It's been a few months, but I'm back with another chapter. Unfortunately, there haven't been any new reviews on the last chapter, so I'm a little bummed. But, the story must go on, critique or no critique. And Calypso's story is one I hope to tell well.
I know people have viewed my new updates, so if you read this, and enjoy it, please let me know in a review. It means the world to me as a writer. Or if you want to deliver some constructive criticism on what you think I can improve, I'm open to that too.
Now to revive an old tradition!
JP: I guess I'm doing the disclaimer this time. *Ahem* *Turns on megaphone* gothchic6 doesn't own Pokémon. She owns her Ocs!
*Calypso's POV*
I wake up to Maizie screaming, "CALYPSO! WAKE UP! GRANDPA MADE BREAKFAST!"
I sit up erratically, accidentally pushing a sleeping Cyndi off of me, and onto the floor.
'What the hell,' She exclaims indignantly.
"I'm so sorry, Cyndi, I didn't realize you were snoozing on me."
'It's okay,' She murmurs grumpily.
It takes me ten minutes to get out of bed, and change out of my pajamas. Surprisingly, Cyndi is my only Pokémon awake right now. Normally, Zellie and Forest are among my early risers.
Cyndi and I walk down Kurt's hallway, passing Kurt's room on the right, and Maizie's on the left. When we get to the kitchen, Kurt greets me with a small smile. "Good morning, Calypso."
Maizie pulls me by my wrist into the seat she chose for me. Setting a bowl and a spoon in front of me, she says excitedly,
"Grandpa put Berries in the oatmeal today, so it's gonna be super yummy!"
Before I know what she's doing, Maizie grabs my Poké Belt, and lets out all of my Pokémon.
Forest and Zellie look happy to be awake, while Dusk and Spirit seem like they want to kill multiple people.
All of them but Dusk are overjoyed when Maizie puts down bowls of Oran Berries in front of them. Dusk won't eat the berries, despite Maizie's sad face. I beckon her over.
"Hey, don't worry Maizie, Dusk doesn't like normal Pokémon food. You know the feeling you get when you're scared? Well, Dusk eats those feelings."
Maizie's eyes go wide, and for a moment, I think I'm in trouble. But then she says,
"That's so cool! She scares people and eats it all up!"
Laughing, I reply, "Yep, pretty much. I'll probably feed her later when we're exploring the forest."
After everyone is finished with breakfast, I pack up the rest of my stuff. "I think I'm going to challenge the Azalea Town Gym today."
"Good luck, Calypso," Kurt encourages,"With Pete's blood in your veins, I'm sure you'll do well!"
"Yeah!" Maizie agrees.
"Before you leave, Calypso, did you want me to turn any Apricorns into Poké Balls?
I pull out two Black Apricorns. "Here, could you make these?"
"Okay, it'll take a day to make you your Poké Balls. You can come back later for it."
Maizie grabs onto the bottom of my shorts. "Hey, Grandpa wants me to give you his phone number," she says as I input the number into my phone, "He'll tell you when the Poké Balls are done."
"You can also call me whenever you need my help, Calypso. I'll always be here for you."
"Thank you so much, Kurt!" I give him a hug, and he tenses up. After a moment, he relaxes, and hugs me back. Maizie makes it a group hug, and wraps her arms around the two of us. After a minute of squish, we all let go.
"See you guys later! I'll call you after the Gym Battle to let you know how it went," I offer to Kurt and Maizie.
"Sounds like a plan," Kurt accepts, while Maizie cheers me on, "Go Calypso! You can beat 'em!"
I stop by the Poké Mart on the upper right side of Azalea Town to stock up on healing items. I made some decent money from battling the Union Cave Trainers, battling Anthony, and from kicking Team Rocket's asses. Added up all together, I made 3784 in earnings.
I used a lot of Potions in Slowpoke Well, so I buy enough Potions so I have ten in my bag. Azalea Gym is full of Bug type Pokémon that like to cause status problems, so I buy two each of Antidotes, Parlyz Heals, and Awakenings for good measure.
I see a Super Potion, and I wonder if I need it. Cyndi, Spirit and Zellie all have enough HP to need a Super Potion, so I go ahead and grab three of them. Just in case.
Now that I'm properly stocked up, I walk over to the Azalea City Gym. I put Zellie in the front of my party so she can train. We walk into the building to the lobby where the Gym Guru greets us. He gives me some advice about Bug Pokémon that I already know, but I thank him anyway. We pass by him, and into the main room of the Gym.
The first thing I see is a giant chasm in the middle of the floor. There is a spider-themed transportation system over the chasm. I can pick one of three spiders; they each will take me to different places. I see a Bug Catcher on the far right side of the chasm. I step on the spider in the middle, hoping it will take me to him. To my surprise, it does!
"Hey, if you're looking to defeat Bugsy, you have to beat me first," Bug Catcher Al shouts at me. He sends out a Level 12 Caterpie. Zellie runs forward to battle it.
"Caterpie, use String Shot!"
The Caterpie pumps out a shitload of white silly string, and attempts to wrap Zellie in it.
"Zellie, counter with Water Gun to break up the string," I suggest.
Zellie unleashes a large amount of water onto the Caterpie's string shot, removing its stickiness. The Water Gun also barely hits the Caterpie, which lowers its HP by a fourth.
"Caterpie, use your Tackle attack!"
The Caterpie rushes Zellie, and hits her in the chest. It doesn't do much damage because of Zellie's defense.
"Zellie, use Sonicboom!"
The sound wave hits Caterpie, and almost knocks it out. Bugcatcher Al makes one last desperate attempt to stay in it,
"Caterpie, use Tackle!"
I yell out, "Zellie, use Water Gun!"
The Caterpie charges Zellie again, but it never makes contact because Zellie's Water Gun sends it flying.
When Caterpie hits the ground, we see that's it's fainted. Al recalls Caterpie.
"You can do it, Weedle," he says as he sends out his Level 12 Weedle.
"Zellie, use Water Gun!"
"Weedle, use Poison Sting," Al cries out.
Weedle moves faster than Caterpie, and manages to dodge Zellie's Water Gun. However, Zellie isn't as lucky, and she gets poisoned. The Poison Sting drains her HP to 3/4ths. Then, the poison status reduces it a bit more.
"Zellie, use your Sonicboom!"
The Weedle goes to dodge it, but Zellie changes direction, hitting the Weedle straight on.
"Weedle, Poison Sting, one more time!"
"Zellie, Water Gun!"
Zellie's Water Gun hits first, knocking Weedle out. Zellie dodges the Weedle's Poison Sting by inches.
"Zellie grew to Level 10. Zellie can learn the move Pursuit. Did you want to get rid of a move to replace with Pursuit?" The Pokédex asks us.
"I'd like to replace Water Sport with Pursuit," Zellie requests.
"Zellie forgot Water Sport, and Zellie learned Pursuit!"
Wow, I guess you won..." Bugcatcher Al says as he recalls Weedle. He hands me 192.
I heal poor Zellie with an Antidote and a Potion before we ride the spider back to the start.
We choose to ride the spider on the right, but it takes us to a dead end. So back to the start we ride. The left can't be the wrong choice…
We finally reach the middle platform, and we have to cross the path of Bug Catcher Benny to ride the next set of spiders.
"Hey! Bug Pokémon are strong because they evolve quickly! I'll show you!"
Benny sends out a Level 7 Weedle. Zellie, now fully healed, takes it on.
Zellie has no problem taking the Weedle out with her Water Gun after dodging Poison Sting. Benny recalls Weedle, and sends out a Level 9 Kakuna. I'm starting to see a pattern here...
"Kakuna, Poison Sting!"
Zellie gets hit again from an unexpected Poison Sting. It affects her HP a tiny bit, but luckily it doesn't poison her again.
"Zellie, use Sonicboom!"
Zellie's Sonicboom hits the Kakuna, and it reduces the Kakuna's HP by a third.
"Kakuna, use Harden!"
Kakuna heightens its Defense. But that doesn't concern me…
"Zellie, use Water Gun!" Kakuna's Special Defense isn't as strong as its Defense, and it goes down. Benny recalls Kakuna.
"Zellie grew to Level 11!" The Pokédex says. I congratulate Zellie before recalling her. I know what's to come, so I gotta be prepared for it…
"Go, Beedrill!" Benny shouts as he sends out a Level 12 Beedrill.
"Spirit, I choose you!" Spirit looks a little bit annoyed to be battling, but she's well rested, so she decides to give it a shot.
"Beedrill, use Poison Sting!"
"Spirit, fly up to dodge, and then go in for a Peck!"
Spirit is just slightly faster than Beedrill, so she avoids the Poison Sting by inches. She flies behind Beedrill, and goes in for the Peck.
It hits Beedrill directly on the back of the head, reducing its HP by a little more than a half.
"Beedrill, use your Fury Attack!" Beedrill comes after Spirit with its massive stingers. Spirit fends off the first two attacks, but Beedrill breaks her Defense. He hits her three times in a row, reducing her HP by a fourth.
"Spirit, knock Beedrill out of the sky with a Wing Attack!" Spirit soars towards Beedrill, wings out stretched.
"Beedrill, use Harden!"
Beedrill ups its Defense by a level right before Spirit strikes, but it isn't enough to keep it from fainting. Benny recalls Beedrill.
"Wow! You might be strong enough to defeat Bugsy!"
Benny hands me 192. I heal Spirit with a Potion and switch her to the front of the party before continuing. I can see Bugsy on a platform directly across from us, but I doubt the puzzle will let us get there easily.
The second part of the spider chasm puzzle is much more complicated than the first. There is only one spider, but there are several ways the spider can go. There is a blue level switch on the right of the spider. I decide to flip it. I see the blue colored path bend weirdly.
Spirit and I step on the spider, and it takes us to the upper right corner, where a Bugcatcher awaits us.
Bugcatcher Josh only has one Pokémon, a Level 13 Paras. Spirit decides to make it quick.
"Paras, use Stun Spore!"
"Spirit, dodge it and go in for a Peck!"
Paras shoots a large amount of stunning yellow powder into the air, creating a golden cloud of paralyzing static. Spirit can't help but fly into it, just because of how big it is. She twitches every few seconds because of the paralysis, but I can see the murder in her eyes. We vastly underestimated Paras's status moves, but it's not a mistake we'll make again. But if we can make one super effective hit, I know Paras will go down.
"Spirit, you got this! Use Wing Attack!"
"Paras, dodge it, and use Scratch!"
Spirit puts all of her power into charging the Paras, wings outstretched. Just as she's about to plough into him, Paras uses Scratch on Spirit's left wing. His claw hooks onto her wing, and she takes off into the sky, freaking out because he's hooked onto her.
"Paras, use Leech Life!" The Paras uses it's grip to reach up and bite Spirit, draining her HP by a small amount. Spirit freaks out even more. I look everywhere, trying to decide what to do to get it off of her, when I notice a tree to our left. I decide to take advantage of our environment.
"Spirit, use Wing Attack into that tree!"
Spirit gets what I'm getting at, and to the great shock of Bugcatcher Josh, she throws the Paras into the tree with her Wing Attack. I'm right; It only took one hit.
Bugcatcher Josh picks up his fainted Paras, and says, "You are a monster! Look at poor Paras!"
I can't believe this kid. Spirit went through hell to win that battle.
"Look, kid, you're a Gym Trainer. You chose to play the game. You played, and you lost. Now, I believe you owe me money?"
Bugcatcher Josh growls at me, and throws the money at me like I'm a stripper.
'What a sore loser.' Spirit comments as we ride on the spider back to the middle platform.
"You're not kidding. Hey, come here. I'm going to use a Parlyz Heal on you. Do you need a Potion, or do you think you're okay?"
'I only lost a tiny bit of health, so I'll be okay for now,' Spirit says as I spray the Parlyz Heal on her. I can tell it's working when she stops twitching.
"All right, I'm going to flip the switch back so we go on another path. Are you ready, or do you want me to switch you out?"
'I'm okay to fight.'
So Spirit and I flip the switch back to the original path, and the spider takes us to the upper most left corner. A pair of twins make eye contact with us.
"Hey, you have to battle us if you wanna get to Bugsy," The first twin, Amy, says.
"Yeah," finishes the second twin, Mimi, "With two Pokémon!"
"Wait? A battle with two Pokémon," I ask confusedly.
"Hey, Mimi, this is her first double battle! We should show her how it's done!"
"You said it, Amy! We're each going to send out a Pokémon, and you gotta send out two. Go Ledyba!"
"Go Spinarak!"
Each twin sends out a Bug Pokémon, both Level 10. My Pokémon have never actually worked in sync before, so I'm a bit nervous. The first two Pokémon in my party are Spirit and Dusk, and somehow, I think that combination will work.
"Go, Spirit and Dusk!"
Spirit and Dusk bewilderedly look at each other, then at me, and then at the Bug Pokémon.
"It's a double battle. You guys gotta work together to win the battle."
They both look at each other for a second before silently agreeing to cooperate.
"Spinarak, use String Shot on Murkrow!" Spinarak tangles Spirit in white string, lowering her speed.
"Ledyba, use Comet Punch on Murkrow while it's slow!"
"Dusk, use Astonish on Ledyba to stop it from hitting Spirit!"
Dusk's Astonish gets a 1.5 type bonus, and it lowers Ledyba's HP to a little less than half. It causes Ledyba to flinch like I hoped, so it can't go after Spirit.
"Spirit, use Wing Attack on Spinarak!"
"Spinarak, hit it with your Poison Sting!"
Spirit dodges Spinarak's Poison Sting, but Amy calls out, "Ledyba, use Tackle!"
Ledyba launches itself towards Spirit, attempting a Tackle, but it epically fails because it tackles itself straight into Spirit's Wing Attack, knocking it out instantly.
Mimi tries to save the battle, "Spinarak, use Poison Sting on Misdreavus!"
"Dusk, dodge it and counter with Psywave!"
Dusk's Psywave pushes back the Poison Sting, and when the super effective attack hits Spinarak, it faints.
"Spirit grew to Level 18. Dusk grew to Level 17." The Pokédex says. I praise both Spirit and Dusk before recalling the latter. Spirit flies up to perch my shoulder.
"Awww, our Bug Pokémon lost," says Amy disappointedly.
"And to a Trainer who never had a double battle before," Mimi finishes.
The twins hand me 320 in winnings. I see a blue switch to the right of them, so I flip it. I see the blue path shift again. Spirit and I ride the spider, and it takes us to a small platform right behind the one with the twins. There is a red switch there, so I flip that one too. The red path twists weirdly.
By now I realize that I've beaten all the Gym Trainers. I heal Spirit and Dusk with a Potion before switching Spirit out with Cyndi as my battling Pokémon. Spirit chooses to stay perched on my shoulder so she can witness the Gym Battle. Spirit, Cyndi and I step on the spider for hopefully the last time.
The spider finally takes us to the Gym Leader's platform, where Bugsy is waiting for us. I make eye contact with the softest pair of lavender eyes. I can't really tell whether they're a boy or girl, but then again, you can't really tell with me half the time either. My chest sticks out more than theirs, so I still don't know.
Either way, Bugsy is really easy on the eyes. Their hair is the same shade of lavender as their eyes, and it's kinda shaggy like mine, but a tiny bit longer. They're wearing a green polo shirt and shorts with a yellow tie, while white socks and brown shoes adorn their feet. A genuine smile rests on their lips, unlike Faulkner's smug smile.
I feel a beak on my left ear, and I realize that I've been staring. I'm so glad Spirit knocked me out of my trance; I have to remember to thank her later.
"Hi, I'm Calypso, and I've come to challenge you for the Hive Badge," I introduce myself to Bugsy. When they speak, I realize he's male.
"I'm Bugsy! I never lose when it comes to Bug-type Pokémon. My research is going to make me an authority on Bug-type Pokémon! Let me demonstrate what I've learned from my studies."
Bugsy sends out a Level 17 Scyther that's honestly terrifying. But if anyone can handle it, I know Cyndi can.
"Cyndi, use Quick Attack!"
"Scyther, dodge it and use Leer!"
Scyther glares at Cyndi harshly as Cyndi charges her, lowering her Defense. Scyther tries to sidestep her Quick Attack, but Cyndi's accuracy doesn't fail. It reduces Scyther's HP by a fifth.
"Cyndi, set Scyther on fire with your Ember," I call out to her.
"Scyther, don't let it hit you! Use U-Turn on Quilava!"
Scyther moves away quickly, but Cyndi's Ember catches on one of Scyther's wings. It lowers Scyther's HP to slightly less than half. Scyther does a stop, drop, and roll to get the fire out, and then she rushes Cyndi, hitting her with U-Turn. Despite Cyndi's lowered Defense, it only does a sixth of her HP in damage.
Bugsy recalls Scyther back into her Poké Ball because of the U-Turn. He sends out a Level 15 Metapod instead.
"Metapod, use Tackle!"
"Cyndi, dodge it and use Ember!"
Metapod tackles Cyndi, knocking on her butt to Cyndi and I's surprise. It reduces Cyndi's HP to 3/4ths. Who knew a Metapod could be that strong?
But Cyndi doesn't let Metapod get away with her assault. She fires up an Ember attack and shoots it straight at Metapod. It doesn't take long before Metapod is engulfed in flames, and after a moment, we see that she's fainted.
"Metapod, come back," Bugsy says as he recalls her, "You did a great job out there. Now, Kakuna, I choose you!"
Bugsy sends out a Level 15 Kakuna. Since his Metapod was able to use a damaging move like Tackle, I'm almost betting that Kakuna will be able to. But since Weedles never learn Tackle, I'm gonna have to deal with Poison Sting instead. As long as Cyndi is able to hit it with an Ember, it'll go down. But he'll be expecting that, so I'll try something different...
"Kakuna, use Poison Sting," Bugsy calls out.
"Cyndi, use Smokescreen!"
Cyndi discharges a large cloud of black smoke from her mouth. Kakuna's accuracy is cut by a level, so Cyndi manages to dodge Poison Sting. Bugsy yells out a command,
"Kakuna, don't let it get away! Use Poison Sting again!"
"You can dodge it, Cyndi! Now use Ember!"
Cyndi uses the rest of the smoke cloud to hide herself from Poison Sting again. Then, she pinpoints Kakuna's location in the smoke before hurling a fire ball straight at it. When the smoke finally clears, Kakuna is fainted on the ground.
"Kakuna, come back! You did a great job," Bugsy says as he recalls Kakuna.
"Cyndi grew to Level 20. Cyndi can learn the move Flame Wheel. Did you want to replace a move with Flame Wheel?"
'Yeah, I'll replace Tackle with Flame Wheel!' Cyndi says excitedly.
"Cyndi forgot Tackle, and Cyndi learned Flame Wheel!"
At this point, Bugsy only has Scyther left to battle with. She has less than half her health left, so Cyndi and I are hoping for an easy finish.
"Scyther, use your Quick Attack!" Bugsy says, hoping to get a few hits in before Cyndi can attack.
"Cyndi, use your new Flame Wheel attack!"
Scyther is quicker, and she gets a solid hit on Cyndi, reducing Cyndi's HP to half.
"Scyther, use Focus Energy! You need a critical hit to take Quilava out!"
Cyndi takes a second to recover, but she starts charging her flame until it's that bright blue color that let's me know she's ready to end this.
"Now, Cyndi, use Flame Wheel to end this battle!"
Cyndi starts dashing for speed before rolling into a blue flame covered wheel heading straight for Scyther.
"Scyther, dodge it and use U-Turn,"Bugsy attempts one last command, but it has no effect because Cyndi is too fast.
"Quilava!" Cyndi squeals as she rolls directly into Scyther, causing massive super effective damage. Scyther sprawls out on the ground, fainted.
"Aw, that's the end of it..." Bugsy says as he recalls Scyther back to her Poké Ball.
Spirit and Cyndi watch in excitement as Bugsy pulls out a badge, and says,
"Whoa, you're amazing! You're an expert on Pokémon! My research isn't complete yet. Okay, you win. Take this Badge."
Bugsy hands me a badge that resembles a ladybug.
"Thanks, Bugsy, the team and I trained hard for this," I smile warmly.
"Do you know the benefits of the Hive Badge? If you have it, Pokémon up to Level 30 will obey you, even traded ones. Pokémon that know Cut will be able to use it outside of battle, too. Here, I also want you to have this."
Bugsy pulls out a TM and hands it to me. "TM89 contains U-Turn. It let's your Pokémon attack, then switch with the next Pokémon in your party. Isn't that great?"
"Yeah, I'm sure I'll find a way to work it in to our strategy," I assure him.
"Anyway, Bug-type Pokémon are deep. There are many mysteries to explore. Study your choices thoroughly."
"I will. I'm heading towards Goldenrod City for the next Gym Badge today. But not before I take my team to rest at the Pokémon Center."
So Bugsy and I exchange goodbyes before Spirit and I start to leave the Gym. Riding the second spider out, I feel Spirit's beak on my neck again.
"Hey, what's up," I ask, "You don't normally nudge me unless you need to talk or you want something."
Spirit chirps in slight annoyance at my comment, but replies,
'I was wondering what happened when you first saw Bugsy. You just kept staring at him, and it was almost like you were in a trance.'
I step out of the Gym before I say the next part so no one hears me,
"I guess I was staring because I thought he was cute, okay? Are you judging me for having functioning eyes?"
'Hey, no need to get so defensive! I just didn't want it to look like you were ogling him. Although it's crazy to think you'd ever find someone attractive. You used to hate people,' Spirit comments thoughtfully.
"Yeah, I've found that not all people are shit. Maybe just Gran and almost the entire population of Cianwood City. Anyway, I have people I can confide and believe in now! And, at the very least, are nice to me. PG, Professor Elm, JC, JP, Kurt, and Bugsy… even Silver has more to him than meets the eye."
As we walk towards the Pokémon Center, I keep hearing rustling in the trees near the Azalea Gym. The rustling even startles Spirit at one point, but we walk along, both just hoping it was a Pokémon.
We finally make it to the Pokémon Center after our brief conversation. I recall Spirit into her Poké Ball so Nurse Joy can heal her and the rest of the Team.
After they're healed, I glance at the time on my Poké Gear. 2:00 pm. There's still enough time to have a small lunch and still explore Ilex Forest before it gets dark.
I move to a corner booth and let my Team out of their Poké Balls. I feed all of them their standard Pokémon food, except for Dusk, who will feed herself while we're exploring the forest. I then recall all of them except for Dusk, placing her at the front of my party.
I take a second to say goodbye to Kurt and Maizie before continuing on towards Ilex Forest, Dusk floating at my side. I start to hear the trees around us rustling again.
"Did you hear that," I whisper to Dusk on my left, "That was happening earlier when Spirit and I were leaving the Gym."
The trees rustle again aggressively. 'I'll check it out!' Dusk squeals as she flies into the woods towards the rustling.
It only takes a few seconds before I hear yelling coming from the woods. About a minute later, I hear heavy footsteps heading towards me. All of a sudden, a disgruntled Silver falls out onto the path in front of me, a giggling Dusk hanging onto the back of his flaming hair. Dusk lets go of Silver's hair, flying over to float on my left side.
'It was Jerkface,' Dusk squeaks in amusement, 'He was spying on us from the woods, so I spooked him, and ate it all! It was so yummy! This is payback for when he kidnapped us in Violet City!'
Silver picks himself off the ground, brushes himself off, and then says indignantly,
"This isn't the first time I've had to tell you to keep your damn Pokémon on a leash!"
I roll my eyes at his typical statement. "I didn't listen the first time you said it, what makes you think I'd listen the second time? You can consider this payback for when you kidnapped us back in Violet City. Anyway, we know it's been you who's been sneaking around the woods all this time! Silver, you creep!"
Silver pauses for a moment before replying dryly, "Humph… whatever… Tell me something. Is it true that Team Rocket has returned?"
I shift my hands to my hips in annoyance. "Huh, way to change the subject, but, yeah, those sleazeballs were in Slowpoke Well cutting off Slowpoke Tails to sell! So the Team and I creamed Proton and his crew—"
Silver interrupts me boldly, "What? You beat them? Hah! Quit lying."
Narrowing my eyes in fury, I growl, "Believe me, Ginger Head Man, I kicked the crap out of Proton and his team. Hell, I even broke that fucker's nose!"
"Are you serious? Then let's see how good you are," he says as he pulls a Poké Ball from his belt, summoning his Gastly to battle.
"Well, Dusk, I guess we're doing this! Use Confuse Ray!"
"Gastly, dodge it and use Lick!"
Dusk's Confuse Ray hits Gastly first, and he's having a hard time figuring out what to do. After a second, he hurts himself in his confusion. His HP reduces by a fifth.
"Gastly, you waste of space, use Curse!"
Dusk's HP reduces by a fourth due to the Curse. I gasp not only at the use of the move, but at Silver's horrible insult towards his Gastly. It's lost more than half it's HP in that one move alone!
"You know, insulting him probably isn't going to make him any less confused!"
"Shut up, brat," Silver snarls in reply, "Gastly, use Lick, NOW!"
"Dusk, dodge it and use Astonish!"
Gastly manages to see through his confusion, and he licks Dusk straight on the face. Gross! And, unfortunately, super effective. Dusk's HP goes down by a third. Lick also has the unfortunate side effect of inflicting paralysis half the time, and Dusk got the wrong half.
Dusk twitches due to the paralysis, but she still goes in for an Astonish. Silver and Gastly weren't expecting her to be able to attack, so Gastly has no choice but to watch as Dusk makes the finishing move. Gastly faints.
"Return," Silver says stonily. I sigh to myself in relief; I'm glad that he didn't verbally abuse his Pokémon this time.
Silver sends out a Level 16 Zubat to battle next. I recall poor paralyzed Dusk, and I send out Spirit, my confusion-dodging expert. Silver makes the most predictable move ever,
"Zubat, use Supersonic!"
"Spirit, dodge it and use Faint Attack!"
Spirit soars like a bullet in the air, getting far enough away that Zubat's Supersonic doesn't hit her. Then, she disappears into her black cloud, and reappears behind Zubat, striking him powerfully. The hit lowers Zubat's HP down to a little less than half.
"Zubat, use Leech Life!"
"Spirit, finish Zubat off with your Wing Attack!"
Zubat and Spirit dash towards each other, each trying to make a hit that will make the other faint. I see a sparkle in Spirit's eye, and I know she's up to something. As soon as Zubat comes within range of her, Spirit bitch slaps him down to the ground with her Wing Attack. Am I surprised? No. Am I proud? Hell yes.
Silver growls menacingly as he recalls his fainted Zubat, "Say, you've got a lot of nerve, coming here..."
I glare at him and respond, "And you've got a lot of nerve saying that when you've been the one spying on us!"
Silver looks like he wants to commit my murder, but he sends his massive Level 18 Croconaw out to take his anger out on my Pokémon instead.
Spirit did an awesome job taking out Zubat, but she's tired, so I recall her. Despite being under-leveled, I decide that Forest is the best one for this job.
"Croconaw, use Bite," Silver bellows.
"Forest, dodge it and use Sleep Powder!"
Croconaw is too fast, and he bites Forest on his leafy arm. It reduces his HP by a little less than half. Thankfully, this puts him in range so Forest can use Sleep Powder. It hits Croconaw, who quickly dozes off.
"Get up, Croconaw! This is no time for sleeping!"
"Now, Forest, you got this! Use Wrap!"
Croconaw stays asleep, to Silver's frustration. Forest extends his vines to wrap tightly around Croconaw, slowly squeezing him for a small amount of damage. It also reduces his HP again due to Wrap damaging him for 2-5 turns.
"Croconaw! Come on, open your damn eyes!"
Croconaw still won't wake up, and I'm just wondering whether Silver forgot to buy any Awakenings. Hey, it's working to my advantage.
"Now, Forest, use Vine Whip!"
Forest uses the vines he has wrapped around Croconaw to lash at him violently. It's a super effective move, and it reduces Croconaw's HP to a third. Then, another round of Wrap reduces it to a fourth.
"That's ridiculous! There's no way I could lose to a wimp like you," Silver starts to lose his composure, "CROCONAW, WAKE UP AND USE BITE!"
Croconaw finally awakens, and is quite displeased to find Forest squeezing his vines around him. Croconaw starts struggling to wriggle out of Forest's hold, because he can't bite something that's wrapped around him.
Forest inflicts one more round of Wrap damage to Croconaw before he gets thrown off by the overgrown croc.
"Croconaw, use Bite one more time!"
I am surprised by Croconaw's speed as he charges Forest. To my horror, he picks up Forest's already bitten arm in his mouth, and dangles Forest from his mouth. It reduces his HP to almost none.
"FOREST! ARE YOU OKAY?!"
"This battle is over," Silver states arrogantly. I narrow my eyes in disbelief, and reply,
"Not quite yet, Ginger Head Man! Forest, you can do it! Use Vine Whip on his face with your other arm!"
Forest musters up all the strength he has in order to reach up and whip Croconaw directly in the eye. The super effective hit causes Croconaw to collapse on the ground, fainted.
"Forest grew to Level 15. Forest can learn the move PoisonPowder. Did you want to replace a move with PoisonPowder?
'Yes, I'll replace Growth with PoisonPowder,' Forest replies weakly.
"Forest forgot Growth, and Forest learned PoisonPowder!"
Forest is able to lift his injured arm out of Croconaw's mouth, and I hope there isn't lasting damage. My Team will definitely need another round at the Pokémon Center after this.
Silver recalls his fallen Croconaw while saying grudgingly, "...Humph! Useless Pokémon! Listen, you. You only won because my Pokémon were weak."
Yeah, I don't believe it. Silver's just trying to blame his shortcomings on his Pokémon.
"Yeah, right. Your Pokémon are fine. You're the only one on your team that's weak."
Silver's eyes bore into me with hatred at my statement, and out of the corner of my eye, I see him pulling something out of his pocket. Probably his knife…?!
I hastily pull Grandpa Pete's pocket knife out of my bag. But before I can take a fighting stance, Silver notices my knife and rolls his eyes. Then, out of nowhere, he pockets his knife. I'm so confused. Wasn't he about to stab me?
"I hate the weak. Pokémon, Trainers. It doesn't matter who or what. I hate to see them hanging around. That goes for Team Rocket, too. They think they are big and tough as long as they are in a group. But get them alone, and they're weak. I hate them all."
He stares boldly at me again. "Stay out of my way. You won't be an exception if you get in my way."
He then stalks his way into Ilex Forest, disappearing into the green of the woods.
'That guy is worse than Quinn,' I hear Forest mutter weakly from behind me.
"Forest, you okay, bud? We need to get you to the Pokémon Center. You fought a rough battle, and I'm worried about your arm. Do you want to go in your Poké Ball, or would you rather have me carry you?"
'Could you carry me? I'd like to talk to you on the way there,' He requests.
"Sure," I confirm as I carefully cradle him in my arms so I don't crush his injury as we start walking to the Pokémon Center. For a few seconds, there is silence, so I break it by asking,
"So what did you want to talk about?"
'That Silver guy… he reminds me so much of Quinn… the thirst for power… the complete unrealistic expectations of his Pokémon… the loneliness. It's bringing back some old memories...' Forest trails off, closing his eyes.
"Silver has a pretty tragic backstory, Forest. His mom died when he was a toddler, and his dad abandoned him when he was nine. I can see where a lot of his hatred comes from."
'He's also like Quinn in that he hates anything and everything that he perceives as weak. But that's where his weakness lies. There is potential in everything if you work hard towards it.'
"You and the rest of the Team are evidence of that. But, if you ask me, I think Silver has something going on that he hasn't told any of us about. I'm wondering if it's something really bad for him to want to hide it so much," I speculate.
'He seems very secretive as a person, which Quinn wasn't as much. Quinn let everything hang out in the open.'
"Yeah, and normally I wouldn't care about a random part of somebody's life like this, either. But Silver's interesting. He's been in the woods, spying on us, and I want to know why. And I also want to know what he's been hiding from me, JC, and JP."
'That's for him to know, and for us to hopefully to find out,' Forest says after a comfortable silence. I notice that we've finally made it to the Pokémon Center. I was so distracted by the conversation that if you told me I had flown there, I would've believed you.
As Forest and I go inside to heal the Team, I only have one thought clouding my mind,
"What are you hiding from us, Silver?"
And that's the end of it… I hope you guys enjoyed the Gym battle and the major Silver scene. And I finally got to the part in the story summary, so I'm proud. Hope you guys enjoyed reading
-gothchic6