Okay, here's the new chapter and the answer to the cliff hanger! Sorry to have kept you waiting for so long! TT.TT I lost the papers that I had the battle scene written on and then I got caught up in my other stories and almost forgot this one! Again, sorry and I hope you all enjoy the new chapter!
"A GYM BATTLE!?" Noah exclaimed.
Shadow nodded. "Yeah, a gym battle. They award you with money and a badge if you win. I think it's a good idea. Besides, Brooke's already defeated this town's gym and I think you should give it a shot."
Noah's eyes narrowed slightly and his brows furrowed. "Shadow, you know how I feel about battling. It's wrong. Humans don't have the right to go around taking pokemon from their homes, then forcing them to fight other pokemon. Humans and pokemon should be treated as equals. Besides, what if you or Crusty got hurt? It would be my fault. And what if we loose? You guys would have worked hard and gotten injured for nothing!"
"Noah, I can't speak for Crusty, but I want to battle. I would like an opportunity to try out my skills and test my strength," Shadow said this a look of determination in his crimson eyes.
"I agree with Shadow! Well... you know... except for the 'can't speak for Crusty' part. I want to fight too!" Crusty said with and excited smile on his crustacean face.
Noah did not look convinced. His arms were crossed and he was frowning. One of his bright blue eyes was hidden behind his obsideon colored bangs, but his visible eye showed that he was not happy at all with the idea.
Shadow continued trying to convince him. "Please, Noah? You could always forfeit the battle if we were loosing!"
Crusty had an idea and spoke up. "Hey, if you're refusing to let us battle when it's what we want, isn't that making us do something we don't want to do too?"
Noah grimaced. Shadow and Crusty had good points. He bit his lip. Finally, with an exasperated look, he said "Fine! You win. It's two against one. We'll do the gym battle, but I'm not going to like it."
Shadow smirked at him and he rolled his eyes.
They turned onto the path that led to the Cerulean City Gym. On the way there, Shadow started quizzing Noah in an attempt to better prepare him for the upcoming battle.
"Okay, who is the gym leader and what pokemon do they use?" the Umbreon asked.
Noah thought it over for a moment. "Brooke said that the gym leader's name is Misty. She used a Corsola in her battle with Brooke."
Shadow nodded. "Okay, so I'm guessing she mainly uses water type pokemon. I can handle that and Crusty should do okay too since water doesn't hurt other water types much."
The trio reached the gym. Noah cocked an eyebrow at the sight of the giant Dewgong that decorated the gym's rook. "Well, it's not exactly my idea of decoration, but I guess different people have different tastes," he said as he led the group through the entrance.
Noah looked around the stadium. There was a huge pool in the center of the room with large, blue rectangle islands floating on the surface of the crystal clear water. He was a girl with orange hair swimming in the pool. He walked toward her and called out "Um, excuse me... miss?"
She stopped swimming and looked around. She spotted him and smiled. "Yes? What is it?"
"Are you the Cerulean City Gym leader?" he inquired.
She nodded. "Yes. My name is Misty. Are you looking to have a gym battle?"
Noah sighed. "Yeah, I guess so."
Twenty minutes later, Noah was standing on the right side of the pool. Misty was on the left and the referee was on the side. The referee took a deep breath and began. "This gym battle will be between the gym leader, Misty, and the challenger, Noah. They will be using two pokemon each. Whoever knocks out all of their opponents pokemon first will be the victor. Let the battle begin!"
The orange haired girl grinned. "Misty calls... Staryu!" she said dramatically as the tan-colored starfish shot out of the water and took its place on one of the blue floating island things.
Noah looked down. "Crusty, are you ready?"
The lobster pokemon nodded his head vigorously and opened and closed his claws repeatedly. He was obviously eager to start. "Hell yeah! Let's get this party started! I gonna that starfish's butt!" He paused. "Wait a minute, do starfish even have butts? If not, how do they take a dump?"
Shadow groaned. "Crusty, do everyone a favor and shut up. Now, get YOUR little yellow butt in the water," he said as he shoved his friend into the water.
Crusty surfaced and laughed. "How did you know what color my butt was? You looking at it or something? Weirdo," he said with a laugh as he jumped onto another of the islands.
Shadow rolled his eyes.
"Staryu, use Rapid Spin!" Misty commanded.
The starfish obeyed and began to spin in the air and head toward Crusty, who pouted. "Hey! No fair! I've never been trained in ninja combat!" he said before jumping into the water. Then he jumped out and used Crabhammer on Staryu, causing it to fall back onto the island. The lobster looked at Noah. "Hope ya don't mind, buddy! I like to play by my own rules, but I will listen to any commands you throw at me!"
Noah simply nodded, kind of relieved that Crusty would be doing some of the battling on his own. He didn't want to give a bad command and get his friend hurt.
"Staryu, use BubbleBeam!" Misty instructed.
Staryu launched the barrage of bubbles from its top point. They were moving so fast that they struck before Crusty could avoid them, creating a small show of sparks as they exploded on contact with his exoskeleton.
"Crusty! You alright!" Noah called out.
"Yeah, dude. I's alright!" Crusty called out, sounding a bit dazed. He shook it off quickly and used Brick Break on the starfish, knocking it to the ground.
Noah saw the opportunity and called out "Crusty! Use Crabhammer on the island! Quick, before it gets up!"
Crusty saw it as well and grinned before obeying. The island sank under his claw and dunked into the water, causing the other end to fly up and send Staryu soaring. The ruffian pokemon then used BubbleBeam while the sea star was in the air and unable to dodge. It landed in the water with a splash. When it floated back up to the surface, its gem was blinking.
"Staryu is unable to battle, the winner is Noah!" the ref called.
Misty pulled a pokeball out of her backpack and returned Staryu. She gave a small smile. "You did great Staryu, have a good rest." Then she looked up. "Don't think it's over, you haven't won yet!" she told Noah. She took a deep breath. "Misty calls... Starmie!"
The amethyst starfish lept from the water and took its place on an island.
"What is with this chick's thing for starfish?" Crusty asked when he saw it. Noah just shrugged in response.
Misty smirked. "Starmie, use ThunderBolt!"
"Red-head say what?" Crusty managed to exclaim moments before getting struck by a yellow zigzag of crackling energy. He screamed in pain before fainting, small burn marks adorning his orange shell.
"Crusty!" Noah yelled. He jumped out onto the island and scooped up the crustacean. He carefully jumped back to the pool side and gently set him of the ground. "Dammit, this is why I said I hate battles! Now you're hurt! I'm gonna call this stupid thing off and get you to the Pokemon Center."
Crusty regained consciousness and gave him an annoyed look. "You better not! You win this thing now or I'll have to kick your ass! I didn't fight for nothing! Besides, Shadow has a type advantage against that thing. It should be easy to defeat!"
Noah sighed. "Okay, okay. I'll finish the battle, but then I'm taking you to the center." He looked at Shadow. "You sure you want to do this?"
Shadow nodded and jumped out onto the island.
"Shadow, use Iron Tail!" Noah called out to the dark type.
Shadow's tail lit up and he jumped toward the sea star. Before he could strike, the purple star jumped into the water and avoided it. Shadow grinned and struck the water while his tail was still in the attack mode. Starmie came flying out of the water and landed on another island.
"Starmie, use Psychic!" Misty instructed.
Starmie's gem lit up, but it stopped suddenly. Misty gasped while Noah smirked. "Dark types are immune to psychic type attacks! I thought a gym leader would know that!" Noah said with a chuckle. Then he looked at the Umbreon and said "Now, use Faint Attack!"
Shadow dissapeared before reappearing right in front of Starmie moments before striking it. Starmie was sent soaring! It landed on its back on the island closest to Misty.
"Use Recover!" Misty called.
The star began to glow as it regained HP.
Noah's eyes widened. "Shadow, use Shadow Ball!" he instructed, knowing that Starmie would be vulnerable while it was recovering.
A ball of dark energy formed at the Umbreon's mouth. He held it in until it was large and powerful enough. Then, he released it. The ball flew toward the amethyst colored pokemon and struck right into its ruby-like core. Starmie was knocked into the water. When it surfaced, its gem was blinking.
"Starmie is unable to battle. The winner is Noah!" the ref called.
"Yeah!" Noah, Crusty and Shadow yelled in unison as Shadow lept over to join his friends.
Misty returned Starmie and walked over to the trio. She smiled. "You all did great. You've earned this," she said as she held out a water-drop shaped gem. "It's the Cascade Badge."
Noah accepted it and looked at it for a moment. It was a beautiful badge. It was baby blue in color and the way it was shaped and the way the light reflected off of it, you could of sworn that it was an actual drop of water. He gently placed it into his pocket. When he looked up, Misty was holding out a small canvas bag.
"You've also earned this. Fifty dollars and a Water Pulse TM," she said as he accepted the bag and pocketed it.
"Thank you," he told her as he scooped up Crusty and left the gym. He looked down at the lobster. "Now we're going to the pokemon center to get you guys taken care of."
Crusty grinned. "Okay, but then we have to get something to eat. My stomach is threatening to murder my liver if it doesn't get what it wants soon," he said as he placed a claw over his growling belly.
Noah chuckled. "Okay then. After we get your wounds taken care of, we'll get some grub."
"Thank God!" Crusty replied with a laugh as they made their way to the Pokemon Center.
Okay, I hope you liked it! Sorry if it's a bit short. The real action begins next chapter. Anyway, please click the indigo button and review!
