Jerito League: Gym Leader Challenge
By Arizima
AN: Right, well. This is something I thought up…. Jerito is an original league. Um, that's all I've got to say. As long as you're here, read, okay? ^_^;;;
In the sea by Vermillion City, a teenage girl and a blue, strong-looking duck swam. The girl and the Pokémon were obviously swimming together, but the girl was having trouble keeping up with the Golduck. Finally, she touched the duck's shoulder.
" Golduck, wait!" she panted, wiping her forehead, blinking salty water out of her sea-green eyes. " I think I've gone as far as I can today! Let's go back!" The Golduck turned and nodded; the two headed back to the shore.
The girl winced as her cold, wet feet met hot, dry sand. She pulled a swimming cap off her head, and shook loose light blue hair that fell to her shoulders. In the front, two large, long bangs tipped with white flopped into her face like feathery antennae. The girl ran to a bundle of cloth by a large picnic table and wrapped the towel in it around herself. She reached in again and brought out two minimized Pokéballs. Tossing them into the air, she said loudly, " Azumarill! Dewgong! Come on out!"
A blue and white Pokémon with long ears and a cute little ball on the end of its tail, along with a large, white seal with a horn on its head appeared as the beams of red energy faded away.
" Hi, guys. You go have some fun, okay?" The two nodded and plunged into the cool sea. The girl turned to Golduck. " You can go too, Golduck. I know you're not tired." Golduck shook his head with a fervent " Duck" as he climbed into her lap.
Suddenly, Golduck yelled and pointed behind the girl. "Golduck duck duck!" The girl turned around and saw a woman with dark blue hair in a low ponytail.
" Mom, what're you doing here? Golduck and I were training!" The girl yelled.
" You've got a letter!" the woman called back.
" From who?"
" The Official Jerito Pokémon League!"
" … The what?" The girl muttered. The woman finally reached her and handed her the letter.
The girl looked down at it; true enough, it was hers, as it was addressed "Brooke Cascade". In the upper-hand corner, the return address read "Official Jerito Pokémon League, Official Jerito Pokémon League Office, Adamant City, Jerito". In the upper-right corner, there were a couple of stamps, one featuring a Dragonite and the other a map of a large island looking somewhat like Pac-man facing downward.
Brooke looked down at the envelope, puzzled; just who were these Jerito Pokémon League people? She turned it over, slit it open with her fingernail, and dumped it out; a few papers with an official-looking seal on them along with an even smaller envelope fell out into her hands. Picking up the top one, she read,
" Dear Ms. Cascade:
" Due to your skills as a Water-type Specialist in the area of Pokémon training, you have been invited to apply for one of eight gym leader positions in Jerito. Blah blah blah blah…. Jerito has only just recently started its Pokémon League, and cannot operate without Gym Leaders. If you wish to apply, please use the enclosed ticket to the S. S. Mariner, which will be arriving in the port of Vermillion City on July 6. If you do not, please disregard this letter.
" If you have any questions, feel free to send a return letter. More details are addressed in the enclosed sheet.
" Cordially yours,
" Samuel Rankin, Official Pokémon Gym Officer." Brooke looked up from the paper, astonished.
" So…. They're saying I should apply to be a gym leader?"
" I suppose so. What do you think?"
" I guess I'll have to think about it…." Brooke suddenly dropped the towel and unfolded two articles of clothing.
" Yo! Azumarill! Dewgong! We're going home!" she called, slipping a black midriff-showing shirt featuring a light blue teardrop over her head. The Azumarill and Dewgong swam back to the shore as Brooke put the rest of her clothes on; a pair of baggy shorts that fell past her knees, black with the lower half light blue in a wave pattern, and a pair of shoes.
" Great, guys. Return!"
* * * * *
" So, have you thought about it?" Mr. Cascade said as they were cleaning up after dinner. Brooke shrugged.
" Yeah. I think… I think I'll go." Mr. Cascade nodded.
" Always knew you were meant for great things; where is this Jerito anyway?"
" Somewhere north of Johto, I think. I looked it up on a world map. It's about the 2/3 the size of Kanto 'cause of that huge bay cutting it practically in half."
" And how are you getting there?" Brooke's mother asked, worried.
" You were there when I read the letter, Mom. A ship, the S. S. Mariner. Comes into port day after tomorrow. Speaking of which, I'd better get packing." Brooke excused herself and hurried upstairs to her room.
Brooke's room looked pretty typical; slightly messy, clothes on the floor, but with one small difference; everything important was kept in a watertight container. She called out Golduck and pulled a locked safe out of a drawer in her dresser as he popped out of his Pokéball. Brooke spun the dial on the safe almost lazily, and pulled out a pendant of water in a teardrop-shaped piece of glass on a string. She quickly put it around Golduck's neck.
" Hey, remember this, Golduck?" Golduck nodded; Brooke remembered it as well as he did. It was a Mystic Water pendant from when they had won the Whirl Cup a couple of years ago. She had wanted to save it until she had needed it, fearing a Thief attack from a wild Pokémon would take it away from her, or that it would break.
Golduck looked down at the pendant, tears forming in his eyes. With one motion, he stepped up to her and hugged her waist.
" Golduck duck, gol!" he said, in a tone of love.
" Oof! Yeah, I love you too, so try not to squeeze me like a tube of toothpaste, okay?" Golduck backed off and nodded, then hopped onto Brooke's bed. " Golduck!"
" Of course I'm sure about this. It's a career-stepping stone, isn't it?" she mused. " Of course this is a good idea…."
AN: Well, I decided to end it there. Sorry if the first chapter's kind of bad, I had to introduce everything. And the Whirl Cup that Brooke won is not the same year that Ash and Friends went to. The next will be better, I can practically guarantee it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, have not owned Pokémon, and will never own Pokémon. I am not making money off of this, have not made money off of this, and will never make money off of this. I do not have Nintendo's permission, did not have Nintendo's permission, and will never have Nintendo's permission to write this. But since there haven't been any lawsuits against Pokémon fanfiction before (that I know of) I'm not too worried. That said, let's move on.
^_^ Remember, this story was brought to you by reviewers like you. Thank you. ^_^
