Chapter 80 – Earth Bond!
Finally we were here – Viridian City! It had been about 11 months since I started my Kanto journey. The time had really flown by! Anyway, May and I headed for the Pokemon Center first, so my Pokemon could have one final checkup before this final gym battle. Despite warnings from May, Martin, and Professor Oak regarding Giovanni, I still wanted to battle him. After Nurse Joy informed me that my Pokemon were all in ideal condition, we walked to the newly remodeled Viridian City Gym, now open to take in new challengers. From the outside, it resembled a Roman temple, what with the almost gothic architecture, and the marble pillars that lead to the entrance, which consisted of two big gold doors with two guards, donned in Roman-style armor, standing to either side, holding axes. The entire structure was surrounded by marble tiles. "Whoever this guy is, he put a lot of money into the remodel" May commented. I said, "Yeah, and those guards are a nice touch." She said, "That's awfully intimidating." I said, "Well, I'm not intimidated! Let's go!" and we walked, accompanied by our Pokemon, up to the two guards. I said, "I'm Joe, from Crimson Town, and I want to challenge the Viridian Gym leader to an official match!" The guards stood to either side as the doors parted. I walked through with Flamefox and Firestorm, but the guards crossed their axes together in front of May. She said, "Hey!" and one guard said, "Only one trainer allowed at a time! Those are the rules!" I said, "It's okay! She's with me." The other guard said, "Okay" and they parted their axes to let her through, along with Redfur, Fiona, and Inferno. The doors closed behind us! As we walked, I looked ahead and stopped dead in my tracks – a silhouette disappeared around the corner, a silhouette I recognized all too well. May asked, "What is it?" as I stood there, frozen in fear. I said, "That… was… a NIDO." She said, "I don't see anything, Joe. And you're freaking me out! Let's go see" and she dragged me to the end of the corridor. We looked around the corner – nothing. "See, it's just your imagination. You're just nervous about this battle, that's all. You'll do fine, Joe" and she held my hand. I said, "You're probably right." With that, two doors opened in front of us, which led into a large room with a dirt floor battle field, and a domed ceiling, with Roman temple-style walls. "I am the Viridian Gym leader. Who are you?" a voice asked. I looked up at a balcony, and I could only see a silhouette of a man sitting in a chair, with a Persian in his lap. I said, "I'm Joe from Crimson Town, and I want to challenge you for an Earth Badge!" The man said, "I accept your challenge." There were two more armored guards in the battle area, who stood by the now closed doors, behind us. A trainer box rose up part way from the floor on my side and he said, "Enter the trainer box." I said, "Okay" and got in. It rose up the rest of the way. My fire foxes stayed with May and her Pokemon down below. The two guards simultaneously said, "This will be a 3 on 3 battle, no time limit. Let the battle begin!" Giovanni calmly said, "I choose Golem" and released the rock type from the pokeball in his hand to the battlefield below. I replied, "In that case, I choose Vaporeon!" and released her from her pokeball. I ordered, "Vaporeon, use water gun!" She shot a stream of water from her mouth at the Golem, but Giovanni calmly ordered, "Golem, tackle attack!" Golem rolled into a ball, and rolled straight through Vaporeon's water attack and hit her, knocking her down! Suddenly, I felt a tremendous pain all over my body and fell over! "Joe!" May shouted. I pushed myself up partway with my hands, still in pain. "Are you okay?" May asked. I said, "I think so. What's going on?" Giovanni laughed, a soft, evil laugh, and said, "That is no ordinary trainer box. You will feel every attack your Pokemon feels." I had a sudden feeling at the pit of my stomach. Then he commanded, "Golem, use dig!" Golem disappeared under the floor. I stood back up, the sensation of pain having passed, and said, "Vaporeon, watch out!" Golem burst through the floor underneath her, knocking her, and me, onto our backs! The pain was intense! "Joe!" May shouted. As I forced myself back up, I said, "Vaporeon, use whirlpool!" She released the water spout, which wrapped around Golem. When it dispersed, Golem had fallen down, but wasn't beaten yet. And Giovanni sat in his chair, unharmed. May angrily shouted, "That's not fair! You should feel your Pokemon's pain, too!" Giovanni just laughed, a quiet, sinister laugh, then stood up from his chair, walked forward with his Persian by his side, and said, "This is my gym, and these are my rules. If you can't handle a little bloody nose, then you should stay home." I was angered, but still in pain. May said, "Joe, forfeit! His Pokemon are too strong!" I said, "I'm not giving up! I won't let him break us!" Then I said to Vaporeon, "I'm with you. We'll win this, together!" I had a sudden sense of my light psychic ability, and tried to merge my mind with Vaporeon's mind, like I had with Flamefox back in Saffron City, when I battled Sabrina. I could feel the bond between myself and Vaporeon, and I said, "Vaporeon, we're not giving up! Use haze!" She released a fog that filled the room, and Giovanni couldn't see his Golem, but I could feel it's presence, and I said, "Vaporeon, hydro pump!" I could feel her shoot the powerful blast of water from her mouth, and it hit the Golem point blank! It was knocked out! "Vaporeon is the winner!" the guards said, and Giovanni recalled his fainted Golem. I could feel that Vaporeon had enough, and so I recalled her. Giovanni said, "Not bad. You have a strong constitution. For my second Pokemon, I choose Kingler!" and he released the giant crab-like Pokemon. I said, "Jolteon, go!" and released him from his pokeball. I was still frazzled from Vaporeon's battle, but I attempted the psychic bond with Jolteon, as well, knowing this was the only way we could possibly win! I could feel my mind inside Jolteon's mind, just as I felt it inside Vaporeon's mind just moments ago. I said, "We'll do this together, Jolteon!" Giovanni calmly ordered, "Kingler, use bubblebeam!" I said, "Jolteon, agility!" As he used his agility, I could see us moving back and forth in a blur, evading the bubbles, but his mind was somewhat distracted – he was worried about Vaporeon. He loved her, and hoped she wasn't too badly hurt. This distraction caused him to let his guard down and he was hit by a few of the bubbles, each of which exploded on impact, knocking him to the floor on his face. I, too, fell to the floor of my trainer box – at least, my body. My mind was inside Jolteon's mind, and I could feel both his pain from the attack and his love for Vaporeon. I told him, "Jolteon, you have to focus! I promise you that Vaporeon will be fine! I never realized you felt that way about her. I care about her, too, and I won't let her get seriously hurt. I won't let you get badly hurt, either. But we've got to work together!" He understood, and stood back up. I said, "Jolteon, use thunderbolt!" He released the electric attack, and I could feel all the hairs on his body stand out as he released the powerful surge of electricity from his body. Kingler took the attack directly, but forced itself through the electricity, as Giovanni ordered, "Use crab hammer!" It grabbed Jolteon, with it's huge pincer, and began crushing him. I could feel his body being crushed by the giant claw, as if it was me. He was ready to faint, as was I, but I said, "Don't give up, Jolteon! We can do this! Use thunder!" He let out a very powerful electrical surge, which I could feel intensely as it left his body, and shocked the Kingler to unconsciousness! It released it's grip on him, and he stood on all fours, panting heavily. I felt my mind back inside my own body, and I still felt tremendous pain from being crushed. "Jolteon is the winner" the guards said. Giovanni recalled Kingler, and I recalled Jolteon. Once he was back inside his pokeball, I felt no pain. It was the same with Vaporeon. I guess that once they were back in stasis inside the pokeball, the effect of Giovanni's device wore off. May asked, "How are you holding out, Joe?" I said, "I'll be fine!" Giovanni said, more angrily, "For my last Pokemon, I choose Nidoking!" and he released the large, purple beast from a pokeball. I said, "Then I choose Tauros!" and released my brown and tan buffalo into the battlefield. I was distracted in thought for a second, wondering if it was this Nidoking I had seen when we entered, and then I felt a tremendous surge of pain and fell over! I was so distracted, I hadn't heard Giovanni issue the order, "Use tackle!" Tauros was on the floor! I managed to collect myself, and merged my mind with his. I could see what Tauros saw and feel what he felt. He took great pride in his strength, and was angered that the Nidoking got the first damaging attack. I said, "Don't worry, Tauros! We'll beat it together!" Then I ordered, "Use horn attack!" Tauros charged at the Nidoking, but Giovanni ordered, "Submission", and Nidoking grabbed Tauros' horns and held him in place. I could feel him pushing against the Nidoking's arms, resisting the urge to let the Nidoking push him down, pushing as hard as he could, his 3 tails whipping about wildly! I could feel him pushing, and pushed with him. I said, "I'm with you, Tauros! We're doing this together! Don't give up!" With that, we managed to flip the Nidoking, using Tauros' horns! Then I ordered, "Tauros, use body slam!" and he slammed his large body on top of the downed Nidoking! Then Giovanni ordered, "Use seismic toss!" I could feel Nidoking pick up Tauros and throw him across the gym and slam into the wall! I collapsed, on the verge of blacking out! I couldn't see! I could barely hear May shout, "Joe!" I got my sight back in time to see Tauros stubbornly struggling to get up and the Nidoking charging towards him. "Finish it with your take down!" I heard Giovanni order. I could feel Tauros' strong will, and we painfully stood up, and I ordered, "Tauros, use earthquake!" He reared up, then crashed his front hooves to the floor, causing a huge fissure to open up under Nidoking, which it fell into, just feet away from Tauros! As it climbed back out of the fissure, I ordered, "Stomp, now!" and Tauros reared up again, hitting the Nidoking in the head with his two front hooves. It let go if it's grip at the top of the fissure and fell back inside. It didn't get back up. "Tauros is the winner" the guards said. Giovanni recalled Nidoking, and I felt my mind return to my body, just as Tauros collapsed. I felt myself begin to faint, but I quickly recalled Tauros, and once he was inside his pokeball, I felt fine. The trainer box returned to the floor. I stepped out, and Flamefox and Firestorm ran over to lick my face. May ran over to me and hugged me, asking, "Are you okay?" I said, "Yeah, I'll be fine." One of the guards walked over to me and handed me an Earth Badge. I took it and said, "Thank you." He said nothing and just walked away. I looked up at the balcony, and Giovanni had a look of disgust on his face. He just gave me a cold, dark stare. May said, "Come on, Joe. Let's get out of here." The doors opened and we walked out, but I could feel Giovanni's cold stare until we left the gym. It gave me a very uneasy feeling. It was almost as though he was studying me, or recognized me.
We took Vaporeon, Jolteon, and Tauros to the Pokemon Center for treatment. While we were waiting, I told May about my psychic experience with my Pokemon during the battle, and said, "I don't know… after feeling the pain they felt, I have to wonder – is it really worth it to battle them?" She replied, "That's a tough question. Pokemon live to battle. You said yourself that you felt Tauros' pride in his own strength. To take away from them the opportunity to use that strength and let it grow – I think that could be worse that them getting injured in battle. Besides, they heal up pretty quickly most of the time." I said, "I know. It's just rough when you feel their pain." She said, "The important thing is to help them through their pain and let them grow from it." I said, "I felt something else, too – Jolteon and Vaporeon are in love." May said, "I noticed for a while already that they seem pretty enamored with each other." I looked at Firestorm and Inferno, who were cuddling each other again, and said, "Looks like they're not the only ones." My Pokemon were released soon enough. Nurse Joy said, "They were in pretty rough shape, but give them a little rest and they'll be fine." I said, "Thanks, Nurse Joy." Then, I put my Earth Badge in the badge holder May gave me for my birthday, which filled it up, and said to May, "Well, now that I've won my eighth Kanto gym badge, a promise is a promise. We should take our cruise aboard the S.S. Anne that Bill gave us." May said, "That's a great idea! You and your Pokemon deserve a vacation before the League Finals!" I said, "We'll get our flying Pokemon from Professor Oak and fly back to Vermillion City."
Meanwhile, Giovanni was in a helicopter, with his faithful Persian, flying back to Team Rocket Headquarters, a large building in the middle of the woods near Viridian City. He was very angry about losing to this trainer, but there was something familiar about him. He sent some of his operatives to keep an eye on him, while he had a little chat with one of his operatives who escaped from the last MechanPokemon incident.