Pokémon Crimson Gold
Chapter 11: A dreaded rematch
Ethan had both Chikorita and Flaaffy get healed up at the Pokémon Center, but unfortunately, they were both beaten so badly that they would need to stay for immediate treatment for the whole rest of the day.
Ethan sat at the floor in the waiting room, not even on the seats. No one else was there, he just sat and thought about his loss, and how he had failed his Pokémon.
He had been there for the past six hours. People had come and left, recovering their Pokémon, but he stayed there the whole time.
"Excuse me, Ethan, right?" A familiar voice said.
Ethan looked up to see Nurse Joy. She looked concerned over something.
"Yes, that's me." Ethan said, which was the first thing he spoke upon entering the Center.
"You're Pokémon are going to be alright, but may I ask, what happened to them, you never answered us when we asked you at the front center.
Ethan sighed. "Sorry about that, I had challenged the Violet City gym leader, Falkner. I made a pretty-bad call mid-battle and it cost my Pokémon."
"I understand, many trainers come in here after battling Falkner. He's known for being a team sweeper in this city." Joy said.
"I'm a terrible trainer..." Ethan said, hanging his head down in shame.
Nurse Joy kneeled and leveled with him. "That's not true at all, listen, if you become ashamed and call yourself a terrible trainer every time you lose a battle, then you'll never get anywhere."
"Yeah, but Falkner told me himself!" Ethan said. "He had hope in me and said I disappointed him."
"I see, well Falkner's wrong. You still have a long way to go kid, you need to stay strong, take it from me. Before I decided to be a nurse, I actually was a trainer."
"W-wait, really?" Ethan said, surprised.
"Yes, you remind me a bit of myself, my younger self. Listen, why don't you go leave here and take a break, you've been sitting here stressing out over nothing. Mistakes happen Ethan. Just don't let it get to you, you can always fight Falkner again." She said. "Your Pokémon are almost good to go, now please.
She put her hand on Ethan's shoulder.
Ethan smiled. "Thank you, you're the nicest person I've met in a long time."
"Now go, I'll come find you when they're done." Joy said, helping Ethan up.
Ethan took a long walk around the town. He finally decided to take a break, he lied down near a pond just outside of the town.
Nurse Joy was right, if I cry and get all depressed after losing each battle then I'll never grow, I'll have many more losses along the way. I can't let this shake me. Ethan knew.
Ethan sighed, and turned on his side, staring at the stars in the sky. "I wonder... how did Lyra defeat him, Falkner's so strong. I could call her, and ask."
Ethan still remembered her number from back when they were close, he dialed her number in his Pokégear, but lost the heart after some consideration.
"No, I can't call her, I can't, we haven't been on speaking terms in years, and even now we're just rivals. She probably wouldn't tell me anything even if I begged her," Ethan said, deleting her contact off his Pokégear.
She probably deleted mine too, he thought.
Ethan turned to his backpack, taking out the mysterious egg and holding it in his arms.
Still nowhere near close to hatching huh, he thought. As he stared at the egg, he was reminded of how Professor Elm's words.
But still, when you get all full of yourself, you start to make big mistakes, as soon as you landed that Poison Powder you went straight for a tackle, even though going on the offensive didn't do much to Croconaw in the first place, so control that head of yours got it.
"Maybe I haven't grown from that battle, I'm still arrogant. I still make amateur mistakes when I think I'm winning." Ethan sighed. "I need to work on that."
Ethan then felt the feel of a paw, placed on his back. He instantly recognized it. He turned to face his Chikorita, along with Flaaffy.
Ethan looked up to see Nurse Joy, who was standing apart from him over across the meadow.
"Your Pokémon are all healed up," she said, smiling.
Ethan's cried, but this time with tears of joy. He hugged both Chikorita and Flaaffy, who hugged him back. "Thank you both, for being here with me."
Nurse joy nodded and headed back to the Center.
"Alright you two, we can rechallenge the Gym leader some other time, I want to spend the rest of this day and the next with you two having fun!" Ethan said.
"Chika Chika!" Chikorita happily exclaimed.
"Fla Flaaffy!" Flaaffy said.
Ethan lived up to his promise. He hadn't even spoken a word about rechallenging Falkner and spent the next day sight-seeing with his Pokémon, he bought them Poképuffs, took them to the city's best attractions, and spent the night sleeping at the same meadow, watching the stars. They slept outside their Pokéballs of course. Ethan felt at ease with the two of them, they were his only friends in the world.
The next day, however, would be the day Ethan rechallenges Falkner for the Zephyr badge. It kept him up at night just thinking about it.
In the morning, at 9 am, the minute the gym opened. Ethan knocked on the door, once again side by side with his two Pokémon. Ethan was nervous to knock on the door after the things Falkner had said not to long before, but he knew he'd have to face him eventually.
"Hello, I've come to challenge the gym!" Ethan said, knocking on the door. Eventually, Jeffrey, the Referee, opened the door to see Ethan. "Oh my, I never would have expected you to be rechallenging Falkner so soon!?"
"Hehe, I know, I didn't either but here I am!" Ethan said. "Can I come in?"
"O-of course, but maybe you should rethink this? You remember what happened last time." he said, allowing Ethan in. "I've already made up my mind, now let's see what Falkner decides." Ethan said, unwilling to back down.
"H-have you somehow gotten some your Pokémon much stronger in such a short time?" Jeffrey asked, concerned.
"No." Ethan said.
"I was afraid of that." Jeffrey said. "Hey Falkner! There's a challenger here to battle you!"
Falkner was on the stadium, he took one glance at Ethan and turned back. "Why have you return here boy, have you gone mad?"
"I came to challenge you. I can't move on from the City until I get that badge, right? So, battle me." Ethan demanded.
Falkner turned to face his opponent. "It hasn't even been two days since you lost, what could have possibly changed in that amount of time?"
"Me." Ethan said.
"You, okay then. I'll battle you, but on one condition!" Falkner said, he looked serious. "If I win, you will give me both your Pokémon."
Chikorita and Flaaffy's faces turned to shock, they couldn't believe what they were hearing.
"Do we have an agreement?" Falkner said. "As I told you, you don't deserve those Pokémon. I'll take care of them myself if you lose, got it."
Ethan looked down at his two Pokémon, he felt bad agreeing to such ridiculous rules, but he had no other choice if he wanted a rematch.
"Fine, we'll play by your rules." Ethan said, shocking his two Pokémon.
Chikorita and Flaaffy both shook Ethan by his pant legs, trying to plead with him, Ethan felt bad, but he knew he had to.
"Guys, I'm sorry but, if I make you challenge Falkner again after losing the first time, and without even having trained you two up, and we lose again, then Falkner would be right. I would be a horrible trainer, so that's why I promise, I promise we won't lose to him again.
Chikorita and Flaaffy knew there was no sense they could give him, so they would just have to sit with it.
"This is your last chance to back down Ethan." Falkner said. "I'm being serious here; you will have to hand your Pokémon to me."
"Can we just do this already, I get it." Ethan said.
Falkner smirked and pulled out a Pokéball. "Go, Noctowl!"
Falkner's Noctowl was huge, even bigger than Lyra's.
"Chikorita, let's do this!" Ethan said, Chikorita jumped to the battlefield, she was ready for battle.
"Interesting, not starting with type advantage this time?" Falkner noted.
Falkner's Noctowl was fierce, it let off a shriek.
"Alright, this will be a two-on-two battle between Violet City's Gym leader Falkner, and young trainer Ethan. May the battle begin!" Jeffrey announced.
"Okay then! Noctowl, start with Confusion!" Falkner yelled.
Noctowl spread both its wings, it sent what must have been a signal towards Chikorita, with no time to dodge.
"Chikorita!" Ethan yelled.
To Chikorita, it felt like her weight had been doubled. It was hard to move, and her vision became blurry, Chikorita started wobbling around, her senses had been messed up with,
"That'll take some time to recover." Falkner said. "Now Noctowl! Use Sky Attack!"
Noctowl came flying at full speed towards Chikorita, even one hit would be bad.
This is just like that battle with Lyra's Noctowl. No way are we going to lose here, Chikorita's not the same as she was back then. Ethan realized.
"Chikorita, use Poison Powder!" Ethan yelled. Chikorita erupted with poison gas, causing Noctowl to pull back, not wanting to get hit by the status move.
"Hmph, not a bad maneuver, like that Noctowl couldn't hit you unless he wanted to get poisoned." Falkner said, understanding of Ethan's plan.
Chikorita recovered from the earlier attack, she had her head back in the right place.
"Noctowl, swift!" Noctowl shot out miniature stars at Chikorita.
"Chikorita dodge them all!" Ethan yelled.
Chikorita dodged the swift each from side to side, however, while she was dodging, she couldn't take into account that Noctowl was still flying around up in the air.
"Now Noctowl, use Sky Attack once again!" Falkner said.
Noctowl came flying at superspeed at Chikorita. Chikorita jumped up to dodge, but in order to, was blasted by one of the swifts.
Chikorita fell back down to the ground, but quickly got back up.
"This battle is pointless, just one Sky Attack was able to take down Chikorita before, and she hasn't gotten any stronger since last time." Falkner said.
Ethan smirked, "Chikorita, show them how much we've changed, now use Razor Leaf!" Chikorita swung her giant leaf, sending multiple leaf blades at Noctowl.
"Noctowl, blow it all away with Gust!" Falkner guided, which Noctowl followed, knocking away all the leaves.
Falkner noticed his Noctowl's attack's power diminishing, it was not the same as it usually would be.
What's going on here? he thought.
"Now Chikorita! Razor Leaf once more." Ethan yelled.
"Noctowl gust!" Falkner yelled, and just as before, Noctowl blew away the blades. But this time, one of the blades managed to get by, causing damage to the Noctowl, knocking it higher into the sky before it caught itself.
"Good Chikorita, you're nailing it so far!" Ethan complimented.
Falkner smirked he realized what Ethan was pulling. "I get it now, you're using a status move when I least expect it, one which lowers my Noctowl's attack, such as growl. You must have told Chikorita to do it long before the battle began... sneaky."
"You got me. That's exactly it." Ethan said nodding.
"Cheap trick, but one thing doesn't make sense. How did that Razor Leaf do so much damage? Chikorita hasn't gotten any stronger, yet its grass type moves have gotten considerably better." Falkner noted confused.
Looks like Falkner's oblivious to the Miracle Seed I popped on Chikorita, good. Ethan thought.
"Enough talk Falkner, let's continue." Ethan said.
"Fine, I'll get past your trick easily," Falkner said. "Noctowl, use Sky Attack!"
Noctowl came flying towards Chikorita even faster this time, there was no time to dodge, Chikorita was hit head on, being knocked to the ground. She was only able to continue battling due to the reduced damage.
"I'll just have to beat Chikorita till it reaches its breaking point." Falkner said.
"Alright Chikorita, to me!" Ethan said, and Chikorita went back to him.
"You did good Chikorita, let's not overdo it though." Ethan said, Chikorita agreeing.
"Sending in Flaaffy now, huh." Falkner said.
"Yup, alright Flaaffy, it's your turn!" Ethan said.
"Flaaffyyyy!" Flaaffy said, jumping to the battlefield.
"Alright, now it is time for Ethan's Flaaffy versus Falkner's Noctowl!" The referee announced.
"Let's do this! Flaaffy, start with Thunder Shock!" Ethan yelled. As Flaaffy began to build up electricity.
"Hmph, Noctowl, dodge it with your speed!" Falkner yelled. To which Noctowl was easily able to manage, flying at swift speed.
"Noctowl, Sky Attack!" Falkner yelled.
Falkner came down, crashing directly into Flaaffy, which did little damage. Flaaffy was able to catch Noctowl by the wings.
"N-Noctowl!?" Noctowl shrieked.
"Now, end it with Thunder Shock!" Ethan said.
Flaaffy lit up with electricity, zapping the already weakened Noctowl, instantly knocking it out.
"Noctowl is unable to battle, Leader Falkner, please bring out your last Pokémon!" Jeffrey said.
"Noctowl, good work out there." Falkner said, returning his Pokémon. "You already know who my last Pokémon will be, right?"
"I think I've got a good idea," Ethan said, confident in victory.
"Now Pidgeot, go!" Falkner said, throwing his Pokéball.
"Pidgeottt!" Pidgeot screeched. It made circles in the air before flying back to the ground.
"Flaaffy, let's start with charge!" Ethan said, and Flaaffy began controlling a huge surge of electricity.
"Pidgeot, Sand Attack!" Falkner said, Pidgeot flapped its wings, dusting up the terrain, of course interrupting Flaaffy's charge.
"Damn, Flaaffy, if you can hear me, surround yourself with thunder. It's out best bet!" Ethan said, shutting his eyes.
Flaaffy, who also closed his eyes. Began to surround itself with electricity.
"Oh I see, scared I'll have Pidgeot use Sky Attack, huh." Falkner said. "Now, use Air Slash!"
Pidgeot launched an air wave directly at Flaaffy, hitting him directly.
"Flaaffy no!" Ethan yelled.
The Sand Attack had subsided, they could all see now. And for some reason, Flaaffy was gone.
"What!?" Falkner said, stunned.
"Haha, take a good look at your Pidgeot, Falkner!" Ethan exclaimed.
Right on top of Pidgeot, was Flaaffy, he was clinging as tight as he could. Getting a scare out of Falkner.
"This won't happen! Pidgeot, fly up into the air and swing it off you!" Falkner yelled.
Pidgeot listened and flew around the sky to shake Flaaffy off him. Flaaffy struggled to hang on as Pidgeot went at max speed.
"Thunder Shock and end it, Flaaffy!" Ethan spoke.
Flaaffy surged with electricity, zapping Pidgeot with all the electricity it could, almost verging on a Discharge. Pidgeot squealed in pain.
"Hang in there Pidgeot, use our stratagem C!" Falkner yelled.
"Huh, stratagem C?" Ethan said, confused.
Pidgeot's eyes lit up with determination. It spun and reversed as it began to close in on the ground, just high enough so Flaaffy would take the brunt of being smashed into the ground as it flew at max speed, almost drilling it.
"Flaaffy no!" Ethan yelled.
Eventually, as Flaaffy was smashed into the ground, it could no longer keep up with the Thunder Shock. It let go and crashed to the ground, heavily damaged and scuffed.
"Now Pidgeot, loop and end it with Sky Attack!" Falkner yelled, reassured in victory.
Pidgeot flew up and reversed, gaining the momentum for its Sky Attack. It crashed into Flaaffy, rendering Flaaffy unconscious.
"Flaaffy is unable to continue, now Challenger Ethan, send in your last Pokémon!" Jeffrey said.
"I've fought with many electric types over the years, I've seen every trick in the book kid!" Falkner announced.
"Flaaffy, that was seriously awesome!" Ethan said, returning it to its Pokéball. "Really proud of you, now take a good rest!"
"Ethan, I suggest you give up now!" Falkner said. "Without your Flaaffy my victory is inevitable, just like last time."
"Oh, so I should just run with my tail between my legs and hand you my Pokémon?" Ethan said.
"If you surrender now, I may consider letting you keep them, but if you fight with Chikorita, once again, you will lose. And I will truly take them from you, do you really want that?" Falkner asked.
Ethan looked down to Chikorita, she gave Ethan a reassuring look, letting him know she wanted to continue.
"Well, you heard her, if Chikorita won't give in then neither will I!" Ethan said proudly.
"Pfft, you really do care more about winning than your Pokémon, huh. They're just tools to you." Falkner said, disgusted.
"Not tools Falkner. Chikorita cares about winning this battle just as much as I do. They're my friends, my only friends. And that's why I trust them, in any case!" Ethan said. Chikorita jumped on the stadium once again.
"Well you're about to lose your only friends." Falkner said, confident in victory,
"Alright may the battle continue!" The referee said.
"Let's finish this the same way we did last time, Pidgeot. Sky Attack!" Falkner uttered.
"No time to think, just use Poison Powder!" Ethan yelled, just in time.
As Chikorita spread her poisons, Pidgeot flew back up and avoided it.
"Same tired strategy from earlier I see, Pidgeot! Whirlwind let's go!" Falkner yelled.
Pidgeot flew to the ceiling, flapping its wings, causing a huge gust of wind that easily got a hold of Chikorita, she was sucked in.
"Now Pidgeot, Sky Attack and end it!" Falkner said. But that's not what happened, Pidgeot crashed from the ground. Shocked by a purple zap.
"What! Poison!" Falkner freaked out.
"Heheheh, when you use whirlwind, you risk sucking in everything, including those Poison particles Chikorita released earlier." Ethan said, happily.
"Just where is Chikorita though," Falkner fret. She had completely vanished from the battlefield.
"Now Chikorita, reappear and use Razor Leaf!"
Chikorita broke through the same drilled part of the ground in which Flaaffy had been crashed into earlier, Chikorita tossed her Razor Leafs directly at Pidgeot.
"Pidgeot dodge!" Falkner yelled. But the poison kicked in as soon as Falkner gave the command, and it was hit head on with Razor Leaf. Pidgeot fell to the ground.
"I don't get it, grass type moves should be almost entirely ineffective, it just doesn't make sense. So why am I losing." He said, not nearly as composed as before.
"What's the matter, Falkner, I got an idea, why don't you give Noctowl and Pidgeot if I win, you know, just to make it fair!" Ethan said.
"Yeah right, Pidgeot to me!" Falkner said, Pidgeot flew to him instantly.
"A Pecha berry, eat up!" Falkner said, as Pidgeot ate away at the berry.
Ethan called Chikorita over to him while he waited, he patted her on her head.
"I'll compliment you just once Ethan, I'm a guy who prides myself on not having to use items during battle. You made me break my self-imposed rule, that's the closest thing you'll be getting to a win, unfortunately." Falkner said, giving an evil looking smirk.
"Hah, is that so. Well we'll just have to see about that." Ethan said, Chikorita leaped back into the battlefield.
"Haha, hahahahah!" Falkner laughed.
"What's so funny?" Ethan asked, giving a softer fake laugh.
"Pidgeot, Roost!" He said, smiling viciously.
Around Pidgeot formed white feathers, they shined and instantly dissipated after a few seconds.
"What did you do!?" Ethan asked, puzzled.
"Roost, a status move which recovers up to half of damage sustained in battle." Falkner said, crossing his arms. "It's over."
"What!" Ethan said, not at all having knowledge of status moves on that level.
Chikorita got even more angry at the thought of this.
"You lost Ethan, now say goodbye to Chikorita! Pidgeot, Sky Attack!" Falkner commanded.
"Pidgeottttt! Pidgeot squawked as it zipped across the field at beyond max speed. Fast enough to break the sound barrier.
Ethan couldn't react to an attack that fast, he couldn't do anything about it. Boom. Pidgeot crashed into the ground, causing a huge explosion erupting a big chunk ground in the battlefield.
"Chikoritaaaaa!" Ethan screamed.
...
No, Ethan couldn't react in time, but Chikorita could, just right above Pidgeot's head was Chikorita, she had managed to dodge just a second before the hit landed. So fast both Ethan and Falkner couldn't register it.
"P-Pidgey!" Pidgeot squealed in shock. In this moment it felt like they both moved in slow motion.
"Chika!" Chikorita yelled as she bashed her body hard into Pidgeot's head with tackle. Being bashed in the head sent Pidgeot crashing back, and while moving at beyond sound speeds too.
Pidgeot's crash caused a huge explosion in the battlefield once again, that seemed like a Sand Attack had went off. Ethan had to shut his eyes at the sight of it.
"I win, I'm the victor!" Falkner screamed, eyes wide opened, not caring about the particles.
"No stupid, I am!" Ethan yelled back, protecting his face.
Ethan reopened his eyes and was shocked at the sight he saw. Pidgeot was down on the ground completely unconscious. Chikorita stood proud besides him, she was heavily damaged as well, but she made it.
"Chikaaa!" She yelled once again giving a stern battle cry.
"Pidgeot is unable to battle, Chikorita wins, making Challenger Ethan the victor!" Jeffrey said, happy Ethan won.
"Yes Chikorita! You did it!" Ethan yelled, jumping on the battlefield to go hug her.
Chikorita ran to go hug her trainer. The two hugged and Ethan spun her around joyfully. "I knew you could do it Chikorita, thank you!"
Falkner returned Pidgeot to its Pokéball. He had no comments for its performance in battle.
He walked up to Ethan and handed him the Zephyr badge. "C-congratulations, you earned this." Unable to look Ethan in the eye.
"Thank you!" Ethan said, snatching it from him. Ethan pinned the badge to his jacket. "I've been waiting for this for so long, looks pretty good huh Chikorita!"
"Chikorita!" She said happily.
"Ethan!" Falkner said. He looked like his pride was shattered.
"Yup Falkner?" Ethan asked.
"I still don't... I still don't think you deserve that Chikorita. You were willing to lose her along with your Flaaffy over that badge after all. So... what if I offered you a trade." Falkner suggested.
"A trade?" Ethan said.
"My Pidgeot, or whatever Pokémon you want, for your Chikorita, how about it." Falkner said, holding Pidgeot's Pokéball out.
Ethan looked at his Chikorita and smiled. "I think we both know my answer Falkner."
"Hmph, thought so." He said, finally smiling.
"Bye now, I got big plans so..." Ethan said as he took off.
As he got to the door, Falkner put his hand on Ethan's shoulder. "Ethan wait!"
"What is it?" Ethan asked.
"Take good care of that Chikorita, she's special." He said, turning around to head back, waving one hand.
Ethan once again took one look at Chikorita, who jumped on his shoulder. Ethan had already known Falkner's words were true since he chose her as his starter.
On his way to the Pokémon center, Ethan bumped into a woman, knocking him and Chikorita.
The woman was gorgeous. She wore a red kimono with a Pokéball print on it. She looked a bit old fashioned.
"O-oh, I'm so sorry about that!" Ethan said, recollecting himself, his egg dropped from his bookbag.
"Please forgive me, I should be more aware of my surroundings. Apologies." She said, helping Ethan up. She took notice of Ethan's egg.
"Oh my, I recognize that egg. It is the one handed down from Mr. Pokémon to Professor Elm, is it not?" She asked.
Ethan looked down at the egg. "Y-yeah, I'm watching over it, I think it may hatch soon. Or at least I hope." He said, blushing. Chikorita took notice of this.
"That egg is truly important. Please do take good care of it for me, is that understood." She said.
"Uh, yeah. Understood." Ethan said.
"Thank you, I can see why Professor Elm chose you." She said, as she took her leave.
Ethan smiled at Chikorita. "Alright, next stop! Azalea town!"
Ethan displays just how special his Chikorita is. And Flaaffy's pretty cool too. Let's see how things will continue later on during other gym battles.