Chapter 9 - The Second Gym Battle and Firestorm's Redemption
With Tauros and I now all healed up, we headed for the Azelea Gym. It was headed by Bugsy, a boy not much older than me, who specialized in bug type Pokemon. My initial feeling was that this gym would be a breeze - I mean, my fire foxes versus his bugs; no contest! However, I knew it couldn't be that easy, or he wouldn't be a gym leader. These must be some tough bugs!
My Vulpixes and I headed for the gym. I promised Firestorm that he would get to battle Bugsy's last Pokemon, whatever it may be, as long as he will listen to me this time. We went inside and met Bugsy. His gym looked more like a bug Pokemon garden. He hardly seemed intimidating when I went up and introduced myself. "I'm Joe, from Crimson Town, and I want to challenge you for a Hive badge." He said, "I've never heard of Crimson Town." I responded, "Someday, it will be the talk of all the Pokemon trainers, when I build my gym there!" He said, "You have a lot of ambition. You remind me of me when I decided I wanted to lead a gym. Of course I accept your challenge! What do you say we start right now?" "Let's do it!" I enthusiastically replied. He led me to his arena, and said, "This will be a 3 on 3 battle. You ready?" I decided to let Flamefox sit this one out, and let Tauros and Fearow have a chance for once. "Okay, I'm ready. Go, Tauros!" I yelled, releasing him from his pokeball. "For my first Pokemon, I choose Metapod!" was Bugsy's response. The green chrysalis-like Pokemon materialized from his pokeball. "Metapod? That's a pretty lame Pokemon. About all they can do is harden" I thought to myself. My mighty buffalo stared down the smaller chrysalis. My Vulpixes sat beside me and watched the battle, as I commanded, "Tauros, use your tackle attack!" Bugsy responded, "Metapod, use string shot!" As Tauros charged at Metapod, he was covered in webbing shot out from the front of the chrysalis, which severely slowed him down. "Now tackle, Metapod!" Bugsy shouted. Metapod actually jumped up, hitting his hard shell against Tauros, knocking him down. I was surprised at first, but then I remembered that if a Metapod learns attacks while it's still a Caterpie, it will be able to use those attacks as Metapod. Anyway, the impact of his attack loosened the webbing that was wrapped around Tauros, and he tore the rest off with his legs, then charged at Metapod again. "Metapod, harden!" Bugsy commanded. Tauros tackled the Metapod, sending him hurling into the air and crashing to the ground, but he stood back up. "Tauros, try your horn attack" was my next command. "Metapod, harden!" Bugsy commanded again. Tauros ran up to Metapod and rammed him with his horns, again sending him flying and crashing, but again he stood right back up. I looked at my Vulpixes and said, "This could go on forever!" Then I yelled to Tauros, "Try tackle again!" Bugsy responded, "String shot, Metapod!" The webbing flew at Tauros, but this time, he evaded it, and went right for Metapod, tackling him and sending him crashing again, after which he still stood back up. Tauros was doing a great job playing pinata with Metapod, but Metapod sure seemed to be able to take a beating! But I knew Metapod must be running low on HP by now! "Tauros, use your horn attack, one more time, and make it a really good one!" I excitedly commanded him. Bugsy just responded, "Harden, Metapod!" Tauros charged at the Metapod, tossed him into the air with his horns, and as he came back down, Tauros leapt up and rammed him with his horns again, sending him sailing clear across the arena and crashing into the wall. It was down! "Yes!" I shouted. But then Metapod stood back up again! "Will this never end?" I thought to myself. "Metapod, tackle!" Bugsy commanded. I was about to give an order to Tauros, when the Metapod just wobbled, then collapsed! He had finally had enough! "Metapod, return!" Bugsy said, recalling his Pokemon. "Good job, Tauros!" I enthusiastically shouted to my big, beautiful buffalo, running up to give him a big hug. Then I said, "You deserve a rest after all that. Return, Tauros" and I returned him to his pokeball. "Next up, I choose Kakuna" Bugsy said, and released the yellow chrysalis-like Pokemon from his pokeball. "It's your turn, Fearow!" I said, releasing the large bird from his pokeball, in flight. I was determined to demolish this Kakuna - it brought back bad memories of the Beedrill incident at the beginning of my journey. "Fearow, use your drill peck!" I commanded. Bugsy retaliated with, "Use harden, Kakuna!" Fearow flew down, striking at the Kakuna with volleys of pecks from his sharp beak, which knocked the Kakuna down, but he just stood right back up again, just like the Metapod. "Fearow, try a fly attack" I commanded next. He flew up high, then came down at full speed. "String shot, Kakuna!" Bugsy yelled. The webbing shot out and wrapped around Fearow, causing him to crash down before he could attack. "Are you okay, Fearow?" I asked him. He stood up and flapped his wings, shaking the webbing off, as he cawed loudly. "Good, Fearow! Let's win this!" Fearow flew back into the air. "String shot, again!" Bugsy ordered Kakuna. "Fearow, use mirror move!" I responded. As the webbing flew at Fearow, he flapped his wings, sending the webbing right back at Kakuna, effectively wrapping him up! "Now use fury attack!" I shouted. Bugsy responded, "Kakuna, harden!" but Fearow's attack hit him dead on, crashing him to the ground. Stuck in his own webbing, Kakuna could not get back up. "Kakuna, return!" Bugsy said, recalling his Pokemon. Fearow landed back over by me, and I petted his head. "Good work, Fearow! Now you can rest. Return!" and he dematerialied back into his pokeball. Bugsy said, "You're pretty good! But I saved the best for last. Go, Scyther!" he shouted, and the mantis-like Pokemon materialized from the pokeball. I looked to my Vulpixes and said, "Firestorm, you're up!" "Vulpix", he said, as he stood up and ran into the arena. Firestorm and Scyther stared each other down. I actually wasn't sure if Firestorm was ready to take on a Scyther, but he sure looked determined - it was clear to me that he was ready to battle! I just hoped he would not betray my trust like he did at our last gym battle. I had a good feeling this time, though. "Scyther, use fury cutter!" Bugsy commanded. "Firestorm, use your agility to evade it!" I responded. Scyther was fast, but the little fox was faster, completely avoiding his scythes! "Now, Firestorm, try flamethrower!" I commanded next. "Scyther, swords dance!" Bugsy responded. Firestorm launched his flamethrower attack, but Scyther started spinning around, deflecting the flames in all directions. "Now use double team, Scyther!" Bugsy yelled. The double team attack made it appear that there were several Scythers, surrounding Firestorm. "Firestorm, aim a flamethrower at each of them!" I shouted. The little fire fox kept launching flames at each Scyther, but the real one kept switching places too quickly. I could see this was wearing out Firestorm's fire power! "Firestorm, stop!" I commanded. He discontinued his attacks. "Quick, Scyther, use fury cutter!" Bugsy commanded. "Firestorm, get out of there!" I yelled, but this time, Scyther was too fast for him, and he was hit by the scythes, hurled into the air, and crashed down. He could barely stand up. I looked at Flamefox and said, "He can't take much more of this. I've got to think." Then I heard Bugsy say, "Scyther, one more fury cutter!" As Scyther came at my Vulpix, I had an inspiration. "Firestorm, use your confuse ray!" Firestorm looked up at Scyther, his eyes pitch black as he emitted the confuse ray at Scyther. At that, Scyther became confused, and attacked himself with his fury cutter, knocking himself down with his own scythes! Then I excitedly shouted, "Now, Firestorm, while he's down... flamethrower!" I think he used up the last of his fire power, as his eyes glowed bright white and the flames poured out of his mouth in a glorious inferno that engulfed the Scyther. Scyther stood back up while he was surrounded by flames, put his scythes in the air, looked up, and fell backwards to the ground. He was defeated! "We did it!" I shouted to Firestorm, who collapsed to the ground, himself, out of breath. Flamefox and I ran over to him, and I picked him up. "Great job, Firestorm!" I said, giving him a big hug. "Vulpix", he weakly responded. "Good work, Scyther. Return!" Bugsy said, recalling his Scyther. Then he walked over to us and said, "Your Vulpix did great against Scyther! That was a really smart strategy at the end. Here's your Hive badge. You guys have earned it!" I took the badge in my hand and said, "Thanks! Your Pokemon put up a good fight, too!" Then he said, "Good luck on the rest of your journey!" We left the gym after that, Flamefox walking next to me, and Firestorm in my arms. "You did a really great job, Firestorm. See how well we function as a team? I'm glad you listened to me this time." He just smiled at me as I carried him to the Pokemon center. I checked him in, as well as Tauros and Fearow. As soon as they were all treated, we were on our way once again. Two badges down, six to go! But for now, our next stop would be to Kurt's house to get my pokeballs.