CHANGE IN A HEARTBEAT

Chapter 3

"Woo-hoo! "Ezza yelled for about the hundredth time since she won that tournament.

"Would you calm down?" Kat asked. "You're giving me a headache."

Ezza grinned and replied back calmly, "Are you just jealous 'cause you lost?"

Kat's face flushed and she answered in a quite, but annoyed tone. "No, of course not. I'm happy that you won. Besides, I don't really think I'm ever gonna be as good of a Trainer as you are."

Ezza had stopped walking right then. She turned back to her friend and gave the Eevee lover a bewildered look. "Is that what you actually think?"

"Well, yeah." Kat replied. "I mean, look how strong your Pokémon are and you did win that Tournament. Plus, you are going to be a Dragon and Beast Trainer. They're very powerful creatures compared to the Eeveelutions and Felines that I wanna train."

Ezza snorted. "Winning that Tournament doesn't mean much of a big deal to me and it's not just because it's the easiest out of all the Tournaments. As for you being an Eeveelution and Feline Trainer, well you're forgetting one thing. What about the strong-looking Cats like Persian and Grypther and the Legendary Mew and Mewtwo? After all, Feline Pokémon can be very powerful creatures if actually trained properly."

"I guess you're right." Kat agreed. "And Eeveelutions have their own sort of Special capabilities and stuff as well. Such as Vaporeon can melt in water, control water and sense when rain in coming."

"Exactly!" Ezza said brightly, but then her face suddenly changed to a concerned look. "If we're gonna train certain types I wonder what's gonna happen to the rest of our Pokémon? What are they gonna do?"

"Perhaps we should work that out later on." Kat suggested. "After all, we really should talk this out with our Pokémon. You know, talk to them about our dreams, why we caught them in the first place and so on."

"Yeah, I suppose so." Ezza agreed. "So, what do you wanna do now?"

Kat shrugged. "I suppose now that we're here, wherever here is, we should take a look around."

"Yeah, I was beginning to think that that was a good idea." Ezza said as she slowly made her way towards one direction. "Come on, I thought I saw a cave or something here."

"It could be Diglett's Cave." Kat said, following Ezza down some area with loads of trees, bushes, grasses and flowers. "Except that I don't exactly remember making my way down here when I went to visit Diglett's Cave."

"You've actually been there?" Ezza asked, sounding surprised.

"Yeah, but it was a long time ago. I didn't actually go in, but I did walk past it."

"Well, it can't be Diglett's cave anyway. It's blocked off by a fence and a large tree."

"Oh, that's right." Kat said, suddenly remembering. "I remember going there and being totally frustrated 'cause I didn't know what to do about the tree. I think I was eight back then or something."

Ezza laughed. "I've never been here before."

"Why not?" Kat asked curiously.

"I don't do much travelling." Ezza replied with a shrug. "It's something my parents don't want me to do, which is one of the reasons I became a Trainer in the first place. I wanted to do what I had dreamed about since I was a little girl rather then what they wanted me to do, but I didn't decide to actually become a Dragon and Beast trainer until I actually got to know them more. Back then I wanted to train all kinds of Pokémon. I still do, but now I just want to be a Dragon/Beast Master. The best there ever was."

Ezza's eyes were downcast, but she looked almost thoughtful. Perhaps she was thinking of something from the past.

Ezza looked up from her gaze on the grass. She sighed and said, "Sometimes I don't think I belong with them. My parents, I mean. I don't seem related to them in any way. Our hair colour, eye colour, and personality…it's all different. I'm the only one in the whole family that purple-blue black hair and bright violet eyes. I'm the only one who's strong-minded and has the personality of a Snorlax that won't budge. In another words no one can actually talk to me. Much anyway."

Kat thought about that. If that were true then why was Ezza telling her all this? Could it be possible that in such a short time their partnership actually meant something? Could Ezza actually respect Kat and her training abilities? Or was it something else?

"Sometimes I think my parents are hiding something from me." Ezza said, biting her bottom lip. "If they are then I don't know what." Obviously feelings and emotions wasn't something Ezza talked about 'cause she just shrugged and walked up ahead. "I think I see a cave. It seems really huge even from here."

Kat wanted her to continue, but she didn't ask any questions. She decided to let it go. For now anyway. Instead she followed Ezza deeper into the forest, but not too deep. Just enough to clearly see the large cave that was there. It looked big enough to house a family of Ursarings.

"I used to come here a lot." Kat muttered in awe as she gazed at the large cave. "But I never even noticed this cave before."

"Some people have." Ezza said quietly. "They believe it is full of magic in there." She shrugged, non-caringly. "I would have given all my money just to be here."

Kat looked at her in confusion. Sure the place might have been magical, but why would Ezza want to spend all her money on visiting a cave that probably only felt magical?

"Don't you feel it?" Ezza asked her. "You can actually feel the magic of the cave even from out here."

Kat closed her eyes and concentrated. Ezza was right. The cave felt unlike anything she has ever felt before. She didn't exactly know how magical felt, but Ezza seemed to think that this aroma was a magical feeling. So, perhaps magically is just almost any good feeling.

"Many people that have visited this cave have told others about the treasure hidden here. Dozens of colourful orbs can be found here, but no one can seem to remove them from where they lay." She snorted. "Everyone seems to be trying their luck. Except, I can't see why they'd want orbs for."

"Maybe they want to sell them." A cheerful voice said behind them.

Both Ezza and Kat turned around to see a fourteen-year-old girl. She was staring at them with an amused smile on her face. She flicked back her long blond hair that grew to the middle of her back, so that hairpiece hanging in front of her face wavered a bit with the movement. She smiled at them, the amusement gone and her teal eyes looked oddly bright right at that moment.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." She said, still smiling noticeably. "I just saw that two of you walking here, so I decided to just say hello."

Ezza took in the girl's description carefully. The girl wore a short black skirt with a slightly longer white skirt underneath it. She also wore a white blouse. They were the normal part of the clothing. What caught Ezza's attention were the black and white Cat ears perched neatly on top of the girl's head. She also wore Cat gloves and boots and a collar with a bell hanging off it.

Ezza swore under her breath. It was unknown whether or not the girl heard her, but if she did she was hiding it very well. Obviously this was not the kind of clothing that Ezza would even think of wearing.

"I know what you're thinking." The girl said, still smiling brightly. Kat was starting to wonder if this girl knew any other emotion besides cheerfulness. "And I have to say that a lot of people agree with you. Yes, people think I'm weird wearing this kind of stuff, but that's ok 'cause personality is what counts right?"

Neither Ezza nor Kat replied, but the girl seemed to expect that. She smiled brightly at them despite Ezza's disgusted face and Kat's confused one.

"Well, I best be going then." She smiled. She was about to turn away when Kat finally found her voice.

"I'm sorry to stare like that." She said. "It wasn't your clothing, it was just that I thought I knew you from somewhere that's all."

"Ah, you probably do." The girl said, thoughtfully. Although, the pleasant smile was still plastered on her face. "I battled you in the tournament with a Furret and Chinchou."

"Oh, that's right." Kat's eyes widened in realization. "You must have travelled far to capture two Johto Pokémon and you have managed to train them really well."

"Thanks." The girl said. She then seemed to remember something 'cause she suddenly looked slightly annoyed with herself. "I'm sorry, I know who you are, but you both probably don't know who I am. After all, you were both so busily talking with your two friends that I didn't think any of you heard it when my name was called." She held out a hand to shake and Kat took it. "I'm Ralene Jungles, but you may both call me RJ."

"Kathryn Yolanda." Kat said, letting Ralene's hand go. "I prefer Kat, though."

"Such a common nickname for female names like Kathryn and Katy." RJ commented, but politely. She turned to Ezza and held out her hand in greeting, but Ezza ignored her. RJ didn't seem upset at all as she put in hand down and continued to smile cheerfully.

"Lyra Paverill, but I'm usually called Ezza by almost everyone." Ezza said simply. She turned away from both Kat and RJ and continued to stare at the entrance of the cave, but this time with sudden lack of interest.

"Friendly girl isn't she?" RJ commented, still smiling that pleasant smile. Kat was beginning to wish she'd stop. Doesn't anything phrase that girl's cheerful personality? Both she and Ezza seemed almost inhuman.

"So, um…what Pokémon do you have?" Kat asked her, wanting to start a normal conversation as possible.

RJ thought for a minute. "Actually, come to think of it I have forgotten. It was at the tip of my tongue, but it seems to have rollin' off or something."

Kat stared at RJ's unusual way of telling someone that what thought was on the tip of her tongue had suddenly went. She gave RJ a look of total unsureness and even Ezza turned around to stare with an emotionless look.

"You know what I wanna be when it comes to being a Pokémon trainer?" RJ asked them, but Kat was the only one who had replied with a shake of her head. "A Trainer of forgotten Legendaries."

"Yeah, that's if you can even remember them when you manage to capture them." Ezza said loudly enough for RJ to hear. "And with your forgetfulness you could certainly be a pro."

RJ didn't seem angry at the comment as she had chose to ignore it. Instead, she started to explain to Kat all about the forgotten Legendary Pokémon such as Arcanine, totally ignoring Ezza, who seemed to have gone back gazing a the cave with a plain look on her face.

Some time later Kat slowly opened her eyes. She hadn't even remembered dozing off on the grass. In fact, she didn't even remember sitting down. Slowly she sat up and looked around. Neither RJ nor Ezza were nearby, but as emotionless and strange as Ezza seemed to her she somehow knew that Ezza wouldn't just leave her. No, something else was going on.

Could it be that RJ wasn't the cheerful, simple-minded girl that Kat thought she was? Was she actually capable of doing something far worse then bad?

Kat didn't even wanna think about it as she rushed to a general direction, but she didn't even need to go any further then just a couple of steps 'cause she instantly saw a familiar figure in front of her. It was obviously RJ 'cause of the noticeable long blond hair, but her back was turned towards Kat and she seemed to be staring at something.

Kat's stomach lunged as she rushed over only to find that RJ was studying a daffodil with total interest. She didn't even look to see if Kat was actually there or not, but seemed to know that Kat was in face behind her.

"It was Sleep Powder that knocked you out." She explained. The smile was still there and her eyes were oddly bright once again with amusement. "It knocked Ezza and I out as well, but I came to first before both of you did."

At the mention of Ezza's name Kat started around for her partner, but couldn't seem to find her. RJ noticed this and pointed further up a head towards a familiar piece of clothing and pale skin-toned flesh. Kat swallowed, but couldn't seem to move. Nothing, but her lungs seemed to work as she breathed slowly in and out.

"Is she…?" Kat swallowed, not able to say the last word.

"No, she's not." RJ said softly. For once the smile had gone and what replaced it was a confused look. A look of total puzzlement and her teal eyes seemed oddly dull instead of bright.

Kat was confused. No what? No, she not dead or no, she's not alive?

"We, got attacked by a Pokémon, I think." RJ said quietly. "I can't think of anything else that could do it. She's ok, she's just resting that's all."

Kat stood on tip toes to see clearly. To her relief she saw Ezza sitting cross-legged on the grass with her left hand draped across her lap and her right arm dangling in the water in a relaxed position up to elbow. She had to learn forward in order to accomplish this, but she still seemed comfortable despite how uncomfortable the position looked to Kat.

Kat made her way slowly towards Ezza and stood beside her. For a few minutes she just stood there, unable to decide what to do next until she finally decided to just sit down besides the purple-blue black-haired older girl. Ezza didn't seem to notice her as she silently took her arm out of the water. Kat saw the deep cut that was still bleeding, but not as much as it could have been before. Ezza wrapped it in a clean lavender coloured handkerchief and stood up.

Kat waited about ten seconds before also standing up. She gave Ezza a questioning look.

"It was a Butterfree, I think." Ezza replied to the silent question. "It knocked us out with its Sleep Powder. I think it wants us to stay away from that Cave." She snorted, unimpressed. "If that's the case then I don't see how it can go against our Pokémon. Especially Zaphy, Spew and Aella."

"Well, they can learn the Psybeam attack." Kat pointed out. "Psychic attacks are pretty powerful after all."

Ezza's gaze was now on the sky. She kept them there for a bout five minutes, more likely trying to focus on the Butterfree. "Has anyone seen Spew?"

"Yeah, and what about Kitty?" Kat said with a groan. How could she forget her own beloved Eevee?

RJ looked confused. "Who are Spew and Kitty?"

"Spew is Ezza's Charmander and Kitty is my Eevee." Kat replied, looking around frantically.

"Come on, let's go find them." Ezza suggested, already heading off to a particular direction.

An hour-and-a-half later with no luck at finding the two missing Pokémon both Ezza and Kat slumped down on the damp grass. It been drizzling rain for the last twenty minutes, but thankfully it has stopped. Ezza didn't want Spew to be running around looking for her without any shelter whatsoever.

"Where could they be?" Kat asked solemnly. "I mean, it's not like they could have gone too far without us."

RJ didn't appear to be listening. She held a lilac Pokéball in one hand and a purple-blue one in the other. Her face was set in puzzlement as she stared at both balls. "That's funny. I don't remember having these in my bag."

Ezza didn't even look up as she kept her gaze on the damp grass, forcing a stick into the dirt. "I'm not so surprised. You've probably forgotten which planet you're on."

"Why, I'm in good old Earth." RJ replied gleefully.

Ezza faked a look of surprised. "Well, I'll be damned. You do know after all." She added this with a mock clap and sarcastic smile. "Here have a lolly."

RJ smiled happily as she grabbed the lollypop wrapper and started to unwrap it. She paused for a minute and gave Ezza a calculating look. "Hang on, were you mocking me?"

Ezza rolled her eyes. "Took you long enough to figure that out, Miss Cheerfully-Forgetful."

RJ ignored the remark, except for the slight redness that crept along her cheeks. She suddenly laughed as she glanced back down at the two Pokéballs she still held in her hand. "Heh! We've been searching for over an hour and I never thought to look in my backpack. I keep loads of stuff in there."

Ezza growled, but stopped herself from using her Rage attack. If she didn't keep calm then any second now anyone nearby will be forced to watch the most powerful Outrage attack delivered by a normal human girl.

Kat calmly took the lilac Pokéball and released Kitty, while Ezza took back her purple-blue Pokémon and let Spew out. Both Pokémon shook their heads and gave RJ an annoyed, but otherwise grateful look.

"Char char mander char!" Spew said loudly, voicing his thoughts that could not be understood by anyone except Kitty.

"Eevee." Kitty seemed to have agreed with the Charmander as she also replied with a nod.

There was a small pause as the three girls and two Pokémon tried to decide what to do next.

"We could always try our luck at that cave." Kat suggested. "After all, everyone else is."

Ezza nodded in agreement and all three girls stood up. It was just a ten-minute walk back to the cave and luckily for them the Butterfree that might have been protecting the cave didn't seem to be around anymore, as they all made it safely inside the cave.

"The walls a very damp." Kat noted quickly, running a hand gently down the wet greyish cave walls.

"I think it's suppose to give the cave life, if you know what I mean." Ezza stated. She flicked back her long hair and continued with her speech. "This cave is hundreds of years old and not very many have managed to gain any treasure here. It is believed that each orb found in here belongs to one person and one person only. You can find out if one of the orbs is yours just by standing on some sort of circle and staring at a silver eye. A beam of light will shot out from the large gold eye up on the cave ceiling and will point to a particular orb. That orb will be yours."

Kat stared at her. "An eye?"

"Not a real one of course. Just two objects in the shape of an eye." Ezza pointed straight up ahead where there was a dark tunnel. "For a cave that holds the magically orbs it's pretty much straight forward to get to the middle of the cave via there."

"So, are we going that way or not?" Kat asked no one in particular. "'Cause even if you guys aren't going I am."

"I never turn my back down on anything." Ezza replied coolly as she made her way toward the cave.

Kat decided not to comment on the Ezza's words even though Ezza may have turned her back away from certain things, including people. Instead, she and RJ followed Ezza allow the darkened tunnel without saying a single word to each other. In fact, nothing was said until the tunnel ended and broke into in a huge room filled with orbs stuck on the cave walls.

In the middle of the room was a white circle that looked as if it could never be removed by anything such as water and a lot of scrubbing. Straight ahead in the girl's vision on the cave wall was the silver eye that Ezza had mention. Looking up almost above them they could see the large gold eye.

"Only very few people have made it out here alive." Ezza whispered, still staring at the golden eye. "It is believed that since everyone has to discover the cave themselves or in a small group like we have with six people maximum the person who was tested by the eye and finds that one of the orbs doesn't belong to him or her is killed. By what, I don't know. However, I do know that the reason why death is the only option is, because like I said before everyone must either find the cave themselves or with a small group."

"So, there's a chance we could get killed?" Kat asked quietly.

Ezza nodded. "I'm not gonna force either of you to take the test, but whichever you decide I'm doing it anyway."

"What does the orbs do exactly?" RJ asked. "I mean, is their any point in risking our lives just to receive an orb or death in the end?"

"I really don't know what the orbs do." Ezza admitted. "But, I do know that we have three choices. We can either leave right now and get killed by the beast that lurks in this the cave, try our luck on the eye or stay here, but not try our luck."

"I'll take the second option." Kat said firmly. She gave Ezza a small smile. "If you're doing it then I am, too."

"Me, too." RJ said without hesitation. "After all, if you two are gonna risk your necks for a test then I guess I can be dumb along with you."

Ezza rolled her eyes, but replied back calmly with, "Alright, then who wants to go first?"

Kat silently raised her arm up into the air as if she wanted to ask a question. She put on her bravest smile and walked to stand in the middle of the circle. She stared directly at the silver eye and waited.

It took just ten seconds for a silver beam of light to come out of the silver eye and hit the gold eye directly above Kat. A large gold beam then came from the gold eye and covered Kat completely. Five seconds later the beam vanished and the eye started turning around to a particular direction, shaking the ceiling as it did. This time a thin beam of light shot out from the gold eye and onto a palm-sized orb stuck in the cave wall on Kat's right side.

Kat waited for a few seconds after the light had disappeared before walking to her right and grabbing the orb that the gold beam had 'pointed' at. She studied the orb mutely.

It was black and glassy, but didn't look easily breakable. It was easy to see the red flame flickering lively inside. As Kat held the orb she could feel a mixture of dark and warmth spreading all through her body, starting off at the hand that held the orb.

It was RJ that tried her luck next. She went through the whole test before the gold beam strand pointed to a palm-sized orb in front of her. With a pleasant smile RJ walked out of the circle and grabbed the orb, staring wordlessly at it.

The orb was dark blue with a light blue lightning bolt that could be clearly seen inside. The bolt flickered on and off like every lightning bolt does. RJ could feel the mixture of strength and electricity curse through her body.

Ezza too had survived the test and was now holding her orb in her right hand. Her orb was snowy white with an icy-blue snowflake that could be clearly seen inside. Inside the orb there was also what could have been white flicks of snow that didn't fill the orb at all, but kept it empty. Ezza felt a wave of cold icy water wash over her skin and her insides. For about fifteen seconds she felt as if she had plunged into icy cold water and had swallowed a tank full of it in one gulp.

"Wow! These orbs sure have a nice feel to them." RJ commented as she slipped her orb inside her backpack. "I wonder what they do?"

Kat shrugged. "There's only one way to find out and that is to wait." She looked thoughtfully at her orb before putting it in her backpack and turning to Ezza. "Any ideas on where we should head off to now?"

"Well, I was thinking of going back to Dominus and saying goodbye to my parents in a more mature manner." Ezza rolled her eyes after she said this. "Don't worry, it isn't far. We'll be able to catch a Pidgeot at the airport in about three hours."

"Three hours?" Kat asked. "But what are we going to do until then?"

"I don't know about you guys, but I was gonna battle Brock for the Boulder Badge." Ezza told them. "I don't wanna become a Master Trainer, but my Pokémon could use the experience."

"Yeah, I might do the same thing." Kat said, liking the sound of that idea. "I'm pretty sure my Pokémon are strong enough. "How many Pokémon does he use?"

"Two." RJ said instantly. "I battled him a while ago and the Pokémon he uses are Geodude and Onix. Geodude is only level twelve and Onix is fourteen. They should be easy to beat with a Grass and Water Pokémon."

"What did you beat him with?" Kat asked her.

"Well, Beldandy battled his Geodude and Star went against the Onix." RJ recalled. "It was a tough battle that lasted twenty-five to thirty minutes, but I did get the Boulder Badge in the end."

"Well, I think I'll use Gaia and Emerald." Kat said after a few minutes of thinking. "It's the best I can do at the moment."

"Why don't you go first?" Ezza suggested. "I got something I need to pick up at the Pewter Market."

As Ezza headed over towards the Pewter City Market both Kat and RJ headed off towards the large tan-brown building with the large bold words on it that read 'Pewter City Gym'.

Kat stood nervously at the large wood brown double doors for about a whole minute before RJ pushed her forward. The door must have had some sort of sensor 'cause it started opening on its own.

When the doors fully opened the inside could be seen and it really didn't seem to be that interesting. Quite plan actually. High above was a flight of stairs that lead to about a dozen rooms. The battlefield itself was plain except for the dusty ground and occasional rocks. On the other side of the battlefield was another double door. This one was about a metre small and was mud brown instead of wood brown.

A tall teenage boy stood there in front of that door. His brown hair was short and spiky. His eyes widened at the sight of the two girls in front of him. Faster then a Rapidash he rushed towards Kat and RJ and grabbed Kat by the hands.

"Hi, my name is Brock and I'm the Pewter City Gym Leader." He flashed Kat a love struck smile as he babbled on. "However, you can call me Brocky the Rocky Gym Leader and may I just say you are most of the most beautiful girl I have ever laid eyes on. Do you want to go out? How about phone number? Or maybe your address? How about all three?"

RJ laughed at Kat's dumbfound look. "I forgot he does that. He did it to me last time I was here."

Kat finally found her voice and tugged her hands away. Politely she said to Brock, "No thanks, I've got a boyfriend." Ok, so it was a lie, but how else could she get out of the situation without hurting his feelings? To RJ she said, "I wonder what Ezza went to get?"

That familiar pleasant smile reappeared on RJ's face. "Who knows? Maybe she'll tell us later. Anyway, don't you have a battle to attended to?"

Kat nodded and turned to Brock. "I, Kat Yolanda challenge you to a Pokémon battle." Kat screwed up her face in disgust. "Gee, I can't believe how dumb that sounded."

"It sounded ok to me." Brock said lovingly. He eyes wondered to her chest area, which luckily Kat didn't notice. After ten minutes Brock finally snapped out of it. "Ok, I accept. This will be a two on two battle. Let's-"

"Sorry to interrupt, but, my friend will be coming to battle you as well." Kat said. "And I thought you might like to know so that you can heal your Pokémon. She's a tough Trainer."

Brock grinned. "Don't worry about it. I'll heal my Pokémon in that machine over there after the battle." He pointed to the right off the battlefield where a healing machine sat.

As Brock walked towards one side of the battlefield Kat headed off to stand on the opposite side. After Brock declared this a two-on-two battle and the referee told them that they could begin both Brock and Kat sent out their first Pokémon.

"Go, Geodude!"

"Come on out, Gaia!"

Kat's female Nidoran Gaia looked up nervously at the floating rock with arms in front of her. She cast her Trainer a wary look as if to say 'You're making me go up again this thing?' Kat knew it was risky from the start, but besides Emerald Gaia was the only Pokémon capable of beating a Rock-Type. Not to mention that she was the same level as Brock's Onix.

"Geodude, start off with your Tackle attack!" It was Brock that decided to start the battle off first.

Despite the rock-skinned Pokémon zooming towards her small Poison Bunny Pokémon Kat held her ground and ordered Gaia's first move.

"Double Kick!"

Two powerful kicks to Geodude's side weakened him considerable. The rocky Pokémon's health was now barely hanging by a thread. Brock looked impressed that a Rookie Trainer had managed to really weaken his Rock-Type Pokémon with ease, even if she did use a type advantage.

"Geodude, Rock Throw!"

Kat gulp as Gaia gave a choked squeak of fear. "Uh-oh! Quick, Gaia dodge it and use…" Ka paused. What else could she use? Brock would probably be prepared for Gaia's Double Kick this time, but what other moves did Gaia know?

Kat began counting them off in her head. Growl, Tackle, Scratch and Double Kick. Well, Tackle and Scratch were out of the question that's for sure. Growl will be useful for Geodude's Tackle attack.

"Nido ran ni!" Gaia said, interrupting Kat's chain of thoughts.

Kat looked up and stared at the female Nidoran. "What's up, Gaia? Do you have something in mind?"

Gaia nodded. "Nido nidoran do doran." Gaia nodded, sounding eager.

"Well, give it a go." Kat said instantly. She wasn't too worried about not understanding the Poison-Type.

"Nido!" Gaia said with a nod before taking action into her own paws.

A sonic wave emitted from the tip of Gaia's small horn and aimed for Geodude. It washed over him like a wave of water and when the move had ended the rocky Pokémon looked completely confused.

It took Kat about twenty seconds to register that technique. "Hey, that was Supersonic."

"Cool." RJ stated in the background.

"You are doing good, Kat." Brock commented as his Geodude continued to look confused. "But I'm not going to be defeated too easily. Geodude, Tackle attack!"

Kat was surprised of the risks Brock's Geodude was going to have to take in order to beat just one basic Pokémon as small as Gaia.

"Gaia, Growl!" The command was simple and well thought off. Growl lowers normal attack moves such as Tackle and Scratch.

Despite being small Gaia's growl was deep and throaty. Geodude didn't back off, but its Tackle attack wasn't as effective as it would have been before.

"Gaia, finish it off with Double Kick!"

Kat had decided not to waste anymore time and ordered Gaia to finish off Geodude with the most effective attack the little Poison-Type had. Gaia's obedience was instant as she went straight into action. Dodging an attempted Tackle attack by Geodude and thrusting both back legs at the same time on the side of Geodude's head 'caused the rocky Pokémon to tumble down to Earth.

"You are a very talented trainer for a Rookie." Brock commented as he recalled his Geodude and took out his second Pokéball. "However, the real challenge in this Gym starts now."

Kat recalled Gaia and took out her own second Pokéball. "I'm looking forward to it."

Standing in front of Ezza as soon as she walked out of the Pewter Market was Ayesha. The two girls had been staring each other in the face for the past two minutes or so, not saying a single word to each other. However, it was Ayesha that finally broke the silence.

"You still owe me that battle." She reminded Ezza coolly.

Ezza shrugged. "That's if you're still up to it. I have a Gym match to get to, so I don't wanna waste time."

"Oh, believe me this will be very quick." Ayesha replied softly. "It won't take much of anyone's time."

Ezza grinned and took out a Pokéball. "How about six-on-six going from our weakest to strongest?"

"Sounds fair enough to me." Ayesha agreed, whipping out one of her own Pokéball that must have contained her weakest Pokémon in her party.

They both threw their Pokéball at the same time and both balls opened to reveal what was inside.

Ezza's Pichu Perun yawned, obviously woken up from a deep nap. When he noticed the Igglybuff in front of him he squeaked in surprise.

"Pichu pi!"

"Iggly!" Ayesha's Igglybuff seemed to confirm with Perun, who pouted.

"Chuuuuuu!" The little mouse whined, staring at Ezza with his dark eyes.

Ezza shook her head firmly. "Nah! Sorry this is a battle and you're suppose to fight." At Perun's sad look she added calmly, "But you can have ice cream if you win or lose."

"Pi?" Perun seemed to be asking 'really?'

Ezza nodded. "Yep, really. That's a promise."

"PICHU!" Perun cheered, causing both Ayesha and Ezza to quickly cover their ears with their hands.

Perun stepped forward in front of Ayesha's Igglybuff and turned his head to look at Ezza. He nodded as if to tell her he was ready and Ezza didn't seem to want to waste any time.

"Perun, start off with Sweet Kiss!" Ezza decided to try out a defensive move to start the battle off with.

"Igglybuff, Sing!" Ayesha commanded instantly.

Perun's technique worked quicker then Igglybuff's. In just a few seconds Igglybuff was having trouble keeping her mind open and Perun was trying his best to stay awake, but Igglybuff's song seemed to be cutting right through his system like a knife.

"Chhuuu!" He yawned sleepily as he curled up into a ball. His soft little snores could barely be heard through Igglybuff's confused squeaks.

"Looks like the Rodents already had enough." Ayesha commented with a light smirk.

Ezza frowned, but didn't actually say anything to her. Instead she continued to look straight at Perun, while making a command. "Perun, wake up! This isn't nap time."

Perun's light snores stopped abruptly as he woke up. He blinked his eyes and then rubbed them with small paws. Standing up he looked around to find the Igglybuff he was suppose to be battling stagger around like a drunken person.

"Perun, Thunder Wave!" Ezza shouted, snapping the Pichu into being fully awake.

"PiiiiiiiCHHHHHUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

Sparks emitted from Perun's cheeks as he released a devastating Thunder Wave technique that hit Igglybuff on the head, paralysing it.

"Igglybuff, no!" Ayesha cried out as her Igglybuff staggered, looking even worse then it had been before. It was now both confused and paralysed. "Try to shake the confusion and paralysis off."

Igglybuff shook her whole body, but the confusion and paralysis still remained. With one more single order by Ezza Perun unleased his statically charged Thundershock attack at the Igglybuff, who couldn't take it anymore and promptly fainted right on the spot.

Ayesha's face was beetroot red as she recalled her fallen Igglybuff. She watched with spite as Ezza recalled Perun into his Pokéball and selected a new one from her belt. With a derisive snort Ayesha unclipped one of her own Pokéballs and tossed it on the ground.

From Ayesha's Pokéball emerged a rather bright-cored Staryu. The red gem encrusted in its centre gave off a radiant glow that even Ezza was impressed with. Obviously Ayesha had taken great care into keeping her Staryu looking magnificent.

Ezza's Butterfree, Metamorphus gave a soft 'Eeeee' of contentment as the Staryu floated in front of her. Ezza wasn't sure whether her Butterfree found the Staryu too beautiful to worry about or that the Staryu's radiant glow didn't phrase her.

"Metamorphus, Harden!" Ezza commanded instantly, not wanting to waste anymore time.

Ayesha shook her head and smirked as Ezza's Butterfree curled up into a ball and glowed grey-black for a split second. The Butterfly Pokémon now looked as if she was covered in vanish or something.

"Staryu, start of with Water Gun!" Ayesha called out not too long after.

With a 'Heh!' Ayesha's Staryu lowered its top point down and proceeded to blast Ezza's Butterfree with a powerful stream of water. Metamorphus gave an 'Eeeeeeee!' of fright as she flew backwards through the air and slammed her back hard into a tree. Wings crumbled she landed on the ground and stayed there motionlessly.

Ayesha gave a satisfied grin as she watch Ezza recalled her Bug Pokémon. Seeing the flushed look on Ezza's face gave Ayesha the satisfaction and will that she needed to win this match. However, the flushed look was only on Ezza's face for a split second and a new expression had replaced it. It was an expression of pure loath, determination and attitude.

Ezza's expression said one thing and one thing only, 'You're going down and you're going down hard'. Ezza's next selection was her Pidgey, Aella. Ayesha looked surprised for a spilt second and then sneered.

"Gee, I always thought you were the rare type, Ezzy." She started ticking off the three Pokémon Ezza had used so far. "Let's see, you have a Pichu, Butterfree and Pidgey. Plus, you also have a Charmander, male Nidoran and Squirtle." Ayesha shook her head in amusement. "Butterfrees, Nidorans and Pidgeys are very common; Pichus are rare, but not nearly as much as Charmanders and Squirtles." She suddenly laughed. "Ezza, I thought you were into the dangerous Pokémon. You know, the ones that would make your parents freak out if they knew you were thinking of training them one day."

Ezza growled, but didn't say anything. On her shoulder Aella gave a comforting coo as if telling her Trainer to settle down.

Ayesha didn't even bat an eye as she continued on. She was having the time of her life and she wasn't about to quit either. "Now what do you think your parents would say when you tell them that you're going on a Pokémon journey? Or were you not thinking of telling them?"

Ezza glared as Ayesha continued to laugh. With a snarl she moved forward faster then Ayesha could expect her to and…

WHAM!

Ayesha staggered back, clutching one hand to the right side of her cheek where Ezza had punched her. Still holding her hand there she gave Ezza a look of pure shock. Despite her being the 'I take no crap from anyone' type person, Ezza was not violent. Or at least Ayesha didn't think she was, but maybe Ezza's temper get the better of her.

Ayesha put her hand down and glared at the girl that was once her best friend. She didn't care anymore about the friendship that was once between them. All she cared about was getting back at Ezza for the times she was more popular then her.

It devastated Ayesha that Ezza should be more popular then her. Her parents wanted her to be the best at everything and she was, but somehow Pokémon training wasn't on their list. Ezza's Dad was a champion swimmer and her Mum a champion Ice Skater. Her Dad only collected Water Pokémon and her Mum preferred to collect ice Pokémon, which helped them practise what they did best.

Ezza used to practise swimming and Ice Skating almost seven or eight hours a day where she would then do her chores. Of course there was school, but otherwise there was no room for anything else. Except for the weekends where she would practise playing the piano. Then when Swimming and ice Skating classes finished for the year and didn't return until four months later Ezza took an art class to pass the time. She also managed to pass that with flying colours, too.

However, even though Ezza still practises Swimming and Ice Skating she hadn't been as enthusiastic about it now as she had been before. Ayesha knew why. Being a professional Swimmer and Ice Skater was what he parents wanted, but all Ezza wanted to do was be a professional artist that could easily tame Dragon and Beast Pokémon.

Ezza's parents were the easy-going type. They preferred the less dangerous part of life, even though you can drown in water and crack your head open in ice the thing about water and ice is that they can made to look beautiful and dazzling. Ezza's parents failed to see the magnificence of a Dragon's glittering scales of either gold, black, silver, white, violet and so on. Or the bright, sparkling eyes of the Beast Pokémon. They obviously didn't care for strength or anything like that. They cared mostly about beauty in looks, gracefulness and style. A LOT of style.

Ayesha had been Ezza's friend long enough to know all this, but there was still a lot of things she didn't know about this dangerous-loving girl. At the moment Ayesha's mind was blurred with anger as she stormed towards Ezza to hit her, but Ezza didn't even blink an eye.

Ayesha stopped to stare at the cool, calm look in Ezza's eyes. She didn't even blink as Ayesha focus right on them. A couple seconds later Ayesha's breath caught in her throat as what felt like a wave of ice washed through her both inside and out. For the first time in her life as she stared at those cold eyes Ayesha felt afraid of the girl in front of her that was once her friend.

Ezza can make you a little squeamish inside, but not enough to absolutely terrify you. As Ezza continued to look murderous Ayesha quickly backed off, spun away and began walking towards the opposite direction as fast as her legs would carry her.

"Pidge?" Aella questioned her Trainer, who made a clicking noise with her tongue.

"I wouldn't have a clue what her problem is, Aella." She replied just before she recalled the bird into the safety of the Pokéball.

As Brock's Onix reared its huge rocky head Kat's Bulbasaur, Emerald had the look of someone who wanted nothing more then to allow the ground to swallow him up. However, Brock's Onix wasn't about to let an easy defeat get away so quickly.

"OOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNN!" It roared, 'causing Emerald to back off until her was as closed to the end of the battlefield as he could get, which happened to be the neat white line that marked out where the field was.

"Bulba." Emerald muttered under his breath.

"Onix, start of with your Bind attack!" Brock was the first to start the battle out, but Kat was quick to follow suit.

"Emerald, Vine Whip!"

Emerald managed to quick give Onix a good whipping with his vines before he had to dodge Onix's tail that was threateningly aiming straight for him. Even having short legs he still managed to dodge out of the way quite easily.

"Bulba! Bulba saur!" He said, now clearly enjoying himself.

"Onix, Screech!"

Emerald covered his ears with his hands as best as he could, but Onix's loud screech still pierced through his ears and into his system.

"SAAAAAAUUUUUURRRRR!" He yelled as the screech waves almost literally tore him apart.

Finally the move ended and Emerald took his hands away from his ears. He looked confused and weakened, having most of his defence power lowered. Slowly he stood back up on all fours and wanted for his next command.

"Emerald, Leech Seed!"

Emerald obeyed the command instantly. From the bulb on his back he shot out a tiny seed that zoomed through the air and landed right on top of Onix's head crest. Just as it was about to fall the send released thin, but long vines that wrapped around the Onix's head and began to drain the energy out of him. Emerald gave a relaxed "Saur" as the energy from Onix was transferred to him.

Onix gave a roar of defeat, as his energy was all gone, leaving him to fall face forward with an enormous thud.

Emerald blinked in surprised. "Bulba?"

Kat also looked shocked that her Bulbasaur had beaten the Onix so easily.

Brock recalled his Onix and smiled as he walked towards her. "Don't worry about it. Your Bulbasaur is just stronger then you thought. He probably just wants to make you proud of him, so he battled a tough Pokémon and did his best to win."

Kat frowned. "Actually, Emerald doesn't really think that highly off me and my Spearow Zaphy always gives me the cold shoulder."

To Kat's surprise Brock was still smiling. "Hey, don't fry your mind over it. All Pokémon need time to get to know their Trainer. No one was born with the knowledge to know about everyone. If Trainers found it easy to train Pokémon, well it wouldn't be much of an achievement now would it?"

Kat nodded in agreement as Brock took out a shiny new Boulder Badge and handed it to her. She took it and stared at it silently before saying "Thank you."

"I'm sure that you'll be a very good Pokémon Master one day." Brock commented, still smiling.

Kat shook her head as she continued to stare at the Badge. "No, I want to be the greatest Eeveelution and Feline Master there ever was. It has been my dream since I was a little girl and I'm only collecting Badges for the hope that they will someday help me achieve my goal."

Brock nodded. "I guess even though we do train Pokémon and collect badges it isn't always to be the greatest Pokémon Master, but rather the greatest of what we want to be. I'm a Gym Leader that uses Rock Pokémon, but my goal is mainly set on being the greatest Pokémon Breeder ever."

Kat nodded in agreement as she placed the Boulder badge inside the smallest pocket of her backpack. "I better get going. Thanks again!"

"No problem." Brock grinned. He waved at the two girls as they left the gym.

Ezza finally met up with Kat and RJ who were standing around near the Pokémon Centre. After Ezza had healed all of her Pokémon for the upcoming Gym Match the three girls walked towards the Pewter City Gym.

Ezza stood there for about thirty seconds or so simply just tossing Spew's Pokéball up and down on her hand. She seemed to be having deep thoughts about something.

This went on for aw hile longer until Kat finally tapped her on the shoulder. "Er...thinking deep thought?"

Ezza nodded, but didn't actually reply to the question. Instead, she asked a quetion of her own. "Brock uses Rock Pokémon doesn't he?"

Kat nodded in answered and replied, "Yeah, he uses two Rock-type Pokémon."

Ezza grinned as she placed Spew's Pokéball back inside her backpack. "Well, guess I just have to use Aqutur and Buster then."

With that said she calmly walked towards the entrance of the gym and went inside with RJ and Kat following closely inside.

Yes! I have finally finished! Parades around the room Finally! Phew!

Ok, here are just some things you need to know about this fiction.

1.I'm not doing that 1 2, ect thing anyway 'cause to me it just takes time. So, if there is something that needs to be explained you'll more likely just have to keep reading to find out.

2.Dominus is my actual RPG and you can find the link on my bio. Even through it's closed at the moment you can still go take a look.

3.I was originally going to write down Ezza's Gym battle with Brock, but this chapter was getting too long, so I'm going to have to move it to chapter four. Other stuff shall also be happening in chapter four as well.

I know that this chapter took ages to complete, but I must admit that throughout most of September and October I hardly wrote any of my fanfics. So, yeah this chapter could have been completeled AGES ago. Looks ashamed

Anyway, there are times when I just need a break, but I promise you that I have not stopped writing fanfictions. If I do you shall be notified on my bio along with the reason as to why I have given up writing fictions.

Oh, and hopefully chapter four won't taken as long to complete as this chapter did. ; Anyway, that's enough for me. Please don't forget to leave a review after you have read this chapter.

Fierystreak