Chapter Seven

Gym Battles and Deception

Previously:

"I'll show you guys how I'm better, by defeating the cerulean Gym leader tomorrow!" Johnny laughed.

Tony slammed his fist down on the table, "Not if I do first!"

Tony awoke the following morning, refreshed and ready for his upcoming gym battle. He noticed that Lloyd and Johnny were both sleeping and grinning evilly.

"This is going to be too easy!" Tony Thought, creeping past their slumbering bodies, and down the stairs, out the Pokecenter.

The morning light shined down brightly, and Tony walked immediately towards the gym, whistling. He reached the gym door, but right when he was about to grab the handle, it spun open by itself, and none other than Lloyd stood in the entrance.

"Looks like I beat you to the punch, eh Tony?" Lloyd smirked, pocketing the shiny gym badge.

"Wha? But you were asleep!" Tony gasped, before shaking his head, "Never mind, was Johnny here?"

"Not that I know of." Lloyd said, before strolling past Tony and towards the Pokecenter.

Growling angrily, Tony pushed open the door and walked in. Tony was abruptly hit with the smell of water and Chlorine. Tony smiled slightly, his love for water types and water itself making him feel at peace. Suddenly remembering what he was here to do, he strode past trainers, his feet hitting the wooden dock, echoing loudly, towards the back of the pool. Suddenly a girl stopped him.

"Hey! If you wanna fight Misty, you gotta fight me first. Then you can fight Misty…if you can even beat me." The girl said, emphasizing the If.

"Alright…" Tony said, unclipping on of his pokeballs. Misty stood nearby, a towel across her shoulders and her hair wet. It looked as though she was just swimming and she watched Tony and the girl while drying her hair.

"Go Goldeen!" The girl yelled, releasing a gold fish, with billowing fins flapping and a small horn on it's head. It flopped rather clumsily on the dock, until it hopped into the water, where it moved with grace and agility. Tony raised his open pokeball, and let his own fish go. The Magikarp flopped into the water itself, but failed to demonstrate the elegance and beauty of the Goldeen. The Magikarp swam around lazily, as the Goldeen came speeding at it, ramming into the Magikarp in the form of a tackle. The Magikarp panicked and fled to the safety of the dock, where Tony recalled it.

The girl raised an eyebrow; "You think that you'll be able to take on Misty with that?"

Tony only smirked, sending out his own Squirtle.

The Squirtle remained on the dock, forcing the Goldeen to hop on as well. As the Goldeen leaned its head back, Squirtle quickly ran forward. The Goldeen released a blast of water point-blank at the Squirtle. The tiny turtle simply walked through the stream, the water having little effect, and mega kicked the Goldeen in the face, causing it to fly backwards, into the wall of the gym, as it slid into the water.

The Goldeen slowly went from floating lifeless to actually swimming as it determinedly swam back towards Squirtle. The Goldeen leapt from the water, but Squirtle was there, waiting. It Mega punched the Goldeen in mid-air, sending it spiraling back into the water, where this time it didn't move.

Recalling her defeated pokemon, the girl sighed in defeat, Tony and Squirtle walked over to Misty, who stood on her platform.

"Impressive. This should be fun. I'm Misty, Cerulean City gym Leader, and master of water." Misty said, shaking Tony's hand and unclipping a pokeball from her belt, hurling it into the water. An orangish star appeared, the large jewel of it glowing as it spun through the water. Squirtle prepped itself for combat, and waited for the Staryu's attack.

The Staryu leapt out of the water, its pointed edges spinning dangerously fast as it zoomed past Squirtle like a U.F.O. Squirtle evaded, but teetered over the edge of the dock, falling into the water, arms flailing. The Staryu rammed into Squirtle, sending her sprawling through the water, but she quickly recovered. The Squirtle swam straight at the Staryu, mega punching it directly into its crystal core. The Staryu teetered off course a bit, slightly dazed.

"Staryu! Show'em my secret move! Water Pulse!" Misty shouted, and the Staryu reacted on Misty's command.

The Staryu's core glowed brightly, and a wave suddenly passed through Squirtle. From Tony's point of view it looked harmless, but that obviously wasn't the case as Squirtle held her head in between her hands in pain. The Squirtle recovered quickly though, and delivered another mega punch and then a swift mega kick as well. The Staryu's crystal dimmed and it hit the bottom of the pool, fainted. Suddenly a blinding light engulfed Squirtle, and when it cleared, a larger turtle stood in her place. Tony's newly evolved Wartortle smiled broadly as Tony recalled it.

Misty smiled confidently, and released another star-type Pokemon. The Starmie's points were more plentiful, and even looked sharper. Tony released his Magikarp, letting it experience it's own part of the battle, and recalled him right away, sending his Butterfree out.

The large butterfly fluttered over the pool, just as it's name suggests. The Starmie Shot a blast of water at the Butterfree, but he quickly avoided it.

"Confusion!" Tony shouted.

The Butterfree's eye's glowed briefly as a psychic blast was hurtled at the Starfish. Strangely, as the blast connected, the Starmie own jewel glowed brightly, and the Starmie seemed to take little damage.

"What?" Tony asked, and Misty smiled, "Bad luck for you, Starmie's part Psychic type."

The Starmie spun out of the water, spinning into the Butterfree, and the Butterfree plummeted into the water. As it struggled to get back into the sky, and well placed water pulse sent the Butterfree right back into his Pokeball.

Grimacing, Tony sent his Pidgey out, and the Pidgey flew over the battlefield. The Starmie attempted to blast Pidgey out of the sky, but Pidgey was much more adapted to flight and easily avoided the attacks. Pidgey sent a gust down at Starmie, whirling up water, and connecting with the Starmie. The Starmie was tossed up into the air, and Pidgey connected again with a rough slam attack. The Starmie landed in the water, and immediately shot a blast of water at the Pidgey, hitting its wing. The Pidgey fell into the water as well, and the Match was over for him then.

Tony swallowed, and sent his Wartortle out again. The Wartortle was still tired, but she stood tall and ready for fighting. When the Starmie projected out of the water at the Wartortle, she expected it, and jumped, landing on the Starmie, pushing it into the wooden dock. Splinters got knocked up as Starmie's points dug into the wood. The Wartortle Mega punched the jewel again, and the Jewel cracked slightly, sending the Starmie into Unconsciousness instantly.

With a sigh of defeat, Misty handed over her badge, and Tony spun to find Johnny at the door. Johnny held up a small shiny object, and Tony recognized it to be an exact replica of the badge he's just received. Meeting with Johnny, Tony growled, "Are you telling me both you and Lloyd beat me to Misty?"

"Afraid so…" Johnny smirked.

"Arg! I didn't even need to fight her too!" Tony roared, as he made his way out of the gym.

"One thing I don't understand. When I woke up, you both were still sleeping. How'd you beat me?" Tony asked.

"Meh, I put some pillows under there and hoped you wouldn't notice." Johnny Replied.

"ARG!"

Later that day, Tony and CO. were getting ready to leave the town, when Tony spotted and orange-haired youth striding across the ground.

"Its that guy with the Eevee!" Tony thought, narrowing his eyes, he marched after him.