The time has finally come for Brayden's rematch with Cerulean City Gym Leader Misty! Brayden has caught an Oddish and evolved two of his other Pokémon, but will it be enough to defeat Misty's mighty Water-type Pokémon and earn the Cascade Badge? Let's find out!
"I still can't believe this Gym is also a swimming pool," Brayden said as he stepped onto the battlefield.
"What's so hard to believe about it?" Misty asked. "Water-type Pokémon fight at their best in the water! Plus, swimming is great for staying fit!"
A Gym Trainer named Diana called out the rules of the battle. "The battle between Gym Leader Misty and Brayden the challenger will now begin! Each will use three Pokémon, and substitutions are allowed for both sides! Battle, begin!"
"Oddish, you're up first!" Brayden exclaimed as he threw her Poké Ball. "Oddish Oddish!" The Weed Pokémon said as she appeared.
"You're starting with Oddish, huh? Then let's pit that cutie against mine!" Misty said as she readied a Poké Ball of her own. "Psyduck, go!"
This Pokémon was entirely yellow in color, and had a long, flat beak. "Psy?" It said.
Brayden had battled this Pokémon in their last battle, so he already knew to watch out for Psyduck's Confusion.
"Oddish, Razor Leaf!" He shouted.
Oddish launched several razor-sharp leaves at the Duck Pokémon. But Misty had a counter attack prepared. "Psyduck, use Hidden Power!"
An icy cold shockwave was projected from Psyduck, freezing the Razor Leaves on the spot, effectively nullified.
"Hidden Power…?" Brayden said, astonished.
"It's a special move that changes its type depending on the Pokémon. And my Psyduck's Hidden Power is Ice! Perfect for handling Grass-types." Misty explained.
Brayden had not anticipated this. Psyduck never used that move in their last battle. Misty must have used a TM to teach Hidden Power to Psyduck after Brayden had caught Oddish.
"Wait. She already has Confusion in her arsenal, and that move is super-effective against Oddish, too! Why'd she bother doing that?" Brayden wondered.
"Psyduck, get up close and use Fury Swipes!" Misty instructed.
The Duck Pokémon ran to Oddish and began swiping at her with his claws, but Oddish was quick on her feet and dodged every slash.
"Wait for the right moment to strike, Oddish!" Brayden told Oddish.
"No chance of that happening! Use Confusion!" Misty commanded.
Psyduck held its head in pain, and through the power of headache (as said in its Pokédex entry), struck Oddish with psychic energy and made her levitate.
"Odd?!" she cried in alarm.
Brayden, however, wasn't panicking.
"This is what I was waiting for!" he said with a grin. "Oddish, Stun Spore!"
"What?! Oh no! Psyduck, drop Oddish and get away from it!" Misty said quickly.
Unfortunately, Psyduck was in too much pain from its headache to listen. Oddish flung a bright yellow powder from her leaves onto Psyduck, paralyzing it and causing it to lose its mental hold on her. Oddish happily dropped back into the battlefield as Psyduck struggled to move.
"Good! Now use Mega Drain!" Brayden exclaimed.
Oddish attached her leaves to Psyduck's head, and a green light shone on the leaves. Psyduck's energy was drained in seconds, and it fell over as Oddish's HP was fully replenished.
"Psyduck!" Misty cried out.
Psyduck could do nothing but moan back as it lay there with its eyes dizzy. "Psssyyyy…"
"Psyduck is unable to battle!" Diana ruled.
"All right! We did it, Oddish!" Brayden exclaimed. Oddish faced him and danced about happily. "Odd! Oddish Odd!"
"Psyduck, you did your best, thank you." Misty said softly as she recalled the Duck Pokémon.
"Well, that was foolish of me," Misty said, slightly embarrassed. "Oddish are known for scattering spores."
Then, a determined expression appeared on her face. "I'm not making any more silly mistakes in this battle! Time to get serious! Go, Seadra!" Misty shouted as she threw a Great Ball.
"Seadra!" cried the Pokémon that appeared.
"That's new, too!" Brayden said as he brought the Pokédex out.
"Seadra. The Dragon Pokémon. A Water-type. It's body bristles with sharp spikes. Carelessly trying to touch it could cause fainting from the spikes."
Brayden felt a bit concerned. If physical contact with Seadra is dangerous, that meant using Mega Drain was out of the question. Still, they had Razor Leaf and Stun Spore in their arsenal.
"I'm keeping Oddish out!" Brayden said.
"Alright then!" Misty replied. "You can go first again if you want."
"We'll accept that invitation! Oddish, Razor Leaf!" Brayden called out. The leaves were shot towards Seadra, but once again, Misty was ready.
"Seadra, use Smokescreen!"
The Dragon Pokémon shot out a cloud of smoke from its mouth, and it vanished from Brayden's and Oddish's sight. "No…did our attack miss?" Brayden wondered.
An unexpected intensity filled the air as he waited for Seadra's next attack. It could attack from any angle, so dodging it would be nearly impossible.
Then, Misty finally broke the silence. "Give them an Ice Beam, Seadra!"
From Brayden's left, a frigid beam shot out of the smoke right at Oddish, and the Weed Pokémon was so startled she fell over.
Brayden immediately grabbed Oddish's Poké Ball. "Oddish, return!" He shouted. Oddish vanished inside her ball just before the Ice Beam reached her.
"Phew! That was too close for comfort." Brayden said in relief.
"A little scared of our Smokescreen strat?" Misty teased.
That remark annoyed Brayden, but he would never insult someone he counted as a friend for something like that. He reached for his next Poké Ball. "Pidgeotto, I choose you!"
"Pidg-otto!" The Bird Pokémon screeched as he immediately took to the air. The fire of determination was burning in his eyes.
"Pidgeotto, Agility, let's go!" Brayden shouted.
Pidgeotto's speed sharply increased as he flew around rapidly.
"Now, Aerial Ace!" Brayden instructed.
The Bird Pokémon slashed Seadra with his wing. But while this did cause damage to Seadra, Pidgeotto had inadvertently come into contact with Seadra's spiny fin, and the effect was immediately felt.
Pidgeotto was covered in a purple glow, and then he screeched from internal pain.
Brayden came to a horrible realization:
"Oh no! Seadra's Ability is Poison Point?!"
"That's right!" Misty confirmed. "Pidgeotto's been poisoned. It's only a matter of time before it collapses from it!"
Misty outstretched her hand as she gave Seadra its next command. "Use Ice Beam!"
Right on cue, Seadra shot the cold beam at the ailing Pidgeotto, and the Bird Pokémon fell into the water.
"Pidgeotto!" Brayden shouted at the spot the Bird Pokémon went under. This was bad. If Pidgeotto didn't get out of the water immediately, Seadra would finish him off effortlessly.
"Time for Twister, Seadra!" Misty cried with a wave of her arm.
The Dragon Pokémon waves its fins, and a massive cyclone surrounded it, before being sent towards the spot in the water where Pidgeotto went under.
"Pidgeotto! Quick Attack!" Brayden shouted at the water.
The water surface bubbled, then the Flying-type splashed out, evaded the cyclone, and charged right into Seadra's stomach, sending the Water-type hurling backwards into the water.
As Pidgeotto flew back to Brayden's side, the poison once again drained his HP. The bird was breathing heavily; he would likely not be able to take another attack.
Seadra emerged from the water, also breathing hard. Though it had only been struck twice, both Aerial Ace and Quick Attack had been critical hits.
Brayden and Misty both came to terms with this, and nodded. Both Trainers gave the same command:
"USE TWISTER!"
Seadra again surrounded itself with a cyclone, while Pidgeotto stirred one up with the flapping of his wings.
Both Twisters collided, causing all the water in the pool to ripple wildly. The sheer intensity of the wind made it challenging just to stay on your feet. As Misty resisisted the wind, she called out to Seadra.
"Use Waterfall!"
Brayden gave Pidgeotto his own command through the strong gale.
"Quick Attack!"
Both Pokémon fearlessly dove inside the mega Twister and crashed right into each other. As they did so, the mega Twister exploded!
The Gym was filled with mist, and when it cleared, both Pidgeotto and Seadra were lying in the center of the battlefield. Brayden and Misty were both stunned.
"Both Pokémon are unable to battle!" Diana ruled.
They both recalled their Pokémon, still amazed by their performances.
"I gotta admit, I wasn't expecting to see a double knockout! You're even better than I thought!" Misty admitted.
Brayden closed his eyes and smiled. "Heh, right back at ya!" he replied.
Misty held up her last ball.
"Well, you know exactly who's next. Are you prepared for your final opponent?"
She threw it, and out came Misty's literal star player, Starmie. Brayden still had Oddish and Wartortle at full power, but he knew he had to play correctly, lest Starmie dominate him like last time.
"Oddish, let's do this!"
"Oddish!" cried the Weed Pokémon.
Brayden had only one thing in mind for Oddish: paralyze Starmie at all costs. Doing so would slow down the speedy Water- and Psychic-type and give Wartortle a needed edge to use the Dark-type move Bite. The question was, would they be able to land Stun Spore before Starmie's Psychic knocked out Oddish?
"Oddish, use Acid!" Brayden ordered.
The Weed Pokémon launched a ball of corrosive liquid, but Starmie simply spun away from it without any command from Misty.
"Just like last time. It's just too quick and too intelligent for my Pokémon to attack normally," Brayden thought to himself. "Still, Oddish and I worked out a strategy. We just need Misty to call for the right move!"
Unfortunately, Misty's first command was Swift, and Starmie shot star-shaped rays at Oddish.
"Oddish, try to stop it with Razor Leaf!" Brayden cried.
Oddish sent the leaves flying with a spin of her head, and miraculously, the leaves cancelled out the star rays and kept going towards Starmie.
"Come on, do it! Call for Rapid Spin!" Brayden thought desperately.
As luck would have it, that is precisely what Misty did.
"Starmie, use Rapid Spin!"
The Mysterious Pokémon spun right past the Razof Leaves and made a beeline for Oddish.
Oddish knew what to do, she just had to time it just right.
"You can do it, Oddish! I know you can!" Brayden exclaimed. After Starmie struck, it started moving back towards Misty, but…
There was a stowaway aboard the starship.
Oddish had managed to cling onto Starmie!
"But how?!" Misty cried, completely floored. "Starmie, shake it off! Quickly!"
Starmie stopped where it was and began spinning vertically instead of horizontally. This change caused Oddish to get dizzy, but she held on with all her might, as Brayden had instructed prior to the battle.
"That's it, Oddish! Now use Stun Spore!" Brayden exclaimed.
The yellow powder exploded onto Starmie, and the paralysis took effect, slowing Starmie to a crawl.
"That's not good!" Misty said fearfully.
"It's good for us, though!" Brayden grinned. "Oddish, follow up with Mega Drain!"
Just as with Psyduck, Oddish's leaves glowed, and Starmie's energy was absorbed.
At this point, Misty appeared to have let the tension get to her.
"Starmie, Psychic!" she cried angrily.
Starmie fight through its paralysis and crushed Oddish with its psychic waves, before flinging the Weed Pokémon backwards.
"Now, Swift!" Misty commanded.
As Oddish sailed towards the back wall of the Gym, Starmie's star rays shot through the air and collided with the little Grass-type.
"No! Oddish!" Brayden shouted as Oddish collapsed.
"Ooooddddd…" Oddish dizzily replied.
"Oddish is unable to battle!" Diana ruled.
Brayden couldn't believe that Misty had been so cruel to his Oddish. He felt somewhat betrayed.
"If you want to play that way, I'll oblige! Go, Wartortle!"
As if he had sensed his friends' hurt feelings, Wartortle emerged from the ball looking a little concerned.
"War?" he asked Brayden.
Wartortle's concern puzzled Brayden, but he pretended to not care.
"Attack Starmie with Bite!" Brayden shouted.
But Wartortle looked back and forth between Brayden, Starmie and Misty, unsure of what exactly he should do.
Misty saw this and chose to not continue attacking.
"What's the matter?" she asked.
Brayden looked at Wartortle, anxiety filling his soul. "What are you doing? We're in a Gym Battle!" he said to the Turtle Pokémon.
Wartortle still didn't respond.
"If you don't continue the battle in the next three minutes, we'll have to rule this battle as a loss for you!" Diana called out.
Brayden began to panic, and in this panic he began impatiently shouting at Wartortle to attack.
"You have to attack! What are you waiting for?!"
Time is running out quickly for Brayden! Will he be able to gather his emotions and get back in sync with Wartortle? Or will the coveted Cascade Badge remain out of their reach?! Stay tuned!