Cerulean City Gym (Part 3)

The water was now a cesspool of neurotoxin that would certainly paralyze any Pokemon that fell into it. Destroyed by Bulbasaur, one of the floating platforms was now in pieces. The only safe place within the boundaries, therefore, was the other floating platform, about 6 by 10 foot in dimensions. It was thin, and threatened to topple over if a Pokemon was to stand too far from the center.

This is why when Charmander came out of his Pokeball and landed right in front of Starmie, everyone was shocked. No one expected me to purposely pick a Fire-type. Maybe they expected me to use Butterfree, Beedrill, or any one of my flying types, to attack safely from the air. But I was NOT one to underestimate Starmie's Psychic or Water moves. To give Starmie the opportunity to engage in ranged combat was a gamble. Close quarters combat, on the other hand, Charmander had the upper hand.

One of Charmander's training sessions involved (actually I do this with all my Pokemon, but Charmander's the best at it) having my Pokemon stand in a small circle, trying to dodge all sorts of things we throw at it. I had Mankey and Geodude throw rocks at Charmander, as well as Bulbasaur's Razor leaves and Squirtle's Water gun. Charmander's boxer-like stance, his natural reflex, flexibility, and the use of his tail for balance all worked to make him an amazingly good evader of moves. It was the most perfect combination on this small platform.

Charmander immediately raised his two paws with sharp claws like a boxer, tucked in his elbows (good form!), and started jabbing at Starmie, aiming for her core. Starmie was a terrible close quarters combatant. Her body was built for swimming, coming in and out of water, and NOT standing still on a dry surface, or trying to dodge straight punches from sharp claws. She tried her best, but most of the punches were landing on the core. On the other hand, Charmander, with his wide stance and his large tail providing a balanced triangle, was able to keep pushing Starmie towards the edge of the platform without being in danger of losing balance himself.

Starmie had no leisure to use her Psychic attacks, so she tried to aim her Water gun at Charmander's tail (smart), but Charmander punched at the relevant appendage every time, cancelling the Water gun before it posed a threat. In a moment of brilliance Starmie actually managed to do a DOUBLE Water gun move from two different appendages but because Charmander kept the distance between them so short, the water hit Chamander's body and not his tail.

Just before Starmie fell over the edge of the water, Misty withdrew her Pokemon into the Pokeball and surrendered the match.

"MISTY HAS YIELDED! THE CHALLENGER WINS!"

The crowd was still trying to process the match, but I sensed that I had won some of them over.

Misty came over to shake my hand, but she didn't look me in the eyes. I also thought she would come to the office with me to present me with the badge (like Brock had done at Pewter City), but she didn't show herself. Instead, a gym coach presented the Cascade Badge to me. The beautiful teardrop shape badge gave off different colors of blue in the light, like different hues of baby blue and turquoise, as if it was an actual drop of the cleanest of ocean's waters in solid form.

With all the paperwork completed, I went outside to meet up with Alan.

"It was incredible!" He started going on and on about the match, repeating things that I already know and have JUST seen, as if he was the comments section of a Youtube video.

I didn't mind at all.

We had a nice dinner at his restaurant again, where some locals recognized me and bought me a round of...apple juice. I'm 10 years old, after all.

I returned to my Pokeroom to find a note that had been slid under the door.

Midnight tonight. Come alone.

There was a sketched map of Cerulean City on the back, and a certain spot beyond the Nugget Bridge was marked with a red X.

I packed light, but brought along my strongest Pokemon with me.

The night was calm and the moonlight was shining brightly through the sparse clouds. I stood in the line of trees, looking into an open space that was marked on the map.

I was waiting in silence, but someone had snuck up behind me to grab me from the back. One hand had covered my mouth, and when I turned, the other hand had a finger to her lips to signal me to be quiet.

It was Misty.

I gave hand signals to my Pokemon hiding around me, to tell them to not attack her. Does she even realize that she almost got killed?

She was wearing black all over, covering most of her skin.

"Don't worry," she said, as if she read my thoughts. "I knew they were there."

A Golduck came out from behind her. The red ruby circle on his forehead was shining with a bright light.

"What do you want?" I recalled my Pokemon ambush crew. "What's with all the secrecy?"

Misty looked into my eyes with some caution, then relinquished her suspicions.

"I heard from Brock that you're the one that got rid of the Rockets in Mt. Moon," she said.

Brock? What's he got to do with this, I thought.

"He was on his way to deal with them when he heard from one of our agents that they were already defeated."

Woah, this is some new information.

"So I've been secretly keeping my eyes on you even before you got to Cerulean. Then, I heard news from my sources that you got rid of the Rocket recruiters on Nugget Bridge the other day."

This is some 007 stuff.

"But that wasn't enough," Misty said.

"What's not enough?" I asked.

"It's not enough that you're against Team Rocket," she said.

I waited for her to go on.

"You have to be good enough to take them down. No matter what."

She clenched her fists and stared into the moon. Her eyes were tearing up.

"If you're not strong enough to do that, then you can't protect the innocent," Misty said, looking into my eyes. "Or the ones you love."