A/N

Seriously... last update before uni and no idea if there will be internet since no proper accommodation yet...

Enjoy.

37. Revenge and flabby men

Kaida was still fuming when they left the enormous cruise ship at the tiny harbour in Cianwood City and stories about Reid's meeting with a lunatic did not cheer her up because she was sore that she had missed it. She was angry with the lot of themand so focused her attention on the sight in front of her. The so-called city was tucked in front of towering cliffs and was very small in area but was filled with seemingly endless rows of tin houses. They looked like they had huddled together for protection. Around the harbour were tiny fishing boats and nets and their giant luxury ship looked very out of place in isolated Cianwood. Kaida threw herself on the land as soon as she could and refused to move for several minutes. She was safe again. The horrible, churning sea was no longer beneath her. Finally free…

"You do realise we have to go back, don't you?" Reid said, successfully ruining her relief.

Kaida leapt to her feet and walloped him around the head. Now that her stomach had settled she could deal out punishment again. They definitely deserved it: they had left her seasick and helpless on the floor to go to get food from the café. They were all evil.

"Reid?" a voice said.

Reid swore.

He had managed to avoid Lisa for the rest of the duration of the cruise but, sadly enough, it seemed she had finally caught up with him. She walked towards him determinedly and Reid quailed at the sight of her.

"It has come to my attention that I may have been a little, forward, in my attentions," she told him, "but that is only because I was dazzled by my sparkling savior and, er, I mean… I will not give up on our love! Even if it takes you a while to see it, we are destined to be together."

Before he could make any sort of reply, she flounced off. She did look back once, hesitantly, as if wondering whether she could rush back into his arms, but she managed to pull herself together to keep moving.

"That was easy," Reid said, eyes scrunching up in confusion. "I expected her to put up more of a fight."

"I told her you were being too forward," Nila explained.

"Thanks," Reid said gratefully, surprised that Nila had actually done him a favour for once.

"Yeah," Nila said, nodding her head seriously, "but it was Kaida who gave her your number."

"WHAT?!" Reid exploded.

Kaida gave him a smug look and refused to back down. "Well maybe you shouldn't leave me seasick on the floor next time!" She turned her glare to John. "My revenge on you will come next."

"Hey," John said, waving his hands defensively. "What about Nila?"

"I redeemed myself by helping her give Reid's number to Lisa," Nila replied, crouching down to pick her Eevee up. It sat contently in her arms and watched the proceedings with wide, curious eyes.

Reid's glare turned on Nila. Yes, he should have known her niceness had been too good to be true. Great. Now the loon would probably be calling him day and night…

"Come on," said John, still eyeing Kaida warily. "We need to find the medicine shop."

Despite Cianwood's relatively modest size, it was a veritable labyrinth because all of the houses looked identical and then streets cut through each other haphazardly. John tried to consult his guidebook but the map of the town didn't seem to match up with the actual street plan of the city. He scratched his head and spun around on his heels, his heavy backpack swinging behind him. On his second rotation Kaida was forced to duck to avoid him and her glare increased.

"Maybe you need a new version like Matt," she said meanly.

John clutched his guidebook to his chest. "No, I can find out where we are. We're not lost at all… We're just… Is that building a hospital?"

"No, it's a grocery," Reid said, glancing at the building that John had gestured to. "Look, let me take a look. See, it's obvious where we are. Look, there's the fountain…"

"That's a puddle," John interrupted.

"No," Reid insisted. "It's a fountain."

They started to tug at the guidebook. They were both equally determined that they knew where they were – not lost at all – even though they thought they were in different places. Kaida and Nila watched in considerable boredom.

"Men," Nila said flatly, her tone and exasperated expression conveying it all.

Kaida went up to the next person that went by and asked them for directions. Two seconds later they left the boys behind and were on route to the medicine man and, another five minutes later, they had found his house. It was a professional looking shop and, when they entered, a bell rung above their heads and a short old man emerged from the background. Kaida nudged Nila forwards and the taller girl rolled her eyes.

"Hi," Nila said, rearranging her grip on Eevee. "Jasmine sent us from Olivine City to pick up your special secret potion for the lighthouse Ampharos."

"Jasmine sent you?" the man said, putting on his spectacles to peer at them. His brow furrowed. "Just how old are you?"

"Twelve," Nila replied.

The man scoffed. "She thinks I'm sending my valuable secretpotion over with a couple of twelve year olds. I told her to come herself if she wants the damn potion that badly."

"She's looking after the Ampharos," Kaida said, her eyebrows rising at his vehemence.

"Well she's not doing much good there. She needs the potion," the shopkeeper said. "And this potion has very rare, expensive ingredients and only I know how to make it. Well, there are a few others… but they can't do it as good as I can," he boasted. Then his smug face fell back into a frown and he added, waspishly, "You can't have it. I'm practically stalked by Team Rocket and every time I try and ship my potion out with amateurs they steal it! I don't want my potion being used in their organisation. No, unless there is a strong trainer to protect it, that potion is not going anywhere."

"We're strong trainers," Kaida insisted.

"Oh yeah?!" the man said disbelievingly. "Prove it."

"We both have four gym badges," Kaida told him.

The man gave a derisive snort. "Four. That's all you've got! A basic grunt could overpower you!"

Kaida and Nila thought back to their own experiences with Team Rocket – where mostly they had managed to overpower the grunts without too much hassle – and felt rather offended.

"I'll tell you what," the man said. "If you can beat the gym leader of Cianwood, Chuck, then I'll give you this medicine."

"Fine." Kaida narrowed her eyes. "Anything else?"

The medicine man just laughed to himself and returned to the back of his shop.

"Rude," Kaida muttered, elongating the first vowel.

Reid and John still hadn't arrived at the shop, and they had no idea if they ever would, so Kaida and Nila left and sought directions to the Pokémon gym. The gym turned out to be situated to the north, on top of tall cliffs, but, because of these cliffs, the only way to get to the gym was to travel south through the town towards the centre of the island and then double back. The cliffs in the north, fronted by a large beach, where sheer and there were few safe routes up them. Neither Kaida nor Nila wished to test their luck so they decided to take the long way round.

When they finally reached the land above the town and turned north towards the gym, the wind bit into them. There was little shelter – there were a few scraggly shrubs and brittle, beaten grass – and this meant they saw the collapsed figure from quite a way away. They sped up to find a large, muscular middle-aged man sprawled out across the ground. He was shirtless, clad only in a pair of shorts, and his face was a ruddy red.

"Are you OK?" Kaida asked him.

He didn't reply. He continued his heavy breathing and Nila frowned. After another moment she kicked him lightly in the side. He wheezed.

"I'm fine," he managed, coughing from the effort of speaking. "Just fine."

He didn't sound or look fine. They stared at him sceptically.

"One minute," he gasped.

They waited with raised eyebrows. Finally the man took one sharp breath and, the next second, he was back on his feet, grinning furiously at them, awash with sudden energy.

"Wahahah!" the man roared.

"Um," Kaida said, her green eyes blinking furiously in her surprise at the sudden transformation. Beside her, Nila's eyebrows had almost risen into her hair.

"I'm tough," the man bragged, flexing his arm muscles. "Don't let that little display fool you!" His head swivelled rapidly from side to side and his eyes popped wide when he saw a medium sized boulder. He stomped over to it and, with some strain, managed to pick it up and raise it above his head. "Oooargh!" He threw the boulder some metres away, where it cracked. "See that!" he boasted. "I'm tough! Aren't I tough?!"

Kaida and Nila nodded rapidly in agreement. What a lunatic…

Then the man let out a grunt of pain and put a hand on his lower back. His face screwed up and he stooped over. Reverting to a wheezing, pained voice, he said, "That may have been a mistake." He promptly fell back over.

Now more wary of the man after his boulder throwing theatrics, Kaida and Nila located a branch and they poked the man with it when he failed to move. This seemed to incite him again as he was back on his feet in a second, roaring and drumming his chest. They jumped backwards in shock but he soon let out another groan of pain and slumped over.

"Er, can go get you some help?" Kaida offered.

"No, no," the man said dismissively. "I just need to get to the gym."

In the end they helped the man by letting him lean his considerable weight on Sandslash. They walked slowly with him as he staggered back to the distant Cianwood gym. When they neared the gym, a woman in a yellow dress emerged from the gym. Her hair was tied up by an orange band and she put her hands on her hips.

"Hurt yourself training again?" she said. "I told you, your old age is catching up to you!" She jabbed him in the stomach and he doubled over. "Look at that flab!"

"Miho, always insulting," the man gasped. He straightened up again. "This is my wife."

"Thanks for getting him home," the woman said, smiling at them.

"Home?" Kaida repeated.

"Yes," Miho said, nodding. "Didn't this oaf tell you? He's Chuck, the gym leader of Cianwood!"

This man was gym leader? Kaida and Nila looked at him in disbelief. He was crazy!

Miho laughed at their surprise. "I'm shocked too! He's got so chubby recently that no one thinks he can be Johto's famous fighting champion!" She pointed to a sign on the front of the gym which read: his roaring fists do the talking. She laughed at it. "His big belly does the talking, more like!" She shook her head. "Anyway, I'm serving lunch now. You want any?"

Kaida and Nila glanced at each other and then accepted. They were fairly hungry. They were led into the gym, which was set out like a dojo, with fighting halls and equipment everywhere. Some students were wearing white robes and were practising karate chops but, when they saw Miho and Chuck, they all stopped and clamoured around Miho, eager for their lunch. Miho led them all to a room with a low, wooden table, and they sat on cushions as she brought out bowls of steaming rice and various curries to go on top. It looked so delicious that even Nila, eternally picky, looked interested.

It took a long time to finish lunch because Miho insisted they finish off the last scraps. It was little wonder that Chuck had put on weight if he was getting fed like this every meal, Kaida thought, patting her bloated belly. She was only small! She couldn't possibly eat like that all the time! Nila was starting to look a bit green but she resolutely finished off her bowl. It was when they had finished lunch that there was a chime on the bell at the front of the gym. Miho went to investigate and soon brought back the familiar faces of Reid and John.

"Ooh, food," Reid said, perking up.

"It's all gone now, slow coaches," Miho said.

Reid's face fell dramatically.

"You should have been quicker," Miho chastised. "But it's OK! You can stick around for dinner instead!"

Reid still looked disappointed that he had missed the meal – it all smelt wonderful – but he looked a little happier at the prospect of dinner.

"Now you need to work it off!" Miho said, waving them away from the table. "But go easy straight away! I don't want anyone being sick!"

The young students all thanked her furiously before running off, their feet pattering along the hallways.

"So what are you doing up here?" Miho said, kicking her husband in the side so he got up to help her with the dishes.

"We wanted to challenge Chuck," Kaida informed her.

"You do?!" Chuck said, looking highly enthused. "Well I'll warn you! My Pokémon can crush stones and shatter bones! Come on, let's go!"

But Miho grabbed his ear and dragged him back.

"Not until you help me clean these up, chubby," she said. "I made you all this food so you can help put it away!"

"OK, OK!" Chuck said.

It was quite amusing to watch such a small woman boss around her giant, hulking husband. They all grinned as she swiped him around the head when he almost dropped a plate, which only caused him to fumble some more, but fortunately he kept his hold on the crockery. Miho directed them to the main gym and told them to wait there until Chuck had finished helping her.

"I can't believe you ate all the food," Reid said miserably, patting his stomach.

John whipped out some snacks from his enormous bag and handed them to Reid. Reid ate them but still looked unhappy. He much preferred a good hot meal.

But Kaida and Nila had little sympathy and Kaida said, "If you hadn't been so stubborn about the map then maybe you would have been here on time."

"The map did work!" John insisted, defending his guidebook as always. "We got here in the end!"

Kaida and Nila exchanged an exasperated look.

Chuck soon bounded into the room, pumping his arms furiously. He skidded to a halt in front of them and roared, "Urggh! Come on! We shall do battle! Who first?"

"First?" Kaida said, a little confused.

Nila stepped up to the designated white lines on the floor.

"I'll battle one on one with both of you!" Chuck declared. "Ooargh! Come on! Bring it!" He grabbed a Pokéball that dangled from his waist. "I choose you, Primeape!"

"Go, Sandslash!" Nila said, ordering forward her Pokémon. "Sandslash, use Sand Tomb!"

Sandslash slashed out its arms and stand poured out, whipping into a whirlpool. "Slash!"

Primeape used physical attacks, Nila had realised, so if she could impair its movement then it would be helpless. The sand and rock swirled from Sandslash to Primeape, trapping it. Nila ordered Sandslash to use Swift, hoping to hit it while it was trapped, but then Primeape came bursting out, landing a solid blow on Sandslash before it could fire its star shaped attack. Sandslash went flying backwards and landed heavily on the ground.

"Ahahaha!" Chuck roared. "My Primeape is tough! It can break free from anything!"

Nila bit her lip as she looked at Sandslash, who had got back to its feet only to face another blow from Primeape, who was using a rapid Fury Swipes attack to hit Sandslash ceaselessly. Sandslash tried to hit back with its sharp claws but it was difficult to land a blow with Primeape's constant barrage of attacks. Finally Primeape stopped and Sandslash used Slash in retaliation, causing a roar of pain to erupt from the larger Pokémon.

"Karate Chop!" Chuck boomed.

Sandslash dodged the attack in the nick of time and Primeape punched the floor with massive force, causing the room to shake. It then whirled on Sandslash again with Fury Swipes and Sandslash evaded the first few strikes, ducking and dodging at awesome speed, but then Primeape launched another Karate Chop and this time it struck true. Sandslash thudded to the floor and Primeape punched his fists victoriously into the air.

But it wasn't over yet. Sandslash staggered up and hit the celebrating Primeape with a powerful Swift attack, under Nila's instruction. Clearly going near Primeape was a terrible idea – its blows were fierce and had caused Sandslash enormous damage – but she did have one attack to hit it from afar. It didn't seem to be enough when Primeape shrugged off the attack and went charging towards Sandslash, ready to inflict more pain. Nila noted Sandslash was now right next to the wall and her eyes narrowed.

"Wait until the last minute, then dodge," she called out.

Sandslash stared Primeape down bravely and didn't chicken out. Chuck roared in delight as it dodged at the last second and Primeape went crashing into the wall.

"Your Pokémon has guts!" he shouted. "I like that! Now come on, Primeape, get back up and finish it!"

Primeape whirled around to face Sandslash's Slash attack again. Sandslash was rewarded with a roar of pain. Primeape looked furious, Nila thought, and Sandslash was amazingly brave to keep staring it in the face.

"Oh ho," Chuck cackled. "Come on, Primeape! Use Rage and keep on using it!"

Nila watched, in some horror, as Primeape erupted into a wild frenzy. Sandslash attempted to dodge it and retreat but this only made Primeape madder as it launched itself, fists flying furiously, at the smaller Pokémon. Sandslash's Slash attack seemed to mean nothing, glancing off Primeape ineffectually, as Primeape continued to use its Rage attack, roaring wildly and beating up Sandslash with everything it had. Sandslash had no chance, Nila thought, and it was rapidly on its way to fainting.

"That's enough!" she said sharply.

"Primeape! Off!" Chuck roared.

Primeape looked like it wasn't going to stop but Chuck roared at it again and it pulled away. Sandslash collapsed to the ground and Nila hurried towards her fainted Pokémon, checking it for injuries. When she was satisfied that it was going to be all right, she patted it on the head and returned it to its Pokéball. She nodded curtly at Chuck before leaving the white lined pitch.

"Who's up next?!" Chuck yelled with enthusiasm. "Come on, Kaida!"

Kaida, who had been watching with some trepidation as Sandslash had been thrashed by the Primeape, stepped up to the gym floor. Cyndaquil followed her but Kaida knew there was no way Cyndaquil could withstand that sort of battering. Chuck's Pokémon were amazingly strong and, while she thought Cyndaquil might be faster, she wasn't sure if she should change it. Her decision was sealed when Chuck sent out his next Pokémon. Poliwrath.

"Go, Gastly!"

Gastly burst from its Pokéball and instantly waggled its tongue. Poliwrath looked on with a serious expression on its round face. Then it disappeared.

"Oh ho," Chuck said. "Don't try that trick with me! I can sort out ghost Pokémon with no problems! Poliwrath, use Mind Reader!"

OK, Kaida thought, so it could find where Gastly was and direct its attacks there, but would it have any moves that would actually have an effect on Gastly? After all, fighting moves had no effect on the ghost type.

"Poliwrath, use Poison Jab!" Chuck ordered.

Well that was all right, Kaida thought, because Gastly had a high resistance to poison moves. However, when Poliwrath hit it, Gastly did seem to take a lot of damage. She blinked.

"Aha," Chuck said smugly. "Your Gastly may be quick but its defence is low! My Poliwrath is much more powerful! Come on Poliwrath, same combination!"

Gastly's speed wasn't its only attribute, however, and Kaida scowled at Chuck's arrogance. Shadow Punch would have little effect on a fighting type, but Gastly had plenty of other moves available.

"Use Confuse Ray!" she ordered.

The Confuse Ray hit but Poliwrath still landed its next attack.

"We have trained body and mind!" Chuck bellowed. "Ooargh! Come on Poliwrath! Shake it off!"

Poliwrath did miss its next attack but it shook off the confusion relatively quickly. Kaida frowned. It looked like she was going to have to try something else.

"Gastly, use Lick!"

Gastly zoomed in to use its attack but Poliwrath smacked it back with a Poison Jab. It always knew where Gastly was and this meant Gastly couldn't use its usual tricks. Kaida was hesitant to order Gastly to use Curse if it wouldn't be able to withstand Poliwrath's attacks. Still, she didn't think she had much other choice. She watched as the Curse shuddered through Poliwrath, but the Pokémon continued to attack relentlessly even as its health was sapped away. Gastly desperately tried to evade but the Mind Reader attack was making it impossible.

"Try another Lick!" she ordered. If Poliwrath was paralysed then Gastly would stand a chance. However, when Gastly finally landed a Lick attack, the paralysis effect failed to occur. Kaida cursed under her breath. What next?

Poliwrath was growing weaker by the minute, thanks to Curse, but so was Gastly because of Poliwrath's superior power. Another successful Poison Jab attack meant Gastly's health was depleted further. Poliwrath was weakening too but Gastly's health was lower and, finally, Poliwrath managed to finish it off. Kaida returned Gastly to its Pokéball. Great. Not only had she lost, but Nila had too, and this meant no medicine for Ampharos. What were they going to do now? She looked up to see Chuck celebrating with his Poliwrath. He slapped it enthusiastically on the back before returning it to its Pokéball.

"Why the long faces?!" Chuck demanded. He puffed out his chest. "There is no shame to be beaten by me."

"There would be less even shame if you weren't getting chubby," Miho said, walking up to him and pinching his sides. "Now, if the battling is over then I need some help in the kitchen."

She looked to Nila first, since she was nearest, but John, Reid, and Kaida were quick to disabuse her of any notion of Nila in the kitchen. Kaida had liked her tasty food and wanted it to remain edible.

"I'll help!" Reid said.

John nodded in agreement.

"Great," Milo said. "Double – no triple – portions for you boys! Come on!"

She led them off. Reid licked his lips at the thought of the delicious food and sped after her. John followed at a more leisurely pace, but he still looked enthused.

"No worries!" Chuck said to them. "You can get stronger and challenge me again! Of course, I'll be getting stronger too, no matter what Miho says!"

"It's not just that," Kaida told him.

They explained about the medicine man refusing to give them any secretpotion for Jasmine. Chuck looked troubled.

"This is a problem," he said, scratching his spiked brown hair. "I'd bring it to her but I can't leave at the moment!"

"Why's that?" Nila enquired.

"A secret mission!" Chuck said, his eyes alight with pride. "My family have had the honour of looking after Cianwood's sacred spot for generations! Since my brother is on holiday, though, I'm alone at the moment! I can't abandon the post! When he gets back then I'll be able to."

"When will that be?"

"A month! He's on holiday in Saffron City in Kanto! He was going to meet up with the fighting champion of Kanto and Johto, the Elite Four member, Bruce! Then they were going to see the Fighting Dojo leader Koichi!" Chuck pumped his fists in the air and looked like he couldn't imagine a greater honour. "I wanted to go but… I have responsibilities as gym leader! I can't be away for too long and he's already been gone five months!"

"But a month more," Kaida said miserably. "I don't think Ampharos can wait that long."

Cyndaquil nodded its head. Nila also looked annoyed, and this was also to do with the loss of her Flaaffy thanks to Reid. She did want it back at some point!

"I'll go speak to the medicine man tomorrow!" Chuck decided. "Meet me there at eleven o'clock sharp!" He frowned. "In fact, why don't you stay the night here? We have plenty of rooms and that means Miho can stuff you with breakfast too!" He patted Kaida. "You could do with some fattening up to grow tall and strong."

Kaida glared at him but he was oblivious, charging out of the room to seek his wife. Damn it! There was nothing wrong with being small! She directed her glare to Nila, who looked like she was about to laugh at Kaida's fury.

"Don't you dare," Kaida said to Nila.

Nila pulled a straight face. "Would I ever?"

"Yes," Kaida said, whirling around to leave. On second thought, she spun back and elbowed Nila in the stomach. Then she stormed out.