Chapter 36

"Any particular reason you were both in the same room last night?" Steven and I paused mid bite in our morning meal. The air was so heavy that we had to set down our food and look the other way to think of how to reply. "I know you guys are dating and all, but you know, let a brother know when you're camping out." He took a big gulp of his moomoo milk. "I thought Steven had been kidnapped." He finished that cup and started on another of the other three he had beside him.

"You have an obsession with that stuff," I said. Still holding his glass, he pointed at me.

"Don't try and take the blame off you. I've still got a ton of mocking I've got to do for the both of you." He leaned forward. "The third wheel is usually the awkward, but I'm going to be the one that makes things awkward just to avoid being left out." Steven pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled. "Oh, yes, it's just the beginning."

"Hey, you." I looked up from my breakfast platter. A girl with fiery red hair tied up into a ponytail was standing right beside our table. She had a hand on a hip and the other working at freeing the tighter strands of hair from it's holster, giving the hair on the back of her head a peacock tail flare. I turned to meet her eyes and she flicked my nose.

"Ow! What the hell?!" I stood up. The girl flinched, which was weird because she was a few inches taller and had a bit more meat on her bones, but nonetheless, I still faced her. "Who are you?"

"I'm- I'm the gym leader of this town!" She stomped her foot and balled her fists at her thighs. "I'm here to challenge you! Right here, right now!" Um, what? A battle, in the middle of a pokemon center? And wasn't it the trainers duty to challenge the gym leader in their own gym? I was so confused, I held out my hand, palm to the sky, and tilted my head at her. I was no psychologist, but the internal struggle on her face was obvious. "You heard me! Battle!"

"My pokemon are not fully healed," I said in a low voice. The entire pokecenter was looking at us now. Steven laid back in his chair, observing us. Brendan was laughing quietly and drinking milk at the same time. "I can't battle you right now. I'm in the middle of eating breakfast." The struggle on Flannery's face was intensifying. She started to sweat. "Are you ok?"

I didn't expect it and I certainly didn't see it coming, but she grabbed my pecha berry bagel, almost invisible under the mass amount of moomoo cream cheese. Then she hit me square in the face with it, smearing it all over my eyes and mouth.

The whole center broke into gasps. I wiped off my face and balled my fist so hard I left crescent marks from my nails. Steven and Brendan jumped to their feet, but it was too late, I socked the gym leader right in the left eye. She flew backwards, into some tables and chairs, and right into the wall. I wiped the cream cheese off my face and stepped forward. I was ready to end her right then and there, but Brendan grabbed me and threw me over his shoulder like a damsel in distress. Then he walked out of eyesight with me pounding his back with his fists.

"Don't mind her!" he told everyone over his shoulder. "She doesn't like to think on her own, especially with cream cheese all across her face!" He set me down as soon as we were in his room. I thought I was going to be yelled at, but as soon as he closed the door, he dropped to the floor and started laughing. He was laughing so hard that the crowd outside went silent. He was so ecstatic about the whole thing that he began to wheeze from laughter. He rolled on the floor and forced himself to take three deep breaths. He stood, slowly and calmly, before meeting my eyes. That's when he caught sight of my creamed face and broke out laughing again.

I took a deep breath. However angry I was, I couldn't keep a straight face when it came to Brendan laughing. I sat on the bed and tested my fingers. They were all working fine despite having punched a gym leader halfway across the room. It's a good thing I didn't go all primal-rage on her. That would've been bad. I walked to the bathroom and washed off my face. It was then that a knock came at the door and Steven entered. His face was more than apologetic.

"I'm sorry, Mew."

"What are you sorry about?" I asked. "I probably gave her brain trauma from that punch. I think a little cream cheese to the face can be fixed." He chuckled. Him. He chuckled at the fact I had nearly destroyed a gym leader that had hit me in the face with a bagel. I smiled again and wiped my face dry.

"Flannery is a new leader. You'll be her first challenger." I tilted my head at him. "She has seven older brothers, so she always has to prove she's tough. And when she saw me with you, well, you know the rest."

"That's good, because I don't need a badge from her." I threw the towel in the sink. "I think the punch was enough. Hopefully she'll live to see fifty."

"Mew," Steven said quickly. "She's willing to apologize if you are."

"In other words, you're making her."

"Oh, she has no choice. She just got here yesterday. She hasn't made a single friend, and if she leaves things like the way they are, then she'll have no choice but to back out of her duties." I walked up to him. "In other words, if you don't make things right with her, she won't be able to be a gym leader." I sighed.

"I don't like what she did," I mumbled, "but I'll do it for her sake." Steven's shoulders relaxed.

"Thank you, Mew." He took my hand in his and we both walked out of the room. Brendan, forcing himself to be calm now that the whole ordeal had passed, followed. We stepped out into the open, where Flannery was just setting up the last of the tables. She had taped an ice pack over her eye, which was already beginning to swell. She saw me with Steven's hand in mine.

Then she went berserk.

"Hey, who do you think you are, his girlfriend?" The pokemon center was now more full. Having heard the commotion from just a few minutes ago, more people had come to spectate. And they were getting a show now, thanks to Flannery's sudden jealousy. "That's the champion, not your boy toy!"

I stared at her, an obviously fake smile on my face. She approached me and slapped my hand out of his. Then she put her hand on her hip and met my eyes. Her dark amber eyes were ignited in a fiery blaze.

"Flannery, stop," Steven whispered. "This is idiotic. It's like you don't want your job."

"Let's battle." My words brought both of them to silence. "Flannery, I challenge you to a battle. Not you challenge me, but I challenge you, as in the way it should be." She began to reach for her belt. "Not in here. We'll go outside, and we'll battle there."

"Right." She turned and walked out the door. I turned to Steven.

"She's really nice," I said sarcastically. "Good choice of a gym leader. I'm sure she'll be great one day. By the way, she has a crush on you." He blushed. Just like I had guessed: he already had somewhat of an idea about that. I guess that's what made her so competitive in the first place.

"Are you coming or not, you little punk?!" I heard her shout from the outside. I rolled my eyes and ran outside. She had already called out her first pokemon: a torkoal. I rubbed my face with my hands. "What?! Are you already intimidated?!"

"No," I said, trying to keep my cool. "It's just stupid to call your pokemon out first. Now I know which pokemon I can use against you." I threw out Plum's pokeball. He emerged, twirling in anticipation. "Plum, disarming voice!" The kirlia leapt forward and got as close to the tiny, impossibly slow pokemon and shouted almost right next to his ear. The pokemon took the full force of the blow. Flannery was quick.

"Bite, now!" Torkoal nipped at Plum's hair, trapping her in place. "Flamethrower, give it all you got!" He exhaled thickly, expelling hot fire all over my pokemon. I shouted for him to dodge it, but there was no way he could've been able to. Plum took the blow, so thick that I couldn't even see his outline. When the flames stopped, he fainted. His eyes were still swirling when I retrieved him. "Hey, Mew. How about we make a bet?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked, readying Eve's pokeball.

"A double battle!" Flannery tossed out her slugma and healed her torkoal with a hyper potion. "If you beat these two pokemon in a double battle, I'll give you the badge and an apology!" I blinked at her.

"And if I lose?"

"I get to keep your boyfriend and you owe me an apology." I let out Eve and Sinbad, they shivered in anticipation, ready for battle. "What do you say?" Steven and Brendan were standing in front of the pokecenter. Steven was keeping his cool, but his cheeks were red.

"Deal," I agreed in Flannery's direction. Steven turned to me, right eye twitching. He mouthed, "What?" before hiding his face in his hands. "I accept the terms."

"Then let's do this!" She cracked her knuckles and pointed at me. "Both of you, focus your flamethrowers on the nuzleaf! Take out him first!" Sinbad heard her and did a quick backflip, shifting the blade of grass from one side of his mouth to the other. Eve and him both shook their fear off and prepared themselves for battle.

"Sinbad, use pursuit on torkoal! Eve, stop the slugma with double kick!" The two of them took off. Flannery's torkoal was painfully slow, so Sinbad was able to hit it three times with the same move before it made another move to bite. Having seen what had happened to Plum, Sinbad stuck his foot in his mouth instead. The sitrus berry that had been tucked under one of the holes in his shell fell out. "Good knock off, Sinbad!" He grunted in reply and jumped away, posing.

Even hit the slugma dead on with a double kick, but on the first hit, she yelped in surprised and backed away. A few seconds later, she let out another yelp. Oh, no. I forgot that slugma had flame body as an ability. Now Eve was burned. I couldn't use any more physical attacks on that pokemon, not without being seriously damaged. But Eve didn't really know any ranged moves other than her weak fire type attack. She looked to me, apparently coming to the same solution.

"Eve, attack torkoal, hit him as many times at you can!" She nodded and ducked out of the way. Sinbad had heard our exchange and landed beside my starter. "Both of you, pursuit, double kick, go!" They took off at the same time, limbs drawn back in ready. As soon as their moves hit, the torkoal was knocked backwards and into a lump of sand that some kids were playing in near the hot springs. They saw the pokemon, blinked, then continued playing. Torkoal was down and out for the count.

"I'm not losing to you, you little punk!" Flannery jabbed a finger at me. "Slugma! Ancient power! Focus on that combusken!" The pokemon closed her eyes and began humming. Eve and Sinbad held up their arms, ready for whatever came their way. When Eve bent over, suddenly worn from the exhaustion of being burned, SInbad jumped out of the way. It was then that the rocks from under Eve shot into the air. She was hit from point blank range by these. It was only when the slugma needed to breathe that she was released.

She was on the ground for a while. I thought she had fainted until she put her hands on the ground and lifted herself up and got onto her feet. She took a deep breath, calmed herself, and stumbled onto her knee. There, she took another hit from the burn and fainted. I retrieved her.

"Not looking so good for you now, isn't it?" Flannery gloated. "Give up now and you can still get your badge, lover girl."

"Are you kidding?" I asked. "Sinbad can take you down anytime, anywhere. He may be a grass type, but he's just as powerful against your fire types as any other pokemon." He nodded, fists in front of his face in preparation. "In fact, take the first shot. I'll let you try and land a hit on him." Sinbad did a backflip, bellowing his strength on the landing. Flannery smiled.

"If you say so, little punk." She pulled out her hair, letting the fiery locks flow down over her shoulders. I bared a sliver of my teeth and did the same. Though my hair was not as long as hers, it was twice as brilliant. She laughed. "Someone like you should get your hair redyed. It's looking a little faded."

"First off, you're entirely wrong about that," I started, "and I'm not even going to bother to explain. Just know that you're going down. Hard!" I pointed towards the slugma. "Razorwind!" Sinbad took a deep breath.

"Ha, good luck! That move takes two turns- what?!" My nuzleaf hit her slugma dead on with the attack, knocking the pokemon backwards so fast that half of its' lava body was left behind in her path. Once it had taken to the air, Sinbad added his own touch and hit the pokemon with a swift razor leaf, cutting through the pokemon like knives. He landed, took a brief pose, and then refused to turn back as the pokemon landed behind him, fainted.

Flannery grabbed at her hair, mouth wide open. "How… how was that pokemon able to use razorwind in one turn?! It's not possible!"

"You're right," I said. "It's not possible. It is, however, when you're more preoccupied with showing off your hair and taunting mine than actually battling." She didn't say anything. "Sinbad is a grass type pokemon. If he tried to strike your slugma with a physical attack, there's no doubt that he would be burned and faint. But when he evolved, he learned razorwind, which I didn't think would have much use until now. It's the only ranged move he knew that wasn't grass, therefore, the best choice to attack with." I smiled. "Luckily, I didn't need to make a distraction of my own. When you started mocking me with your hair, I just played along. This gave Sinbad the chance to charge his razorwind. By the time you were done, he was ready to attack. Thus, my victory." I threw my hair over my shoulder. "If I had a mic, I'd drop it."

"Nuzeaf," Sinbad agreed, making the motion himself.

"B-but… I… Steven…" She stomped her foot and balled her fists at her side. "How could I be so stupid?! I let my first challenger destroy me!"

"Stop being so hard on yourself." Steven stepped between us. "Flannery, you're a great trainer. I've never seen Mew work so hard to try and win a badge before." He rubbed Sinbad's head. "But you let yourself think you won when it hadn't even ended yet. You can't let stupid things like boys preoccupy yourself from battle." He looked to me and nodded. I nodded back.

"Hey, can I battle her?" The lot of us looked towards the kids playing in the sand. One of the kids, a boy in blue swim trunks, was running up to Flannery with a single pokeball in his hand. "Battle me! I want to try and get my badge! C'mon!"

"Me, too!" The girl that had been playing with him pushed past, holding a ball of her own. "Battle, battle!"

"I guess she is pretty tough," mumbled one of the men near the pokemon center. "I like her, what about you?" The guy next to him scratched the back of his head.

"I'm going to train a little more before I even try against her. She's definitely stronger than the last one we had."

I don't know if Steven and Brendan saw it, but Flannery was glowing with pride. She puffed out her chest and put both hands on her hips, soaking in the praise. The whole town had watched our battle, and they were happy with it. Even though she lost, they had quite the affection for her.

"Hey," I said, interrupting her. I stepped up to her, a proud smile on my face. "We had a bet, remember?" She smiled back.

"Of course. I'm true to my word." She reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a badge. She took my hand and set it right in the center of the palm. "I'm sorry I creamed you. It was a stupid mistake."

"And I'm sorry about your eye," I replied. "You'll be ok, right?"

"I won't end up like Sinbad, if that's what you're asking." My nuzleaf snorted in challenge. "No offense. I just like both my eyes." Sinbad didn't reply, just pull out a blade of grass and began chewing on it. "Yeah, the eye will be fine. I hope it scars. That way I can have a way to remember you." I took the badge from her hand and put it on the inside of my jacket. The other three badges seemed to shine even brighter with a new companion.

"We have to battle again sometime," Flannery said. "That was one great battle! I bet I can beat you next time!"

"Deal." We shook hands. "Friends?"

"Friends." Her eyes caught fire again. "For now."

Mew Used Taunt!

Flannery Is Distracted!

Flannery Was Defeated!

Mew Received a Gym Badge!

Saving Game…

Game Saved!