We finally arrived at Nacrene City, except there was one problem. The Gym was nowhere to be seen. Robin was very confused, so we walked up to a shopkeeper,
"Excuse me. I heard that there is a gym in this city, but I can't seem to find it." said Robin.
The shopkeeper responded, "Oh. The Nacrene Gym. Yeah, it is well hidden. But I'm in a good mood today. If you buy something here, I will tell you where this gym is."
Robin accepted and bought a revival herb. "The Nacrene Gym is located at the Museum down the street. That is all I can tell you." said the shopkeeper.
"Ok, thanks!" said Robin as she jumped on her bike and rode down towards the museum. We arrived at a large building that seemed to be a museum that held ancient artifacts. We stepped inside and found nothing that looked like a gym.
Robin went to the man behind the front counter and asked, "We were told the Nacrene gym was located in here. I would like to challenge this gym for a badge."
The man stared at her, and then burst into laughter. He called out to the backroom, "Hey, Lenora, honey! You finally got another challenger!"
We were both confused by the reaction when a large women walked out of the storage room. She had green hair and was wearing an apron.
"What's your name dear?" the woman asked.
"I'm Robin." she said.
"Well, I'm Lenora, the Nacrene Gym leader. This man here is my husband. You want to challenge this gym, you say? Alright then. Follow me to the battlefield." said Lenora as she motioned for us to follow. We headed down a long corridor that eventually lead into a library. But it there was still no battlefield in sight.
"I don't get much challengers here, for us you can see, I'm only a gym leader as a part time job, but I also have to take care of the museum, so I usually don't get many challengers." she said.
We walked up towards a book-shelf. Lenora pulled down on a book, and we realized it was a secret switch. The shelf started to shift to the right until it revealed a staircase leading into the ground. We followed Lenora down the stairs and we came upon a large room with a battlefield.
Lenora took her position on her side of the battlefield. Robin stepped up as well. "What kind of type does this gym specialize?" asked Robin.
"You don't know? Well, you will find out when we battle. Are you ready?" asked Lenora.
"Yes, let's do this!" said Robin. Lenora's husband walked onto the side of the battlefield. It seemed that he would be the ref for this battle.
"This will be a two on two battle. When one trainer runs out of pokemon that are able to fight, the other trainer wins. Now, the battle will commence!" shouted the ref.
"Roggenrola, I chose you!" shouted Robin. Roggenrola appeared on the battlefield.
"A rock type, huh? It almost seems that you have guess the type of the gym. Alright! Herdier, come on out!" said Lenora. A dog appeared on the battlefield. It looked similar to Lillipup, but bigger and older.
"That's Herdier, the evolved form of Lillipup, right?" asked Robin.
"Yes, it is. You might have fought lillipup before, but Herdier has much more strength." said Lenora. "Herdier, use leer!"
'Oh no! Robin. Leer decreases the defense of the opponents pokemon. Roggenrola's defense must have went down. Be careful.' I said.
"Really? Shoot! Ok, I'll just make sure she does not land a hit. Roggenrola! Use rock blast!" shouted Robin. Roggenrola sent three rocks flying towards Herdier.
"Dodge!"shouted Lenora. Herdier jumped with great speed and swiftness. He was able to dodge every one of the rocks.
"Wow! Herdier is fast!" exclaimed Robin.
"Use take down!" shouted Lenora and Herdier threw his body as hard as he can into Roggenrola. Herdier sent Roggenrola flying, but he was able to get back up unaffected.
"Wow. Your Roggenrola is really sturdy." complemented Lenora. "Even after Herdier used Leer. Alright then, Herdier, go for a bite!"
"Roggenrola, use tackle!" yelled Robin. Roggenrola and Herdier collided and the impact caused a cloud of smoke to appear. When the dust settled, one of the pokemon was down. It was roggenrola.
"Roggenrola is unable to battle!" yelled the ref.
"You did great, Roggenrola. You tried your best, now have some rest." said Robin as she summoned Roggenrola back into her pokeball. "Tepig, I choose you!" shouted Robin as Tepig appeared in a burst of energy on the floor.
"Herdier, use take down!" shouted Lenora.
"Tepig! Use ember!" shouted Robin. Tepig shot out a ball of fire that hit Herdier right in the head. It was able to halt the charging pokemon.
"A long range attack to stop Herdier, can't beat you there Robin." said Lenora. But looks like I have to be faster. Herdier! Use bite!"
"Tepig, use tackle!" shouted Robin. The two pokemon collided and this time, herdier fell to the ground and fainted.
"Herdier is unable to battle!" called the ref.
"One tackle is all it took?" asked Robin curiously.
"Take down is a very straining move and will hurt the pokemon using it. As you noticed, I used take down many times. Especially when your Tepig blocked that last take down. My herdier had suffered too much damage." said Lenora. "Are you ready for my next pokemon?" she asked. "Watchog! Come on out!" A tall rodent pokemon appeared on the battlefield.
"Do you know why normal is a unique type?" Lenora asked. "It's because they have the least amount of weaknesses. Normal is only weak to fighting, but none of your pokemon are fighting types."
"Well that doesn't matter. Tepig, use ember!" shouted Robin.
"Watchog! Use crunch!" shouted Lenora. Watchog ran through the fire and landed the crunch. Tepig winced in pain as it took the bite.
"Oh no! Are you ok tepig?" asked Robin
'I'm fine, Robin! Don't worry about me! Focus on winning the battle!' Said Tepig
"Alright. Tepig, use tackle." Tepig moved very swiftly in the next second and landed the tackle on watchog. Watchog was pushed back a few feet, but was able to hold his ground.
"You made a grave mistake, dear." said Lenora. "Watchog! Use retaliate!" With that, Watchog slashed through Tepig. After the attack Tepig fell to the ground. We thought that Tepig had fainted but he began to try and get up.
"Tepig! Don't strain yourself! I don't want you to hurt yourself." said Robin.
'No, I will fight. You are a very caring person, and I want to repay that with a victory in this battle.' Said Tepig. With that, Tepig was engulfed in energy and bright light.
"Wait, is he…"stuttered Robin. I stared in amazement as well when Tepig was changing. Finally the bright light faded and Tepig was now Pignite!
"Well, isn't this interesting. Watchog, use crunch again!" said Lenora.
Watchog dashed towards pignite, but pignite stopped watchog by pushing his hand out and it sent watchog flying. 'That was arm thrust! Pignite learned arm thrust!' I said.
"Alright! Pignite, use flame charge!" shouted Robin. Tepig charged at watchog with great speed. Because watchog was just hit by an attack, he still dazed. Pignite came in and blasted Watchog with his flame charge and it sent watchog flying across the gym and smashing into the wall.
"Watchog is unable to battle! Robin is the victor of this match!" shouted the ref.
Robin jumped in happiness and hugged Pignite. "You were so great during the battle!" she said proudly. "And also…" she summoned Roggenrola. "You also worked hard for this victory. You helped weaken Herdier." With that she hugged them both.
Lenora came and offered Robin the normal badge. "Here you go, Robin. You deserve this. Good luck with defeating the other gyms. You have a lot of potential!" she said.
"Thank you!" said Robin. They all cheered and laughed while I sat watching the commotion from the bike's basket. Right then and there, I would have wanted anything to be stronger, to evolve, to be a great gyarados. But then, it would have been two early. I still had lots to learn about Robin and her true intentions.