pokémon Centre. As James reached it – a large rectangular building with glass sliding doors, behind which was a blank wall – James turned to check that Eevee was still with him. The evolution Pokémon preferred to walk wherever possible, and James was perfectly happy to allow that, although Eevee had a rather annoying, though very cute habit of simply sitting down when it was tired, and not making any noise to announce that it had done so. However Eevee had kept up, and it now was standing at James' ankle, looking up at its owner in a way that made it look as though the Pokémon was puzzled as to why they had stopped.
"Awe well, let's go on in." James said, walking forward, through the automatic door. Inside it was very hot and steamy, made possibly worse by the huge fans on the walls, which were simply blowing the hot air around. Eevee let out a small noise, and James picked it up and began stroking it as he walked. Around the corner was a desk, at which a man stood.
"Yes, yes hello?" He said, as James came through, "What an adorably adorable Pokémon, I love what you've done with its fur, look how it dazzles in the light!" James looked down at Eevee, who didn't seem to be enjoying the heat.
"Whatever, can I battle the gym leader?"
"You have an appointment?" He asked. James had indeed called earlier.
"Well, go on through there, have fun!" The man said. James gave him a strange look before walking through.
The gym was just as steamy as the hall – a large empty colosseum-like room, except with no grandstands. An arena had been marked out in white paint on the floor. After a few awkward seconds of waiting, a girl of about twenty ran in. Flannery. Behind her was an umpire, dressed in the usual white.
"You my challenger?" Flannery asked. James nodded.
"James."
"I'm Flannery. You aren't battling with that are ya?" She looked at Eevee.
"Why does everyone assume I'm going to battle with Eevee, just cause I'm holding it?" James asked.
"Calm down, send out your Pokémon."
"But don't you," James said, slightly confused. He had always assumed that the gym leader would send their Pokémon into battle before the challenger.
"My gym, my rules." Flannery said.
"Fine," James said, withdrawing Manectric's pokeball. He was already throwing it into the air when he realized that there was some sort of indent on the ball's surface. Grovyle appeared. The ball flew back to James, who looked at it quickly, seeing what before he did not – the leaf emblem on it.
"Damn." James said.
"What a bad choice." Flannery said, surveying Grovyle, who was trying to make it look as though the heat didn't affect it. She pulled out a pokeball, and threw it into the air.
"Go Arcanine!"
"Damn."
"This is a two on two Pokémon battle. The battle will be over when both of a trainers Pokémon are unable to battle. Begin!" The umpire called out.
"Fire Blast." Flannery said, and her Arcanine responded with a howl, sending out the star shaped attack.
"Dodge it and Quick Attack." James yelled, and his Grovyle ran forward, slid under the flames, before shooting toward its opponent.
"Fire Fang." Flannery said, calmly, and her Pokémon turned. Grovyle's attack was lost in the huge volume of fur that made up Arcanine's tail, and when the legendary Pokémon turned back around, fast as lightning, it bit down hard on Grovyle's arm. Fire was released, at close range, through the Pokémon's teeth and onto its victim, before Arcanine threw the wood gecko Pokémon away. Grovyle hit the wall and fell, landing on the ground and not moving.
"Grovyle is unable-" The umpire said, raising a flag, but James interrupted him.
"No! Wait!" James looked to Grovyle, who had stirred. Then the Pokémon slowly picked itself up.
"Fire Blast." Flannery said, and her Pokémon responded.
"Bullet Seed!" James yelled, and his Pokémon let out a volley of shots. However the seeds were simply burnt to nothing in the flames. Grovyle leapt up, onto the wall, then away, avoiding the Fire Blast, before going into a Quick Attack.
"NO DON'T DO THAT!" James said, "PULL OFF, DO A BULLET SEED!" However Grovyle didn't pull off. Just like it used to do when it was younger, Grovyle had taken control. It charged toward Arcanine, faster than James had ever seen it. However, Arcanine was faster.
"Extreme Speed!" Arcanine suddenly disappeared, and a red streak flew around the battle field. Grovyle stopped, confused, before being snatched up and pulled along, being smacked on the ground, as Arcanine completed another circuit. Then Arcanine stopped and Grovyle rolled away on the floor, well and truly unconscious.
"Return." James said, recalling the Pokémon.
"You too." Flannery said, recalling her Arcanine.
James, sure this time that he had the right ball, threw out his Manectric, and was relieved when he saw it immerge.
"Okay then," Flannery said, throwing out her ball too. In a flash of red light, a Houndoom appeared.
"Begin!" The umpire yelled.
"Charge." James told his Pokémon.
"Flamethrower." Flannery said, confidently. Fire burst from Houndoom's jaws, and wrapped around Manectric. However the electric type ignored it, and soon electricity was crackling around it.
"Keep charging!" James said, and his Manectric did so, until James judged that it had gathered sufficient power. "Thunderbolt!" James cried, and the fire was cut in two by a storm of lightning.
"Reflect." Flannery said. The Thunderbolt, charged to enormous levels, bounced back and hit Manectric at double the power. There was a great BOOM, and when James could dare look, he saw his Pokémon passed out cold.
James walked out of the gym, his Eevee in its ball, heading for the Pokémon centre. His first attempt at a gym badge had ended in complete and total failure.
"Hey!" Someone said from behind him. James turned and looked, and saw the male secretary to the gym.
"What do you want?" James asked.
"Have you ever fought fire types before?" He asked.
"What? Yea, of course!"
"Have you ever beaten them?"
This James couldn't answer, because the truth was that he hadn't.
"Look," The man said, "If you wanna beat fire types, then you gotta go on their turf. No Pokémon can stand the heat like a fire type. Use that, and you're gonna be on an equal playing field.
"Yea, but where do I GET a fire type?" James lashed out.
"Up on the mountain," He said, pointing, "You can find them there." James looked up. He had been on the lookout for a fire type for some time now. He looked at the man, then back up at the mountain.
"I'll see you soon." He said, before continuing down the road to the Pokémon Centre.