Pokémon - The Journey Begins
Chapter 19: Power vs. Intelligence
At a rapid pace, Lizzie and Matt whizzed through Route 7 on their new bikes. Feeling some slight fatigue, they stopped for a temporary rest. After encountering some new Pokémon, Matt was able to capture a Bellsprout and a Weedle, and Lizzie managed to grab a Ditto and Caterpie. Matt checked his Pokédex to see how many Pokémon he has captured.
"Pokémon captured: twenty," the Pokédex replied.
"Twenty? Heh, it seems like I should have a lot more," Matt said.
"That's only two more than I have," Lizzie replied. "But you don't necessarily have to capture Pokémon in order to be 'great' if you ask me. If you're happy with the ones you have, you don't need to capture any more."
"Well, still, at this point, it seems like we should have about thirty, or fourty!"
"It's no big deal. We can always catch more later on, right?"
"I suppose."
"Don't get discouraged. Come, we've been sitting long enough, let's go to Fuchsia. Maybe another couple of hours or so, and we'll be there!"
Matt nodded, and climbed onto his seat, and placed his hand on his lower back, as it seemed to be somewhat uncomfortable. "I don't think that these bikes were a very good idea. I can't get the seat any higher. this is starting to annoy me."
"Hey! It was your idea to travel faster in the first place, was it not?"
"Whatever...we're almost at Fuchsia, right?" Matt asked, as he and Lizzie began peddling again.
Lizzie suddenly stopped on her bike. "Whoa! Wait a minute" she yelled.
Matt then stopped suddenly and turned around. "Huh? What's wrong?"
"Fuchsia?! Why are we going there?! That's not the next gym; we should be going towards Celadon City first, shouldn't we?"
"What?! Damn it, that means we probably already passed it, didn't we?!" Matt pulled out his map. "Good, it's only two hours there. Fuchsia from where we are now is about three hours, I'd guess. Come on, we have to hurry..."
Lizzie let out a sigh. "Thank God. I think we would have had a hard time with the gym leader at Fuchsia."
"I'm not sure if you're serious, but let's go anyway."
Matt and Lizzie changed the direction of their bikes, and made an estimated guess at the direction where they should begin peddling. They then started to peddle east from their current position. Matt in a way liked this change; he hoped that hopefully it would throw off Arrmun and the other Team Rocket members into thinking that they were indeed going to Fuchsia, and perhaps may think that they were already there and left. Surprisingly, Celadon City was not as far off as they originally contemplated. As they continued peddling, they came to a Pokémon Center.
"Oh, hello there!" Nurse Joy said. "What can I do for your two today?" she asked.
"Hello nurse. I was wondering if perhaps you could hold onto these bikes for us for a little while. My friend and I want to challenge the gym leader here," Matt said politely.
"Of course you may. There's a storage room in the back..." Joy pointed.
Matt picked up Squirtle from off of his shoulders and set him down to the floor. "All right, thank you..." Matt and Lizzie began to push their bikes into the storage room.
"However, the cost is 2.50 per user," Joy finished as Lizzie and Matt suddenly stop, surprised by the sudden statement.
Matt took out his wallet and paid for both himself and Lizzie. Afterwards, they both placed their bikes in the storage room and left the Pokémon Center. Matt looked up into the sky. There were many clouds, as the sun only appeared a few times when the clouds shifted. However, it was mostly cloudy, but apparently it was to clear up later in the day.
"I'm almost out of money," Lizzie stated.
"Same with me. I need to start challenging more trainers, and see if I can win some more from them." Matt sniffed the air. "Hey, what's that scent?"
Lizzie smelled the air. "Oh, what is that heavenly odour? " She gasped. "Is it from the famous perfume store? I can't remember the last time I actually bought a bottle of it!"
"Oh, God no," Matt muttered. "We're not going to waste our time staring and sniffing perfume; we came here to earn a badge."
"You're no fun! Come on, we never take the time to actually explore each city. We can go face the gym leader later. Please? Pretty please?" Lizzie begged.
"All right, all right. But don't force me to smell anything that's too strong, all right?"
Lizzie giggled. "Oh, a little perfume won't kill you..."
"As long as none of those knock me out or give me a serious headache."
"Oh, you never want to do anything fun!" Lizzie whined. "Come on, you never seem to want to do anything at all. I'll change that!" Lizzie grabbed Matt's arm and began to drag him.
"Hey, I never said I wouldn't go, and--Whoa! You don't need to pull; I'm capable of walking on my own!" Matt yelled.
"Okay then, I'll take Zenigame with me; you can check out other things at this store." Lizzie took Squirtle as she and Matt enter the large perfume store from where the delightful scent was coming. Instantly, as they enter two women greeted both Lizzie and Matt. To Matt's discomfort, there were only two other people in the store at the time, and that really bothered him.
"Hello there, do you like perfume?" One of the women asked.
"Well actually--" Lizzie began, but was interrupted.
"No, we hate perfume. We really hate it, that's why we're here," Matt replied sarcastically. Under his breath he then muttered: "What a stupid thing to ask...."
Lizzie quickly frowned and with an open palm she smacked Matt over the head. "Oh, don't mind him, he's been strangely bitter the past couple of days."
"Very well, I'll take you this way and you can have that handsome young man there!" One of the workers said.
"Are you coming onto me?" Matt teased.
The other woman laughed. "No, come on. I want to show you some of our products."
"Here we go..." Matt groaned.
The women placed Lizzie and Matt both in chairs next to each other. They each handed them a bottle of the same product. It was in a smooth, glass jar, with a very bizarre photo of a small orange scaled fish-like Pokémon on the front.
Lizzie took a sniff. "This one's pretty nice. What's this called?" she asked, passing it over to Matt.
"That's 'Waters of Magikarp'," one of the women replied. Matt took a sniff and then coughed.
Lizzie laughed. "Matt, you're not supposed to stick it entirely up your nose! Of course you're going to get headaches that way!"
Matt shook his head several times as a chill ran down his spine. "Well, that one has a slight bitterness to it, but it's pretty nice."
"Well, all of the perfume here has an essence of Gloom, so slight bitterness would be expected," one of the women said.
"Gloom? Wait a second, I think I've heard of that before." Matt took out his Pokédex and looked up Gloom.
"Gloom, a Grass-type Pokémon. The fluid that oozes from its mouth is not drool as some believe. It is a nectar that is used to attract prey," the Pokédex explained. A picture of a strange, short round Pokémon whose body was entirely purple, along with a pungent-looking flower growing out from the top of its head.
"That really doesn't explain an awful lot, but I remember that it can release toxic stuff from the flower on top of its head," Matt said.
"No, not toxic, just very foul," a woman explained. "Now, shall we continue?"
"I don't know how much more of this I can take," Matt replied, groaning.
The demonstration of the different types of perfume took only about fifteen minutes. Lizzie really seemed to like the scent of the last three, and decided to buy three bottles out of the several shown. As soon as she paid, Matt and Squirtle exited, while Lizzie was right behind them, looking at the receipt.
Matt frowned. "You really shouldn't waste your money on those, they're really expensive!"
"Hey, can't I treat myself once and a while?!" Lizzie said, somewhat offended. "Besides, I only picked the ones that Zenigame and myself liked!"
"Squirtle!" Squirtle replied.
"Yeah, whatever...you have to remember that we need to save that money for Greatballs and items for healing our Pokémon. You can't just waste it all!" Matt explained.
"Well come on! If you were just on your own with Zenigame here, you'd be even tighter for money! Be thankful there's somebody here that is willing to help!" Lizzie yelled.
"Never mind. You seem too wrapped up in pleasing yourself..." Matt muttered.
"Excuse me? Pleasing myself? Give me a break! I just wanted to treat myself to some of these, and plus, I'm going to send some home for my parents to see. Come on! It's not like I do this constantly. And what business is it of yours what I do with MY money?!" Lizzie faced forward and continued walking, angry.
Matt sighed. "I'm sorry. I just don't want to fall behind on my Pokémon training. You know how important it is to have as many supplies as possible..."
"Matt, we have plenty of money; don't worry about it, okay?" Lizzie yelled.
"You're ticked at me, aren't you?" Matt asked, then smacked his forehead, after asking aloud such a ridiculous, obvious question.
"No, just rather annoyed that you'd treat me that way..." Lizzie muttered.
"Hey, if we had money to burn, that would be all right. But we don't, so I'm only concerned, since only earlier you were the one who said that you were almost out of mone--"
"Let's just drop it, okay? The gym is dead ahead."
To Matt's surprise, the gym as a matter of fact was really close to them. As they approached it, he noticed that most of the building was made out of windows, almost like an office building, but had the appearance of a greenhouse, with many pland inside of it. Upon entering the gym, they were greeted by two more women.
"Hello there, welcome to the Celadon Gym!"
"Do you two like perfume?"
Matt scowled. "How many times are we going to be asked that stupid question?!"
"Yes, we both do," Lizzie replied, elbowing roughly Matt's arm. "My friend here is only limited to a few of the wonderful, vast scents of perfume."
"Limited is right..." Matt muttered.
"Squirtle squirtle squirt!" Squirtle yelled.
"Geez, when did you suddenly get so chatty?" Matt asked, staring down towards his Squirtle. "What, what do you want?"
"Ex-queeze me, but if you don't mind--" one of the women started.
"Did you just say 'Ex-queeze me'?" Matt asked.
"Would you just shut up?!" Lizzie yelled. "God, had I realized you were in such a rotten mood, we could have just stayed at the Pokémon Center for the rest of the day!"
"Who's the one yelling at whom here?" Matt asked in a mocking tone.
The other women both giggled and looked at Matt and Lizzie. Matt crossed his arms and looked in one way, while Lizzie shook her head in disbelief of Matt's attitude.
"Erika!" One of the women called out. "These two here would like a gym battle with you."
"Uh, could they possibly come back later? I'm busy with the garden here." Erika turned around and looked at Matt and Lizzie. Matt then blushed. Staring straight into him was a young woman with dark shoulder-length hair with a bright headband on top of it. She was wearing what seemed to be a kimono; dark red bottoms with a shining white top. "Oh! I thought I've seen you before; I was watching the security videos of you in my perfume store just a short while ago!"
Matt grabbed his head. "Can we PLEASE talk about anything else but perfume right now?! I've smelled so much and the majority has gone to my brain and if I hear ONE last thing concerning perfume I'm gonna--"
"Matt! You're acting like such a child, just shut up already!" Lizzie yelled. "For once, just stop complaining! This is really getting out of hand! You're sixteen for crying out loud! Do you know how ridiculous you're acking?!"
"How can I when the scent has gone to my brain?" Matt muttered, still holding his head.
"Uh...it would be best if you came back in a few more minutes; it shouldn't take much longer. Please wait in the lobby," Erika replied, turning back to her work.
Matt, Lizzie and Squirtle sat themselves on a bench in a separate room. Matt and Lizzie refused to say anything to each other, and Squirtle was just trying to relax. Matt then looked around; the ceiling was high, which was also made out of glass. Tress rested in every corner of the room, with several plants on many tables in a soft-carpeted room. After a few minutes, he took out his Pokédex and began pressing random commands.
"Bored?" Lizzie asked.
"Yeah, I thought that I'd explore the Pokédex more," Matt replied. "One fire-type only? That'll be difficult to back up."
"Hey, I only have one Fire Pokémon, too!" Lizzie replied. "What else are grass-type Pokémon weak against?" Lizzie asked.
Matt punched in some more buttons. "It says that its main weakness is just Fire-type Pokémon, but still, I'll have to back it up with something quick. Zubat should do the trick. Zubat and Pikachu."
"Sandshrew and Zubat will be my back-up," Lizzie said, then looking back towards the entrance to the room. "I wonder if she's finished yet?"
"Does it matter? I'd prefer that we waited a little longer. My head's thumping too hard."
"Matt, don't over-exaggerate. There's no way that perfume could give you a headache for that long." Lizzie said.
"How do you know? Perfume never sits well with me. Oh...I'm feeling rather sick. I almost feel that..." Matt trailed off.
"You gonna be okay?" Lizzie asked.
"I need a drink..." Matt pulled out a cold bottle of water from his backpack and started to drink from it. After drinking the whole thing, he sighed contentedly. "That's a little bit better."
"Excuse me, you two?" one of the women asked, re-entering the room. "Erika is ready to battle now. Which one of you two will fight first?"
"I'll go," Matt replied, standing up. He and Lizzie were lead down past many gardens before finally entering the battling room. It was like all of the other gyms, Matt noticed. A large room with a solid, wooden floor to battle. Of course, except for Pewter City, which used rock, and Cerulian City, which was mostly water-based. Matt entered the gym battle grounds and already had his first Pokémon in hand.
Erika looked at Matt. "Well, shall we go?"
Matt nodded. "Bring it on...."
"Weepinbell, go!" Erika tossed a Pokéball as a strange, long yellow Pokémon with two large leaves which seemed to be as its hands. Its face also seemed to act as its body, as it had drooping eyes, and its mouth seemed to be shaped like a flower.
Matt tossed the Pokéball in hand. "Pikachu, go!"
"Weepinbell, Vine Whip!" Erika commanded.
The instant Pikachu appeared onto the battlefield, two vines extended themselves from the Weepinbell, as Pikachu was struck sharply across the face. After what seemed to be a disastrous couple of seconds, Matt was ready to counter.
"Pikachu, Agility," Matt replied calmly. "If I remain calm, then my Pokémon won't feel that there's a problem."
Pikachu quickly jumped up to his feet and began to dash around Weepinbell consistently and at a rapid pace. Weepinbell became slightly dizzy following Pikachu, and lost its balance, due to its dizziness.
"Pikachu, Quick Attack!" Matt yelled.
Pikachu stopped in its tracks and stuck Weepinbell hard, causing it to leave the ground before hitting it again roughly. It was no longer moving.
"Return..." Erika absorbed Weepinbell back inside its Pokéball. "Well, you seem to use power over intelligence. This will be one of your downfalls. Let's go, Tangela!" Erika tossed another Pokéball as a very strange Pokémon that semed to be only made up with vines appeared. The only thing Matt could make out was its eyes and its feet.
"What the?" Matt pulled out his Pokédex.
"Tangela, a Grass-type Pokémon. The whole body is swathed with wide vines that are similar to seaweed. Its vines shake as it walks," the Pokédex explained.
"This thing is useless!" Matt muttered, putting the Pokédex away.
"Tangela, Poison Powser!" Erika yelled.
Tangela quickly jumped and spread out some bizarre, shining power all over Pikachu, poisoning it. Pikachu began coffing, and its balance became very hindered and shakey
"Come back, Pikachu!" Matt sucked Pikachu back into its Pokéball. He then looked at the other two Pokémon that he had. "Zubat or Charmeleon. Perhaps I shouldn't save the best for last in this one; it may get beaten. But on the other hand, if Zubat weakens the other ones enough, Charmeleon could finish it." Matt thought hard. But after hard thinking, he sent out Zubat. "Zubat, Flash Attack!" Matt yelled.
Upon its entrance into the battlefield, Zubat quickly swooped down from the air and struck Tangela from behind, surprising it. It was trying to stay on its feet as Zubat returned in the air, waiting for its next command.
"Supersonic!" Matt commanded.
Zubat quickly targeted Tangela in its sights again, and quickly released everal mind-altering waves. In its new-found confusion, Tangela struck itself hard, and collapsed to the ground, struggling to get up.
"Come back, Tangela!" Erika yelled, calling back her Pokémon. "Well, it looks like I have to use my best Pokémon. This battle won's last for much longer. Go, Gloom!" Erika shouted, releasing a Pokémon which Matt hoped he would never have to see.
"Oh, hell. If Zubat gets caught in a foul scent like that..." Matt shuddered. "Better make this quick. Leech Life!"
Zubat once again swooped down from the air above and sank its teeth into the back of the Gloom, in an attempt to absorb some of its energy. Unfortunately, the attack wasn't very effective. It gave up, returning to the sky.
"Gloom, Acid," Erika commanded.
From the flower on its back, a strange, thick, black fluid was launched, stricking Zubat from point blank. The fluid completely consumed Zubat, as it was now starting to fall. It then collided roughtly in the ground, and stopped moving.
"Damn it! Return!" Matt called back Zubat inside its Pokéball and placed it back onto his belt. "Well then, I think it's time to put an end to this. Charmelon, let's go!" Matt threw an enlarged Pokéball onto the field.
"A fire-type?! Gloom, put it out with a Solar Beam!" Erika yelled.
"Don't think you'll have enough time for that! Charmeleon, Fire Blast!" Matt quickly yelled.
Both Charmeleon and Gloom powered up their special attacks quickly, and jolting their heads forward, they launched it at each other consecutively. As both attacks struck, there was a large explosion, only to leave everybody's vision clouded in smoke. It was impossible to see what was taking place on the battlefield.
TO BE CONTINUED.
Chapter 19: Power vs. Intelligence
At a rapid pace, Lizzie and Matt whizzed through Route 7 on their new bikes. Feeling some slight fatigue, they stopped for a temporary rest. After encountering some new Pokémon, Matt was able to capture a Bellsprout and a Weedle, and Lizzie managed to grab a Ditto and Caterpie. Matt checked his Pokédex to see how many Pokémon he has captured.
"Pokémon captured: twenty," the Pokédex replied.
"Twenty? Heh, it seems like I should have a lot more," Matt said.
"That's only two more than I have," Lizzie replied. "But you don't necessarily have to capture Pokémon in order to be 'great' if you ask me. If you're happy with the ones you have, you don't need to capture any more."
"Well, still, at this point, it seems like we should have about thirty, or fourty!"
"It's no big deal. We can always catch more later on, right?"
"I suppose."
"Don't get discouraged. Come, we've been sitting long enough, let's go to Fuchsia. Maybe another couple of hours or so, and we'll be there!"
Matt nodded, and climbed onto his seat, and placed his hand on his lower back, as it seemed to be somewhat uncomfortable. "I don't think that these bikes were a very good idea. I can't get the seat any higher. this is starting to annoy me."
"Hey! It was your idea to travel faster in the first place, was it not?"
"Whatever...we're almost at Fuchsia, right?" Matt asked, as he and Lizzie began peddling again.
Lizzie suddenly stopped on her bike. "Whoa! Wait a minute" she yelled.
Matt then stopped suddenly and turned around. "Huh? What's wrong?"
"Fuchsia?! Why are we going there?! That's not the next gym; we should be going towards Celadon City first, shouldn't we?"
"What?! Damn it, that means we probably already passed it, didn't we?!" Matt pulled out his map. "Good, it's only two hours there. Fuchsia from where we are now is about three hours, I'd guess. Come on, we have to hurry..."
Lizzie let out a sigh. "Thank God. I think we would have had a hard time with the gym leader at Fuchsia."
"I'm not sure if you're serious, but let's go anyway."
Matt and Lizzie changed the direction of their bikes, and made an estimated guess at the direction where they should begin peddling. They then started to peddle east from their current position. Matt in a way liked this change; he hoped that hopefully it would throw off Arrmun and the other Team Rocket members into thinking that they were indeed going to Fuchsia, and perhaps may think that they were already there and left. Surprisingly, Celadon City was not as far off as they originally contemplated. As they continued peddling, they came to a Pokémon Center.
"Oh, hello there!" Nurse Joy said. "What can I do for your two today?" she asked.
"Hello nurse. I was wondering if perhaps you could hold onto these bikes for us for a little while. My friend and I want to challenge the gym leader here," Matt said politely.
"Of course you may. There's a storage room in the back..." Joy pointed.
Matt picked up Squirtle from off of his shoulders and set him down to the floor. "All right, thank you..." Matt and Lizzie began to push their bikes into the storage room.
"However, the cost is 2.50 per user," Joy finished as Lizzie and Matt suddenly stop, surprised by the sudden statement.
Matt took out his wallet and paid for both himself and Lizzie. Afterwards, they both placed their bikes in the storage room and left the Pokémon Center. Matt looked up into the sky. There were many clouds, as the sun only appeared a few times when the clouds shifted. However, it was mostly cloudy, but apparently it was to clear up later in the day.
"I'm almost out of money," Lizzie stated.
"Same with me. I need to start challenging more trainers, and see if I can win some more from them." Matt sniffed the air. "Hey, what's that scent?"
Lizzie smelled the air. "Oh, what is that heavenly odour? " She gasped. "Is it from the famous perfume store? I can't remember the last time I actually bought a bottle of it!"
"Oh, God no," Matt muttered. "We're not going to waste our time staring and sniffing perfume; we came here to earn a badge."
"You're no fun! Come on, we never take the time to actually explore each city. We can go face the gym leader later. Please? Pretty please?" Lizzie begged.
"All right, all right. But don't force me to smell anything that's too strong, all right?"
Lizzie giggled. "Oh, a little perfume won't kill you..."
"As long as none of those knock me out or give me a serious headache."
"Oh, you never want to do anything fun!" Lizzie whined. "Come on, you never seem to want to do anything at all. I'll change that!" Lizzie grabbed Matt's arm and began to drag him.
"Hey, I never said I wouldn't go, and--Whoa! You don't need to pull; I'm capable of walking on my own!" Matt yelled.
"Okay then, I'll take Zenigame with me; you can check out other things at this store." Lizzie took Squirtle as she and Matt enter the large perfume store from where the delightful scent was coming. Instantly, as they enter two women greeted both Lizzie and Matt. To Matt's discomfort, there were only two other people in the store at the time, and that really bothered him.
"Hello there, do you like perfume?" One of the women asked.
"Well actually--" Lizzie began, but was interrupted.
"No, we hate perfume. We really hate it, that's why we're here," Matt replied sarcastically. Under his breath he then muttered: "What a stupid thing to ask...."
Lizzie quickly frowned and with an open palm she smacked Matt over the head. "Oh, don't mind him, he's been strangely bitter the past couple of days."
"Very well, I'll take you this way and you can have that handsome young man there!" One of the workers said.
"Are you coming onto me?" Matt teased.
The other woman laughed. "No, come on. I want to show you some of our products."
"Here we go..." Matt groaned.
The women placed Lizzie and Matt both in chairs next to each other. They each handed them a bottle of the same product. It was in a smooth, glass jar, with a very bizarre photo of a small orange scaled fish-like Pokémon on the front.
Lizzie took a sniff. "This one's pretty nice. What's this called?" she asked, passing it over to Matt.
"That's 'Waters of Magikarp'," one of the women replied. Matt took a sniff and then coughed.
Lizzie laughed. "Matt, you're not supposed to stick it entirely up your nose! Of course you're going to get headaches that way!"
Matt shook his head several times as a chill ran down his spine. "Well, that one has a slight bitterness to it, but it's pretty nice."
"Well, all of the perfume here has an essence of Gloom, so slight bitterness would be expected," one of the women said.
"Gloom? Wait a second, I think I've heard of that before." Matt took out his Pokédex and looked up Gloom.
"Gloom, a Grass-type Pokémon. The fluid that oozes from its mouth is not drool as some believe. It is a nectar that is used to attract prey," the Pokédex explained. A picture of a strange, short round Pokémon whose body was entirely purple, along with a pungent-looking flower growing out from the top of its head.
"That really doesn't explain an awful lot, but I remember that it can release toxic stuff from the flower on top of its head," Matt said.
"No, not toxic, just very foul," a woman explained. "Now, shall we continue?"
"I don't know how much more of this I can take," Matt replied, groaning.
The demonstration of the different types of perfume took only about fifteen minutes. Lizzie really seemed to like the scent of the last three, and decided to buy three bottles out of the several shown. As soon as she paid, Matt and Squirtle exited, while Lizzie was right behind them, looking at the receipt.
Matt frowned. "You really shouldn't waste your money on those, they're really expensive!"
"Hey, can't I treat myself once and a while?!" Lizzie said, somewhat offended. "Besides, I only picked the ones that Zenigame and myself liked!"
"Squirtle!" Squirtle replied.
"Yeah, whatever...you have to remember that we need to save that money for Greatballs and items for healing our Pokémon. You can't just waste it all!" Matt explained.
"Well come on! If you were just on your own with Zenigame here, you'd be even tighter for money! Be thankful there's somebody here that is willing to help!" Lizzie yelled.
"Never mind. You seem too wrapped up in pleasing yourself..." Matt muttered.
"Excuse me? Pleasing myself? Give me a break! I just wanted to treat myself to some of these, and plus, I'm going to send some home for my parents to see. Come on! It's not like I do this constantly. And what business is it of yours what I do with MY money?!" Lizzie faced forward and continued walking, angry.
Matt sighed. "I'm sorry. I just don't want to fall behind on my Pokémon training. You know how important it is to have as many supplies as possible..."
"Matt, we have plenty of money; don't worry about it, okay?" Lizzie yelled.
"You're ticked at me, aren't you?" Matt asked, then smacked his forehead, after asking aloud such a ridiculous, obvious question.
"No, just rather annoyed that you'd treat me that way..." Lizzie muttered.
"Hey, if we had money to burn, that would be all right. But we don't, so I'm only concerned, since only earlier you were the one who said that you were almost out of mone--"
"Let's just drop it, okay? The gym is dead ahead."
To Matt's surprise, the gym as a matter of fact was really close to them. As they approached it, he noticed that most of the building was made out of windows, almost like an office building, but had the appearance of a greenhouse, with many pland inside of it. Upon entering the gym, they were greeted by two more women.
"Hello there, welcome to the Celadon Gym!"
"Do you two like perfume?"
Matt scowled. "How many times are we going to be asked that stupid question?!"
"Yes, we both do," Lizzie replied, elbowing roughly Matt's arm. "My friend here is only limited to a few of the wonderful, vast scents of perfume."
"Limited is right..." Matt muttered.
"Squirtle squirtle squirt!" Squirtle yelled.
"Geez, when did you suddenly get so chatty?" Matt asked, staring down towards his Squirtle. "What, what do you want?"
"Ex-queeze me, but if you don't mind--" one of the women started.
"Did you just say 'Ex-queeze me'?" Matt asked.
"Would you just shut up?!" Lizzie yelled. "God, had I realized you were in such a rotten mood, we could have just stayed at the Pokémon Center for the rest of the day!"
"Who's the one yelling at whom here?" Matt asked in a mocking tone.
The other women both giggled and looked at Matt and Lizzie. Matt crossed his arms and looked in one way, while Lizzie shook her head in disbelief of Matt's attitude.
"Erika!" One of the women called out. "These two here would like a gym battle with you."
"Uh, could they possibly come back later? I'm busy with the garden here." Erika turned around and looked at Matt and Lizzie. Matt then blushed. Staring straight into him was a young woman with dark shoulder-length hair with a bright headband on top of it. She was wearing what seemed to be a kimono; dark red bottoms with a shining white top. "Oh! I thought I've seen you before; I was watching the security videos of you in my perfume store just a short while ago!"
Matt grabbed his head. "Can we PLEASE talk about anything else but perfume right now?! I've smelled so much and the majority has gone to my brain and if I hear ONE last thing concerning perfume I'm gonna--"
"Matt! You're acting like such a child, just shut up already!" Lizzie yelled. "For once, just stop complaining! This is really getting out of hand! You're sixteen for crying out loud! Do you know how ridiculous you're acking?!"
"How can I when the scent has gone to my brain?" Matt muttered, still holding his head.
"Uh...it would be best if you came back in a few more minutes; it shouldn't take much longer. Please wait in the lobby," Erika replied, turning back to her work.
Matt, Lizzie and Squirtle sat themselves on a bench in a separate room. Matt and Lizzie refused to say anything to each other, and Squirtle was just trying to relax. Matt then looked around; the ceiling was high, which was also made out of glass. Tress rested in every corner of the room, with several plants on many tables in a soft-carpeted room. After a few minutes, he took out his Pokédex and began pressing random commands.
"Bored?" Lizzie asked.
"Yeah, I thought that I'd explore the Pokédex more," Matt replied. "One fire-type only? That'll be difficult to back up."
"Hey, I only have one Fire Pokémon, too!" Lizzie replied. "What else are grass-type Pokémon weak against?" Lizzie asked.
Matt punched in some more buttons. "It says that its main weakness is just Fire-type Pokémon, but still, I'll have to back it up with something quick. Zubat should do the trick. Zubat and Pikachu."
"Sandshrew and Zubat will be my back-up," Lizzie said, then looking back towards the entrance to the room. "I wonder if she's finished yet?"
"Does it matter? I'd prefer that we waited a little longer. My head's thumping too hard."
"Matt, don't over-exaggerate. There's no way that perfume could give you a headache for that long." Lizzie said.
"How do you know? Perfume never sits well with me. Oh...I'm feeling rather sick. I almost feel that..." Matt trailed off.
"You gonna be okay?" Lizzie asked.
"I need a drink..." Matt pulled out a cold bottle of water from his backpack and started to drink from it. After drinking the whole thing, he sighed contentedly. "That's a little bit better."
"Excuse me, you two?" one of the women asked, re-entering the room. "Erika is ready to battle now. Which one of you two will fight first?"
"I'll go," Matt replied, standing up. He and Lizzie were lead down past many gardens before finally entering the battling room. It was like all of the other gyms, Matt noticed. A large room with a solid, wooden floor to battle. Of course, except for Pewter City, which used rock, and Cerulian City, which was mostly water-based. Matt entered the gym battle grounds and already had his first Pokémon in hand.
Erika looked at Matt. "Well, shall we go?"
Matt nodded. "Bring it on...."
"Weepinbell, go!" Erika tossed a Pokéball as a strange, long yellow Pokémon with two large leaves which seemed to be as its hands. Its face also seemed to act as its body, as it had drooping eyes, and its mouth seemed to be shaped like a flower.
Matt tossed the Pokéball in hand. "Pikachu, go!"
"Weepinbell, Vine Whip!" Erika commanded.
The instant Pikachu appeared onto the battlefield, two vines extended themselves from the Weepinbell, as Pikachu was struck sharply across the face. After what seemed to be a disastrous couple of seconds, Matt was ready to counter.
"Pikachu, Agility," Matt replied calmly. "If I remain calm, then my Pokémon won't feel that there's a problem."
Pikachu quickly jumped up to his feet and began to dash around Weepinbell consistently and at a rapid pace. Weepinbell became slightly dizzy following Pikachu, and lost its balance, due to its dizziness.
"Pikachu, Quick Attack!" Matt yelled.
Pikachu stopped in its tracks and stuck Weepinbell hard, causing it to leave the ground before hitting it again roughly. It was no longer moving.
"Return..." Erika absorbed Weepinbell back inside its Pokéball. "Well, you seem to use power over intelligence. This will be one of your downfalls. Let's go, Tangela!" Erika tossed another Pokéball as a very strange Pokémon that semed to be only made up with vines appeared. The only thing Matt could make out was its eyes and its feet.
"What the?" Matt pulled out his Pokédex.
"Tangela, a Grass-type Pokémon. The whole body is swathed with wide vines that are similar to seaweed. Its vines shake as it walks," the Pokédex explained.
"This thing is useless!" Matt muttered, putting the Pokédex away.
"Tangela, Poison Powser!" Erika yelled.
Tangela quickly jumped and spread out some bizarre, shining power all over Pikachu, poisoning it. Pikachu began coffing, and its balance became very hindered and shakey
"Come back, Pikachu!" Matt sucked Pikachu back into its Pokéball. He then looked at the other two Pokémon that he had. "Zubat or Charmeleon. Perhaps I shouldn't save the best for last in this one; it may get beaten. But on the other hand, if Zubat weakens the other ones enough, Charmeleon could finish it." Matt thought hard. But after hard thinking, he sent out Zubat. "Zubat, Flash Attack!" Matt yelled.
Upon its entrance into the battlefield, Zubat quickly swooped down from the air and struck Tangela from behind, surprising it. It was trying to stay on its feet as Zubat returned in the air, waiting for its next command.
"Supersonic!" Matt commanded.
Zubat quickly targeted Tangela in its sights again, and quickly released everal mind-altering waves. In its new-found confusion, Tangela struck itself hard, and collapsed to the ground, struggling to get up.
"Come back, Tangela!" Erika yelled, calling back her Pokémon. "Well, it looks like I have to use my best Pokémon. This battle won's last for much longer. Go, Gloom!" Erika shouted, releasing a Pokémon which Matt hoped he would never have to see.
"Oh, hell. If Zubat gets caught in a foul scent like that..." Matt shuddered. "Better make this quick. Leech Life!"
Zubat once again swooped down from the air above and sank its teeth into the back of the Gloom, in an attempt to absorb some of its energy. Unfortunately, the attack wasn't very effective. It gave up, returning to the sky.
"Gloom, Acid," Erika commanded.
From the flower on its back, a strange, thick, black fluid was launched, stricking Zubat from point blank. The fluid completely consumed Zubat, as it was now starting to fall. It then collided roughtly in the ground, and stopped moving.
"Damn it! Return!" Matt called back Zubat inside its Pokéball and placed it back onto his belt. "Well then, I think it's time to put an end to this. Charmelon, let's go!" Matt threw an enlarged Pokéball onto the field.
"A fire-type?! Gloom, put it out with a Solar Beam!" Erika yelled.
"Don't think you'll have enough time for that! Charmeleon, Fire Blast!" Matt quickly yelled.
Both Charmeleon and Gloom powered up their special attacks quickly, and jolting their heads forward, they launched it at each other consecutively. As both attacks struck, there was a large explosion, only to leave everybody's vision clouded in smoke. It was impossible to see what was taking place on the battlefield.
TO BE CONTINUED.
