Full of people running in all directions, Rusboro City was a real city, not like the towns we'd seen so far. The roads had plenty of cars on them, the sidewalks were fairly crowded, and there was hardly any green except for the occasional purposely planted tree and the flower shop on the edge of town. There was a lot less space walking around, and I had to watch my team closely to make sure they didn't get lost.
"I truly cannot thank you two enough," Edward said when we reached a Pokémon Center. Despite the high traffic in the city and the number of visitors the center surely received, there were nearly no people to fight through outside. "I've made great time traveling with you two; my boss doesn't even expect me until tomorrow, so I'll grab a room here and just relax then, since it's getting so late."
"Wow, it got pretty late really fast," I said as I looked up at the sky, slowly gaining a red tint. "Think we should get rooms too, May?"
"Yeah, sure, later," she said quickly as she, impatient, walked deeper into the city.
"Uh, sorry, Edward," I apologized as I ran off to follow her. "Where are you heading, May?"
"The gym, of course! I want to get my first badge right away, and the gym's right down the street, so I can't just sit around and wait, you know?"
"We can't do that, May." She kept walking, ignoring me, so I grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her back. "Look at us, May; we've spent the last few days in the wilderness, and it's pretty obvious." I motioned to our clothes, caked in dirt and leaves, but she just shrugged.
"Hey, we're trainers. It's practically our job description!"
"But what about our Pokémon? They're gonna need a chance to rest. I mean, look at Pepper." Pepper, hearing his name, perked up and struck a pose, trying to convince us that he wasn't tired. It wasn't very convincing.
"Hey, he really wants to battle. Why shouldn't I let him?" May brushed my hand off her shoulder and started waking again. "If we lose, we'll just train a bit and come back later. It's not like we're going to die if we lose!" My heart sunk as I fell into step behind her.
"Fine, you can battle, but I'm going to let my team rest."
"You're kidding, right? You're so sloooow." She dragged out the last few words for emphasis.
"I'm not too slow, you're too fast. You're not taking enough time to enjoy being a trainer, now that you've finally gotten to be one."
"I've wasted enough time not being a trainer that I've got a lot of catching up to do. I can't go slow, because everybody else is already so far ahead of me," she nodded to herself and stepped through a set of double door we'd just come to without missing a beat. I stopped and looked up; there was a large sign on the building she'd just entered that said, "Pokémon Academy and Rustboro Gym," in large letter that looked like they were hand-carved from large boulders.
"Education and a gym battle, what an interesting combination," I thought to myself before stepping through the doors myself. May was already talking to a young woman inside, wearing a school uniform and standing at a desk covered in papers.
"I'm sorry, but battles here are for the benefit of my students. Class has concluded for the day, so you'll have to wait until tomorrow," the woman said. She turned towards me, ignoring May's protests. "I'd imagine you're May's friend? I am Roxanne, the gym leader here at the Rustboro Gym, as well as the teacher at the academy," she said, bowing slightly.
"Why, yes, that would be me. For certain definitions of the word 'friend', at least. Don't worry about the battle, ma'am, she's just being impatient. Our Pokémon could use the day to rest anyway."
"Ah, glad to see that you're not too disappointed..." Roxanne trailed off, and I realized she was waiting for my name.
"Oh! Spencer, ma'am. Sorry," I said, laughing nervously.
"Oh, Norman's son?" I nodded, surprised that she already knew of my father, since he'd only started his job here recently. "Well... yes, I'm glad you aren't disappointed about having to wait. Come back tomorrow at noon, and we should be able to battle then. Assuming noon is acceptable to you two?" I looked over at May, and she crossed her arms and nodded.
"Sounds like a plan," I smiled. "We'll see you tomorrow, Roxanne." May moped the entire way back to the center, but we got back without incident. We booked our rooms, cleaned our clothes, grabbed a nice dinner, and restocked our supplies. It all but drained our resources, but we knew that we'd be making it back if we beat Roxanne the next day. I went to bed worried about the coming battle, but I managed to sleep well... until May started banging on my door 45 minutes earlier than we'd arranged to meet up.
"Jeez, May," I said when I stepped out of my room. She was smiling, completely ignoring the spiteful look. "'Meet in the lobby at ten' does not mean 'bang on my door for 20 minutes at nine-fifteen.'"
"Yeah, well, it's nine-forty now," she said matter-of-factly.
"Which gives me another twenty minutes I could have been sleeping. Not to mention another two hours until we need to be at the gym!"
"Hey, I was tired of waiting. And besides,that's twenty extra minutes of eating. You're always talking about that!" I rolled my eyes, but May kept smiling and pulled me close, her arm around my shoulder. "C'mon, Spencer, we're buddies. I promise I'll make it up to you!"
"Yeah, yeah. But I'm gong to tell you this: we're not going anywhere until your brush your teeth."
"Oh, you're no fun," May sighed, letting go of me. We spent the last of our cash on breakfast and sat around for an hour doing nothing in particular. We ended up arriving at the gym 15 minutes early, but Roxanne was already waiting.
"Oh, you're early," Roxanne said, putting down some paperwork she was working on. "Well then, who is going to be my first challenger?"
"I will," May volunteered almost immediately.
"Ah, good. Follow me, both of you." Roxanne led us into a large stadium, surrounded by bleachers filled by several dozen kids of various ages. Everyone quieted slightly when we walked in. "I hope you don't mind an audience, May."
"Of course not, it'll just make it feel so much better when I win." May walked confidently down to her place at the edge of the field, the challenger's box.
"Attention, students," Roxanne shouted, crossing over to her own square on the other side of the field. "This is May Birch, from Littleroot, and she will be challenging me today, as will her friend, Spencer." The students in the bleachers all turned to look at us; May smiled and waved, but I just sat down and tried not to draw too much attention. "Please wish them luck, and be on your best behavior during the battle. That means you, Jimmy." A quiet wave of laughter swept through the crowd and one of the kids sitting nearby started blushing.
"Standard gym battle; two on two," the referee said as everyone quieted down again. "Begin." To be completely honest, I was too distracted worrying about my upcoming battle to pay much attention to May's. What little I could remember, though, proved that May was already a pretty good battler, leading Pepper to beat Roxanne's first Geodude, and making a pretty good stand against her second. In the end, though, she had to switch in Jackie to finish the battle.
"Excellent work, May. You'll receive your prize after I battle your friend." May was visibly disappointed, but nodded and stepped off the field, Jackie following closely behind.
"I thought I was done for when she knocked out Pepper, but I won in the end and it was amazing," she was smiling brightly when she sat down next to me. "Good luck," she said, patting me on the back.
"Alright, students, it's time for lunch. Everybody follow your class leaders to the cafeteria, and say goodbye to our guests!" The students stood up and started filing out of the arena, some of them wish us luck and saying goodbye as they passed. Roxanne looked far more serious than she had previously, which was saying something, since she'd been pretty serious before.
"Wait, I thought the battles were for your students? If Spencer could battle without them here, why couldn't I battle you last night?"
"One battle is enough for the students for one day, and I wanted Spencer's Pokémon to be fully rested. Not only that, but I didn't want them to see if anything happened during the battle." That was it, Roxanne knew about my family's curse. Either word had spread through the network of gym leaders, or Dad had contacted her specifically to tell her. May looked ready to question her, but I interrupted but stepping down from the bleachers.
"Well you don't need to worry, Roxanne. I don't plan to lose."
"Standard gum battle; two on two," the referee declared, as he had with May's battle. Roxanne nodded and released an angry looking Geodude, who began banging its fists against the ground almost immediately.
"Trent, I think it's only fitting that you're in my first gym battle, since you were my first. Are you ready?" Trent jumped up onto my shoulder and examined his foe, before nodding and leaping into the arena. "Well then, start with pound!"
"Defense curl, Geodude!" Trent jumped across the field towards his foe who simply hovered in place, curling into a tight ball. Trent slammed his tail into the Geodude, who barely flinched before grabbing him and slamming him into the ground. "Follow up with rock throw." The Geodude reached to its side and picked up a large rock embedded in the ground, similar to the ones laying all over the field. Trent rolled to his side just in time to dodge the rock as the Geodude hurled it into the ground.
"Get up, Trent, and get ready to dodge the next attack!" Trent jumped to his feet and backed away slowly, watching his foe carefully.
"Rock tomb, Geodude." The Geodude picked up several more, smaller rocks, and hurled them into the air.
"Use pound again, Trent!" Roxanne scoffed as Trent ran under the rocks towards her Geodude.
"Already forget what happened last time? Defense curl again!"
"No, I didn't," I smirked, shaking my head. "Absorb, Trent!" The Geodude curled up defensively again, but this time, Trent jumped on top of it and slammed both hands into it. The Geodude started glowing green, and the energy began traveling through Trent's arms.
"Get him off of you, Geodude!" The Geodude ripped Trent off of itself and slammed him into the ground again. Trent just smirked, holding on tight and continuing the attack. The Geodude started flailing about, trying to get Trent off, but after a few seconds it fell to the ground, exhausted.
"Geodude has fainted," the referee announced. Trent nodded to himself and let go of the Geodude. "The winner of this round is Spencer, would the battler please send out their next Pokémon?"
"I must say, Spencer, that using pound really caught me off guard," Roxanne said as she returned her Geodude back to its ball. "If that hadn't worked, though, that could have ended very badly."
"That... was a complete accident, actually," I laughed nervously as Trent walked back to the sidelines.
"Well then, I have to warn you about my next Pokémon. She's much stronger than my Geodude, and it won't be nearly as easy to recover from a mistake like that. She can take even more damage, and is more resistant to grass-type attacks. But that's enough of an introduction, don't you think? Go, Nosepass!" Roxanne smiled as she released her Nosepass. It was a strange Pokémon, shaped like a strange caricature of a human face, and it floated a few inches above the ground, as her Geodude had.
"Well, do you think your Nosepass can beat my Kelso?" After a few seconds without a response, I looked back to see Kelso staring absentmindedly at Jackie. "Hey, Kelso!" He jumped, startled, and nearly fell off the bleachers, but ran out onto the battlefield.
"Start simple, Nosepass; use tackle!" I smiled as the Nosepass flew towards Kelso; I had a plan this time.
"Stop her in her tracks, Kelso, with stun spore!" Kelso ducked under his foe and released a cloud of yellow pollen. The Nosepass flinched and landed unsteadily on the ground. "Great, now use leech seed!"
"Dodge it, Nosepass!" Kelso turned and spat a small seed at the Nosepass. She tried to dodge, but flinched, and the seed landed on her head. It sprouted almost immediately, spreading vines all over her body. "Fine, use rock tomb!" The Nosepass nodded and stomped on the ground, causing jagged slabs of rock to shoot out of the ground and collapse, trapping Kelso.
"Get out of there, Kelso!" Kelso was still visible, being crushed underneath one of the rocks. He was struggling and doing everything he could to slip out, but was stuck solidly.
"Nosepass, rock throw!" Nosepass reached down to grab a good-sized rock in front of her, but froze halfway and feel forward onto her face, the vines covering her glowing a deep red. "Combining stun spore and leech seed to stall and drain Nosepass was a brilliant idea, Spencer. However, the battle is basically down to whether or not she can fight through her paralysis for long enough to attack."
"It may seem that way, Roxanne, but this battle is over now. Kelso?" Kelso stopped squirming for a moment and looked up at me, confused. "Use absorb!"
"Nosepass, stop him! Roxanne's Nosepass got up and practically flew at Kelso, glowing a pale green which was in stark contrast with the blood red of the leech seed. She slammed into the pile of rocks, sending them, and Kelso, flying. Kelso landed roughly, sliding several feet, and barely avoided getting crushed again by one of the rock. Nosepass couldn't take any more, however, and collapsed.
"Nosepass has fainted, the winner of this match is Spencer!"
"Good job," Roxanne sighed as she recalled her Nosepass. "Spencer, May, you two have great potential, and I expect to hear great things from you both in the future." I couldn't help but blush a bit at the compliment.
"I didn't do anything, though, it was Trent and Kelso that did all the hard work." Trent jumped up on my shoulder, and I have him a high-five. Kelso was busy talking to Jackie
"Well, regardless of who did most of the work, you're both already good battlers. Now, for your prizes..."