Chapter Seven – Better Judgements
Joshua
"Go, Venonat!"
"Magnemite, go!"
The hollow bangs of their Poké Balls opening echoed sharply in the still air. Josh's mind whirred as he analysed the situation. Venonat. Bug/Poison-type. Excellent type advantage -
"Show them your Sleep Powder, Venonat!"
Venonat shook itself violently, throwing out a billowing wave of glittering blue dust. Unconcerned, Magnemite hovered motionless as the cloud spread rapidly over the battlefield.
"Sonic Boom!" Josh ordered. The shock wave sliced across the field with a deep crack, whirring through the Sleep Powder and washing over Venonat. As it cried out in pain the glittering cloud boiled and whirled angrily, sweeping back onto its maker. Caught between the Sonic Boom and its own Sleep Powder, Venonat stumbled about in confusion.
"Venonat!" Benny cried. "Come on buddy, stay awake!"
"Thundershock!"
Magnemite almost casually threw an arching bolt of electricity at the drowsy Venonat, shocking it badly before it could work out what was happening. The smell of ozone cut through the strange sweet smell of burned Sleep Powder. Benny was beginning to look worried. He was starting this battle on the back foot, and Josh could see that he knew it.
Josh watched Benny's Venonat pull itself together and chirp gamely in its echoey voice in spite of its injuries. His own pokémon drifted passively, little yellow sparks snapping lazily off the edges of its magnets. Looks like Magnemite knows it has the advantage, too.
Benny's face screwed up into a frown of concentration. "Alright challenger, you got me good there!" he said, bouncing impatiently on the balls of his feet. "But you won't win that easy - Venonat, Psybeam!"
Venonat bounded high into the air from a standing start. Bright kaleidoscopic rays burst from its eyes, zigzagging crazily through the air in a whirl of weird colour. Magnemite watched it from the corner of its eye.
"Dodge it!" Josh yelled. Magnemite ignored him. The Psybeam struck home, haloing Magnemite in rippling colours. Venonat landed gracefully and immediately set off at a run. Magnemite tried to turn to watch Venonat as it darted in and out of its blind spots.
"Psybeam, Psybeam! Again and again!"
Venonat launched Psybeam after Psybeam, running in tight little rings around Magnemite as it did so. Every time the little magnet pokémon turned to face its aggressor another Psybeam would strike home from a different angle. Josh shouted commands to dodge over the fizzing psychic power – psychosomatic burn marks were starting to appear on Magnemite's steel body.
Why won't you evade? Josh's hands involuntarily curled into fists. His pokémon was taking serious damage from the relentless barrage despite its natural resistance to psychic attacks. You're getting hurt because you're not listening to me!
"Will you bloody concentrate?" he roared. "Stop watching and start dodging! Now!"
Venonat spun and launched yet another Psybeam. The zigzagging ray fizzed towards Magnemite -
- and missed as Magnemite ducked beneath the attack. It made a complicated spin on its axes to avoid a follow-up attack that scorched the limbs of an unlucky tree.
"Alright Magnemite! Supersonic."
Though he was standing well behind the cone of effect Josh could still hear the electronic whine of Magnemite's Supersonic. Caught in the full blast, Venonat should have been beginning to feel dizzy, but it just stood there apparently unaffected. Benny was even smiling, doing nothing to counter the attack. He calmly adjusted his hat and waited for Magnemite to give up.
"My buddy Venonat won't be hurt by a Supersonic. This is a Bug-type Gym, you know. Supersonic happens all the time here," he said with a grin. "Now let's wrap things up – Sleep Powder, again!"
"You don't learn quickly, do you? Sonic Boom."
Once again, the cloud of Sleep Powder burst apart from the force of the Sonic Boom passing through it.
"Disable!" Benny called.
"What?" Josh snapped. For the briefest moment both Venonat and Magnemite were haloed with a bluish glow. Josh was beginning to have a creeping suspicion that he'd just been trapped somehow.
"Disable binds the last move used by the target, preventing its further use during the battle, Joshua," Bugsy said from the sideline. His expression was hard to read.
Josh growled under his breath. He'd been skilfully trapped into giving up his counter-strategy. So Sonic Boom is unusable. Fine. I still have this move …
"Finish this. Thundershock," he snapped.
Venonat tried to evade just a little too late. Magnemite zapped it thoroughly where it stood. When it was over, sparks were crawling across Venonat's fur, and it was twitching violently.
"Venonat! Can you still go on, buddy?" Benny cried.
"Recall your pokémon, Benny," said Bugsy. "This battle is over. Victory goes to the challenger."
From somewhere behind him Josh heard Eve clap her hands in delight. She rushed forward to clap him on the shoulder. "Heyyy!" she said, smiling at him sunnily. "First battle with Magnemite and you win, not bad! Oh ..."
Her smile faded. She'd seen the look on the Gym Leader's face.
"You won that battle, Joshua, but you didn't earn it," he said bluntly. "You would have lost were it not for type-advantage. I will accept your challenge because you won," Bugsy paused for a moment. "However, I can't be beaten on type-advantage alone. I suggest you go and bond with your pokémon, and don't come back until you and your magnemite understand each other better."
Josh's jaw clenched. Didn't earn his victory? After figuring out a powder counter-attack in the time it took to walk to the Gym? Well if Bugsy thought that he, Joshua Cook, was going to stand and be scolded like that by a man wearing a boy scout's uniform, then -
- Magnemite drifted a little closer. It was gazing vacantly at nothing from under its eyelid. Its steel body looked dull, blemished with brown burns from Psybeam impacts. Despite the fact that it had almost nothing to express itself with, Magnemite looked tired.
Without type-advantage, I would have lost. The treacherous little thought put the truth to the matter. Josh knew nothing about Magnemite. He didn't understand its moods, its habits, its limitations … Josh could tell at a glance what kind of mood Bulbasaur was in. When Bulbasaur was feeling tired or ill or just fed-up, Josh knew, every time. What's more, he knew what to do about it. Watching Magnemite's vacant gaze, Josh realised that he hadn't the slightest idea how to treat an injured Magnemite – a living thing in his care.
Josh knew nothing about Magnemite. And as long as he didn't understand his pokémon, he would not be ready to battle for a Gym Badge.
"Return, Magnemite," he commanded. With a stiff bow to the Gym Leader, Josh strode swiftly from the battlefield. He didn't stop until he was through the doors and out into the morning sun.
"Hey! Wait up a sec," Eve called. "That was a tough battle, huh? Magnemite listened to you in the end though, and you've won yourself a Gym battle!"
Josh stood and stared at nothing, steadfastly refusing to look at her. For some reason he couldn't quite understand, he resented the Gym Leader's scolding all the more for having been witnessed by Eve.
"... are you ok?" she asked. Still not looking at her, Josh took a deep breath before answering.
"I don't like being talked down to," he said shortly.
"Bugsy was a little harsh. Having a type-advantage isn't a bad thing, and anyway you were at a disadvantage with a new pokémon too -"
"Eve," Josh cut in, "he was right. I'm not ready yet."
Magnemite's Poké Ball shone in the sun. For a brief moment, it almost looked like it had in the moonlight back on Route 32.
"You were right, too. I've learned something about Magnemite. Just not enough," he said.
"So what are you going to do now?" Eve asked carefully.
"First I'm going to the Pokémon Centre," Josh said, snapping the Poké Ball back onto his belt. "Then I am going to learn everything I can about Magnemite."
Josh looked at Eve for the first time since leaving the Gym. She was fiddling with her jacket zip nervously. Feeling a little guilty, Josh forced a smile.
"And then … I am going to train."
The common room of the Pokémon Centre was bigger and busier than any Pokémon Centre that Josh had yet seen. Not one, but three queues of trainers were lined up in front of the reception desk, which was attended by the Centre nurse and her two teenage daughters. Off to the right, trainers were taking the escalator from the bedrooms on the first floor or heading to the Centre canteen. Over to the left, in the open-plan lounge, a widescreen television showed coverage of recent battles from the Goldenrod City Gym. A few trainers were idly watching while they waited for their pokémon to finish treatment.
Josh drummed his fingers on the desktop, the sound drowned out by the general background buzz of the common room. Eve had sloped off a little earlier, muttering something about needing to stock up on medicines. Since neither of them intended to challenge Bugsy just yet, they'd decided to stay at the Pokémon Centre while he trained and Eve looked for another pokémon to catch.
"Ok, Joshua," the young Joy said as she handed his Trainer Card back. "Your magnemite's all checked in now. We'll keep you updated on its progress on the bulletin board."
Josh glanced up at the electronic bulletin board that dominated the back wall of the common room. The huge board displayed the status of all the pokémon undergoing treatment at the Centre. Magnemite's icon flashed up next to Bulbasaur's near the bottom right of the screen, marked with the status 'At Rest'.
"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Joy asked.
"Oh. Yes, actually! I have something belonging to a Pokémon Ranger who patrols Union Cave, I think. Could I leave it here?"
"Ohhh, you're that Joshua! Here, this letter was left here for you this morning," Joy said, handing him a folded-over sheet of notepaper. Josh unfolded the letter, noticing the Poké Ball-and-laurel logo in the corner:
Joshua,
If you are reading this note, then I was correct in my estimation of you. I hope you have learned a little lesson about the mountains. You were lucky that my Onix found you when he did. As for the equipment that you have been so honest as to try to return, please keep the sleeping bag as a gift. It is of old Ranger issue and was destined to be sold on as surplus, but there is plenty of wear left in it, more than enough for your purposes.
Good luck!
Area Captain David Sandoval
Josh thanked the teenage Joy, who was shamelessly trying to read the letter upside-down. As he made his way over to an empty space in the lounge, he realised that he hadn't actually made any plans to hang out with Eve. After leaving the Gym, when they had exchanged phone numbers, it hadn't occurred to Josh to think twice about it.
Grumbling to himself, Josh turned up the volume of the Pokégear velcroed to his jacket sleeve. It was one of the heavy wristwatch-style Pokégears – big, blunt and robust. Already it had been scuffed, soaked and sat on by Bulbasaur, yet it showed no sign of giving in. Though it was inelegant and unfashionable, Josh privately approved of the way his boot had completely failed to dent the fascia after he'd stomped on it.
He sighed and tried to tune out the chatter of the common room. Newspapers were scattered over the lounge, mostly Johto regional papers with the odd local publication. Josh rummaged around until he found what he hoped was there – a single spurned copy of the Punch Times. He smirked at the political cartoon on the front page and started to work his way through the sniggery articles. Halfway through an editorial on the state of the economy, his Pokégear started to ring. That'll be Evelina, he thought, ripping it off his wrist.
"Hullo?" he said.
"Hello Joshua," a stern voice answered.
"Oh. Hi Dad."
"Your mother's been trying to call you. Where are you?"
"I've been out of reception range, Dad! I'm in Azalea Town, I only got here this morning."
"Azalea Town," his father paused for an uncomfortably long moment. "Have you challenged the Gym Leader yet?"
"I've got to do some training first, the Gym Leader would beat me as it stands -"
"How do you know?" his dad cut in. "Just go for it. You're a smart boy. Just go for it, and challenge the Leader."
"Dad … it's not as simple as that. The trainer battle was hard enough. I'm not going to let my pokémon get hurt because I'm not ready," he said. Josh heard his dad sigh heavily, and he suppressed one of his own. He knew what was coming next.
"Josh, Josh, Josh … you've got eight Badges, eight battles ahead of you. Eight Gym battles that are going to be tough. You've got to learn to just go for it."
So my judgement is wrong as usual, he thought bitterly. Will he never accept that sometimes I might know better than him? Josh didn't trust himself to say anything. The old argument was just one wrong comment away.
"So what have you done?"Dad said.
"I caught a magnemite," Josh said hopefully. "Up on the highlands on Route 32."
"Did you? Good. Magnemite aren't easy to handle."
"Yeah. Yeah, it's a tricky little screwball."
"You'll have to tell me how you caught it. I've got to get back to work now, though. Your mother's going to call you this evening, so watch your phone!"
"Yeah. I'm staying in the Pokémon Centre tonight. I'll talk to you later Dad."
Josh strapped the Pokégear back onto his jacket sleeve, picking at bits of fluff stuck in the velcro. That was the problem with talking to his dad, right there. He always thought he knew better, about everything. The man managed to find something wrong with every choice he made for himself, and when Josh did things his own way anyway – well, that's when they'd start shouting at each other.
Ding, ding, ding-ding-ding! Trainers looked up at the bulletin board as the Centre's PA system chimed out. Someone's pokémon were healed.
"Joshua Cook, your bulbasaur is fully healed."
Josh tossed the newspaper aside. There was work to do.
There was a library on the eastern side of the building, crammed into a single room adjacent to the canteen. Most Pokémon Centres had one – licensed trainers could borrow books for free if they returned them to the same Pokémon Centre, or pay a small fee to return them to any Centre in the region. At this time of the day there weren't many trainers browsing the bookshelves. The librarian peered at Josh from behind the counter, as if looking for a book was highly suspicious behaviour.
Josh took a deep breath. To him, libraries smelled of dry words and crackly pages of knowledge quietly fossilising between dust jackets until someone curious needed to know something … somewhere in this library he was sure there was a book that could tell him what he needed to know about his little screwball. In its own way, it would be the key to winning his first Gym Badge.
Josh polished his glasses, and started to train.