Chapter 7: A Rival?
4 days later, Friday, July 18th, 2005, 6:01 am
It's early in the morning, and most of everyone was sleeping peacefully, dreaming of who-knows-what. However, their valuable sleep was soon interrupted by a blaring horn.
"WAKE UP CALL!"
Jimmy, along with everyone else woke up with a start. He looked outside and saw the person who he should have expected to see, Vincent. The brown-haired boy was sporting his traditional evil smile, probably thinking about how awesome he thinks he is, even though he is horribly mistaken. Eventually, both Jimmy and Khoury were dressed and they stepped outside to confront the boy they were unfortunately friends with. When they got there, Vincent gave them a confident smirk, "Well, seems like you guys slept well."
Jimmy rolled his eyes at him, which he's probably done over a thousand times in his life thanks to Vincent, "Yeah, really good, thanks for the wonderfully pleasant awakening."
Khoury rolled his eyes as well, even though he had met Vincent just ten days ago, he could tell that he was going to make the journey feel longer than it would be. He glared at the older boy, "At this rate, you'll give everyone insomnia over fear of falling into another one of your stupid pranks."
Vincent scoffed, "Well Casey and Marina did it to me and Jimmy that one morning, I was just getting payback, sorry you two had to get involved."
Khoury shook his head, "Well, something I learned from traveling with Lyra is to never wake her up suddenly."
Judging by Khoury's tone, Vincent didn't want to know any details. He fearfully turned around to see if the female brunette was anywhere near him; thankfully for him, only Casey and Marina were there.
"Um, good morning Marina, Casey. Is Lyra awake?" Vincent asked the two female trainers.
Just then, the sharp feeling of pain presented itself on Vincent's head, causing the prankster to clutch his head out of surprise.
Angry from being awaken so early, Lyra had whacked Vincent on his head with a book. Where did the book come from? Who knows. How did Lyra manage to hit Vincent without him seeing her? Who knows.
Lyra gave the older boy a glare; "Wake me up like that again, you answer to the book. Got it?"
"Well, good morning to you too." Vincent said sarcastically, earning himself another whack on the head.
Everyone else laughed at his predicament, but they were soon shut up when Lyra turned to them with the same glare; "That goes for all ya'll."
Calming down, Lyra returned to her usual self, "So, what do we have on the schedule today?"
Jimmy checked his PokeNav, which is basically like a GPS and an iPhone put together. He noticed that they were close to Goldenrod city, but it had a red "WARNING" icon next to it. Puzzled, Jimmy checked for more info on the location. After a bit of reading, he was shocked to learn that Goldenrod had been attacked by Team Rocket a few days ago. Apparently, the gym leader Whitney and a few other local trainers managed to hold them off for a time, but they were unsuccessful, and most of the city was ransacked. Possessions, Pokemon, and anything of value were all stolen.
Jimmy relayed the information to the group, leaving them as confused as he was, "While they are thieves, it's not like Team Rocket to just lead a full-scale attack on a large city like Goldenrod, why would they do that?" Khoury asked.
"They could be doing it for attention." Casey mused, "Perhaps to get people to fear them. Hey Jimmy, check Team Rocket's criminal status."
Jimmy nodded and looked up the criminal threat levels, an website made for the police to use to organize criminal priority, though, it was open for the public to use, but not edit. Jimmy clicked on the "Organizations" tab and scrolled through the options.
Criminal organization threat levels
Team Aqua - Completely reformed as a ocean preservation organization. No longer engaged in criminal activities. Works alongside Team Magma
Leader: Shelly Lanton
Based in: Hoenn
Threat level: Very low
Team Magma - Completely reformed as a land preservation organization. No longer engaged in criminal activities. Works alongside Team Aqua
Leader: Tabitha Carrigan
Based in: Hoenn
Threat level: Very low
Team Galactic - Completely reformed as a space research organization. No longer engaged in criminal activities.
Leader: Charon Silverstein
Based in: Sinnoh
Threat level: Very low
Team Plasma: Used to be a huge criminal organization. Ever since its former leader and top scientist were arrested, its relevance has gone down. They still engage in criminal activities.
Leader: No data available
Based in: Unova
Threat level: Medium-low
Team Flare: Used to be a huge criminal organization. Though, it's been completely disbanded ever since their leader went missing.
Leader: Lysandre Excandescunt (formerly)
Based in: Kalos
Threat level: -
Team Skull: A group of organized delinquents that go around causing trouble.
Leader: Guzma Maltby
Based in: Alola
Threat level: Low
Team Rocket: A group of criminals seeking power. Were relatively quiet until recently when they started to launch large attacks on big cities.
Leader: Giovanni Terram(This is old information so it could be incorrect)
Based in: Kanto and Johto
Threat level: High
"Yeah, they changed the threat level to 'high'." Jimmy said, "That means that people from all over the region are advised to keep some decent protection in their homes."
"We should make sure to contact our parents about this so that they know." Marina suggested.
Jimmy nodded in approval, "Good idea, let's do that, then eat breakfast." Then he turned to Casey, "It's your turn to make us some food."
Casey nodded, "If you insist. Prepare for trouble, because you all will lose your taste buds after tasting my horrid cooking."
"And make it double, 'cause I ain't waiting for bad food." Vincent mumbled.
Everyone quickly dialed their parents and informed them on the situation. Lyra's mother requested for her daughter to come back to New Bark where it would be safer, but the brunette assured her that she would be fine with the others. After everyone was done, Casey made breakfast. Forty-five minutes later, the group had finished breakfast and had packed up all of their things and started their trek to Goldenrod city. Around 8:30 AM, the group had reached their destination.
For a place that had been recently attacked, the city was looking decent. A few of the stores were closed, probably from being robbed; and there was debris in a lot of places. In spite of all that, it seemed the city's inhabitants were doing fine. The group also noticed a few construction workers rebuilding damaged buildings, there was even a group of teens clearing the debris so that cars could access the roads easier. Jimmy was curious about this group and separated himself from his friends temporarily to talk to them.
Jimmy started walking up to them to get a closer look at their work, a teenage girl noticed him and approached the boy.
"Hello, may I help you?" she said.
Jimmy acknowledged her, "Hello, may I ask what you are doing?"
She smiled, "I'm glad you asked, we are helping remove debris off the road so that people can get around the town. It's a service project that our church is doing, so that we can help make people's day a little bit better."
Jimmy nodded and looked at the work they were doing, lots of teens were moving debris away from the road so that cars could get by. There were a few sharp objects on the road, which were handled by older people.
Jimmy's eyes then wandered over to a team of 4 teens crowded around a rock trying to lift it. At first, Jimmy was confused by this, since the rock was already off of the road. Then, after they succeed in lifting the rock, a tiny wounded creature was now visible underneath where the rock was. The 18-year-old identified the Pokemon as Shuckle, a tiny creature that lives inside a hard shell, this particular Shuckle's shell seemed deformed due to the weight of the rock, however.
After the stone was off the rock/bug-type, another teen scooped up the tiny creature in his arms and rushed it to the nearest Pokemon Center.
"If it weren't for them, that Shuckle may not have lived much longer." the girl explained, "Though their efforts were life-changing to the Shuckle, even some of the smallest acts of kindness can brighten somebody's day."
Jimmy nodded, seeing the truth in that.
"Interested in joining us?" the girl asked.
"I would, but I have to join back up with my friends, we have some important business to attend to here." Jimmy explained.
The girl nodded, understanding, "I see, thanks for stopping by."
The two bid their farewells and Jimmy ran back to join his friends, who were wondering where he was. Soon, they noticed him and greeted him.
"Would have been nice if you told us you were going to ditch us, I didn't even get to make you a farewell card." Vincent said to the boy.
"Good thing too, since your handwriting is more atrocious than a Gyrados. That's saying something considering Gyrados is literally the 'Atrocious Pokemon'." Jimmy answered smugly.
"Oh snap!" Casey shouted.
"No one asked for your opinion Williams." Vincent said sarcastically.
"Alright, alright, let's go find Whitney. If anyone here has any leads to Team Rocket, it's her." Marina proposed.
Everyone agreed and started walking to the Goldenrod gym, which was only a few blocks away. Everyone except Khoury and Casey didn't have the best memories of the gym itself. At the time, Whitney was very difficult to defeat, mainly because of her infamous Miltank. It took the trainers of the group at least 2-3 attempts to beat her.
After they walked in, they saw a young trainer battling Whitney, so the group respectfully waited in the stands until the battle was finished. As they had expected, Whitney dominated the match.
"Aw man..." the trainer said disappointed.
Whitney returned her Miltank to its Pokeball and walked up to the young trainer, "Hey, good match; train hard, and maybe you'll defeat me."
The trainer smiled at her, "Thanks, we'll make sure to work hard and beat you the next time."
The young trainer then walked out of the gym and the group walked up to the pink-haired gym leader. Whitney didn't recognize them as she had met way too many challengers to remember them all. "Hello, welcome to the Goldenrod City Gym. Are you all here for a gym battle?" she asked them.
"Most of us have already battled you, and those who didn't weren't interested in collecting badges." Jimmy explained, "I'm Jimmy, we are actually here because we need your help."
Whitney nodded, understanding, "Ah I see, what do you think I could assist you all on?"
"My friends and I are putting together a team of people who want to stop Team Rocket's crimes. We know an organization of that size solely built on committing crimes can be very dangerous. I know that you have seen that firsthand Whitney." Jimmy explained .
Whitney nodded solemnly, "Yes, being unable to defend my home city was one of the most devastating moments of my life."
Marina spoke next: "I can't say I know how you feel, none of us can. Could you perhaps explain it to us?"
Whitney gave the Bluenette a smile, "I appreciate your concern, but I'm alright honestly. I got over the feeling a couple of days ago."
"Ah, that's good to hear." Marina said.
"Anyway, we have two questions for you." Jimmy said to the woman.
"Alright, give 'em to me." the gym leader responded.
"First off, do you have any leads to where Team Rocket could have gone after the attack?" Jimmy asked.
Whitney pondered the question for a moment before responding; "Kind of, I've spotted a few on the north side of the city while taking strolls, but they always left in a hurry before I could confront them. For a major threat to the region, they aren't very good at hiding."
The boy nodded, "That's good to know, and we should be thankful that they aren't better at Hide and Seek."
Jimmy's joke earned a chuckle from Vincent.
"Okay second question." Jimmy began, "Would you be interested in being a part of our team? I know you have gym leader duties so you wouldn't travel around with us; but you would contact us about Team Rocket sightings as well as helping us out whenever you can."
"Yeah, I really think I'd like that." Whitney said, "Johto's not going down without a fight, and I want to be a part of it."
"Great, Welcome aboard! Let's exchange numbers and then I'll give you everyone else's contact information so that we can keep each other posted." Jimmy said.
While they were exchanging contacts, Lyra piped up; "Doesn't she have to take the entrance exam like me and Khoury?"
Khoury answered his childhood friend, "Whitney's a gym leader who is known for her incredible skill in battling. We didn't have much background information Jimmy could go off of, so he and Marina had to test us."
"That's exactly right Khoury." Marina confirmed.
Jimmy had successfully exchanged information with Whitney and sent the contacts of his other team members to her. After a getting to know the rest of the team, Whitney spoke up; "Do you think I should contact the other gym leaders about your team?"
"Please do, we need as much help as we can get." Casey answered her.
"Okay, but I can't get in touch with all of them, Mahogany Town and Blackthorn City have new gym leaders and I don't have a way to contact them yet." Whitney said.
Jimmy shifted his head sideways in confusion, "I know that Blackthorn City has a new gym leader ever since Clair became champion, but Mahogany Town has a new gym leader? What happened to Pryce?"
Whitney's gaze dropped a little in sadness, "Pryce... passed away a few months ago. The new gym leader is his grandson."
Silence filled the room, then Vincent spoke up, "I had no idea that Pryce died. I'm sorry to hear that."
"Yeah, he was getting old, and he just couldn't go on anymore." Whitney said solemnly. "He lived a very long life though, and he only started shutting down a few weeks before he passed; Pryce isn't the kind of person who would want to be in that kind of state for years. I can safely say that he truly lived his life to the fullest, helping others in need, inspiring young trainers, and never losing his battling spirit."
"Yes... it's quite shocking to think that Pryce is really gone; he looked like he was in great shape when I battled him, but that was years ago." Jimmy said.
"Do you know what his grandson is like?" Lyra asked.
"Only a little, but I know enough to know how I feel about him. Alias, Pryce's grandson isn't the kindest individual. He came off as extremely rude and impatient when I first met him. It's actually shocking to think he's related to Pryce considering how different they are. The only similarity between the two is that they both use Ice-type Pokemon." Whitney commented on Mahogany Town's new gym leader.
"Well he doesn't sound like a pleasant person, he should fix his attitude!" Casey said.
Many of the others nodded an agreement, but Marina shook her head, "I agree with you Casey, but we must also recognize that we have no idea why Alias acts that way. Maybe Alias didn't have an easy life, or maybe his grandfather's death had a huge mental impact on him. Even if he does have irrational behavior, we should be mindful that he is a human being, who goes through hardships like the rest of us."
"Ah yes, that is true Marina. We shouldn't be so hard on him for having behavior; though, that doesn't mean he should try and fix it. I would know, having been there myself." Whitney said.
Jimmy and his two childhood friends nodded in agreement. Back in their early trainer days, they had faced Whitney when she was the new gym leader of Goldenrod City. But when they had beaten her, she threw a serious temper tantrum, which is crazy considering that she was older than them. Though, it seemed that her attitude had changed since then, especially in Lyra's case where she battled Whitney after the gym leader changed her irrational behavior.
"Well, then I guess this Alias person will be the first gym leader I battle in a while since I'm saving Jasmine until I feel that I am ready to take her on." Lyra said thoughtfully.
There's something I don't quite get though." Casey said to Lyra, "If Jasmine's Steelix is going to trigger a negative response from you, couldn't you ask her to switch to a different team?"
"That's not how it works Casey." Whitney spoke up, "Part of beating a gym leader is defeating their signature Pokemon in the battle. If a challenger beats the leader in a battle but the signature Pokemon wasn't used on the gym leader's side, the victory does not warrant them a badge. For example, my signature Pokemon is Miltank, while Jasmine's is Steelix."
"That's why I want to battle Jasmine at the absolute latest so that I will be the most prepared." Lyra explained.
"'Ah, thanks for clearing that up you two." Casey said, now understanding.
Whitney was a little confused from the exchange and asked what they were talking about. Lyra explained her condition to the woman so that she knew what was up.
"You have quite an ambitious goal for the limitations you have." Whitney said to the younger girl; "I do wish you luck in overcoming your weakness though, in spite of how hard it may be."
After a few more minutes of discussing, Jimmy and his friends left the gym to go check out the locations of the Team Rocket sightings; and also because another trainer walked in to challenge Whitney to a battle.
"Whitney's changed a lot since the last time I saw her." Vincent mused, breaking the silence.
"No kidding, I'm glad too." Marina responded.
"Hey, I know it's still a long way off, but do you have an idea on what Pokemon you'll use against Alias?" Khoury asked his childhood friend.
"Cubone and Bayleef are out of the question since they are both weak to ice; since gym battles are usually 3 on 3, I think the rest of my team will do fine against him, after all, Blitzle does know Flame Charge." Lyra responded.
"That makes sense, but most gym leaders have methods to counter their weaknesses, so you must be prepared for that." Vincent spoke up.
"I know that, I have five badges anyway." Lyra stated.
The group reached the destination and started looking around for clues, but nothing of interest came up. So instead of looking for Team Rocket, Jimmy suggested that they join a few of the volunteer groups that he saw before they talked to Whitney. Jimmy stated that they shouldn't only fight Team Rocket to stop them, but they should also help people who had been affected by the evil organization. Everyone agreed with the boy's proposition and went off to do some service.
3 hours later, it's now 12:01 PM with everyone at the edge of the city
After a while of service, the group met up at the city exit, which is connected to a path that would lead to Ecruteak City. The team had also let out a few a few of their Pokemon to help them work beforehand and had not returned them to their Pokeballs yet. They wanted to see if there were any more leads to Team Rocket before they decided on what to do for the rest of the day.
The team looked around for a little bit, but like before, they didn't find anything of use to them. It seemed that they had the rest of the day to themselves.
Suddenly, Lyra's Marill's ears perked up as if it had heard something. This action did not go unnoticed by Lyra.
"Something the matter Marill?" Lyra asked her faithful Water-type.
The Aqua Mouse Pokemon pointed its tiny arm in the direction of an alleyway.
"Huh, a dark alleyway, seems pretty cliche." Casey commented.
Jeez, you guys have standards.
"HEY! You can't just make comments whenever you want Penguinn! Now do 100 Russian push-ups." Vincent yelled.
"Anyway, should we go and see what Marill is so worked up about?" Marina suggested.
"I guess we should." Lyra responded.
The group cautiously entered the alleyway to see if they could find anything. As far as alleyways go, this one didn't look as bad as it could be. There weren't many Rattata roaming around, and the dumpster wasn't overflowing at all. The place wasn't exactly sanitary, but it was about as clean as a city alleyway could get.
"Do you think Team Rocket are down here?" Casey asked to no one in particular.
"If they are, it'd be weird if the police haven't checked this place yet. A dark alleyway would probably be the first place you'd look for criminals." Jimmy responded.
"Hey I've been meaning to ask. Where did you go off to when you left us earlier Jimmy?" Lyra asked.
"I saw a group of people picking debris off the road, and I wanted to know who they were." Jimmy explained, "I talked to this girl who's apart of their group about it; she said that members of a church she's a part of were doing a service project so that people could get across the road."
"Anything else?" Lyra asked.
"Nope, I just wanted to know what they were trying to accomplish." Jimmy answered.
"I admire those people who would put aside part of their free time just to help others." Marina said, giving her input, "It makes me happy to know that we have people like that in a society where we hardly do anything ourselves."
"Yep, I feel the same way." Jimmy agreed.
Suddenly, a feminine yelp was heard from around the corner. Instantly raising their awareness, the group started running to see what the commotion was about. When they rounded the corner of the alleyway, they saw three figures. One of them was a girl who appeared to be around their age, while the other two were adults with familiar black uniforms. In front of the two adults were an Arbok and a Weezing
"Give me back Meowth!" the girl said in distress.
"No, there's no way we could give up a Pokemon that is impossible to find in this region." the grunt laughed. He was holding a bag over his shoulder that appeared to be wriggling, maybe with the girl's Meowth inside.
"Hey, let's go help her out!" Lyra suggested.
Everyone nodded in agreement and ran over to the scene before them.
The girl angrily took out a Pokeball and threw it, revealing a Pokemon no one else in the area had seen before, not even Lyra and Khoury who visited regions like Sinnoh and Unova.
The creature stood on 4 legs and had a yellow and grey color scheme. It only stood about 3 feet tall, but Khoury could tell it was very well-raised. Based on its colors, the group guessed that it was an electric-type.
The girl issued a command, "Boltund, Use Psychic Fangs on Weezing!"
The creature obeyed and its fangs turned a light purple color and it raced towards the poison-type at a very fast speed.
"Use Smog." the grunt said plainly.
"Arbok, use Earthquake." the other grunt commanded.
The Poison Gas Pokemon levitated upward to avoid Boltund's Psychic Fangs and released gas from the openings in its body. The gas washed over the Dog Pokemon, damaging it with its poisonous content. Next, the Arbok focused its power and ground began to rumble, causing parts of the ground to jut out at Boltund, doing super effective damage. The Dog Pokemon ran back to the front of its trainer, far from fainting, but still damaged from the two attacks.
"Just give it up girl, each of us have six Pokemon, you won't be able to take both of us out." The grunt with the Weezing belittled the girl.
"Maybe not, but we can." a voice said behind Boltund's trainer.
The girl turned around to see the group with their Pokemon out, "What did you say about her being outnumbered?" Jimmy taunted the two grunts.
The Team Rocket agents took one look at the Pokemon in front of them and instantly tried to flee, without another word.
"Well, they aren't stupid enough to stick around after that." Vincent mumbled.
"Hey! They still have Meowth!" The girl said.
The two grunts were still running when a Pokemon instantly appeared in front of them. It was Marina's Xatu, who had just used Teleport.
Reacting quickly, one of the grunts commanded his Arbok to use Crunch on the Mystic Pokemon, aiming for the super effective hit.
"Fly up then use Psychic!" Marina ordered.
Arbok bared its fangs and lunged toward the psychic/flying-type, but the latter took flight to dodge. Xatu's eyes glowed blue, and then picked up the two Team Rocket Pokemon with its psychic powers; then it smashed them on the paved ground. The two Pokemon got up, damaged from the super effective attack, but still able to fight.
"You should just give up, there are seven of us and only two of you." Vincent said to them in an intimidating voice.
Jimmy nodded, "I suggest you let go of this girl's Meowth if you want to leave. We'll leave you alone if you do."
The grunts stood there for a moment, then the one holding the bag carelessly tossed it to them and they both ran off.
"You're just going to let them go?" The girl asked confused.
"Nope." Jimmy said pointing to where the grunts were running. The two Rocket members rounded the corner of the alley, a few seconds passed then blue and red lights started flashing, accompanied by the sound of police sirens.
"Those guys are going to jail." Khoury said.
"Huh?" The girl said, even more confused.
"Before we showed ourselves, Khoury called the police so that they couldn't escape." Lyra explained; "He's thinks ahead."
Casey picked up the bag that contained the girl's Meowth and opened it, and got quite a shock.
The Pokemon inside the bag looked like a Meowth, but it looked drastically different at the same time. Instead of thin, white fur, this creature had thick, grey fur. It's eyes were huge, and were colored orange instead of white. The last major difference was that this Meowth's charm on its head was dark grey in color instead of a bright gold. To sum it up, it was unlike any Meowth she had ever seen.
"Uh... about your Meowth..." Casey began.
"Oh that's right, this Meowth would look different to you guys. Me and my Meowth are both from the Galar region, which is far away from Johto." the girl explained to the group.
The Meowth caught sight of its trainer and instantly ran toward her, hugging the girl's leg when it got smiled at her Pokemon and picked it up in her arms; "I'm glad your okay Meowth."
"Meowth." The Scratch Cat Pokemon replied.
The Meowth then crawled over the girl and hung on to the girl's back, which the latter didn't seem to mind. "Meowth are very different in my home region than they are in yours, they battle differently, and they have different habits." the girl explained to them.
"Ah I see." Casey said, now understanding the situation a little better. "Uh, we haven't caught your name yet." Casey said.
"Oh sorry, my name is Alexis, I'm a Pokemon trainer from the Galar region." the girl replied.
"Casey, me and everyone else here are native to Johto." the purple-haired girl introduced herself.
"So what brings you to Johto Alexis? I'm Lyra by the way." the Brunette said introducing herself.
"I'm here to compete in the Pokemon League since I didn't do so well in the Galar Pokemon League." Alexis explained.
"So you're competing in the Pokemon League? Same here!" Lyra said.
"Wow, that's really cool; that would make us rivals then! How many badges do you have?" Alexis asked Lyra.
"Only five, I'm going to Mahogany Town for the sixth one. You?" Lyra answered.
"Already got them all."
"Wow, that makes you quite a few steps ahead of me, considering you've already competed in the Galar Pokemon League." Lyra said.
"Well, you never know, want to have a Pokemon battle to see?" Alexis said, itching for a battle.
"Would I? Alright go-" Lyra said before Khoury caught her arm.
"Do you really want to battle in the middle of a cramped alleyway Lyra?" he said, trying to be the voice of reason.
"Oh right..." Lyra said, embarrassed by her competitive nature.
The group of teens left the alleyway and headed to the Pokemon Center so that Alexis's Boltund could be healed from Team Rocket's attacks; Alexis also wanted to make sure Meowth wasn't experiencing any type of mental trauma after being quite literally stuffed into a bag, better safe than sorry.
After Boltund's state was recovered and Meowth was confirmed to have suffered from no mental issues, the group headed out to a nearby battlefield so that Lyra and Alexis could have their battle.
Jimmy offered to referee the battle; "This will be a one-on-one Pokemon battle between trainer Lyra and trainer Alexis! Trainers, send out your Pokemon!"
"Bayleef, battle time!" Lyra sent out her starter Pokemon.
Lyra's Pokeball revealed a yellow dinosaur-like creature with a leaf attached to its head. It also has green petal-like protrusions attached it its neck.
"Time to shine Meowth!" Alexis released her Meowth from its Pokeball.
The odd-looking Meowth revealed itself and prepared to battle.
"Battle... begin!" Jimmy announced.
Lyra analyzed her opponents so that she could formulate a strategy; "Meowth's a normal-type, so only fighting-type moves will be super effective against it, Meowth is also immune to ghost-type attacks as well. Bayleef doesn't know any moves of either type, so any of my attacks will do fine against it."
"Use Magical Leaf!" Lyra commanded Leaf Pokemon.
Bayleef focused its energy and created colorful leaves that sped towards the Scratch Cat Pokemon.
Alexis didn't bother to tell Meowth to dodge since the Magical Leaf would just home in on it until they hit. Instead, she opted for a different strategy; "Use Metal Claw to cut those leaves!"
Meowth's claws hardened as it held it's arms in front of it. Then it slashed the grass-type attack with its Metal Claws.
"Now attack!" Alexis ordered.
Still using Metal Claw, Meowth raced towards the Grass-type and slashed it with the Steel-type move, damaging the Leaf Pokemon.
Meanwhile, Khoury appeared to be bothered by something, noticing his expression, Casey turned to him; "Something the matter?"
"I don't think Meowth should be able to learn Metal Claw, I'm not entirely sure though, but I've never seen a Meowth use that move." Khoury answered.
"Hmmm... maybe it has something to do with the fact that this isn't a Meowth we are familiar with; maybe this variant can learn different moves from it's Kantonian version." Casey mused
"You might be onto something Casey, but let's just watch the battle now." Khoury answered.
"Now that it's close, use Poison Powder! Then use Magical Leaf" Lyra commanded Bayleef.
Bayleef's petals sprayed a purple gas onto Meowth, then created another cluster of leaves to fire at the Scratch Cat Pokemon.
Both attacks hit Meowth, causing it to fall backward from the impact. But surprisingly, it stood up, not appearing particularly damaged by the two attacks.
Lyra was shocked by Meowth's endurance, the experience from competing in the Pokemon League must have made it like that. However, Lyra wasn't too concerned, she knew that the poison would help her win the battle.
"Use Giga Drain now!" Lyra ordered.
Bayleef's reached into the ground and they attempted to grab Meowth from under.
"Jump up and use Throat Chop!" Alexis called out to her partner.
As the vines were about to grab the Scratch Cat Pokemon, the latter jumped up and readied it's hand.
"Use Reflect to protect yourself!" Lyra attempted to lessen the impact of the move.
A shiny barrier covered Bayleef's skin as Meowth made contact. The attack hurt Bayleef, but the impact was lessened thanks to Reflect.
By now, Lyra would have expected Meowth to show signs of being poisoned, but it still looked perfectly fine. "Why isn't the poison working?" Lyra accidentally wondered out loud.
Alexis smirked, "Even though I don't like offering information to my opponents, I'll say this: Pokemon from other regions can be very different, sometimes different enough to have a completely different type."
The group was completely shocked by this revelation, Pokemon in the same species but of a different type was unheard of where they live.
Lyra was in the most panic since she was trying to decipher what type it could be; "My poison didn't work on it, so it could be a poison or steel-type. Whichever of the two it is doesn't matter, grass-type moves won't be very effective either way and it's immune to being poisoned."
"Alright Meowth, use Hone Claws!" Alexis commanded her Pokemon.
Meowth slashed it's claws at nothing in particular, which would seem useless to someone unfamiliar with Pokemon battling, but Pokemon Battlers would know that Meowth would now be hitting a lot harder.
"Now use Shadow Claw!" Alexis said, aiming to use Meowth's attack boost.
"Dodge it! Then use Giga Drain again!" Lyra countered.
Ghastly energy surrounded Meowth's claws as the Scratch Cat Pokemon raced towards the Leaf Pokemon. But the grass-type quickly moved out of the way and dug it's vines into the ground again. This time, it was successful in latching onto Meowth's feet, leading the vines to start sucking Meowth's energy and transfering it to Bayleef.
"Use Metal Claw to cut free!" Alexis tried to get Meowth out of the situation.
Meowth sharped its claws and cut free of it's binds.
"Now attack Bayleef!" Alexis ordered.
Meowth leaped up and once again slashed Bayleef with its sharp claws. Bayleef's reflect was still active so the impact was lessened again.
"Now Shadow Claw!" Alexis said aiming for another hit.
Before Lyra could order Bayleef to dodge, the Scratch Cat Pokemon smashed its claws into Bayleef again, this time covered in ghastly energy. This time, the Reflect barrier gave way and Bayleef was now fully vunerable.
"Now finish it off with Throat Chop!" Alexis commanded the Scratch Cat Pokemon.
"Dodge it! Then use Magical Leaf!" Lyra countered.
Meowth leaped up and tried to hit Bayleef again, but the Leaf Pokemon moved out of the way and fired a barrage of multicolored leaves towards Meowth. The grass-type attack hit Meowth directly, dealing damage.
"Now use Reflect again!" Lyra ordered, hoping to defend against future attacks.
However, Alexis had other plans, "Use Hone Claws to increase your attack again!"
A colorful barrier once again surrounded Bayleef, while Meowth slashed it's claws again.
"Okay use Giga Drain!" Lyra commanded, trying to get Bayleef some extra energy to work with.
"Shadow Claw!" Alexis ordered Meowth.
Bayleef tried to use Giga Drain again, but Meowth leaped out of the way and slammed it's ghastly claws against Bayleef's hide.
"Magical Leaf!" Lyra commanded.
Bayleef released another round of colorful leaves, which all struck Meowth. Said Pokemon started breathing heavily, as if it was getting tired.
"Okay, Meowth seems pretty worn out, but I don't think Bayleef can take another hit, I gotta think this through."
Knowing that she needed to attack, Lyra tried to damage Meowth again; "Use Giga Drain again!"
"Dodge it!" Alexis said not wanting Meowth to take any more damage.
The very nimble Meowth jumped out of the way again.
"Now Throat Chop!" Alexis ordered.
Meowth leaped and smashed it's hand into Bayleef, diminishing the latter's Reflect defense.
"Metal Claw to finish it off!" Alexis said, intending to emerge victorious.
"Use Magical Leaf and don't stop!" Lyra panicked.
Bayleef released another barrage of colored leaves while Meowth's claws gained a metallic appearance again. As the leaves raced towards Meowth, the Scratch Cat Pokemon started slashing at all of them, rendering them useless. Soon, it was a battle of Meowth trying to get to Bayleef while the latter fired the leaves.
Even with the immense amount of leaves coming towards Meowth, the Scratch Cat Pokemon was so quick that it managed to cut through them all, and it started to slowly move towards Bayleef. When it was close enough, the Scratch Cat Pokemon leaped up and slashed Bayleef with Metal Claw, causing the grass-type to fall over, unable to continue.
"Bayleef is unable to continue! That means the victory goes to Meowth and Alexis!" Jimmy announced, declaring the battle over.
Lyra ran over to her fallen Bayleef and helped it stand up. Bayleef looked at it's trainer obvious shame.
"Don't feel so bad Bayleef, we were up against an unfamiliar opponent, I didn't know what I was doing either." Lyra said, trying to console her starter.
Bayleef still looked ashamed, but it gave its trainer a small smile.
"We'll get some training in later." Lyra said as she returned her partner to her Pokeball.
Meanwhile, Lyra noticed Alexis scoop Meowth up into her arms and let the Scratch Cat Pokemon cling onto her back like before. After that, she walked up to Lyra.
"Thanks for the battle Lyra, for someone who hasn't competed in a Pokemon league yet, you gave me a run for my money, I'm impressed." Alexis praised the Brunette.
"Yeah... but me and Bayleef still lost." Lyra said, feeling like she didn't deserve the praise.
"It really could have gone either way in the end there. Right Meowth?" Alexis said.
"Meow-Meowth!" the Scratch Cat Pokemon spoke its name, presumably answering with a 'yes'.
"Oh yeah, and now that we are outside of battle, I'll tell that Meowth's a Steel-type." Alexis said, now revealing Meowth's mysterious typing.
"I would have assumed so, the fact that it was immune to poison and it knew Metal Claw was pretty strong evidence." A voice came from the side of them.
The two girls turned to see the rest of the group, with Khoury presumably being the one who had spoken. "That was an intense battle you two." Khoury commented.
"Yeah, Lyra was a tough opponent, now I know who I need to watch out for in the Pokemon League." Alexis expressed her opinion on Lyra's battling skills.
"Well, she is a hard worker, she won't let her training fall behind." Khoury said.
"I would assume so, well, I gotta be somewhere, I'll see you all around! Especially you Lyra!" Alexis called out while running into another direction.
"You know, you could have asked her if she wanted to join us to stop Team Rocket." Vincent said to Jimmy.
"Ah shoot, that's right! Hey where did she go off to?" Jimmy panicked.
Everyone else laughed at his behavior, they could tell he was really serious about getting more people involved in their team.
"Well, we'll likely run into her again, so let's just wait until then." Marina commented.
"Yeah, I'll tell her about it then. Okay team, I'm not up for more traveling, so let's just crash in the Pokemon center for tonight. Unless the rest of you want to get some traveling done." Jimmy stated.
Everyone else was worn out from the day's events, so they agreed to go to the Pokemon Center to sleep.
9:35 pm
The boys and the girls had gone to different rooms to sleep in. All the boys had already fallen asleep, but two girls were still awake in the girls room.
"Hey Marina? You awake?"
"Huh? Yeah, I'm awake Lyra. What's up?" Marina said, kind of tired.
"I just can't stop thinking about Alexis, or the concept of having a rival in particular." Lyra mused.
"Did you not have a rival when you first began your journey Lyra?" Marina asked.
"Nope, all my friends except Khoury left on their journeys before I did." Lyra answered, sounding saddened by the fact.
"Well, it's good to have a rival for almost any goal, they push you to work harder and you push them to work harder." Marina said.
"Yeah, that's true. Did you have a rival when you were first doing Pokemon contests?" Lyra asked, wondering if Marina had any experience with rivals.
Marina hesitated for a moment, as if it was a touchy subject for her, but she spoke anyway; "Just one, her name is Leslie, she's a lot older than I am, so she had more experience than I did. I'd say she's the reason I managed to win the grand festival 5 years ago."
"Oh cool, do you two still communicate?" Lyra asked.
Silence.
"Marina?"
"Sorry, I don't want to talk about it." Marina said, sounding a little upset.
"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it. Sorry for asking." Lyra said before going to sleep.
"Good night Lyra."
Marina stayed up a bit longer thinking long and hard. Eventually, she too fell asleep.
Trainer Card: Khoury Niosi
Age: 17
Hometown: New Bark Town, Johto
Birthday: April 1st, 1988 (LOL, poor guy)
Height: 5'05"
Blood Type: A
Eye Color: Dark Brown
Hair Color: Dark Green
Trainer Class: Pokemon Researcher
Secondary Class: Pokemon Breeder
Other Hobbies: Solving Riddles, Badminton, Geeking out way too much
Notable Achievements: n/a
Special Conditions: n/a
Titles: n/a
Pokemon (On Hand)
-Croconaw(M)
-Gabite(F)
-Sneasel(F)
-Klink(Genderless)
-n/a
-n/a