The Story of Silver Ketchum
Chapter 6- Battle for the Boulderbadge
To make a long story short, our heroes had arrived safely in Pewter City. After a quick stop at the Pokémon Center, Jacen said goodbye to Silver and Mew. After all, hadn't he only been traveling with them until they got to Pewter? As she watched him walk away, Silver felt a strange lump in her throat. She quickly shook off the feeling, and set about finding some other trainers to battle. Although her Pokémon beat two other trainers' easily, her victories were strangely hollow without Jacen.
After a rather restless sleep at the Pokémon Center, Silver awoke to an overcast and gloomy day. Deciding that her three Pokémon companions were strong enough to beat the Gym leader, Silver headed into the center of Pewter City with Mew by her side. Before long, the imposing stone structure of the Gym loomed into view. Silver dragged the heavy doors open, and stepped cautiously into the seemingly abandoned building.
"Hello?" she called, "Anybody here?"
A boy about her age stepped into view. (Hint: imagine Brock's twin brother)
"I am Stoney, the Gym leader. Do you wish to challenge me…" the boy trailed off in mid-sentence. He suddenly rushed up to Silver, grabbed her hand, went down on his knees and begged, "Will you go out with me?" (See, he even has Brock's abnormally high hormone level!)
Silver was at a loss for words. "Uh, all I really wanted was a Boulderbadge…"
"Okay, sorry. Um, you know the League rules, we will use two Pokémon each. Ready?"
"Yeah! Go, Mew!"
"Golem, GO!"
The hulking, boulderlike Pokémon materialized out of Stoney's Pokéball. Mew let out a startled squeak at the sight of the behemoth.
"C'mon, Mew. You know you can beat it." Silver smiled at the little Pokémon.
"Mew!"
"That's the spirit! Use your Psywave attack!"
"Golem, block its Psychic energy with your Rock Throw!"
Several large rocks fell out of the ceiling, attempting to block the bolts of Psy energy Mew was emitting. Most of them effectively blocked the attack, but a few were blasted apart by particularly powerful shots and went on to damage the health of Mew's opponent. Seeing this, Mew decided to use her Psychic telekinesis to beat the Golem at its own game. Even Silver was surprised when several of Golem's stones came hurtling back at it.
Even though it was becoming weak, Golem still was able to use its devastating Tackle to pound Mew into the floor. But Mew was too clever for it. Even though Mew knew she could not escape the Golem's assault, she backed so close to the wall that Golem had no choice but to ram into the wall after knocking her out. "Go…" it moaned, falling over. It was out like a light. Both trainers recalled their Pokémon.
"You haven't trained that Mew very well. When's it going to learn to obey your commands, and not act on its own?" Stoney remarked.
"You worry about your Pokémon, and I'll worry about mine. I trust Mew," Silver snapped.
"Whatever. Go, Ebonex!"
"What the…" Silver snapped open her Pokédex.
"Ebonex. The evolved form of Onix. This rock cobra is roughly twice as big as a Gyarados, with twice the power. Few attacks are effective against it, but it has the same weaknesses as a rock Pokémon," beeped Albert the Pokédex.
The gargantuan snake that burst out of Stoney's Pokéball was staring menacingly at Silver. It was made of pitch-black boulders but otherwise looked like a huge Arbok.
"Okay… Go, PIKABLU!"
"Pika-pi-ka-blu! Pi!"
"Ha! That pipsqueak couldn't hurt a flea!" laughed Stoney.
Silver knelt next to Pikablu. "Poor little Pikablu. Everyone underestimates you. Go show that overgrown pebble what you're made of, Pikablu!" Silver whispered. She straightened up and said, more loudly, "Pikablu, Thunderbubble, NOW!"
In case anyone has never heard of this attack, you should really have the chance to witness it. The Pokémon using it first spits a stream of water and bubbles at its opponent. It then lets out an electric shock, charging the water with a deadly amount of electricity. When the charged water hits the opposing Pokémon, the current surges through its body, usually with devastating effects.
And this was what happened now. Ebonex roared and slammed its body against the ground in agony. Unfortunately, this created an earthquake, which tossed Pikablu about like a rag doll. Both Pokémon were damaged sufficiently.
Seeing the effects of Ebonex's attack, Stoney made a decisive move. "Ebonex, use Earthquake!"
"Pikablu, dodge the seismic waves and keep using Thunderbubble!"
Although its rotund body was rather hard to move around, Pikablu was able to dodge most of Ebonex's assaults. Another Thunderbubble attack hit, causing Ebonex more damage.
"Ebonex, Harden!"
Ebonex glowed with renewed defensive power. Unfortunately, this allowed Pikablu to land a powerful Thunderwave attack at Silver's command. Even though Ebonex had regained a lot of defense, the attack was too strong for it. It roared once in agony, and crashed to the floor.
Stoney smiled sheepishly. "You win. You're better than you look.
"Thanks."
Stoney handed Silver a tiny silver pin. "A Boulderbadge, for defeating me. Um…you wouldn't reconsider going out with me, would you?"
"Sorry." Silver smiled at him, and took the badge.
Silver left Pewter City later that day after healing her companions. She and Mew walked toward the omnipresent shadow of Mt. Moon, not knowing what to expect next on their adventure…
To Be Continued