In Chapter 14, May and Brendan explore a mysterious cave by Dewford Town before challenging the local gym. What will they discover, I wonder?
Disclaimer: Unsurprisingly, I don't own Pokemon or any of its characters.
After arriving on the shores of Dewford Town, Brendan and May prepared to challenge their fourth gym, the fighting-type gym led by Brawly. The two challengers made their way to said gym until May noticed something useful.
"Hold on," the girl paused, checking her Pokedex. "There's an Abra in a cave near here. That would be great for the fighting-type gym here! Let's go catch it!"
"I think I can beat the gym well enough without it, but fine," replied Brendan with a sigh.
"Okay, lazy bum, want to bet on it?" she challenged.
"What, that I'll win faster than you will? You're on," he agreed. "I've got confidence in my party's strength as it is. Let's go." The two of them headed northwest into the nearby Granite Cave and turned on their flashlights. They searched around for the aforementioned Abra for a while before May finally spotted it.
"Look! There it is! Go, Shroomish! Weaken it with Mega Drain!" Her mushroom pokemon acted accordingly, but unfortunately, the Abra Teleported away after being attacked. "Dang it! Where did it go?" Again, Brendan and May searched for the tricky Psychic-type while venturing further into the cave.
"Is this what you're looking for?" asked an unfamiliar voice. May and Brendan turned to face a tall man with blue hair; he smiled at them, offering them a pokeball. Upon closer inspection, May gasped when she recognized the Abra that she looked everywhere to catch. "Go on, take him," offered the man.
"Thanks, mister," replied May, warily taking the captured Abra, "but who are you? What are you doing here?" she wondered.
"Good job maintaining caution with strangers," the man said, bowing and answering: "My name is Steven Stone. I'm the son of the president of the Devon Corporation, and I'm down here to explore some interesting artifacts and rocks. While I was researching, I noticed you two trainers wandering around. I figured you were trying to catch a specific pokemon, as I had once been in your shoes, and I know Abra are tough to capture, but it's easy enough for me. My father's company makes plenty of Quick Balls."
"Well, thanks for helping us out. Hope we didn't bother you too much," nodded Brendan.
"Don't mention it. Actually, I should probably head back to Rustboro; my father usually needs me around this time," he continued, checking his watch. "I should be thanking you two. I really lose track of time when I find new artifacts. Anyway, good luck on your journey, trainers," he grinned as he left the cave in a rush.
"Wonder what that was all about," Brendan said, looking around the cave room. "Oh." He motioned May to come see what he had found; it was cave art of a legendary clash between the ruler of the seas, Kyogre, and the creator of the lands, Groudon. In between the two legendaries was the protector of the skies, Rayquaza, depicted in an ancient art style, quelling the tension between Kyogre and Groudon. All three of the legendaries were decorated with a number of colorful minerals, indicating the artists' reverence for the powerful beings.
"Coooool!" May said in awe. "It's the legendary battle my dad told me about! Now I see what Steven was so interested in," she added. "The art's very pretty."
"I have a feeling he was more interested in the different ornamental stones used here," replied Brendan, "but I agree, this is pretty neat. And I don't think that battle should happen anytime soon as long as we stop those Magma and Aqua guys from trying to summon Groudon or Kyogre."
"Yeah, if I remember right, Groudon needs the Blue Orb and Kyogre needs the Red Orb," recalled May, "and you've already taken care of the Blue Orb, so at least nothing this disastrous should happen!"
"Right. We've just got to teach Team Aqua a lesson, for the most part. Anyways, let's head back out, too," suggested Brendan. After a few wild battles on the way back, the two trainers arrived back in Dewford Town relatively unscathed. They decided to heal up their parties at the Pokemon Center, and May fed her new Abra a few Rare Candies until it evolved into Kadabra and learned Psybeam, which was incredibly useful for sweeping the gym.
"Alright, don't forget our bet," May reminded Brendan before entering Brawly's gym. Of course, before either of them could face Brawly, they had to battle through the gym trainers in the way; being that both trainers were over-leveled, it was free experience points for their pokemon. May's Shroomish finally evolved into Breloom just by Headbutting the opposition a lot. After evolving Shroomish, May switched between her Swellow and Kadabra to quickly make work of the remaining trainers in the way. Brendan tried to keep up, but even despite the strength of his pokemon, the barrage of super-effective attacks that May applied proved to be too efficient to catch up with.
When it came time to face Gym Leader Brawly himself, May beat his team all the same; although Brawly's pokemon were slightly more experienced than those previously fought in the gym, they were all still fighting-types who ultimately fell before the myriad of Aerial Aces and Psybeams. To May's delight, she got to stand and wait for Brendan to get his Knuckle Badge with a smug grin.
"Yeah, yeah, you won," Brendan rolled his eyes when looking over to her. "I get it, you were right," he conceded. He then proceeded to challenge and beat Brawly with the power of his pokemon's neutrally effective moves. After the two of them were done in the Dewford Gym, they headed to the Pokemon Center to revitalize their formidable pokemon.
"Looks like it's my turn to order you," May asserted triumphantly, taking her healed pokemon back.
"Your wish is my command," bowed the boy in jest. "Whatever I can do, I'll try my best to do it." The pair exited the Pokemon Center and proceeded to walk back to Mr. Briney while May thought of a good reward.
"Oh! First, how about you trade me this Kadabra and trade-back, so that it's already an Alakazam?" May suggested.
"Sure thing, easy enough," Brendan replied. The trade (and trade-back) went smoothly, and May earned a powerful Alakazam only halfway through their journey. "Anything else?" the boy questioned.
"L-let's hold hands," May mumbled with a faint blush, to Brendan's surprise.
"O-oh, okay... Couldn't hurt, I guess," Brendan responded, reluctantly taking hold of his rival's hand and avoiding eye contact.
"Thanks," smiled the brunette. The two of them walked onward to Mr. Briney's boat; both secretly hoped that the walk would take longer as they made their way back.