Hey, guys! School's started up for me again, and this is gonna be my first posting (for this story) for the school year! :)
Defender31415 - good guess! I'm not going to say which one it is until Gold's ready to say it, though, and that's not going to be for a long while.
Aaaand here's the chapter!
Chapter 27 – Battle Up the Beach
Crystal jumped off Briney's boat and onto the dock, Richie and her other two Pokémon following after her with some to little difficulty.
"There are a lot of beaches here in Hoenn, aren't there?" Crystal asked, looking over at Gold as he came off the boat.
"I guess." Gold looked at the stretch of sand and umbrellas ahead of them. "There is a lot of water around here in the region, so I guess we shouldn't be surprised by that."
"This is Slateport's beach," Briney explained, talking over his engine. "People from the city like to come down here to relax and play with their Pokémon. Some people make this place a regular meeting place for battles, so you might get a few challenges as you're heading up to Slateport."
"Thanks for letting us know." Crystal nodded to Briney. "And thanks for the ride from Petalburg to Dewford to Slateport."
"It was the least I could do, kiddo." Briney chuckled. "If you kids ever need my help again, don't be afraid to give me a holler – either with that PokeNav of yours, or through Mr. Stone."
"We'll keep that in mind," Gold said, nodding. He looked over at Crystal. "I'm going to go drop off the package that President Stone wanted delivered. Do you want to have a look around the city, or come with me?"
Crystal frowned, considering her friend's suggestion. "Um…I think I'll just wander around and take on any challengers. Maybe someone will mention something about Magnus being nearby and I can go and drive them out of the area. How about we meet up at the Pokémon Center later so that we can see if there is anything going on?"
Gold nodded. "All right. Sounds good to me." He smiled and gave a wave as he started down the dock and onto the beach. "I'll see you later, then!"
"Yup!" Crystal smiled brightly, then looked down at her team. "All right. Ando, Samuel, you guys need to get stronger. Richie's at Level 20, and he's already reached his first evolution."
Samuel looked up at the Kirlia, then back at Crystal. "So Ando and I are going to be fighting up the beach, huh?" He puffed himself up a bit. "All right. Let's go." He started moving along the dock towards the beach, Crystal and the others following after him.
As they made their way up the beach, Crystal looked over at Richie with a small smile. The Kirlia still didn't like his skirt very much, but it looked like he had gotten used to it a little – he wasn't trying to push it down anymore, at least.
"Are you up for some fighting, too?" Crystal asked gently.
Richie considered the question, then shook his head. "I think I'll stay back. I don't want to fight looking like…this." He motioned to the skirt, blushing a little bit again.
Crystal nodded. "All right. Samuel and Ando are going to end up taking most of the fighting, then. If you want to give fighting a try, let me know."
"Okay." Richie smiled a little and nodded.
"Hey there, kid!"
Crystal turned her head, and she caught sight of a muscular man standing underneath an umbrella, wearing a white and blue outfit that she had seen a couple times before in Kanto and Jhoto.
"Hi." Crystal started over, followed closely by her Pokémon. "Are you a Sailor who works around here?"
The man nodded, smirking. "Yeah. I saw you coming off that little ship over there." He motioned to the dock behind Crystal. "Did you just come from Petalburg?"
"Dewford, actually, but we did leave from Petalburg on Briney's ship." Crystal motioned to her team, smiling. "I just defeated Brawly this morning."
"Really?" The Sailor's eyebrows shot up. "That's pretty good, considering the group that's been causing so much trouble lately. I didn't think that his Gym was still open, since it's off the mainland."
"It's open," Crystal confirmed.
The Sailor smiled. "Well, that's good." His smile turned into a smirk again as he pulled out a PokeBall. "Say, since you just came from his Gym, how do you feel about having a match against me? I've got a Machop on me, and he's gotten antsy over the past couple of days."
"I can take him," Samuel said, puffing himself up – probably to make him look a little more intimidating.
The Sailor laughed. "Looks like your Shroomish is up for a fight. What do you think?"
Crystal smiled. "Well, I don't see why not. Samuel is definitely up for it."
"All right then!" The Sailor tossed his PokeBall forward, releasing the little Fighting-Type. "Machop, we got ourselves a battle!"
The humanoid Pokémon slammed a clenched fist into an open palm. "Awesome! I've got some energy to burn!"
"Ready, Samuel?" Crystal asked, looking down at the Shroomish.
"What do you think?" Samuel jumped forward. "Let's go!"
The Sailor grinned. "Let's start this off with a Karate Chop!"
"Headbutt!" Crystal countered.
Machop dashed forward and slammed his hand down onto the top of Samuel's head, causing a burst of colorful spores to come up from the Pokémon. While the Machop stumbled back, gagging, Samuel recovered and rocketed forward, slamming into Machop's stomach and knocking the wind out of him.
"Uh oh, this looks bad." The Sailor gritted his teeth in a worried expression.
"Samuel, what was with those spores?" Crystal asked, looking down at the Shroomish while also watching the Machop out of the corner of her eye. The Fighting-Type looked a little sick to her.
Samuel shook himself. "Don't worry about it. It just happens sometimes. I've been attacked by Tailow and Zigzagoon before, and I've gotten away pretty much okay." He grinned. "And they've been poisoned, paralyzed, or knocked out cold."
Crystal's eyebrows shot up. "Really?" She looked back at the Machop. "It looks like he's poisoned…." Crystal frowned. "Headbutt him again."
"Leg Sweep!" the Sailor ordered.
Machop shook his head and frowned at Samuel before running forward again before preparing to kick forward a leg into Samuel. Samuel managed to shoot forward and ram into Machop again before the Fighting-Type could land a hit, sending the Pokémon flying back into the sand.
"Ow," the Pokémon moaned. He tried to get up, and managed to get unsteadily to his feet before collapsing to his knees. A moment later, the Pokémon fell flat on his face.
Samuel smirked. "Heh."
The Sailor sighed and shook his head. "I knew that I was getting in too deep, challenging a kid with the Knuckle Badge."
"I've got Roxanne's Badge, too," Crystal added. "I'm planning on going up to Mauville next."
The Sailor looked up at Crystal in surprise. "Really? You're going to old man Watson next? I'd have thought that you would do all the islands first."
Crystal shook her head. "I want to stay in the area. Norman said I couldn't beat him until I have four Badges, and I'm halfway there. Since Watson's the closest besides Norman, I'm going to Mauville."
"Ah. Well, that makes sense." The Sailor grinned. "Good luck, then. Something tells me you're going to need it."
"Thanks." Crystal gave a nod in response, then turned and started up the beach again.
"I could have absorbed that guy's health, you know," Samuel spoke up as they moved past the umbrellas and people relaxing on the sand. A few heads turned and watched Crystal move past with her team, but none of them moved to talk to her.
"Yeah, but he wouldn't be able to give you as much health as a Water or Rock-Type could," Crystal responded.
"Still, I would have gotten something back," Samuel insisted.
Crystal sighed. "How about you get to use Mega Drain during our next fight, all right? There's probably someone else around here who's willing to have a match."
"Hi!"
Crystal turned her head, and she caught sight of a little girl with a bright pink inner tube around her waist.
"Are you looking for someone to battle?" the girl asked cheerily, smiling.
Crystal nodded. "Yup. Samuel and Ando need a little training, and Samuel really wants to fight."
Samuel puffed himself up again, causing the girl to giggle and the Shroomish to scowl.
"I've got a Pokémon that I can fight you with," the girl said. "Could I fight you?"
"Sure." Crystal smiled back. "Ando, let's have you fight this time."
Samuel deflated while Ando started to move forward across the sand. "Why not me?!"
"Ando is a couple levels lower than you are and needs to gain more experience," Crystal replied, frowning at the Grass-Type. "So he's going to be fighting a little more than you will be for now. Just wait, okay?"
Samuel scowled and muttered something, but complied.
The girl with the inner tube gaped at Crystal. "You can understand your Pokémon?" She let out a squeal and jumped up and down. "That's so cool! You must be a really good Trainer!" The girl brought out a PokeBall from somewhere and tossed it forward, yelling, "Let's go, Azu!"
As the Azuril popped out of her PokeBall, Samuel scowled and seemed to try and bury himself in the sand.
"Ando, use Smack Down," Crystal told the Anorith.
"Use Bubble!"
Time Break
The Trainers on the beach were all decently strong – strong enough that Ando and Samuel both gained two levels, but they hadn't learned any new moves. They had, however, used a few of Crystal's Potions, and while there wasn't any chance of her running out anytime soon, she was starting to become concerned.
"This beach is pretty big," Crystal commented, looking back at where they had been. Looking ahead, she noticed that the beach abruptly ended and turned into solid dirt and concrete. "Looks like we're almost at the end of it, though."
"Hey, Trainers! If you're looking for hot battles, you should come over here to the Soda Shack!"
Samuel looked over when he heard that. "Hot battles? What does that mean?"
"I don't know…." Crystal frowned a little. "Well, if they have Fire-Types, Ando should be able to take care of them with Smack Down."
Ando blinked. "Fire? Smack Down good against Fire?"
"Very good. From what I can guess, it's a Rock-Type move, and Fire-Types don't like it very much."
Ando made a chittering noise, sounding pleased.
"So, you guys want to check this place out?" Crystal looked around at her team.
"We may as well," Richie spoke up, nodding.
Crystal nodded. "All right. Let's go, then." She started towards the source of the voice – a little girl with pigtails standing in front of a wooden building that looked pretty solid despite being built on shifting sands.
Crystal stepped in through the open door and noticed instantly that the air was a little cooler inside the shack,
Which looked like it was a restaurant of some kind. Most of the people inside were drinking from glass bottles, though, and it didn't look like there was much in the way of food that Crystal might have been interested in.
Her stomach growled a little, reminding her that she had spent her morning fighting Trainers and taking a boat ride from Dewford to Slateport, so food might actually be a good idea.
"Hello there!" The man behind the counter waved as Crystal made her way to the back of the shack, weaving around tables. "I haven't seen you around here before. You a newcomer?"
"I guess you could say that," Crystal replied. "I just came in from Dewford earlier, and I could really use something to eat. Do you have anything for Pokémon, too?"
"Oh? Been taking challenges, have you?" The man chuckled. "Well, we've got a lot of Soda Pop – I accidentally ordered too much the last time that I needed them. I've been handing them out to Trainers who have been having 'hot battles' in the shack all morning, but if you've been taking challenges out on the beach, that's more than enough for me. Besides, all the Pokémon with these Trainers were completely taken out earlier."
"Really?" Crystal looked around as the man disappeared under the counter for a moment and came back up with six glass bottles.
"Yup." The man jerked a thumb down the counter, pointing out a figure sitting there already. "He whomped everybody. Quite the show to watch, if I do say so myself. Now, is there anything that I might be able to get for you and your Pokémon?"
"Well, I've got a Shroomish, a Kirlia, and a Pokémon called Anorith – it's a Bug and Rock-Type, I think, but I haven't gotten the chance to properly check yet." Crystal nodded to each of the Pokémon standing around her as the man leaned over the counter in order to get a better look.
The man frowned at Ando. "What kind of Pokémon is that? I don't think I've seen one that looked like that before."
Crystal paused for a moment. "I helped out the Devon Corporation a few days ago, and they gave me a revived prehistoric Pokémon as thanks. That's the Anorith."
"Really?" The man's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "I'd heard that they'd gotten something to work, but I didn't think that they'd be reviving ancient Pokémon. Huh."
He looked back up at Crystal. "So, can this guy eat Pokémon food?"
Crystal nodded. "Yeah. He has been for the last couple of days, and it doesn't look like he's had any problems with it."
"All right, then. So that's an order of three bowls of Pokémon food and…what are you going to want, miss…?"
"Crystal." Crystal looked up at the boards behind the counter, scanning over the selection that the man had in his shop. "I think I'll try…your Submarine Special."
"All right then. It'll take me a few minutes to get your sandwich together, so if you'll just sit and wait right here, I'll get to work on it." The man grinned, then moved to the other side of his workspace – a small kitchen with a large refrigerator off on one side.
Crystal sat down on one of the stools in front of the bar, letting her invisible tail hang over the back end as Richie frowned up at one of the stools next to her. Despite having evolved, the Pokémon wasn't really all that much bigger than he had been – it looked like the evolution only added about a foot in height to the little Pokémon. Although that certainly made Richie bigger than he had been, he was still pretty small.
Richie grabbed the top of the stool and started to climb up as the man behind the bar came over and handed Crystal three bowls of Pokémon food, each one clearly marked with a symbol that had become associated with each Type that was on her team: a leaf for Grass, a bright green, bug-like creature for Bug, and what looked like a pink ripple for Psychic. Crystal handed Samuel and Ando their bowls before she turned her attention to Richie.
"Do you need any help?" Crystal asked.
Richie shook his head as he pulled himself up. "I've got it." He pulled his legs up underneath him and onto the stool before untucking them, letting them swing in the air like a human toddler's as he started in on his food.
The man preparing Crystal's sandwich looked over and smirked. "Psychic-Type Pokémon are pretty smart little guys, aren't they? I don't think I've ever seen one that hasn't been able to figure something out eventually."
Crystal nodded in agreement. "I have to say that, out of all the Pokémon Types that are out there, Psychic-Types have to be my most favorite."
Richie smiled proudly. At the same time, Samuel scowled into his food.
"Are you planning on finding every single Psychic-Type there is in Hoenn, then?" The man started laying a number of sliced Berries down on the open sandwich.
Crystal shook her head. "As cool as that sounds, I know that I have to rely on different Types in order to make a good team. Richie's good enough for me, and besides – some Pokémon of other Types can be pretty cool, too."
"Yup. I know exactly what you mean – I've seen Trainers come through focusing on all different kinds of Types, but the ones that diversify usually do the best. I just brought it up because, if you were planning on collecting all the Psychics, you'd need two of those Kirlia." The man nodded his head in Richie's direction.
The statement caught Crystal by surprise. "What, really?"
"Yup. From what I've heard from the Breeders who come through here sometimes, there are two possible forms that a Kirlia can take when it evolves. You'd have to find a Breeder in order to get the full details, though. There's a clan of them living up in Verdanturf, to the west of Mauville. You should check it out before your Kirlia evolves again."
Crystal blinked, considering this. "That's useful. We definitely wouldn't want Richie to evolve into a form he might not like very much." She looked over at Richie, who nodded in agreement.
The man chuckled in agreement, then handed Crystal an eight-inch long sandwich. "There you go. You mind paying up before you eat that? I don't want to end up having someone give me an eat-and-run."
Crystal nodded and paid the price that the man gave her for both her food and her Pokémon's, then turned her attention to her sandwich and started eating.
"How long ago did your Ralts evolve into a Kirlia?"
Crystal turned her head when she heard the question, and she locked eyes with the other person who had been sitting at the bar eating. A grin came across her face. "Brendan! Hi! It's been a while!"
"Hey." Brendan gave a grin. "It's been only what, a week?"
"Maybe. I haven't really been keeping track of the days." Crystal was surprised that it had been that short of a time since she had last seen Professor Birch's son. It felt like far longer. "How has your journey been going?"
"Pretty well. I beat Roxanne a couple days ago, and I just came down from getting my Badge from Watson."
"Really? I got a ride out to Dewford Island from Petalburg and just beat Brawly this morning. How did you get to Mauville before I got there?"
"You trained your team north of Rustboro for a while, right?" When Crystal gave a nod, Brendan continued, "They finally got around to connecting the Whismer cave with another one that leads straight through to Verdanturf. I was able to help them out so that they wouldn't end up disturbing the Pokémon there."
"Really?" Crystal smiled. "That's great! I hope that Trainers going through there don't disturb the Whismer!"
"I don't think they will, but it always pays to be careful." Brendan looked over at Richie and smirked a little. "So, the Pokémon Dad gave you evolved?"
"Just this morning. Richie's still getting used to it, though, so I'm letting him take a little time off from battling so that he can get used to moving around." Crystal looked over at Richie and smiled, a look that her Pokémon readily returned. "He was a big help against Brawly's Pokémon team."
"Really? They're weak to Psychic-Types?" Brendan's eyebrows shot up curiously.
Crystal nodded. "Brawly's a Fighting-Type Trainer, so he's got some interesting Pokémon to work with. My. Briney might be able to give you a ride there."
"Mr. Briney? You mean that old sailor that lives outside of Petalburg?" When Crystal nodded again, Brendan gained a thoughtful expression. "I'll have to get into contact with him, then. Then I wouldn't have to ask around for a Pokémon that would be able to Surf across to Dewford."
"What about Watson? What Types does he like using?"
Brendan smirked. "You haven't figured it out? Watson's an Electric-Type Trainer."
Crystal blinked, then frowned. "What do you mean, 'figured it out'?"
Brendan frowned. "You mean you don't know? Watts are used to measure electricity. The Gym Leader's name is Watson."
Crystal blinked a couple times before she put two and two together, and she hit her forehead with the palm of her hand. "Of course! How could I have missed that?!"
"You can do that with the other names of the Gym Leaders, too," Brendan added, smirking. "Roxanne likes rocks, for example."
"And Brawly probably gets into brawls," Crystal continued. Her eyes widened a moment later. "Oh! And Norman is probably a Normal-Type Gym Leader!"
"Going by that pattern, it does make sense." Brendan nodded in agreement.
"But how did that happen? It's almost like, when they were arranging for Trainers to take over as Gym Leaders, they were looking for people whose names matched the Types of Pokémon they liked!" Crystal laughed. "Oh, wow! I think it's like this in Kanto and Jhoto, too! I have got to tell Gold about this!"
"He might already know, actually," Brendan responded. "He did fight through the League in Jhoto, didn't he?"
Crystal's grin faded a little. "Oh, yeah…." She frowned. "Well, now I'll be able to figure out who I'm going against without going in completely blind. Thanks for the tip, Brendan."
"No problem." Brendan smirked a little before looking over at the other two Pokémon sitting near Crystal. "So, those guys are a part of your team, too?"
Crystal nodded. "Yeah. These two are Samuel and Ando. Samuel carried me through Roxanne's Gym, but Ando hasn't been able to help me against any of them yet. He'll probably do pretty well in Watson's Gym, though. How about your team? How many members do you have now?"
"I've got three." Brendan motioned to his waist, where three PokeBalls were attached. "Zuzu, my Mudkip, evolved a while back and ended up being a big help against Watson. Apparently, it becomes part Ground."
Crystal wracked her brain for a moment. "Right…you and May mentioned something about her Torchic being at a Type disadvantage against your Pokémon…I guess that means she has a Fire-Type?"
Brendan nodded. "She caught a Shroomish in Petalburg to make up for it, but she hasn't taken any of the Gym challenges recently. Last I saw her when I got here, she was hanging around the Contest Hall in Slateport." He paused for a moment. "Hey, you only just got here, didn't you?"
"Yeah. Mr. Briney got me here a little bit earlier with Gold. He went into the city ahead of us, though."
Brendan nodded. "How about I show you around? I've been doing a little exploring the past couple of days in order to do some training for whichever Gym I end up taking on next, and there's some pretty interesting things around the city."
Crystal cocked her head, considering Brendan's suggestion. "Well, I have been training a lot recently. It might be good for us to have some time off."
Brendan gained a wide grin and nodded. "That's exactly what I was thinking. Go ahead and finish your sandwich; I'll take you into the city as soon as you're ready."
Hey, we've got a familiar face here! :)
See you guys next week to see what they do in Slateport!
