CHAPTER 10

The Second Gym

Zora and Kale wandered into Azalea Town, and the rain seemed to stop, the rainclouds only pouring over Route 33, it seemed. They walked up between a pair of ledges and stopped as they saw two figures up ahead. A man stood facing a sketchy guy wearing a black uniform.

"Who are you?" the sketchy guy asked, almost as if repeating a question. "You don't know us? We are… Team Rocket!"

"Didn't you break up a while ago?" the man asked skeptically.

"…What?" the Team Rocket grunt said. "We broke up a while ago? Give me a break! We have not broken up! Actually we did once. But we have come back to pursue Giovanni's ambition. Enough talking. Shut up and just beat it!"

The Team Rocket grunt shoved the man away. The man looked intimidated at the grunt, turned and ran off into the town. The grunt walked over to the path leading to the Slowpoke Well. Zora hummed and shared glances with Kale.

"This seems sketchy," Zora said. "Let's check it out, Kale."

They walked over to the Rocket grunt.

"Hey, what's going on?" Zora asked innocently, pretending she didn't just witness the scene before.

"Nothing is going on," the grunt replied. "It's unsafe to go in there, so I'm standing guard to make sure people don't wander in. Am I not a good Samaritan?"

"Uh… okay," Zora said. She looked at Kale. "Uh, let's just move on, Kale."

They left the Rocket grunt behind and instead went into Azalea Town. They went for the Pokémon Center and healed up the team before checking in with the others in the PC.

"What is up with all these female Pokémon I'm getting?" Zora said. "I have seven females and only five males at the moment. Is this because I'm a girl? Or is it just a coincidence?"

Zora logged off the PC and left the Pokémon Center. She checked the money on her card.

"We have a lot of money from all those Trainer battles," she said. "Maybe we should get some more supplies before the Gym battle. Though we can wait with that until after we've beaten the Gym Trainers."

They moved on to the Gym, but found it blocked by another Team Rocket grunt. He wouldn't move, instead chatting about how tasty Slowpoke Tails were. Zora and Kale left him be, wondering what to do now. They walked around the town, hearing how people were talking about the missing Slowpoke. They went to the house where the Poké Ball Creator named Kurt lived.

"Apparently he can make Poké Balls out of Apricorns," Zora said. "We've got quite a few Apricorns. Maybe we should have him make some for us."

"Sounds neat," Kale said. "Let's go in."

When they got inside, however, it turned out the Slowpoke problem was much bigger than first anticipated.

"Do you know Team Rocket?" Kurt asked, after refusing to make balls for Zora. "Ah, don't worry. I'll tell you anyhow. Team Rocket's an evil gang that uses Pokémon for their dirty work."

Isn't that what most humans do anyway? Zora thought in her mind but not aloud. Trainers included?

"They're supposed to have disbanded three years ago," Kurt continued. "Anyway, they're at the well, cutting off Slowpoke Tails for sale! So I'm going to go give them a lesson in pain! Hang on, Slowpoke! Old Kurt is on his way!"

And suddenly Kurt stormed out of the house, leaving behind Zora, Kale, and his granddaughter.

"Grandpa's gone," she said. "I'm so lonely…"

"He just left," Zora said quietly. "Eh, don't worry, I'll bring him back."

Zora and Kale left the house and headed for the Slowpoke Well. The Rocket grunt standing guard was gone now, allowing Zora and Kale to descend into the well. Kurt was down next to the ladder. He turned as he noticed Zora's presence.

"Hey there, Zora," Kurt greeted. "The guard up top took off when I shouted at him. But then I took a tumble down the well. I slammed down hard on my back, so I can't move."

"Oh dang," Zora said.

"Rats!" Kurt swore. "If I were fit, my Pokémon would've punished them… Ah, it can't be helped. Zora, show them how gutsy you are in my place!"

"I will, old man Kurt," Zora said. "You can count on me, Kale and the rest of my team! Let's go, Kale!"

They moved on further into the cave, where there were stairs and water.

"Okay, we have a chance of encountering a wild Slowpoke here," Zora said. "Whether we'll catch it before or after we take care of those Rocket goons doesn't matter. We have plenty of Poké Balls, and we'll just use the same poison strategy like before."

"Okay, let's go!" Kale said impatiently. "I can't wait to fight those goons!"

They moved on and ran into a Team Rocket grunt. He immediately went over to them.

"Humph! I was standing guard up top when some old coot yelled at me," the grunt said. "He startled me so much that I fell down here. How about I vent my anger and take it out on you!"

The Team Rocket grunt pulled out a Poké Ball and sent out a Rattata.

"Kale, use Razor Leaf," Zora said without putting as much energy into her words as the grunt.

The Rattata used Quick Attack but didn't do much damage. Kale launched a Razor Leaf, but the Rattata managed to avoid the attack, surprising Kale and Zora. After another Razor Leaf though, the Rattata went down. The grunt sent out another Rattata which also went down with one Razor Leaf.

Beaten, the Rocket grunt looked flustered. "Sure, we've been hacking the tails off Slowpoke and selling them," he said. "Team Rocket will do anything for money!"

"Sure thing, pal," Zora said. "Good luck getting out of here on your own."

Zora and Kale left the Rocket grunt, who had no conscious Pokémon left to protect him, so he just stood still, hoping nothing would come out and attack him. Zora found a Super Potion on the ground and fought another Team Rocket grunt on the way down some stairs. She had a Zubat and an Ekans, so Zora sent out Omelet to take care of them both. They both went down with Extrasensory, though the Ekans managed to poison Omelet in the process. After the battle, Zora used her last Antidote to cure it.

They went down the stairs and faced against another Team Rocket grunt, who had a Rattata and two Zubat. Kale took care of the Rattata with Razor Leaf, while Bambi took out both Zubat by himself with Thundershock. After the battle, Bambi learned Thunder Wave.

Zora decided to put Bambi in the front for the next battle, as a Rocket Executive named Proton was up ahead, and also to get him some more experience. They walked up ahead to confront Proton.

"What do we have here?" Proton remarked upon Zora's approach. "I am often labeled as the scariest and cruelest guy in Team Rocket…"

"I don't care," Zora said. "Stop what you're doing and get out of here!"

"I strongly urge you not to interfere with our business!" Proton said and sent out a Zubat, just as Zora had anticipated.

"Alright, Bambi, use Thundershock," Zora ordered.

Bambi did as told and took out the Zubat in one hit. Executive Proton sent out a Koffing, which urged Zora to send out Omelet to take out with Extrasensory. It didn't get completely knocked out, however, but it did make the Koffing flinch and refused to attack. Omelet went for another Extrasensory and knocked out the Koffing. Afterwards Omelet wanted to learn Yawn, and Zora decided to have Growl replaced. Executive Proton was defeated, and he gave Zora some prize money.

"Humph…" Proton grumbled after handing over his money. "Team Rocket was indeed broken up three years ago. But we continued our activities underground. A small obstacle like you won't be much of a problem for our mission. I advise you to be very afraid of what is to come!"

And with that, all the Team Rocket members ran off, scooting out of the Slowpoke Well together. Zora went over to one of the Slowpoke which had their tails cut off to check if it was okay. Kurt arrived shortly after, his back apparently having gotten better.

"Way to go, Zora!" Kurt said cheerfully. "Team Rocket has taken off. My back's better, too. Let's get out of here."

They went out of the well together and returned to Kurt's house, assuring his granddaughter that Kurt was okay.

"Hi, Zora!" Kurt said, as if greeting her. "You handled yourself like a real hero. As I mentioned before, Team Rocket was disbanded by a boy called Red three years ago."

"I know," Zora said with a smile. "I've seen, heard and read all about Red."

"Now that they have come back…" Kurt continued. "I have a bad feeling about it… In any case, it would please me greatly to make Poké Balls for a Trainer like you, Zora. This is all I have now, but take it."

Kurt handed over a Fast Ball to Zora, who accepted it and put it away with the other Poké Balls. And then she took out some Apricorns, which surprised Kurt.

"You have Apricorns for me?" he said. "Fine! I'll turn them into Poké Balls. Which ones do you want me to make?"

Zora looked at the various Apricorns she had plucked on her journey so far. "The five black ones, please," she said.

Kurt nodded and accepted the five black Apricorns. "It'll take a day to make you a Poké Ball. Come back for it later."

"Okay," Zora replied. "I'll come back tomorrow then."

Kurt immediately started on the Poké Ball creation, but before Zora could leave, his granddaughter came over.

"That's right!" she said. "I'll give you my grandpa's number!"

"Oh, sure," Zora said, to Bambi's surprise. "That would be helpful, to know when they're done."

Zora brought out her Pokégear and exchanged numbers with Kurt's own Pokégear. His granddaughter smiled.

"My grandpa can tell you more about Apricorns," she said.

"No, that's okay," Zora said. "I'll just find out when he's made them. Well, I'll be going now. See you later!"

After Zora and Bambi had left Kurt's house, she sent out Kale again. They returned to the Pokémon Center and healed up. Now the Slowpoke had returned to Azalea Town, looking more lively with the pink lizard creatures around.

"Alright, now that Team Rocket is gone from the well and the Slowpoke have returned," Zora said as they walked out of the Pokémon Center, "we can now catch a Slowpoke in the well. We still have plenty of Poké Balls to spare, so it shouldn't be a problem. Let's go!"

They returned to the Slowpoke Well and went into it. Before entering the cave though, Zora decided to have Omelet out instead, since he now knew Yawn. They ran around until they encountered a Zubat and ran away from it. They ran into another eighteen Zubat and ran away from them, before finally running into a Slowpoke.

"Finally!" Zora uttered. "Okay, Omelet, use Yawn to make it fall asleep!"

Omelet let out a big Yawn, making the Slowpoke yawn as well. Afterwards it growled a bit at Omelet, and Omelet simply used Charm, making the Slowpoke flustered and missed its attack. Afterwards, it fell asleep.

"Perfect, I'll try to catch it now," Zora said and threw a Poké Ball.

The ball shook once… twice… thrice… and clicked. The Slowpoke was captured. Zora cheered and picked up the Poké Ball.

"Good job, Omelet!" Zora praised. "And for once it's a male! Let's see… I'll call him… Goofy."

Goofy's Poké Ball materialized itself out of the cave and back to the PC in the Pokémon Center. Zora and Omelet both left the Slowpoke Well and scooted back to the Pokémon Center to check out their new catch.

"Let's see… Naive nature, could have been better. Own Tempo for ability, that's good. We might be able to use Goofy at some point, if nothing else then for headbutting trees. For now though, we'll train up the team we have now and get ready for the Gym Leader, Bugsy."

Zora logged off the computer and got her team out of their Poké Balls in the lounge to make a plan.

"Okay, we'll enter the Gym in a moment and beat the Gym Trainers there," Zora said. "There are four of them, one with a Weedle and a Caterpie, one with a Weedle, Kakuna and Beedrill, one with a Paras, and, it seems, a pair of twins with a Spinarak and a Ledyba."

"Quite a handful," Crisper commented. "What's your plan here?"

"We'll have Crisper and Omelet take them out," Zora explained. "Omelet will take out the Poison-type bugs, and Crisper will take care of the others. For the twins, it's going to be a double battle, so we'll have Omelet and Bambi out to take them out with Extrasensory and Thundershock. Once the Trainers are out, we'll go to Route 33 and train up the team until every one of you are level seventeen. Bugsy's Scyther is that level, and I think it's better to be on par with him than lower leveled."

"Sounds reasonable," Fly Boy commented. "Also, congrats on evolving, Kale, never got to say that!"

"Thanks," Kale said. "I wish you guys luck in the Gym battle. I'm weak to Bug, so I can't go."

"That's right," Zora said. "Only Crisper, Fly Boy and Dingbat will participate in the battle against Bugsy. Maybe Omelet to take out his Kakuna. For now, at least, we should go take out the Trainers and then train ourselves. Let's go."

"Yeah!"

They went to the Gym, Zora having Crisper out since all the opponents had Bug-type Pokémon, which were weak to Rock, and started the puzzle, which was riding some spider transports across a wooden 'web'. The middle spider took them to the first Gym Trainer, who had the Caterpie and Weedle. Crisper took out the Caterpie with a Rock Throw.

Afterwards the Trainer sent out his Weedle, so Zora sent out Omelet to take it out with Extrasensory. The first Gym Trainer was beaten, and they moved on. They took the spider on the left and went the right direction. They fought the second Gym Trainer, who had the Weedle, Kakuna and Beedrill. Zora opened with Omelet instead of Crisper to take out the three Poison-type Pokémon with Extrasensory. The Beedrill had to be taken out with two times Extrasensory, but its Fury Attack didn't do much damage to him.

Zora returned Omelet to his Poké Ball and got Crisper back out. She pulled a blue lever which caused one of the 'web' lines made of wood, a blue one, to sink below, so the spider transport couldn't cross it. Zora went onto the spider, and it proceeded to take them to the next Gym Trainer, who only had a Paras. Crisper took it out with a single Rock Throw.

The team returned to the second level, and Zora pulled the blue lever again, so the blue line was raised again, and the spider could traverse it. She went onto the spider again, and it took them to the twins, the last pair of Gym Trainers before Bugsy.

The twins sent out Ledyba and Spinarak, and Zora sent out Crisper and Omelet. However, Omelet was a bit injured, and Zora knew the Ledyba had Comet Punch. Unsure if Omelet could take five hits in a row, Zora decided to call him back and instead sent out Bambi.

The Ledyba used Supersonic on Crisper, and she ended up throwing a rock in her own face somehow. The Spinarak threw a Poison Sting at Bambi, but it didn't poison nor do much damage. Bambi used Thundershock against the Ledyba but didn't knock it out. Crisper broke out of the confusion and used Rock Throw on the Spinarak, knocking it out.

The Ledyba missing a Comet Punch, it was struck by Bambi's second Thundershock and was knocked out. The twins were beat, and there were no other Gym Trainers left in the Gym. Now there was only Leader Bugsy left.

"Here's where we get out," Zora said and took the spider back to the second level, then the first spider back to the entrance. They left the Gym and returned to the Pokémon Center to heal up the team before going to Route 33 to train up.

Kale was the first to get trained to level seventeen, beating three Ekans and two Zubat, as darkness had fallen. Afterwards, Omelet went out training, taking out one Rattata, two Ekans and one Zubat before reaching level seventeen as well. Afterwards, Crisper was trained until she had defeated six Rattata, two Ekans and six Zubat. It was very late though, so after the first three team members had been trained up, Zora decided to return to the Pokémon Center in Azalea Town so they could rest for the night.

The next morning, they continued the training in the still rainy Route 33, first training Fly Boy, who defeated nine Hoppip, seven Ekans, seven Spearow and seven Rattata before reaching level seventeen and Zora refusing him to learn Whirlwind. Afterwards, Dingbat beat seventeen Hoppip, thirteen Ekans, thirteen Spearow and two Rattata before finally learning Wing Attack, while forgetting Leech Life. Now there was only Bambi left to train up.

Bambi battled a Spearow and an Ekans before reaching the next level. By then, he started glowing, indicating he was evolving. Zora gasped in awe and joy.

Bambi turned white and started growing, until he was about a third larger than before, and his wool decreased in mass. As the transformation finished, Bambi regained colors and had evolved into a Flaaffy!

Zora squealed with delight and picked up Bambi. "My big boy!" she shrieked and hugged him tightly. "You're growing up so fast, it's hard to believe you only hatched four days ago!"

Bambi giggled at the hug. "I feel much stronger too!" Bambi said. "Let's train more!"

After evolving, Bambi took out another two Spearow, six Ekans, seven Hoppip and four Rattata before he was on par with the rest of the team. With two evolved Pokémon, a Geodude with Rock Throw, a Togepi with Extrasensory and a Zubat with Wing Attack, they were ready to take on Bugsy's team.

Before going to the Gym, however, Zora decided to stop by the Poké Mart and stock up on supplies. She bought five Super Potions, five Antidotes, two Awakenings, four Parlyz Heals and four Burn Heals. Now she was broke again, but they also had plenty of supplies to manage themselves against Bugsy and, hopefully, the next part of the journey afterwards.

Zora returned to the Pokémon Center and healed up the team, then brought everyone out in the lounge to talk strategy.

"Firstly, I forgot to give you this, Kale," Zora said and gave the Bayleef the Miracle Seed they had been given the previous day. "To boost the power of your Grass-type moves."

"Oh, thanks," Kale said and put the seed between the bulbs making out his collar.

"Now, as for the battle against Bugsy," Zora said, turning her attention to all her Pokémon, "I believe the safest thing for us to do is to have Crisper out to take care of the Scyther, since she has high defense and Scyther doesn't know any moves that are strong against Rock or Ground. Now, Scyther has Quick Attack and U-Turn, the second being a Bug-type move. Unfortunately Crisper doesn't resist Bug, but with your massive defense, you should be able to take it, should the Scyther land a hit."

"Okay," Crisper said. "And I just throw rocks at it, right?"

"Yes," Zora replied. "Bugsy will open with Scyther, so Crisper should start being out front. Once the Scyther has been taken down, Dingbat can take out his Kakuna and Metapod, as they only have Poison Sting and Tackle to attack."

"Got it," Dingbat said. "Leave those worm-bags to me!"

"Now, we have ten Super Potions and three normal Potions to spare," Zora explained. "And five Antidotes, as well as a single Hyper Potion, so we should be okay. As long as Crisper can tank a U-Turn with little problem and take out the Scyther with Rock Throw, maybe assisted by Bambi's Thundershock or Dingbat's Wing Attack, everything else will be no big deal. The only danger here is that Scyther has high physical attack, which means it can deal a lot of damage with U-Turn, getting bonus damage for the move being the same type as Scyther itself, and the move itself being pretty strong as well."

"Doesn't Dingbat resist Bug with being both a Flying-type and a Poison-type?" Bambi asked.

"Technically yes, but Zubat have pretty low defense, and Scyther is also pretty fast," Zora explained. "Maybe even faster than Dingbat is right now. Even if he quad-resists Bug, I don't want to risk him getting killed."

"But isn't it also risky for Crisper, since she doesn't resist Bug at all?" Fly Boy asked skeptically. "Even if she has high defense?"

"Maybe," Zora said. "But Scyther is very weak to Rock, so Crisper is our best bet at taking it down anyway. The Gyms are going to get tougher from now on, and we can't always have the best moves against them at the same time with resisting all their own attacks. We will have to take some risks, because we have no other choice."

The Pokémon looked around at each other before humming and nodding in understanding. Zora rose from the couch. "Well, if everyone understands their role, let's go to the Gym."

Putting everyone back in their Poké Balls except for Crisper, Zora left the Pokémon Center and went to the Gym. Having defeated all the Gym Trainers the previous day, there was only Bugsy to take care of, so she and Crisper went onto the spider transports, pulled the levers and continued riding the spiders until they arrived on Bugsy's island at the end of the Gym.

Zora gulped and looked down at Crisper as they stepped off the spider transport. "Ready?" she asked.

"Ready," Crisper replied, punching her fists together. "Let's wreck 'em."

Zora took a deep breath and exhaled, then stepped forward to face Bugsy. Bugsy smiled at the arrival of the Trainer.

"I'm Bugsy," Bugsy greeted. "I never lose when it comes to Bug-type Pokémon. My research is going to make me the authority on Bug-type Pokémon!"

Bugsy pulled out a Poké Ball from his ball belt.

"Let me demonstrate what I've learned from my studies."

Bugsy threw his Poké Ball, and Scyther was sent out. Zora gulped.

"Crisper, get 'em!" Zora said. "Use Rock Throw!"

Scyther leered at Crisper, but that did not deter Crisper. She threw a large rock right in the Scyther's face, knocking it out in one hit. Zora threw her arms in the air.

"Yes! Great job, Crisper!" Zora cheered.

"Hey, can I learn Selfdestruct?" Crisper asked as she leveled up.

"NO!" Zora immediately shouted. "You are absolutely NOT learning Selfdestruct! Do you even know what we're doing here?!"

Crisper held up her hands in surprise over Zora's reaction. "Okay, okay, sorry!" Crisper replied. "Just wanted to know…"

Zora sighed. Bugsy seemed a bit stumped by the scene, but he quickly got his act together.

"So you took out my ace," Bugsy said. "That doesn't mean you've won yet. I still have two Pokémon left. Go, Metapod!"

At the same time with Bugsy sending out his Metapod, Zora called Crisper back, instead sending out Dingbat as planned.

"The Scyther's down, the rest of the show is yours, Dingbat!" Zora said with a smile and crossed arms. "Sic 'em with Wing Attack!"

Dingbat used Wing Attack against the Metapod, but it wasn't completely knocked out yet. It used Tackle, barely doing anything to Dingbat. Bugsy healed up his Metapod with a Super Potion, but Dingbat quickly launched another Wing Attack to put it down to low health again. With another Wing Attack, the Metapod went down.

"Even though it's my last Pokémon, Bug Pokémon are tough!" Bugsy said and threw his last Poké Ball. "Kakuna, go!"

"Use Wing Attack!" Zora ordered.

Dingbat brought the Kakuna down almost to unconsciousness.

"Hang in there," Bugsy said. "Just a little more!"

"Yeah, a little more until you lose!" Zora said. "Finish him!"

Dingbat threw one last Wing Attack, and the Kakuna was brought down. Bugsy had lost, Zora had won.

"Good job, Dingbat!" Zora praised. "You too, Crisper. We couldn't have done this without you."

Dingbat and Crisper both cheered over their victory. Bugsy called his defeated Pokémon back and smiled at Zora.

"Whoa, amazing!" he commented. "You're an expert on Pokémon! My research isn't complete yet. Okay, you win. Take this Badge."

Bugsy handed over the Hive Badge to Zora, who eagerly put it beside the Zephyr Badge in her badge case.

"Do you know the benefits of the Hive Badge?" Bugsy asked. "If you have it, Pokémon up to level thirty will obey you, even traded ones. Pokémon that know Cut will be able to use it outside of battle, too. Here, I also want you to have this."

Bugsy handed over a TM to Zora, labeled TM89. She put it away in her TM pocket.

"TM89 contains U-Turn," Bugsy explained. "It lets your Pokémon attack, then switch with the next Pokémon in your party. Isn't that great?"

"It is," Zora said with a smile. "Thanks for the battle."

Bugsy smiled back. "Bug-type Pokémon are deep," he said. "There are many mysteries to explore. Study your top choices thoroughly."

"I will," Zora replied. "Goodbye, Bugsy. Let's go, Crisper, Dingbat!"