Battles

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Brandon and Kayla had made their way through the damp trail from Littleroot to Oldale. The two hadn't found any Pokemon they desired, but they had battle a few wild ones and gained some experience. Upon entering the town, the two headed for the Poke Center to heal their tired Pokemon.

"Welcome to the Pokemon Center!" Nurse Joy announced with glee, "can I heal your Pokemon?"

"Yes, Please" Kayla announced, as Brandon nodded. The two handed over their Pokemon to the Nurse and sat down at a table.

"You hungry?" Brandon asked.

"No. I ate a muffin before I left the house." Kayla replied.

There was an awkward silence, which was soon interrupted by Joy.

"Your Pokemon are fully healed."

Brandon and Kayla stood up and walked to the counter, collecting their Pokemon. Kayla placed her Torchic ball in her pink waist bag, and Brandon placed Mudkip into his black pack.

The two went to a map that was hung on a wall and examined the various routes.

"What do you plan on accomplishing while we travel?" Kayla asked Brandon, who was closely tracking the route from Oldale to Rustboro.

"I'm gonna take the Pokemon League challenge….and hopefully become a gym leader", Brandon replied with his finger following the routes, "you?"

"I'm interested in the breeding….maybe I'll be a breeder." Kayla stated, and turned, "wanna head to Petalburg?

Brandon was about to answer, when a loud roaring sound was heard outside. The two exchanged glances and the rushed outside.

Outside, a tall man on a motorcycle was talking to some women. Kayla and Brandon ignored this and were about to go back inside, when the man made a very callous remark.

"Whatever. I was just looking for a hook up." The motorcycle man said and was about to drive off, when Kayla spoke up.

"You can't talk to people like that!" Kayla announced and walked towards the man.

The man looked and laughed. "Please kid, go home. This concerns you not."

The man let out a snorting laugh. Kayla was angered and held out her Torchic's pokeball. The man noticed this, and again laughed.

"You want a battle? Ok! I'd love to watch you cry!" The man said, turning off his bike and hopping off. He held out a ball too.

"Torchic! I choose you!" Kayla shouted, as Torchic appeared, ready to fight. Torchic appeared invigorated, as if it could tell the man was up to no good.

"A puny Torchic? Birch has given birth to another worthless trainer! Go, Gulpin!" The brash man honked, releasing a small Pokemon that looked like a green blob of poison from his hairy hand.

"Torchic, Ember!" Kayla shouted.

Torchic opened its mouth and released a small stream of fire.

"Gulpin! Minimize!"

Gulpin grew really small and evaded the flame.

"While he's reforming, use Ember again!"

Kayla's Torchic shot another hot beam at the Gulpin, who was slowly taking shape of the blob it once was. The flame hit the Pokemon, and caused it to flip backwards.

"Grr….", the bald man growled, "Gulpin! Toxic!"

Gulpin shot out a spew of purple liquid at Torchic.

"Torchic! Dodge and fly at it with Peck!"

Torchic narrowly escaped a deadly poison and came at the toxic blob with its beak.

"Gulpin, Take the hit!"

Gulpin sat there and let Torchic hit it. Torchic stabbed the Pokemon, but got consumed by its liquid body.

"How terrible for you! Gulpin, Sludge!"

Gulpin secreted a nasty poisonous liquid from its body and drenched Torchic. Torchic squealed and leapt out of the Pokemon's liquid body in pain.

"Gulpin, Toxic again!"

Gulpin shot a Toxic blast at Torchic.

"Torchic, use ember to burn the Toxic, and then aim it at Gulpin!"

Torchic spewed another fire spray at the toxic, which caused it to melt, and then positioned the flames at Gulpin.

"My Gulpin!" the man shouted.

Gulpin was consumed with fire, and due to the sludge that still remained on it body from the Sludge trap it left earlier, it fainted quickly.

"Yes!" Kayla shouted and hugged Torchic.

The man recalled his Gulpin. He turned at the sight of laughter, and noticed the women he was harassing earlier mocking him.

Humiliated , the biker jumped on his bike and rode off towards Littleroot.

"Thanks," one girl said, "you showed him!"

Kayla laughed with them and told them it was her pleasure. The new friends waved goodbye, as Brandon and Kayla headed back into the Poke Center.

Kayla handed Nurse Joy her Pokemon again, and stood there waiting for it to heal. Meanwhile, Brandon started conversation.

"Ha! That was a good battle!" He complemented.

Kayla laughed and said, "Yea! He made me so mad, treating that girl like that. People have no right to think they are better than anyone else." Brandon agreed.

The two went to the café in the center and bought some chips and water. After the quick lunch and small talk, the two left the center.

"I'm gonna catch a Pokemon before we get to Rustboro…so I can have some extra support for Roxanne." Brandon announced.

"Yea, maybe I should catch something…but from what I heard, I don't think I want anything in these parts."

"There's a variety in the Petalburg woods" Brandon suggested.

"Sounds good!" Kayla said, agreeing.

The two departed the Oldale center and headed towards Petalburg City.

After a short stroll through some more grass, the two finally reached a small area outside of Petalburg. The two stopped for a rest. While they sat, they saw various Pokemon run about. The two hadn't seen any trainers, and we're getting worried.

"I haven't seen nary a trainer since we left Oldale!" Kayla stated, rather irritated.

"Be patient. There shouldn't be any tough trainers in this area, though." Brandon said, getting rather irritated as well.

The two stood up stretched and took a few steps forward, when a small girl come rushing out of a patch of bushes.

"Excuse me. I would like to battle you!" The girl said, straightening out her white pants, with matching top and pointing at Brandon, "I like your hair."

Brandon and Kayla laughed.

"Sure! Let's battle!"

The two walked to a clearing, as Kayla sat on a stump and watched.

"Let's go…Vulpix!" the girl with a blonde ponytail called.

Vulpix, a red fox cub, appeared and let out a cute growl.

"This'll be easy," Brandon thought, "Vulpix is a fire type and my Mudkip is water and has Mud Slap."

"Go! Mudkip!"

Mudkip popped out of its ball and let out an equally cute growl.

"Vulpix, Quick Attack!"

Vulpix darted towards Mudkip at a fast speed.

"Mudkip! Mud Slap!"

Mudkip slung mud at the Vulpix in mid sprint. The mud splattered in the fire Pokemon's face, causing it to stop running.

"Now Mudkip, Tackle!"

Mudkip charged Vulpix and knocked it backwards.

"My baby! Lets see….Vulpix! Try Growl!"

Vulpix leapt up at Mudkip, who was a few inches away due to its recent attack and not having time to return to its corner, and growled in Mudkip's face.

Mudkip retreated back and swiped at its ears.

"Vulpix! Tackle it from behind!"

Vulpix jumped at Mudkip and knocked it forwards.

"Mudkip!" Brandon shouted.

As Mudkip landed on the ground and stood up, Brandon noticed a flash come from Mudkip. Brandon knew what had happened.

"Mudkip! Water Gun!"

Mudkip released a burst of cold water at Vulpix. Vulpix yelped and fell to the ground. Mudkip smiled in victory.

"Awesome job, Mudkip!" Brandon said, recalling it to it's pokeball.

"Sorry Vulpix…" the girl said, withdrawing it.

Brandon shook hands with the girl and gave some encouraging words.

"Your Vulpix has some power. If it hadn't have been for water gun, you may have won."

The girl smiled.

"Yea," she said and then slapped her forehead, "how rude of me! My name is Dorothy!"

Brandon and Kayla introduced themselves.

"Nice to meet you both, but I must return to school. We were told to face a trainer and return with the results…you've given me a great story!"

"Oh, you train at Roxanne's school?" Kayla questioned.

"Yes, I do! But I must hurry, only 30 minutes to class! I better grab my bike!"

Dorothy waved and ran off into the direction of Petalburg Woods.

"We are getting good at this!" Kayla said, almost braggingly.

"We are! But, let's hurry to the woods before nightfall and after we both catch something, we'll stay at the poke center.

The two walked past the Petalburg Gym. They both knew one had to have 4 badges to challenge Norman, and so they just kept walking. The two didn't go sight seeing, but instead headed for the woods.

"The woods are just up ahead…" Brandon declared, "…so we can explore Petalburg after we do some training."

"What all can you catch there?" Kayla asked, not being as educated in the region as Brandon.

"I'll let you find out for yourself." Brandon replied, with a small laugh, followed by a joking push from Kayla.

The two neared the woods, unaware of they were being followed.

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Wow…what a cliff hanger…not so dramatic. Anyway, there will be 2 new Pokemon entering the team next time, as well as a sabotage and a meeting of Team Aqua.