Disclaimer: I do not own nor am I affiliated with Pokémon or any of its parent companies. I am merely a humble storyteller. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy this journey with me.
Note: I am English, so some of the wording, spellings, and expressions will be those commonly used in England.
Chapter Twenty-Six: Water Way to Have a Gym Battle!
The Cerulean Gym was such a beautiful, architectural masterpiece. A dome structure that was more windows than walls, glistening in the sun, a far more pleasing treat to the eye than the Pewter Gym. An aquatic scent emanated from the building, and the sounds of a copious amounts of splashing collectively formed marine music that could be heard from the outside.
But while that was great and all, it was not what Red was set towards. He rushed through the Gym, apologising as he barged into swimmers and their Pokémon alike, the latter of whom eyed Pikachu warily.
And it was not long before Red found himself facing off against Misty for the chance to win his second Badge, standing either side of a pool filled with floating platforms.
Finally.
Pikachu stood by his feet, cheeks crackling, ready to dive on in. But Pikachu would be his trump card. He knew exactly who to start off with…
"Let's have a great battle, Red," Misty said, wielding a Poké Ball.
"Yeah," Red said, preparing to throw one of his own.
The referee, a teenaged boy named Luis, declared the battle ready to begin.
"All right," Misty said. "Let's go, Goldeen."
From the Poké Ball came out a billowy, white and orange fish-like Pokémon. Its eyes were blue, its lips were pink, and the horn on its forehead was sharp. It splashed into the pool.
"Goldeen," Red muttered.
Goldeen, the Water-type Pokémon. When it is time for them to lay eggs, they can seen swimming up rivers and falls in large groups.
Red frowned. Goldeen was literally in its element. However, it would have to stay in the pool and was unable to utilise the platforms. Maybe he could use that to his advantage.
"Okay, then," he said, tossing out his Poké Ball. "I choose you…
A flash of light.
"… Cleffa!"
Misty did a double-take. "Cleffa?" she said. "When did you get a Cleffa? Did you go back to Mt. Moon yesterday?"
Red grinned. "Nope. In fact, this is the same one from my story. Remember?"
o~o~o~o~o
It appeared before them, a familiar face from that horrific Mt. Moon 'adventure'.
Red shouted out in recognition and surprise, and Beedrill forced her String Shot to hit two feet to side of the creature.
"Cleffa?" Red said. "The same one from before?"
Cleffa twirled and trilled excitedly, its face aglow at finding Red. It bounded forward and hopped into Red's arms, who hastily placed Pikachu on Beedrill's back and caught the tiny Fairy-type. Cleffa wiggled its stubby limbs and trilled some more.
"What are you doing here?" Red asked. "Did you come here by yourself? What about your family?"
Cleffa pointed at Beedrill and Pikachu.
"Sorry?"
Cleffa pointed at Red's belt where his Poké Balls were held.
"Wait. You mean…?"
Cleffa giggled and gurgled. Oh, Red was on the money now.
"You came all this way because you wanted to join us," Red said. He studied the pink, star-ish-shaped Pokémon. Cleffa was not a Pokémon he ever thought he would capture, let alone have in his party. How useful would a baby Pokémon be to him?
But… but… it would be another Pokémon. Did he not say he needed more party members, most especially a fourth member he could use against Misty? And it trekked all the way from Mt. Moon on those cute, stubby legs with the hope Red would accept it. What kind of person would he be to deny it its wish?
"Well," Red said. "This seems a little contrived – whatever that word means – but if you want to join us then we're happy to have you aboard. Welcome to the team, Cleffa."
Cleffa threw its stubby, little arms into the air like it just did not care and sang a joyous song in its Poké-tongue.
"Kind of wish we'd get to actually battle the next Pokémon we were going to add to the team," Red muttered to Beedrill.
o~o~o~o~o
"So this happened after we left the café?" Misty said.
"Yeah," Red said. "Gave us more time training yesterday too, so all in all it all worked out… whoa, did I really use the word 'all' three times just like that?"
"Well, I'm happy you got another Pokémon." Misty's eyes flashed and a shiver went up Red's spine; without a doubt, he had now been introduced to a new Misty, a Misty who would not pull any punches. "Are you ready to go?"
"I totally am! All right! Cleffa, Magical Leaf!"
The ends of Cleffa's fingerless arms glowed green.
"Water Pulse."
Goldeen hummed and a wave of watery energy flew towards Cleffa just as the baby fairy let off shimmering green leaves. The attacks connected, the water dispersed, and the leaves dissolved. Like magic.
But Red was only beginning and what better way to follow that attack than doing it all over again? So he did just that.
The leaves struck Goldeen, and it flopped across the surface of the pool in distress.
"Goldeen!" Misty cried. "Use Poison Jab!"
Poison Jab? If Red did not know any better, he would have said that was a Poison-type move. Something about it just screamed poison to him. Anyway, weren't Fairy-types weak to Poison-type techniques? Red would be darned if he could remember, but he was not going to allow that technique to connect with Cleffa.
Goldeen flew forth through the water like a torpedo, its entire horn taking on a vicious pinkish-purplish hue. It leaped at Cleffa, a Cleffa whose body shone with a blinding light at Red's command, searing Goldeen's eyes. Goldeen's attack missed, and it narrowly went over Cleffa's head and re-entered the pool.
Misty gritted her teeth. There was no way she was going to allow a novice Trainer get one over her with a baby Pokémon. Not by any means.
"Agility."
Oh, such a simple word, such a simple attack, but oh so devastating when used correctly.
Goldeen swam in tight, rapid circles, faster and faster until it was a white and orange underwater blur. Then it stopped, and it floated, staring at Cleffa, waiting for its Trainer to guide it on its next move.
Agility? What did Agility do again? There was no question it was a status move considering Cleffa had not taken any damage from it. But what the heck was its effect?
Like with the best lessons, Red was enlightened with a demonstration.
Another Water Pulse. But a Magical Leaf could counter it, right? Wrong. Before the ends of Cleffa's arms could glow green, Goldeen fired its attack with bullet speed, blasting back the poor Fairy-type and almost knocking her into the water. The realisation that Agility sharply raised Goldeen's speed hit him as hard as the Water Pulse struck Cleffa.
"Cleffa!" Red screamed. "Cleffa, are you okay?"
Cleffa gurgled some nonsense, spinning on her feet, her eyes dazed. Was that… was that… confusion? Was Cleffa confused? How on earth?
As if reading his mind, Misty chose that time to act as a teacher. "Water Pulse has a side effect of confusing the opponent. The ultrasonic waves have a chance of scrambling a Pokémon's brain temporarily."
Red swallowed. Great, he had his back up against the wall. But he just needed one more Magical Leaf to hit, that was all, he was positive of that. They would fight through the confusion.
Thus, he screamed the attack's name to high heavens, and those shimmering leaves exploded forth, homing in on their target like tiny, shiny insects with an agenda of destruction.
Unfortunately, their target was not Goldeen.
Like a Bonemerang, the collection of magical leaves returned to sender and tore through Cleffa. The poor Pokémon squealed in pain, but her squeals were put to rest immediately as Goldeen took advantage of the setback and jabbed her with its horn of poison.
Cleffa collapsed, and the referee's call confirmed the result: Misty's Goldeen had taken the first round.
Misty blew Goldeen a kiss. "Nice try, Red," she said. "But you made a good go of it with a Pokémon you just captured. Colour me impressed."
Red whispered a word of thanks to Cleffa as he returned her to her Poké Ball. You know what? Cleffa performed well. As Misty said, he only recently caught her and she pushed a Gym Leader's Pokémon. Cleffa deserved plenty of plaudits.
But now it was Beedrill's time to shine, to take advantage of her aerial capabilities, which she proved immediately by avoiding a Water Pulse.
Then another.
And another.
Barely a few seconds in and Goldeen was not giving Beedrill a chance to breathe. That Agility boost was more of a pain than Red realised.
But she could not get near the frilly fish. She was a close-range fighter, but those Water Pulses were keeping her at an arm's length. If this kept up, then it would only be a matter of time before Beedrill was knocked out by the soggy barrage. Unless…
"Reel Goldeen in with String Shot!" Red ordered.
Yes. If Beedrill could not close in on Goldeen, then it was only natural to bring Goldeen to her.
Sticky white string sought to take it by the horn.
The horn disappeared under the water.
The sticky white string hit the water and merely floated on the surface, slowly breaking apart.
Red punched his fist into his palm. Nuts to that! Why was a Goldeen being such a nuisance? They had to stop it in its tracks.
Beedrill hovered in the air, several metres above the pool's surface, her red eyes trying to penetrate the water and track Goldeen; she managed to sight white and orange streaks several times before losing them again.
"Peck!" Misty shouted, her voice reverberating off the tiled walls.
"Peck?" Red repeated.
Beedrill buzzed bemusedly.
Goldeen burst from the pool, its fins almost glowing in the Gym lights, the droplets which hopped off it sparkling too. It rammed its horn into Beedrill's abdomen and dove back into the water, safe and sound, ready for another go at chipping away at Beedrill's health.
Beedrill recoiled but recovered quickly. She fluttered her wings agitatedly and brandished her stingers.
"Peck again!"
This time Goldeen came from Beedrill's left, poking her in the side of the head. She disappeared as swiftly as she came.
Beedrill buzzed something, and Red had the slightest feeling it must have been a bad word or two she picked up from Pikachu.
Another Peck, this time to the back. Oho, so this Misty's game was it? Strike and retreat tactics? Clever. And it did not help that Peck was doing super-effective damage.
It was not looking good for Beedrill.
But they had to adapt and overcome. And it started off with…
"Block it with Fury Attack!" Red yelled.
Beedrill obliged and swung her stingers as Goldeen burst from the water to her right. One stinger connected with Goldeen's horn, an exchange of blows where neither came off worse.
However, the second Fury Attack strike completely missed countering Goldeen's immediate retry at Peck, again a strike to Beedrill's front.
The third blocked a Peck once more to the left before Beedrill got struck in the back for a second time.
Red dug his nails into his palm. It was just a matter of luck now. But how much luck did he need? So much, it appeared. Even if Beedrill was able to block the strikes, that did not mean Goldeen was going to take damage. No, he could not simply rely on Lady Luck to bless his battle. He needed to make his own luck. There had to be some reason to this Goldeen madness. There just had to be…
Wait.
Red watched on as Beedrill continued trying her best to use her Fury Attack defensively, combatting Goldeen's horn and still taking damage from Peck. There was something there. Something. It was there. He was looking at it. It was on the tip of his tongue. It was…
Yes! That was it!
"Beedrill! Block to your front!" Red shouted.
Beedrill held out a stinger in front of her, and lo and behold Goldeen appeared, incapable of laying the attack on the giant bee.
"To your left!"
Another block.
"Behind you!"
And another.
Yes! He found it! No matter how much speed Goldeen accumulated through Agility, it would still be attacking in what was becoming quite a predictable pattern.
It was over.
Misty, perhaps in a sign of cockiness, went in for another Peck. Beedrill only needed one of its Twineedles to knock the fish back into the pool, where it floated on the surface, belly up.
The call was made. Red and Beedrill had taken down one of Misty's Pokémon.
"Good job there, Red," Misty said, returning her Goldeen back to its Poké Ball and giving it a peck. "But that was more my blunder than anything." Her eyes gleamed. "You're going to have to up your game if you want the Badge."
Red smirked, but he said nothing. For one, because he thought it made him look cool. For another, there was nothing to say until the battle was over.
Misty's next Pokémon was one Red had seen many times with Leaf and Blue when they used to go to the Pallet waterfront. The Zubat of the ocean, aka Tentacool. Its body was clear and blue and lightbulb-shaped with two circular, large red crystals at either side of it and a smaller one in the centre, above its eyes which were at the base of its body. Two grey tentacles protruded from its lower body.
Tentacool, a dual Water and Poison-type Pokémon. It drifts in shallow seas. Anglers who hook them by accident are often punished by their stingers.
A Poison-type. If Red recalled his type matchups correctly, then Beedrill's Fury Attack was the only effective move they had. Maybe he should switch Pikachu in and save Beedrill for later? It did make sense.
No. Beedrill would be much more suited to taking Tentacool's potential Poison-type techniques. Now that he thought of it even more, maybe that was why Misty was choosing to use Tentacool as opposed to other Water-types; Tentacool was extremely resistant to Beedrill's STAB moves.
No matter. Red knew what to do this time.
"The battle will recommence," Luis declared.
"String Shot!" Red shouted.
Beedrill fired her sticky string at Tentacool, who was far slower than an Agilty-boosted Goldeen. The String Shot landed a directly on it.
Unfortunately, it did not do as expected and wrap Tentacool up and slow its movements, oh no. Instead, the thread melted off Tentacool's body like water dripping off wax paper, breaking apart and disappearing completely.
"Wait! What?" Red exclaimed. "Try it again, Beedrill!"
Again, Beedrill tried. Again, the String Shot failed to produce its effect.
Red pulled out his Pokédex as he ordered Beedrill to dodge Tentacool's Water Gun, a technique that was a simple stream of water aimed in Beedrill's direction.
Clear Body. This is an Ability that prevents a Pokémon's stats from being lowered.
Red's shoulders slumped. Great. That was his strategy of wrapping Tentacool in a cocoon and whaling on it gone in a puff of proverbial smoke. String Shot. Twineedle. Poison Sting. None of those attacks were going to do much or anything at all.
It was all up to Fury Attack.
Yes, Fury Attack would do a number on Tentacool.
Beedrill darted at Tentacool, zigzagging left and right, barely avoiding the Water Gun assault. She delivered two strikes from her Fury Attack, clobbering Tentacool heavily, only a Water Gun to the face ending the onslaught.
That was all they had to do. Deal enough damage with repeated Fury Attacks, avoid any more unnecessary hits, and then it would be only Misty's final Pokémon left. It was easy, wasn't it?
Apparently not. As Beedrill swooped in to give Tentacool another taste of her stingers, Misty shouted, "Use Screech!"
From the beak-like appendage on the lower half of Tentacool's body came an ear-assaulting, head-splitting, teeth-grinding sound. Red covered his ears and arched his back, trying to block the din from harming his hearing any more than it already had, his groans of pain muffled to even himself.
Beedrill was not faring any better. Screech stopped her attack and she merely hovered there, two feet from Tentacool, appearing unsure of herself and a little more delicate. Oh wait, she was two feet away from Tentacool? Oh no.
Misty smirked. "Tentacool, Knock Off."
Tentacool hit out at Beedrill with one of its tentacles, striking Beedrill far harder than it had any right to.
"Beedrill, fly up!" Red said through gritted teeth, a headache beginning to thrive in his temple. Screech. That was unexpected. Now he had to work around Beedrill having a harshly lowered defence.
The disorientated bee flew to the ceiling out of range of Tentacool's tentacles, her wings beating slower, her antennae floppy. Poor Beedrill. She had been amazing in the battle so far, had taken a lot of blows. But she could do it. She could carry on and finish off Tentacool. One more attack would doubtless take her out, but she had in within her to win it.
Red believed she would.
"Beedrill!" Red called. "One more time: Fury Attack!"
Beedrill perked up a tad and buzzed an affirmative response to Red. She sped towards Tentacool, evading another Water Gun that brushed her antennae.
She raised her stinger.
Tentacool raised his tentacle.
Fury Attack vs Knock Off.
Normal vs Dark.
Bug vs Water.
Poison vs Poison.
Tentacool's Knock Off grazed the side of Beedrill's face; Beedrill struck Tentacool right between the eyes.
A pause.
A silence.
Tentacool's eyes closed and its tentacles fell, floating harmless atop the water. Beedrill buzzed away back to Red, barely able to keep a foot above the pool, her stingers heavier than they had ever been since she evolved.
Luis made the call: Beedrill was victorious once again!
Red gave his Pokémon a hug. "Thank you, Beedrill. You're doing so well."
"Your Beedrill's really something," Misty said, returning Tentacool to its Poké Ball, giving it an affectionate kiss as she did with Goldeen's. "Taking out two of my Pokémon."
"She really is, isn't she?" Red said, petting his bug warrior.
"But this is the end of the road for you," Misty said. "Say hello to the star of the show!"
She tossed out a new Poké Ball with a flourish, revealing her third Pokémon. It was star-shaped, golden-brown in colour with a red jewel in its centre surrounded by a golden casing. It spun on a point and its central core flashed.
Staryu, a Water-type Pokémon. It appears in large numbers by seashores. At night, its central core flashed with a red light.
"Staryu," Red muttered under his breath. Louder, he asked Misty, "Does Staryu evolve into Starmie?"
"Yeah," Misty answered. "With a Water Stone. Fun fact: this Staryu is the younger sibling of my Starmie, so it's no slouch." She pirouetted on her heel. "You can give up now if you want, Red."
"Never going to happen, Misty." Of course, it was never going to happen. He still had Beedrill, and Pikachu was in his back pocket, with its super-effective attacks ready to lay siege to the Cerulean Gym.
The battle was ready to begin again, and Beedrill let off a String Shot. However, instead of wrapping Staryu up and slowing it down, it missed. Beedrill hung her head, her wings barely keeping her airborne.
Thus, in what could be considered an act of mercy, Staryu spun faster and faster like a spinning top and crunched into Beedrill's body. She landed prostrate on the floating platform nearest Red and stayed down, his special Bug-type worth her weight in gold.
With a heart that was close to bursting with pride, Red returned Beedrill and thanked her, promising her a special treat when she was recovered.
Now. Now it was the end, the final round. His victory.
"You ready, buddy?" he asked Pikachu.
Pikachu hopped forward, cheeks crackling like crazy. Red would take that as a yes.
"Oh no, an Electric-type," Misty said in mock fear. "Whatever will I do?"
Keep that bravado, Red silently told Misty. She could keep it because there was nothing she could do about Pikachu.
Yes, what could a Water-type do against an Electric-type (unless they were part-Ground, but we do not deal with semantics), especially when they fired off an Electric-type move? Like what Pikachu just did with his Thunder Shock.
Yet, just before Pikachu let loose his attack, Misty issued an order to Staryu, and its red central core sparked and took a shade of yellow.
The stream of electricity struck Staryu, and Red cheered, expecting to see Staryu reeling, already one more attack away from fainting, from him receiving his Gym Badge.
That was not the case.
Staryu merely shook itself, appearing no worse for wear.
"What the heck?" Red screamed. "That should've fried Staryu! Why does it look fine?"
Misty rolled her eyes playfully. "Another lesson, Red? Really, you should've studied all this before setting out on your journey. Okay, if you insist. This is a move called Reflect Type, and it's as it says on the tin: it gives Staryu the same typing as its opponent."
"Uh, and that means…" Red mumbled, dazed.
"And that means you're fresh out of luck if you thought you were going to zap your way to victory!" Misty declared. "Staryu, Bubble Beam!"
An explosion of bubbles gushed from Staryu's points, bursting with ferocity as they connected with Pikachu, almost sending the poor electric rodent into the drink.
So quick. So devastating. Red's fingernails drew blood from his palm. It was now an Electric-type vs Electric-type battle, except one of them still had their superior aquatic capabilities.
Fine. If that was the case, then Rock Smash would be the answer. Pikachu was fast enough to deal a critical blow to Staryu, right?
At Red's command, Pikachu rushed from one floating platform to the other, readying his tail for a strike.
Except, Staryu evaded it easily, with a side-step as it were. It then spun and drilled into Pikachu with a Rapid Spin, this time succeeding in tossing him into the pool. Disorientated, Pikachu started to paddle to the nearest platform.
Red chewed his lip. Did he… did he already ruin his chances even before throwing Pikachu into the ring? Rapid Spin. Didn't that technique raise the user's speed? Yes, it did. It was what made Blue's Wartortle's defeat of Beedrill even more pronounced. If Staryu had not managed that Rapid Spin against his weakened Beedrill before would Thunder Shock have hit before it got off Reflect Type? Should he have recalled Beedrill after her victory over Tentacool?
While Red was ruminating, Misty took advantage. "Power Gem!"
Staryu central core glittered like a precious jewel, rich and purple. The purple glow grew and Staryu emitted it as a beam of energy, sending up a massive watery spray and tossing the desperately swimming Pikachu back onto the platform he started on. Pikachu slumped on his front, bedraggled, waterlogged.
"Pikachu!" Red shouted. "Pikachu, come on. Get up!"
Gradually, Pikachu got up. He turned to Red and scowled at him. He then turned to Staryu and glared at it. The sweet hum of coursing electricity emanated from his body.
Okay, it was time for Red to rethink this. Thunder Shock would do negligible damage. Rock Smash was a no-go, as was Tail Whip. It was up to Zippy Zap, plain and simple. But…
… would that be that bad?
It was time to test out how remarkable Zippy Zap truly was.
Pikachu sped across the floating platforms, his body surrounded by electric streaks, a yellow blur. He collided with Staryu, pushing it back far enough that Misty had cause for worry.
Red could breathe a tad easier. Type ineffectiveness or not, Zippy Zap's priority and constant critical hits would more than make up for it. All they had to do was keep going.
And what began was a back and forth war between Zippy Zap and Rapid Spin, the two Pokémon smacking themselves into each other with such fierceness that Red cringed a couple of times. Staryu spun faster and faster, spinning so quickly that anyone would swear it would be capable of severing dozens of humans in a row with little effort. But no matter how quickly it spun, how fast it moved through the air, Pikachu's Zippy Zap was more than a match for it. They zoomed across the pool, defied gravity and ran along the walls, found themselves from one end of the battlefield to the other in such a spectacle of speed and agility.
But like everything in existence, the end had to arrive.
And it did.
After a final coming together, both Pokémon reeled and stared each other down (more of an expression in regard to Staryu, of course), struggling to keep their balance on the unstable floating platform.
Who would it be?
Who was about to emerge victorious?
Pikachu dropped to his knee, his ears drooped, his tail hung low.
Staryu's yellow core turned back to its original red and its five appendages sagged.
Red and Misty waited for one of the Pokémon to fall, hardly daring to breathe, hearts racing, blood pumping.
Silence.
Then Staryu's bright red core dulled and the star-shaped Pokémon fell back into the pool.
Silence.
Pikachu wiggled and wobbled, about to follow Staryu into the water, and the void. But he didn't.
He stayed standing.
He stayed conscious.
He was the victor.
Like against Brock, realisation was slow to set in. Was this it? Their second Gym Badge?
Yes, it was. Victory was theirs! Unable to control himself, Red leapt onto the floating platform and then hopped onto the one where Pikachu was swaying. He picked Pikachu up and held him close to his chest. "You did it, buddy!" he squealed. "You, Cleffa, and Beedrill really came through! That was amazing!"
Pikachu tried to slap Red, grasped that he had no energy to do so, and reluctantly accepted the hug. He vowed vengeance for later, though.
Misty skipped across the platforms and landed on Red's; they both barely kept their balance as it lurched underfoot.
"That was a great battle," she said, giving him a warm smile. "I felt for sure I'd win again with Reflect Type. That attack – Zippy Zap, was it? – really did a number on Staryu."
"Yeah," Red said. "I honestly thought Staryu becoming an Electric-type and gaining all that speed was the end for us."
"Well, it wasn't." Misty took Red's hand and placed something in it, leaving her hand in his several seconds longer than she needed to. "Anyway, you and your team have earned this: the Cascade Badge."
The Cascade Badge. Oh, how beautiful it was! A blue that reminded Red of the freshest lakes, in the shape of a drop of water. Such a minimal Badge but so perfect for what it represented.
They had done it. They were on their way to the top.
The rest of Kanto was theirs for the taking.
Upwards was the only direction to go.
