Chapter 6 - Taming the Tauros and the First Gym Battle
After leaving Cherrygrove, we continued training en route to Violet City. So far, my 2 Vulpixes were my strongest Pokemon, and then Eevee. I spent a lot of time on Eevee and she was getting stronger and more obedient, but that left me with less time to train Fearow. And then there was Tauros. I'd been afraid to let him out of his pokeball, not knowing how he'd react to us after we'd defeated him. Now that we were far from Cherrygrove, I decided to try letting him out. Before I did, I released all of my Pokemon, and had them ready for battle - after all, Tauros DID nearly kill us the last time. But I was still convinced that was just because he was disoriented and frustrated from being lost, and that he'd be fine if I just gave him some direction. Nonetheless, I had Flamefox and Firestorm to either side of me, readying to flamethrower, Eevee standing ready to tackle, and Fearow flying above, ready to drill peck. I hoped that Tauros wouldn't be able to withstand all 4 of them attacking him at once. I took a deep breath. "Okay, here goes" I said, nervously. "Tauros, come on out!" I shouted, tossing the pokeball in the air, and the large tan and brown buffalo materialized from the white light. First he just stood there, observing all of us. Then he proceeded to graze in the grass. I looked to each of my Vulpixes and shrugged. The Tauros looked up, "mooed", and then continued grazing. I slowly approached him, my Vulpixes and Eevee beside me, and Fearow still flying above us. I walked up to him and began petting his soft, brown mane while he ate. He didn't step back or anything - in fact, he didn't seem to mind at all. I then stood in front of him, well aware of the risk I was taking if he decided to turn on me, especially with those big horns. However, my gut told me that he wouldn't do anything. He stopped eating and looked up to me, so our heads were even with each other, eye to eye. I looked into his eyes and asked him, "Are you going to be okay with us, Tauros? Do you want to battle with us?" He approached me, and I braced myself as my Pokemon all took evasive stances. The next thing I knew, Tauros was licking my face! Then he "mooed" again, contently. Quite a different attitude from the Tauros we battled yesterday! He was gentle now. I began to pet both sides of his head, scratching under his horns. He closed his eyes as I did so, and he looked very content. "So you were just frustrated and upset yesterday. Well, don't worry, Tauros. I'll take good care of you" I told him and gave him a big hug. My other Pokemon now walked up to him, and Fearow landed nearby, to greet him. There seemed to be no hard feelings between any of them. "Welcome to the team, Tauros!" I excitedly said to him, giving him a nice pat on the back. "And someday, we'll find your herd and take you home." Then I said to him, "You know, it's gonna be a long walk to Violet City. Would you let me ride on your back if I got tired?" He looked at me, then lowered his head, motioning for me to get on. I climbed up onto his back, and he started walking ahead. Firestorm and Eevee ran beside him, but Flamefox also hopped up with me and sat in my lap, while Fearow flew above all of us. This was so cool! I was making even better time than planned, riding on the back of my new Tauros!
We arrived in Violet City that evening, a journey that would have taken until the next morning had I walked. I recalled Tauros to his pokeball to rest, and then recalled Eevee and Fearow, as well. As I had told Professor Oak, my Vulpixes were never leaving my side! I brought all of my Pokemon to the center to be checked out, before challenging Falkner. I also called Professor Oak to give him a progress report. I interrupted his dinner. "Ah, Joe! Everyone's talking about what you did in Cherrygrove! Excellent work! You should be proud!" I replied, "Thanks, Professor. Tauros seems to have mellowed now that I caught him. I was even able to ride him here!" The Professor responded, "You sure do have a knack for training Pokemon. Tauros is usually a very difficult Pokemon to train!" I then told him that I'd be battling Falkner soon, and he wished me good luck before we said goodbye. "Joseph Ehlle, please report to the reception desk. Your Pokemon are ready" came the voice over the intercom. I left the video phone booth to find my 2 Vulpixes sitting on the counter to either side of Nurse Joy, and the 3 pokeballs setting on the counter between them. "Your Pokemon are ready for their next battle" Nurse Joy cheerfully said. "Good! It's gonna be an important one!" I replied. "Are you going to battle Falkner?" she asked. "Yes, first thing tomorrow, after we have some dinner and get some sleep" I replied to her. "Well, you know you're welcome to stay at the Pokemon center overnight" she said. "Thanks, Nurse Joy. We'll be back after we eat", I said, as my Vulpixes and I went out the door to look for a restaurant. When we did come back later, my Vulpixes slept on me all through the night.
The next day, all rested up, we headed for Violet City Gym first thing in the morning. I saw Falkner outside, training his Pidgeot, and we walked up to him. "My name is Joe, from Crimson Town, and I want to challenge you for a Zephyr badge!" He looked at us. "Very well. I accept your challenge!" Then he looked at my Vulpixes, and said, "I see you have a preference to fire types. I do hope you realize that type advantage doesn't necessarily mean an easy victory." I responded, "I don't expect an easy victory." He looked kind of surprised at my answer, and replied, "You're a smart trainer! There's hope for you. Now what do you say we start our battle?" "Fine with me. Is it okay if both of my Vulpixes battle?" I asked him. He smiled, coyly, and confidently answered, "By all means." That last remark made me a little nervous, but my Vulpixes looked ready to battle, so I didn't let it show. I decided to use Eevee as my third, since she'd had the most training next to my Vulpixes.
Not surprisingly, Falkner's stadium was outdoors - I expected that since all his Pokemon were flyers. "Okay, this will be a 3 on 3 battle, no time limit. Let the battle begin!" he announced to me. I stood with Flamefox next to me and told Firestorm, "Okay, you're always trying to prove yourself to those wild Pokemon. Now's your chance to prove yourself for real. Go for it!" He nodded, and entered the arena. Falkner released his first Pokemon, a Pidgey! I almost laughed! "A Pidgey? You've beaten lots of those in the wild, haven't you, buddy?" I said to Firestorm, boosting his already high confidence. Falkner responded, "Correction. You've defeated lots of wild, untrained Pidgeys, which this one is not!" Even after that remark, I thought to myself, "This'll be a cinch!" Then I gave the order, "Firestorm, start with flamethrower!" His eyes glowed white as the flames shot out of his mouth. "Pidgey, mirror move!" was Falkner's response. Pidgey flapped his wings, sending the flamethrower right back at Firestorm. He was hit by his own attack, but he shook it right off. I chose a different strategy. "Use confuse ray" I told him. Pidgey was hit by the confuse ray, and started flapping around helplessly. "Now try flamethrower again!" I commanded. "Try mirror move again" Falkner attempted to command Pidgey, but the confused Pidgey continued to just flutter around and was hit by the flamethrower attack and knocked out! "Pidgey, return! Not bad, kid!" said Falkner. "Good work, Firestorm!" I yelled happily to my Vulpix. He put his head up, and closed his eyes, like he was gloating, and then he spit out a tiny flame. He seemed awfully cocky and smug in that instance, which worried me. He was a little too overly confident, and I had a bad feeling about what was going to happen next. "I choose Pidgeotto for my next Pokemon", shouted Falkner, releasing the evolved form of Pidgey from his pokeball. I decided to stick with Firestorm. "Use your quick attack, Firestorm!" I commanded. "Pidgeotto, use fly!" responded Falkner. As Pidgeotto flew down to do his fly attack, Firestorm leapt up and actually hit Pidgeotto, knocking him to the ground. Pidgeotto got back up. Falkner commanded, "Pidgeotto, use mud slap!" Pidgeotto flapped his large wings, sending mud flying at Firestorm that covered his eyes. I knew he was outgunned, and decided I'd better recall him. I pulled out the pokeball I had designated for him. "Firestorm, return!" I yelled. But the white light bounced right off his back! He wasn't listening! Instead, he got furious, and started doing a flamethrower attack in every direction, while trying to shake the mud from his eyes. It just missed me, Falkner, and Pidgeotto. "Firestorm, stop!" I shouted. He finally shook the mud from his eyes, which glowed bright white as he angrily looked for Pidgeotto. He almost looked evil. When he spotted him, he began the flamethrower attack once again. Pidgeotto flew around, trying to dodge it, but got grazed a couple times. "What is your Vulpix doing? It's out of control!" shouted Falkner. I didn't know. I never saw him like this before! He wanted to win at all costs, even if it meant ignoring me. "Pidgeotto, use your wing attack!" Falkner then commanded. Pidgeotto managed to dodge the continuous flamethrower, then flapped his wings, sending a powerful g-force at Firestorm. The impact knocked Firestorm backward to the ground, and the flamethrower attack ceased. He'd been knocked out. "Firestorm, return!" I said again, and this time, the pokeball engulfed him. "Your Vulpix is poorly trained" Falkner said to me. I was confused. Why wouldn't Firestorm listen to me? I had to choose another Pokemon. I wanted to keep Flamefox on reserve, so I sent in Eevee. "Pidgeotto, use mud slap again!" Falkner shouted. I responded, "Eevee, use your agility to avoid it!" The mud just missed Eevee. "Now use skull bash!" I commanded. "Pidgeotto, use fly!" was Falkner's response. Little Eevee ran towards Pidgeotto as he flew down, and jumped up, hitting him hard on the chest with her powerful skull bash. The mighty bird, already low on energy from battling Firestorm, couldn't withstand the attack and collapsed to the ground. "Not bad at all!" Falkner said, recalling Pidgeotto to his pokeball, "But it's not over yet! Go Pidgeot!" This final evolved form of Pidgey was at least 10 times the size of Eevee. I had to think quick. "Eevee, use quick attack!" I commanded her. She ran up to Pidgeot in a blur, but Pidgeot was much faster, and flew out of the way in time. "Pidgeot, whirlwind attack" was Falkner's next order. The mighty bird flapped his wings, building up a small tornado. I shouted, "Use your agility again to avoid it, Eevee!" She tried, but the small tornado picked her right up, spun her around in the air, and sent her crashing to the ground. "Eevee, no! Are you okay?" I shouted to her. She weakly stood up, still ready to battle. I couldn't believe it! "Eevee, try a sand attack!" She stirred up the sand in an attempt to lower Pidgeot's accuracy. "Pigeot, blow it away with your gust!" commanded Falkner. The gust from his wings dissipated the sand attack. "Now finish it with fly!" "Eevee, look out!" I shouted, but she was just too weakened, and took a direct hit, which finally knocked her out. "This can't be happening" I thought to myself, as I recalled Eevee to her pokeball. "You did your best, Eevee" I said to the pokeball in my hand. Then I looked at Flamefox. "It's up to you now" I said to him. We looked into each other's eyes, and I knew I could count on him. He nodded to me, then entered the arena, looking determined. "I hope this Vulpix will actually listen to you" Falkner said, smugly. "This time, things will be different" I replied. "We'll see. Pidgeot, start with mud slap!" he ordered. "Flamefox, use your agility to dodge it!" I commanded back, and the mud missed Flamefox. "Now use flamethrower!" He did so, but Pidgeot dodged the attack. "Use your wing attack, Pidgeot!" shouted Falkner. Pidgeot's wing attack sent an even more powerful g-force than Pidgeotto's had, hitting Flamefox and sending him crashing to the ground. He stood right back up. "Try your quick attack, Flamefox!" was my next command. He ran, in a blur, towards Pidgeot, but Pidgeot was just too fast again. Falkner shouted, "Wing attack, once more!" I yelled, "Flamefox, dodge it with agility!", but the wing attack was too fast, impacting Flamefox again and knocking him on his side. He barely moved. "Pidgeot, let's finish this! Fly attack, now!" Falkner finally commanded. Pidgeot began to fly down at Flamefox. I was just about to forfeit, when Flamefox suddenly rolled so he was on his back, four brown paws in the air. As Pidgeot was 2 feet away from him, he burst out a flamethrower, hitting Pidgeot directly in the face with his attack! Pidgeot screamed as he was engulfed by flames, and then crashed to the ground, fainted. Flamefox weakly stood up. "Good work, Flamefox!" I shouted, running over to pick him up. "Vul!" he said, as I held him in my arms and hugged him. Falkner recalled Pidgeot to his pokeball, saying, "You did great, Pidgeot!" He then walked over to us and said, "I underestimated you. You did very well. Here is your Zephyr badge." I replied, "Thank you", taking the badge in my free hand. My first badge! "This is our badge, not mine. My Pokemon and I are a team!" Falkner replied, "And quite a team at that. But you better do a better job of training your other Vulpix." I knew he was right about that. "Thank you. I will" I replied.
I left the gym and carried Flamefox to the Pokemon center. I also dropped off Firestorm and Eevee to be checked out and healed up. Afterwards, Eevee and Flamefox were as good as new, but not Firestorm. He looked so downhearted, like he was sulking. His wounds were healed, but not his pride. When we left the center, we went to a park in the middle of town. I let Eevee swim in the pond there, and she also played with Flamefox, while I took Firestorm to a bench and sat down with him. "What happened back there? Why did you stop listening to me? I know you really wanted to win, but if you won't trust my instincts, then we're not going to function well as a team, and you're going to get beaten." He still looked down. "There's something more, isn't there? The way you're always trying to prove yourself, the way you want to win at all costs. You want to be a stronger Pokemon than you already are, don't you? I think you want to evolve." He raised his head at that last remark. I took out my Pokedex and found the page I wanted. "Ninetales, the evolved form of Vulpix..." my Pokedex started to say, before I turned off the audio. I showed the picture to Firestorm, and his face lit up! "So that's why you decided to join us. You were hoping to be evolved someday. Okay, I'll make you a deal. If you obey me from now on and always trust my judgement, even if you don't always win, I promise you that the first chance I get, I'll evolve you. Deal?" He smiled and said, "Vulpix", then jumped up at me, licking my face. "Okay, easy!" I said. While I had the Pokedex out, I called Eevee and Flamefox over. "Eevee, look at this" I said, showing her the Vaporeon picture. "Is this what you'd like to be?" She jumped up and down with excitement "Eevee, eevee!" "Then it's settled! When I can get some evolution stones, you and Firestorm will be evolved!" Firestorm and Eevee ran around in the park and played together. It was good to see Firestorm happy again. I sat on the bench with Flamefox, and looked at him. "You don't want to evolve, do you?" I asked him. He looked at me, and shook his head "Vull, vulpix." "You just want to be the best Vulpix in the world, don't you?" He smiled at me, and nodded "vulllpix". "You already are" I said to him, and hugged him in my lap. Then I winked at him and said, "Just don't tell Firestorm I said that!" He winked back at me. I petted him in my lap for a while. "I don't ever want you to change, Flamefox." "Vulpix, vull", he said to me, in agreement. After a while, we got up and went into town to see the local sights.