"Hal, use Psychic!"
"Supersonic! Quickly!"
The Crobat folded up and fell out of the air. It was replaced in its pokéball, and its trainer was silent for a moment or two, contemplating her defeat. The opposing trainer punched the air.
"Yes! We did it! Take that, Janine!"
The girl hugged her Hypno, and then seemed to remember who she was talking to.
"Uh… Good battle!"
Janine smiled. "Very. You've beaten me, but I'm going to really apply myself and become better than both Father and you!"
A laugh came from the doorway, and Janine and all of the other trainers in the Gym turned to see who it was.
"As I remember, you said the exact same thing to me, Janine."
Jill strolled forwards, closely followed by Claire and Craig, and with Mewtwo and Mew accompanying them, albeit invisible to the other trainers. Janine grinned.
"Yes, I suppose I did. It's great to see you two again!"
Claire smiled, and Jill nodded.
"Same here. But aren't you forgetting something?"
Janine paused, then clapped a hand to her forehead. "Oops! Sorry!" She whirled around, and faced the trainer with the Hypno. "You're more than qualified for the Soul Badge. Here." She dug into a pocket, and pulled out a heart-shaped badge, half of which was white, and half black. "The defensive abilities of your pokémon should increase slightly now."
The Hypno's trainer grinned, and accepted the badge gladly. Janine smiled.
"Oh, and take this too. It's TM06, Toxic. It'll poison the other pokémon, and the damage will increase every time."
The Hypno's trainer smiled. "Oh, thanks. Come on Hal, we'll get going. Bye, Janine, see you whenever!"
Janine nodded. "Bye!"
Jill turned slowly, and watched the other girl until she had disappeared around the corner to visit the pokémon centre. She could see Mewtwo watching the Hypno's trainer as well, and knew that Mew was doing the same from his position on her shoulder. Claire waited for Jill to turn back, as Craig ventured forwards to place a challenge.
"What?"
Jill blinked, and looked around sharply. "What what?"
Claire smiled slightly. "Why are you staring at that girl?"
Jill shrugged carefully, so as not to dislodge Mew. "Oh… no reason."
At that moment, Janine trotted forwards, and most of the other trainers from her Gym followed.
"We'll have to heal our pokémon before your friend can fight us. If you'd wait here, we'll be back in a minute."
Jill nodded, and Craig leant against one of the statues near the door, releasing his pokémon so that they could relax a little before the fight. Claire and her Espeon moved off to take a closer look at the walls, and try and figure out the tricks that the Gym used to deter thieves or test trainers.
A minute or so passed before they realised that Jill was no longer inside the Gym.
Sarah was about to jump over the last of the ledges on Route 19, when she heard a shout behind her, and turned. The girl from the Gym leapt over the ledge to catch up with her, and Sarah raised her eyebrows.
"What do you want?"
Jill smiled. "Just to congratulate you on your victory over Janine."
There was a pause, and Sarah started to say, "Is that it?" when Jill interrupted.
"Oh, and to ask you if you'd like to travel with the three of us."
Sarah laughed. "Three? Have you got a split personality or something? You seem to be alone."
Jill shrugged. "Claire and Craig are back at the Gym, so that Craig can get his Soul Badge. Then we'll be moving on the same way as you, and I thought you might like some company."
Sarah frowned. "You also seem pretty sure that your Craig will beat Janine, and quickly, too."
Jill shrugged again. "I'd bet you he takes out all her pokémon with one of his."
Sarah began to smile. "What would you bet?"
"Oh, I don't know. My jacket?"
"Okay, you're on."
Janine's Ariados keeled over before it even got a chance to use its Swagger.
"Great, Al!"
Janine narrowed her eyes. "Okay, come on Stantler!"
Craig frowned slightly as the pokémon appeared. "Use Psychic again, Al!"
"Toxic, Stantler!"
The Psychic attack hit first, but the Stantler survived, and managed to poison Craig's Alakazam before his second Psychic took it down.
"Aw no! Come on, Al, you can
do it! Psychic again!"
Janine's third pokémon, the Crobat, collapsed and fell back into the pokéball,
without even having a chance at fighting.
"Okay then, Weezing, use Poison Gas!"
The poison pokémon was quick to obey, but Craig's Alakazam was too fast.
"Blast straight through it with Psychic!"
Alakazam obeyed, and the Weezing was knocked out swiftly, but some of the gas remained, clouding the arena. Alakazam staggered slightly as the poison sapped his strength.
"Hang in there, Al!"
"Gligar!"
"Psychic again! Alright! Only one more to go, Al!"
"Come on out, Tentacruel!"
There was a moment of silence before Craig yelled, "Psychic!" again. Janine folded her arms calmly.
"Wrap."
The jellyfish-like pokémon took the Psychic blow without emotion, and then reached out, and caught hold of Alakazam, wrapping it up tightly in its tentacles. The poison knocked down Alakazam's health as the Wrap squeezed the breath out of him, pulling him in close to the Tentacruel.
"Hang in there Al!" Craig balled his fists, and then had an idea. "Send a Psychic through those tentacles, just like electricity through a wire!"
Alakazam was suddenly released as the Tentacruel fainted, and was replaced in its pokéball. Janine nodded as Craig ran to support his staggering Alakazam.
"Well done, Craig. It isn't often a Gym Leader gets beaten twice in a day. I put it down to the skill of the trainers who battled. Here. Your Soul Badge, and a Toxic TM for you as well."
Craig nodded. "Thanks, but I really have to get to the pokémon centre now. Maybe I'll see you again sometime."
Janine nodded in return, and bade him farewell.
Jill turned and grinned at Sarah as they strolled out to wait outside the pokémon centre. "Looks like I get to keep my jacket."
Sarah smiled. "And you gain some company, if you still want it."
Jill nodded. "But of course. First, you must meet Claire and Craig. Look, Alakazam's healed now, so why don't you go and introduce yourself?"
Sarah strolled off, and Jill swiftly turned to where Mewtwo was standing, still invisible.
And her?
Yes, she is the fourth.
Is she the last?
No.
Who else?
Just one more.
Oh?
A boy.
Oh.
I believe his name is Andrew.
Anything else?
He's waiting for us.
To be continued…
A.N. YAY! People! Reviews!
TinyWings: More story! Quickly, hmm? ^_^ Here, catch! *tosses two cookies* Don't forget to review this one too!
Subieko: You brought me back. I owe you a debt, so another chapter arrives very quickly! To your questions: Yep, and yep. ^_^ Five for the world. And a pleasure to review. *bows*
Thank you! Wheet, two reviews! Yay! Oho, reviewing high, going loopy… *dances anyway*
Hopefully more is not too far off the horizon!
