Heya, sorry I'm late for this one. Hopefully the length of the chapter will be just nice for you guys, so please enjoy!
Cilan's eyes twinkled in enthusiasm as he saw two trainers approach him, and he wondered which person among him and his friends would have the pleasure and opportunity to challenge the two trainers and beat them.
"Um, excuse us, we need to enter the Striaton Gym," the male spoke up, his slightly thin eyebrows furrowed under the shadow of his sturdy cap. His voice was neither high nor low, indicating that he was still in the adolescent stages of puberty, on the way to adulthood.
Cilan chuckled. "Alright, sure, but before that, may I have your names, please?"
"I'm White," the female introduced, "and my friend here is Black. We wish to challenge the Striaton Gym Leaders; by any chance are they in here now? We asked some burly guy guarding the gym just now and he said the Gym Leaders were off at either the Trainer's School or the Dreamyard, but we did not see anyone."
The green-haired man chuckled once more. "Oh, yes, I did see you two trainers defeat the cruel Team Plasma grunt; well done on that! I'll see if you two can fare against me and my brothers of Striaton City's Gym!"
Black and White's eyes widened. "Y-you're the Gym Leader?" Cilan nodded, saying, "I'm one of the Gym Leaders. Two of my friends are also the Gym Leaders; Cress and Chili."
"Hold up, you said they were your brothers, now you said they were your friends." Black noted. Cilan nodded. "Indeed, they are my friends; however I consider them my brothers due to the fact that we are old friends and have been close since we were younger. Well then! Shall you two begin your course in the attempt on getting your first badge – the Basic Badge?"
White grinned. "You got that right! So who will we be facing?" Cilan shrugged. "Depends on the Pokemon you have. Mind showing me what's in those Pokeballs of yours?" Black and White pulled out their two respective Pokeballs from their bags and Cilan scrutinized their Pokeballs, identifying which Pokemon types would be effective against them. Sweat beaded the foreheads of Black and White at the green-haired man's actions as they anticipated having a Pokemon battle and earning the Gym badge.
"Well," Cilan spoke at last, clearing up all the tension in the air. "It appears my fellow Gym Leader Cress would be up to the task," he paused, and entered the Gym, shouting, "CRESS!" Black and White had to cover their ears due to the ferocity of Cilan's voice. It had maybe sounded like an earthquake to the local people, but they were used to Cilan getting all loud.
"Cress, get over here now! You're given the privilege to fight these guys so hurry up!" Cilan yelled, exasperated, while Black and White just stood there, unsure of what to do. Then Cilan burst back out of the Gym, accompanied by a man dressed in a similar attire as Cilan, with a mop of wavy marine blue hair. He smiled a little as he saw the two challengers laid out in front of him.
"Well then, I'm Cress. Nice to meet you two, now let's begin the challenge," Cress said with a slight smirk. "By the way, the male's Black and the female's White," Cilan pointed out. Black looked at White. "You want to go first? I'd like to observe that guy's battle style; besides, you're much better than me anyway." White's chest puffed up a bit in confidence, which caused Black to blush slightly and look away. "Alright, Black, I'll kick his ass for you."
Cilan was acting as the referee of the battle. "This will be a double battle for White and Cilan. Feel free to use any healing items, status curing products, et cetera. Now then, I'm done talking, so start fighting!"
"Let's go, Hog, Brav!" White confidently sent out her two main Pokemon for now, and a Tepig and Braviary appeared, eager for its next command. Cress noted the two Pokemon that she had and released two of his own as well. "Go, Lilipup, Simipour!"
Too enthusiastic to fight rather than analyze her opponent's Pokemon, White just carried on straight with the battle, directing her valiant bird Pokemon Braviary to dig its razor-sharp talons on Simipour's flesh, and ordering her fire pig Pokemon Tepig to exhale a blisteringly hot ember from its chest toward Lilipup. Cress's Pokemon sustained the damage; however their health were still above half for both of them. He kept a calm demeanor, issuing orders to both his Pokemon. "Both of you use Work Up!"
The two of Cress's Pokemon started to glow and were bathed in a strange vermillion light; Black noticed that they had increased in size by a slight bit and informed White, "Careful, White! I'm not sure what Work Up does but it probably increased their strength!"
"You're right, Black, sharp observation skills you've got there," Cress commented as he directed his Pokemon to both bite Tepig and Braviary. Their health depleted further more than Cress's Pokemon, earning a gasp of surprise from White. Unexpectedly, White smirked.
"Good move there, but it wasn't strong enough to take my Pokemon out," she said, and shouted, "Brav, summon a whirlwind upon them, and Hog, charge with fire on Lilipup!" The valiant bird Pokemon and fire pig Pokemon obeyed her instruction; Braviary swept up a gargantuan gust of dust particles and air, flipping toward Lilipup and Simipour like a boomerang, and stunning them. Tepig slammed at Lilipup in a fiery blaze, earning a shriek from it and causing it to faint. Cress returned his wounded Pokemon back into its red-and-white capsule, yet his grin had not been wiped off his face.
"It's time for the finale. Simipour, use Aqua Jet at Tepig!" The Simipour sped toward White's Hog like it was surfing, a jet of water expelling from its mouth as it swam with the water, smacking at the Tepig and causing it to faint.
"Looks like it's a one on one battle now," Cilan commented, chuckling. Black was rather unsure about who would win now. Sure, White was strong, but it appeared that Cress had the upper hand now.
"Don't give up, Brav! Soar up into the ceiling, now!" Braviary nodded as it shot up high in the ceiling; Cress tried to look at it but the lights above were glaring, and hurt his eyes. "Now, Brav, use Sky Attack!" The valiant bird Pokemon dove straight down with increasing velocity each second and minute, until the acceleration stopped and it flew at maximum speed, dropping drastically as the bird pummeled into the confused Simipour who did not react in time.
Cress stared at the crumpled form of his Simipour, lying faint on the ground, and retrieved his Pokemon back into the Pokeball, laughing a little. "Well, young lady, you sure fought really well. But you see, you have to beat all of us for the badge!" White gaped at him in shock, swiftly glancing at Black to see his expression as well; it was the same as hers. Cilan elbowed the blue-haired man and chuckled once more. "He's just kidding around. Go on, Cress, give the badge to the lady and fight the boy." Cress nodded, but said, "I'll give her once I'm done with Black."
Black stretched his rather gangly five foot seven frame as he whipped out his two Pokeballs from his bag. "Drill, Boar, I'm counting on you two." He whispered to his Pokemon, who nodded slightly, both of them eager to fight. He was done stretching and faced his opponent, Cress, and sized him up. Maybe around an inch taller than him, and another inch with his hair, Cress did not seem very intimidating to Black. After all, White had beaten him, but then again, White had beaten Black and Cheren as well.
Suddenly Cilan announced, "Oh, since Cress has had his fill of double battling, you two will face each other off in single battling now, so feel free to pick your Pokemon. One loss and it's game over." Black grinned slightly. Single battling was his speciality, not double battling, as he was not so good at coming up with combos and strategies like White.
"Let's go, Boar!" Black tossed the Pokeball containing his nicknamed Tepig out into the cool but slightly humid environment of the Gym area. Cress smirked; White and Black was already tired of Cress smirking too much. "Go, Simipour!" The marine-haired man released an azure-colored monkey that squirted out water from its armpits, laughing a little at the sight of another Tepig.
Cress cracked his worn knuckles, and cracked the bones in his sore neck as well; eyeing Black with hunger like a vulture would eye its helpless prey; ready to attack and eager to battle. Black returned the glare gladly, starting a staring contest that would last until one of them broke the spell and ordered their Pokemon. The atmosphere was tense, and White silently cheered for Black; Cilan doing the same for his fellow Gym Leader.
Black chuckled. "Guess it's up to me to start, huh? Let's begin with Tail Whip, Boar!" The red and black colored pig growled at the enemy and turned around, allowing Simipour and Cress to see its backside, and wagged its tail with a slight ferocity. The Simipour watched, dazed, its eyes like glassy mirrors as he lowered his guard for the battle.
"Snap out of it, Simipour, use Water Gun!" Cress roared, and Simipour roared as well, except her roar was much more effective; it had even expelled a gushing wave of water resembling a miniature tsunami. "Dodge now, Boar!" Tepig did a forward roll on the ground and missed most of the water, but some squirted on his nose and eyes, causing him to hiss steam from his nostrils in pain.
Tepig steadied itself, wobbling a bit, but fixated its beady black eyes on Simipour, which had a gloating expression on her face. "Your attack didn't do much," Black taunted. "Could it be you're that easy?" Cress hid an irritated face and tried to cover it with a smirk. "That was just a taste. Wait until you eat the full extent of Simipour's strength!"
"Boar, confuse the enemy with Smokescreen!" Black yelled; his Pokemon obeying his instructions, and White together with Cilan stood at the side, mesmerized by the battle. A dark and thick cloud swirled around the blue-haired Gym Leader and his Pokemon, caused them to sneeze. Black took advantage of the situation and directed Tepig to deliver a headbutt. A cry resounded from Simipour, but no one knew what was going on due to the oolong grey smoke that had ejected from Tepig's nostrils, and when the fog subsided, Tepig stood triumphant over the beaten Simipour.
Cress stood dumbfounded as he sank to his knees and cradled his Pokemon with an expression of slight pride. Cilan clapped and walked over to Black, White following his heels. "Good job, young man. We, as two of the Gym Leaders of Striaton City, are obliged to present to you two of our signature Gym Badges – the Basic Badge. Oh, and also, we would like to give these two Technical Machines to you." Cilan held out a metal disc of no color and a shiny badge for both Black and White. Cress straightened and congratulated the two rookie trainers, who merely beamed at each other, satisfied that they had cleared the first step to becoming the Champion.
Black and White had a meal in one of the nearby restaurants after that, using the money earned from the Gym Battle to pay for their expenses. Black had a burger and fries while White had a salad with Oran berries, and both ordered Soda Pop for drinks. The sun was setting slowly, resembling a painting in a museum, with orange contours vividly stretched over the horizon as the cool night atmosphere replaced the warmer daytime atmosphere. It was springtime, and the sun set earlier, with streaks of darkness starting to envelop the sky, everything was peaceful.
Black and White stayed in the nursery along the path leading away from Striaton City to Nacrene City, training their Pokemon for a week with the energetic and bubbly children owning Lilipups, Purrloins, and Patrats; some of the kids had Panpour, Pansage, and Pansears, all the unevolved forms of the Striaton Gym Leaders' Pokemon. The nursery aides greatly appreciated them entertaining the children, and provided food and water for the two friends, free of charge.
Their peaceful training and rest abruptly halted when suddenly, during the early morning, a cry belonging to a young girl was heard in the area, waking Black up quickly. He was slightly drowsy, as he had fought lots of young children who posed quite a challenge to his Pokemon the day before, but he had clearly heard the shriek. He was sleeping in the same room as White, although his bed was near the door, and hers was next to the window. He saw that she was still asleep; she had kicked her blanket off onto the chilly laminated wood tiles, and her nose was running. Black had a sudden strange urge to brush her smooth chocolate brown hair behind her ear, but fought it and instead carefully draped the blanket on her so she would keep warm. He then grabbed his cap and flopped on top of his head, and burst out of the nursery, rearing to locate the source of the scream. But as he left the housing, he failed to notice the chestnut-haired girl's small smile.
Black hesitantly walked along the quiet pavement away from the nursery that led to a crossroads; one leading to a dark, smelly cave and another leading to Nacrene City. Logically he thought, 'What kind of person would scream near Nacrene City? It's a bright rural area with kind folk, if I have heard correctly.' So he trudged toward the cave mouth, revealing a damp and high ceiling dripping rusted water from used pipes and heard yet another faint cry from the cave, confirming his suspicions about the location. Black started to break in a run, zigzagging around the jagged rocks like some professional soccer player and spotting the source of the sound. A woman wearing the Team Plasma overalls gripped the shirt of a young girl no older than ten, who struggled to cry out, pain rippling throughout her body. "Give us your Pokemon!" The woman roared. The girl, though weaker and helpless, mumbled in a strangled voice, "No way."
There were many things Black did not like in his fellow humans. One of them was picking on someone smaller sized. "Hey, you," He yelled out in his loudest voice, echoing all about the cave. The Team Plasma grunt shifted her attention to Black, her grip loosening on the girl, a mocking sneer plastered upon her face.
"Beat it, kid," she grimaced at Black. "Get lost or I'll be forced to do what I've done to the girl to you." To prove her point, she waved a Pokeball threateningly in front of him. Black did not waver, and stood his ground; poised at any immediate threat, and ready to send out his two partners, if necessary.
Gritting her teeth, the Team Plasma woman tossed a Pokeball out, revealing a Trubbish. A smell found its way up Black's nose, causing him to gag a little at the horrific stench. His opponent was prepared for this; she wore a mask over her pimpled face, and then shoved the now unconscious girl aside. "Drill, come on out!" Black mumbled as best as he could, releasing the mole Pokemon, who in turn gagged as much as he did. "Fuse did!" Black yelled in a muffled tone, but Excadrill did not understand what kind of move was Fuse did, so it merely cringed at the not-so wonderful aroma.
Black understood he was not going to give out orders well anytime soon, so he stopped holding his breath and yelled out, "Use dig!" Excadrill was down to business, and hastily drilled a hole deep down and hidden from the sight of the enemy.
A nerve in the woman's jaw twitched as she angrily looked around for the annoying pest of the Excadrill. Her expression wavered as suddenly the ground under her shook and wobbled, threatening to give way under her. "How… I thought you told Excadrill to use Dig?" The woman asked, confused. Black had the same expression on his face; he did not cause an earthquake. The tremors increased in intensity, threatening to knock Black off his feet, and he watched as the Team Plasma grunt was helplessly swallowed in the earth.
Excadrill popped its nose out of the crumbled rocks, staring at Black for new orders. He returned the mole Pokemon back to its Pokeball and started making his way out of the cave, but a jagged rock the size of a car slammed down in front of him, making the escape impossible. He saw there was a small opening small enough for a ten year old to fit through, so he picked up the unconscious little girl and her Pokemon and squeezed her out.
But he was stuck. Alone, and trapped in a cave. "Oh well, at least there's nothing to bother me now, it's rather peaceful anyway." Black sighed in an attempt to comfort himself. What happened next was as if nature wanted to contradict his words; a swarm of Woobat suddenly flocked toward him, walloping him with invisible psychic waves, contorting his body in extreme pain. The Woobat had assumed he was the cause of the earthquake, thus they found it natural to attack. His bag was torn now and the Pokeballs rolled out, releasing a Tepig and an Excadrill, who desperately tried to defend their master by roasting and throwing rocks at the Woobat horde. But no matter how many Woobats fell upon the ground, many more swarmed to replace the fallen ones and their numbers started to overwhelm the two courageous and loyal Pokemon. Black had long since fainted from the ordeal, but as the two Pokemon were battling side by side, Excadrill motioned for Tepig to leave and find help; the pig refused as it wanted to stay and fight by his partners, but Excadrill slammed the fire pig with the force of a bulldozer, sending it propelling through the small hole the young girl had slipped through. It uttered a cry as it saw the Excadrill attempt to shield its master from the hits, but steeled its nerves as it bounded off toward the nursery, rearing to get help.
And help would surely arrive, most likely from the sleeping girl in the nursery.
Well hopefully that cliffhanger was decent. Black's trapped in a cave due to an earthquake, but what exactly caused the earthquake? Find out in the next chapter of Monochrome Adventures!
Any criticism would be appreciated.
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