Pokémon Crimson Gold
Chapter 23: Friends or Rivals?
Ethan and Bayleef had finally reached Ecruteak City after a lengthy time period getting there, Ethan was now accompanied with Eevee, an abused Pokémon he had saved from her owner.
Ecruteak was quite large yet looked somewhat old fashioned. It was the capital of Johto for such reason.
"I've heard Ecruteak was pretty, but they didn't say the half of it!" Ethan said, Bayleef agreeing.
"Alright, now let's get to that Pokémon Center!" Ethan said as he dashed for the nearest Center.
Upon reaching the place, Ethan instantly took out Eevee's Pokéball and released Eevee on the counter near Nurse Joy.
"E-Eevee!" Eevee said.
"Oh my!" Nurse Joy said, dropping to the floor at the sight of the starved Eevee.
"Why is your Eevee so starved, how could you neglect Eevee this much!?" Nurse Joy said, accusing Ethan.
"Hold on, Eevee was like this when I got to her!" Ethan pleaded, trying to calm down Nurse Joy.
"Still, your Pokémon is your responsibility! You must take better care of it!" Joy said, not wanting to hear any part of it.
"I-I understand." Ethan said, not wanting to argue.
Eevee began to whimper, feeling bad over herself.
"Alright you, let's go get you checked out! And we promise to get you food immediately!" Joy said, holding Eevee in the air.
Eevee wasn't happy however, she was still uneasy around other people, especially being carried.
Ethan stayed in the waiting room for a lengthy four hours, it was when he finally began to fall asleep on Bayleef when Nurse Joy finally came up to him along a healthier Eevee.
"Eevee!" Eevee said happily, waking Ethan.
"Huh," Ethan said, suddenly woken up. "O-oh, so you're better now Eevee!?"
Ethan reached out to try and pet Eevee, she flinched once again, so Ethan moved his hand away, he didn't want to startle her.
"Your Eevee is in much better shape now, we made sure to give her plenty of food, but you're going to need to feed her much more, as you can see her bones are still visible." Joy said, lecturing Ethan.
"I will, thank you." Ethan said nodding.
"Good, well return to us any time. Have a good rest of your day." Nurse Joy said waving goodbye.
Bayleef smiled at Eevee trying to make friends with her, but Eevee turned her face away.
"I'm glad you're alright now Eevee, would you like to return to your Pokéball?" Ethan asked, she knew she tended to be uncomfortable around others, especially out in the open like this.
Eevee smiled and nodded, Ethan went and returned her.
Ethan turned to Bayleef. "We'll get there, someday." He assured her.
On their way out, Ethan looked around for the gym he finally encountered the creepy looking gym and decided to head to it.
"Alright Bayleef! You ready to hit this gym?" Ethan asked.
"Bay!" Bayleef said, confident in her abilities.
Ethan took notice of the sign right next to the Gym.
"Ecruteak City Pokémon Gym Leader: Morty; The Mystic Seer of the Future" It read.
"Interesting, let's do this." Ethan said knocking on the door, as soon as the door opened, Ethan took a step forward, but he was surprised to the person who opened the door was-
"Lyra!?" Ethan said confused.
"Ethan!?" Lyra said, startled.
The two just stared at each other before they both looked away, realizing they had been staring at each other for too long.
"So... what are you doing here?" Ethan asked.
"Same as you I guess..." Lyra said, pouting. "But the Gym leader isn't here at the moment."
"Oh, I had no idea!" Ethan said.
The two finally looked at each other and talked like normal people.
"Wow, so you evolved your Chikorita." Lyra said.
"Yeah, it was weird at first, but I've really gotten used to her this way, isn't that right Bayleef." Ethan said, petting her gently.
"Bay!" Bayleef agreed.
"E-Ethan, are you alright? You look skinny, really skinny, you must have lost fifteen pounds since the last I've seen you, and your skin looks pale." Lyra said in a concerned tone.
"T-ten pounds!" Ethan corrected her, before realizing how unhealthy that sounds.
"Is everything alright?" She asked. "Y-you can tell me."
"Why, what's it to you anyway?" Ethan asked.
"Hey, I'm just trying to know how to help you. You look like you haven't eaten real food in forever!" Lyra raised her voice.
"Forget it, I'm just fine!" Ethan told her.
"You don't look fine." Lyra sadly commented.
"You know what, that's it, you're coming with me and we're going to get some food!" She said, grabbing Ethan by his arm.
"Alright, alright, you don't have to grab me that hard!" Ethan complained along the way there.
Ethan and Lyra stopped at a Ramen shop, the nearest food place to their location. They sat together at the counter waiting for the Ramen to be ready. The place didn't allow Pokémon out so Ethan had to return Bayleef to her Pokéball.
"Sorry, not sure if you like Ramen or not, but you are going to eat and that's final." She told him.
"W-why are you being so kind to me?" Ethan asked her.
"Well... I don't know, but when I see you all scuffed up and what not, and I guess I begin to worry." She spoke, not sure what to say.
"Here's your orders, two Miso Ramens." An old waitress said, placing their meals in front of them. "Please enjoy your date."
"I-it's not a date... oh never mind." Lyra said, realizing it wasn't important.
"It smells good." Ethan said, beginning to dig into his meal. "It tastes good too."
"Really, I never tasted Ramen before..." Lyra said, grabbing her chopsticks.
"Well, me too, now that I think of it, food in New Bark Town is nothing compared to this." Ethan said.
"Agreed." Lyra said.
After finishing their meals they continued to sit down and talk for a bit.
"So, nice place right?" Lyra asked.
"I love it, you chose a good place, I may have to eat here some more later." Ethan said.
"Are you two done?" The waitress came back and asked.
"Yes." Both Ethan and Lyra said.
"Okay, here's your check." She said, passing the receipt to Ethan.
He checked and was shocked at the price, it was two thousand for each their meals, and he barely had any money on him.
"What's wrong?" Lyra asked leaning on the counter.
"Nothing. It's just, I only have one thousand Poké Dollars on me." Ethan said.
"I can cover the both of us Ethan." Lyra offered to pay.
"Really," Ethan said.
"Of course." She said pulling out her wallet.
The waitress came not too long and collected the pay and wished Ethan and Lyra a good rest of their evening.
Ethan walked with Lyra as they exited the store, he released Bayleef from her Pokéball and kneeled by her to pet her.
"That meal was so good, sorry you didn't get any." Ethan said, trying to cheer up Bayleef who hated her Pokéball. "Thanks again for the meal Lyra, I really appreciate it, I'll pay you back when I can."
"N-no! Don't worry about it." Lyra told him. "I-if you want to pay me back, how about you do it with a Pokémon battle, a one on one?"
"Oh really?" Ethan said, beginning to crack his knuckles. "But let me warn you, I've gotten really good."
"I can see that; I can tell by the three badges you've pinned on your jacket." Lyra said, she pulled out a carrying case, revealing three badges of her own. "Let's hope you have gotten better; our battle record is still zero to two remember."
Bayleef went up to Ethan and assured him she would battle, Ethan nodded, and she leapt in front of him.
"You're not going to beat me anymore, my Chikorita has gotten crazy powerful and top that off with evolving!" Ethan said, crossing his arms.
"There's the cocky Ethan I know, but let me tell you, you've forgotten the first rule of winning a Trainer battle!" Lyra gloated.
"Oh yeah, what's that?" Ethan asked.
"Never throw your Pokémon first." She said, throwing a Pokéball. "Now I choose you, Houndour!"
"Houndour!" Houndour howled.
"Trying to win this with type advantage huh!" Ethan said, pulling out his Pokédex, scanning Houndour.
"Houndour, the Dark Pokémon. It uses different kind of cries for communicating with others of its kind and for pursuing its kind."
"Still using that funny device, huh?" Lyra said. "A Pokédex I think it's called; I saw it on Professor Oak's show."
"You got it." Ethan said, putting it away in his bag.
"Now Houndour, Fire Fang!" Lyra yelled.
Houndour pounced for Bayleef, flames appearing within its mouth.
"Bayleef, Light Screen!" Ethan yelled.
Bayleef brang up the barrier, causing the Houndour to slam its face into the shield.
People on the side of the road began to take notice of the battle that was going on, some started to watch, and others...
"Bayleef, grab hold of mouth and shut it with Vine Whip!" Ethan yelled.
Bayleef grabbed Houndour by the snout and raised it to the air. She shook him around before throwing it, but Houndour managed to land on its feet, letting out a loud roar.
"It'll take more than that Ethan. Houndour, use Beat Up!" Lyra said.
Houndour crossed Bayleef at an incredibly fast speed, it looked like its paw was about to hit Bayleef but it pulled back, startling Bayleef and instead gave Bayleef a pounding with its other paw.
Bayleef was knocked back, that move did a bit of damage.
"Bayleef! You okay!?" Ethan asked.
Bayleef looked back and nodded assuring Ethan.
"Now Houndour, Flamethrower!" Lyra shouted. Houndour opened its mouth wide and shot a large blast of flames at Bayleef.
"Oh no, Bayleef, dodge it fast!" Ethan told her.
Bayleef managed to jump out of the way, but one of her legs managed to get burned by the blast, making Bayleef cry out.
"Bayleef!" Ethan said concerned.
"Face it, it's over!" Lyra laughed. "Now Houndour! Fire Fang, once more!"
Houndour once again came for Bayleef, mouth full of fire.
"Now Bayleef, Vine Whip and grab it!" Ethan yelled.
Bayleef had two whips coming for Houndour's snout once again.
"That trick again? I've already seen it!" Lyra said. "Houndour, pull back and dodge."
Houndour listened and pulled back, however what it didn't expect were Bayleef's vines to also come from the ground, two in fact. Now with all four vines Bayleef grabbed Houndour by both arms and legs and raised him twenty feet in the air.
"Woahh!" Lyra said, not expecting that kind of attack.
"Now, crash Houndour to the floor!" Ethan said, confident in victory.
Bayleef smashed Houndour to the ground, hard enough to cause debris to go flying. The crowd watching went wild after seeing it.
Houndour struggled to get up, Ethan took advantage.
"Bayleef, now use this moment to use Synthesis!" Ethan yelled.
Bayleef listened and sparkled with white light, recovering it from some damage it had sustained.
"So Bayleef knows Synthesis, too bad it can't heal status moves." Lyra said.
"What?" Ethan said confused. It was then when he saw Bayleef engulfed in a large flame, causing her to groan in pain. The flame was only momentarily, however.
"Heh, Houndour pulled off a burn earlier, and with the type advantage it has over Bayleef, it's bound to lose consciousness from it eventually." Lyra said.
"Oh yeah? Bayleef-" Ethan was unable to finish when a tall man came and intercepted the match. He had golden-yellow hair and dark peridot eyes. He wore a purple bandana, along with a purple scarf with a black long-sleeved vest and white pants.
"This battle must come to an end. Battles are not allowed on the street at night, not at this time. Call the match a draw or go and finish up outside the city." He reprimanded them.
"Houndour return." Lyra said, returning her Pokémon to its Pokéball.
"Bayleef, come here." Ethan said, she ran over, and Ethan gave her a Rawst berry.
"I know we would have won if it wasn't interrupted. You did great out there!" He said congratulating her.
"But in all honestly, you guys seem like tough trainers." The man said. "You should stop by my gym sometime."
"Wait, you're Morty the gym leader?" Ethan asked.
"The one and only." Morty said in a smug tone.
"I'm Lyra." Lyra spoke.
"Ethan." Ethan said.
"I was just going to try and see if I could get a battle with you earlier." Lyra said. "Are you available right now?"
"Woah hold on, I said sometime, I didn't mean right now." Morty said. "I just came back from the old Burned Tower; I need a break for the rest of the day."
"Burned Tower?" Both Ethan and Lyra asked.
"Yeah, Burned Tower. You kids never heard of it?" He asked.
"Me and her aren't from here, so no." Ethan said shaking his head.
"I have ten minutes, I'll show you." Morty said.
Morty along with Ethan and Lyra, walked over to see the large, Burned Tower. It must have been over a hundred feet tall. As the name implies, it was obvious the tower was at one point caught on fire.
"It's awesome looking." Ethan said, looking with his binoculars.
"It's said that the legendary Pokémon Lugia used to reside here before moving to the Whirl Islands." Morty said.
"Lugia?" Ethan said.
"Why did this Lugia leave then?" Lyra asked.
"Apparently a lightning bolt struck causing the tower to be set on fire, and the bastard Lugia ran off. It's said it took seven days and seven nights for the fires to stop raging." Morty said.
"Did anyone die in the fire?" Lyra asked.
"Yes, although it is unknown if any humans died in the fire. It is known fact at least three Pokémon perished." Morty said.
"Really," Ethan said, intrigued.
"The interesting part is what happened after. Have you two heard of Ho-Oh?" Morty asked.
"Nuh-uh." Ethan said.
"Can't say I have." Lyra said.
"Jeez, don't know about Lugia, don't know about Ho-Oh, kids these days." Morty complained. "Anyways, the two are the most legendary Pokémon in all of Johto, they complement each other. They cannot exist without each other."
"They don't teach that in Trainer School." Lyra commented.
"Well, once the flames stopped burning it is said Ho-Oh came to this city, reviving the three deceased Pokémon and reincarnating them into Entei, Raikou, and Suicune." Morty said. "Of course, this was centuries ago, in fact today some folk even say Ho-Oh and Lugia don't exist."
"What do you think, Morty?" Ethan asked.
"Are the legends true." Lyra said.
"I know they're true, they must be. I go and enter this tower every so often, in hopes I can encounter Entei, Raikou, and Suicune. It is said they reside here, but I've never seen them." Morty said, almost in an angered tone.
"I want to see them too!" Ethan said. "Wouldn't you like to as well, Bayleef?" Ethan asked.
"Bay!" She nodded.
"To be honest, encountering Entei, Suicune, and Raikou does not mean much for me. My real goal is to see Ho-Oh, the Rainbow Pokémon. It is my goal!" Morty said, clenching his fist.
"Well thank you Morty, now I think I want to check it out, what about you, Lyra?" Ethan asked.
"Oh definitely, that would be amazing." She smiled.
"Okay, well you two better not get too excited, like I said, I've been here plenty of times, and I've never encountered any legends." Morty told them as he began to walk off.
"Were not you Morty. Me and Ethan can do it!" Lyra said.
"Well good luck, oh and watch out for Ghost Pokémon!" He warned.
"W-wait what?" Lyra said startled. "G-g-ghost Pokémon."
"Yeah, plenty of them in there, they won't bother you as long as you mind your business." Morty said.
"That'd good to know." Ethan sighed in relief.
"But maybe it'd be a good idea to challenge them, because I specialize in Ghost Type Pokémon!" Morty said, smiling. "Sayonara and stay safe!"
Lyra smiled and turned to Ethan. "Let's do this."
"Fine by me," Ethan told her.
Ethan finally reaches Ecruteak, and meets up with one of his rivals, has he finally surpassed Lyra?