"Hey sis? Why did you stop being a trainer? I thought for sure that you and Jiggly would make it all the way to the league!" I said in a curious voice. I knew that Isidora had everything to become huge and strong and take on the league. And I always thought that I knew what was going on her mind. So of course I was shocked when she refused to be an open book this time.
"I just got tired of it, you know?" She faintly smiled. "I just got into a bad losing streak, no big deal." She continued. She continued to drink her coffee. "Out on the road makes you miss this." She began to drink once more. Jiggly and Mars were both eating their food on the table we were eating at. Not particularly paying attention to us.
She had six badges out of the eight League Badges, just missing out on the Storm and Rising Badges. I just didn't understand how she couldn't keep going. And I knew she wasn't feeling up for telling me. Not today. But I thought to myself, 'if I became a Pokémon Trainer, I'd never quit half way. I'd make sure to have a complete journey that would make me feel proud of myself'. Suddenly, I had the resolve to finish the journey for my sister. And make a journey that I'd remember for the rest of my life.
I thought we'd never outrun it. Mars was gasping for air too, in my arms. But in his defense, he was really taking a lot of hits, and I was proud of him for many things that day. I think we ran over a few miles by the time it got tired, probably. But I realized we weren't anywhere near National Park anymore. I never traveled too far from Goldenrod, and I realized were in uncharted territory. I looked around to see if there were any people around. And looked and looked around.
"Mars, I think we're lost.
I registered like any contestant would. Since I only had Mars with me, the attendant didn't have to hold any other Pokémon, since they only allowed one Pokémon per entry. I looked at my picture at the screen. I was wearing the biggest grin I had, it almost made look scary. It was the picture of when I first registered to become a Trainer, even though that was a little over a year ago. I realized I still had the same haircut from back then. My sister told me with my short black hair, and that scary smile, I looked like a Houndour. I planned on catching one, just to bug my sister about it, since she hated canine Pokémon. Not even a cute Growlithe could stop her from screaming.
The attendant gave me Sport Balls to catch Pokémon with. There was still ten minutes left until the actual competition would start so, I started talking to Mars about the battle plan.
"Alright Mars. Here's what we're going to do when we find a strong Pokémon. You will get its attention by using Fake Out. Then it'll begin to give chase, right? Well that's when you run and make its back face me. That way, I can throw one of these Sport Balls at its back, and it'll be too stunned to break free. Got it?" I asked him if he understood my instructions. He nodded at me. Then I decided to look around the competition at the registration office. A bunch of kids both older and younger than me filled the room. Some were doing the same thing, prepping their Pokémon, while others were just casually talking with other contestants. I saw a few of the boys from yesterday, too. I met eyes with the boy who's Sentret Mars attacked, and he glared. I nervously shifted my eyes away. There were some girls who were giggling to themselves over some other girl who was being forced to enter with them, albeit hating Bug Pokémon. It was kinda of funny.
The Attendant used the loudspeaker to quiet the chatting Trainers, and it worked faster than I expected. He went over the rules of the Contest, that the one contestant to catch the strongest Bug Pokémon wins. If your Pokémon faints, it's game over for you, as well if you run out of Sport Balls. It was pretty self-explanatory.
I could do this, I know I can.
The Attendant ranged a bell, and opened the doors to the park. All of the trainers ran to the park's grass, hoping for a strong prey right away, including Mars and I. But instead, I ran into a Paras, who was beaten fast by Mars' Fake Out and Tackle. I thought that was a good start, but I still wanted to find a Pinsir or a Scyther. Those were the key Bugs in this competition. I kept looking. I thought I faintly saw something, large,green, with sharpscythes. I walked over in that direction, but I wasted a good 15 minutes searching.
"Okay, that makes three Caterpie, two Weedle, two Venonat, and a Butterfree. Makes perfect sense, why would we find a coollooking Pokémon?" I sat down on the grass, getting annoyed now, and I think I was getting to Mars. He went up to me, and I expected a nice pep talk to keep sear-
Instead he gave me a Tackle.
I was shocked, and he was looking straight at my eyes. Mars was being violent now. Or rather, he didn't want me to give up? I wasn't sure.
"Ty! Tyrogue! Rogue!" He began yelling, jumping. I had no clue what he was saying. He stopped suddenly, though, looking around the grass.
And there it was. The boy with the Sentret was battling a Scyther. And as I expected, the Sentret was not in good condition. The fierce Mantis Pokémon was tough, all right.
The Sentret got up, and began for a Fury Swipes at full speed. But it was just not fast enough, nor powerful enough to stop its Quick Attack. It looked like it hit Sentret quite hard, and knocked it out.
"Sentret, no!" The boy said, returning the rodent back to its Pokéball. The Scyther went towards the boy, looking menacing. He stepped by, and saw me looking at the scene, before smirking with a plan. He just realized something to get away. He grabbed something out of his Bag, and found some sort of berry, from what I could see, and threw it at the Scyther. Almost instinctively, it sliced the berry in two, but some of the juices got splashed on its skin. It tried to get it off by using its scythes awkwardly, but it only spread the thicker looking, red liquid, which seemed to infuriate it. I noticed the kid running off then, leaving me alone with the Scyther. It was covered in the berry's red juice. It was pissed. And looking at me and Mars.
I ran with Mars as fast as I could. I recalled then that the berry the boy threw was a Tamato Berry. A red berry. Then the next thing that I realized was that Scyther hated the color red. It just couldn't stand looking at the color. So there I was, being chased by a lethal Bug with the intent on killing us due to somebody else's getaway plan. Life wasn't fair yesterday. Even with today supposedly being the best day, so why would my luck change? I gave up running soon after, even with the Scyther gaining speed and shortening the distance between us. Mars was getting tired too.
"Sorry, Mars. I-I couldn't catch a training partner for you to get stronger with. We won't be able to beat Whitney today. We won't be on our way to beating those guys and becoming the strongest… I'm so sorry." I almost choked on those last words. But this would be it. I wouldn't outrun this homicidal Bug. I wouldn't get to say goodbye to my family. I'd be a wimp while dying too. Mars looked at me, worried.
"Hey Mars, you can make it. I'll distract it, and you run. It's not nice to make your Pokémon pay the price with you." I said, trying to die as a tragic hero. Even to just Mars.
And he Tackled me for the millionth time that day, and instead of saying anything this time, he just glared at me. And I tried realizing what Mars, my Tyrogue, was meaning. To this day, whatever he tried saying, I don't even remember, but he managed to protect me. Giving up my life to a killer Scyther just wasn't practice anymore. And I realized how he was the best Pokémon in the world, and how much I didn't deserve him.
So I got up, just as the angry Scyther approached. It was still pissed, but I looked at it still, challenging it. Mars got in front of me, raring for a battle. Whatever happened, we'd do this together.
I decided to go first.
"Mars, use Fake Out on the oversized Bug!" I commanded. And he put his hands together to let out a shock wave to stun the angry mantis.
"Scy! Scy Scy!" It cried. Its eyes were wide for a second, before retaining the murderous glare it had before. I flinched a little, but Mars stayed strong. This was going to be long battle, I thought to myself.
Oh wait, I have Sport Balls. I slapped myself. I could throw one, and escape. It would make a good cover, and I'd get out of here. We were out on the edge of Route 35, I realized, from a Blue Apricorn Tree I spotted. I took one out from my bag, and chucked it at Scyther. It soon turned into red energy, and got into the ball, before enclosing itself.
And it shook. I guess I decided to see if it would actually get caught. It shook again. And once more it shook. I could hardly contain myself; I just caught the Scyther that tried to kill me.
But my fantasy shattered when the ball broke opened, and the giant mantis was even angrier. It used a Quick Attack on Mars first off, and sent him flying into a tree. But Mars quickly got up, and ran towards the Pokémon, using Tackle. Now Mars' endurance was astounding me. Where did he get so sturdy? Unfortunately, this didn't mean that Mars' attacks were doing much. The Scyther was just knocking Mars back hit after hit. In fact, I think it go so annoyed with Mars that it began to get mad even though its wings now. They were glowing with anger.
It then was going to use a Wing Attack, I realized. Which was the worst thing that could happen to Mars.
"Mars, get out of there!" I yelled. This might be the end right here, if Mars gets hit. And he did. It looked not just painful. I could see myself going to Nurse Joy and finding out that he broke a few bones during this fight. And then he'd get taken away from an unfitting Trainer. Then I'd be alone.
Oh god, I was scaring myself selfishly. And I guess life likes tricking me. I saw something that I never thought was possible.
Mars was still standing, even from a super effective Wing Attack. He was wincing in pain, breathing hard, but he was still standing. That gave me enough resolve to throw another Sport Ball. It hit, and the Scyther went back into the ball. I didn't even want to see if it worked this time.
I scooped up Mars, and ran away from the site.
Far.
Just far enough to get away from the Scyther. Just far enough to get away from the bullies that made daily life hard on Mars and I. I was getting away from danger, at the time, but symbolically speaking, I was running away from Goldenrod. I didn't realize how far I ran until I didn't see hide or hair of the Scyther.
I thought we'd never outrun it. Mars was gasping for air too. But in his defense, he was really taking a lot of hits. I think we ran over a few miles by the time it got tired, probably. But I realized we weren't near National Park anymore. I never traveled too far from Goldenrod, and I realized were in uncharted territory. I looked around to see if there were any people around. And looked and looked around.
"Mars, I think we're lost." I laughed.
"Tyrogue…" Mars sighed. I think he was relieved to escape that maniac Bug. I know I was.
I soon spotted a sign out.
Route 36: West to Goldenrod City, East to Violet City, South to Ruins of Alph, North to Ecruteak City.
I say a rock and decided to rest with Mars, just for a little. It was starting to get late in the afternoon, and I didn't want to worry my family. I'd just return back later in the day, forget today happened, then go back to being a wimp. A self-loathing wimp. I started to lie down on the cold path.
If only I had a Pokégear…
"Hey kid, do you know how to get to Ecruteak from here?" A voice asked me.
I turned to see a big, muscular martial artist, also known as a Blackbelt, towering me. It took me a second to reassemble myself.
"Uh, if you follow the path of those trees over there to the north, I think you should be able to reach it through Route 37 by nightfall, I said. The summer days are really long, so five or six hours didn't seem off to get there from here." I explained to the man.
"Thanks. I'll be going now." He bowed at me. Must have been the Blackbelt thing to do, I guessed. He then looked at Mars, who was resting from all the injuries he got.
"Is that your Tyrogue?" He asked me. I nodded, slightly embarrassed due to all the bruises Mars had. Didn't make me look like a good Trainer, now did it?
"It looks like you two had a rough day for training." He said, scanning the both us.
"You have no idea…" I sighed. I was going to go back soon, anyway. And sleep in my bed. And wake up to the unchanged life I always had.
"I've raised a few Tyrogue, so I know what it feels like. Yours doesn't know any Fighting type moves, does he?" He asked me. And I soon realized he was correct.
Mars only knew Tackle, Fake Out, and Helping Hand (whatever that did). He had absolutely zippo Fighting moves. How horrible. I was astonished.
I nodded at him, slowly, and shocked at this.
He then started fiddling around his bag he had over his shoulder, and withdrew a disk. It was a Technical Machine or TM for short. Those things were expensive, that was for sure. The Blackbelt tossed it to me.
"This is Rock Smash. It's the only one I have that can really help out your Tyrogue. I'm taking a wild guess, and you haven't faced Whitney, right? Well, I think you should be able to beat her with this move right here. Rock Smash makes the opponent weaker, so it gives you an advantage in longer battles." He instructed. "Unfortunately, this is an HM; Hidden Machine, not TM, so it'll be much harder to forget, in case you get stronger moved. It'll be a miracle to forget Rock Smash. Unless you have a professional at making Pokémon forget moves, though." He continued. It was a lot of instructions to follow. But he was right. I never faced Whitney, even with a Fighting Pokémon like Mars, because he didn't have any attacks to back him up. Maybe now I stood a chance.
I looked at the HM. This could substitute for the Scyther I could have caught.
Maybe my Master Plan wasn't ruined, I though.
"Th-thank you so much!" I exclaimed. This wasn't just gratitude; it was something I could never repay. This was hope given to me from a total stranger.
"Ever thought about becoming a Fighting type Trainer?" He asked. "Tyrogue are a nice Pokémon to start with. A favorite among Blackbelts." I had absolutely never thought about that. I was hoping for a strong Bug Pokémon, and then catch other Pokémon in a balanced type order.
"Wouldn't that make me easy bait for Ghosts, Birds, and Psychics?" I asked. Now I was wondering how he was doing it; traveling with all Fighting Pokémon.
"I think you know this from your own Fighting Pokémon…" the Blackbelt gestured at Mars, who was up and paying attention to us, "Well, they're hardworking, persevering, and they refuse to back down." He finished. This was true. Even if he was outnumbered against bullies' Pokémon, against a sociopathic Scyther, or even a self-degrading Trainer like me, Mars has always been loyal and would never give up for my sake.
Maybe I should give Fighting Pokémon a chance. Maybe their hardworking attitude would rub off on me. Maybe now I can stop being a wimp. I can make myself proud. This was newfound courage. I had an official goal.
Then I remembered my sister. Doubt crossed over my mind.
If these Fighting Pokémon were hard working and all those other things, where would I stand? What if I couldn't take it and dropped? Maybe they would be too much to lead. I don't particularly see myself working as hard as them. Would I just get tired and quit? I thought.
The Blackbelt saw my doubt.
"Fighting Pokémon also care very much about their partners. When they all feel like they belong in the group, they make sure no one gets left behind, not even their Trainer. They'll just expect the same thing from you. Are you up for that?" He asked. Suddenly, this was a huge decision for me. It was a chance to change.
Yes! I mean, yes I can!" I shouted. There was no reason to doubt myself here. Mars didn't doubt me before. I can at least make sure that I can do this for Mars' sake. He grabbed his bag, tightened the top, and hung it over his shoulder. He turned and began talking, without facing me.
"If you really want make sure are up for this, go head on with the Goldenrod City Gym. You'll have your answer if you challenge it. And with that, I bid you farewell." And so he began walking towards the north, leaving me in the crossroads of Route 36.
"Th-thank you…!" I yelled. I never managed to find out if he heard me or not. It was then it dawned on me that I never got his name. Now I felt incomplete. I had a goal. I had an aspiration. I had confidence growing. But I might never find out who my motivator was.
That's sad. I thought to myself. Still, I looked at the HM.
"So Mars, you want to do this? Want to help me train Fighting Pokémon?" I asked him, holding out the HM; Rock Smash. If he accepted, the HM is right here, ready to teach its move.
We walked back home, around sunset. Well, scratch that. We walked towards the Gym. It'll be my first test if to give me a concrete answer if I can do this or not. I soon approached it with Mars right by my side. I healed him up at the Pokémon Center, and we were both ready for this. Luckily, none of his injuries were severe, and he was patched up rather quickly. Maybe Fighting Pokémon healed faster when they were motivated. I know I was emotionally healed now. We were up against the door, ready to push our way in.
"We can do this, Mars. You ready?" I asked, not really meaning it; it was just for reassurance on my part.
"Tyrogue!" He replied, positively. I pushed the door, to find a bunch of ladders, high platforms, and many paths. There were a bunch of women around with their Pokémon, adoring them endlessly. One of them spotted me. This girl was different from the other woman. She was considerably younger, but surer of herself, judging from the grin on her face. She wore a plain white shirt with red outline and blue shorts.
"You here for a battle, honey? Hey girls, isn't his Pokémon a cutie?" She asked, while the other women were squealing at Mars. I wasn't here for much adoring, but it looked like I had no say in the matter. I just wanted a Gym Badge!
"Yes I am. My name is Sebastian." I responded. If I wanted to become a Fighting Pokémon Trainer, best to follow Blackbelt etiquette, right?
"I'm Whitney, the Gym Leader. Pleased to meet ya!" She said. She kinda of reminded me a little of Isidora. She guided me to the main battlefield. There was a referee there too. She was just doing her nails, though. She looked surprised when she noticed Whitney and I as we made our way to the opposite sides of the stadium. The battlefield wasn't too difficult to work with, though. It was plain dirt, it seemed. Off the sides were a few bleachers, where the other ladies went to sit on.
I guess it was a real Gym Battle. I shuddered.
"We're really doing this, huh, Mars?"
He smiled brightly at me. He was ready. The referee looked ready to announce the rules.
"This will be an official Pokémon League Gym Battle between Gym Leader Whitney and the challenger Sebastian! This will be a two-on-two battle and only the challenger may substitute during the match!"
Two-on-two. I only had one Pokémon. Whitney had two. I almost fainted right there. I couldn't say now that I only had Mars on me, right? Would that disqualify me? I didn't have the nerve to ask. Mars seemed to vaguely understand my unease.
"Ty! Rogue! He said, grinning proudly. He was trying to tell me that he could it by himself. I think he was anyway. I was never too sure what was going on his head when he talked to me sometimes.
"Alright, go Clefairy!" Whitney yelled, releasing her round, pink, and fluffy Pokémon. It looked a lot like Isidora's Jigglypuff, that's for sure. Probably just as strong, too.
"Mars, y-you're up! You can do this!" I said. I don't why exactly I was nervous. It was my first Gym Battle, and would be testing my future. I don't think Mars was nervous. I decided to go first, due to knowing what my attack was to start the battle.
"Mars, Fake Out!" I yelled out. Mars went to the Fairy Pokémon, and clasped his hands together to create a shock wave similar to the one on the Scyther a bit back. The Normal type stumbled backwards, and we had secured our first move, immobilizing hers completely. "Good, now use Rock Smash!" And Mars did, punching Clefairy out with intense power. It was an actual Fighting move, and looked great on him. It didn't knock Clefairy out, though.
"Clefairy, use Attract!" she commanded the counter attack. The Clefairy now winked at Mars to release multiple hearts that surrounded Mars, just to infatuate him. I face palmed then. We were working hard, just for this to happen. My Gym challenge could right now with the wrong move. "Now Mars, use Rock Smash! You're just being fooled by her cuteness!" I tried to snap him out of it, fruitlessly. He was just immobile as a flinched Clefairy against the previous Fake Out.
"Looks like your Tyrogue just can't resist my Clefairy's infinite charm! So now, Clefairy, let's start our endless roulette! Metronome!"
My eyes widened on the move. Metronome is a move that randomly changes the Pokémon's memory to allow it to use any move. That meant that it could be a move that ends us right away. NowIwasreadytojustgiveup.The Clefairy then wiggled its fingers back and forth repetitively, and soon shone out a bright light, which affected Mars somehow. I had to cover my eyes from the light. When it faded away, I saw that Mars was relatively unharmed.
Instead, my shock was that Clefairy was knocked out instead. Whitney's face looked upset as she retuned her. "Clefairy is unable to battle!" The referee announced, holding a flag towards my side.
"Well, that could have gone better!" She laughed nervously, putting her arm behind her pink hair mareepishly. "Oh well, here's the real battle! Go, Miltank!" She took out another Pokéball, her second and last, and tossed it to reveal her pink cow. Its blue eyes stared into her opponent's. Mars still looked tough, even the cow was obviously bigger.
"Alright Mars, use Rock Smash!" I shouted. I had no other choice. This was my best bet on winning.
"…" Mars said and did nothing. Nothing at all. In fact, he had a perplexed look on his face, like he just couldn't pull of a Rock Smash. Whitney's face brightened up.
"Oh, that explains it! Clefairy used Memento! She fainted to take out your Tyrogue's Rock Smash, good going!" She took out her Clefairy's Pokéball, and instead of bringing out her fallen Pokémon, she kissed its Pokéball and returned into her pocket. I couldn't say anything.
I was ready to throw the towel. Mars had just lost access to the move that made all the difference. I only had Tackle left, and that would barely scratch Miltank. I had no other moves to think of using. I just lost all possibilities of winning. Heck, I almost withdrew Mars and ran away. But Mars still charged with the Tackle. The Miltank was surprised at the sudden move.
But she just decided to yawn it off, grinning at Mars tauntingly. "Alright Miltank, Stomp!" Whitney shouted. And soon enough, Mars was under Miltank's hooves. And it looked hurtful. Mars got out slightly pained, but his sturdiness shined again as he stood up valiantly. But Whitney then called for a Rollout from her Miltank, sending Mars flying.
And flying. And flying some more after each Rollout.
Mars would get up every time, though. And I just watched hopelessly at the situation. I couldn't bear it anymore.
"Mars, stop! You can't win! Get over here before you get really hurt!" I tried to recall him desperately. But with no avail and he just avoided his Pokéball. After a few seconds of silence, he turned around to face me, and ran over to me, like I hoped.
And Tackled me instead of listening further.
"Ty! Tyrogue rogue!" He began again with talking a tongue I couldn't understand. I tried my best to guess what he was saying desperately.
"…You want to continue? Really? Mars, you're just going to get hurt!
"Tyrogue!" He yelled directly at me, looking straight into my eye. And then I got the message. We were in this together when we arrived, but now I was the only backing down, while Mars had to struggle for the both of us. I felt pathetic now. I didn't just lose faith in Mars, but I felt my own faith slip. And that wasn't fair for Mars, who's been working extremely hard to win.
Fighting Pokémon Trainer? Me? Maybe I didn't have what it takes, but I can't back down on Mars. It wasn't fair for him.
"Mars, keep going, I believe that you can do it." I smiled a bit at him. I had to bring up both of our confidence to win this match.
"Sorry, Whitney." I looked at her apologetically for pausing the match.
"It's okay, we all get down sometimes. Just keep moving forward, you know! But I'm afraid this is the end of your Tyrogue, so you'll have to keep going forward together some other time. Miltank, one final Rollout!" she called. I wasn't going to back down.
"Mars, grab it when it comes at you!" I yelled frantically. This may or may not work, but I had to try, for Mars. And he did grab. But then Miltank's force increased, and gave Mars trouble of holding it up. He winced in pressure. Sweat going down his body. Too many scratches to count. I'm not going to waste all Mars had done for me prior to this battle. I won't.
"Mars, don't you dare give up! We're in this together, right! So give it everything you got, for the both of us!" At the moment, I gave all my encouragement I have ever had in a battle to Mars. He grunted loudly and began to move Miltank back a fraction of an inch. A miracle.
Soon, a light emitted from Mars' body, and brightly too. Is he learning a new move? He yelled out even louder now, and the light became too bright and knocked Miltank back. Whitney, the spectators, and even the referee were astounded, while the light subsided.
I was amazed at Mars. He was no longer a scrawny, purple Pokémon. He was now brown, had a tunic, and sported bigred boxinggloves. I almost stumbled down. A Hitmonchan.
"Chan! Hitmonchan!" He cried, looking at his new body. I didn't know what say. Anything I'd say would be able to amount the indescribable feeling of accomplishment I had that moment. Still, Miltank wasn't totally phased, and went for another Rollout to finish Whitney's command. It was coming faster, and harder than before, most likely from sensing the new opponent's power. She went right past Mars, only to keep rolling and eventually falling on her side seconds later, visibly defeated. With one, invisible attack.
Neither Whitney nor the referee managed to see it, but I did, even if only slightly. Mars threw a punch. No wait; more than that. In a single second. It hit Miltank fast, and defeated her with intense power and speed.
"U-uh, Miltank is unable to battle! Victory goes to the challenger, Sebastian!" The referee announced, slightly taken back. Whitney soon pouted and withdrew her fallen Pokémon.
"That battle was really unexpected, I'll say! I'd cry over it, but I'm still shocked, for your information. A sudden evolution? Really?" She laughed. I nervously laughed along, both of us walking towards the middle of the field where Mars stood alone and victorious. "But as a Gym Leader, I've gotta give up this Plain Badge. Take it; you two deserved that one for sure!" She said, reaching into her pocket and presenting me with a Gym Badge.
There it was. The fruit of our labors. I gladly took it, and showed it to Mars. He looked at the symbol rather strangely, but looked happily at my expression. I breathed fresh air when we left the Gym. I noticed it was pretty dark, and I grabbed Mars' glove and starting running back home at full speed. Mars soon let go, and started running ahead of me, leaving me to run faster to catch up. Even though we've never ran so much in one day, I didn't care about my legs hurting. And was because of one thing.
We were victorious today.