Tristan has gone from strength to strength since he beat Brock. He has caught new Pokemon, beaten tough trainers and has learnt more than he thought he could. He is now in a field just west of cerulean city training up his Pokemon.
"Bulbasaur, use razor leaf at full power," Tristan orders and Bulbasaur unleashes a full power razor leaf that slices the branches off a tree. Excellent, notes Tristan, and orders another razor leaf. This attack was proving very useful because it had more power than vine whip. "Now try again," Bulbasaur rips the branch off the tree completely with the attack. Tristan orders Pidgeotto to whip up a gust that covers the field and sends grass and mud everywhere. "Wow, that's so much better Pidgeotto. Yeah, that'll do." Tristan extends his arm and Pidgeotto flies into it, Tristan feeds it a pellet and strokes its chin. "Alright, that's that now everyone work on dodging. Bulbasaur and Pidgeotto, I want you to dodge quick attack and razor leaf. Spread yourselves apart and do your best there, as we practised. As for you Sandshrew, I think you're at a level where you can up your game a bit." He shows Sandshrew a swiping move with his hand and Sandshrew imitates. "Dexter says you are able to learn slash, and I think this will be a benefit in the long run. Scratch is good, but slash is better." Sandshrew begins to scratch at a tree quickly but Tristan is worried that it is still using scratch. "Sandshrew, you have to stop swiping so quickly and get more power into your wrists. Look!" Tristan does a slashing movement with his hand and positions sandshrews hand so it starts with its hands higher than a scratch. "If you start from a higher position you get more power," he instructed and Sandshrew gives a basic slashing movement. "Good, see. We can move on to developing stronger wrists," Tristan says as he gets the Dumbbells out of his bag for Sandshrew to lift and gain more wrist power. "When I used to watch tv I saw battles and the Pokemon in these battles had great wrist strength. I saw a scythes who used to lift weights with his hand and so the same could be done for you." Sandshrew nods inquisitively and then begins to lift.
The next day Tristan has Bulbasaur have a practise match with Sandshrew. "Bulbasaur dodge then razor leaf." Tristan is precise in his instructions and Bulbasaur dodges the scratching attack by jumping to the left and hits Sandshrew with a razor leaf, at deliberately less power than usual. "Excellent Bulbasaur. Sandshrew, well,done two. Good technique in the attack. The risk is that you could always miss. But you need to keep going and getting more powerful." Sandshrew nods and the two repeat the practise attack, with Sandshrew landing the hit this time. Tristan looks over to Pidgeotto and sees a glint in the sky quickly come down and strike the grass with its wing. "Back up now and get the wing more side on. Create an angle for it." Pidgeotto is quickly up in the air and swings round before launching downwards in an arc with its wing touching the top of the ground. "Yes, that's brilliant Pidgeotto." Tristan had toughened up his training regiments but his Pokemon were still beginners, like him. They were still learning the ways of being under the control of a trainer, it bothered them sometimes when he touched them and made them uncomfortable battling all the time. However they did clearly enjoy battling as there was a thrill in doing so. The weather was fantastic and the conditions were great with springy, dry grass and a soft breeze making it a good time of year to battle. Tristan looked back at Sandshrew and clicked his fingers, "Sandshrew use slash." Sandshrew looked at him and swing its arm high above its head before delivering a blow on Bulbasaur that appeared more powerful than usual. Tristan punched the air, "yeah, that's it. You're getting there." Sandshrew jumped up and down in excitement.
Food was becoming scarce and Tristan was desperate for some money. He came to a house that looked near empty on the edge of cerulean city. He could hear some commotion and a shout, "HELP!" Tristan ignored it but heard the shout again and then "stop! Thief!" Tristan saw a figure with something in his hand jump out through a side window. Tristan gave chase and shouted at the figure to stop. The figure darts into an alley and Tristan follows, throwing a pokeball at the figure and releasing Bulbasaur. "Bulbasaur, vine whip, grab that bag from the thief!" Bulbasaur roared before grabbing the bag with its vines and bringing it back to Tristan. He pats Bulbasaur on the head. "Excellent Bulbasaur, now what's in here?" He opens the back and finds a TM inside and gasps. "Wow, what's this?" He wonders aloud. The thief yells to give it back "ok, you can't steal from a thief. Give that back or I will defeat you and steal your Pokemon." Tristan snaps back at him, "no way. You're not stealing from that house and getting away with it." The thief grabs something from his pocket and throws it in front of him, smirking. He says, "oh yeah, well kid you're in for some serious trouble now. I'm under orders to take this technical machine . Go machop!" The pokeball opens and reveals a machop. Tristan gets out his pokedex.
"Machop. Loves to build its muscles. It trains in all styles of martial arts to become even stronger." Tristan looks it up and down.
"Go Bulbasaur, use Vine Whip," Bulbasaur extended its vines and lashed them towards machop but it's opponent dodged.
"Hahaha, big mistake kid. Machop, karate chop," machop aimed a chop at Bulbasaur who jumped to dodge. "Good job Bulbasaur, use tackle."
Bulbasaur jumped straight at machop and knocked it away. The thief ordered another karate chop which struck Bulbasaur on the side and threw it back, but Bulbasaur shook its head to negate the impact and got up. "Bulbasaur, razor leaf," ordered Tristan and machop was struck by a strong barrage of sharp leaves which threw it against the brick wall of the alleyway. The thief clenched his fist.
"Your tough kid, no questions. Machop get the bag. " with that command, machop left Bulbasaur and aimed straight for Tristan, swiping the bag and jumping over Bulbasaur to the thief. "Bye kid, and don't follow me." Tristan ran after him and released Pidgeotto from its pokeball.
"I need you to scout the air for a man with a machop and a bag. He's a thief, go, now," and Pidgeotto flew into the dark sky and circled the area before cawing loudly to Tristan and flying over a area to his west.
"Good job Pidgeotto, now wing attack," Pidgeotto dived downwards as Tristan and Bulbasaur followed its vague direction. They both heard a scream and Pidgeotto cawing in pain as they caught up to it. Machop was giving it a blow with a karate chop and Pidgeotto struck the ground.
"No! Pidgeotto you can do this. Use gust." Pidgeotto flapped its wings hard to stir up a forceful wind that threw machop and the thief into a gate in front of a house. Machop was left unable to battle. The thief returned it swiftly, "okay you got us that time but not again. Here's my secret weapon," he cackled and threw a second pokeball onto the field. It revealed a yellow bipedal elephant that stood tall. "Hahahaha, say hello Drowzee." Tristan paused, "what is that?" He mumbled and got out his pokedex. "Drowzee. Puts enemies to sleep then eats their dreams. Occasionally gets sick from eating bad dreams." Tristan lowered his pokedex in shock. Eats their dreams, he thought. What could that possibly mean?
"You're dealing with team rocket, kid. Get used to it." The thief cackled and ripped off his shirt to reveal a black vest with the team rocket logo. "Drowzee, show them your hypnosis."
Drowzee waves its hand and began releasing circles from its face towards Pidgeotto. Tristan looked in shock at this new attack and saw Drowzee claps its hands and Pidgeotto dropped to the floor as if unable to move. "Pidgeotto, are you okay?" Yells Tristan but there is no reply from Pidgeotto. He turns to the thief, "what have you done?" He yells and the thief laughs. "Your Pokemon is asleep kid and now it's time for you to sleep too. Say goodbye to your Pokemon. Drowzee hypnosis." Tristan looked at pidgeottos body and saw the waves of energy coming towards him. He was unclear what to do, his mind was lacking a spark through a fear of what was happening. Before the waves could hit, he heard a slice of something hitting the air and a loud yell and a body drop to the ground. He looked up at the waves and saw them disappear. "Bulbasaur," came the loud yell by his side. Tristan turned to see Drowzee on the floor and the thief staring in temporary shock. Tristan had only just pieced what had happened when Drowzee got back up and Tristan ordered another attack to counter. Drowzee used pound which struck Bulbasaur, but Bulbasaur lashed it with a powerful vine whip. "Well done Bulbasaur, again," yelled Tristan. "Drowzee use disable," ordered the thief and a loud flash bang covered the two Pokemon. What was that? Tristan wondered and ordered vine whip again. Bulbasaur was unable to attack with the move and is struck by Pound again, which sends it flying into Tristan. "Oof," is the sound as Tristan is struck by the weight of bulbasaur which throws him back. Tristan grabs his pokedex and hears the entry. "Disable, prevents the attack previously used being used again." "Crap," shouts Tristan. Bulbasaur jumps up and Tristan dusts himself down. Bulbasaur uses razor leaf which strikes Drowzee firmly in the body and throws it back before following up with tackle. The thief yells at Drowzee to get up but Drowzee stays slumped to the floor. Tristan orders a vine whip to get the bag back. Bulbasaur extends its vines and wrestles the bag from the thief before delivering it to Tristan. "Good job everyone. Now that's the end of you," he points to the thief, who begins to run away.
After returning the technical machine to the owners, Tristan was actually given it back to keep because the house owners believed he had done the right thing. Tristan thanks them and moves on with his journey. Tristan taught dig to Sandshrew which liked the move and only added to the range of moves that each of Tristans Pokemon has.
Tristan was walking on a route to vermillion city where the third gym lies. Tristan thinks about what is in vermillion city. When he phoned professor oak to relay him his progress, the professor was impressed and told Tristan what was in vermillion city to expect. Apparently there was a Pokemon fan club and there was a third gym. Tristan was ecstatic to hear this news. There was also a ship. A massive ship at that, called St. Anne. Tristan was intrigued by this because because the professor mentioned the St. Anne as being the biggest ship in Kanto. It had many trainees who you could battle and many shops. Tristan decided to give it a visit when he got to vermillion city.
He stopped on route a few days away from vermillion because of tiredness and lack of food. He had his Pokemon all out and ready for practise when a figure approaches him. "Hello there, I'm a Pokemon trainer like yourself and I couldn't help notice your Pokemon. They all look relatively strong but hungry and tired. Do you have any food?" Tristan shakes his head quietly.
"Well then, i propose a wager. If you defeat me in battle I will give you money for food, if I beat you, you get nothing. How does that sound?" Tristan looked up at him, "that doesn't sound fair for you. Why do you set these conditions like they are?" The trainer looks at him, he must be about 15 or so. "I enjoy battling and you look like you could do with some help. I could leave you alone if you want," and begins to turn away but Tristan extends his hand. "Stop," he says weakly, "i could do with the money," he fumbles. "Excellent, my friend. I'm Jean, nice to meet you" and he shook Tristans hand.
Tristan stood up and made his way some way away from Jean. The two were in a clearing of dry mud ground and it made a good battle field. Jean took a pokeball off his belt and threw it to the ground, it revealed a Pokemon Tristan hadn't seen before. Tristan tilted his head in curiosity and got out his pokedex to identify it.
"Magnemite, uses anti gravity to stay suspended . Appears without warning and uses thunder wave and similar moves." Tristan looked at the interesting Pokemon, a magnet that levitated. Tristan threw out his pokeball into the field and revealed Sandshrew.
"The rules, "Jean began, "are three on three. Switches allowed any time," Tristan nodded.
"Ok, let's begin. Magnemite use sonic boom," ordered Jean and magnetite unleashed a wave of energy which struck Sandshrew in the chest and knocked it back a short distance. Tristan looked surprised at this new attack and Jean filled him in."sonic boom deals the same amount of damage any time and doesn't miss. It's a solid attack to have when the chips are down." Tristan has Sandshrew use defence curl to beef its defence up and it dodges another sonic boom. "Use slash," Tristan orders and Sandshrew delivered a powerful slash to magnetite which was thrown to the floor from the force of the attack.
"Very good," says Jean. "You've trained well, obviously. But magnetite use thunder wave." Magnemite released a strong wave of electricity which struck Sandshrew but the type advantage of Sandshrew meant it was unaffected by the attack. Sandshrew then struck magnemite with slash which threw its opponent to the floor and left it unable to battle.
"Hmmm, not what I expected," said Jean and threw his second pokeball to the field, it was a goldeen. "What's that?" Said Tristan and got out Dexter again,
"Goldeen. It's tail fin billows like an elegant ballroom dress, giving it the nickname of the water queen." It certainly looks nice, thought Tristan. How will it battle on land though.
"Goldeen, use horn attack," said Jean and goldeen Rams forward at Sandshrew. Sandshrew takes the attack head on and is thrust back, but manages to land a slash on goldeen which knocks goldeen back. Jean has goldeen use water gun which strikes Sandshrew before it can dodge and sends it crashing into the ground and left unable to battle. Tristan returns Sandshrew and curses at losing that round. He throws out his second Pokemon, Pidgeotto. It flies upwards quickly and launches into a wing attack that goldeen can't dodge. It spins into the air and comes crashing to the floor. "goldeen, use horn attack," orders Jean and goldeen leaps like a missile at Pidgeotto but the bird dodges. "Use quick attack," yells Tristan and Pidgeotto strikes goldeen with quick attack which throws it to the ground and leaves it unable to battle.
"That was quick my friend, such power," says Jean. "However, I leave my favourite for last," he throws a pokeball onto the battlefield and it releases a charmeleon. Tristan is in awe, "Dexter, I need you."
"Charmeleon. When it swings it's burning tail, it elevates the temperature to unbearably high levels." Tristan gasps at the sight of the evolved form of Charmander. "So that's what it looks like, Pidgeotto be careful about the flame on its tail." Pidgeotto caws back and charmeleon uses ember, but Pidgeotto dodges. Charmeleon launches another ember which hits Pidgeotto and sends it falling to the ground. Charmeleon the launches itself at the grounded bird but Tristan has Pidgeotto kick sand in chameleons face to blind it and fly up. Charmeleon is trying to claw the sand out of its eyes but is caught up in a windstorm which sweeps it up and throws it mercilessly to the ground. Jean orders charmeleon to get up and it hits Pidgeotto with an ember attack while it lines up wing attack. Pidgeotto shakes off the damage and strikes charmeleon with a quick attack. Charmeleon falls to the floor but is okay to continue.
"Use ember again," orders Jean and charmeleon manages to strike Pidgeotto and send it falling to the ground, knocking it out.
Tristan returns Pidgeotto and thinks about the type disadvantage that Bulbasaur will have. He throws the pokeball onto the field to show off Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur roars at charmeleon and Tristan tells it, "Bulbasaur don't worry about the type disadvantage. We can work through it." Charmeleon uses ember which Bulbasaur manages to dodge. "Excellent Bulbasaur, keep on your toes and be ready to dodge anything." Bulbasaur uses tackle which hits charmeleon and sends it flying back but Jean has charmeleon use scratch. Bulbasaur is struck in the face and cries out I pain. Charmeleon then uses ember which hits Bulbasaur and leaves it struggling to move. Tristan calls on it to use razor leaf which surrounds charmeleon but charmeleon burns the leaves with its ember attack. Jean orders leer which lowers bukbasaurs defence and Jean moves in for the kill. Charmeleon opens its mouth for an ember but Tristan has Bulbasaur use vine whip on charmeleons mouth to prevent it. It lashes at charmeleon which causes it to fall to the ground. Charmeleon tries another ember but is struck by a vine whip which causes is to fall to the ground. Jean orders a scratch which is countered by tackle which knocks charmeleon to the ground and leaves it there, unable to battle.
Jean returns charmeleon and Tristan returns Bulbasaur.
"You have won. That's fantastic, well done. As I promised here's your money," he got something out of his pocket and revealed a see through bag of money. Tristans eyes bulged, "there's got to be £300 in there." Jean smiled and patted Tristan on the back. "Go on, kid. If you're going to vermillion city try out the gym there." Tristan asked him back, "what kind of gym is it?" "Electric," replied Jean and he walked off. "Wait," yells Tristan and runs up to Jean. "Wait, how far away is vermillion city? And what Pokemon does the gym have?" Jean puts his hand on his chin, "I think it's 4-5 days travel but there is a Pokemon centre just a day from here. The gym, I think the guy there is a lieutenant. He's one of those types, and he has a raichu I think." Tristan blinks, "what's a raichu?" Jean smiles and explains its the evolved form of pikachu. "I guess I'll find out what that is when I get there," says Tristan aloud after Jean leaves.
Tristan takes in the sights. Tall, glass buildings surround him. It's a marvellous sight with the sun beating down on him. Tristan takes out his map and looks for the Pokemon centre. He needed a place to sleep quickly, he hadn't had a bed for a few weeks and his Pokemon were weak and hungry. Vermillion city looked exactly like Tristan thought it would with its modern buildings. It took Tristan a few minutes to find the Pokemon centre and he healed his Pokemon and booked a place to sleep for the week. He was happy with the facilities in the Pokemon centre and checked out the bookshelf near one of the couches. One of the books was titled, "the elite four, a guide." Tristan picked it up and read about it. The book talked about Bruno, the fighting type master, Agatha, the ghost type master, lorelei, the ice type master and the champion lance. Tristan skipped to lances entry and read about his ability to control dragon type Pokemon. The book showed a picture of his dragon its and tristan gasped. "Wow, a dragon its," he gasped. Dragonite was a legendary Pokemon that only the best of the best had. He gave the book a thorough read and read at the end of people being allowed to battle the elite four only when they have beaten all eight gym leaders. No one beats the elite four because they are so much better thin your average trainer. They had mastered their respective types. Tristan collected his Pokemon and left the Pokemon centre to explore vermillion city.
There is an attraction in vermillion city called the digglet caves and Tristan thought it would be best to check them out at a later date. Whole caves and an underground tunnel dug by Pokemon that connects vermillion city to Viridian City. It was incredible the distance it covered. The cave was inhabited by digglet and the occasional dugtrio which made it a very good site for capturing powerful ground types. Tristan checked out the caves and took a lot of pictures on his phone and sent them to his parents, who also thought the site was magnificent.
Tristan entered the house of the Pokemon fan club to a big surprise. There were many people gathered in the house talking about Pokemon. It was a surprise when Tristan came through the door as everyone looked up and stopped their conversations immediately.
"So," said an elderly gentleman sitting on the couch, "who do we have here?" Tristan was trembling because he thought he had interrupted something important but composed himself. "Well, sir, I'm here because I heard of the Pokemon fan club and thought to myself, I need to have a look for myself. And tell you what, can't say I'm disappointed." The gentleman touched his chin with his hand, "hmmm. What's your favourite Pokemon kid?" Tristan thought for a moment and drew out his answer, attempting to garner further attention. "To tell you the truth sir, I always wanted a Charizard. There's something magnificent about them that you do not get from normal Pokemon. I believe fire types should be appreciated for the beauty they clearly have." The man looked at him, "do you have one, either a Charizard or a fire type on you?" Tristan looked him in the eyes. "I'm afraid I don't sir. I haven't had the pleasure of seeing a Charizard on my journey. I don't have a fire type either. But this isn't about me sir, do you admire the fire types with the same passion as I do." The man looked at him before patting the couch next to him, "sit down my dear boy. I am a furious lover of the fire types. They have a beauty that like you say, no normal Pokemon has. I can show you my favourite if you like." Tristan looked up to him, "it would be an absolute pleasure sir." The man reached into his pocket and fished out a photo of a rapidash. "This," he began, "is my pride and joy, a rapidash. Take this site in my dear boy because this Pokemon is like no other." The man proceeded to chat to Tristan about his love for his rapidash while Tristan feigned interest, trying to escape without offending this clearly powerful man.
"Oh dear, look at the time," says the old man, "I'm sorry my friend. It appears I've been talking about my rapidash for ages. Oh how rude of me. Let me give you this in return." He showed Tristan a ticket for something. " this is a bike pass. There is a bike shop in cerulean city where you can get bikes from. This enables you to get them for free. Simply show them the pass and they will give you the bike. I suppose now you will be in your way. It was fantastic to have you here son and please do visit again." Tristan nodded and exited through the same door he came in. He looked at the pass and decided he would head back to cerulean city when he had defeated the gym here.
The next day Tristan had visited the PokeMart and stocked up on potions and poke balls. He had big plans today, it was the big trip to the St. Anne and its market stalls. He had got some money from his battles on the road and was going to spend it on the best things the ship had to offer. As he got in the queue it was clear he was going to have to wait for a few hours.
Five hours later Tristan flashed the ticket he had been given by Bill to the man and was pushed inside. Inside the main hall were stalls selling food, Pokemon, accessories and all sorts. Tristan wowed at the sight and moved towards a massive crowd in the middle where a battle was happening. There was a girl with a meowth and a man with a Persian. The Persian was slaughtering its opponent and the meowth slumped to the floor with the man shouting out for any more challengers. Tristan ignored the challenge and moved to the stalls. There was a woman selling cakes and another woman selling bracelets. He ignored both but brought a new hat from another stall. It was one of the official Pokemon league ones and he felt fashionable wearing it. He was heading towards another crowd when a hand touched his shoulder. It was a slimy hand and Tristan turned around wearily. "Hi there," Tristan noticed a middle aged man staring at him and pointing to his bag. "I think you are the type of kid who likes a bargain," he began, "in my bag, my friend, I have the bargain for you. Interested? It's not a case of that. You want a bargain, a great Pokemon for a great trainer. I'll give you this swell Magikarp for just £500." Tristan looked at the pokeball and thought it must be rare. "Is it rare?" He asked and the salesman smiled, "kid you have no idea." Tristan gave the guy the money willingly and took the pokeball, thinking he had got himself a bargain.
Tristan headed to the room where the trainers battled. He had a few battles in there before being told where the captains room was. Tristan headed down to the captains room to obtain the TM for cut which apparently could cut down the tree outside the gym. His Pokemon were in fighting order because of the lady who healed Pokemon for free in the healing room. Tristan thought about how Sandshrew had beaten some bloke with a growlithe and was proud at his battles on board in the last few days. The ship was set to sail in the next few days and Tristan aimed to get the TM and leave today. He turned a corner and fell to the floor, having bumped into someone. He rubbed his head and offered to help the other person up but saw Clark standing over him looking angry. "Clark. How did you get here?" Clark fold his arms in disgust, "you mean, how did you get here? I got tickets from my dad." Tristan snarled, "I have as much right to be here as you do. I was given these tickets by some guy called bill in a lighthouse." Clark froze up, "you met bill? He invented the Pokemon computer, where you can give your Pokemon to professor oak. That's incredible." Tristan looked at him with utter contempt "I'll see you later I'm looking for the captains room. I'm trying to get a TM for cut." "Well, I've just been there and you're wasting your time. He's got a stomach ache and wasn't going to give me the TM so I left. Actually, while your here I think we should have another battle to refresh our memories. Our memories of me being better I think." Tristan nodded, "actually, I agree we need to show how I'm better than you." Both trainers threw a pokeball onto the field. Bulbasaur came out of Tristans and a Kandabra come out of clarks. Bulbasaur begins by using tackle but Kandabra stops it with a confusion that make Bulbasaur shine in a blue outline and then throws it back against a cabin wall. "Excellent, Kandabra use kinesis," says Clark and kadabra distracts Bulbasaur by bending one of its spoons and lowering its accuracy. Tristan has Bulbasaur use razor leaf and kadabra is struck by a barrage of sharp leaves that make it cry out in pain. Clark has kadabra use confusion but it is lashed by a hard vine. Kadabra cries out in pain but Bulbasaur misses with another vine. "Damn, Bulbasaur try again." Kadabra uses confusion to throw the vine back again and then grab hold of Bulbasaur and throw it to the floor to leave it unconscious. Tristan punches the air, "return Bulbasaur," he yells angrily and then throws out Pidgeotto. Pidgeotto uses sand attack which blinds kadabra and leaves it defenceless and Clark orders confusion but kadabra cannot see Pidgeotto strike it with a ruthless wing attack which throws it to the floor. Kadabra is left unable to battle and Clark returns it, throwing out his second pokeball. "Go, Pidgeotto," he smirks, "show your power off." He demands and clarks Pidgeotto begins with quick attack which catches Tristans Pidgeotto off guard. Tristan thinks about tactics and orders sand attack which Clark has his Pidgeotto dodge and strike again with wing attack. Tristan has his Pidgeotto counter with the same move and the two birds collide and fall to the floor. Tristans is up first but Clark calls for a gust which sweeps up Tristan Pidgeotto in a powerful wind blast and throws it hard against a wall. Pidgeotto gets up and delivers a powerful quick attack at clarks which sends it thrusting against the floor. Tristan orders a killer blow but clarks Pidgeotto dodges with a sidestep and strikes Tristans Pidgeotto from behind with quick attack of its own. Tristans Pidgeotto is unable to get up despite trying and Tristan returns to send out his third Pokemon. "Magikarp, you're up," he shouts as he throws the pokeball to the ground. Clark stops and stands with his arms folded, "what are you doing?" He asks and Tristan has to defend his choice. "What's wrong? I got this today from a nice salesman and he said its a rare Pokemon." He looks very smug but Clark just chuckles to himself. "Whatever, Tristan. I'm sure you don't know about Magikarp. Rare Pokemon indeed, they only know one move, splash. It doesn't know how to attack and it's useless in battle." Tristan stares at Magikarp, which is uselessly flopping on the floor. "Magikarp attack," orders Tristan but Magikarp simply flops on the ground. Clark laughs hard at Tristans incompetence. Tristan gets up and has Magikarp attack but Clark has Pidgeotto knock it out with a strong wing attack. Magikarp flops against a wall, it is that weak. Tristan curses and sends out Sandshrew. Clark says he expects Tristan to give him a closer battle than last time. Pidgeotto uses wing attack but Sandshrew dodges with dig and then strikes Pidgeotto with the attack. Pidgeotto falls to the ground and faints. Clark returns his fallen Pokemon and then sends out Charmander. Charmander begins by using scratch which Sandshrew counters by dodging and using slash. Charmander roars in pain but gets up and uses ember on Sandshrew which curls up in a ball to avoid major damage. Tristan has Sandshrew use dig and Tristan orders it to surface underneath Charmander when Clark recalls Charmander. As his Pokemon disappears in a bright red Tristan yells at Clark for cheating when Clark snaps back. "It's not cheating. It's a way of changing your Pokemon when it has a type disadvantage. It's tactics." He throws another pokeball onto the field and it reveals a tentacle. Tristan gets out the pokedex.
"Tentacle. Drifts in shallow seas. Anglers who hook them by accident are often punished by its stinging acid." Tristan begins by having Sandshrew use slash but tentacool dodges and strikes it with an acid attack. Sandshrew topples back and then glows purple, meaning it has been poisoned. "Argh, Sandshrew," yells Tristan, "try to hang in there." Sandshrew glows purple and falls over, signalling poison damage. "tentacool, use water gun," orders Clark and tentacool hits Sandshrew head on with a powerful water gun which causes it to go flying into a wall. Tristan curses and orders a slash which hits tentacool and Tristan encourages Sandshrew to use dig. Sandshrew goes to dive down but keels over from poison. Tristan yells at it to get up but Clark can taste victory. "Tentacool, finish this with water gun." Tentacool showers Sandshrew with a super effective blast of water which knocks Sandshrew unconscious. Both trainers return their Pokemon and Tristan falls to his knees. Clark stands a few yards away from him, "well, that went as expected. I'll see you around Tristan." Clark walked calmly past Tristan who grabs his face with his hands and holds them closely to hide the pain at losing again. "I'll never beat him," Tristan wells up but has to wipe his eyes with his arm before anyone sees him, especially Clark. Their rivalry had begun when they were little, Tristan had never liked Clark, never as they had grown up.
Tristan continued down the hall towards where he hoped the captains dorm was. He came to a room on the end of the corridor with a star on the door. It was marked "captains room. Private." Tristan ignored the sign and pushed on the door, it was open.
The room was massive, bigger than any in the ship and inside the room was the captain lying on the couch. He looked blue and unwell. "Who's there, "he grunted while vaguely looking in the direction of the door. "You better not be that little shit from earlier," Tristan gulped and said he was only there for the hm cut. The captain looks at him and says, "I'll give it to you for a glass of water. Just stop people coming into my room when they feel like it." Tristan poured out the water, "when does the ship depart?" He asked. The captain took the water and replied, "about 3 days from now. Look kid, thanks for the drink but I'm too weak to talk. See that table over there, there's the HM. Take it and leave, OK." Tristan nodded and took the hm. He got off the St Anne later that day having brought a couple of items. He failed to get a refund for Magikarp which annoyed him but he didn't know the power that Magikarp could possess.