Chapter 2: Losses and Wins

"This looks like a good place to stop for the night," Gary said as he looked at a clearing in the middle of the forest. The four travelers had been walking ever since leaving Professor Juniper's lab, but hunger had caused them to stop.

"Great," said Shelly. "I'm starving."

"We can take turns cooking," Gary said. He turned to the eldest sister and offered her a smile. "Do you want to help me tonight, Dani?"

"Sure," Dani said brightly.

"Cynda," Mo said in agreement.

Shelly frowned but did not voice her disapproval.

Gabri walked over to a stump and sat down. "I need a rest." She set Dragon down on the ground, and he immediately lay down. She already liked the Tepig a lot. They got along really well. "We can start training tomorrow."

"Tepig," Dragon said with a tired smile.

An hour later, Dani and Gary had managed to make a stew for the humans and Pokemon food for the Pokemon. "Time to eat!" Dani announced.

"Are you going to let out your Pokemon?" Gabri asked as she stood up. "I can't remember which ones you too brought."

"I would like to meet them too," Gary said.

Shelly smiled shyly at him before pulling out six Pokeballs and tossing them into the air. Aside from Petals, she had a Butterfree, Ponyta, Wartortle, Meowth and Goldeen. She pointed to each of them in order and named them. "You already know Petals. This is Aggie, Gloria, Hiccup, Paws, and Princess."

"Nice," Gary said, nodding.

"My turn," said Dani. She too out five Pokeballs and released the Pokemon inside. Apart from Luke, she had a Pikachu, Ivysaur, Poliwag, and Gastly. "Looks like we both brought our newer Kanto Pokemon. This is Cody, George, Ella and Spooks."

"Not bad. Now let me show you mine." Gogoat was already out, so Gary released Umbreon and two other Pokemon. This is Blastoise and Electivire."

Dani looked at them in awe. "Blastoise was your first Pokemon, right?"

Gary nodded proudly. "That's right."

"I would love to battle him someday."

"Maybe later... when we're not all hungry."

Everyone laughed at this and took it as their cue to sit down and begin to eat. They did not talk much as they all enjoyed the delicious meal.

When they were finished, all of the Pokemon were recalled except for Mo and Dragon, who stayed with their trainers. The new friends took out their sleeping bags and climbed inside. They chatted a bit longer and looked up at the stars before finally drifting off to sleep. It had been quite an eventful day.


The next morning, Shelly and Gabri made a quick breakfast of eggs and toast. "Let's spend some time here training," Dani said through mouthfuls of food. "I need to train Luke and Cody."

"And I have to start working on my combinations for the contest," Shelly added.

"Ok," Gabri said, seeming uncertain.

"I can help you train," Gary offered.

Gabri smiled at him in relief. "Thanks." She would not know where to begin training a new Pokemon, so she was grateful for the offer.

After quickly eating, the two older sisters ran off to train on their own. Gabri and Dragon stood together, looking up at Gary expectantly. "So, what should we do?"

"Well," Gary began, "Dragon knows Tackle and Ember, so you should work on improving those attacks first. Find a good target and then use them repeatedly."

Gabri nodded. "Ok." That sounded simple enough. She searched the area until she saw a small tree. That would have to do. She was about to call out when she noticed something moving in the forest. It was a Pokemon! "What's that?"

Gary followed her gaze to the creature partially hidden by the trees. "That looks like a Deerling."

The girl's face instantly lit up. "Awesome!" She had read about a Deerling in a Pokemon book before. She wanted to catch it! Plus, it would be better experience for her Tepig to practice against a real opponent. "Dragon, use Tackle on that Deerling!"

"Wait-" Gary started to say, but it was too late.

Dragon ran towards the trees, a determined look on his face. The Deerling's eyes widened as soon as she saw him coming, and she turned and fled. She soon outran the Tepig, who slowed down as he started panting.

Gabri ran to catch up with her Pokemon. "Aw, it got away," she said in disappointment. She had been looking forward to making her first catch.

Gary jogged over to her, a small grown on his face. "Deerling are very timid Pokemon and startle easily. Challenging them head on like that won't work."

Gabri frowned. "Oh."

Gary smiled slightly as he put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Some Pokemon are eager to battle passing trainers. You'll soon discover which are which."

Gabri nodded. "I guess." She looked down at an equally disappointed Dragon. "Let's really start training now." She led him back to the clearing, Gary following. She pointed at the small tree she had seen earlier. "Use Tackle against that tree!"

"Tepig!" Dragon looked determined once again as he ran forward and rammed into the tree. He fell back, but he did not seem deterred.

She had him practice for an hour longer. Then she moved him to the middle of the clearing where he could safely practice Ember for another hour. By the end, she could tell he was tired, but he seemed to be improving. She looked up at Gary for confirmation. "How did we do?"

"Not bad," Gary said in approval. "With some practice, you two could be really good."

Gabri grinned. "Thanks."

"Tepig!" said Dragon.

"Well, I'm going to go see if my sisters are down training."

Gary nodded. "Ok. I'll watch the camp. Have fun."

Gabri headed into the forest with Dragon on her heels. A moment later, she saw a Thunderbolt in the sky and assumed that was Dani, so she headed in that direction. Sure enough, she soon saw Dani and her Pikachu with Mo on the sideline cheering them on. "Hi," she greeted them.

Dani turned to give her sister a small. "Oh, hi. We were just finishing up some training."

"Dragon and I just got done training. We wanted to know if you and Mo wanted to play."

"Sure." She turned to her Pikachu, Pokeball in hand. "Cody return." Then she glanced back at Gabri. "What do you want to play?" Before the younger girl could reply, Mo climbed up onto his trainer's shoulder, snatched her hat in his mouth, jumped down onto the ground, and started to run.

Gabri laughed as her sister looked on dumfounded. Dragon grinned and followed his fellow fire-type through the tees. "I think Mo wants to play chase," she teased.

Dani rolled her eyes, though she hid an amused smiled. "Great. Let's go get them back." The two of them took off further into the forest.

The two Pokemon laughed as they continued to run. Soon their trainers were following suit, all having a good time. Unfortunately, that was all about to come to an end. As the fire Pokemon looked back to see the humans on their tails, they missed the sharp cliff up ahead and rolled right down it. Eyes wide, the girls tried to stop, but it was too late.

Luckily, it was not a high cliff, and all four of them could safely tumble down to the end of it. However, standing at the bottom of the cliff was a Torterra and a young man a little bit older than Dani, and he did not notice the coming catastrophe. The four tumblers did not know what was going on as they rolled down the cliff. Mo, Dragon, and Gabi all landed safely in the grass, but Dani slammed into the boy, causing them both to crash to the ground with her on top of him.

Dani groaned as she felt the pain of the impact. She then realized she was lying on top of someone and immediately jumped to her feet. "I'm so sorry!" She looked anxiously at the guy, who had purple hair and dark eyes that glared at her as he stood up and brushed himself off.

"You should watch where you're going," he growled.

"We kind of fell off a cliff," Gabri pointed out, "and we could not stop ourselves."

"Tepig," Dragon agreed with a nod.

"Then you should not have fallen off of the cliff," said the guy. He ignored his Torterra, who seemed amused by the whole situation.

Dani shrugged. "We'll keep that in mind for next time. I'm Dani, by the way, and this is Gabri. What's your name?"

The guy looked like he didn't want to tell her, but he reluctantly said, "Paul."

"It's nice to meet you, Paul," Gabri said with a grin.

Paul blinked at her. "We have a different definition of 'nice.'"

Mo waked closer to him and stared up at him curiously. "Cynda?"

"Is this your weak Pokemon?" Paul said, glancing at Dani.

"Hey, Mo is not weak!" Dani said hotly. She was usually quite calm, but she had to defend her friends when they were attacked. "He's been with me through Johto and Kanto."

"Then why hasn't he evolved yet?"

"Evolution isn't everything. I like him this way."

"Quil," mo said, nodding.

"I agree," Gabri added.

"You two are pathetic if you believe that," Paul said.

Dani narrowed her eyes at him. "Oh yeah? How about a battle with that Torterra of yours? I'll show you who's pathetic."

Paul chuckled darkly. "Usually I would say it's not worth my time, but it appears that you need to be taught a lesson."

Dani rolled her eyes. "Sure. Let's go, Mo." The Cyndaquil stood in front of her, a determined fire in his eyes while the fire on his back lit up.

"Torterra," said Paul, "stand by for battle." He stood back so that his Pokemon could take his place.

Gabri bit her lip as she stood off on the sideline with Dragon. She did not know if this was going to go well. She did not like confrontation, but at least a battle was a somewhat healthy way to deal with it.

Paul was not saying anything, so Dani decided to go first. "Mo, use Flame Wheel!"

"Dodge it and use Stone Edge," Paul said without any emotion.

"Don't give in!" Her Pokemon may not be evolved, but she knew he was still strong and very highly skilled. He could do this.

Fire formed around Mo, and he moved forward like a wheel. Torterra moved out of the way, and then he caused giant stones to fall down. Mo dodged them all and then slammed right into the grass type, causing Torterra to roar in pain.

Paul did not appear fazed by this. "Frenzy Plant."

Torterra glowed green as he slammed his two front teeth onto the ground, causing giant spiked roots to come out of the ground. Mo's eyes widened as he ran from them. One of them struck him, sending him flying across the makeshift battlefield.

Dani gritted her teeth. This was not good. Her best bet to win this was another great fie attack. "Get up and use Flamethrower!"

"Giga Drain!" Paul called.

Mo turned and blasted a stream of fire at the grass type while the Torterra sent out green energy beams right at him. Both of the attacks hit at the same time. Torterra appeared hurt until the beams of energy came back to him, relieving him of some of his pain. Mo, on the other hand, was panting heavily, appearing almost wiped out.

"Inferno!" Dani exclaimed.

"Stone Edge!" Paul said at the same time.

While the fire on Mo's back began to grow and stretch upward, stones appeared in the sky and began to fall. This time, the Cyndaquil was in no position to dodge. He let out a squeak as one of the stones landed on him, causing him to lose consciousness.

"No!" Dani cried in distress as she rushed forward and picked up her little Pokemon. "I'm so sorry." The fire on his back was out now, but he still managed to give her a slight smile. He would be fine.

"Just what I thought," Paul said as he took out a Pokeball and returned Torterra. "Pathetic." He turned to leave.

"Not so fast," said a harsh, angry voice.

Dani turned in surprise to see that Gary and Shelly had joined Gabri on the sideline, and Gary was glaring at Paul. "No one insults my friend and get away from it. I challenge you to a battle."

Paul blinked. "And why should I believe you will perform any better?"

"I am Gary Oak, grandson of the great Professor Oak, and I will not let you leave until you accept my challenge."

Paul seemed to be thinking it over in his head. Finally he gave a curt nod and said, "Fine. Let's make this quick." He pulled out a Pokeball and threw it in the air. "Aggron, stand by for battle!" A giant steel Pokemon appeared before him and gave a mighty roar.

Dani slinked back to her sisters to stand by them while Gary took her place in the grass. There was a hard look in his eyes as he took out his own Pokeball. "Let's go, Blastoise!" The giant turtle also gave a battle cry as he faced off against the Aggron. He looked strong and ready for battle.

"At least you know how to evolve your Pokemon," Paul said. "Aggron, use Metal Claw!"

"Use Hydro Pump, Blastoise," said Gary.

Aggron ran forward on two legs with his right claw raised to strike, but Blastoise pumped water out of the canons on is back, which struck his opponent and sent him crashing onto his back.

"Now Bite!"

"Iron Defense," Paul countered. "Then use Flash Canon."

Blastoise raced towards Aggron with his jaws wide, but Aggron curled into a ball, causing the water type's teeth to do little damage. Then Aggron opened his mouth and sent a silver ball flying out to hit his opponent, causing him to almost stumble.

Gary remained calm as he watched the battle progress. "Water Gun."

"Dodge it and use Metal Claw!"

Blastoise spit out water from is mouth, but Aggron jumped out of the way as he dashed towards him. At the last second, he brought his silver claw forward to strike.

"Now use Double-Edge," said Paul.

"Hydro Cannon!" Gary countered.

Aggron glowed gold as he charged forward. Before he could hit his target, Blastoise pounded water at him from his cannons, sending the steel type flying back. He growled as he stood back up and glared at him.

Paul appeared slightly annoyed as he called out his next move. "Flash Cannon!"

"Hydro Pump!"

The two attacks collided in an explosion that sent both Pokemon flying back. When the cloud of steam cleared, Blastoise was still standing and Aggron had fallen over, unable to get up.

"Great work, Blastoise," Gary said as he took out his Pokeball. "Return."

"I'll work on you later," Paul said, sending Aggron a sharp look before returning him. Then he nodded at Gary. "You are a decent opponent. If you are not going to teach these girls, find some better company." Then he turned and stalked away.

Dani continued to hold Mo in her arms as she watched Paul leave. She felt a mixture of emotions that she found hard to figure out. She finally turned to Gary, who was looking at her triumphantly, and said, "You did not have to do that."

His smirk faltered. "What do you mean? I was defending you."

Her eyes narrowed slightly. "That was not the way I wanted to handle the situation."

"He was making a fool of you!"

"Dani," Shelly whispered as she grabbed onto her sister's shoulder, "when a hot guy defends you, you accept without questions asked."

Dani frowned and roughly pulled her shoulder away. "I can take care of myself."

Gary crossed his arms and furrowed his eyebrows quizzically. "I was just trying to help."

Gabri touched her eldest sister's arm, causing her to look down at her. "I know what you're thinking," she said softly, "but Gary was doing what he thought best. There's no need to fight. If we see Paul again, we'll do better."

Dani hesitated before nodding. The two of them thought quite alike when it came to guys like Paul. She had been caught off guard with his comments to Mo, and she had felt a need to defend him. Had Gary defended her for the same reasons? She sighed and looked back at him. "I'm sorry. Thanks for trying to help. That was a good battle."

Gary smiled slightly. "Thanks. Let's head back to camp and get some lunch, ok?"

Dani nodded wordlessly, and the three girls followed him back through the trees. Shelly offered to help Gary make lunch, so Dani and Gabri sat back and quietly mulled over the previous hour.

Soon, the humans and there Pokemon were eating a nice lunch. No one said much this time, but the silence was peaceful. Suddenly, it was broken up by Dragon saying, "Tepig!"

Gabri turned to see that a small Pokemon had made its way over to them and was stealing Dragon's food. "What's that Pokemon?"

"It looks like an Emolga to me," Gary said. He took a bowl out of his pack and filled it with food. "You can have some little guy." He set the bowl out near Dragon's bowl. The Emolga cautiously walked over, sniffing at the food before taking a bite and smiling.

"It's so cute!" Shelly said.

"I think we should let Gabri catch it," Dani said.

Gabri hesitated before glancing at Gary. "I want to. What should I do?"

"Why don't you ask him to battle?" Gary suggested. "He seems friendly."

Gabri smiled slightly and turned to face the Pokemon. "Hey, Emolga, I'm glad you like our food. Would you like to battle Dragon and me?'

"Tepig," Dragon said as he took a battle stance.

The Emolga seemed to hesitate, but then he nodded and flew to a grassy area where they would have room to battle. "Emolg!"

Gabri grinned to herself. This was great! "Ok, Dragon, use Tackle."

Dragon rushed forward, succeeding in knocking over the small flying squirrel. Emolga quickly got up and released a stream of electricity.

"Alright, Ember!"

Dragon spat out fire balls that directly hit his opponent. The Emolga glared at the fire type before moving forward quickly while running back and forth.

"That's Quick Attack," Gary said.

"Dodge it and use Tail Whip followed by Ember!"

Dragon's eyes widened as he sped out of the way, just missing getting hit. He kept his back turned to the Emolga as he waved his curly tail back and forth. Then he hopped around and shot out more fire balls. The Emolga was hit and fell onto his back.

"Good job. Now Tackle."

Dragon rushed forward and rammed into the electric type. The Emolga growled and sent forth another wave of electricity. Dragon clenched his teeth as he withstood the attack.

"Use Tail Whip and Ember again."

The Tepig whipped his tail around before shooting out his Ember. The Emolga was unable to dodge again. This time, he stood still while electricity danced on his teeth.

"It looks like he's using Charge," Dani said. "it will boost the strength of his next electric attack."

Gabri frowned. This was not good. "Use Ember and then Tackle!" She hoped he would be able to get them in before the Emolga could attack again.

Dragon's Ember seemed stronger as he propelled them at the little Pokemon, sending him flying back. Then he raced forward and knocked him to the ground once again just has he had gotten up. Emolga held his head in his hands as he tried to stand.

"Try to catch him!" Shelly said.

"Oh, right," said Gabri. She took out an empty Pokeball and tossed it at the Emolga. The wild Pokemon was sucked inside the ball, which started to move back and forth. After several shakes, it finally grew stilled. Gabri grinned as she walked over and picked up the Pokeball. "We did it! We caught our first Pokemon!"

"Tepig!" said Dragon excitedly.

"Congratulations," Gary said with a smile.

"I wonder why he didn't try to fly," Dani said.

"I don't care," Gabri said. "I have a new friend." Now all he needed was a name.