After we were informed that there was a town that ran along Trainers' Pass less than a day's walk from where we were, we set out immediately. Dylan paused to thank Nurse Sarah for her help. She gave him a smile and told him to try and stay out of trouble from now on. Her eyes shifted to me to indicate that her warning went for me as well.
We skipped breaking for lunch and just kept on walking. I was fine with this because I was basically out of food. I wasn't the only one either. The other three were also scraping the bottoms of their food supplies. None of us had thought to load up on supplies when we left Chicago.
For a while, Dylan had allowed Croagunk to walk with us. The poisonous pokemon was clearly happy to be considered a full-fledged member of the group. However, Dylan soon found there was a drawback. Parading around with a pokemon that was doubly weak to psychic attacks drew anyone with a psychic pokemon to us. Eventually Dylan had to put Croagunk back into it's ball.
Our first steps into the town were almost seven hours later. The town was clearly used to trainer traffic and most stores posted late-night hours. Our first stop was the grocery store that was very close to the border. Each of us spent a fair amount of money to get our backpacks bulging with food. Hunger may have played a small issue in our over packing.
Although I demanded that we sleep in a hotel that night, I also made them detour to the pokemon shop before we found a place.
"What are we doing here?" Dylan asked me as I flipped through some technical machines.
"That battle got me thinking," I said as I held up a disc. "Croagunk versus Toxicroak was a giant slugfest because most of their moves were ineffective against each other. They did have mud bomb though. That still left them unable to really damage any pokemon that would have a type advantage."
Dylan squinted at me. "Croagunk knows sucker punch. That's a dark-type. It'd be effective against psychic pokemon."
I hesitated. "I forgot about that. Anyways, I guess that proves my point then. I want my pokemon to be able to deal heavy damage to any pokemon that'd have a type advantage."
"You'll never be able to get one that covers all types," Vanessa said from behind me. Clearly she had been listening in. "Most pokemon can't learn enough moves to cover anything that might affect them."
I gave her a shrug. "Maybe not but I can maybe cover the most likely types. Like I have ice beam already. I'm going to teach it to Mudkip."
Dylan's eyes unfocused as he thought. They snapped back. "I get it. When it evolves, it becomes a ground-type as well. It's only weakness would be grass."
"Exactly." I gave him a point of my finger. "Unfortunately, I can't really find anything I like so I'm just going to buy energy ball. I liked what it did in that last battle."
"Who'll you teach it to?" Vanessa asked.
"Probably Grovyle. I like the quickness of bullet seed but it doesn't pack a whole lot of a punch. It still knows leaf blade which I think is actually the strongest of the three but it's close range. It needs to know something long range too."
Energy ball ended up being the only TM that I purchased. Vanessa was the last one out of the shop. I was pretty sure she had bought a few TM's as well. She didn't say anything about it so we didn't ask.
There was a small motel a block away from the pokemon shop. We got two rooms. Dylan and I shared one and David and Vanessa shared the other. I felt a little lame but as soon as we got inside the room I laid down on the bed and prepared for sleep.
"You're seriously going to bed?" Dylan asked. "It's like nine."
"Hey, you know what? I finally have a nice bed. I'm not sleeping on the ground. I'm going to enjoy this and hopefully recharge my batteries."
It took a while for me to actually fall asleep. Dylan had been flipping through the limited channels on the small television when I finally faded away. It may have been early but it was totally worth it.
Dylan was still snoring when I woke up. At first I considered not getting out of bed. However I knew I'd have to eventually so I just bit the bullet. Being showered and shaved felt fantastic. My face no longer itched with the scraggly beard I had been sporting. Dylan shaved his off too but when we met outside, David was still rocking his. He had however trimmed it up nicely into a goatee. David could pull off the goatee. Dylan and I could not.
After a quick continental breakfast, we were on the road.
A little bit into the day, I remembered what Dylan and I had talked about in the pokemon shop the day before. Not ready to commit with energy ball, I still had ice beam. I pulled out a poke ball and tossed it onto the ground. Mudkip was thrilled to learn the new attack.
We didn't get a chance to try out ice beam that day. We only passed a couple of trainers. Most of them ignored us. One of them challenged Vanessa. We weren't far enough away from civilization to be finding tough trainers. She rolled over the younger girl without much trouble.
Hours blended into days and the days began to blur together. I had lost track of how long we had been on the Pass before we had reached the town. Not long after we had left, time had been skewed again. I had a vague idea but I wasn't sure.
The battles and stress from them hadn't helped my personal time warp.
Trainers had begun to come out of the woodwork. It was becoming much like those first few days when challenges came one after the other. The theory of tough trainers being far away from civilization became useless as tough and beginning trainers were all rubbing shoulders out here.
Not knowing what might be coming our way contributed heavily to the stress on our shoulders. Having somewhat of an idea of the level of trainer we'd come across would help with preparation. Thinking we were going to go up against a skilled trainer and then going against a rookie was messing with us. And vice versa.
I went into a battle expecting to run over my opponent. I barely scraped by. The next battle I was all geared up to be taken to my limit. I crushed two low leveled grimers with my sandshrew. It all began weighing us down.
I voiced this feeling to my friends one night.
"I know what you mean," David agreed. "I never know what I'm getting in to."
"It came back to bite me," Dylan added. "Dustox went down. Apparently pokemon that can't fly can learn aerial ace."
Time dragged on. We continued to find ourselves bombarded with challenges. With no idea when we might encounter the next pokemon center, we started trying to avoid other trainers. One pair caught up with me and David and we were coerced into battling them. I had tried to angle for a double battle but I was overruled.
We separated from the others and I began to consider my options. The match had been decided to be a one-on-one battle. Normally in these kinds of situations, I'd want to go with one of my big guns like Charmeleon, Grovyle or Heracross. Unfortunately, all of them had battled recently. Corphish was the only pokemon I had that was completely fresh but I wasn't ready to rely on it and only it in a battle like this. Sandshrew had gotten some experience lately but not enough for it to carry a battle. In the end, the only real option I had was Mudkip.
My opponent already had a poke ball in her hand. She was a good few years older than me, probably mid to late twenties with long black hair tied back. In her other hand she held something unexpected: a palm pilot or something similar. I had no idea what she could possibly be using that for except maybe a surrogate pokedex.
"Ready?" she asked with a casual smile. I was pretty sure she had said her name was Megan.
I nodded and tossed Mudkip's poke ball to myself. "As I'll ever be."
"Good. Let's go!"
My pokedex wasn't needed for me to identify her pokemon. It was covered in orange fur and had a splash of blue around it's eyes like a mask. Hands were at the ends of both it's arms and legs. A fire burned on the tip of it's tail. Her monferno would not match up well against my water pokemon.
I caught a flash of surprise that flickered across Megan's face as Mudkip appeared. She seemed to have been expecting something different although I couldn't figure out why.
I pointed at the monferno. "Here we go Mudkip! Water gun!"
"Flamethrower!"
The pillars of water and fire slammed together in the middle of our makeshift battlefield. I had expected the water gun to cut right through the flamethrower, completely decimating the attack and the attacker. Instead the two attacks detonated in an eruption of warm mist. The flamethrower had been a very powerful one.
It was right then that I realized I was not in for a cake walk.
"Monferno, mach punch!"
The fire monkey pokemon pulled back it's right arm like it was going to punch despite being a considerable distance away. Then it launched. It shot like a missile across the field and the punch smashed into the side of Mudkip's head. The water pokemon was flung off to the side.
"Water gun!" I yelled.
Mudkip bounced once as it landed. It swiveled in midair and came down on all fours. After a split-second to locate it's enemy, Mudkip fired the water gun. This time the distance between the two pokemon was much less. Monferno didn't have a chance to ready a flamethrower. The water attack slammed into it's chest and then tracked upward to it's face. The fire pokemon was flipped over backwards.
Monferno climbed back up to it's feet, looking both wet and angry. "Ferno!"
"Kip!" Mudkip retorted.
Despite being in the midst of a battle, I noticed that Megan had tapped out a few notes into her little electronic device. It creeped me out a little that she was keeping notes on me. It also angered me that she wasn't taking this battle seriously enough to give it her full attention.
When she finished her note, she looked up. "Mach punch!"
It was what I had been expecting and I was ready. "Ice beam at the ground!"
That caught Megan's attention.
A small blue orb formed in Mudkip's mouth. From it jetting out what looked like light blue lightning. Whatever the lightning struck, it froze. In this case it was freezing the ground at a rapid rate. Monferno was blasting across the field and suddenly slammed into a rising wall of ice. The fire pokemon bounced off and used it's speedy punch to shatter the ice wall.
Through the shards of ice cut a powerful water gun that I had called for. The current of the water picked up some of the ice shards as it passed them and slammed them into the surprised monferno as well. Caught in midair, the fire pokemon was easily cut down and driven into the ground.
I smiled to myself. I had formed that plan quickly and it had worked to perfection. My opponent's preoccupation with her note taking had left her easy prey to such radical tactics. However, it wasn't likely to work again.
Megan's full attention was on the battle now. "Flame wheel!"
Monferno somersaulted forward as it began breathing out fire. In the blink of an eye it was a rolling inferno. Grass and dirt was scorched as it rolled towards my pokemon.
"Mud slap!" I shouted.
Mudkip dug it's paws into the ground and heaved the clumps of mud. They splattered against the rolling fire, flinging dirt everywhere. Monferno didn't waver at all. The ground attack had done no damage.
My mind raced. There had to be a way to break through the flames and halt the oncoming fire pokemon.
"Water gun!"
As my pokemon fired the water attack, the wheel of fire changed. It flexed in at the top and then suddenly bounced into the sky. The water gun pasted harmlessly underneath. That had been the last thing I had expected. Monferno was practically on top of Mudkip now.
Inspiration struck at the last possible moment. "Bide!"
A white glow outlined Mudkip a half second before impact. Digging it's back feet into the ground, it pushed back against the rolling flames. Slowly Mudkip was pushed backwards. It's feet left deep trenches in the ground. All the while it was taking damage from the fire.
"Now!" Megan yelled. "Mach punch!"
The flames disappeared almost instantly. Coming out of a flip, Monferno landed on it's feet and cocked an arm back. Mudkip braced itself but the glowing punch still toppled it backwards. I could see that my pokemon was slightly dazed. Megan and Monferno had gone for the knockout shot.
"Here we go!" I bobbed my head to a tune only I could hear. "Bide!"
The glow around Mudkip pulsed. It all swam forward over the water pokemon's body and then fired out in a beam. Monferno was struck in the chest and the resulting explosion hid it's body.
It had been a powerful attack but I wasn't convinced it was over just yet. "Water gun!"
The familiar bubbling noise filled my ears as the pillar of water shot out of Mudkip's mouth. At first it past right through the remaining smoke. Then Mudkip swept it to the side. For a moment it didn't emerge from the smoke. Then it burst free, dragging a monferno along the ground with it.
I couldn't see for sure but that had to be it. Unless this monferno was incredibly well-trained and high leveled, there was no way it could've withstood several water attacks along with the bide attack.
As if to confirm my suspicions, I heard Megan say "Good match."
She returned her monferno to it's poke ball and I followed suit. She waved me over. I assumed she just wanted to give me my winnings. Instead she had wanted to talk.
"So why do you use a mudkip?" she asked. "Don't you have any other water pokemon?"
The question surprised me. "Well, I have a corphish."
"Why not use that then? When it evolves it becomes part dark-type. That's a really useful type."
"Because Mudkip was the second pokemon I ever caught. And when it evolves it'll be part ground-type and only have one weakness and one immunity and four types that aren't very effective against it."
This woman was really starting to get on my nerves now. First she had barely paid attention during our battle. Now she was calling into question my pokemon choice.
"Yes but it'll be doubly weak against grass-types," she countered.
"Yeah, well it's a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll," I snapped. "Why the hell do you care anyway? You're just some trainer that I just beat and will most likely never see again!"
Megan paused. Confusion flickered across her face. Suddenly I had the feeling that I had missed something.
"You really don't know, do you?" she asked.
"Know what?"
"Who and what I am." She showed me her palm pilot. It had been recording our conversation. She cleared that screen and pulled up a website. After logging in, she made a few taps and pulled up a webpage. A webpage that had my name and picture on it.
I took the device from her and looked at it closely. The picture of me was from the gym in Chicago, mid-battle. Below it was a list of my known pokemon.
"What the hell is this?"
She laughed. "I'm what's called a scout. We help track pokemon trainers with what we think is lots of potential. There's lots of us. Once you register for a trainer ID, you get put into the system."
"So anyone can see that?" I asked, still a little suspicious.
"Well, not this page," she shook her head. "This is the special scout site. Regular people can see your regular bio. We can see comments put in by other scouts, gym leaders and others. Let's see… Steven the gym leader in Detroit gave you a rather glowing review."
I played something back in my head. Something from the beginning of our match. "That's why you were surprised to see my mudkip."
The scout nodded. "Our most detailed accounts of you list a charmander that later showed up as a charmeleon and a treeko that evolved into a grovyle. I had expected you to be using one of those."
"Wait, a charmeleon?" I was surprised. "Who turned in that report."
"The Guardian," Megan said with a smile. "He turned in a pretty positive report on you and some other guy that was with you."
She showed me the screen again but a different page. "This shows me all the trainers that have been seen in my area. I can pull up their information and recent locations. Then I can try to seek them out and put them through the paces. There's actually a couple others around here that are so far pretty highly thought of."
She gave me their names.
I laughed. It was my three friends. Apparently Nurse Sarah that had overseen Dylan's battle with Colin had written a glowing review of him. Vanessa had encountered a scout without knowing it like I had just done. David's review had come from the Guardian like mine.
"We also have a ranking system for un-established trainers," Megan continued. "Once you get into the League you get formally ranked where everyone can see it. Right now, you're ranked where only scouts and gym leaders can see it. No, you can't see it."
She had answered my question before I could even ask it.
"Are most scouts as obvious as you?" I asked, nodded my head towards the palm pilot.
"Not usually, no," she replied with a laugh. "This is a new system I was trying out. Clearly it didn't go so well."
She was about to say something else but stopped. After looking around for a moment, she found the backpack she had been carrying back where she had stood for our battle. She waved for me to follow and we went over to it. Picking it up, she rummaged around for a moment and offered me what she pulled out.
"What is it?" I asked as I took it in my hands.
It was small and made of cold metal. It looked a lot like a pop can that had been drastically reduced in size. The item might've been able to fit inside a poke ball even. I turned it over a few times in my hands to examine it for any identifying markings. A small line was encircled it about a quarter of the way down from the top.
"It's called a metal coat," she explained. "You can use it to evolve some types of pokemon. I came across it by accident and haven't any use for it. You might not either but the odds are better with you. It's yours."
She paid me my winnings and walked off with a wave. I glanced around for my friends. Vanessa was just coming away from a battle that she appeared to have won. David was standing a few feet away from her. His battle had apparently been very quick.
"Time to get moving, eh?"
I jumped slightly as I spun around to see Dylan there. I doubted that I was the last one to win my match but my conversation with Megan had made it seem that way.
"Sure, let's roll," I said. "I've missed walking."
I thought a bit about what Megan had told me about the website. Regrettably, I realized that I had never actually asked the address for the site. It couldn't be that hard to find though. She had said there was a section for the average trainer. I decided against telling my friends so that I could show it to them later and look all cool.
That night I argued for us to take a detour off the path to a nearby town. No one was out of supplies or needed anything else but I wanted to sleep on something that wasn't the ground. At first I had everyone but David convinced. Then Dylan realized we'd lose half a day in getting to the town and then back to the path. Tempers flared and voices rose. Eventually I was outvoted. It was a cold and silent night on the ground.
Several days later, a pokemon center appeared along the path.
I couldn't decide if I was more grateful to sit on something comfortable or to have all my pokemon fully healed. It wound up being a tie.
This time it was Vanessa who argued that we should stay and rest at the pokemon center. I was against it because I now just wanted to get off the damned path. Dylan was with me, also because he didn't mind sleeping on the ground as much as I did. David was caught in the precarious position of trying to not agree with his girlfriend but not make her mad either.
It had started out as a civilized debate. However, sometimes when you spend a lot of time with people your patience for them get really short. We escalated from talking to shouting in less than three minutes. From there it only took another minute before Dylan grabbed David by the collar. David had no fear and clamped his right hand around Dylan's throat. Vanessa managed to wedge herself between them before any actually violence could occur.
We spent that night on the road.
The next few nights were also spent on the road. They were very, very quiet nights. Dylan and David wouldn't even look at each other. I had gotten into a quarrel with Vanessa and we weren't talking either. I tried talking to David but that made Vanessa made. If Dylan tried to talk to Vanessa, David got mad. We spent much time with our respective traveling partners.
"Only two more days of this," Dylan told me quietly one night around a fire Charmeleon had started for us. "Then we reach Jersey City. More importantly, we get off this path."
I ran my fingers through my greasy hair and immediately regretted it. "I can hardly wait. The trainers around here are still pretty tough. It's pretty stressful."
"Personally, I think we could all use some real rest and even some relaxation." Unconsciously, Dylan looked towards Vanessa and David.
Our other friends (or at that point, friendly people we were walking near) were about ten yards away at their own campsite. I had to imagine that they were probably having a similar conversation. Maybe we should've taken Dani's warnings about the Pass a little more seriously.
"Ever think maybe we should've taken things a little slower?" I asked, voicing my concerns. "I mean when we left, we had like eleven and a half months to qualify for the League Tournament this year. We've already got two badges and it's been… hell, how long has it been?"
"Don't quote me but I think it's almost August if it isn't already."
I grimaced and then shifted around, trying to make the grassy spot I had made my seat more comfortable. "See? This is all happening so fast. I mean, I've only had pokemon since May. Now here we are however many months later. We've got two badges already and in the middle of a stretch of a path where I'm pretty sure the majority of the trainers are as good, if not better than us and have been at this a lot longer than us."
"Technically, we're at the end of the path," Dylan corrected me. "We've been on this thing for nineteen days now I think. Maybe twenty. But yeah, I know what you're saying. Things seemed to happen very quickly. I could use a vacation."
There was a moment of hesitation before I asked the obvious question "Are we in over our heads?"
Dylan paused for a moment before answering. "I don't think so. Maybe a little, but not all the way. If we were, we wouldn't have made it this far already."
That night I didn't sleep particularly well. I didn't sleep all that badly either but I didn't feel very rested for the next day regardless. My back ached from the hard ground and it slowly translated itself into a headache. Most of the day I spent walking off the side of the trail to avoid contact with others.
Sadly, I had not packed or had somehow lost any aspirin. I asked Dylan but he didn't have any. He was willing to bet that Vanessa had some though. That was out of the question for me. I wasn't willing to swallow my pride to ask her despite not really even remembering what had caused our tiff in the first place. I just trudged on ahead, temples pounding.
I managed to make it through the day without battling. Dylan and Vanessa were not as lucky although they were probably less against battling at the time than I was. Dylan worked with Croagunk some more. They were turning into a pretty good team. Vanessa used her cubone and rattata. Rattata was getting thrashed pretty good but Cubone was able to step in and seal the deal.
"This is it," Dylan said the next morning. "We should be getting to Jersey City today." He fiddled with his GPS. "We made pretty good time yesterday. I think we should get into the city probably around three or four this afternoon."
I threw my hands into the air in mock excitement. Really though, I was pretty pumped about getting to actual civilization. Eating prepackaged food and drinking warm water from a canteen was really not my idea of a good time. Nor was sleeping on hard ground. Even the beds at the pokemon centers would look good after this.
Things seemed to be going our way early on. We had evidently either crossed into New Jersey last night or some time that morning. There was a train station not far off the Path that was offering some type of special discount today. When I ran over to investigate, I discovered that there was a train that would drop us off right outside of our destination for a very low price.
Cutting hours off our journey for less than twenty dollars apiece was an easy pitch to make. We were on the train in a matter of minutes.
From the outside, Jersey City New Jersey looked a lot like every other city I had seen. Outside the main city were the neighborhoods with some nicer looking houses. In the heart of the city, buildings reached for the sky. Both apartment buildings and businesses towered overhead. Nearer to the eastern side, the smell of salt water from the Atlantic Ocean was present in the air.
Pokemon centers were at a premium. Apparently having a Pokemon League Gym in the city had given rise to a whole lot of centers. Every few blocks we saw one. They were more frequent than Starbucks. We stopped at the second one we saw. Surprisingly, it was actually somewhat busy. A line had formed to get pokemon restored to full strength.
"I hope all these people aren't here because the gym leader smacked them around," Dylan muttered.
"Ok, let's go," David said eagerly after our pokemon had been healed.
I blinked. "Go where?"
He gave me an incredulous stare. "To the gym of course!"
"We just got here! Can't we take it slow for a little bit? Maybe grab a bite to eat and take a break?"
Vanessa joined the conversation. "We can eat on the way. I think we should go knock this gym down. Then we can rest."
I was pretty sure I heard Dylan mutter something under his breath about how of course she'd agree with David. Eventually we gave in and followed them. Picking up some sandwiches from a street vendor satisfied our hunger but I had a feeling I was going to regret having the pastrami later.
After walking through the bustling streets for a while, David suddenly stopped. I had been unprepared for the abrupt halt and ran into him. When we separated, I saw what had given him pause.
Surrounding the area were tall skyscrapers but in the middle of all of them was a patch of luscious green grass. Built onto the grass was a white building with brown roofs and clearly Asian architecture. No one could come up with the name of the style but we had all seen the high pointed roofs in numerous pictures. It looked like the whole area had been picked up out of feudal Japan and placed here.
"I think we found ourselves a gym," David said. He pointed to a sign that confirmed his diagnosis.
We followed the white stone path up to the large wooden doors and pushed our way in. Inside was a large room painted white. A large door with something written in a language I couldn't even begin to read stood in front of us. On each side was a smaller door with the same language written above it. Small benches lined the open walls with statues placed in between. All of them appeared to be of Asian make as far as I could tell.
At first I thought there was a strange statue of a man in front of the big door. It had loose looking pants that appeared to actually be cloth. The torso was covered by a thick sheet of metal that had raised portions that were probably supposed to look like bricks. Thick leather sleeves covered the arms. A helmet that looked a lot like a samurai helmet but less extravagant covered the head. It was the same basic design but there were only tiny horns on it as opposed to the larger ones that I usually associated with the samurai. A sheathed sword hung from a thick belt at it's waist.
"Welcome."
The word sent a shockwave through our group. After a second, I realized that the statue had said it. Then it became clear that it wasn't a statue, it was a man.
He took the helmet off to reveal jet black hair and an Asian slant to his eyes.
"I am Isamu," he said in perfect English with only a tiny trace of an accent. "I am the Gym Leader here. I presume you're here to challenge me."
"Yes sir," Dylan said, stepping forward. "We've come to claim the Soul Badge."
"Are you truly prepared?" Isamu asked us. "Are you ready to face the wrath of the ninja? Can you withstand my poisonous onslaught?"
"Actually, I have a question first," Vanessa broke in. "Why aren't you dressed like a ninja?"
I half expected Isamu to be insulted but he just smiled.
"This is actually ninja battle armor," he explained. "The black cloaks that are more popularly associated with the ninja may have been worn as well but this is true ninja armor, handed down through my family."
"Oh, ok." Vanessa went silent.
"I do tend to wear the black cloaks from time to time though as they are more comfortable, as you might imagine." Amusement twinkled in his eyes.
The ninja clasped his hands behind his back. He took a few steps to either side as he sized us up.
"Who among you has felt the horror of a poisoned pokemon?"
I was about to say something but I hesitated. I realized that I had faced poisonous pokemon but I couldn't remember any of mine ever actually being poisoned. My friends appeared to be having thoughts along the same lines. None of us spoke.
Isamu smiled. "I shall show you no mercy! Pokemon is not all about brute force- you shall see soon enough!" His voice began to rise in both volume and intensity. "Poison brings steady doom. Sleep renders foes helpless. Despair to the creeping horror of poison-type pokemon! You shall be the first!"
He was pointing at Vanessa.
Without a word, she followed him through the massive door he had stood in front of. There was a mighty crash as it closed behind them.
The three of us remaining each took a separate bench. David slouched backwards with his head resting against the wall. His eyelids drooped in thought. Dylan stretched out on a bench in an exaggerated attempt to look relaxed. He was betrayed by his eyes darting around the room. I hunched forward on my bench with my chin resting on steeped fingers.
In a matter of moments I was lost in my own thoughts. I checked through my options as I tried to build the team I would take into battle. Despite it's lower level, Sandshrew was a must. Charmeleon also had a guaranteed spot on the team. Grovyle was the only pokemon I had that I could instantly eliminate as it was the only one actually weak against poison. Other than that, it was kind of up in the air.
While I had been mentally preparing, Isamu had come back into the room and claimed Dylan for the next battle. Vanessa didn't appear back in the room so I assumed there was a waiting room somewhere. I had totally lost track of time and had no idea how long it had been between the battles. There was no way to guess whether Vanessa had won or not.
When Isamu came for David, I realized that there was no clock in the room. There was nothing moving at all. Nothing I could use to keep track of the time. The way the room was colored and decorated it seemed to cloud my sense of time. I could've been there one minute or ten. By the time I remember that I had my phone, it had been too long to figure out how long I'd been waiting.
The massive door creaked open. My eyes darted up to see Isamu standing there, hands on his hips. I tried to read his face to determine how my friends had faired. His steely face and hard black eyes betrayed nothing. I would have to wait until I was done with my match to find out.
"Are you ready?" he asked me. "Are you ready to watch your pokemon succumb to my poisonous techniques?"
I stood. "No." Then I added, "I'm ready to beat your pokemon."
Isamu smiled. "Confidence. We'll have to do something about that."
Through the big door I followed Isamu. Like the gym in Detroit there was a small hallway that led to the actual battling area. It was a low ceiling passageway with small paintings of exotic flowers along the walls. The effect was slightly soothing. I shook my head quickly and tried to fight off the feeling. The last thing I needed was to be soothed.
The battlefield itself was very normal. The field itself was a light brown rock or hard clay with the official battlefield outline drawn on top. A small man in a black cloak stood on a raised platform. At first he confused me but then I realized he was the judge.
Isamu spread his feet and dug into the ground in his box. "Are you ready?"
I gave a curt nod. "Ready."
"We shall battle four-on-four. One must defeat all his opponent's pokemon to claim victory. As Leader, I shall go first. Go!"
A giant pile of purple sludge burst out of the poke ball. At first I thought it was just a big grimer. I turned out to be partially right. When I saw that the left arm was much bigger than the right and a strand of sludge connecting the upper and lower jaw, I realized that it was a muk. It was what my own grimer could evolve into one day.
I considered my options for a moment. Sandshrew was my only pokemon that was strong against poison but it was not one of my strongest. After a moment of internal debate, I decided to use the ground pokemon. If things started poorly I could always switch out to Charmeleon or Heracross.
"Sandshrew, go!"
The muk overshadowed my pokemon by at least a foot. To it's credit though, Sandshrew hid any fear that it might be feeling. It glanced around at the field and nodded to itself. At first I didn't understand why but then it occurred to me that it was probably making sure that it could dig into the ground. In retrospect, it was something I probably should've checked first.
As long as things seemed to be satisfactory, I decided to go with it. "Sandshrew, use dig!"
In a graceful diving arc, the ground pokemon disappeared into the floor. There was a moment of stillness as the muk waited to see what would happen. Isamu gave it a nod and it oozed forward. Slowly from side to side, the poisonous pokemon slithered to the center of the field.
"Now Sandshrew!"
"Pound Muk!"
Muk raised up it's larger left arm and paused in the air. A small crack appeared in the ground at the base of the pile that was Muk. There was a mighty boom as Muk slammed down at the crack. Chunks of the hard earth were tossed about. The poisonous pokemon's arm sludged down, completely filling the hole it had just created.
"Dig again!" I shouted, hoping my pokemon was still conscious.
The small pebbles that had showered out of the newly formed hole trembled slightly and I took that to mean that Sandshrew was still functioning. Muk pulled it's arm back and moved backwards slightly.
"Muk, return!"
I did a double take as Isamu recalled his pokemon. He had only used one attack but that had apparently been enough for him. My mind raced as I tried to break down this unusual move. I had to put my thoughts on hold as Isamu sent out his next pokemon: a drapion. This was a pokemon I was at least familiar with.
The gym leader pointed at the ground. "Toxic spikes!"
Drapion reared back and a glowing purple ball formed in it's mouth. I wasn't sure where this was going so I just let Sandshrew linger underground for the moment. Despite Isamu pointing at the ground, Drapion fired the purple orb into the air. About twenty feet in the air, it popped like a balloon. Glowing purple pieces rained down to the earth with purple smoke trails behind them. They were absorbed into the ground which briefly flashed purple. Then nothing happened.
"Now!" I shouted.
Sandshrew burst out of the ground with it's fist aimed at Drapion's head. What neither of us accounted for was the poison pokemon's maneuverability. It's whole upper body darted backwards in the blink of an eye. My pokemon sailed past without even grazing it's opponent. Then Drapion's pincers lashed out and closed around Sandshrew.
"No!" I exclaimed. A drop of nervous sweat trickled down my face. "Swift!"
"Poison fang!"
The two big fangs on the side of Drapion's mouth glowed a bright purple. The glow traveled all the way down to it's claws where the glow intensified.
"Dra!" the pokemon roared.
The claws erupted in a mighty explosion. Sandshrew sailed out of the explosion with a stream of black smoke following it. The small yellow pokemon bounced off the ground. That was the only movement that came from it.
"Sandshrew is unable to battle!" the ref declared, speaking for the first time. "Drapion is the winner!"
Isamu recalled his drapion as I did the same with my sandshrew. Without waiting for me to pick a pokemon, the gym leader returned his muk to the field. I felt my nose crinkle as my annoyance grew. For some reason, I felt like I wasn't being respected.
It was time to change that. "Charmeleon, let's go!"
Charmeleon burst from the ball and slammed down on the field, flames already flickering from it's mouth. Then purple lightning lanced up from the ground. It traced it's way all the way up my pokemon as it roared in pain.
"What the yell was that?" I snapped, glaring at Muk to see if it had struck.
"Toxic spikes," Isamu explained calmly. "I have seeded the field with my poisons. Any pokemon that touches this ground will feel it's wrath."
I broke into a flop sweat. If I was understanding what the gym leader was telling me, all my pokemon were as good as poisoned. It was suddenly becoming clear just how stacked the odds were against me.
"Alright then," I growled. "We'll make the most of our time then. Charmeleon! Flamethrower!"
Through what appeared to be a painful crackle of purple Charmeleon blasted out a mighty pillar of fire. It was met at midfield by Muk's sludge bomb, a barrage of dark balls of sludge. At first I was confident this would go my way. Then the spread of the sludge bomb got wider. Balls of sludge began pelting Charmeleon. The barrage caused it to lose focus and the flamethrower cut off. The full brunt of the poison attack struck, punching my pokemon off it's feet and slamming it into a wall.
"Charmeleon!" I roared.
The little sludge missiles continued to batter the fire pokemon. I called for it to try and escape but there was nowhere for it to go. Sludge bombs were slamming into the wall all around Charmeleon, up to three feet away. Even rolling from one side to the other gave no refuge. I began to quickly lose hope.
Charmeleon's flamethrower flickered back to life. It got off enough of a burst to stave off the sludge bomb for a split-second. That was all the fire pokemon needed. Still covered in the filthy brown ooze, it dove off to the side and rolled back up to a standing position. Then the poisonous purple sparks forced it down to one knee.
Isamu took advantage of our moment of weakness. "Shadow ball!"
Muk held up it's hands. A black orb grew out of nothingness to float between them. The poison pokemon pushed it forward and it flew at Charmeleon at an alarming speed. Still crippled by the poison, Charmeleon didn't have a chance at dodging. When the explosion cleared my pokemon was prone on the floor.
"Charmeleon is unable to battle!" the ref announced. "Muk is the winner!"
As I recalled Charmeleon, I tried to think out my next move. I resorted to talking it through in my head.
Ok. Got two pokemon left. What do I use? Grovyle? No… weak against poison. Mudkip knows a ground attack but not a strong one. Pikachu? Hmm… Maybe. Quick enough to dodge but it's going to be poisoned right away. Wait… Heracross? Eh, still going to be poisoned right away. Wait… wait… THAT'S IT!
"Heracross, go!" I shouted with newfound enthusiasm.
The blue beetle pokemon flashed into existence. Isamu showed no reaction. The second that Heracross touch the floor, the purple lightning lanced up it's body.
"Heracross!" my pokemon screeched. Then something changed. It's eyes now glowed a furious red. "Hera! Hera cross! HERACROSS!"
Now Isamu took a step back. He hadn't expected that. His own toxic spikes had triggered Heracross' ability of Guts. Now my pokemon's attack power was increased by fifty percent. Heracross already boasted impressive attack strength and having it boosted was nothing to be taken lightly.
"Muk, return!" Isamu commanded. "Drapion, come forth!"
The changing didn't surprise me. Heracross would've had an easy time getting around Muk with the bug pokemon's ability to fly and the muk was not so fleet of foot. Drapion was far more agile and able to defend from all angles thanks to it's long body and tail.
I decided I didn't care either way. "Heracross, aerial ace!"
Heracross leapt into the sky and raced towards the ceiling. It slowed slightly as it came close then kicked off to start building up speed. The familiar white energy began streaming from it's horn.
"Drapion, cross poison!"
The big purple pokemon crossed it's arms so that they were facing the incoming bug pokemon. They began to glow purple. With a roar of "Dra!", it slashed it's arms out. A glowing after-image of an X shot towards Heracross.
"Dodge it!" I wasn't sure what the attack would do if it made contact and I didn't really want to know.
Heracross made a hairpin turn and the X flew past. It exploded against the ceiling. My pokemon made another sharp turn and barreled into Drapion. The poison pokemon swatted Heracross aside after being pushed back a foot. The bug pokemon flailed around the air but still managed a painless landing.
"Horn attack!"
Heracross charged forward and slammed it's horn into Drapion's midsection. The poisonous pokemon snarled and staggered back. Heracross rammed into it again. Again, Drapion was driven back a few steps.
"Slash!"
Drapion's claws glowed white and got longer.
I was ready. "Night slash!"
Glowing white claws met glowing purple claws. Heracross stood it's ground but the drapion was too strong for it. Drapion powered through my heracross' night slash and drove it down to one knee with it's strike. Then the other arm swept across with another slash. Heracross was tossed up and backwards.
"Finish it!" Isamu crossed his hands in front of his body. "Cross poison!"
Heracross was just rising as Drapion fired it's purple X.
"Brick break!" I frantically screamed.
I saw the horn of my pokemon began to crackle with the telltale sparks of brick break but then I lost sight of it in the explosion. My breath caught in my throat. I could only hope that Heracross had been able to cancel out the cross poison with brick break.
I was wrong.
"Heracross is unable to battle!" the ref announced. "Drapion is the winner!"
At that point, I wasn't sure what to do. Two of my strongest pokemon had gone down and between the two of them, had landed three attacks. It was clear now that I was horribly overmatched.
I sent Pikachu out and winced as the toxic spikes claimed it too. My heart really wasn't in it any more. As much as I believed in myself and my pokemon, there was too much to overcome with what little I had left. I was now battling one-on-four.
A cross poison overpowered Pikachu's thunderbolt and it was over. The poison had caused it to wince and lose focus for just a moment. That slight lack of power was all the glowing purple X needed.
After we had put our pokemon away Isamu came over to talk to me. I heard him but I didn't listen. Everything he was saying just went in one ear and out the other. I was shell-shocked from the beating I had taken.
"Huh?" I said as I drifted out of my funk a little.
"I will see you again, yes?" Isamu asked, his hand extended to shake.
"Probably." I shook his hand. "Eventually."
The gym leader had new challengers to attend to so the ref led me over to a room off the side of the battle area. We passed the station where I would've been given a badge. Following that was the card swipe machine where winnings would've been transferred to my trainer account.
Inside the room were my three friends. All of them wore similar expressions to the one I could only imagine I was wearing. Vanessa was actually close to tears. No one said anything as I slumped down in a chair next to David.
All four of us had just been thoroughly, thoroughly destroyed in a way we didn't even know was possible.