Professor Birch and Brendan ended up staying a lot longer than I had originally assumed they would. I had expected them to stay at the most two days but four days later, they were still here. We had to explain to them about our limited food supply so Birch would take us into town to get more food. Embarrassed that it didn't occur to him that we might have limited food, the professor insisted in paying for everything. I stayed back at the lodge while Dylan went with him, mostly so he could withdraw some money so we could pay for our stay at the lodge.

I had still not made any progress with Onix. Pikachu had dedicated almost two whole days to trying to teach the rock pokemon to use iron tail but it proved futile. Onix was even moving around, trying to replicate Pikachu's actions which was at least a step further than just watching Sandslash use dig.

Dylan had more luck with his pokemon. After using his razor fang to evolve his gligar into a gliscor, Brendan took the pokemon aside for a few hours. With the help of his swampert, he taught Gliscor to use a powerful ground-type attack called earth power. Now that he had a strong ground-type pokemon with a strong ground-type move at his disposal, Dylan confided in me that he was ready to re-challenge the poison gym.

The morning of the fourth day of Birch and his son staying with us, we were enjoying breakfast out of the deck. Brendan and the professor were planning to leave in the early afternoon so we were enjoying a final conversation.

Brendan had been telling us how he had become a researcher. "So yeah, I guess I was always a researcher and scientist at heart just like my dad. I thought I was a trainer but inside… inside I was a researcher and didn't even know it yet."

Birch, who had been leaning back in his chair, suddenly leaned forward. His chair landed with a loud thump on the wooden deck. "Say that again."

I shot Dylan a sideways look. Professor Birch suddenly had a very intense look in his eyes. Something that Brendan had said had set him off. The level of intensity made me think that somehow the professor had just been insulted in some way.

Brendan, clearly thinking the same thing, fumbled over his words as he repeated his last few sentences. As he said "just like my dad." Birch shot out of his chair.

"I've got it!" he bellowed. "Come with me!"

Moving quickly for a man of his size, he cleared the steps in one bound. We struggled out of our chairs and followed the elder man around the corner of the lodge. He stopped suddenly and we almost ran into him. Onix towered over us, curled into a large pile of rocks. It raised up it's huge head and blinked it's massive eyes at us.

"Gliscor!" Birch called to the pokemon wandering past. "Come here!"

The purple pokemon turned towards us. It's long, dangerous looking stinger-tail swinging happily behind it's wide leathery wings. It snapped it's big claws happily and looked up at us with big yellow eyes.

"Draw in the dirt whatever Onix answers," Birch told the pokemon before turning to Onix. "Onix, what kind of pokemon were your parents?"

Onix grumbled something and Gliscor went to work. When it was finished, there was a crude drawing etched into the soil. At first glance it looked like on onix. When I blinked and looked closer, I could see a few differences. The head didn't have the big horn that an onix had and the tail came to a big point. Two prongs almost like ribs jutted out on each side of it's big body.

"What is it?" I asked.

Brendan drew in a breath like he'd just understood something. "Onix, your parents are steelix!"

The rock pokemon suddenly reared back and roared. It seemed that Brendan was right.

"I don't get it," I said, scratching my cheek. "What does that mean? I didn't even know that an onix could evolve."

Birch smiled and stroked his beard once. "Onix here was born to steelix parents. A parent pokemon passes attacks and other such things on to it's offspring. Normally that's not a problem. Unless the parents are an evolution that can use attacks that the pre-evolutions can't use. Onix knows plenty of attacks, it's just trying to use them like a steelix would!"

"Why doesn't it just evolve then?" Dylan asked. "I've seen pokemon force their own evolution before.

Professor Birch gave us a brief explanation that an onix required a specific item to evolve. Things began to fall into place for me. I raised a hand as I was about to speak but then another thought struck me. My hand fell back across my mouth as I realized something.

"I'll be back."

I took off at a flat run back around the lodge. Slipping as I took the corner wide, I scrambled up the steps. I charged through the door and then up the stairs to the room that I had been inhabiting. Heaving my backpack off the floor and onto my bed, I began tearing pockets open. I found what I was looking for and made for the door. I lurched backward and grabbed an empty poke ball before retracing my steps back to the group.

Dylan eyed me. "What was that about?"

"You'll see."

Waving to get Onix's attention, I stepped forward. When the giant rock snake had leaned in to look at me I held up the item I had retrieved between my thumb and forefinger. Onix roared as it pulled back.

"You know what this is," I said as I pulled the metal coat into my palm. "It was given to me so I'm going to give it to you. I'll use it to evolve you if you want. I'll even take you back to where we first met so you can show those other onix what you've become. After that, I'll set you free."

Onix lowered it's head down until it was directly in front of me and grumbled something.

"I do have to catch you first," I told it, assuming that's what it was asking and held up the poke ball. "I'm ready whenever you are."

Onix reared back and roared. It fixed me with a look of steely determination and bobbed it's head, indicating that it was ready as well.

"How does this work anyway?" I whispered to Birch. "Do I put the metal coat into the ball before I catch it? Or do I give it to Onix and then catch it?"

Birch smiled. "Catch Onix first. Then release it and place the metal coat inside the poke ball. Once you summon it back into the ball, the effect will take place the next time you release it."

I nodded and threw the poke ball. The red and white ball bounced off of Onix and converted the pokemon to red energy, drawing it inside. The ball move once as I closed in and picked it up. Releasing Onix, I closed the metal coat inside the ball. Pointing the laser back at the rock snake, it disappeared again.

"Well, you guys ready to go?" I asked, tucking the ball inside my pocket.

Brendan frowned. "Go where?"

"Didn't you hear me? I'm going to take it back to where we first met it. Where it was being attacked by those other onix. I promised it I'd get it fixed up and take it back. I'm a man of my word."

"Technically I don't think you promised that," Dylan muttered under his breath. "But hey, let's go."

It took us a while to find our way back up the mountain. I took the blame for most of it, seeing as how I made us ascend the wrong mountain first. Luckily Dylan pointed out that he didn't see the area he had caught his gligar at and we realized we were on the wrong land mass. We tried another and at first, I thought we had screwed up again. Then there was a familiar rumble beneath our feet.

"We're close," I said.

We cleared a ridge that had a giant indent in it that I realized had been made by Onix when we looked over the edge to see a collection of five onix. At first I wasn't sure that this was the same group but Birch observed that this area wasn't big enough to have more than two or three groups of onix roaming about.

Any doubt left in our minds was erased when one of them saw us and let out a deafening roar. The rest of the group swiveled to look at us. Two swung their mighty tails into the ground and sent a spray of rocks up at us.

"Get down!" Birch shouted, shoving us aside. "They're using rock throw!"

As I was hitting the dirt, I caught a glimpse of two of the onix charging in our direction. "They're coming after us!"

"Shit!" Dylan swore over the noise of falling rocks. "I didn't bring any pokemon!"

My heart jumped into my mouth. In our haste to get Onix back to this location, neither of us had stopped to gather up any pokemon. A thought formed in my mind but before I could register it, the sun was blotted out.

Onix look much bigger when they're standing over you and mean you harm.

"Throw it!" Brendan yelled at me.

"Throw what?" I was confused.

"What do you think?" he screamed. "Onix's poke ball!"

In the commotion, I had completely forgotten about it. I dug into my pocket and pulled it out, making it normal sized as I did. As I threw the ball it exploded open the second it cleared my fingertips.

Flowing white energy streaking into the sky. The two advancing onix stopped in their tracks. The energy curved in the air and slammed down into the earth, taking on a solid form. It reminded me a lot of an onix in it's body except for the two spikes on either side and the pointed tail. The head was the real big difference besides the obvious smooth, shiny metal that had replaced rock. The horn was gone and replaced by two ridges that sat above deep set eyes. A thick lower jaw with two ridges at either edge held a mouth of big, blunt teeth.

Steelix let out a mighty roar as it introduced itself.

The eyes of the two onix got huge as they connected the dots and realized who this steelix actually was. Before they could move, Steelix opened it's mouth like it was going to bite and lunged forward. Two icy blue jets of lightning lanced out and knocked one of the onix off the ledge. Steelix's tail glowed white and it swung it up like an uppercut, connecting with the other onix's head. It flew into the air and crashed down next to it's friend.

Steelix let out another roar. This one carried the undertone of self-appreciation and just a hint of a threat. The five onix considered their options. Slowly, they began to back away.

Steelix continued to roar at them as they retreated. It fidgeted around like it wanted to chase after them. It took it almost a minute to realize that I was waving at it, trying to get the attention of the steel pokemon.

"Bout time," I muttered as it lowered it's head down to my level. I placed a hand on it's jaw and smiled. "Well, I guess this is it."

It drew back in surprise.

"I told you I'd make you right and I did. I had to capture you to evolve you but I'm a man of my word: you are free to go. If I'm ever back in the area, I'll try to find you to say hi."

Steelix was silent as I gave it a wave. As I was just starting to reflect on how I was going to miss the pokemon, the ground began to shake. All of us lost our footing. Dylan and I bounced off each other as we tried to get our balance. There was a flash of silver and I could no longer see our path. Steelix was curled around us, it's head towering over me. When we had regained our balance, the pokemon slowly uncurled itself. It lowered it's head down until it was right at my level.

"Um, hi."

Steelix moved closer. It's protruding jaw was now only a foot away from me. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Professor Birch motioning for me to put my hand out. I cautiously extended my hand out. The big steel head inched forward until my hand rested in between the ridges that went over it's eyes. I'm not sure why, but I was surprised by the coolness of the pokemon's skin. The big white eyes with the red irises slowly closed. I looked back at my colleagues in hopes that one of them understood what was going on.

Birch spoke first. "I think Steelix is trying to say that it wants to come with you." Steelix grumbled as if to agree. "My guess is that it feels indebted to you and plans to pay it's debt."

I patted Steelix's head. "Hey, that's great but you're free! I'd love to have you join my team but don't you want to be free now that you're really who you are?"

The eyes snapped open. The head pulled back and the mouth dropped open in a soft roar. I took a step back and winced. "Ok, ok!"

"I don't think Steelix is giving you a choice in the matter," Birch chuckled.

"Welcome to the team," I said as I pointed Steelix's poke ball at it and drew it back inside.

After we got back to the lodge, Birch and Brendan announced their intentions to head out that day. We ate some lunch and then Dylan and I watched them load their belongings into their car. Birch gave me his card with his email and phone number and told me we could call him any time for anything. He also said he was going to be relaying the story of Steelix to one of his fellow professors, Professor Rowan, who specialized in evolution. I gave Birch my contact information and told him that he was more than welcome to pass it along to Rowan.

Once all the goodbyes were handled, Professor Birch and his son climbed into the car. A cloud of dust rose up as the car rumbled down the dirt road. Dylan and I stood at the bottom of the porch steps until we could neither hear nor see the car. Together we strode forward and partway down the driveway where we stopped.

"Great, now I just have you to talk to," I joked.

Dylan responded by giving me a one-armed shove.

"I guess I'll cope with it," I continued when I had regained my balance. "We do only have a couple days left."

Dylan looked over at me. "You know… there is one thing we still have to take care of while we're here."

I turned to look at him. From up above him, Dustox and Gliscor drifted down to float next to his shoulders. I laughed. There was a fluttering of wings and then a temperature drop; Butterfree and Haunter had arrived.

"Here we go."

I stood in front of the mirror in my bedroom at the lodge, examining my reflection. It was the last day at the lodge and therefore our last day with a regular roof over our heads. The patchy beard that had covered my face was now gone and my face felt cool and smooth. There was a bit of concern about the rest of me though. I knew we hadn't been eating all that well but it was very evident now with my shirt off. When we had initially set out on our journey, I hadn't been fat but I did have a little pudge to me. Now I could count my ribs. Three square meals a day for two weeks had helped me put some weight back on though.

Pulling my shirt back on, I concentrated on getting all my things together. With my uncle Bill due here in less than two hours I still had a fair amount to do. I had already collected all my pokemon back into their balls. Loading Charmeleon, Grovyle, Heracross, Pikachu, Mudkip and Steelix into my belt holster, I swept the rest of them into a pocket in the side of my backpack, including the nincada that I had caught yesterday. Checking the drawers and bathroom once more, I forced all my clothes and toiletries into the central pouch. I swung the back over one shoulder and headed downstairs.

Dylan was already in the kitchen. He was digging through cupboards and the fridge in an attempt to find any food that we might be able to take with us. When he heard me coming, he made a sad face and pointed at the open refrigerator door. There was a pile of meats including a pound of hamburger and some chicken breasts that were going to go to waste.

I sighed and hoped there would be someone staying here shortly after us. "Anything we can take?"

"Bread, peanut butter, honey, some crackers," Dylan ticked them off his fingers. "I found some bottled water that I think we can take. Oh yeah, there's some jerky here too."

I frowned. "So nothing exciting."

Dylan shrugged. "A couple cans of Chef Boyardee and a thing of soup if you can call that exciting."

"Bring 'em," I said with a wave of my hand. "It's something different. We can eat them cold if it's too hard to heat them up."

After another ten minutes of rooting around, Dylan concluded that we had found everything that we could take. We cleaned up everything else and then jammed what we were taking with us into our backpacks. Taking one last look around the inside, we headed outside to wait.

I swung my backpack down next to the Adirondack chair I had spent a pretty good amount of time in and dropped into the chair. "You ready to go back?"

Dylan snorted as he flopped down into his chair. "Yes and no. It was nice being up here but I want to go back on the road. This is a nice place to stay for a while though."

"Agreed. I'm thinking that I'll definitely come back here eventually. Maybe make it my secret training grounds."

Dylan snorted again. "You have to be really good to warrant a secret training grounds. Otherwise it's just a training grounds."

"I said eventually." I paused for a moment. "You ready to face Isamu again?"

He didn't answer right away. "I think so. Gliscor will be a huge help. Duxtox has some experience now and will be a lot more useful. With the training we've done, I think I'm ready. Obviously not as ready as you."

I grinned. The addition of Steelix to my team was mammoth. The steel pokemon was completely immune to poison attacks and thanks to Sandslash, had actually learned dig before either of them had evolved. Sandslash was now evolved and significantly stronger than during it's previous meeting with Isamu's poison pokemon. With Butterfree knowing psychic attacks and Haunter not affected by poison spikes according to Birch, I was well armed for my rematch.

Uncle Bill arrived after a short wait. We piled into his car after we exchanged hugs and settled in for the long drive. The time went quickly as we told the story of our time at the lodge. Although not being terribly knowledgeable about pokemon, Bill was still nonetheless impressed by what we had accomplished in our time.

Once we got closer to civilization I powered up my cell phone. It instantly began chirping with voicemail notifications. I had one message from David and one from Vanessa. Each of them told me the same thing: they were at the pokemon center already and had been for a day already. If we didn't get there soon or at least call, they would assume we weren't coming. I fired off a quick text to let them know we would be arriving at the bus station in a couple of hours.

At the bus station, we said our final goodbyes to Bill. I handed him a pile of money to pay for our stay and gave him some extra for gas. He refused the gas money like I knew he would. So when he wasn't looking, I slipped it into the pocket of his jacket.

The bus schedule worked just like a movie this time. Our bus was set to leave in a matter of minutes and had just a few seats left. Dylan commented that all we needed was a sunset to drive into to complete the scene. I laughed and had to agree as the bus rumbled out of the station. The ride was long and uneventful and we used the time to catch a nap.

At almost six in the evening our bus rolled to it's final stop. I trudged down the steps and made an effort to loosen up my back. When I was done, I saw that David and Vanessa were waiting for us. I smiled and moved forward to shake David's hand. The time off seemed to have done him good. Energy pulsed in his piercing blue eyes and he looked like he had gained a few pounds after being practically malnourished like myself. Vanessa appeared more or less unchanged with the exception of a haircut.

"You're looking well," David said with a smile as he released my hand. He hesitated just barely and then extended his hand to Dylan. Dylan also had just a minute moment of hesitation before shaking the offered hand.

"Thanks," I replied. "You guys look like your batteries are recharged."

"A week in Scotland will do that for you."

I looked at Vanessa. "What?"

"I won a trip to Scotland."

Turning to look at David and got a nod of confirmation. "She did. It was beautiful over there. Relaxed for a few days and then did a good amount of training."

"That makes our trip seem kind of lame," Dylan mused. "Upstate New York is nice but it probably can't hold a candle to Scotland."

David and Vanessa shared a knowing look.

"How's the wild pokemon situation over there?" I asked. "I know they have some pokemon over there that we don't have here."

David shrugged. "I only caught one. Got a few of mine to evolve though."

Vanessa excitedly cut in. "I caught four!"

"Which ones?"

This time it was David interrupted Vanessa. "You'll have to wait and see. We can battle after we take out this gym and you can see for yourself."

The mention of the gym quieted the conversation. The seriousness of what we had ahead of us overwhelmed the pleasant catching up. With a nod of his head, we followed David out of the station. The walk back to the pokemon center was pleasant enough. Despite nearing the end of summer, the evening air still had enough warmth to not require a jacket.

"Take of the gym tonight or wait until tomorrow?" David finally broke the silence.

I was a little surprised by the remark. David had always been full steam ahead before. Usually it was me asking if we wanted to wait before challenging the gym. I wondered if he had done more than catch a pokemon in Scotland. It wasn't maturity, he had always been mature. He just seemed to display more patience now.

To reply, I gave a shrug. "I'm a little tired from that bus ride but I could go now. Now sure how long the gym is open for though. It is almost seven. Don't they usually close at eight or nine?"

After a short discussion, it was decided that we would wait until the next morning to avenge ourselves against Isamu and his poisonous ways. With time to kill until we would feel like sleeping, we found a dinner and sat down for dinner. We stayed there for several hours, sharing more about our vacations and reminiscing about the months past. Dylan and I made certain not to divulge the pokemon we had acquired during our time apart. If they weren't going to tell, neither were we.

Dylan and I were the last ones awake the next morning. At first I felt guilty but then I realized that it was still only nine in the morning. After a quick shower and change of clothes, we were on our way. The gym wasn't far and we were there in no time at all.

Before going inside, I had a quick conversation with Charmeleon.

"If Isamu starts off with Muk, I'm going with you," I told the pokemon. "We're going to use a little subterfuge to try and get the upper hand. If and only if I start with you, I want you to scale back your flamethrower so it's about as strong as it was last time we were here. Can you do that?"

Charmeleon nodded.

"Good. When I call for it, I want you to ramp it up to the max. Give it everything you've got for that one attack. Just that one though. I don't want you blowing all your strength right then. Any questions.

After getting a shake of Charmeleon's head, I returned the pokemon to it's poke ball and my friends and I walked inside.

Isamu was waiting for challengers in the lobby area as we threw open the doors. At first he didn't recognize us. After a few moments though he realized who we were.

"I was starting to get worried," he said in his slightly accented English. "It has been a long time since I had seen you. I was beginning to think you might not return."

"Well after today, you won't have to see us again." Dylan crossed his arms over his chest. "After we beat you, we'll be out of your way for good."

"Oh ho! Well said! Much more confidence than last time!" Isamu paused and then pointed at me. "You, I believe… yes! The previous time you were the last to battle. This time you shall be the first to face my poisons!"

I offered a cool smile. "Let's go."

Isamu led me down the long hallway and into the battling area. I nodded at the referee that was already in place as Isaum made his way around the field to his trainer's box. Casting an eye about the field, it was still the same plain floor that I remembered from last time. It was all the same as last time but I was determined that it would end differently.

"We shall battle six on six!" Isamu's proclamation surprised me a little. I grabbed my backpack off the floor and swapped a few of my pokemon while he continued with the basic rules. "As Gym Leader, I shall go first. Muk, begin!"

It took every ounce of my willpower to keep a grin from forming on my face. "Charmeleon, start us off!"

I licked my lips in anticipation. Everything I had worked on over the last two weeks was about to be put to the test. It was about time.

"Muk, sludge bomb!"

My eyes flared ever so slightly as I saw the best shot I was going to get at my trick I had planned. "Charmeleon, flamethrower!"

The two pokemon reared back before launching their attacks. The barrage of little balls of sludge slammed into the blast of fire in the center of the battle field. Like we had planned, Charmeleon kept the strength of it's flamethrower down. The sludge bombs slowly began pushing the flames back.

"I'm disappointed!" Isamu shook his head. "I expected more improvement after this long of a delay. I-"

"Now!" I shouted, cutting him off.

"Charrr-MELEON!" Fire suddenly exploded out of Charmeleon's mouth. The pillar of fire nearly tripled in size and intensity. Caught off guard, Muk didn't have a chance to respond with equal force and the sludge bombs were quickly overtaken. The raging inferno slammed into Muk and drove it into the wall behind Isamu.

Isamu was at a loss. "What… I… Muk, sludge!"

"Charge and dragon rage!"

Taking off at a run, Charmeleon ducked underneath the stream of disgusting blackness that Muk was emitting. The yellow ball of energy crackled between it's teeth as it got close. The explosion of the dragon rage enveloped the poison pokemon.

"Fire fang!"

Charmeleon dove into the dissipating explosion with flames trailing from it's mouth. There was an explosion and then another. I called for another flamethrower. Standing above the downed muk, Charmeleon used the force of it's own fire attack to push itself away from it's opponent.

"Muk is unable to battle!" the referee called. "Charmeleon is the winner!"

Charmeleon spat fire into the air to celebrate.

Isamu called his muk back to it's poke ball and faced me. "It would seem that I judged you too quickly. However, the advancement of one pokemon does not win the battle. This battle has barely started."

I said nothing. My ploy with Charmeleon had unbalanced Isamu, I was sure of it. If I really wanted to take advantage of it I would need to keep pressing the attack. Letting him go on the offensive could rapidly change the course of the battle.

"It's time to face the pokemon that undid you last time. Drapion!"

As the lanky purple pokemon appeared I was already recalling Charmeleon. I had thought long and hard about this pokemon. Dylan and I had consulted each other late into the night as it had been his undoing as well. I had a game plan this time.

"Sandslash, let's go!"

Isamu paused as he remembered the sandshrew I had with me last time. "Perhaps your charmeleon was not your only area of improvement."

Instead of responding to his statement, I said, "Sandslash, dig!"

"Pin missile!" Isamu yelled but it was too late. By the time Drapion had released it's glowing missiles, Sandslash was deep underground. The missiles exploded as they came into contact with the ground.

"Now!"

Sandslash rocketed up through the dissipating explosions, striking Drapion just below the jaw with a vicious uppercut. As the ground pokemon continued past the thrown back drapion, I yelled another command. "Rollout!"

My pokemon became a spinning ball of quills as it changed direction midair. It slammed into the already off balance drapion and forced it back further. Sandslash spun away, coming back to a standing position a few feet away. "Dig again!"

As Sandslash disappeared underground again, Isamu smiled. "You can't hide down there forever and I have just the thing to force you out. Drapion, toxic spikes."

Drapion bent backward and a glowing purple orb formed in it's mouth. This time I knew exactly what was going on. With a roar, Drapion fired the orb towards the ceiling.

I had a plan this time. "Sandslash, focus blast!"

The ground pokemon exploded out of the ground. It lead with it's right claw but wasn't aimed at Drapion. Trailing behind was it's left claw that had a pulsing ball of light blue energy. With a grunt Sandslash heaved the ball. Instead of aiming at the poison pokemon, Sandslash had aimed for the poison attack. The toxic spikes orb was just starting to break up for it's decent when the focus blast slammed into it. The two orbs detonated in mix of blue and purple fire. All four battle participants held their breath for a moment as we waited to see if any of the toxic spikes had survived. After a series of heartbeats, it was clear that none had.

I had to fight a self-satisfied grin that was determined to emerge. "Focus blast!"

This time Sandslash did aim at it's actual opponent. Both my pokemon and myself had forgotten how nimble a drapion could be though. It's trunk of a body curved out of the way and the focus blast sailed right past, exploding against the wall. I had made my first mistake and Isamu was ready.

"Cross poison!"

Drapion crossed it's arms and then flung them and a purple glowing X out at Sandslash.

"Dig!"

Sandslash barely made it underground, the cross poison closing the space faster than it had expected. It's tail only escaped because of the gap at the bottom of the attack. I shuffled to my right as the cross poison flew by a little closer than I was comfortable with. It exploded in a cloud of purple behind me.

"Now Sandslash!" I yelled. "Then rollout!"

My pokemon rocketed out of the ground. Slamming off of Drapion, Sandslash began to roll. That was when it became clear that I had made another mistake. I wasn't sure if it was trying the same trick twice or telegraphing my attacks but Drapion's claws lashed out and locked onto Sandslash. The claws were strong enough that they stopped Sandslash's rolling immediately.

"Slash!" my pokemon squawked in shock and surprise. "Sandslash!"

"Fight it!" was all the support I could offer at the moment. My mind was flashing back to the last time I had faced Isamu. He had held Sandshrew in this exact way before.

It at least started differently this time as Isamu commanded, "Toxic spikes!"

This time I had no chance to counter. As the toxic spikes dispersed and began to drift to the ground, Sandslash broke free. I checked the falling smoke trails and realized I had just a few moments left before the entire battlefield would be laced with poison. I figured it would be a shame to waste those moments.

"Sandslash, use rollout!"

Sandslash dove forward and into a fast roll. Dirt sprayed out behind it as the rolling picked up speed. With a single bounce, Sandslash jumped the cross poison attack that Drapion had launched and slammed into the poison pokemon. The two were thrown apart by the impact.

I slid my hand to my belt as I shouted "Focus blast!"

Sandslash raised it's claws above it's head and a blue and white orb formed out of nothingness. As Sandslash hurled the focus blast at Drapion, I brought up the poke ball I had plucked from my belt. The ground pokemon disappeared into the poke ball as the fighting-type attack exploded on Drapion's flank.

The smoke trails settled into the battlefield and for a heartbeat, the entire field pulsed a poisonous purple. Any pokemon that set foot on it would have a painful poison strike them on occasion. It was a devious strategy that had, at least in my mind, cost me the match last time.

This time I was ready. "Steelix, it's time!"

I wasn't sure, but I thought I saw Isamu pale slightly as the mighty steel pokemon towered over his poison pokemon. Purple lightning lanced up from the ground with wicked intent for Steelix. The small bolts bounced off Steelix's shiny skin and crackled into nonexistence. This time I did allow myself a smile. Poison attacks were completely ineffective against steel pokemon.

"Steelix, iron tail!"

The end segments of Steelix including the wicked point began to glow. With a quick movement, Steelix whipped around and absolutely crushed Drapion. The poison pokemon had taken a fair amount of damage already and crumpled completely.

"Drapion is unable to battle!" the ref announced. "Steelix is the winner!"

Isamu took a few moments to collect himself before addressing you. "It would seem that I have underestimated the progress that you have made and the new pokemon you have collected. You have learned of the properties that give steel it's advantages. However, steel is not invulnerable. Skuntank, come forth!"

I could smell the skuntank before I could see it and it was not a pleasant smell. The big purple furred pokemon stared up at Steelix over it's chubby tan cheeks. The thick furred tail that it held over it's body twitched in anticipation of the coming battle. I pulled out my pokedex and read the brief summary on the poison and dark pokemon.

I was about to call for the first attack but Isamu beat me to it. "Flamethrower!"

Instantly I was glad he had beat me to it. I would've blundered in with no idea that a skuntank could use fire attacks. Now I just had to counter one.

"Block it with rock tomb!" I shouted.

Steelix slammed it's tail into the ground. A geyser of rocks shot up in front of it. The flamethrower attack pounded into them but the rocks were successful at defending against the fire attack.

With a moment to think, I had options to consider. Isamu was most likely going to continue to blast away with flamethrower putting Steelix at a disadvantage. I could swap pokemon but two of the other pokemon I had put in my team for this battle were also weak against fire. I had Haunter at my disposal too but with Skuntank's dark-type, all ghost attacks' damage would be halved. Charmeleon was still available but would be subject to the toxic spikes still in the floor.

Then something occurred to me. "Steelix, another rock tomb!"

With Steelix well defended for the moment, I tore my pokedex out of my pocket again. I quickly located the entry I was looking for about attacks and then switched over to an entry on a pokemon. With what I had suspected true, I made my move. "Steelix, return!"

Steelix disappeared into it's poke ball as Skuntank smashed through the rock tombs with the use of night slash. I deposited my steelix onto my belt and grabbed another pokemon. I could only hope that it wouldn't be too tired.

"Sandslash go!" I yelled and then added. "Rapid spin!"

As soon as Sandslash had fully materialized, it stuck it's claws up in the air together and began spinning. Poisonous lightning darted up at the blur of a pokemon and was pulled into the spin. The purple glow on the battlefield suddenly returned. Like a vacuum had been switched on, it all began to get sucked in towards Sandslash. The spinning pokemon became a whirling purple vortex as the toxic spikes were drawn into the spinning. Then Sandslash stopped moving. The purple tornado made a few more revolutions and then became a straight lined wind that slammed into a nearby wall. There was now a big purple stain on the wall but there was no more poison in the floor.

Sandslash flashed me a grin and I returned one. "Guess that worked."

Although I didn't know what other pokemon Isamu had left, I knew for sure that a skuntank couldn't learn toxic spikes. That allowed me to deploy Charmeleon back out onto the field if I needed to. However, I had other ideas. "Now dig!"

Sandslash rushed to get beneath the floor as a blast of fire roared past where it had just been standing.

"Get over there!" Isamu commanded. "Flamethrower down Sandslash's hole!"

Skuntank bounded over and jammed it's head down the hole that Sandslash had just dug. I couldn't actually see the flames but I could see the light from them as they raced into the ground.

"Strike now!" I yelled.

Either it had been resisting the flames or had dug it's way back over because Sandslash exploded out of the ground right underneath Skuntank. The big purple pokemon was thrown on to it's back, still spewing fire. As it rolled over and back onto it's four feet, I recalled Sandslash.

"Haunter, you're up!" The ghost pokemon appeared on the field with a cackle. I wasn't quite sure how or why it found everything in life entertaining but I was all right with it.

"You will regret your tactics," Isamu grumbled. "Skuntank, night slash!"

The big tail began to glow purple. Skuntank charged and whipped the tail around at Haunter. If it connected, Haunter would not be laughing. The ghost pokemon drifted back and was only clipped. It was still a super effective clip. If I didn't put my plan into motion now, it wouldn't ever happen.

"Haunter, use hypnosis!"

The ghost pokemon darted around another night slash and dropped to hover right in front of Skuntank. It's eyes began to glow blue and ring-shaped waves of the same color began to pour out. As they washed over Skuntank, the lids of the poisonous pokemon's eyes began to get heavy. Then they snapped open at the sound of Isamu's voice and Haunter was blasted away with a flamethrower.

I grimaced my pokemon bounced off the wall. After checking to see if it was ok, I did a brief situation check. I hadn't had my haunter all that long and I wasn't sure of it's battle stamina just yet. It wasn't going to be able to trade blows with Skuntank, that was for sure. I figured I had one more shot at using hypnosis before Haunter took a knock-out blow and that's only if it worked. If it failed, Haunter was probably done for.

"Haunter, use shadow punch!" I called. "And follow it in!"

The ghost pokemon thrust one of it's fists forward and a shadowy replica of it shot out at Skuntank. Knowing that it was impossible to dodge, Isamu countered the punch with a night slash. There was a flash of light as the two attacks diffused. When the flash faded, Skuntank found Haunter staring at it less than a foot away.

"Hypnosis!" I threw a punch that I realized had no connection to hypnosis.

This time the blue waves worked. Even despite the sound of it's trainer's voice, Skuntank slumped down into slumber. I had to work quickly if I wanted to complete my plan. I yanked Haunter's poke ball up and recalled the pokemon. I was about to launch my next pokemon when I heard, "Skuntank, return!"

I hadn't been fast enough.

"Nice try but I'm not going to let you pound away on Skuntank while it's asleep." Isamu gave me a cold smile. "You can't fool me that easily. I am a Gym Leader after all."

I lowered my poke ball and waited. Isamu continued to look at me. Then it dawned on me: I had recalled my pokemon first so I had to send mine out first.

"Fine, alright," I muttered. "Butterfree, let's go!"

"A bug for a bug," Isamu replied.

I wasn't sure what he meant until he released his next pokemon. It was rather large for a bug. There were two yellow and purple legs coming off the side of it's red and black body with what looked like two more on it's back. It had a nasty set of mandibles with an equally nasty looking horn above it's purple eyes. I couldn't see but I was willing to bet it had a stinger in the back. I had to use my pokedex to identify it as an ariados.

"Poison in a bug is still poison." I wasn't sure why I said it but I did. "Butterfree, psybeam!"

A beam of shimmering rainbow colors shot out of Butterfree's eyes. It slammed into the ariados and forced it back a few feet. The bug pokemon shook it's head to clear the shock away.

"Ariados, spider web!"

A single silver thread shot out of Ariados' mouth. With amazing speed, it latched onto Butterfree. The thread sprouted into a spider web that raced up my pokemon's body. Once all the threads of the web converged at the top, the entire thing disappeared.

I cocked my head to the side. Butterfree still floated around, seemingly unharmed. I was unsure what to do. The move had to have had some type of effect but I had no idea what. Maybe it reduced speed or something. I decided not to take any chances. "Butterfree, return!"

The light beam from the poke ball bounced right off of Butterfree. Suddenly everything made sense: Butterfree was trapped on the field until it was defeated or the battle ended. Now why Isamu had waited for me to enter the next pokemon made sense. He wanted to make sure it wasn't my charmeleon or another pokemon that could cause lots of damage against his team.

"Now Ariados, pin missile!" Ariados' horn began to glow and a storm of glowing missiles erupted from it.

"Dodge Butterfree!"

Butterfree wasn't made for high speed maneuvering unfortunately. It managed to get around the initial wave but took the next wave full force. The bug pokemon was blasted to the ground and repeatedly struck by more missiles. The only saving grace was that the attacks were of the bug-type; Butterfree's own type reduced the damage it would take from them.

When the onslaught ceased and Butterfree was able to get back up and in the air, I called for my next attack. "Psybeam again!"

Ariados tried to scuttle out of the way but Butterfree's aim was true. The psychic attack hit the ariados in the flank and caused it to loose it's footing. With it off balance, we struck with gust. The powerful winds Butterfree buffeted Ariados, forcing it to the ground.

With Ariados momentarily immobile, I saw probably my best opportunity. "Butterfree, use stun spore!"

From it's higher vantage point, Butterfree began floating in a circle above Ariados. A thin orange mist trailed off of my pokemon's wings, making it look like a living crop duster plane. For it's part, Ariados was quick to regain it's feet. It began racing away from where Butterfree floated but the flying bug pokemon had made a wide arc. Suddenly Ariados arched upwards as small sparks crackled over it's body.

It was paralyzed. But that didn't mean it was helpless.

"Ariados, use sludge bomb!"

From it's mandibles, Ariados unleashed a barrage of nasty piles of sludge. Butterfree tried to dodge as I had commanded but Ariados tracked it. Eventually the poison attack tagged one of Butterfree's wings and sent it into a freefall. Isamu used the opportunity to recall his bug. In it's place he released a seviper.

With Butterfree just now crashing to the ground, Isamu ordered his seviper to advance. The pokemon slithered across the field as I encouraged Butterfree to get back into the air. It shook it's head to regain it's senses and launched back into the air just in time.

Or so I thought.

"Poison fang!" roared Isamu.

Seviper coiled and then sprang higher than I could've ever imagined it could get. It locked it's fangs around my pokemon's foot as they began to glow purple. Purple sparks crackled around the fangs and then there was an explosion that threw the two pokemon apart. Butterfree slammed to the ground and skipped twice.

"Butterfree is unable to battle!" the ref announced. "Seviper is the winner!"

I licked my lips as I considered my next choice. I still had five pokemon left and only one of them had taken a serious amount of damage. Sandslash had seen a lot of action and yet had taken little damage but I decided to go another route.

I offered Isamu a cold smile. "A snake for a snake." Then I released Steelix.

"Exactly as I anticipated." Isamu returned my smile. "Seviper, aqua tail."

"Steelix, use dig!"

With water swirling around it's tail, Seviper looked on helplessly as Steelix quickly vanished from sight. Isamu ordered his pokemon to keep moving to try and avoid the oncoming attack. It made little difference. Steelix exploded up from beneath the battlefield, ripping an enormous hole in it. Seviper avoided the brunt of the attack but was still sent flying. Debris pelted it as Steelix fully emerged.

"Iron tail!" I roared, miming Steelix's tail with an open hand I slammed it downward.

Steelix responded by smashing down it's glowing tail onto the seviper that was too slow to escape. Chunks of the field flew everywhere. When Steelix drew back it's tail, I couldn't see Seviper at all.

The ref ran over from his spot to peer down into the hole. "Seviper is unable to battle! Steelix is the winner!"

I had Isamu in a real spot now and he knew it. He was down to half of his starting pokemon and one was asleep and another was paralysed. There was only one completely healthy pokemon of his original six remaining. I, on the other hand, still had five of my six and only two had seen extensive action.

Isamu did still have some surprises. "Tentacruel, come forth!"

I had seen pictures of tentacruel before but seeing one in person was totally different. The way it's big blue head with the red crystals was held up by it's multitude of tentacles and those nasty blue stingers was way more disconcerting in person. It's deep-set eyes seemed to stare right down to my soul.

"Like I said earlier," Isamu said quietly. "Steel is not unstoppable. Tentacruel, hydro pump!"

The blue stinger on Tentacruel's face lifted and a powerful jet of shimmering water blasted out. Steelix roared in pain as the water punched it backwards and drove it into the wall. I was frozen in shock for a moment but was able to recover enough to instruct Steelix to dig, which it did and escaped the hydro pump.

With Steelix at least safe for the moment, I had a decision to make. The only pokemon I carried on my team that had attacks that would be super effective against the poison pokemon were weak to it's other type. Although it felt like I had agonized over the choice for minutes, barely five seconds had gone by when I made my decision.

"Steelix, use dig!"

The ground trembled and then the mighty steel pokemon erupted from down below. Tentacruel wasn't especially quick despite it's many legs and was thrown into the air.

"Now use rock tomb!"

Steelix twisted about and slammed it's tail into the ground. A sharp pillar of rock jutted out and struck the airborne water pokemon before sinking back down. Showing surprising agility, Tentacruel twisted around and landed feet first on the wall. Flexing it's tentacles, it launched itself back at Steelix.

Isamu roared, "Hydro pump!"

"Ice fang!"

The pillar of water met the two jagged bolts of icy power. Suspended by the two attacks, a giant ice crystal began forming in the air. It grew so rapidly that I quickly lost sight of Tentacruel. The water pokemon reappeared climbing over the top of the ice crystal that had begun to drop. It launched itself at Steelix once more. With their closer proximity, Steelix and I didn't have a chance to react. Tentacles began appearing from somewhere beneath Tentacruel and soon it had firmly wrapped itself around Steelix's face.

"Shake it loose Steelix!" I yelled.

"Hydro pump!" Isamu roared again.

The blue stinger moved slightly and suddenly there was water spraying off of Steelix's face. The steel pokemon bellowed in pain as it tried in vain to shake the smaller pokemon free. Steelix's movements became wobbly as it took another blast from the hydro pump.

"Steelix, no!"

The long steel body went limp and crashed to the ground. My mouth was agape as Tentacruel slithered away. Steelix's eyes were closed and it's jaw hung loose. The ref was peering over from his spot and I had a sinking feeling.

I balled my fists. "Come on Steelix! You can do this! I believe in you!"

The ref raised a hand. "Steelix is un-" He was cut off by a mighty roar.

Steelix's eyes snapped back open. It slowly lifted it's head and if looks could kill, we would've won the match right then. The rest of Steelix's body began moving as well. It's tail began viciously whipping around. The spikes on it's sides twitched with anticipation. It's blocky teeth ground together so hard that I actually thought they might shatter.

"Thank you Steelix," I said softly. I had a feeling that the pokemon would never let me down after what I had done for it. Now it was time for us to make good on this second wind. "Iron tail!"

Isamu was ready. "Counter with hydro pump!"

The blast of water slammed into the falling, glowing tail but Steelix wasn't to be denied. With a force of effort, Steelix cleaved the water attack in two and crushed Tentacruel with it's overwhelming power.

"Now follow up with rock tomb!"

Steelix twitched it's tail and slammed it down again. A pillar of rock shot up and launched Tentacruel again. I could hear Isamu plotting his counterattack but I ordered Steelix to dig. A hydro pump struck harmlessly on the ridge of the hole Steelix had just dug. I watched Tentacruel in freefall and waited until it had built up a lot of downward momentum. "Now Steelix!"

The steel snake blasted out of the ground and struck Tentacruel with a sickening splat-like noise. All of Tentacruel's kinetic energy had just been used against it. It was like a high-speed collision between a freight train and a go-kart. Tentacruel was slammed so hard into the wall that the wall actually fractured.

"Tentacruel is unable to battle!" the ref announced. "Steelix is the winner!"

I was practically exploding with joy. "You did it Steelix!"

I got a mighty roar in reply. I smiled and recalled the pokemon. It had done more than enough for now.

Isamu fixed me with a dirty look. He was in a deep hole now. "Ariados, come forth!"

With a grin I reached for my only pokemon I hadn't used yet. "A bug for a bug. Heracross, let's go!"

Heracross burst into existence and slammed down onto the field. It stretched it's arms out and reared it's horn back. "Hera-cross!"

Isamu made the first move. "Ariados, use pin missile!"

I made a sweeping motion with my hand. "Dodge it using aerial ace!"

Heracross shot into the air as the glowing missiles started exploding around it. The beetle pokemon made a wide arc around the room, missiles tracking it all the way and exploding against the wall. A second volley came and Heracross dove, picking up speed and trailing white energy. Unlike Butterfree, Heracross was made for pinpoint maneuvering. It deftly sidestepped the incoming attacks and plowed into Ariados and sent it sprawling backwards.

Isamu called out as his pokemon righted itself, "Ariados, poison jab!"

"Counter with night slash!"

The two purple attacks struck one another and a small explosion emerged. Both pokemon were thrown backwards. Heracross stayed on it's feet and slid back a few feet. Ariados wasn't so lucky. It's legs gave out as it slid and it tumbled.

An opening that we couldn't pass up. "Heracross, use horn attack!"

Wings burst out of the blue shell to propel Heracross forward. Ariados was just getting it's feet under it as Heracross lowered it's horn. The X-shaped horn plowed into the poison pokemon. With an extra effort, Heracross lifted Ariados off it's feet and drove it into the wall. The red and black striped pokemon slid down in a heap.

"Ariados is unable to battle!" The ref didn't bother getting a closer look. "Heracross is the winner!"

He was a Gym Leader so Isamu could do nothing but continue the battle. He didn't show any sign of it but I knew that I would just want to throw in the towel. One sleeping pokemon versus five mostly fresh pokemon were long odds for any trainer. Isamu gave me a slight nod as he released Skuntank back on the field. He knew that he was essentially beaten. All he could do now is make me work for it.

Skuntank was snoozing peacefully as it appeared on the field. It actually looked kind of cute all curled up, using it's tail as a pillow. I almost felt bad waking it up.

Almost.

"Heracross, horn attack!"

Skuntank quickly woke up as Heracross slammed into it and then crushed it into the wall not far from where it had done the same thing with Ariados. The big furry pokemon had taken far less damage than Ariados had though and slapped Heracross aside with a night slash. With Skuntank now awake, I recalled Heracross as I was well aware of it's flamethrower now.

"Sandslash, let's finish this off with dig!"

The poison and dark pokemon wasn't going to make it easy though. It bounded around the field to make it hard to hit. Sandslash must've detected a pattern that I didn't or maybe just got lucky because the ground pokemon exploded out of the ground claws first right underneath Skuntank. The purple pokemon was lifted off it's feet completely and thrown back.

"Focus blast!"

Sandslash landed and lower it's claws bottoms up in front of it's body. The glowing orb of light blue energy pulsed into life between it's hands. It took a brief moment for the energy to stabilize before Sandslash pulled back it's left claw and heaved the focus blast at Skuntank. The orb detonated on contact. When the smoke cleared, Skuntank was still where I had last seen it.

The ref ran up to it to make sure before declaring, "Skuntank is unable to battle! Victory to Sandslash and the challenger Tim!"

I charged onto the field screaming, "We did it Sandslash! I love you!"

I was glad that Sandslash realized I was coming and turned around because trying to hug the spiky side would've been really unpleasant. I swung the ground pokemon around as it buzzed happily and pumped it's claws in the air. When I noticed Isamu approaching, I set the pokemon down and returned it to it's poke ball.

He tipped his head to me. "You have made remarkable progress. I cannot remember the last time I have seen such a turnaround in such a short time. You show great promise as a trainer. I predict many great things in your future."

I gave him a slight bow like I had seen in martial arts movies. "I owe much of it to you. You obliterated me last time. It drove me to train and I learned how to trust in my pokemon."

"Your pokemon learned to trust in you too. Your steelix must truly care for you to have continued that battle."

It took a moment, but I shared the story of how I met Onix and how it had eventually become Steelix. Isamu smiled and motioned for me to follow him. We walked through the door at the side of the room and down a short hallway. He opened a panel and had me swipe my trainer ID through a machine for my winnings deposit and electronic record of my win.

He reached further into the cupboard and pulled something out. "This is for you. It is the Soul Badge." It was very similar to a pink heart that had been squeezed slightly. I didn't mention that it looked a little girly to me as I took it and slipped it into my backpack with the others.

I was led to a small waiting room at the end of the hallway and told I could wait here or take the door back to the front room. I thanked the Gym Leader and decided to wait here. I hesitated and then added, "Make sure you thrash my friends pretty good."

Isamu laughed. "I shall do my best."

Leaning back in the chair, I tried to get comfortable. It was easier said than done though because I was pretty sure I had sat in a similar chair while waiting at the doctor's office and it wasn't very comfy then either. Eventually I found a relaxing position with my feet propped up on another chair. With nothing to do I began scrolling through my pokedex and tried to learn a thing or two.

My learning was interrupted by Dylan kicking the door open at least half an hour later and shouting "BOOM!"

I was on my feet in an instant. "You won?"

"Of course I won!" Dylan scoffed. "Gliscor and Dustox were masterful in their first real battle. Our training really paid off!"

With a smile, I informed him of the results of my battle.

Dylan couldn't or maybe wouldn't believe it. "You only lost one pokemon? No way! I was down to my last two!"

"Well my types did match up better than yours," I offered with a shrug. "And let's be honest: Steelix is a beast."

Dylan laughed. "True story there. I saw what you did to that field. It was a mess. I wrecked it even worse. I think Isamu said he had a backup one though."

With time to waste, we shared more in-depth versions of our battles. Apparently Dylan's gyarados had gone toe-to-toe with the same drapion I had faced. I really wished I had gotten to see that battle. Dylan was impressed with how well Butterfree and Haunter had faired since I had never used them in a serious battle before.

Our conversation was interrupted by David bursting through the door, pumping his fist. "Hell yeah!"

He joined in our conversation of how our battles had gone. It became a little bit tricky because none of us wanted to reveal our newest pokemon just yet. David did let slip that his geodude had evolved into a graveller though and it had lead his team in battle. We tiptoed our way through the conversation until an excited Vanessa burst through the door.

She, like the rest of us, had been victorious. Suddenly everything was right in the universe. At least for us, anyway.