Chapter 21

Battling Slots

I woke up, rolling over in bed. I must say, the beds Mr. Fugi had were much more comfortable than the ones in the pokecenter.

"Piiii!" I heard Pichu yawn as he crawled on top of my head.

"Eah!" I picked him up. "Get off." I put him on the pillow beside me as I rose up. He crawled over to me, lying in my lap. I pushed him off, climbing down the ladder of my bunk. When my feet touched the ground I picked him back up, putting him on my shoulder. I looked at Shonna, who was still asleep. She looked so pretty, so sweet when she slept. I leaned over, pushing some hair out of her face. I smiled, watching as Pichu jumped off my shoulder to lick her on her forehead. I saw her wince as I placed a hand on her shoulder. "Shonna." I said. "Wake up, its time to go." I saw her roll over, as a blush came over her face. Was she dreaming about something? "Shonna!" I shook her. "Shonna! Wake up!" She slowly opened her eyes, jumping when she saw Pichu licking her face. "Finally!" I said. "We need to head out of here." I scooped up Pichu, walking out of the room, leaving her to get dressed.

I walked down the hall into the kitchen to see Mr. Fugi brewing up a pot of coffee. "Good morning!" He said, walking over to the table with two cups of coffee. "I didn't have time to last night or I would have got you some then." He sat down, sitting one of the cups in front of him, and one in front of the other seat. "I hope you like coffee." He said, sipping his.

"Yeah, I'm a regular coffee addict." I said, sipping on mine. "But, you don't need to make any for Shonna, she hates the stuff."

"I see." He looked around. "Where is the young lady?"

"Getting ready." I sipped some more down.

"So how long have you two been courting?" He asked.

I almost spat out my coffee when he asked that, putting the cup down as a slight blush came across my face. "Oh, we're not dating..." I paused, looking my reflection in the dark water.

"I see…" He said, taking another sip. "Does she know how you feel?"

"I…" I looked away, not knowing what to say.

He stood up, putting his empty cup in the sink. "Well, I better go tend to the pokemon around the town." He headed for the door, picking up his hat and jacket as he walked out. He stood in the doorway, glancing over his shoulder. "Love waits for no one, if you don't take a swing, you'll strike out." He gave me a wink. "Just keep that in mind, youngster." With that he left me alone, as he walked out of the house.

* * *

We fought a few trainers along the way, but otherwise made a short trip to Saffron. I kept quiet most of the way, still jostled by what the old fart said before he left.

"Is something wrong with you?" Shonna looked at me concerned. "You haven't spoken to me all day."

"Y-yeah." I stuttered. "It's nothing, really." I needed to get my mind off of all this. I really needed to unwind some, I felt like I was going to explode with all these mixed fillings. "Well if it's okay with you. I want to stop in the game corner at Celadon first. There's some really neat TM prizes if you do well."

"That's fine." Shonna replied. We walked through the gate to Celadon. I had my head hanging, and didn't see the large man that ran right into me.

"I can't take it anymore!" The man yelled out as he stood and began digging through his pockets. "I've already lost my house, and my family, all on those stupid slots!" He threw down a coin case filled with coins. "Here! Take it! Take all of it!" The man ran out screaming.

"Well," I picked up the case. "Guess this will give us a start."

* * *

We walked into the game corner and were met by a flurry of people running around to different neon colored slot machines. I walked over to a vacant one, the one I always used to sit at when my brother and me came here when I was younger. Shonna took a seat beside me as I put a coin in the slot.

"Are you sure you want to do this Kyle?" Shonna asked as I kept my eyes on the rolling images, remembering the patterns. "I don't want you to get addicted like that one guy."

"Please." I pulled down the crank, releasing it to get a jackpot red seven image to show. "Who are you trying to be? My wife or something?"

"No!" I heard Shonna yell as she put one of the coins in her slot.

I was paying close attention to the rolling patterns. I need to land a seven two more times. I pulled the lever down fast, releasing to have another seven show. Now the next one…

"Hey…" Shonna asked. "Is this good?"

I looked over to hers. She had won the jackpot, all three sevens in a row, though it was close. Two of the sevens were barely even on the line that ran across the middle, but she still won. "Yeah, that's great!" I said. "You got the jackpot, 300 coins!" I bent down, scooping up the coins as I put them in my bag. I saw her giggle as she put another coin in the slot. But after that, I didn't hear anything else from her. I focused on my slot, trying to get that last seven. I pulled the lever, making the seven stop dead middle. The coins fell in the tray as I put another coin in. I played it again; getting all sevens again, and again, and again. Before long I had a crowd of people around me, all gasping and cheering whenever I hit the jackpot. I looked over to Shonna, who gave up on her slot and was watching me too.

"Wow…" She said, watching me. "How are you doing that?"

"Years of practice."

* * *

"Hey Jenny!" The man phoned in. "Listen, I got this kid here who's getting seven's every time. He's gotta be cheating! I won't have that in my establishment! But you gotta hurry and get down here! He's gonna cash in soon!"

* * *

We walked over to the adjacent building with three bags full of coins and set them on the counter.

"I want one of each of your TMs." I said, watching as one of the bags tipped over, spilling coins everywhere. The woman stared at me mouth agape. "Do you want any Shonna?" I turned around to ask her.

"Oh! Um, sure. I'll take a Flamethrower. For Ponyta." She smiled.

We packed up the TMs and turned to walk back out. Before we could get to the door, it slammed open and Jenny ran in.

"I got a complaint about someone cheating the slots and… You?" Jenny stood shocked at first, then reached for her handcuffs. "Well well, just another thing to add to your rap sheet Mr. Gray." She approached us slowly.

"Boy this brings back memories." I said to myself, thinking about the times when me and my brother, Brandon, were kicked out of the slot place because I won so much. Good times, good times.

"What do we do now Kyle?" Shonna asked as we looked around the small building. No windows, only a door, which was currently blocked. Jenny came up behind us and cuffed us. She also grabbed Pichu and stuffed him in a cage. Pichu wailed as she carried him away from me.

"Jimmy. Detain them and bring them to the station. I'll be waiting."

A nerdy looking officer came up to us. He looked kind of scared as he took our bags. This guy would be really easy to trick, if I even spat in his direction he would probably jump. He reached up to grab Arcanine's pokeball.

"Hey!" I shouted, gritting my teeth.

"Oh goodness!" The man shook in fear.

"It's just a necklace, pipsqueak. Leave it alone." I said angrily.

"Oh uh uh okay!" The officer shivered as he led us to the cop car. We drove silently to the command post in Saffron. Once we arrived at the station, we were uncuffed and placed in a cell.

We sat quietly as Jenny walked in.

"Kyle, Kyle. We called your mother. She's on her way to pick you up now. We'll give you back your pokemon as soon as she gets here." She paused and looked at Shonna, who looked scared to death. "And I don't know who you are, but you'll be released whenever he is."

"Why can't I be released now? I didn't do anything." Shonna questioned.

"Give me a break." Jenny turned to walk away. "I don't want you two planning some kind of dreamy escape." She walked off further into the station.

I looked over at her, pulling on the pokeball around my necklace. "You ready?"

"Whenever you are." she winked.

I smiled, throwing the necklace out into the hallway, letting Arcanine appear in the small narrow passage. "Alright Arcanine. You're great at rescues. So help us get out of here. But you've gotta be careful. Be kinda… stealthy." I whispered.

Arcanine nodded before sneaking off down the hall.

* * *

Arcanine snuck down the hallway, looking for the easiest way out. It would have been simple enough for him to bite open the bars and bust them out, but Kyle said stealthy. He lowered his body as he crawled around the station. He walked out the back to see a ton of growlithe and arcanine. They were training outside with their owners. It looked like most of the officers were outside. "Maybe that'd be a potential getaway." He barked to himslf. He crawled back through the door to the opposite end of the station.

There was a large woman with a beehive hairstyle making coffee in the back, and there just ahead, were the keys, hanging in a box in front of her. "Bingo!" He snuck up to the box. Just a little further. He slowly lifted his teeth to the keys. They fell into his mouth with a clang, and the woman turned to see him.

"Oh my!" The woman said loudly. "If it isn't one of our fine Arcanine!" She waddled up to him stroking his thick fur. "You all just do such a fine job out there in the field. Makes me wish I wasn't just the coffee lady!" She giggled.

Arcanine wagged his tail and put on a fake smile, making sure not to expose the keys. "Come one lady, go away… I got stuff to do…"

"Well, then big guy," She stroked his fur.

Arcanine looked shocked as he stopped wagging his tail. "Big guy? Eww, that's creepy coming from her."

"You better get back to training, and I better get back to making coffee!" She lifted a cup and carried it to a door down the hall labeled, 'Jenny's Office'.

Arcanine knew this was his chance. He turned to walk back to the cells when he noticed their bags sitting under a desk. Pichu was stuck in a small cage as well, sobbing. Arcanine kneeled down to his level.

Arcanine barked. "Hey! Quit crying. I'm going to get us out of here."

"But," Pichu cried. "I hate being cooped up in this cage! I'm scared! I want Kyle!"

"I know you do." Arcanine spat the keys into Pichu's cage. "Hold on to those tight, and I'll be able to get you out of there."

"Pi? Really?" Pichu grabbed a hold of the keys.

"Yep, just hang on tight to those." Arcanine grabbed the cage and the bags, tossing them onto his back as he walked back to the holding cells.

* * *

It had been several minutes since I sent Arcanine out to find the keys and our stuff. Even though I knew that the best place to hide an Arcanine would be at the police station because of all the ones that were around, I was starting to get worried about him. I looked over to Shonna, who was sitting in the floor beside me. "You're a pretty good actress." She looked at me curiously. "You know, acting scared when Jenny came around."

"Oh yeah, that." She laughed. "I um… well… it wasn't that I was scared it was just… this is a pretty strange situation." She looked at me. "Right?"

I laughed, kicking my feet. "You were scared!"

"I was not!" She huffed. "I knew we would get out of here whenever I saw you keep Arcanine on you." She pointed to the necklace that was lying in the hallway. She stretched. "So you're telling me that you weren't scared about what was going to happen?"

"Nope." I said, reaching into my jacket pocket, pulling out a paper clip. "It would have been really freakin' hard, but me and my brother have had practice breaking out of these bars back in the day."

"That's comforting. So people can really pick locks with a paper clip?" She asked.

"Yeah, though its easier to use a credit card."

"Arf." I heard a low bark, turning around to see Arcanine standing in front of the bars with Pichu and our stuff on his back.

"Hey boy!" I said, taking the cage from him and our stuff. I opened up Pichu's cage, who ran out immediately, hugging my face and crying on it. "It's okay, you're safe now." I pat him on the head. I then took the keys and unlocking the door to the cell. Shonna and I took our bags as we walked over to Arcanine. "Did you find a way out?"

"Arf!" Arcanine tossed us on his back and we hid in his thick fur. He casually walked out the exit door. I peeked up to see the training grounds. Arcanine walked calmly past the others before stopping briefly. The blue hair made me duck back into his fur. I looked over at Pichu who was about to scream. "Oh no." I said to myself as I pushed my hand on his mouth, stopping him. I looked over to Shonna who was burying further into Arcanines fur as Jenny walked closer.

"Hmm." Jenny sipped on her coffee. "I haven't seen you around here. You look familiar though." She tapped her foot thinking. "You're a big Arcanine. Maybe Jimmy's growlithe finally evolved. Don't know how though. He never spent time with it." She walked past pondering this. She continued down the courtyard until she walked into the station. I raised my head, peeking out from the fur of the massive dog. I saw Jenny walk to the door we came out of, meaning someone with a large frizzy blond hair. "Oh crap!" I said, getting a better look at her.

"What is it?" Shonna asked calmly.

"It's…" I paused. "Arcanine, walk away slowly and casually."

"Hello, I'm Mrs. Gray." I heard my mother say. She always had a loud voice. "I'm here to pick up my son."

"Oh yes." Jenny walked into the building as Arcanine walked out the front driveway.

"Please come this way." Jenny continued, walking up the hall as she spoke. "He's just up ahead. The troublemaker. We put him in this cell over he…" She stopped, and dropped her coffee to the ground. The cell door stood wide open. "That Arcanine… I know that Arcanine!" She screamed. "It was his!" She bolted out the door back to the courtyard, but the large Arcanine was nowhere to be found.

* * *

"That was really close." Shonna said hopping off Arcanine when we were a fair distance away.

"Too close." I hugged Arcanine tight. "But you saved us, didn't you boy?"

Arcanine happily licked my face, making me laugh.

"That's true," Shonna walked up petting him. "We wouldn't be here without him."

"Arf!" Arcanine barked at us happily before returning to the ball around my neck.

"Now," I said, looking seriously at Shonna. "Let's get that badge and get outta here." I wanted to leave before Jenny got wise to our little scheme.

* * *

We walked in the gym, walking only a few feet in before everything started spinning. The room looked like it was in some sort of swirling vortex. I stumbled a little, and then closed my eyes. When I did I could feel that the ground beneath me wasn't moving.

"It is doing that for you too, right?" I asked Shonna, hearing her stumble.

"Yeah, what's going on?" She asked, almost falling.

"Close your eyes for a minute." I told her, and I'm guessing she did because I didn't hear her fall any more. "This is a psychic gym, so maybe the leader or her pokemon is causing this." I opened my eyes and stumbled to a wall when the room started spinning again. "Open your eyes and follow me. Somehow we've got to get back there."

We both held to the walls and wandered down the hall. When we finally reached the end there was a large door. We both got on either side of the large doors, both pushing them open.

When we were finally inside Shonna said, "We're here to challenge the…" and then fell over on the floor. The powerful psychic waves intensified in the gym. I looked across the gym and in the midst of the swirls and blurs, the gym leader sat, meditating. I then looked down to Shonna, who looked very pale, maybe even in pain from being so dizzy.

"Please stop!" I yelled. "We want to challenge you!"

Her eyes snapped open and the room returned to its normal state. The leader stared at us with evil eyes. Shonna stood up facing her. I knew from the first moment I saw her meditating that she wasn't going to be easy.

"No!" The leader shouted. "I can not be bothered with this. I will not fight both of you."

"What?" I jumped back. "You have to! You're the gym leader."

"I do not have the time to fight both of you. Be gone!" The woman screamed.

We stood speechless. I saw Shonna look over to the nameplate on the sign nearby. It read "Saffron City Gym Leader: Sabrina"

"Sabrina!" Shonna yelled. "You may not have time for two battles, but what if you double battled us?" I saw Shonna smile as she looked at me, but I had never been in a double battle. Personally I didn't think I'd like them, you would have to rely on other people to use moves that work with yours. It's hard on both people. "It'll get us out quicker, and I gotta tell ya, we're not going anywhere until we get our badges." Shonna stood there, staring at Sabrina.

Sabrina simply stood there staring for a long time. "Fine. But after the battle, you both must leave and let me meditate."

I started thinking of all the moves her pokemon knew and all the moves mine knew. I don't know if the would clash or work together. I whispered over to Shonna. "Shonna, are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Kyle, I don't think she would have battled us any other way." Shonna pulled out a pokeball. "I don't like it either, but it's the only way. Don't worry though. We can take her."

"Okay then." I said reluctantly, pulling out a pokeball. I already knew that double battle wasn't going to be my strong suit.

Sabrina closed her eyes as two pokeballs floated in front of her. "I will only use these two pokemon. You may only use the pokemon you chose." The pokeballs floated to the stage revealing an Alakazam and a Mr. Mime.

Two psychic pokemon, I guess I should have figured that. Alakazam is very powerful on offense, while the Mime is good with defense. Regardless in both scenarios the best one I could use in this battle would be Umbreon's Shadow Ball move I taught him before we were escorted to jail. On the other hand Arcanine could take them down, he is my most powerful pokemon. "You ready Shonna?" I looked over at her as she nodded. We both threw out our pokemon, her Vaporeon and my Umbreon.

The Alakazam attacked relentlessly, teleporting and striking Umbreon with a quick psybeam. I gritted my teeth, having her figured out. She is communicating telepathically with them.

"How?" Shonna asked surprised. "She's not commanding them."

"Yes she is." I looked over at her, then back to the battle. "She's using her mind. Telekinesis. We'll have to be careful."

"Right." Shonna said before giving a command. "Vaporeon! Water Pulse!"

My eyes widened, I knew what was going to happen, but I hoped I was wrong. Water poured out of Vaporeon's mouth. It streamed toward Alakazam and Mr. Mime. The pair lifted their hands up and used their Confusion attacks to turn the water back on us. It splashed down on Umbreon and Vaporeon. And of course, I was right.

"Shonna! I told you, you have to be careful!" I yelled.

"Hey lay off! I thought it'd work." Shonna yelled back.

Now I'm glad that I didn't go with Arcanine. "Ugh. This is no time for us to fight." I put a hand to my head. "Listen, these guys have seen a lot of battles, and they can see the future. You're going to have to think of attacks that will surprise them."

"You haven't even made an attack Kyle!" Shonna snapped at me. "Why don't you show me what you mean?"

I smiled. "Gladly." I turned to the battle. "Umbreon Shadow Ball, and Bite!"

Umbreon let loose a large ball of dark energy. He ran behind the ball swiftly. Mr. Mime put up a screen that reflected the ball. Umbreon leaped over the ball biting hard onto Mr. Mime's arm.

"Wow," I heard Shonna say. "That was unexpected."

"That's what you have to do." I winked at her, thinking that now we might have a chance.

"I think I get it." She smiled. "Vaporeon, Water Pulse the air, then Aurora Beam!"

Vaporeon bounced up and shot strings of water into the air. It shot beams that quickly froze the water into icicles that fell onto the pair of psychic types. They held up their arms in defense, but it obviously hurt.

"Alright! That's the way!" I cheered. "We just have to catch them off guard."

The Alakazam and Mr. Mime closed their eyes and released a pair of psybeams to us. It was almost as if time stopped.

"Vaporeon! Freeze a surf attack!" Shonna called. I looked over at her, wondering what she was doing. Vaporeon brought out a wave of water to crash into the psychic types, they in turn, began turning it back on us, but as it stood in a vertical line above us, Vaporeon froze it with Aurora Beam. The still shooting psybeams hit the sheet of ice and bounced off it.

Shonna looked back at me. "They have light screens, we have ice."

I smiled. Wow. She is catching on very fast indeed. "Umbreon! Shoot Shadow Balls!"

Umbreon opened his mouth and released several balls of dark energy. They broke through the ice making large holes in it. Several of the balls hit Sabrina's pokemon head on. The Pokemon pulled themselves together and stared blankly at the holes in the ice, unsure of which one they should attack at.

"Umbreon!" I called.

"Vaporeon!" Shonna cried.

"Bite!" We yelled in unison.

Umbreon and Vaporeon leaped through the holes and bit hard into the pokemon on the other side. The surprised Alakazam fell to the ground, knocked out as the Mr. Mime did shortly as well. Pokeballs floated above them and the beams of light picked the pokemon up and put them back in the balls. They floated back to Sabrina's hands. Two badges from behind her floated to us and rested in our palms. We looked up at Sabrina.

"You have won, and done quite well. I was unable to tell what your attacks meant, and your quick judgments left me little time to remedy it. Now please leave." Sabrina walked into another room quietly.

"We won!" Shonna placed the badge on her bag as I pinned mine in my jacket.

"Yeah!" I smiled happily. "We make a good team."

Shonna nudged me playfully. "Did you ever have a doubt?"

"Well actually…" I ran a hand through my hair.

Shonna looked at me blankly. "Hey wait, You did, didn't you?"

We both looked up as the room started to spin again. "Ahhh!" We yelled. "Not again!" We ran out of the gym as fast as we could.