Uploaded June 8th, 2012

Time to go to the Gym!

Bane: To Serena!

On the morn, at the rise of that majestic ball of flame that rises each day, and sets each ni- Oh, who am I kidding? The next day, after doing our morning routines and putting in a little pre-Gym training, we headed out!

Bane took in a deep breath. "Ahh… What a day for a Gym battle," Bane said, leading the group to the Gym.

Alysson sighed, the wind blowing through her hair. "Days like this just don't come around often enough, do they?"

It seemed everyone was having a good feeling about today, me included. "An excellent day, indeed," I said, Karryash riding atop my head. We arrived at the Gym at just before nine.

"Alright, let's get this party started!" Bane announced, pushing open the doors to the Gym. The inside was beautiful, very different from the previous Gyms we had been to, thus far. It had fancy red carpeting, walls with paintings of dragons all over them, beautiful chandeliers lining the ceiling, and a great big arena in the middle of it all. "Now this is a Gym," Bane commented as we entered.

We got to the challenger's position on the field, but still saw no sign of Serena. "Rena? Hey! We're here!" Bane shouted. "Huh, that's odd."

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, she said she would be expecting us, right?"

Alysson looked closely at the door on the other side of the room (the one the Gym Leader usually comes out of). "Hey, I think the door's open," she told us.

We walked to the door and Bane nudged it, pushing it open a bit. He opened it the rest of the way and walked in, prompting us to follow. "Rena? Rena?" he called.

We heard some voices coming from another room. "Please, my lady, we do have a job, you see," one voice said in a voice reminiscent of an 80's rock star.

"And I told you you're leaving here empty-handed!" we heard Serena's voice shout.

"Hey, that's-" Bane started, but was swiftly silenced by Alysson. She motioned for us to be quiet and listen.

"Now, now, don't make me get rough with ya'," the other voice warned. We heard the familiar sound of a pokeball releasing a pokemon. "OHMYGOSH, WHAT THE HECK IS THAT THING!" the voice screamed in fear.

I chanced taking a peek inside. I saw a man with the weirdest haircut I had ever seen cowering in front of a big, orange, dragon. It was long and slender, and had big, powerful legs like a Rampardos, and short, stubby arms. Its head was shaped like a raindrop and had two flat horns that curved to make circles on either side of its head, and it had a long mouth with short, pointed teeth and two slit nostrils at the end of its maw. How did I know it had short, pointed teeth? Because it was using them to scare the Pidgey out of the weird-hair guy.

Behind the dragon stood Serena with a confident smirk. "Now, what was it you said you were going to do again?" she asked rhetorically. "Oh yeah! You said you were going to hurt my brother." Behind her I could see the kid Bane had helped yesterday, holding the egg Bane had helped him retrieve protectively.

"OH, PLEASE! HAVE MERCY!" the weirdo shouted, trying to back away from the dragon. This is a difficult task when one is flat against a wall.

"Hmm, no… Maybe you said 'I was just passing through town, and I'll never, ever come back here again. And I would never, ever hurt your brother.' Is that what you said?" she asked the man.

The dragon roared. "AHH! YES! YES! ANYTHING! JUST PLEASE DON'T LET IT EAT ME! MERCY PLEASE!" the man screamed. He glanced at me for a moment and said "Wh-who are you?"

Serena turned and saw me. "Oh, hey Storm," she greeted casually. "Are Bane and Alysson with you?" I nodded silently. "Come on in." We all walked in, Bane and Alysson now getting a good look at the situation, and the seven-and-a-half-foot dragon.

"Holy Totodile! What is that thing!" Bane shouted.

Serena giggled. The dragon turned its head in our direction slightly and growled. We all flinched, but Serena calmed it. "No. They're friends," she told it. It regarded us another moment, then turned back to the cowering man. "Now, what did you come here for?" she asked him.

"I'M JUST PASSING THROUGH AND I'LL NEVER, EVER COME BACK HERE AGAIN!" the man shouted, beginning to cry.

Serena nodded. "Good boy," she said, then her expression turned serious. "Now go."

The man scrambled to his feet and ran out the door we came through and out of the Gym. Alysson's eyes widened. "Hey! That guy had the same ring as that guy we met yesterday!" she said. "You know, the green one."

A ring? Huh, I must've missed it, I thought to myself. I turned back to Serena to see a big, orange, toothy face about two inches from my nose. I let out one of the most embarrassing screams I've ever shouted in my life and fell backwards onto Bane, who fell with me.

"Ow," Bane groaned. "Can you get off of me?"

"When I'm ready," I breathed back, catching my breath. Bane however, is not a very patient person, contrary to popular belief (who's?) and pushed me off of him, then got up and dusted himself off.

Alysson helped me up and Serena walked closer to us. "Hi, guys," she greeted. "Are you ready for our battle?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Bane shouted. "First of all, why was that guy… Okay, first of all, who was that guy? Second, why was he here? Third, where'd you get the awesome dragon? And fourth, do you have anything to eat?"

Serena thought for a moment, and then answered. "First, I don't know. Second, he was trying to take the egg my little brother found." She gestured to the boy we met yesterday. "Third, I can't tell you. And fourth, yes, I have a snack pantry right over there." At her last answer she pointed to a cabinet on the wall.

Bane walked over to the cabinet and got out a soda and a candy bar. When Bane closed it and turned around, the dragon was standing as close to him as it had been to me. However, instead of screaming like an idiot and falling over, he put the can on its tooth and pulled, opening the can. He then walked over to us, taking a drink.

The dragon stood in silent shock for a moment, then glared at Bane, growling slightly. "Down, boy," Serena ordered. "No hurting my friends." The dragon lifted one hand, putting two fingers closer than the other. "No, not even a little bit," Serena replied. "But he will be one of our challengers." The dragon smiled viciously, turning to Bane.

Bane coughed out his candy bar. "WHAT!" he shouted almost as loudly as the weird-haired man. "WE HAVE TO FIGHT THAT!"

"Him," Serena corrected. "You have to fight him." Bane's jaw hung open, even as Serena returned the dragon to its pokeball, which was, oddly enough, a regular, red-and-white pokeball.

We walked back to the arena, Serena leading, then Bane started a conversation. "So, do you guys have any idea how to beat a dragon-type?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, Shellder has some ice-type attacks, so I'm all set… Good luck to you, though."

"Thanks a lot," Bane grumbled.

We arrived at the arena and Serena took her spot. "So, which one of you are going to battle me first?" she asked.

Bane and I turned to each other, then to Alysson, then smiled. "Well, Alysson, you did say that it was unfair that you hadn't battled a Gym Leader first, yet," I said.

"So, here's your chance!" Bane finished. "She's all yours!" he said, pushing her forward.

Alysson ran behind Bane and pushed him forward. "Oh, no! I insist, you should go first."

"No," Bane argued, running behind Alysson and pushing her. "You go!"

"No!" Alysson shouted, pushing Bane. "You go!"

This continued for a few minutes, until I got aggravated. "I'll go first!" I shouted, taking my position.

Bane put his hands on his hips, genuinely surprised. "Well, I'll be an Aipom's uncle," he said. "It worked."

Alysson nudged him. "Told ya it would."

I made a mental note to get back at them for that, then prepared myself. "So, you ready?" she asked. I gave a quick nod. "Good. How many pokemon you got?"

"I got two," I replied. "That enough for ya'?"

She nodded back. "Fine by me. A two-on-two single battle?" I nodded again. "Alright, ready?"

I was surprised a little. "Umm, what about the referee?" I asked.

She shrugged. "We're both smart enough to tell when our pokemon have had enough, right?"

I shrugged. "Duh."

She nodded. "Alrighty, then. Ready?"

"Get on with it!" Bane shouted from the sidelines.

Serena giggled then opened her mouth, but before she could say anything… "Sis!" We saw her brother run in, holding his egg. "Sis! Sis! My egg's getting really cold!" he shouted in a panic.

Serena's eyes widened. "What? What do you mean it's getting cold?" she asked, kneeling down and touching the partly-yellow egg. Her hand recoiled almost instantly. "Woah! It's freezing!" she almost yelled.

Her brother looked up at her. "Why is it cold?" he asked her. "Is that bad?"

She nodded slowly. "Kind of. It could be bad," she explained. "If an egg gets too cold for too long it… won't hatch."

He was almost crying. "Wha-what if it doesn't get warm again?" he asked.

She pulled him close and hugged him. "It's okay, Jack," she told him. She turned to us. "Do any of you know how to take care of an egg?"

I ran over. "Yeah, I hatched Karryash from an egg," I explained. Said fire chick was currently examining the egg. "Do you know what kind of pokemon's in it?"

She shook her head. "No. My brother found it the other day, on Route 12."

I looked the egg over. I couldn't tell much from the look of it. It was yellow with the numbers '6370' on it. Hmm, most eggs reflect thier pokemon, so maybe…! "Are there any yellow pokemon known to live around Route 12?" I asked her.

Serena looked surprised that I'd ask a question like that, but answered all the same. "Uh, yeah. There are some Abra, Numel, Chingling, and Electabuzz in that area," she replied.

I nodded. "Then it's probably one of those," I said, looking over it again. It was really cold, and I knew that wasn't good. But how to keep it warm without burning it? I pondered.

Alysson brought over a blanket. "Here, you can wrap it in this," she suggested, starting to wrap the blanket around the cold egg.

"Thanks," Serena thanked her. "Let's go see if Nurse Joy can help." We ran to the door. "Wait! Bane, can you stay here and watch the Gym for me?" Before Bane could answer, she started again. "Great! If any trainers come, just tell them I'm booked for the next couple of hours. Thanks!" she shouted, now halfway down the street.

Bane stood there for a moment, then sulked. "Man, she really hasn't changed," he muttered.

I imagine most of you will want a bit of entertainment, so I'll let Bane handle this part of the story, Kay?

Well, I had been saddled with Gym-sitting. I remembered a similar time when Serena got me to watch her Growlithe when she went away for the weekend. Of course, it had to run away just two hours later. It took me days to catch that dumb mutt… Anyways…

I went back to the room that rock star weirdo was in and got a snack for my wait, but when I got back to the Gym…

"You!" an all-too-familiar voice shouted.

My eyes widened in terror. "Oh no," I muttered. There, in the door, stood her majesty, Queen of the Brats, Pampina Keepon.

Bane: ...No one battled.

Oh, shut up. I'm posting another this weekend.

Bane: But why am I stuck with the brat?

Cuz you're awesome. :)

Bane: :(

B)

Bane: ...You win this round, Halestorming. You win this round.

Thank you. Next chapter's coming soon!