The previous night, we had arrived at the big city. Robin and I had found an inn to stay at. Robin continued to train us and was hyped for her next gym battle. It was finally time to head for the gym.
"I can't wait. Bug types are weak against rock, fire, and flying types. I think I have this battle down solid." said Robin.
Don't be too confident. You might have pokemon that are advantageous against bug type, but gym leaders are made out to be challenging. You should still work out a plan just in case.
"Alright, let me think. It will be a three on three battle. I'm probably going to start off with pignite. Maybe rufflet or roggenrola. Do you want to battle? You haven't gotten any action ever since the first gym battle at Striaton City."
I'm ok with not battling. You have to focus on winning. I said half heartedly. Robin sensed this and realized that I was not completely honest with myself when I was stating this.
"Um. Ok then. Looks like I will start off with Pignite." said Robin. We approached a large building that was labeled the gym of Castelia City. We walked in and there was a lady at the counter just like before.
"Are you here to challenge the bug gym?" she asked.
"Yes." said Robin. We followed her up a flight of stairs until we reached a brightly lit room with holding the battlefield. The gym leader, Burgh, entered through double doors and stepped up onto the trainer's square.
"I am the great Burgh! Gym leader of the famous bug gym in the largest city of Unova! May I ask the name of my challenger?" he asked.
"My name is Robin, and I came from Nuvema Town." Robin said. She looked at me and seemed to remember my question from the day before. She continued. "I strive to become a pokemon trainer because I want to follow in my father's footsteps. I heard he was a great trainer who was able to beat the league and challenge the champion, Alder. His name was Kai, Kai Sparrow."
I saw Burgh flinch when hearing the name. "Kai Sparrow, ey? Although, he didn't beat the champion, he was a very unique individual. Very strong ambitions. I never knew he had a daughter. So you are his daughter, Robin Sparrow, am I correct?"
Robin nodded. Burgh said, "That name is very pretty. Lots of birds being referenced in your name." I just realized this is the first time I heard Robin's last name. I didn't know why I never asked her. And I also wondered, just who was this Kai Sparrow. Burgh continued, "Are you ready to battle for your gym badge, Robin."
"Yes. More than ready. Let's do this!" said Robin.
The ref stepped up to the side of the battle field and said, "This will be a three on three battle. When one trainer runs out of pokemon that are able to fight, the other trainer wins. Now, the battle will commence!"
"Come on out, Whirlipede!" said Burgh. Whirlipede appeared on the battlefield. Robin was about to pull out a pokeball, but then she looked over at me sitting in the basket of the bike. Our eyes accidentally met and Robin changed her mind.
"My first pokemon will be John, my magikarp!" she said as she walked over to the bike and placed me on the battlefield. I was very surprised, for Robin might as well have been risking her chances of victory in this battle by choosing me. I stared up at the whirlipede, and from my perspective, he looked pretty intimidating.
"I believe in you, John. You can do it!" said Robin.
"Whirlipede, use poison tail." said Burgh. Whirlipede started rolling towards me at a great speed, and one of its spikes elongated so it acted like a tail. It swung for me, so I used bounce to dodge. Burgh must have anticipated this, for another poison tail struck me at the side when I was in the air. Taking in the pain, I continued to fly down and aimed for whirlipede eye, where I was vulnerable. I used gravity to slam my body into the side of whirlipede, and it caused him to fall backwards a bit.
"That magikarp of yours has great tolerance." commented Burgh.
"John, are you alright?" asked Robin.
I'm fine. Don't worry. I said to Robin. But then, I felt pulses of pain surge through me in intervals. It seemed that I had been poisoned.
"Robin, it seems that I had poisoned your magikarp." said Burgh. "I wonder why you even chose magikarp as your first pokemon. Whirlipede, use pursuit!"
Whirlipede charged at me again and striked me, but I refused to give up.
Robin, I can still battle! Don't hold back! I yelled at Robin.
"Ok. John, use bounce!" shouted Robin. I bounced and flew up into the air again.
"Really, the same move? Whirlipede, use poison tail again." said Burgh. I saw the tail aim for me, but this time, I was expecting it. When it came within inches of hitting me, I turned towards it and bit on to it. The whirlipede screeched in pain and tried to shake me off, but my jaw held on and did not let go.
"Keep it up, John!" shouted Robin. The whirlipede gave up trying to shake me up and tried to pull me in for a close up attack. "Not on my watch! John, use tackle!" shouted Robin. I couldn't describe this sensation, but I felt an abnormal burst of energy as I used all my might and bashed into the side of whirlipede. Whirlipede fell to the ground.
"Whirlipede is unable to battle!" shouted the ref. Robin stared in disbelief.
I then felt another pulse of pain and I blacked out. When I awoke, Robin was carrying me. "You did so great in this battle. It's time for you to rest." said Robin. She gave me an herb that helped me with the poison, and then she placed me in the bike's basket. "Alright, for my next pokemon, I chose you! Pignite!" shouted Robin as Pignite appeared on the battlefield.
"My next pokemon will be dwebble!" said Burgh.
"Alright Pignite, use flame charge!" shouted Robin. Pignite charged at the dwebble as he wrapped himself in fire. Pignite sent Dwebble flying, however, he recovered really easily.
"What?! I thought fire was effective against bug?" she asked.
"Dwebble, here, is a bug and rock type. Fire is very ineffective against rock, therefore, dwebble was not hurt too badly. Now, it's my turn. Dwebble, use sand attack!"shouted Burgh.
Dwebble shot a stream of sand at pignite's face. Pignite did not react in time and the sand hit his eyes.
"Pignite, can you still see well?" asked Robin concerned.
I'm not sure. I think so. Said Pignite uncertainly.
"Pignite, use arm thrust!" shouted Robin. Pignite ran up and stuck out his arm. But, he missed, like a few feet off to the right.
"Dwebble, use faint attack." said Burgh. Dwebble striked Pignite again, and I could see Pginite was losing his temper.
"Calm down, Pignite. Use ember!" shouted Robin. Pignite shot out a blast of fire, but it also missed.
"Finish it off with a smack down!" shouted Burgh, as Dwebble used used his shell and smashed the hard piece of rock on top of Pignite's head. Pignite fell to the ground and fainted.
"Pignite is unable to battle!" shouted the ref.
Robin summoned Pignite back into his pokeball. "You tried your best. But, its time to rest now." she said. Robin was worried now. She was depending on Pignite's fire moves to wipeout his bug type pokemon. Now she had to choose between Rufflet or Roggenrola. She turned to me and ask, "Hey, John. Should I choose Rufflet or Roggenrola as my last pokemon?"
I thought hard, for they both had their advantages. I finally responded, You should give Roggenrola a stab at it. Rufflet is still recovering from her injured wing. She will not be at her best right now.
Robin trusted me and grabbed a pokeball. "Roggenrola, I choose you!" shouted Robin as Roggenrola appeared jumping up and down on the battlefield. He was quite the goofball.
"Interesting. So now you are using rock as your advantage type. Dwebble, use sand attack!" shouted Burgh.
"Not this time! Roggenrola, use rock blast!"shouted Robin. As Dwebble shot sand at Roggenrola, Roggenrola hurled a rock towards Dwebble. The sand was blocked by the piece of rock.
"Dodge the rock!" shouted Burgh. As Dwebble dodged the rock, another one was coming simultaneously to the place where dwebble was dodging towards. It made impact and crushed Dwebble. As the deprise cleared, it was clear that Dwebble fainted.
"Dwebble is unable to battle!"shouted the ref.
"You have made a great comback, Robin. But can you take on my last pokemon?"asked Burgh rhetorically. "Leavanny, come on out!"
"Roggenrola, use rock blast!" shouted Robin. Roggenrola shot three rocks consecutively at Leavanny.
"Cut the rocks using razor leaf!" shouted Burgh. Leavanny shattered the rocks, making particles fly everywhere. However, out of nowhere, Roggenrola shot through the deprise and tackled Leavanny onto the ground. He then jumped back to safety.
"You think fast on your feet."complimented Burgh. "Leavanny, use string shot!"
Leavanny shot out a string that wrapped around roggenrola's body. "Now use razor leaf!" shouted Burgh.
"Oh no! Roggenrola, try to dodge!" shouted Robin. But it was futile. Roggenrola was immobile from the string as the razor leafs hit Roggenrola. It was super effective.
Robin stared in shock. "Roggenrola! Are you able to fight back?"
Don't worry, Robin. I can do this. I will win. I will find a way.
Leavanny rushed towards Roggenrola with great speed. Leavanny grabbed roggenrola and tossed him up high into the air. "Now, jump up and finish it off with leaf blade!" Leavanny sreach its arm out and formed a large leaf blade and was getting ready to strike Roggenrola.
Almost miraculously, light emanated from Roggenrola's body. Roggenrola's physiology began to change. His figure grew larger and larger, and the strings on his body were ripped apart from his increase in size. The light faded, and now Leavanny was right under a large boldore. Leavanny had too much momentum bringer her up.
Robin didn't stop to observe her newly evolved pokemon. Thinking fast, she immediately shouted, "Boldore, use smack down!" With that, Boldore aimed one of its "legs" toward Leavanny and gravity did the rest. His legs struck Leavanny on the side and sent her crashing down onto the gym floor. Boldore landed on his feet, despite the rate he was falling.
After the dust cleared from the impact, the ref shouted, "Leavanny is unable to battle. Robin is the victor of the gym battle!"
"Yes! YES!" shouted Robin as she ran up to boldore and hugged him. Boldore returned the favor and "hugged" her, which was basically boldore crushing Robin on the ground. Robin laughed and said, "You did an awesome job during this battle." she released all her other pokemon and beckoned me to flop over.
"Pignite and magikarp. You two also did great. Thank you for your help."
Well, I didn't do much. Said Pignite.
"No. You were important because your battling allowed me to come up with a good strategy to beat Burgh." reassured Robin. She turned towards Rufflet. "Don't worry. Your time to shine will come soon."
We all celebrated Robins victory. Burgh walked up to Robin and said, "Here. This is the beetle badge. This badge shows your achievements at this gym. You are a very talented pokemon trainer. You might even surpass your father if you continue the hard work. Kai Sparrow will be very proud." Robin looked down at the mention of her father.
Robin summoned all her pokemon back into her ball and we left the gym. That wasn't so bad. Why did you not want to tell me about your father? I asked.
Robin took a deep breath. She seemed to contemplate on whether to answer my question. "Well, the truth is, I don't know anything about my father, but he meant the world to me. He would usually be gone for many months straight, and my mother and I wouldn't know the reason for his leave. He would always give us the same reason. He was going on an expedition. But that does not tell us anything."
Robin looked up at the sky and saw tears starting to form on her eyes. "But when he comes home, he is such a great person. He would always care for me, and let me have fun. He was the one who first introduced me to pokemon battling. He always said that he wanted me to replace him in his job when he retired. But the problem is, I didn't know his job. He died during an expedition at Dragonspiral Tower when I was ten. He just left the world without any closure for me or my mother."
How did you know all that you said to Burgh? I asked.
"Well, my mom will always tell stories about my father. He seemed like a great man and skilled trainer. He is the reason why I started this journey. But I also want to find out more about my father." said Robin. "But enough about me. Let's get going. Our next destination is….Nimbasa City! I heard lots about that city!"she said excitedly as she placed me on the bike. We started down the road again.
Robin was a very good liar. She might have said a lot just then about herself and her father, but she was leaving out a crucial piece of information that would have changed her destiny if I had known sooner.