CHAPTER 13

The Third Gym

After putting the others in their Poké Balls, Zora and Kale left the Pokémon Center together and headed to the Gym. This time Zora managed to pass by the Game Corner and actually get to the Gym entrance. When they arrived, however, a lady stood in front of the doors, blocking their way in.

"Uh, excuse me?" Zora said. "Can I pass?"

"Sorry, the Gym is currently closed," the lady replied. "The Gym Leader, Whitney, went flying by saying, "I have got to get a Radio Card!" So if I were you, I would check the Radio Tower to the west. Maybe if she sees you, she will remember that she runs a Gym and come back."

Zora sighed. "Fine, I'll do that," she said.

And so Zora and Kale turned around and went back to the first fork after walking under the bridge. They turned west, past the train station, and went for the black building next to it.

"This must be the Radio Tower," Zora said, then stopped. "Wait, isn't that a Team Rocket grunt standing over there?"

By the sign at the entrance, a person dressed in black with a black hat and a big red R on his shirt stood and stared at the Radio Tower. Zora decided to walk over to him, hearing he was talking to himself.

"So this is the Radio Tower…" the grunt muttered to himself. He noticed Zora was looking at him and turned to her, snarling. "What do you want, you pest? Scram!"

The grunt turned back to stare at the tower, and Zora shrugged. He wasn't actually doing anything wrong, so she couldn't make a scene at the moment. Instead, she and Kale went inside the Radio Tower.

As soon as they stepped inside, they were welcomed by the receptionist lady closest to the door. The next receptionist lady was in charge of the lottery, so Zora decided to draw a lottery ticket. It was a dud, and they moved on to the third receptionist lady, who ran a quiz.

"We have a special Quiz campaign!" the receptionist said. "Answer five questions correctly in a row to win a Radio Card! When you load it into the Pokégear, you will be able to listen to the radio… anytime, anywhere! Would you like to try our Quiz?"

"Sure," Zora said, eyeing a girl with pink hair scribbling something down on a sheet of paper, probably also taking the quiz. "I'll try it out."

The receptionist lady smiled and handed Zora a piece of paper, which she began scribbling down on. After she was finished, she handed over the paper for the lady to inspect. She read aloud:

"The first question! Can you check the Town Map with your Pokégear?"

"Yes," had Zora written down.

"You are correct. The second question! Nidorina can only be female. True?"

"Yes."

"You are correct. The third question! Kurt, the Poké Ball creator, uses apricots as ingredients?"

"No."

"You are correct again. The fourth question! It's impossible to use a TM on Magikarp. True?"

"Yes."

"Wow! I have only one more question to go. In Professor Oak's popular show, Pokémon Talk, is he on with Marie?"

"No," said the final answer.

The receptionist lady stared long at the answer. Then she smiled. "Bingo! You got it! Congratulations!"

Zora sighed of relief. That last one was really a guess, she thought to herself.

"Here's your prize, a Radio Card!" the receptionist lady said and handed over a Radio Card to Zora.

Zora installed the radio function onto her Pokégear, and then put the card away. The girl with pink hair bounced excitedly from her spot and sprinted over to Zora around the corner of the table.

"Wow, you did it!" the girl exclaimed. "I thought the answer to the third question was surely apricots!"

"I almost chose that answer myself," Zora said with a smile. "I'm Zora."

Instead of answering her, the girl simply looked at her wristwatch and cringed. "Oops! It's time to go back to the Gym!"

With that, the girl wandered off out of the tower. Zora and Kale stared after her.

"Back to the Gym?" Kale repeated. "Then she must be…"

"Whitney, the Gym Leader of Goldenrod City," Zora ended for him. "She looks pretty young for a Gym Leader. Maybe she's just starting out?"

Kale looked confused at Zora as they left the Radio Tower as well, passing the Rocket grunt from before. "I thought you had researched her and her Pokémon."

"I have, but I haven't seen what she actually looks like before," Zora admitted. "I haven't seen most of the Gym Leaders before on actual images… or maybe I have but I've forgotten them?"

Zora giggled nervously and scratched the back of her head, while Kale seemed about to fall over by the response. They decided to let it be and just go to the Gym.

When they arrived, the lady from before had left, and now the Gym was open and accessible. They went inside… and were met by walls and floors of pink and sky blue, as if the entire Gym was a big nursery or kindergarten.

"Well, we're only going to be here for a little bit," Zora said as she looked at the soft colors. "Alright, I think I will have Crisper out first to take out the first Gym Trainer. Once we're done with them, we'll train up until you all are level nineteen. After that, we'll take on Whitney."

"Sounds like a plan," Kale said. "I'll see you later, then."

Zora nodded and returned Kale into his Poké Ball, instead sending out Crisper, who began following after Zora, one hand in front of the other. They went up the stairs and went north to face the first Gym Trainer. She had three Sentret, two of which Crisper handled with Rock Smash before rising in level.

As Trainer Victoria sent out her third and last Sentret, Zora decided to send in Fly Boy to get some experience, as Crisper was now ready for Whitney. The Sentret used Quick Attack but didn't do much damage. Fly Boy used Gust and did about the same amount of damage. Then Fly Boy used Quick Attack and did more damage than before, followed by him getting hit by another Quick Attack. His next Quick Attack landed a critical hit and took out the Sentret.

With the first Gym Trainer beat, Zora decided to return Crisper to her Poké Ball and bring out Omelet instead to walk with her. They walked around the ledge and went down the next stairs, going around a corner, under an arch, and faced the next Gym Trainer.

This Trainer had two Meowth, the first of which scratched and bit Omelet. Omelet took it out with two Extransensories. But he had gotten a bit bruised, so Zora decided to send in Bambi for more experience and to take out the second Meowth. Now Bambi got to test out his Thunderbolt for the first time.

After the Meowth scratched Bambi and got paralyzed by Static, Bambi launched a Thunderbolt, and the Meowth was taken out in a single hit. Bambi gasped.

"It's so powerful!" Bambi exclaimed. "Thank you for teaching it to me, Zora!"

Zora smiled widely. "It went well," she said. "Though the Meowth was faster than you and landed its attack first. That could be a problem in the future. We need to train up your speed more."

Bambi's smile seemed to fade a bit, but then he shook his head and put it back on. Zora decided to call both Bambi and Omelet back, instead sending out Kale to take care of the next Gym Trainer. They went past the stairs from before, went around another corner, went through another arch and faced the third Trainer.

This Trainer only had a Snubbull, but it intimidated Kale as they faced each other. Kale's Razor Leaf didn't do much damage, and the Snubbull made a Scary Face, making Kale uncomfortable and slower.

"Use PoisonPowder," Zora ordered. "So it at least takes some damage occasionally."

Kale missed his PoisonPowder, and the Snubbull responded by licking him, creeping him out. It licked him again, and this time Kale got paralyzed. Nonetheless, he managed to land his next PoisonPowder and poisoned the Snubbull. The Snubbull licked and bit Kale again, but Kale managed to take it out with another two Razor Leaves and damage from poison. The Gym Trainer was beat, and they moved on.

Zora decided to switch out Kale with Dingbat, the only one who hadn't been battling in the Gym so far, and to give Kale a little rest. They went forth and faced the last Gym Trainer, who had three Jigglypuff.

Dingbat used a strong Wing Attack on the first Jigglypuff, but it immediately put him to sleep with Sing. Zora sighed in annoyance and used an Awakening on him. Right in that moment, the Jigglypuff disabled Dingbat's Wing Attack, making Zora sigh again.

"Use Bite!" Zora ordered.

Dingbat bit the Jigglypuff and knocked it out. He stayed in battle as the second Jigglypuff came out. He missed a Supersonic and got pounded, but the next Supersonic hit and confused the Jigglypuff. To Zora's satisfaction, it punched itself in the face, allowing Dingbat to land another two Bites and take it out.

As the last Jigglypuff came out, Dingbat missed another Supersonic, but landed the second one again as the Jigglypuff only used Defense Curl. Getting confused, the Jigglypuff hurt itself, and Dingbat bit it to do more damage. With another punch in its own face and two more Bites from Dingbat, the Jigglypuff was defeated, and the last Gym Trainer had been beat. Now there was only Whitney left.

They ran out of the Gym and all the way back to the Pokémon Center. They healed up and left again.

Instead of returning to the Gym right away, however, they instead returned to Route 34 to train up the team. Zora started training Dingbat, and after defeating two Drowzee and a Rattata, Dingbat was ready for the Gym.

Afterwards, Zora trained up Omelet, having him defeat two Drowzee and two Rattata before also being ready, although Bambi helped with the last Drowzee as Omelet's only damaging move was Extrasensory.

After that, Bambi got trained and took out another six Drowzee and a Rattata before being strong enough. After that it was Kale's turn. He beat three Drowzee and four Rattata when he was done training.

Finally it was Fly Boy's turn to train. After defeating three Drowzee, he evolved into Pidgeotto, and after beating another four Drowzee, a Rattata, and a Ditto, he too was ready for the Gym.

Now that the whole team was trained and on par with each other, Zora led them back to Goldenrod City, healed up at the Pokémon Center, brought Crisper out in the front, and returned to the Gym.

They went through the maze until they arrived at Whitney's spot, where she stood waiting for them. She smiled at their arrival.

"Hi! I'm Whitney!" she greeted, then gasped as she got a better look at Zora. "…You! I saw you at the Radio Tower just now."

"…That was a while ago now," Zora said quietly.

"Everyone was into Pokémon, so I got into it, too!" Whitney continued. "Pokémon are super cute! You want to battle? I'm warning you – I'm good!"

Whitney took out a Poké Ball and threw it, sending out her Clefairy. Zora gulped, nervous about this opponent.

If it uses Metronome, it could use anything from a useless Water Sport to a deadly Horn Drill or Hydro Pump, she thought anxiously. Please, luck be with me!

"Crisper, use Magnitude!" Zora ordered.

"Use Metronome!" Whitney ordered.

The Clefairy wagged its finger… and used Slack Off, which missed. Zora sighed of relief. Crisper managed to land a Magnitude 9, almost knocking the Clefairy out, but not entirely.

"Another Magnitude, Crisper!" Zora ordered. "Take it out!"

But before Crisper landed her Magnitude 7, Whitney whipped out a Super Potion and immediately healed up her Clefairy to full health. Magnitude only brought it back down to half health. Zora took a deep breath.

"One more Magnitude should do it," Zora said.

"Use Metronome!" Whitney said.

Zora held her breath. Clefairy wagged its finger… and used Vine Whip.

"No, no, no," Zora said, feeling adrenaline pumping through her body.

The Vine Whip hit… but barely did any damage to Crisper. Zora exhaled in relief, not even getting to see what power Crisper's last Magnitude was before the Clefairy was taken out.

"H-hey, just one left?" Whitney said in disbelief as she called back her Clefairy. "But… I ain't losing, you hear?"

Whitney sent out her Miltank, her ace. But Zora was not worried anymore. The real danger had been taken care of, and now Crisper merely had to take Miltank's Stomp and Rollout while she repeatedly used Rock Smash on it.

Except Stomp did a little more damage than Zora would have liked, so Zora decided to heal up Crisper before Miltank used another Stomp. Despite getting stomped to half her remaining health, Crisper managed to use another three Rock Smashes to finally take out Whitney's Miltank and grow to level twenty. Zora sighed of relief. Whitney had been beaten, and…

"Waaaaah!" Whitney cried out, surprising Zora and Crisper. "Waaaaah! …Snivel, hic… You meanie!"

With tears in her eyes and making a rather scary face, Zora and Crisper backed off to give her some space, but they were quickly stopped by one of the Gym Trainers.

"Oh no," she said. "You made Whitney cry. It's okay. She'll stop soon. She always cries when she loses."

The Gym Trainer returned to her spot, and Zora and Crisper shared a skeptical look before going back to Whitney to get the badge. She seemed to be about calm now.

"Sniff…" she sobbed. "What? What do you want?"

"Uh… a Badge?" Zora implied carefully.

"A Badge?" Whitney repeated confused for a moment. "Oh, right. I forgot. Here's the Plain Badge."

Whitney handed over the third Gym Badge to Zora, who accepted it and put it in the Badge case with the others.

"The Plain Badge lets your Pokémon use Strength outside of battle," Whitney explained, seemingly done with crying now, back to her happy self again. "Oh, you can have this, too!"

Whitney handed over a TM labeled TM45. "It's Attract!" Whitney explained excitedly. "It makes full use of a Pokémon's charm. Isn't it just perfect for a cutie like me?"

"Uh, sure," Zora replied.

"That's right!" Whitney said, apparently remembering something. "I heard that this thing called the Pokéathlon Dome is now open right next to the National Park. You should go try it, since you're so good at battling with your Pokémon!"

Zora hummed in thought. "Maybe I will," she said. "Thanks, Whitney, bye!"

Zora and Crisper left the Gym together and returned to the Pokémon Center immediately to heal up. After that was done, Zora brought out Kale again, and they went exploring the city.

"Well, that went well," Kale said with a smile.

"Yes, it did," Zora said. "I was very concerned about that Clefairy, but it seemed luck was on my side after all."

"So what are we doing now?"

"I think we should check out that flower shop next to the Gym. And maybe check out the Bike Shop as well. It would be nice to be able to go faster with a Bike."

"I suppose."

They went to the Flower Shop and talked to the flower girl running the business. She talked about an odd tree on Route 36, which they had seen for themselves, saying it would dance when it gets watered. She noticed Zora's new Plain Badge and gave her a SquirtBottle for free to keep. Afterwards they went down to the Bike Shop and talked to the man selling them. He seemed sad somehow.

"Sigh… I opened a branch here, but I can't sell my Bicycles," he said. "Why is that? Could you ride a Bicycle and advertise for me?"

Zora smiled. "A free Bicycle?" she implied. "I'm in. I'll advertise like no one has advertised before."

"Really? Great! Give me your name and phone number, and I'll loan you a Bicycle."

"Oh, loan," Zora said and smiled embarrassed. "Right, here."

Zora gave the Bicycle Man her phone number, and in return he gave her a foldable bike that could fit in her bag. As they got outside, she immediately unfolded the bike and got up on it.

"Finally!" she said. "Kale, get back in your ball and we'll go for a ride!"

"Okay," Kale said and returned to his Poké Ball.

Zora rushed through Goldenrod City on her new bike, passing by lots of people and advertising for the Bike Shop. After doing that for about ten minutes, she went back to the fork leading to the Gym and got off her bike again, putting it back in her bag. She called out Kale again.

"Wasn't that fun, Kale?" Zora asked with a grin.

"Eh, sure?" Kale said unsure. "I'm not sure, actually, it felt the same inside the Poké Ball…"

"Oh, right."

"So what now?"

"Right, now we have to…" Zora looked at the map on her Pokégear. "…head to Ecruteak City. That's where the fourth Gym is. It's a Ghost-type Gym, so we'll have to do some preparations before we challenge it."

"Do we have another encounter before we reach the city?" Kale asked.

"Yes, four, in fact," Zora replied excitedly. "One in Route 35, one in Route 36, one in Route 37 and one in the National Park."

"Wow, that's a lot," Kale said impressed. "What can we get in those places?"

"Let's see," Zora said and brought out her notes, still standing in the middle of the street. "In Route 35 we can get a Nidoran, either a male or a female. If we get at least one of the two, we can avoid any future encounters with the other gender."

"Makes sense, since they are the same species," Kale said. "What else?"

"Well, on Route 36 we can get a Vulpix if we catch a Nidoran in Route 35. We could also get a Stantler, but if we do, we can still get a Vulpix in Route 37, where Stantler also lives. We're probably getting both, either way. Though in Route 35 there is also a small chance we could run into a Ditto or a Yanma, but those are pretty rare."

"And what about the National Park?" Kale asked.

"We can get a Sunkern there, while the sun is still up," Zora said, looking at the sky, which was slowly getting darker. "Which means we don't have all that much time. If we don't get to the park before sunset, we can only catch a Hoothoot there."

"Well, guess we better get going then?" Kale implied.

"You bet," Zora said and put her Pokégear and notes away. "Let's go!"